The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1900-03-30
TO GET GOOD ROADS.
METHOD SUGGESTED FOR STATE OF
TENNESSEE.

| Roads Cost IprmcrS-Dhhy
and Free. Delivery.
Hon. G. Il. Cooper, in paper on
Good Roads," read before the farm
ers' institute at Shclbyvillc. after show
ing that the present system Of road
| making in vogue in Tennessee Is Pro-
ductivc Of no p"rmanerkresui;s beyond
the expenditure OF large sums Cf mon
| ey. says:
But how are we 20 have letter roads?
| Ia bulletin No. l. issued in 1894 by Gener-
! al Stou" special aSV:t in charge of ROAD
inquiry lin the UntCL States. the road
laws OF quit" y numIer of states are
given the most of them enacted within
the last decade. y striking similarity
exists among the more radical of these.
The leading features Of these laws are
tie election OF road commissioners and
civil engineer for each county, au-
thority to issue bonds and to borrow
money. the collection or all read taxes
In money ard the abolition of road
oyersccr. whi!c all of them are rot
Incorporated in any one law unless 1t
Ec that Cf New York. Cur present law
| initiates them only to the extent of pro-
| viding for the election Cf Il county com
| missioner. Were all the conditions pro-
! pitioUS-ani this includes good govern
| mcnt. both state and n"tional-the is
suancc CT bonds CrGer the act already
alluded 10 for ROAD Improvement would
result in Il spvHdirr accomplishment Of
! the desired purpose .!:aa any other
| method | can conceive OF.
i,.,... .yl,f o., ch
| be macadamiZcd Bu; can 1t he done?
| | believe il can. An aroused and ell
! lightCncd public sentiment Is wanted.
! TO Illustrate: Suppose tat the 440
miles of reads in Bedford county were
converted into pixies at n cost Of $780,
OG0 and - per cent ~ year louds were
| issued and SOLD to pay 70: tl.Cr. what
i would hc o,ir annual Interest charge?
! Twenty thousand dollars. What would
we have to show for it? \ county
system of roads unsurpassed in Amcri-
| ca. But what did we pay in 1889?
| Twenty thousand two hundred and
rnCty-four dollars and siXty-cight
cents. What did we have to show
as n result of the expenditure? The
same old mud roads, but little i'm
proved.
| Estimating the taxable property Of
the county at $J,000.OO0, n tax of !
| mills. or two-iiftEs Of per cont on the
dollar. would pay tho annual interest.
| But suppose we should undertake this
| by in:tal!mcnts, say onc-QUartcr. or
1lO miles nt time, that would reduce
the cost to Qpr-quartcr Of the above
calculation. Or suppose we would un-
dcrtakc to pike cnr-half. or 900 miles
Of our roads, and these the most i'm
pOwtant and leading to our trade cen
tcrs. leaving the ether half to be look
ed after by the official Of the best gen
cral road law. we can get them and
| IL that event our annual interest
Charge would he $4,000 year which
, could be discharged by n road tax levy
Of mills on the dollar OF our present
| property. to say nothing Of its in
creased value or Of the influx of cap
/ ital that would lie sure to seek invest
| m"nt in so desirable Il locality.
What is said above is applicable to
, all the surrounding counties and
may say to the entire state Hamilton
county in east and Shelby county in
west Tennessee being examples. This
| Ia - Al 10 ciCu county.
| by authority of Il two-thirds vote of the
entire vote Of the county, to issue
bends to the extent Of 3 per cent of
al tie taxable property for the pur-
| pose Of improving its roads In any
manner the people may think best or
desire.
AS said above. II might be an i'm
provemcni IN the law to amend it SO
as to require majority vote instead
Of two-thirtls. This is democratic and
, would certainly make the law more
available.
| / have no means Of knowing. neither
! VIII the limits Of this paper permit
| m" 10 more than allude to the losses
! the farmers of Rcdford county have
Sustained for the lack Of better trans
portaton facilities. These are con-
st11t. am sure. however that the
Losses OIL timber alone in the last two
years would amount to Il very consid-
cradle part of the money necessary to
make system OF good roads.
farmers products are worth to
him the market price minus the trans
pnrtaiiGn TO market. Good roads would
reduce this expense and convert the re-
! duction into profit. The better the
transportation facilities. the faster do
! cities and trade centcrs Increase In
wealth. The same Is true Of railroads.
| The better the roads. the greater the
stimulus to production and the greater
I the amount of freight furnished them
| to handle.
SO, from financial standpoint. can
conceive OF no interest that would not
be benefited socially. educationally and
re!igiouSly. The benefit TO the country
people would be incalculable. The tide
would change. The drift would be to