The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-08-18
THE ROAD QUESTION.
By Thos. f. Wicker.

good roads they should nrlp TO keep
them IN good condition. Now, if Il
scntimrn, Of this kind need, an an
swrr, | will say that there IS no class
Of people in The county who would
more willingly and chccrfnllv contri-
butte ct their means to the mainten-
ancc OF the roads than the rural let
tel carriers. if by so doing the con-
dition OF The roads would be improv-
ed. But the carriers are like every
body else; they know that under the
present system it. would be money
thrown away. and the condition Of
the roads would remain the same.
They are in favor Of Il law That will
Civ" good roads and which will opcr-
ate on all classes of people alike, and
then they will willingly shoulder their
share Of the burden and bear it with
ont complaint. The rural carriers
are moi aliens; they arc citizens. and
have rs much RIGHT aS anybody else
to complain OF the Inequality in the
operation of Il law and I" suggest
remedies for its Improvement.
1t Is one Of the basic princi pies of
sound aud just government that
every person should contribute to the
public welfare arcordin" to his
means. We raise Il great fuss about
having" this principle carried out in
omr national affairs and complain
that the milinuaircs and wealthy cor
pnratiOns are not contributing ac-
r"rdln" I" their means to support the
government, yet We overlook the fact
that this same principle is violated
right at our very doors, only ON Il
smaller scale. Let me illustrate:
Take the ease Of Il large plantation
owner. In III" Sprin" while the roads
are yet soft and muddy frnm the win
ter raiu> he begins hauling his frrti-
lizcr. lie hauIS tom after ton over
these roads in their soft condition
and cuts them t" pieces; he hauls load
after load Of provisions over them dur
in" the spring and summer for his
hands; in the fall he haulS hundreds
Of bales of cotton, as we'll as other
products Of his farm, over these
roads to market. Vet. under the pres
ent prrniciouS system, he docsn t con-
tribute ono cent moro 10 their maiu-
icnancc than his poor ncighbor who
haulS one ton of 1,,ano over them in
the spring in Il unc-horSc wagon at
that. and in the fall carries Il few
bales of cotton to market and haulS
back over thrm fifty pounds Of flour,
seven pounds Of bacon. and Jug Of
mnlnS~cS! or course this illustration
may be Slightly exaggerated. but il
shows the inequality in the operation
of the law. This defect cannot be
tax alone for the lar-r plantation
owner referred t" above may hc Sc-
y"nd the AGE limit the only way To-
reach him is I" tax his property. and
this tax levy must be sufficiently
heavy to make his contribution pro-
porli"naic to his means rs compared
with the contribution of his poorer
ncl"hh"r VIII" pays both the property
rs we'll rs thc communication tax. \
nnc-half mill or even one mill on pro-
pcrty would not he an ru.iahlc lax,
c"urlcd with Il two or three dollar
communication fax. for ihc reason ihAi
persons VIII" have passed beyond tlr
~" hnlt AND corporations such rs
ralIr"Ad%. manufacturing concerns.
mercantile interests. etc.. upon whom
Il communication fax cannot be- levied.
would .:rt off with the lighter end of
The burden.
Any plan that looks 10 worlin" the
roads by the old anic-brllnm plan will
always be failure for several rca-
sons which no man with ordinary
common sense can deny. In the first
plar" the road workers are ihr far
mrrS Now. farming is il vocation thai
calls Tor lot Of hard work. but road
working. if il is done RIGHT. rcuuirrs
much harder and much heavier work.
After hr"akin" and preparing thc
land ~ IN" spring the heaviest Of thr
lArm work is over: therefore tine rest
OF TN" work. rlnwin" and horinw, ric.
Is light work when compared to rnod
work. Now. warn ont lot Of these
p'orI" from their fields and put them
10 swinging the pick and shovclinr
art and hopping bushes. weeds, and
briars from the roads in the summer
when the thermometer is running be-