The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-10-22

! in thc universally deplorat'l" cor'!iti"n u
is public highways and favor Il system
wEich vii! provide for their Il1IleIlat" li!4-
r!oTenient uuler the control rt ih'' STAT"
| government The lcSizla,ur" should ai-
| point q commissioner Of Highways. vino II
| turn should lave the power 70 =clcc; IL"
supervisors frog, each county and the '@t-
Wits should hc made to work UPON tlc roads
| {: ;h4 county from which they We're c"n-
v!:teu. Tie road question Is now brln-
;':!!: a.ita.eI by most Of the State and many
are ROW constructing roads Of the lust
;l"-:ric,iun Tie Little State New JerS"E.
with i: nothing like tla size Of our State,
expended il 1894 on road improvements Il"
sun Of S94 C4G.Q3. II IL" State cf NV
York il las tnrn proposed 10 r!l>r he sim
Of - .0QJ 900 tv Il State loan. parable il
J. wears 1T i low rate Of Interest aul deYpt"
th" entire sum 10 the Improvement al tb"
county roads. 1t would ha sufficient 70 c"il-
, strict an average Of 80 mics Of splcnIil
roads il every county Of the state an III"
rutire assessment upon farm ut the Tai'r'
If ::1D. 900 would hc less than -.
Our adjoining State. North Carolina,
has nale cX,:n!lent progress in publi; roa'l
+ Improvement and has now some aS tlnr
roads as vii! be found anywhere. The iir',
important step w;:s t. Setur" from the State
legislature authority 10 levy i road tax "f
from tc 20 mills Gua 500 worth oi taxable
valuation. The rat" at present levied i;
,Lou. j. mills. wEi:h yields some c:b0QH u
-;ar. Mkt the passage wa secure" i'y law.
thoriZing The county comm; i;s:.inn"r /" take
har:e oI ali c3nvi:ts ~cutcn""a Ev tllc city
and count courts, tie punishment f"r many
t.!lersas beinSu fine or so many darS work
Oh the public roads 1t Is the belief i'll tI:is
country that this is tn. best ios-iil" dis
position that can J." made OF the "uarictS. Is
they are not then brought into direct rnu:-
petition with honest. free labor. while their
wrrI, nures to the direct benefit Of the pull
H.. The work Of building. rccouStrN:tin-
and repairing streets and roads III NecEJrn-
burg IS now in progress in three depart
mentS.
'''r'irst. in the city OF Charlotte, under III"
direction Of the city council. hy the mayor.
city engineer and supervisor districts. In"
work is paid for out Of the city treasury.
Second. the county ut large, under the
direction Of the county commissioner, a
i.oarl Of five elected annually ty u vote "f
al the magistrates il the county. ny The
county engineer an,i til" superintendent rf
tie convict camp. Half III" proceeds of tie
road tax is dishurSed hy this board
Each township, through its board oi
trustees. eXpends for lo:at work III read
h:ii!.l:rG, one half the proceed; Of the road
tax raised within the township. The roet
Of feeding clothing and guarding conVl"ts
during the first fire months Of 1885 amount
cdto 9Q;1 ceuts per day. the average num-
bar cared for being 81 per month: during
the lirst nine months of that year an average
CT 90 convicts moved 36.247 cubic wards OF
earth OF the roads and crushed and placed
..}S1 liueai wards -four and h"lf mites> Of
macadam y feet wide | quote largely
trGm different State and government reports
and Mr. D. A. Tompkins on roads III Neck
ienburS county. y. C..
What is most imperatively needed is to
educate the people and especially those who
are placed il charge Of the roads how TO
proceed and that ro"t! making and repairing
is an art and trad" that needs careful study
and care TO successfully carry ont. and Ih7
sooner The idea and practice that any one
who can haul (; load Of mud or sod from
where the ditch ought to be and dlmpit into
the road. is q fit person for road repairing is
abandoned. the better. At the outset, an On
gineer should be not only consulted. but CT
ploved. because be has made study OF road
building under all possible conditions and
hence is able to not only advise you what to
do, but often what is equally important.
what net to do