The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1906-06-07
MIR. ROGERS WRITES
lie Discusses the Subject Of Roads
incidentally AIludeS to Other
Questions in Vigorous
Style.
AN OMNIBUS COMMUNICATION"

II YOU want to travel u.
Get ont and gravel a..
So wrote ~ome wag oi oli--uch
wag- there wcre-and which further
proves there Is nothing new under the
sun. So far at beast a~ bad roads arr
comprrheuIcd iu the Wise man IS sweep
ing declaration. Good roads ARE indeed
what "a distinguished politician said oi
honest pulitic~-"an irrodc~ccut dream.
For rainbow chasing idt dreaming are
the good roads 20 much writ n about.
the er llas- subject oi so many hIt AIR
speeches on thr ro~tluu and 90 the halls
of legislation. Bat talk i- the cheapest
commhlty ui exchange. while good
roads arr the dclu~t. Outright conli--
cation would come cheaper than the
Wild yagagirS oi these writ ~ and
speakers reduced 90 practice. One pi the
Widest oi these ci''mcrical deluSions oi
these good road dreamcrs was made
law last winter. pruyl4ng Tor stat
road commissioners "a salary oi Sb,uuu
pcr year. with general oversight oi all
thc roads in the Stat. from 10000 To
5O. 600 miles perhaps He can. upon the
rruui~itiou Oi the board oi supervisors ui
ANY county. caIi into service au engineer
Tor that county at salary az - ZOO
ner Year. 60 lr paid hy tircuunN solicit
iug tAr ~crt icr. Whose duty is to map
and survey the roads. Ac. having ~
81 200 out. and just where We ur". in
the rut- aul mud. as 10 good roads. let
u- of King George pray that our inuo-
cent abroad uuafi may have reached
the shades ui retirement .ege this ioplan
piece OF in.ah l,g Station gets into swing.
or at na-t hciorc il becomes conscious oi
it- power % further Ai''ct a.. ln iis Wis
dom. Or boo it- want uf It our board.
notwithstanding a. statutory limitation
to operation under uuc ui several ~pcciilr
ROAD laws has become law unto itself.
aud has ~alllsd upon Us every old road
law it could find. whether codiiicd or
traditional IL has put upon Us "a ruad
superintendent. at one dollar and han
per day. % inspect roads. who, al the
public co.t.may hie hlm ont on thc roads
at bis leisure. with or without OCCASION
or call. when ont of q better ioh. lie
cam INSPECT ou bis way 20 church, 10
court. 20 mill 10 wharf. 10 shop, or ON
pleasure bent. 20 -ee a friend, and charge
il all up to the public 10 does look ~
though ordinary intelligence might have
suggest ,d % our board the uttrr iuiiiity
of "a road Superintendent over 300 miles
of road. Even ID hi- oversight or iu-pe'-
filn amounted 10 hill of beans. the nm
deftahgg Is -O gigantic that % is impos-
sihe OF accomplishment At great cost,
and 10 Rad profit. our board invest ID ~ a
road machine. which lies side tracked
and forgotten un some barren vast to
Tot. This venture with the road II
worked barely milr op.uei. 10 j. sale
to say cost u- over 5000. only to make
thr mud deeper and more tenacious. We
are also under "a contract system, Which
secms tO provide for n hcltcr-~kriter'
heterogeneous road mcnding, consisting
of "a piece %. brush put IN "a wash out
wrong end foremost. and fast med down
with - spade iull OF sand. \ good-unti!-
the.mext-rain affair An automatic. sell
pprpetuatiug. Tcunyson's Brook oil Il
90 nu forever contract. aud paid Tor IN
a haphazard. turs OF a penny way De-
pending largely upon the contractor
skill to magnify his labor IN procuring
his brush and in heaying his sand. NOW
what we really need il "a common sense
road law. providing for the care oi the
roads by the land owners and tenants,
support a hy tax on persOnnl proper
IN. not exceeding 20 cents on the SlOO.
This. with small graded wheel taN, the
present county capitation taN.dlStribnted
pro rata 10 the land owners and tenants
according to allotment OF road and
natural difficulties, if not giving US the
ideal roads oi the rantsrs and dreamets,
would at least stay the tide Oh coniisca-
ton and give W. far better roads at a
third OF the present cost No class oi
men can bee so deeply Interested IN roads
~ the farmers, and hence none will give
u so much satisfactory WORK Tor SO
little money.
Well trimmed hedges and good high
WAYS enhance in attractiyeness ana val
uation of the farms through which they
pass. making the road question one oil
ppruliar interest 10 the farmer, rather
than To the hobo class usually employed
in road mending, whose only interest IL
the wage paid them. The road revenue,
like the school revenue, Il worse thah
wasted. it is squandered in making Jobs
for fayOrites. that do not result III ROAD
improvement. Our road tax, now 80
cents. started at 10 cents, scared to ~
cents. then, 10y this geOmetrical progress
sion. assembled 70 30 cents, and II the iOOl-
killer delays his coming over another
Law OF the levy We shall face All infinite
erie--bankruptcy aud ruin. Assuming
that the 10 cent rat raised ! 600 ol
road revenue, 20 cents - 600, 30 cents
So. 700. | deiy these road artists to point
out any betterment to our roads 10y this
raise from rat 10 cate. Since the roads
stand up in evidence that we have gained
nothing in road improvement by Jump
ing from rate to rate. let us in the next
levy get back To the 10 cent rate.
After all. while spring time and sum-
mer. autumn and winter return III s-a-
son. our roads viii be fairly good Tor
three-iourths oi each year. We cannot
afford to wage this unequal war with
nature until we have wiser road generals
and many thousands more ducats. 1t
was ever thus when our fathers had free
labor and were rich. Ii will continue so
until the Federal government shall do
for the roads az avenues OF commerce
MllUl III u uplNk iDi tAt iiN'A'' 80
ton in King George, already prohIbltiye
aud confscatory as To real estate owner
shin. only needs a single lean or drough
wear to put most Of the lands on the de
linquent list.
And the prospect becomes more
gloomy ii. when some worthless, shiitless,
yagabond negro commits someiniamous
crime, lin spite OF his cost to us in edu-
cation) the civil authorities must take
counsel of their fears, telephone for the
military. then hide under a bed until the
soldier BOYS come, and then operate at
a sixty fold cost a questionable combi-
nation of civil and military authority.
The sheriff and his posse, at one-tenth
of this cost, used TO stand for every
emergency, but we have grown rich in
poverty, and fond OF display and parade