The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-21
SOME OF CONNECTS WILL WORK ROADS Board of Revenue to Take Mat
 ter Up in January SUBURBAN TOWNS BLAMED Many of Them Do Not Keep Roads In Repair, Says MT. McGeever, and
 Board of Revs=ae Is Cen
 sured For It.
SUBURBAN TOWNS BLAMED

The board of revenue adjourned yester- day morning for the holidays, and will not assemble again until December 20, when the new bids for the hire of con victs will be opened and passed upon. The board has practically decided that it will not take up the question of working con- victs on the public roads until after Jan uary i.
 Advertisements appearing in local papers and calling for bids for the hir- ing of convicts contain clause which says the board reserves the right to use not less than twenty-five nor more than fifty of the county convcts on the road. From this it is apparent that the board at least intends to experiment with the new idea which has been so widely dis eussed.
 Mr. McGeever Talks.
 Mir MeGeever one of the old members of the board. is taking an active inter- est in the matter of putting convicts on the public roads, and Is Investigating it thoroughly.
 IL ID lihtiJ Nhdt hii 'A bNA eiAiAS '''A be taken up on December 20 with the leasing of convicts to the successful bid ders, and we will not be able to take up the road question until early In Jan uary," said Mir. McGeever 'I am heartily in favor of at least ex- perimenting on this matter. It was for that reason the right to use not less than twenty-five nor more than fifty convicts for the working of roads was reserved.
 You see," continued MT. McGeever ''if we do not reserve a few of the convicts for experimental purposes they will all have to be used in the mines under the four-year contract, and when that ex- pires 1t will be two more years before any necessary legislation can be secured As it is we can experiment with few of the convicts and if we are successful we can present the matter to the legls- lature two years hence. Then we will be prepared to deal with the matter more tract has expired.
 Condition of Roads.
 "While l realize that our roads are not in excellent condition" said MT. Me Geever, they are not so bad as many are led to believe Take for instance the road leading to Powderly. You will find good road until you strike the edge of West End. Through that little city the roads are bad, but after you get past Pow derly and Cleveland you will find a clear stretch of fine roads. The same applies in all directions, and the trouble Is that the little incorporated towns through which these roads pass do not care TOT them. We have no right to touch road inside the corporate limits of Birming- ham or of any of these incorporated towns Consequently the board of reve- nue Is blamed for many bad roads which they have no power to remedy. We real ize that our part of the road system is not as well cared for as they might be, but we do not like to receive the blame for the faults of incorporated towns
 "In view of the general discussion of this matter and the apparent desire or the people to nave this matter tested l shall use my utmost endeavors to put at least fifty of the convicts on the roads,"
 Gen. R. D. Johnston.
 Gen, R. D. Johnston, who appeared be- fore the board Monday and requested that provisions be made for the protection and humane treatment of convicts. Is also an ardent advocate of working convicts on the roads. General Johnston lived in Charlotte, N. C., for long time and 1t is said that Mecklenburg county, in which Charlotte Is situated. has the greatest system of public roads In the country.
 "In North Carolina we started with this matter many years ago, and now no county can boast of better roads, said General Johnston. "I am anxious for the board of revenue to take the matter up and experiment with 1t if nothing more. In Mecklenburg county all of the con victs are worked on the roads and wit nesses juries and other court expenses are paid out of the general fund We have no fine and forfeiture fund The system there works out beautifully. and wit. nesses are never paid off in script, but can get the cash whenever they desire it.
 In North caloina.
 "A feature of the road work in North Carolina which has proved very popu- lar" continued General Johnston, 'is the clearing the fields of rock. The farm CTS are requested to pile all the rock off their farms along the roadside and they are paid enough for the rock to meet the expenses of moving if. This rock is crushed and forms the foundation for the roads, As result we have a mag nificent system of public roads there, ana all of the farmers as well as the mer- | chants have prospered through this man ner of rapidly transporting products from | the farms 10 the markets.
 "soon after Mecklenburg county took | tbis matter up other counties began to fall fin line and now there is beautifully graded road which extends almost across | the entire state.
 | General Johnston and MT. McGeever are both fin favor of working the short term convicts on the roads. those sem tenced for six months and under. They give as a reason for this that they are not valuable for coal mining purposes, as it takes long time to learn how to mine coal On the other hand, both MT. Me- Geever and General Johnston say that these convicts are just as good as any body to work the roads within few days after beginning their work. Made Rome Great. N. B. Feagin. judge of the inferior criminal court of Birmingham: Good roads? Am I in favor of good roads? Why, sir. have been in favor of good roads since I first began to be