The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-01-15
Edge on Public Roads.
Fron lhe Hnrrishurg PatrIot.

From the Harrisburg Patriot.
"The state of Pennsylvania has about
5000 miles of public roads on which
si,0O0.0oo is expended annually for re-
pairs,r said Secretary of Agriculture
Edge to representative OF the
Patriot. ''rhese roads are practically no
better than they were twenty-five years
ago. and many think not as good. For
this condition of affairs no one is to
blame but our farmers. They mend the
public roads and regulate the tax an
nually levied for road repairs. Hence,
il follows that if the duty is not proper
ly performed they alone are responsible,
and they can not attribute il To the tariff,
free trade, discrimination in freights nor
erly repaired and i'm good condition it is
certainly the fault of the taxpayers and
the citizens of the townships through
which the roads are laid out.
some OF the weakest points in the gen.
eral road system of our state" added Sec
retary Edge, ''is that it gives to every
taxpayer the right to work out his road
tax instead of paying it in cash. Under
this system fifty cents worth of work
PAYS for one dollars worth of tax and
the travelling public suffers accordingly.
The first step in road reform should be 20
abolish the right to work taxes out. Let
them be paid in cash and it will soon be
found, if practical men are elected as
road supervisors, that fifty cents in cash
will go as far as one dollar in work, and
that it will not be found difficult to pay
one-half the present taxes in cash. The
plan has been tried in some portions of
Pennsylvania and in portions of other
states and in every case has worked well
and resulted either in a reduction of the
amount of the road taxes or better roads"
Secretary Edge believes the next legis-
lature ought TO appropriate certain
amount of money and say by law that it
viii pay one-third of the cost of con-
structing permanent roads at any time
when local taxpayers promise To pay an
equal amount. The secretary thinks the
counties ought TO also pay one-third, so
that the cost wold be fairly divided and
would fall where it properly belongs.
The state taxes are mainly paid by cor
porations which pay no road taxes, and
this plan would ensure their aid.
Secretary Edge says the proposed law
should not undertake to define too close
ly the meaning of n permanent road.
Something of this should be left to the
local taxpayer and to state officer who
will protect the interest of the state.
The local taxpayer will look out for
the interest of the county and township,
for he pays taxes in both. and thus all
interests could readily be guarded and
protected from fraud.
~ am not disposed TO say that the state,
county and towEship,' continued the
secretary, should each pay one-third.
but let the cost be apportioned among
them under some equitable rule. To my
mind oue-third to each would be Just 10
all and would distribute the cost about as
il should be distributed. The system of
bonding the township is not a just one,
for under it the capital which pays no
road tax and the county pay nothing of
| the tN lStlot, W hci, III ii's, pNlh sii =
about equally interested in the improve
ment. The burden is too heavy for the
township 20 assume, and it should be
more evenly distributed.
There is another feature which should
10y no means be lost sight OF. The rail
roads are interested in having their pa
irons reach their depots easily whether
they come to travel over the line or 10
send freight over il. | will venture the
assertion that if stone has to be hauled
from one point to another along their
| lines they will contribute their share, in
addition to their proportion of the state
taxes, by hauling Al a lower rate than is
charged for other freight"