Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-04-17
DIRT ROADS.
The Convention Thing of the Past
the Solution a Thing of the Future.
They Made Believe They Would Solve the Per-
picking Problem, but Gracefully
Let 1t Slide.

Special correspondence of the Gazette.
DALLAS, TEX, April 10.-The dirt
road convention is now a thing of the
past, but the solution of the dirt road
question is still thing of the future.
The county judges and county commits
sioners who came here to consider upon
the best method for solving it have de-
same perplexing conundrum that it has
been all along. They debated ard dis
cussed it, and the fired off a broadside of
resolutions concerning it, but they didn t
solve it. And yet there were among
them many able and intelligent men,
county judges who are lawyers and who
would not object to wear the ermiue of
the district court bench, and who would,
doubtless, wear it worthily; county COM
missioners who think themselves as
thoroughly qualified for county
or legislative, not to say state,
offices, as any who are now
filling or are anxious to fiji the various
places at the disposal of the sovereign
people of the state
To such a body of men one might,
with every show of reason, look for
so thoroughly discussed, in all its bear
ings, as has been the dirt road question.
Perhaps il they had not all been off &C.
holders, and anxious, with but few
exceptions, to be continued in
office, they would not have been afraid
to have taken good square fall out of
the question and throw it or be thrown
by it. Many of them would, had they
dared to do so, have urged the issuance
of bonds. But the disapproval of this
method of dealing with the question was
so strongly voiced on the part of the tax
payers in advance of the meeting OF the
convention, that those who framed it,
and who came really, under proper en-
couragement to urge it, were deferred
therefrom by fear lest in doing so they
would be sounding the knell of their
own ambitions, and arousing a storm
that would result in the wreck of all their
hopes of future political preferment.
They looked the question fairly in the
face, sized up its John l.. Sullivan pro-
portions, aud concluding that discretion
was the better part of valor, decided that
they would not undertake to take it
away from the people, who are the
proper ones to be entrusted with its sOlu-
ton. They had to blow either hot or
either. Having made believe that they
were going to tackle and solve the per-
picking problem, they wanted to let go OF
it and give it up as gracefully as posi-
BILE. 1t was not an easy thing to do since
even a county commissioner hates totravel
300 miles to q convention and travel
800 miles home again, and when asked
by his people what was accomplished,
to be compelled to answer, "Nothiug -
To accomplish nothing, however, is
better than to work mischief. Insofar
as the convention did the former, and
refrained from doing the latter, it was a
success. By recommending the Kim
brough amendment to the people it put
itself on record as against the issuing of
bonds and in favor of an advaloTem tax
of fifteen cents on the 500 for road i'm
provement purposes, and of such
such change ia the constitution and
such legislation as will enable the people
of any county who are willing to do so
to levy such tax.
The best methods of constructing roads
so as to derive the greatest benefits from
the money expended, the kinds of roads
suited to the different parts of the state,
how road taxes should be levied, COL
lected and expended, whether a county
should have large number of bad roads
or a limited number of good ones, are a
few of the questions the convention
did not even have brought before it.
Yet, they are ali questions of vital in
terest TO the people of the state, and a
free discussion of them might well claim
the time and attention of body of men
embracing the ability and intelligence of
this gathering of county judges and
county commissioners.
Perhaps the new association of county
judges, who, by the way, are inclined to
be rather exclusive, inasmuch as they
refused to make the county commission
ers joint members of the organization,
may, at their meeting in June in Calves
ton, take up these questions and give
the people clear solution of them. II
they do, their disposition to criticise the
road convention for not voting to issue
bonds will be forgiven them, and they
VIII be regarded as meriting the ap-
proval at least of their own consciences.