Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-12-15
TIMELY PETITION.
The Petition Of che Grand Jury 10 The
Commissioners Court Regarding
Tarrant County Conyiets.
a Movement that has Everything Co Com
mend IL and Noth,nE TO Condemn IL.
Good Roads,

AANNN ~ ohN N'Nhfht w AthWelhn ~
Good Roads,
The GAEETTK OF yesterday printed the
following, "rhe following petition has
been fled We, the undersigned citizens
OF Tarrant county, constituting the pres.
en' grand Jury In and for said county, do
respectfully represent TO your honorable
body that according to our judgment IN,
best interests OF our county demand that
all county oonvicts now within the Tailor
hereafter to be placed there, should be
put TO work on the various county roads
branching out from ri Worth. Said
convicts 10 be utilized on the public high.
ways within y convenient radius from said
city, under the direction and guardianship
" the sheriff, or such other officer as may
In the wisdom of your honorable body be
deemed Tor the best TO attain the pur-
poses desired, to-wit;
al To reduce the expenses OF the coun-
" as much ~ practicable. z. 70 punish
evil doors, believing that the plan herein
outlined would better efiec,uate the pur-
poses specified than the one now in
vogue, OF permitting all county convcts
to lie out their terms OF Imprisonment In
your county jAil-a dead expense 10 your
county We therefore most respectfully
recommend the speedy adoption OF the
plan herein suggested, or some similar
one looking TO the attachments OF these
ends. j, w. Suhlett, foromaui j. NJ.
| Henderson, j l., Peryls, y II Elliott, j
@, Wiley, Q. b. Daggett, Jr - PWOods,
s. Terry, Thos A, lldbRll, w. Is Tucker,
j., G Richardson.
"Nuvember "a, 1885,
The GAZETTE would urge upon the
commissioners court such consideration
OF this petition as Its merl derserye.
The movement II prays for IL one that has
been inaugureted elsewhere with marked
success, and promises TO be the solution
OF the problems Of paramount concern
always 10 Lawmakers and people, Wis
WHAT 10 do with offenders against the
law and how to provide good roadB. The
importance Of this matter TO Tauant
county and Fort Worth IL the GAzErTE's
excuse for duvOting 30 much space TO II.
Better than all theoretical argument IL
the experience OF others, and the
GAzKTTE submits for the consideration
Of the commissioners the follow
ing statement OF the re-
tuts OF the same plan In our
neighboring county, az noted by Dallas
paperi "For years Texas has been cx.
peiimtnslng IN the matter Of ruad.bnlld-
Ing. IL has tried taxation, and IL has
tried individual labor, and IL has tested
the wisdom Of both together In every
instance there has been disappointment.
Tue roads were as bOggy In winter and
as dusty Ia summer as they were before
thousands Of dollars IN taxes had been
spent on them, and the oyerseers had got
some little work out Of every male citizen
subject 10 road duty. There has been
universal domaud for suggestion
that would give solution TO tho road
trouble, without excessively ytxlpg the
citizen or bapkruptlng this taxpayer. For
years Dallas went The old route pursued
by offers, "calling out hands ana col.
Letting taxes to pay for the work VI cut
ting brush to be thrown In mud holes,
Eighteen months ago the commissioners
court OF the county OF Dallas had the
solution Of the trouble forced upon II,
A large and not overly good population
was the cause. The crowded jail
would consume very much OF what
tue taxpayer could SOW and reap and the
experiment Of placing these cOnycts on
the county roads where they could work
for those who fed them, was entered into.
To many the experiment was dangerous.
oyerseers TO be employed, there WAS the
additional expense Of engineering, and all
this would cost more than the support OF
the conylcis IN jail where the cost was
only from 30 10 40 cents each day. But
there were others who believed In good
roads even II It did cost little |
more TO work the coDvicts than
TO support them 10 dleness and
they were able 10 undertake the expefi |
ment The result is, after an eighteen |
months trial, about eighteen miles Of
roads throughout the county well graded 4
and prepared for stone and gravel. There |
have been completed within that time |
four miles Of macadamized and turnpiked |
roads. About twenty conYicts on an ay' I
eruge have done this work. The cost OF
this can be put down as follows I'm !
cheering, $1,000 a year. two guards al
$40 each month, one oYerseer az Sb5 a
month, cost Of feeding the conyicts
from % 10 20 cents each per day. The
engineer Il the county enryeyOr who
Is allowed the $1,000 besides the fees
which be gets as surveyor. The guards
are fed, which expense Is Included 10 the
food given the conyicis. The cost o.
feeding prisoners In jail is, as has been
said, from 30 70 40 cents each, while
they can be supported on the roads at
from 10 20 10 cents per day each. This
d ference II accounted Tor by the fact
that there are no jailors or turnkey's fees 4
In the latter cases, and further inst the
county buys its proyis.one 81
wholesale piices and they are cooked Dy |
A convict for hia fellows The state /