The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1909-11-18

IL would marx the enu OF DlNA~erlnS
and usher in the era OF concerted ac-
tion. Each county would have its
vote, each township would have its
say. each citizen would have his
voice. The result would be the results
OF the majority-Vox Populi making
. sober, instead of its too-often
drunken choice.
Hope OF West.
1t is out of some such policy as
this-which 1 have roughly suggest
ed-that I conceive must come
the hope of Western counties for ad-
equate roads. We have here the rich
est heritage of nature, but nature
seems to guage the measure OF her
rewards to men by the measure OF
mems toll. Through the years in this
mountain countr! we have been ap-
preaching n destiny limited only by
the way in which we meet the con-
dition that holds il in lease. The con-
dition is transportation. Transpor-
tation is spelled in syllables of road
ways. When We of the mountains
look upon our massive hills. when
we consider our rich but deep-lying
valleys, when we contemplate the
wonders of our higt-iying yet fertile
isothermal Coves, wnen we gasp in
calculation of our water powers and
the wealth OF our pungent forests,
when we dream of the mineral riches
that core the hearts OF our eternal
crests; when we translate these op-
portunities into terms of transporta-
ton, we are apt to sigh for the lev
els of the east in anticipation of our
own Eerculean task. forgetting in the
realization of the work the infinite
quality and quantity Of the infinite.
So far, we are as miners working
placer gold in pans. We have not such
shaft. SO far. and truly. we have
not had the capital upon which to re-
aliZe our heritage.
Railroads and Manufacturing.
Here and there Il railroad has
burrOwed into our mountains. Along
the railroads we have prOspered in
manufacturing. in mining, in the
smallest proportional way in the
transportation of our products. The
railroads are the arteries of trade,
leading from the mountains to the
plains and to the sea. Where are the
veins of that trade, the lateral system
wherein must circulate the blood of
our body of civilization? Shall we
keep them cloEgcd. as now, with Ia
mOrS and misSii ings? or shall we
take n physic for our health? 1t is TO
our interest to join the state in the cf-
fort to bring our resources into easy
reach of all men" Is il to the states
interest to share with us the expense
of accomplishing speedily and for all
time what we, unaidcd, could accom-
plish only superiCially and with trav-
all?
No policy such as has been hintcd
could, of course, escape two classes of
critics who are always with us. We
might safely count, l am sure. en- the
objection of some constitutional law
yers and on objection, on the same
ground, from some legal laymen fond
of referring to Magma Charta and the
Bill of Rights as the greatest doc
kyment.s ever written" We might also
count, TO surety, on the Vocifr-ous
objections of certain parties at home
and elsewhere, who, =; the men
tion of bonds for any purpose. arc
apt to froth at the mouth between
loud cries Of pay rs you CO." and
gasps OF Putting n burden on pos
tcrity."
In answer to the constitutional stu
dents it might be suggested that state
aid TO roads is founded on preccdcnts
running into and behind the Dark
Ages" and so good that some of the
roads that resulted stand today as
models after the passage of time so
vast that not even hieroglyphics can
record its beginning. Also that the
constitution of the United States
would be a better working document
toward extracting the usefulness out
of the Post Road Clause" and that
the state certainly contains nothing
prohibitory and much out of which
the power could be logically con-
strued. While to our friends of the
pay as you go" morality for the
people they without exception are
willing to take credit for themselves)
riGht be answered their gasping solic-
itude for "posterity" in the phrase of
that gifted senator. whose name I do
rot now recall, who once replied to
similar plant: "Posterity, MIR. Pres
ident, what in the hell has posterity
ever done for u.s."
For my part, as Il pUsterity, I be-
love that we can bes serve our prog
eny by serving ourselves: that we
cnn assure them the opportunity OF
happiness and prosperity by leaving
them land developed and fit for their
hands, and by leaving them. through
such development. the means and the
culture to appreciate and promote it,
We Are Postcrity.
"Posterity," We are posterity
In charge of IT, responsible for it and
to II. In the words Of the German
proverb, "Das ewig uns Hinaus''--"the
eternal springs from us" Teach this
to our mountain folk, simply, plainly.
honestly. Woo them away froI
preiuGices. fire chem against Il
thine of 'let well enough alU s
this campaign for improved hi; .,...
Teach them by example. in D ....