Newspapers / The Charlotte Herald (Charlotte, … / Aug. 1, 1924, edition 1 / Page 14
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COL. on-' ^Continued frbm Page 1.) drew' from the political entity, whteft §he hod helped to construct by Sacrificial atonement, and gave one hundred and twenty thousand nobi&, brave and patriotic sons to do and die for yon and the Con federacy and the right of local self-government* and to keen in violate the< Constitution of Amer ■ ica» $ < , '.f . Ypur history and traditions have been replete with noble 'achievements since the day that Jates Oglethorpe laid your foun dation. The pages of htatoty have been emblazoned by heroic leaders in the religions, political arid seienti&c world; your writers ahd-statesmen and philanthropists and: men and women of letters atelprt hav§ added to the lustre of the American fame. " America. and the world is grdtelulrfer Georgia for the con triBuxiori of reHgiods Readers like thef5iVesleys and Gedtge Whit field* WC are not unmindful of your statesmen, Alexander Hi. Stephens, Howell Cobb, General Robert. Toombs and others re newed. Too, we would not; for get -the. discoverer of anaesthesia, Br^Xong, apd yqter constitutional prtmihition of slavery and rum. The telitafy genius of -Genoral James B. Gordon is a heritage of wfefch afiy people might Well be proud. In letters and art, wig pay homage to Joel ^handler Harris and Gorra Jfarris. and last but not least, Georgia’s greatest contribu tion, to the South, America and the world was the immortal Henry W.r Grady, who literally loved again -the North and the- South into inseparable bonds of fra ternalism and good-will, whose thoughts, words and acts impelled a reunion of dissevered ties ate broken hearts, .and gave to the world a reunited people and a na tion that has become the hopes of the peonies of the earth. Primarily your legislative dele gation has requested me to .give you some facts and data with ref erence to North Carolina’s strug gle- and achievements in the mat ter of her state system of h^rd su.vfaced highways. Our common wealth, like the other -states of thesf. South, at the close of the ^ivil war was greatly impovished, haying nothing left* on which to build, save a conscience void of offense and an indomitable and unconquerable ‘spirit that would never say “die.” The manhood and womanhood of the State, led' by- the immortal Zebulon Baird Vance and Charles B. Aycock, de termined to rebuild a greater North Carolina. The two predominant obstacles< were the pall of ignorance and mud roads. My • native county,. Mecklenburg, under the leader* ship of the lamented Capt. S. BL Alexander, in 1885 enacted the first, good road bill in the state, and' the Mecklenburg people, ted by the farmers, and direct tax ation soon constructed a system of macadam roads, which materially increased the price of land, encouraged the building of \ schools^ rural churches, and need farm valu.es, induced the [ding of factories and indue* plants and secured new capi thereby making Mecklenburg ity the then premier county of state. good roads organization was Led under the leadership of the e Geologist, Professor J. A. es, .about 1900 for the ex . purpose of agitating and ig road building. Under the ership of patriotic and unself men and women an educational ►aganda for good: roads was *matically carried %i for a *d of twenty years. In 1020 Citizens Highway Association organiz^ calting for a defi prog^am and expenditure of million {$50,000,000) dol for the building of a State an pf modern highways, and then governor of the state, V. Bickett, was requested to ,de. in his call to the special klarure of 1920 the question assing by the legislature fifty ions ($50,000,000) dollars to taed for roads.- This the gov »r refused to do. Immediately eafter a vigorous campaign ’ unched by the citizenship of _ ..ate. Under the leadership of the North Carolina Good Roads Association and the Citizens Highway Association, to enforce and demand their will, an inten rfcd oil durh^tb^y^mr S&20; UnitrUn the state Was had, and >he net result was the enactment of -4 state highway - Wit in IMlr providing for the issuance of fifty nullSon ($50,400,000) dollars to build a,, state 'controlled and state maintained highway ostein inter connecting the one hundred coun ty seats one with the other, com prising approximately six thousand miles. ' r •North Carolina's state road law is a very composite but simple one. Briefly, it provides for the con struction and state maintenance and state control system o£ hard surface dand dependable roads connecting the most practicable Acuities the Various county seats and other principal towns of every county in the state, and to secure benefits of federal aid therefor. Its ultimate purpose is to h&mi surf&cg as rapidly as money, l|i bor and material Will permit ah entire state system of hard-sur faced roads. - The bill further provides for a State Highway Commission, con sisting of a chairman at large and hine commissioners, one from, each construction district, three of thjg comhtsisidhers to be of the minority political party and six of the majority; the governor mak ing the appointwdiit. ' hid t?