The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-04-01
MORE COOP ROADS.

Out in Arkansas the good roads
chickens are coming home to roost.
Tie present week the New York
Times has had several stories telling
of remarkable proceedings in good
roads building in that state, Inas-
much as, the people of this county
and of other counties of the state
have voted, or are about to vote
bonds for the building of roads, it
may be worth while to know the. ex-
perience of the people who have al
ready built, the, so-called good roads.
We are carrying an editorial be-
J low taken from Thursdays New
York Times, which the people will do
well to read. So far as we know there
have been no. charges. of corruption,
and no corruption in the handling of
: the money gotten from bond issues
in this state. We hope there will be
none. But it is not amiss to call the
attention of the people to the fact
that q big effort is being made just
now to sell the road bonds of this
county, and the argument is made
that the obtaining of this money will
hip the banks, and the banks to lend
money to the farmers. That kind of
an argument is not worth while.
We must remember that we will is
sue these bonds, if at. all, for the
purpose of building roads, and not to
help banks or anyone else. If the
banks wanted us to issue bonds to
get money for them SO as to enable
them to loan money to the farmers,
the banks should have asked for an
issue of bonds for that purpose. =,
I. But aside from this, what are the
people going to get for the money, il,
it is spent on the roads? The Press
and Banner has said that the roads
viii be graded some and in some, res
poets improved, but that in a few
years, except for the grading, the,
money spent will prove to have beent
spent for a bad project. Some OF
those who have been good roads
boosters do not wish be quoted but
they have heard that the top-soil
roads are not all that is claimed for
the#, z,,51,
We ask that the people Of the coun-
ty read the following, as we have
said, taken from the New York Times
When it has been read, we are going
I to ask the people, i It does not begin J
t. look like The Press and Banner
has been giving the people some
sound advice. e. * IN
"A Needed investigation. 2
!: ".The impressive facts published in
The Times in regard to the arbitrary,
and in some cases confscatory, taxa
ton Of Arkansas property holders for
the construction of roads that are to
"benefit them in some cases by
leading nowhere" have been appre-
ciated at their full Importance in
Washington. The Federal Govern
ment is directly interested. in the sit
uation in SO far as money appropriat-
ed by Congress for the Federal share
in the construction Of Arkansas roads
is concerned. Engineers of the Bu-
reau of Highways will start for Lit
tie; Rock today. A larger inquiry,
likely to cover the whole subject, is
proposed, and resolution for a Con-
gressional investigation will be in
troduced into the Senate at the open
ing of the extra session,
The Federal Bureau Of Highways
and the conditions of road building
in Arkansas and other States will be
taken up. There is no doubt that
investigation is greatly needed. Under
the present law the States either di-
rectly or through the counties must
equal the Government appropriation
dollar for dollar, and construction
must be substantial" These seem
to be the only restrictions on the ex-
penditure of the great sums appro-
priated by Congress for roads, sums
whose disposition rests with the High
way Departments of forty-eight
States ,and in some cases is trans
forSod h1r fbono fo Houn&v Toporoic