The record-union., 1893-09-08

tlldt Lue QuLy OF Llo convention was 10
agltate the matter of good roads, and
raise issues which should be acted upon
at future convention.
Delegate Douglas of Stanislaus made
| the first lively speech of the meeting. He
| SAID 1t was all right enough for a Massa-
chusetts road man TO tell us how to make
roads of stone macadam. The speaker
had been in Massachusetts,, and was glad
to hear that they had found place to put
their stone. But what could be done
there could not be done in California
with all her mud and sand. out here
! there were many roads that had TO be
| covered with straw in order that team
! could get over. He was in favor of good
roads, because it made the farmer indie
pendent of insurance and warehouses.
/ He smiled at the idea of 25-foot roads,
| What would they do in California with
such road when it was necessary to
move combined harvester.
Delegate Phillips of Amador said the
| convention should not overlook the fact
that conditions differed in every county.
his county was mountainous county
and wide roads were impossible. He be-
lieyed in going back to the road-overseer
system, and TO the system of working out
/ road taxes.
Delegate Price of Colusa disputed the
Amador mans theory. He said he repre-
sented county that had had thousands
/ OF dollars squandered by road-overseers.
/ They were road men only in name, not
in reality. As rule they were ignorant
OF the first principles Of road-bullding. If
! there ever was backward step, it would
be one to the villainous road-overseer
system. lie said the theory of draining
roads was the most important.
Surveyor Maude of San Bernardino
also put nail in the coffin of the road
! oVerseer system. In his county, he said
100000 had been expended in ten years
under the road-overseer system, and they
didn't have good road yet. In six
months alone Sl0I, 900 had been squan-
| dered. One man, with a burro, a pick
and shovel, worked twenty-three days,
and drew 500 from the county treasury.
That was under the road-overseer sys-
! tenn.
| Mr.. Holloway of Santa Barbara did not
think the convention was proceeding
! properly-that it did not know where it
| was at" He moved that a committee of
| fifteen be appointed to draw up resolu-
! tlons relative to what the convention de-
! sired to do.
| There was considerable more talk about
the proposed committee, but finally a
motion to lay Holloway's motion on the
table was put, and the Chair declared it
carried.
J. NJ. Fulton, who made the motion to
lay on the table, explained that he did so
because he thought the appointment of
committee would be taking undue adj
vantage of many of the delegates lie
said there should be more talk about
roads before any committees were an
pointed to take charge of affairs. He was
believer in the issuance OF bonds for
county road work. The farmer, when he
properly understood the matter, would
not oppose the bonds. He could better
afford to pay his share of the interest than
| TO ruin up his horses and wagons and to
hayr tf,,, H., . 1.,- ]
a resolution was offered declaring it
to be the sense of the meeting that it
would be more economical to borrow
| money on long time for good roads
than to continue to be taxed annually for
/ the present ones.
! Mr.. Hebron raised the point again
that there should be thorough discuss
ion before the convention committed it
self to anything. He moved that the
| roll OF counties be called, and a repre-
sentative from each be allowed to speak
for five minutes.
There was some objection to this, some
claiming that it would consume too much
time. When the motion was put to a
vote it was lost.
Delegate Becker of Shasta said the bond
question was one OF the most important
| the convention had to consider n his
county the people opposed the issuance of
bonds until they were thoroughly edu-
Gated on the subject. II was the same
| throughout the State, and this conyen-
ton would have to be the educator.
Delegate Cornett was opposed to bonds.
lie believed with Mr.. Wetmore that the
bond system had brought about the pres
ent financial troubles. He dwelt with
tervor and at length upon the evil of the
drain OF interest payments to foreign
capitalists. The Alliance would oppose
the BOND system until it could be ar
ranged to borrow the money from the
| Government of the United States
Mr. Reed Of Calaveras insisted that our
road system should be raised out of poll
tics. He saw no reason why a commu-
nifty should not issue its notes of credit to
get capital to accomplish good roads ends.
1t is simply question Of economies.
The system of roads in California is dam
| nable as whole. There must be reme-
| dies offered, the people must be educated
upon the whole subject. If capital builds
our roads we get the benefits, and interest
under the bond system is less than
| the continual tax system under which
most of the money is sqandered.
| Mr.. Mccullough OF San Francisco said
| the trouble is with the law-it is all
4 wrong. 1t must be amended so as to
make it possible to give us the best roads;
let US leave the question of bonds to the
! people.
Mr. Weinstock said we all agree that
!
ton of means as well as plans for roads.
The idea of the Government being
| bondholder for the people struck him
tavorably, but the proposition to wait
until the Government agrees TO this be.
fore improving the roads was to wait far
too long. By borrowing to improve SO
as to lessen taxation, we use capital to
good purpose, no matter where it comes
from. We use 1t to create values, COM
fort, to improve our position, to profit on
what we bofrow-to say that we will not
borrow to gain, to benefit because the
| lender is foreigner is gross error. The
bond proposition is not in itself an evil:
how we expend the money raised NAV
be evil or good.
Mr.. Knox of San Francisco said the
wheelmen had given the question of good
! roads much study and research. Their
journal, Good Roads, had published
many 1acts the people ought to know.
| General Stone, in that magazine, tells
how the Nation built the great National
road. In Illinois Sl0,O00,000 per year is
lost to farmers alone because of bad roads
and to the whole people of the United
States $500, 100000 annually. He read from
authorizes to show how good road build
ing would give aid to agricultural inter-
ests, augment human comfort and relieve
| distress by giving work for necessary
construction. New Jersey built her fine
roads on bonds, and the result has been
one OF great benehcence, lessened taxa
ton and multiplied comforts, beside
largely increased assessed values
Mr.. Maslln Of San Francisco said the
fear of bonds was ludicrous. The anti
bonders talk OF poverty and slavery to
result from bonding; well, we have not
bonded for roads and what have the anti
bonders given us?-no roads. All mate
rial progress made in the United States
has been made on credit and pou fdayca