The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1896-07-03
MIR. RAINEY'S PROPOSITION.
Guarantees the II, ads tn Pay tor Them
selves in Five Years.

Guarantees the i ads tn Pay For Them
selves in Five Years.
EDITOR HERALD:-I wish to review
through your paper some articles re-
Gently written on the subject of the
county buying my turnpike roads.
Mr.. o. p. Rutledge, in his article
several weeks ago, was considerably
under the mark when he estimated that
the people of Maury County paid to the
ten turupikes about $1,000 per month
for toll. | have more definite informa-
ton than Mr.. Rutlege could have got
ten, and / am sure the people pay not
less than $3.50 per month to these roads.
This sum would amount in one year to
$l9,S00; and IT, five years to $4,000; and
for this last named sum, the entire
turnpike system of the county can be
bought. In short, they can he bought OF
| five years time, and in that time made
to pay for themselves.
offer five of the best roads in the
county-representin more than half
the milage-at half the above pric IS; or,
if the county will pay Inc at the end of
| five years, with interest, what the tole-
gates ought legitimately to take in
during that time, | will at once open
the gates to the public; and during
these five years l will keep the roads in
repair without cost TO the county.
! This heavy toll tax has been paid by
the people for years and will continue
to be paid until the county buys them
from their owners, or until, following
the advice of a certain lawyer in Column
bia, who wants big fee to do the job,
she takes all the turnpikes by force.
Ever since / can remember, the peo-
pie of Maury County have been agitat-
ing the subject of good roads; have
been talking good roads; begging for
good roads and trying to get good roads,
and the only good roads in her borders
to-day are the turnpike roads. They
are worth more to the people, and in
crease the value of their property more
than the three railroads, and / venture
to say if it was left to the vote of the
people, they would rather dispense
with the railroads than with turnpikes,
even if they must pay toll for the use of
them and if they were free roads, how
much more valuable would their
property be.
MIR. Davis, in his article in last weeks
HERALD, says, and it is his main argu-
ment, "if we buy these pixies and put a
tax on Maury County to pay for them,
we tax great many who Will derive
practically no benefit from them. Now,
! Mr. Davis is a member of the County
Court, but he seems to have forgotten
that his Court within the past year, has
appropriated money to build an eX-
pensive bridge across the river at Cor
don's Ferry, in the extreme western
part of the county; and voted another
appropriation of $4,000 to repair the
bridge at Hardisons Mills, in the eX;
treme eastern part of the county. And
is not Mr.. Davis taxed with the rest of
us to pay for these improvements, and
cannot the Court just as consistently
! tax the people to buy the pike Mr..
| Davis does use as to tax Mr.. Davis to
pay for these bridges he does not use,
and perhaps never will use? And has
not this same Court, within the last few
years, voted the county's money to
build bridges at Goodwin Station, at
| Williamsport, at Columbia and at
various other places in the county? And
also to buy rock-crushing, grading
machines, road tools, ETC., and are there
not great many men in the county
who were taxed to pay for them who
"derive practically no benefit from
them?"
More than three-fourths of the people
use the roads offer for sale, and if all
of the pixies were owned by the county,
then all of its citizens would be directly
benefited.
Mr.. Davis also says, in substance,
that "to attend to my business ! must
pass through three toll-gates and l get
value received. prefer the pixies with
their toll than no pixies at all" Mr..
Davis head is level on that proposition.
Every man in the county will admit
that he gets the worth of his money for
the use of the turnpikes and 95 per cent
of them pay their toll cheerfully and
willingly ; but the other per cent is
what is causing all the trouble, and
forcing me to offer valuable property
for habits value. This per cent of
the people have done more harm to the
good roads interest in Maury County in
the last five years than Esq. Jim San
ders and his cohvicts can do good in
twenty years. This five per cent is
composed of four classes. lst Men
judgement, and who cannot understand
refusal to give them cheap rates
based on the argument and the fact that
to give the rate they ask is to give W
all profits and to do business without
profit, means bankruptcy. They dc
not care who sink, just so they swim
they must have cheap rates, and such
rates as they themselves dictate, or they
will have trouble.
2nd. Men who have large accounts al
the toll-gates and will not pay them
|, | anu StI lldu DGCtuSC bnO
will no longer credit them.
3D.. Men who have no credit any
where, are habitual loafers and dead
beats, beat their way all they can and
: then get mad because they cannot beat
the gate-keeper.
4th. Men who have private OIL
imaginary grievances at the turnpike
company or some of its members
These four classes soon get together
and as the turnpike is their common
enemy, they make trouble. | have
known them to burn toll-gate houses
tear up bridges and colverts, and de
stroy other property belonging to the
, turnpike companies, and do it all a
/ night, while honest men were asleep
The friendship and good will of these
4 four classes could be purchased by Civ
, ing them cheap rates and submitting t.
: other demands, but to give these rates
to some and not to others means more
trouble, and to give these rates to all
means no profits and bankruptcy.
If to do legitimate business, l mus
make such enemies, then | confess, anC
confess frankly, am forced to surrendel
, to them; and in order to get out of theil
} dirty clutches, ! am forced to offel
valuable property at half its.value; anC