The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1919-02-18
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1S, 1919
THE STATE-AND ROADS.

sition advanced by this paper that
the roads to be built by the proposed
twenty-five million dollar bond issue
will not be of any value to those peo-
pie of the county who do not reside
on the roads connecting county seats,
the Columbia State asks these ques-
tions:
"Would the Press and Banner be
content if all the steam railroads ran
around, instead of through, Abbe-
vile County? DO Abbeville men re-
siding ten miles from a steam rail-
road derive no advantage from rail
road transportation facilities?
care the steam railroads worthless
to any man or to the average man of
Abbeville County?
"How much would the price of Abb
beville cotton be affected il every
bale Of it had to be hauled so miles
to a railroad station?"
The State is advised that the pro-
position, in our judgment, cannot be
successfully argued from premises
which do not exist. The ACCESSIBILITY
of issuing these bonds, and of build
ing these roads, must be decided
from conditions as THEY NOW EX-
IST, and not from what The Press
and Banner might advise, if condi-
tions were different. The steam
roads are here, and no light is to be
shed on the road question, by ask
ing questions about what any man
would do if these steam roads were
not here. Being here, and connect
ing the town of Abbeville with Nc
Cormick, Greenwood and Anderson,
50 that we are in easy reach of all
these places, and being so located
that no man in Abbeville County is
now more than ten miles from one
Of these steam roads, the question is,
Would it profit the average farmer,
or the average man, to parallel these
steam roads with roads Of our own
construction? Would it profit the
average farmer who lives within ten
miles Of a steam road to have one of
these concrete roads built within ten
miles Of his farm?
That question may be easily an
swered from experience rather than
from theory. A portion Of the Green
vile and. Columbia branch Of the
Southern Railway runs from Green
wood to Greenville. Some years ago
the Piedmont and Northern Railway
paralleled this line by building an
other line Of railway between these
points. Every farm on tho road
1-1 =, 1m Abbeville to Due West is with
in ten miles Of this new railroad. Has
anyone, ever advanced the arsur.. snt
that the building Of this Second llne
gave the farmers better 'opportun-
ity to ship their products to Green
vile, Greenwood, or intermediate
points, than they already had? Has
&s freight rate been lowered, or the
freight accommodations been better?
Can any man truthfully say than an
acre Of the land in Abbeville County,
ten, or even five miles from these two
lines Of railway, is worth more to-
day than it would have been worth
had the second line not been built?
We do not think SO.
It is not contended by The State
that these concrete roads, il they
might be used for hauling freight,
would give US any cheaper freight
rates than we now have. If the
editor Of The State has had any ex-
perience with motor driven vehicles,
he might admit that it is not practi-
cal to haul freight in this way ex-
cept for very short distances, on &C.
count Of the enormous outlay neces.
sary to prepare for this kind OF haul
ing, as well as on account of the ex-
pense incident to this kind Of trans.
portation. And if passengers may be
conveyed by motor driven vehicle:
on paved roads as cheaply as by rail
ways, will the editor Of The State tel
"