Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1874-05-22
County Meeting.

4
tisement Of the citizens of MONTGOMERY coun-
ty. held In the Court House al Rocky on
Tuesday last 10 take into consideration the
management and condition of our County
Roads
| Hon. JOSEPH ii BRADLEY was called TO the
Chair, and john II. GAssAwAY and JOSEPH T.
MooRE were duly elected Secretaries. Mr.. A.
b. Davis spoke upon the law, having parts
read when, on motion, the following gentle
men were appointed a committee to take the
subject into consideration and report to this
meeting A. B Davis. Caleb Stabler, VIM.
Farquhar, Il. j. Hall, Il. A. Tschiifely, John
Ii. Gassaway, Rev. James Henderson.
The meeting then took recess for half an
hour. Upon again coming together Mr.. A. B
Davis, chairman Of the committee, made the
following report and resolutions
The committee to whom has been referred
| the subject locaIizinp our county road system.
and The law of the last session of the Legisla.
lure relating thereto. beg leave 10 submit the
following report:
1t is scarcely necessary at this day to saw a
word in advocacy of county roads. All admit
their importance and all desire them to be
made as perfectly and cbeaply as possible
| They have been Justly compared 10 the veins
and arteries of the human body. To keep
this healthy and strong the blood must not be
! obstructed in any part but flow freely and
BEAUTIFULLY from the heart. the centre of life
to every part of the system, even to the ends
of the toes and fingers SO il is with the body
| polite. Unless the roads are free, unobstruct-
| ed and in good order travel cannot be main
tanned and loss and penalty will be the conse-
| quence.
| Valuable as Railroads are to the country, to
the State and county through which they
pass and intelligent civil engineers have esti-
| mated public or county roads, as ten-fold
| Al, 1. 4
of the people. Seeing, then, the primary i'm
portance Of county roads, il is or ought to be
the first consideration of the legislature, the
executive, and the citizen, that they be so To-
Gated, constructed, and repaired, as to afford
to the public and the people free, safe and
certain means of travel and transport, without
| obstruction, or loss of time, or loss ofload.
That the public roads Of this county are of
this character cannot be asserted or maintain
ed. In many instances they have been badly
located, and badly worked and repaired.
To remedy this, the law the subject of
county roads has been frequently altered,
changed and modified and the complaint is
still that we have bad roads, and that the tax
levied upon the people for their repair and
support is wasted and lost. Where the com
plant is so wide and general, it cannot be
without just cause or foundation. Accepting
it as just and true, the first inquiry is as to the
In the Judgment Of the committee the true
cause OF failure is in the system, and not either
in the County Commissioners or in the Road
Supervisors. law which obiges five
commissioners las in this county, among
other heavy, onerous, and responsible duties,
10 see, manage, control, direct, and inspect
the amount of work and 10 levy the money
necessary for the repair of public roads over
more than five hundred square miles of terrific
fNf vipfra and aha antap c.,f
soil and elevation, is simply impossible of
satisfactory execution. If these gentlemen
were professional engineers, without seeing,
inspecting, studying and measuring the
amount of work and the character of soil and
material, it would still be impossible for them
intelligcntly to discharge this duty. But when
it is known that County Commissioners are
not professional engineers, ncr elected with a
view to any particular qualification for the
care anu !, management OF pubic ROADS, now
diseharge a duty which belonos to the nrofes-
siopal engineer or acquired only bv The nm
professional man after long personal experience
and intimate and thorough knowledge and ac-
uuaintance with the particular niece of road TO
be made or repaired Some NAV answer that
thisis the work of the snpervisor The sinner
visor if asked why he does not more tborouoh-
ly repair and nut more work upon The road
will answer, that he has section of SO MANY
miles of road to work and only so much
money apnropriated by the commissioners FOR
the section lie cannot therefore do IA much
work nor snend as mncb time ard money as
he knows 10 ba necessary pronerlv n renair
this section of road.
The commissioners therefore, from want of
professional skill and personal knowledoe re-
fuse to appropriate a sufficient sum for the
renair of county roads and The spnervisor
from want of funds and the belief and imnres-
sion Thai he Is TO spend only the money anpro-
nriated nv the commissioners refuses 10 do
mora WORK than The monav in hand will nav
for The consequences is that the roads are
sIiobted and the work and money mt unon
them Is soon lost and washed away And the
neonle lose The hene6t Of the remarkable local
adventao Dc We nossess If nearness 10 one ~ the
hest marI,ets IN the country and of close nrox-
;m;tv N The Faaeral Canitol
THE REMEDY.
Experience has shown that self-interest is
the moving spring of human action. and that
the true source of good government is at the
domestic hearth. The father and mother at
When we'll ordered. what natural and beau
tiful model for the Governor. the President or
the Emperor. Here be who studies Alright.
ment and all in authority can there find a
useful and instructive lesson.
From the family we advance to the neigh
borhood From the neiohborbood to the DIS
trict. From the district to the county. and
from the county TO The State Each has its an
nronriate sphere of dnties and RESPONSIBILITIES
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