> poiqtees tfe afftrnfcd fey the senate, The state chairman % required to devote Sis entire thnfff mid is paid a salary of $5,500 per annum and Jm actual travel fHg expenses. The other members of the Commission receive $10 pet* day while engaged in the duties of their office; and their traveling expenses, lie Kfcadquartttfs of the State Highway Cofiimi&doft is located at the csyaitaL The ^Com mission is authorized to employ a practical engineer for a term hot exceeding four years, salary to be fixed by the commission and approved by the governor. The best engineering talent possible is employed. The members of the Highway Commission are required to give a justified bond for the faithful per formance of their duties. The bill further provides if any commis sioner, contractor, material mart, or any other person connected with the state road system, shall be guilty knowingly of bad faith with the state, upon convictioh, shall be piinished from one to five years in r‘ the penitentiary and civilly liable for any loss incurred. The commissioners are given full power and authority in the matter of securing material, des ignating the kind of work to be done and carrying on the general work., However, the roads must be constructed from county seat to .county seat and the funds must be appropriated to the several counties comprising the several construction districts on a basi^ of area, through mileage and lation, as the several, districts bear relation to the .state as a whole,* thus insuring an iidpartiaL and equitable distribution of the bond issues and road funds. The bill provides that ho town with a population of three thou sand or less shall be required to bear the expense of building a highway through it. , Another splendid feature is that where towns refuse to build consisting links with highways, that the com missioners are authorized to do the work dnd tdx the cities and towns therewith. The bill also provides for the working of the state and county convicts*' the elimination of grade crossings and' for general maintenance, upkeep and control. * . ' The Highway Commission is further required to make a detail report ten days before the meet ing of the regular General Assem bly of all moneys expended and of all proceedings done and had. The bill further provides for registration and licensing and per mit fees based on a horse-power rate for automobiles and capacity rates for trucks. The state, road bonds shall not bfear a charge to exceed 6 (per cent annual interest rate. It is very gratifying to say that in the expenditure of these enor mous funds placed in the hands of our highway commission, we have received a dollar’s worth of roads for«a dollar’s worth of money, and that the. men composing the com mission represent the highest type of our citizenship, business, financially and morally. So judi ciously and economically has the money been expended by the gov ernor, the council of the state and the members of the commission that the legislature of 1923 on their own motion issued an addi tare of 1925' wflf^isftue 009 more of bondS.makinga total of ^tOO,000,000 of state bond*?' What good roads have done for North Oarbfinh, ;they ^1? do for Georgia. However, it is hot ro3r prerogative to tell you Wlhat to do. I antittformed by~ members of your legislature that you contemplate the issuance of $40,000,090- of bonds. Assuming thafc-you issue tMfe denomination of bonds, and assuming that yoUr population, as I understand it, is approximately 2,909,000 poopiet' by ^ little mathematical calculation arrfcvifed at by dividing the iftiteitw j&} habitants through the bonds pro*, ioosed, and the, hfe of tfcf> bond being twenty years*. We find that to return thje principal on the total sum the first year would cost you $14 per cajrfta, and the in* terest at 5 per cent would cost you, the first year $2,000,090 or approxmaitely 70 cents per >dtUfa would!f eost • you proximately $1.40' per -;capita. We sire reliably inforttted that .your peaches sell for $&38 U*t buShel, ybur-apples fear $1.5$> hence ytfQcr fc6tal"xof£d tax pec c&pita^per- an-' Jejuna would °be 78 cents less -than* the jprice of a bushel of peaches and 16 cents less than* the price Of a bushel of apples, f It is estimated that the mud tax tests the tas payers of the Aanere ican nation annually $504,000,000, fhefeafe foity-etgnt states in the unioii, and % presume your pay; one*ferty-eighth of this mud tax, which means that a Georgia tax payer pays in mud vtax per annum $10,500,000. In twenty years % Georgia tax payer pays 4 mud* tax of $23.0,000,000—^ Which is the most expensive good roads or mud tax? ' The time has come When the Georgia farmer, like the North Carolina farther, has a right to 7nin iiww'ini.i ■ iif.. ■ i mu ■ n iwinwij).,. . - \ demand the same community ad vantages that the urbane- have. A farmer MusChave good roads, good schools, good Church build ings, running water, electric lights, excellent sanitation and modern appliances i£ his boy and girl are to be kept on-the farm. (Continued on He^t Page.) ^,; The Southern FubHc UUities Gpttipa»:y lighting customers a further reduction in prices of Buckeye lamps, this making a total reduction of 35 per cent in the average of electric lamps of various types within the past year. An aggregate of $620,000,000 was spent for electric light in the United States sum woufcjt} have 1907, before the modem^^uh^stbh^lhm^t^lkmp li^cf been perfected. In 1907 electricity for lighting cost-$175,000,000. For a little more than three times that amount more than thirteen times as much light was purchased last year, a ratio of four to one. ' V Rates for electric lighting current have remained approximately stationary in the country as a Whole during this period in spite Of steadily rising eosts of* material entering into the production and distri bution of eleefep^ity. ' D^Urmg this period the miaxinfum rate in the territory. * served: btyv.the Southern Public Utilities; Company has been substantially reduced. As a result, the entire benefit of improved lamps has accrued to the user of electric light. 'This benefit on the 1907 basis amounts to yearly saving of more than $1,500,000, While the increased cost has produced" higher lighting standards, larger industrial output and greater human comfort. ~ : 'V* In 1907 the total sale of electric lamps in the United States was 65,500,000, nearly all of the carbon-filament type. The sales for 1923 Wiere 341,000,000. Of this number, two-thirds Were standard size tungsten-filament lamps, the remaining thfrd being chiefly miniature lamps for aiffomobile headlights, torches, Christmas trees and similar uses. * ' - ' \
The Charlotte Herald (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 1, 1924, edition 1
14
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