The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1908-02-12
TWO STATE ROADS ADVOCATED
Plan to Dispose of State Farms and
Put All COnvicts to Work OH ,hc
Highways.

feat OF the same in Anderson count,
on the good road question has
prompted me to renew a suggestion
that 1 put forward about six years
as" in reference to the building oil
two grand State roads by convic;
labor. I am still Of the opinion that
convict lator could not possibly be
put to better use than in building
macadam State roads. in preference
to keeping them on State farms rails
ing cotton and corn in competition
with the farmers Of our State. The
main question IS, who receives the
bene fits and profits Of what they
produce Of all kinds each year? I
would like for some one to tell us If
the taxpayers CT the state receive
either directly or indirectly any bene-
fit or profit from the labor Of the
500 Con an averagc) convicts annual
ly gent to the penitentiary. Some one
may say that they are at least self
sustaining. Well, grant that they
may be. Is this enough in q State
like this. where we have such Door
roads and so much talk about devils.
Ing plans to improve them
AS long as the writer can remcm-
bei, the farmers have been expected
to work and improve the public high
ways. Then tell me, under tho present
iaboc system, what time me tacmvr
has tpfdeyote to the working 0: pub
lie roads He can't obtain sufficient
labor to work the farm properly. ler
alone public roads. Hundreds Of
them have told me that they would
willingly pay quarter or even a
half mill more on their taxes each
Year to defray the expenses of the
convicts, guards nnd engineers while
building two grand State roads,
which could be accomplis he'd in
about three to four years with
about 300 convicts, an6 when
finished would De by long odds the
most enduring piece Of work that our
State has ever undertaken since the
grand feat of assisting so nobly in
freeing this country from the tyrani.
cal rule Of the British.
My plan would be to sell tho State
farms and everything contained there
on. except the animals. carts and
wagons, at good prices, convert tn,
proceeds to building public roads as
far as 1t would go. In public road.
YOU will have something tangible.
beautiful and serviceable. In State
farms ycu have neither.
Where and how these State roads
should be constructed, my plan woul1
be to build one from some central
starting point to the coast and go as
near up the centre of the State as
possible to the North Carolina line
The second one should be started al
so as near the centre Of the eastern
boundary OF the State as possible,
and go as neer due west as possible
till tho Georgia line Is reached. The
intersection OF those two State roads
would, think, be somewhere close
to Claremont depot, In Sumter coun-
~. Then as soon as it Is known by
actual survey where the roads will hs
located, the counties through which
they will go, as we'll as the other
contiguous thereto, could
with their county chaingangs, pre-
pare themselves TO construct lateral
public roads of clay and sand. or
any other durable material that may
be most convenient, to connect with
those two State reads. Therefore It
would be complete net work Of fine
roads throughout the State.
In Germany, Austria, Switzerland,
France. England. Ireland and Scot.
land. and. In fact, all the civilized ma
tions. you will find those durable
macadam public highways. made of
broken rock, and in those days they
did not have the advantage Of the
powerful rock-crushing machine that
we have in modern times. All the
rock broken for those roads was
broken by hammer in the hands Of
the peasantry OF those countries.
With our improved machinery Of all
kinds for road building in our pos
session. why can't a great nation like
ours with so much wealth, do even
better than they. In the county OF
Spartanburg, I am told by a gentle.
man who was on the SPOT. that the
gang there build at the rate of a mile
a day of excellent clay roads. He
said they were building both clay and
macadam roads in that county. II