The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-31

/ Of constant and regular business transac-
lions Is a blemish which no shrewd bust
ness man win tolerate.
This obstacle 70 the farmer is the com
mon dirt road. BY long use, and in some
instances ignorance Of q better kind. he
has learned to endure this sort OF hiaA-
I way, and he has not yet learned that in
all the route from the farm to the ultimate
[ consumer the dirt road which leads from
il TO the shipping station is the line Of
I greatest resistance, and that which i'm
poses upon him and his neigh bOrs not
only the chief burden of trans pOrtatiOn,
but which is maintained at cost far
exceeding that which is required 70 keep
in repair the best roads Of modern
Europe. IL all comes from our adherence
10 the antiquated and ridiculous idea Of
working OUT the road tax. Every
road is a structure, and needs founda-
ton. a good road was never built by ac-
cident. nor maintained by ignorance. 1t
is quite as senseless and futile TO attempt
10 build and maintain a good highway by
calling out A. B and G from their various
personal occupations 10 dig and scrape a
few miles Of soft dirt with hoes and Show
els, as it would be to expect the same per-
sons. under a similar system, 10 contrib
cir personal labor in the successful
erection q a court house or county peni-
tertiary. In either case, IL would require
that il be done intelligently and by per-
sons whose knowledge or instruction tit
ted them for that kind of employment.
Moreover, it may be said that
besides these objections, the system of
working OUT road taxes presents GER
tain features which are inequitable as
among citizens themselves The road fines
are hard 70 collect and are seldom ever
paid while on the other hand the labor
O.. - . go i
their time so cheaply as TO render II in
the public service for the sake of saving n
dollar, is generally applied where il is
likely to tend to their personal
benefit, without regard to the general
requirements Of public travel. | believe
! run no risk Of successful contradiction
IL saying that the money and LABOR spent
by the people of the state of Georgia
alone within the last half century in the
keeping of one Of the vilest systems of
dirt roads on the face of the earth would
be more than suffice to build and main
tain 5000 miles of the best mac
adam roads that modern skill could
produce. The simple fact is
that under the present system the money
Is squandered and the labor misapplied,
wasted and practically thrown away.
Drainage, grading and every elementary
idea involved in the making and keeping
OF a good road is ignored, and the work
done without rule, reason or any regard
for ultimate results. On every mile OF
dirt road in Chatham county there falls
each year 10000 tons of water What
becomesiOf it, Under the present en-
lightened system of working the roads
we permit this water-such as does not
cut its way out IN ruts-to stand in pools
and proceed to churn and mix it with
soft dirt by the use of narrow wheel tires
TIL the suns rays carry ii OF by the
slow process Of evaporation. and then Oc-
casionaly, in the easy and opportune
time, we apply the lazy process of squaring
our road account with the public by
KIND OF shittless tinkering, which
makes the road even worse and
leaves it all the more sus-
ceptible to the dissolving influence of the
succeeding showers. Tho whole system
IS wrong. Other nations and states and
counties of this nation hays abandoned
1t. Their farming properties have i'm
proved IN value. and the payment of
road taxes IN money under system
which requires that the highways shall
be properly made and properly kept
throughout the year has produced such
amazing results in the enhancement Of
rural conditions that no kind of argumc.
could induce the citizen where such sys-
TEN prevails TO accept the drawbacks
and embarrassments of the old system.
10 sum up the WnOle matter, the per
sonal labor system of maintaining the
public roads is a travesty and a failure.
1t has been tried everywhere and has
never succeeded anywhere 1t NAV be
safely asserted that since the foundation
of the American government there has
never been single mile of strictly first
class road built and maintained under
this system. II is a blot upon our civil
lization, a scOurge upon the in
dustry of the farmers and upon every
town surrounded by farming lands.
1t IS the most expensive to maintain, the
least efficient in its uses and it produces
road the most eXasperating in its nor
nal condition of all the roads ever con-
trived by the human hand IL is de-
grading to the state and to the citizens,
whose personal labor it demands in the
public service, for it is well to remem Der
that the only two classes Of persons of
whom labor is eXacted under statute law
IN payment of an obligation to the state
are the farmers who work upon the pub
lie roads and criminals who perform
labor on the chain-gangs and in common
prisons. The farmer deserves a more
eleyatlng, more equitable and moro
encient law Let US away with the old
system, and following the latter and
tlme-proved methods of other countries
make the roads of Chatham county what
they should be, and keep them in suitable
repair Il. A. BLANDFORD.