Middletown transcript., 1891-02-19
LEGISLATIVE DorNes.
Correspondence of TIE TRAsscRIrr.
Dover. DEL. Feb. ID

tn0 OiliS uum. Inc DlliS WuHo HuHOA
Gus, however, are mostly Of but local
Importance and very few were OF what
might be termed general interest.
One of the most important so far as
the farmer readers of The TRAN
SCRIPT are concerned, is decidedly the
" Road nbill which the Farmers In
stitute has formulated and which wiil
be presented one day this week. Ii
this bill passes in the shapeit now IS,
and its provisions are strictly enforced,
the people Of the State may congratu-
late themselves on the fact that In
the near future they will have gilt
edged roads. In Kent and Sussex
counties it is the levy court which
shall carry out its provisions, and in
New Castle county the road commits
sioners will handle matters.
Briefly the roads are to be divided
up In sections, of not more than three
miles In length nor less than half a
mile. These sections are to be given
out by contract to the lowest and best
bidder. ALI the probable repairs neces-
sary to each section are to be schedul-
ed and the contract price is to be regu-
lated by the probable work to be done.
The contractor is to be bonded for the
faithful performance of his contract.
And the roads, well, they are to be
fixed up In a way that will not jolt the
liver out of man every spring when
he takes drive Of m lie or two, and
farmer will not be compelled to use
his vehicles as clod breakers every
time the road is repaired. The con-
tractor must level, scrape, roll and
pack all roads under his care, and in
order to help him do this the levy
court will furnish the scrapers and
rollers. The expenses of fixing the
roads Of each hundred are not to ex-
ceed the outlay of the last three years.
The bill will likely pass.
Another secret ballot bill will be in
tomorrow. 1t will be an act to adopt
the g Booth system "of voting. This
Booth system consists Of safety bal
lot box, peculiar construction which
compels the voter to first put his ballot
in a metal tube. This tube is dropped
in the top of the ballot box, and as it
goes in the vote is automatically regis
tered on the face of the box. There is
no question of the secrecy of the con-
cern or its simplicity, and 1t has al
ready many friends here.
Diamond State Grange No. 2 OF New
Castle county sent in the following
petition last evening: To the Honorable
Legislature: "We, the members Of
Diamond State Grange No. 2 do petit
tion and pray your honorable bodies
that we, as farmers, are laboring under
great financial distress owing to the
burden of taxation caused by the ex-
travagant and expensive system by
which we are now governed. There
fore,
RESOLVED, That we pray that IN order
that our burdens Of taxation be LESSEN
ed. that three commissioner bill be
drawn In the interest of the Taxpayers
instead of the present burdensome levy
court.
Resolued, That non-partisan COM
mission be appointed by the present
Legislat ure to run the county for two
years in the interest of the people and
not in the interest of either political
party. Also
Resolved, That it Is the sense of this
body that law be passed in regard to
prisoners feed, that some means be
devised in order that they may be self
sustaining while serving sentence OF
the Court, would suggest that work
shops be built or they be made to work
on streets or on public roads.
Resolved, That it is the sense of this
body that our school system of taxa
tion in our county districts be reduced
to 500, as there is now a surplus on
hand which is still accumulating and
which is unnecessary, taken from the
pockets of the Taxpayers.
(Signed] LIZZIE WOODWARD,
Secretary.
So you see that the Commissioner
sentiment appears to be very much
alive in New Castle county yet.
The oystermsn are here to-day,
lots OF them, and they are fighting for
the bivalve on both the longing and
the dredging line.
Tonight the Military bill will be
talked over again. The National
Guards Board Of Officers will be here
to back up their bill which came in
yesterday. This bill asks for an ap'
preparation of $4,000 annually, and
provides for a continuation Of the en-.
campments. 1t isa very comprehen.
sive document, but the $4,000 appro-
priation is the feature of it that looks
the biggest just now.
MFR. Hutson has a round bill in hand
which only applies to Kent county, but
which some of the New Castle mem
bers think might be very appropriately
applied to New Castle county also
Its main features are to compel road
overseers to have all cross bridges ol
water trunks long enough to afford
footpaths as well as driveways on the
public roads. And to compel road
overseers to reserve one-tenth of theil
annual allowances till October for fall
repairing on the roads.
The bill in relation to roads and
dykes in st. Georges hundred is nov
In committee. It has an excellent
show of passing.
The Equalization Of Taxation bill il
now also in committee and it will b.
pretty thoroughly sifted before i
comes out.
C.-ot.- TU;ll;op,o 10 rro,p;nr hott,