Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1901-07-19
no sTATR TAxATIoN.wANTED

Col. w. II. Moore injected some
politics into his discussion Of good
roads at the Greensboro Convention.
] The speeches OF Judge Cantrill
and Others at the Hopkinsville Con-
lventio1 effectuahy defeated the
scheme to recommend to the
| Legislature an sfunconstitutional
plan of state taxation tolimprove
the roads in Kentucky. Col.
Moore, who represents a party
committed to the idea Of centralized
power ipstead of home rule, said
4 Judge Cantrill, who favored county
4 taxation, each county to build and
pay for its own roads, should not be
sent to the Senate entertaining such
/ IDEAS 1t would be well for Col.
| Moore to realize that Judge Cantrill
could not hold different views and
Represent public sentiment in Ken
ltnelly. The Constitution rejecting
AtheseG opinions was adopted ten
I years ago with practical unanimi-
| tyyfollowing a trial o., the very plan
Of state road building now 8Pro-
posed. There may be some adyan-
tages to be gained from incidental
state aid. For instance, convict
labor might be employed by eoun-
ties on contract to maintain the
convicts while employed. The
state might also give assistance by
passing liberal laws and even by
requiring counties to improve their
roads, but a system giving the
State any sort of control of roads,
or authorizing general taXatiO13 to
build roads in favored localities,
would be vicious ID IFS very inseP-
ton. Christian county, for instap Se,
now has about 50 miles of turnpikes
and the people have taxed them
selves for 30 years to pay for them,
to build others and to maintain
their own roads, extending them
mile by mills with a just regard to
the rights of taxpayers- They
would bitterly resent any scheme
to levy upon them an additional tax
to build roads ~ the RIVER bottoms of
Union county or the mountain fast
of Bell Ceounty. Union has
no stone and her People have adopt
ed a system Of their own and they
ask no outside help. Bell coNld
not build roads like esther Chris
tian or UpionY and her Peopledoubt-
less prefer to construct them own
roads in their Swn way Tie NO
ment we establish bureau. To- Con-
troll the highways and sxPendi an
immense fund, that moment we have
the road questioD live issue in
state politics and it wo1ld be 5Ol-
lowed by an era Of corruption that
would disgrace the state. Roads
would be improved by political pulls
and half of the taxes wrung from
the people woeld be squandered in
high salaries and wasted on dis
honest contractors. The cities I'M
prove their own thoropghfares and
the counties can do tbe-same. Sta
tistics show that % per cent. of
the population is urban and it
would be manifestly unfair TO tax
city people to build county roads
and not tax country people to build
streets. And it would be burden
some upon both classes to tax them
in addition to build roads in dis
tant portions OF the STATE, where
the people we're not enterprising
enough to improve thelr own high
ways. Judge Captrill's POSITION is
right as well as CONSTITUTIONAL
The roads must be built BY tAe
counties, owned by the counties and
kept up by the counties, each act
ing for itself. But let Spirit Of
friendly rivalry be aroused and
fostered, if need be, by the State
with rewards, given tothe counties
making the most progress in road
buitdinU