The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1903-01-14
gagses suggestive report of the comptroller
ROAD IMPROVEMENTS

oanSrnI >~p"1S "a Sue comptroller
ROAD IMPROVEMENT.
t would be waste OF words to at
OF south Caroliniana the .importance Of
sooo ROADS and the necessity for road
Improvement. Neither would It be pro.
ntapie to attempt to argue before you
sne advantages of good roads. for al.
are agreed upon that subject. The
suoh which concerns us is how best
10 secure them; to devise some plan by
~hicn we can, at least. begin the build
ing or good roads. 1t is q. business pro-
position. and should be taken hold of In
business way.
WNn the extension Of the rural deliv-
cry OF mail, the necessity is upon us
!or road Improvement, for already the
uepartment at Washington Is discuss
ing the imprecticability of extending.
OF even or carrying on this service OF
Ilall delivery unless there is road inn
provement. 1t has been stated that the
Postmaster general Is to be asked to
consider plan for the betterment of
our public roads. and the request Ia
oased on the fact that only one serious
opstacie stands In the way Of extending
ana developing our free rural delivery
service, and that is the condition
Of the public highways. Mr.. Martin
Oooge, director OF the bureau of public
roads inquiries of the department of
agriculture, IN his recent report said !:
Inc circumstance that over $4,000. 900
was appropriated by our last congress.
.aargeiy TO be buried8fn muddy roads in
the delivery OF our rural mails.
while only the small sum of 500. 900
was last year devoted to meeting the
road problem, indicates the great need
OF eaucation regarding the present me-
cessity and demand for vigorous and
intelligent road work
''AS much Of fhero Ioroo o~-,o-,t.
lions for rural mail delivery could be
saved II we had good roads, IL is OBJ.
Vious that an amount equal to q con.
siderable portion OF these sums could
pc spent to a good advantage lin edu-
eating the people in the work OF i'm
forever close a large drain on our ma.
ttonal cash box"
1t fs not 30 much a question of edu-
cation, at least withfus, as 1t is q ques-
lion OF the means wherewith to build
gooa roads And yet in sense it is a
people could be taught to realize the
value and Importance Of good roads
tnere would not be so much trouble to
secure the means. If we could have
some practical illustrations of the value
ana the saving to our people Of good
roads they would not hesitate to put up
the money to secure them. for. though,
we are not rich. they would then realize
tnat they could not make q better pay-
ing investment than money put in good
and permanent road Improvement. If
the genera! government could follow
the suggestion of MIR. Dodge and spend
some money in demonstrating the value.
ana the service to the people of good
ROADS, and the advantages to accrue we
would have little trouble In CONTINUING
the work. And as he suggests it would
De a saving to the government at
In
delivery service, and would be as legit-
innate expenditure of government funds
as the building of dykes and the drafn-
age and irrigation of lands, for which
the government Is now spending large
sums OF money.
But G1ter all we must depend upon
our own resources for this great adj
vance movement. To accomplish re-
suits VIII take money, and the way to
raise this money Is by a property tax.
-!uer the present system OF road
working, our public roads are almost
1mpassable at certain seasons of the
year. With the one dollar commute
tion tax we are going backward. be-
cause the money from this is made
quate even to work the roads. Besides.
it Is not right to make the people who
ilve In the rural districts keep up the
roads. any more than II Is to make any
otner class of our citizens keep up and
s@iAS Oti1Sr public The
pubA.c road Is as much the property OF
the county as the court house or the
jail. A property tax for roac: building
would reach the Incorporated towns and
cities and the railroads and other cor
porations, and make them contribute
and no one will deny that they are as
much benefited by good roads as the
people Of the country.
The labor OF our chaingangs in most
counties Is labor thrown away and tho.
money to support them is money
Wasteu: The chaingangs should be re-
quireo 10 DO permanent road work
starting from the county court house
as the geographical centre and building
out In each direction permanent roads.
II only few miles are built each wear
IL VIII be so much contributed to the
general welfare. The State convicts
could not be put to better public
service, even If It necessitated selma
some of the State farms.
we can never have any permanent
road work done until we change the.
present system and make provision to
make 1t mandatory that said money
skaii be put on permanent road i'm
and also make it mandatory
tnat the chaingangs shall be put on the
same work.
The advantages Of good roads and the
~ tHe people ana the Increased
Vaiue or land as result Of them are.
30 patent that they scarcely need to
be stated. But unless you change the
present system we will continue to 20
backward. 1t Ia remarkable that our
people have so long submitted to the
condition of our public roads without
making greater efforts for their sub
stantfal Improvement. AS to this coun-
try at large ut Is conservatively estf-
mated by government officials that we
are needlessly losing or wasting over
5000. 100000 each year because OF our bad
roads. making mud tax Of over 81, ,000,-
1oo Tor every working day in the year
and an individual tax Of nearly s8 M
each year for every person in this coun-
try This does -. include the disad-
vantages and Inconvenience and dis
comforts incident to bad roads. We are
losing or wasting our pro rata Of this
sum In South Carolina and