Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1903-12-30

e
Tbs rap;,iity with which the senti-
msut ~ favor of national aid 10 tSe
common roads Of The country h> y
spread, and the eagerncss with which
the proposi,ion is Welcomed since
the introduction Of the Brownlow
bill in Congress, have not only l.een
highly graft, lug to sthe friends Of
/ the measure, but sstonisbing TO its
Iopponents.
The truth is the great body Of the
farmers Of the land are Glow in de-
mandiDg what they are justly en-
titled to. Had the same necessity
as the want of good roads among
farmers existed in relation TO the
manufacturing, mining or CONNER
DIAL interests Of the country, such a
necessity would have long since
been recognized and met by adequate
appropriation from Congress. The
tillers of the soil do not work in
concert for their own advancement.
BY the census of 1900, the whole
number of people above the age of
ten years engaged in gainful ocoupa-
tions in the United States was
29,074,117. OF this number 1O,381,-
1856 were engaged in agricultural
pursuits. No other specified occu-
patton employs SO many. And yet
the farmers of the country, who con-
tribute more to its permanent. pros
perity than all other classes COM
bined, have the smallest considera-
ton in the matter of Congressional
appropriations. Until the rural
mail routes we're established, citi-
zen living in the country rarely re.
ceived direct benefits from the money
expended by the general government,
except that for the agricultural de-
partment.
The commerce of the country felt
the exhuberauce of fresh life and
vigor from the Improvements of rivers
and harbors, but this exhuberance
would have been vastly increased
had half the money appropriated for
rivers and harbors been applied to
aid in the Improvement and mainte-
nance of the public roads, the very
foundation of commerce.
1t is not to be imagined that any
one proposes that the government
shall enter upon the work of build
ing public highways without the
cooperation of the State, county or
other political subdivision. The
policy of the government should be
to help those communities that help
themselves; to stimulate action and
enterprise rather than to repress it
by appropriating money to those
communities that do nothing for
themselves.
One objection that has been urged
against The appropriation of money
by the Federal Government to aid
in road building is that the members
of Congress would engage in such
turmoil and unseemly strifes as are
now witnessed in securing appropria-
tions for rivers and harbors. This
could not be the case under the
Brownlow bill, for it provides that
no State shall receive in aid of road
construction out of any money ap-
propriated for that purpose q greater
proportion Of the total amount ap-
propriated than its population bears
to the total population of the
United States. To illustrate: If
$20,000,000 should be appropriated,
Massachusetts would receive, approx
ima,ely, $735,OO0; Alabama, $497,-
600; Tennessee, $524,OO0; Michi-
gan, $634,OOO and Maryland, $3l1,-
600.
To any one who will study closely
any of the provisions of the Brown
low bill, it will be apparent that the
interests of the government have
been well protected in every particu-
lar. The value of the bill is the be-
neficent influence it will exert upon
local action. Experience has shown
that something is necessary to stimu-
late local effort in the matter of
road building. The history of the
construction of roads in all European
countries shows that no good perma-
nent free roads have ever been built
by local assessments or taxation.
fiydaies Elixir.