The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1921-12-21

| wallace GeCiareQ IN an ADDRESS Oe-
fore the Boston Chamber Of Com
n2erce. He said that the prices Of
farm crops are lower than ever be-
! fore and predicted that decreased
/ production would make prices so
high that consumers would COM
plain bitterly.
needed hard surfacing. Besides. a
much needed bridge, across the
Santee river between Orangeburg
and Clarendon counties could be
provided from the bridge fund.
Chesterfield county would re-
ceive about s3So,Ooo and has
ninety-three miles on the state
| highway system, Of which about
twenty-five miles have already
been constructed or provided for.
To construct the remaining seventy
miles with sand-clay or gravel sur
facing would cost some $350.000.
which would leave a margin of
$4,000 for constructing addition
al mileage that might be added to
the statessystem. Chesterfield coun-
ty mas no roads at present requir-
ing a hard surface.
"Greenville county would receive
about s1,14Q,o00 and has a total
of 131 miles on the state system.
all except about ten miles Of which
las already :. been improved. AT
least Sl,000,0o0 is needed in this
county Immediately, however. for
hard surfacing those roads on
which traffic is too heavy for the
existing topsoil surfacing.
"Richland county would receive
about s1,100.e00 and has seventy
nine miles on the state highway
system. which is practically all pro-
vided fer under the s2,000.000
bond issue for pavements already
available in that county. The state
fund could, therefore, be applied
to the construction of roads to be
added to the system or in retiring
part of the county bonds.
..'In like manner every county in
the. state would receive sufficient
fund 10 take care Of the immediate
needs SO far as the state highway
system is concerned, and due to
the federal aid, each would receive
; more than it contributed. 1t is true
that the needs would increase dur
ing the, six-year period on account
of the traffic multiplying on some
of the roads. On the other hand,
| increased traffic would mean in
lcreased revenue from both the mo-
tor vehicle license ard motor fuel
! taxes, which in turn would enable
greater rnileague Of hard surfac-
ing to be constructed.
Some Of the advantages Of this
plan are:
q. It would enable all of the
counties to share equitably in the
benefits to be received from fed
eral aid. An equitable distribution
by counties Of this fund is not pos
sible under the revised federal
statutes.
/! ..2. 1t would enable the federal
aid projects to be limited in num-
| Der and thus greatly reduce the
administrative cost Of handling
these projects. The government
formalities are just the same for
| $1,000 project as for one costing
half million.
"3. The bridges provided for in
.this plan would overcome the great
! barriers which our rivers now con-
stitute. Such bridges. would be OF
statewide significance and the
/! cost of their construction is not
! properly charseable to any county
and seldom to any group of coun-
I.ties. This fact has been response
ole for South Cardinals slow prog
ress in constructing necessary
bridges.
az. This plan would in the fu-
! ture obviate the necessity for most
of the county bond issues for roads
The total Of bond issues for road
! Improvement already authorized by
| the counties of the state amounts
! to some s23,000,o00. but most OF
these issues were for improvements
that would simply be supplemented
i and made complete by the present
plan. In some case, no doubt
counties would fad it desirable 10
! provide for additional road I'M
provement which would require
bond issues, but they would GER
I tainly lose no advantage on ac-
! count Of the state work.
IS. This plan provides for con-
tinuousncss after the siX-year Pc
i Rod. AIRY plan that is not con
| tinuous will necessarily be disap-
+, pointing because the needs OF traf-
flee will continue to develop and nc
present plan could be sufficient te
| provide before given date foi
needs that will develop after thai
date. At the expiration Of the six
year period South Carolina wouIe
still have about $3.000.000 per ye?l
TO spend for road construction. II
addition to maintenance func
sufficient to takec are Of the con
structed roads.
"6. The State Highway Depart.
ment is at present supervising roac
/ construction in conjunction with
the various counties TO the amount
Of $4,000. 900 per year. SO that the
/ proposed plan would be little more
than normal increase in its activ-
tiles. This means that the depart