Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1900-01-11
JULIUS HINES & SON
BALTIMORE, MD. Department. 9O9

BALTIMORE, MD. Department. 9O9
A prominent and progressive
Western Sullivan county farmer
sends this office an article on MAX
ing roads; which, if practiced, would
be found to be very practical. 1t says
"The greatest enemy of good roads
is water. A road may easily be kept
good if the water can be kept off.
Hence the first thing to consider in
constructing road is to build it so
the water will run off. This is ac-
complished by building it high in
the middle or "crowning" it and
giving the entire road surface Il
hard, smooth finish.
Water always runs down hill, and
it will readily run off of any road
if it be but given an opportunity to
do so. The fault with too many of
our roads is that the water cannot
run off. Passing wagons and horses
hoofs are permitted to wear them
down until ruts are formed, these
hold the water and allow it to sink
into the ground, which becomes
softened, so that continued travel
makes matters worse and worse.
The problem of building roads
which will shed water has been
solved by the road grader or road
machine. The American farmer Is
quick to realize the value of machin-
cry, and the rapid growth in the
use of the reaper, the binder and the
separator is on eloquent tribute to
practical genius of American agri-
culture. Use of machinery in build
ing roads has been seriously handi-
capped by its cost. 1t is frequently
thought wrong that farmers should
be obliged to tax themselves for the
purchase of road graders and road
rollers in addition to having to stand
the regular road tax. There is much
justice in this position, for the aver
age farmer pays his full share of
taxes, and these should not be added
to or increased without some very
excellent reason. But the farmers
of the United States are badly in
want of good roads, and the clamor
for there construction is growing
from year to year. Quite number
of towns have solved the road ma
chinery problem by voting to pay
their taxes in cash instead of work
ing them out, and using a part of
this fund for the purchase of ma
chimes. which avoids the neccesiy of
levying an extra tax for the porpose.
Road taxes may be collected in cash
without hardship to tho poorer farm
er, who may desire to continue
working out their share of the taxes
as heretofore. Only part of the tax
would ever be required during any
one year to pay for machinery, and
the remainder would be used to en-
ploy men and teams for operating
the machines. Thus the poorer tax
payers are given employment at
good wages, and the town officers
are in a position to secure Il dollars
worth of work for every dollar of
tax, which has been impossible in
many towns under the old system of
working out taxes. This explains
the growing popularity of the cash
road tax and the fact that few towns
have ever abandoned it after giving
it fair trial. Experience has shown
that more can be accomplished with
81 of road tax paid in cash than
with - or even SO Of tax worked
out on the highway. This has made
it possible to make Il large reduction
i'm the amount of the tax. \ number
Of states have recently adopted laws
authorizing the town boards to pur-
chase road machinery on time pay
ments, among them being Michigan
| New FORK, Arkansas and Wiscon-
son.
The talk about depressing" the
FillipineS and denying them free
dom and justice is along the line of
the fulminatiOns of Il certain class
during the Civil War, who constant
IN asked whether the United States
should subjugate the South and hold
its free people as vassels. The Con-
federate States were subiugated;
forced to submit to the sovereignty
of the Union, but the people Of those
States are not now vassels or OPP
pressed. Oppression under th9Stars
and Strips is only a phrase for dem
agogues.