Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1911-05-26

fail voted bend ISSUE OF s2o0}.0ao, 81
be spent upon The hlghways OF WAYNE
county. The state will also Lc'p, AMI
the result will be $50 to 800 mics OF
first class highways, covering tie
county with Detroit as a center. BY
spreading the payment over 20 years it
is found the increase In taxation IS SO
small as not to be noticeable. On an
average so acre farm 1t will be some.
thing like $3.50 year.
Roads well built are permanent,
given a moderate amount Of attention
aud expense for maintenance.
There is 10 reason why the present
generation should carry the whole bur.
den, and the future should be relieved
therefrom.
The plan CT building q s,,2e',,
road every year by an annual o.. -.
extending the road a mile or two at q
time is unsatisfactory in results, tie
cost is considerable more than it
should be, and it takes a long time to
get the roads. If 20 miles were built
at one time in a township, there vcnld
be strong competition among contract.
ors ana the tax payers would find thew
could set their roads from 10 to g5
per cent. less money, that they would
have better built roads and would have
them to use at cnee instead Of waiting
ten years or more to build them piece.
meal, and have the first mile practi.
cally worn out before the last one was
finished. OF course there would be
interest to pay on the bonds, but if the
use of the roads is not worth more 10
the community than the interest on the
bonds, it would not pay to build tha
roads. Money can be borrowed at four
or five per cent, and those in posi-.
ton to form good judgment, will say
that first class roads will pay for them.
selves every five years, or in other
words, that their use is worth 20 per
cent. of the cost each year.
One sometimes hears a farmer. WIN
is opposed to the building of hard
roads, say that he can raise no mora
grain or get a larger return from the
farm by reason of having good roads.
Such one will attempt to sustain his
position by stating only part of the
whole proposition. OF course it is trua
that the road has no influence unon
theproduct'vity of the farm along which
1t passes, but it does not follow that
the net results are the same, whether
the roads are good or bad.
Only few days ago the writer was
down in the corn belt of Illinois and
saw four horses hauling a load of corn
into town. 1t was all the horses could
do to handle the load, although the
country was comparatively level. This
mud In the road was nearly a foot
deep. No fair minded man will sa,
that crop can be marketed under
such conditions as cheaply as when tho
roads are good, and single team car
handle the same at twice the speed.
The value of the farm does not do
! pend alone upon what the soil will pro
duce, but upon its accessibility t,
market, the en- >ironment and wbetbe,
the farm Is In every way desirable n,
a place to live. We spend money FL,
pleasure and for comfort. and If /,
right that we should do SO, Probsh,,
las rule too little is spent fol
this. Whenever gool roads have bee,
Dullt, In any community, there ha,
been a sharp advance in the price n
land, because the farms are more an
Icessible. The writer has in mind
county in northern Indiana, wher,
about ten years ago a system of 2.
miles OF hard roads were built, cover
ling the main highways of the town
ship. About $S5,000 we've spent upon
the improvements. the payment spread