The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-01-10

The second annual meeting OF the In
diana highway improvement association
closed Friday afternoon with the
election Of officers and the adoption Of
resolutions.
A letter was read at the beginning Of
the session from Governor Matthews. in
which ne spoke In terms OF warm graft
fcation OF the advancement that had
been made by Indiana ia road-making
and the Improvement Of the highways,
and ventured the assertion that during
the past twelve years this state had con-
structed more miles OF good roads free
from toll than any other state in the
union. "While | hope" said he In con-
clusion, that your association will con-
slider the various means TO accomplish
your laudable objects. yet beg you not
to adopt any plan and urge its adoption
by the state that viii increase the bur
dens of tax upon our farmers and farms.
Their labors have not met with the re-
ward or profit they deserve. Their in
dustry during the last few years has
been in a languishing condition. yet they
AAiNN NAANNA ALAiiN tpilnAi utA'h AOeAAo AeAs'N
as their means permit, and given them to
the public for general use"
G.. w. Dorrell OF Quercus Grove dis
cussed highway improvement in south
eastern Indiana. He upheld the present
existing road law in the main, but sug-
gested a few changes-the raising Of
the tax to be levied by township trustees
from forty to sixty cents and giving
each congressional district civil en-
gineer
l.. II. Gibson Of indianapolis treated
Of the care of roads and streets. He
emphasized the necessity Of taking
proper care OF expensive improvements
on roads after they had been completed.
Said he:
"A good road neglected soon becomes
bad road. The countries which have
the best roads have the best civil serv-
ice. We are as far from good roads as
we are from good civil service. Bad
politics is between us and good roads.
Because Of the lack Of good civil service
organization in our government we are
practically without the ability to secure
the service TO carry out our laws These
points have been no more clearly illus
trated than in our own city. We have
wasted thousands and hundreds of thou
sands of dollars from absolute neglect.
We pillow up and rebuild good streets
rather than clean and repair them. The
waste is frightful We spend more than
enough money TO bring a very large por-
ton Of our streets into good condition.
AS il is. we nave relatively few streets
in fair condition and the others in a sad
state. ! do not mention this matter with
special reference to our own city, but
offer it as a typical illustra ton which
applies to all of our towns and the coun-
try at large. In comparison with other
American cities, Indianapolis is in rela-
lively good shape. Absolutely, it is in
bad shape"
In the discussion Of this paper Charles
Adams of this city called attention to
he fact that the law for the appoint
ment Of supervisors had not as yet gone
into effect He was favorably impressed
with the law and believed it would oper-
ate benefcially
Secretary Woollen read a paper writ
ten by Secretary John A. c. Wright of
the National road league and the New
York state league for good roads. Mr..
Wright's home is in Rochester. and he
had expected to be present. but was de-
| tanned at home. His paper treated Of the
| improvements that had beer made upon
the English highways since the days OF
! Macadam and Telford the advancement
that had been made in New York and
the grand results that were i'm prospect
throughout the country In conclusion
he said: Let us, then, set out with the
resolute purpose, first Of all, of doing
| away with this system of working out
the tax, of Wiping out the road districts
with their unnumbered pathmasters and
unequal tenure of office from whom
nothing permanent could be obtained
nor expected to be obtained and let us
unite as communities in county road
building, in which the cities and towns
shall share with the farmers in the bur
den Of road building and in the benefits
which shall result from their improve
ment"
The last address of the meeting was
delivered eXtemporaneously by William
Fortune of this city upon Methods of
Work in Indiana" He said in substance:
The organized efforts Of the highway
Improvement association should be
directed chiefly to arOusing due appreci-
alton of the Importance and need of bet
ter roads, rather than to the discussion
in the beginning of purely technical
questions" He added that when the
people could be made to sufficiently I'M
derstand the economies and profits TO
be derived from rcadways which would
facilitate travel and the TRANSFORMATION
of products TO the markets, their inter
ests would bring them speedily to the
consideration of the question of how
and by whom the road should be built
Until they sufficiently appreciated the
benefits Of good roads it is hardly TO be
expected that it would be worth while to
discuss the methods Of making them He
thought that the association could well
afford to refrain from attempting to put
forth any proposed law. The expert
ence of the road congress a year ago
we'll demonstrated the uselessness Of eff
forts in this direction. He had at the
time opposed the action of the congress
because he believed ii injudiciOus. Ex-
perience had shown. he believed. that
it was the most unfortunate move that
had been made. While not altogether
cOmmendable, it still was the DISPOSE
ton of the legislative body to resent
anything that seemed like dictation of
legislation. When the time for legisla-
ton came it could be given form better
and with more certainty through the
quiet and deliberate work of a commit
tee. The primary lesson in the educa-
tional work was the showing to the
farmer of what he would save and gain
pecuniarily and of what his benefits
would be socially. This would necessi-