The St. Johns herald., 1886-06-10

proceed 10 get the money, tneS; cer- tainly do not seem tc have mani fested the same diffidence in the disposition of it. Was there any litigation on the subject? What possible question could have arisen so intricate as to necessitate the as- sistance of an attorney to unravel? Gentlemen, your course, if legal advice was needed was tn consult the Attorney General of the Terri tory whose duty it was to give it without cost or expense, and ren- der personal service if necessary, As to the other eleven hundred dol lars, it only remains for the Com missioners to explain it in their ac- counting as best they may.
 Third, For the information of the Commissioners and the public, we will quote another portion of the statute under which they live, move and have their being, it reads as follows: "It is hereby made the duty of the said Wagon Road Com missioners, within sixty days after the passage of this act to com mence the repair of the roads be- tween (naming the different places. J. and also they shall build bridges over the Rios Puerco and the Col orado Chiquito, wherever it is nec- essary in the repairing of said roads," also they shall keep cor rect accounts of all expenses oc- cured in the repair of said roads, and make full report of same to the Governor on or before the first day of January in each year." It will be noticed in the extracts last given from the act. that the word repair is invariably used when re- ferring to the duties of the Com missioners, and the same will be found true throughout the entire body of the act, whenever the occa- sion occurs to point out what shall be done by the Commissioners upon the roads specified therein. The word repair means restoration to a sound or good state after decay, waste, injury, or partial destruc- tion;" it implies the existence of something upon which improve ments can be made, and not an original construction. We may re- pair an old, existing and establish ed road, but we must open a new one, because where nothing ex- ists We may make anew, but cannot by any possibility repair. It will thus be seen that the power and au- thority of the Commissioners to open new roads is negatived by everyreasonable construction which can be placed upon the act creating them. Again the Compiled Laws" distinctly point out the manner in which new roads shall be opened and by whom it shall be done, and that power is absolutely vested in the Board of Supervisors acting under the requirements of the stat ute. (See Compiled Laws pp. 583-4, Sec. 15.) Now despite all these statutory restrictions the Commis- sioncrs have located a bridge upon the Colorado river between Wood ruff and Holbrook at such a point as to open an entirely new road for the distance of several miles. To relieve the matter of all palliation, after a petition was sent in to the Supervisors to open said new road, a counter petition was signed by very many of the best citizens of Holbrook, and the viewers who were appointed by the Board, one of whom was a worthy and sub- stantial citizen of Holbrook, re- ported unfavorably upon it. The Board have never sanctioned the opening of this road, and from all we can learn never will.
 Some of the citizens of Hol- brook had located a dam, for irri- gating purposes upon the site, which by a strange coincidence was se- II II