The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1897-05-25

The administration waN' rs against
gang system may hr II good thing, and
| believe the rrOprr way OF treating
0ur petty rriminal%. ana l,y sack sys-
tenn get and keep our public roads in
good condition. Eu, 10y Il careful analy.
sis Of the expense OF Keeping it up and
the results attained. il is either fail
Wrr or "advuurrd mrthudS Of book
krrping.' The results are no WAY adv-
Quntr to the amount ni money first OK.
pended to 50, the gang in morton and
to meet current expenses.
will advance u few figures merely
to base Il calculation, and will NO.
vuuch for their entire accuracy. hu,
from the hes, intor nation near enough
for all practical purposes:
Fust -~ Marhinr. plows and tools. $500
-Four mules. r$............... GOO
wagon ....... ..... ..... ~
TrntS, srraprrS, gears, locks
and chains. &c.......... 100
Four oxen. with yotcs &c. 100
=,
lNtlNtntuiS. ......,. ~
Making in all about twelve hundred
dollars to star, with. | think. perhaps,
the oxen, or Il par, at least, have hcrn
disposed Of
Now let us look what it takes to keep
up and in worNing ORDER this luxury of
Furnishing from eight to ten cunvirts.
Sometimes there are more, sometimes
less: sometimes it has hcru noticed that
only five or six couvirts were the re-
cipirntS Of all this outlay:
ovrrsrcr per month. h................S: SO
'nard. d....'........ ........ ID
Board Of ovcrsc = and guard. .. H.
lnASmurh as The county is required
to furnish rationS. and they are not
limited to corn bread and fat bacon.
but occasionally eggs. butter, fresh
! meat and vegetables. don't think
have PIT .hcir hoard too high.
The feed Of four mules per month. $50
l}ations for : to 10 rCnvicts . 10
Making grand total Of nearly 800
per month rs current expenses Of the
chain gang.
Then there are the clothing for con-
NictS and Il reward occasionally Of $25,
which would easily run the grand total
up to one hundred dollars per month,
or more, considering there is black
smithing, such rs Shocing the stock,
sharpening tools, mcnding machinery:
also bedding, clothing, and shoes for
those who are in for II lengthy term.
AS for results, | will only point to the
conditions Of the roads. 1t is noto!i-
GUS fact that the roads last winter
were worse than have been known for
years. is true the chain gang has
been switched OF into bridge building,
wood cutting for public officers and en-
tensirc farming at the poor house. AS
for bridge building, that has been pro-
nounccd by those who seem to know II
failure; and as for cutting wood for
public officers, it is simply an outrage
upon the tax paycrs--lhcrc is not n
shadow of law for it, and i, should be
stopped.
We have had the constitution" run
ming two years, and over, at an expense
of from three thousand to thiity-hvc
hundred dollars, pretty steep for the
work Of eight to twelve hands. will
say nothing Of the fourteen hundred
dollars paid last year for shovels and
picks alone, nearly tho same the year
before, and perhaps that much this
year. II used to he Il pcrplcNing Qun,;-
tion and one often asked, but never an
swcrrd: "Whut aors with all the
pins?'
The Question now in order is: "What
goes with all the shovcls?' The chain
gang hasn't them; the farmers know
don't want them and haven't them, for
If they did they could use the county
ShOvcls and return them: the ovcrsccrs
of the roads haven't them, 80 whore are
all the shovcls bought in the last four
or five years? And where Is the work
on the public roads of Ncwborry Coun-
ty that Is equal to three thousand dol
lars or more?
No" "'i'o oicSe hSuIcS uuu UclS
in no fault finding mood Of any one. I
criticise none and blame none. Per-
h&ps each and all have done tho vc'y
best in heir different spheres. still
think something is wrong. There is
annually too much money spent on
public roads, with not enough improvc-
mcnt to warrant it. Let the people
think of this, and'if they think it is
best as 1t is, let it stand, but il they
think, as great many do, thu, it costs
more than it is worth, drop it, and the
sooner the better.
JUSTICE.