The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-01-02

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| To the Editor: When all things have
teen considered the friends of good
roads in North Carolina may claim that
| the progress made in this movement has
| been fairly satisfactory. The movement
| began twenty years ago. Since that time
| us advance has not been continuous or
! regular, but, on the other hand it has
| swung like pendulum; except that for
| every backward step there have been two
| steps forward. And while the forward
| movement has grown steadily stronger,
the occasional backward movement has
grown steadily weaker.
During the past year in connection
with this forward movement for better
roads We find public opinion among all
the intelligent classes of our citizens be-
coming more and more a unit in favor
Of change of policy from our old sys-
tenn of compulsory labor to the new sys.
tenn of working roads by taxation, or
by taxation and labor combined We
arc in the transition period from this old
system to the new. Our people are be-
ginning to realize, furthermore, that
while an efficient modern road system
IS impossible except under SYSTEM of
taxation, money raised by taxation is not
sufficient to push this good work forward
as rapidly as it should go without the
cooperation IN the form of LABOR of those
able bodied citizens who pay little or nu
tax for road purposes. In many countiC;,
We see a cooperative spirit developing,
i.t 1ool e,e
citizens, in addition to the taxes which
they pay, to still further aid this move
ment by furnishing, free Of charge, teams
or labor or timber or stone or-cther ma
terialS needed in this connection ~
A few years ago but one county ins the
State was macadamizng its highways.
During 1899 between twenty five sslasf
thirty miles of road We're macad danizess
IN ten different counties. Ana, in addf
ton to this, grading and ether permanent
improvements are II progress in twenty
additional counties, hearty all of which
have purchased road machines. scrap
ers, etc, with which ;he work is being
done. IN connection with this work du-
ring the year four or five hundred short
term conyicts We're employed in these
various counties, ard some mag over
S1J0.G0O in actual cash was expended;
practically all of this money being eS-
pended within the limits Of these com
ties, 50 that this money instead of op-
pressing people in the form of a tax t.
be sent elsewhere, is kept in circulation
amongst the people who paid it. And its
expenditure is accomplishing, slowly but
surely, public work of enormous i'm
portance and Of permanent value to these
people.
II
ton with this good roads movement is
the fact that in the counties where the
work has already gone far enough to
prove its advantages, there is little or no
kicking against the tax. And in that
one of the counties which has gone fur
thoSt in this great work, viz: Mecklen-
burg. the writer has been unable to ind
Il single individual who is opposed to this
good roads movement. The unanlmlty OF
sentiment in that county in favor of tins
work is so strong that should he IN the
future find a citizen who is opposed to it
he would Immediately inquire whether
there Was a vacancy in the Morganton
asylum where such citizen could be stored
for time. Taking into consideration
the various counties which have begun
tO macadamise their roads, 1t may be
safely said that the opposition to the
good roads movement has decreased III
proportion as the tax for road purposes
has been increased, and in proportion to
the number of miles Of macadamiscd road
that have been built.
Taking the State as a whole, of course,
there is considerable opposition still to
the taxation of property for road i'm
provement And. strangely enough as
general rule, the man who pays the least
tax is the man who does most of the
kicking What is needed is a continual
ton Of the educational campaign. Our
people must be shown that good roads
Will pay. and indeed, that good roads are
a necessity in Ncrth Carolina If the
State is to keep up in the general march
of progress being made all over the coun-
try a rich man can afford to use two
horses Or four horses in order to accom- /
plish what one horse ought to do, but
the poor man cannot, and he must De
led to see and understand the situation
in its true light. And in proportion as
this is accomplished his opposition to |
taxation for better roads will diminish
until it disappears entirely. This problem
is Of more Importance to the farmers
in North Carolina than to any other class
of people, and leading and intelligent
farmers who appreciate the situation
are the ones who ought to be foremost
in pushing forward this educational cam
paign in behalf of better and cheaper
means of transportation from the farm
to the market.
Then, too, we must classify our public |
roads. We must first eXpend the larger /
portion of our good roads money III the !
Improvement of certain important high /
ways. We are now trying to work and
improve too many miles of public roads
in proportion to our wealth. We must
select the most important roads and put
these in good condition first, and after I