The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-05
A Move Forward.

The report OF the superior court grand
jury. published in the Morning News yes
terday. IS an excellent one. not only be-
cause IL shows there was very thorough
investigation Of the various matters COM
mented upon. but also because It expresses
the general desire Of the people Of the
county that public improvement shall be
prosecuted vigorously and conducted sys-
tematically and intelligently. So much
money has been spent upon drainage and
roads. and so little accomplished that IS
Of permanent character. that the people
have lost patience with prevailing meth
DDS Of doing things. and are ready to de-
maud. in fact, are demanding. a change.
The grand jury. speaking Of the drain
age work. says: I'VE have to deplore any
diversion of the convict force from the
work" And in respect to public roads it
says that while It approves the repairing
Of roads that are in a bad condition. it does
not approve Of the work Of road con-
struction as is now being attempted and
conducted" and it apprehends that the
resulting condition of the roads so being
worked will prove to be worse than that
at present existing"
In these quotations from the report we
have presented to us the fact that the
same policy is being pursued that has
absorbed vast sums of money and ac-
complished no permanent good. The
drainage work upon which the good health
of the city so largely depends is not being
prosecuted with the vigor it should be. A
quarter of the whole available force is
on Tybee Island, opening drains that are
likely to be of no practical use whatever
within a very short time. and another
quarter Of the convict force is clearing a
rifle range In the meantime the hot sea-
son is approaching. and drainage work
that is to protect the health of the city
has upon it only half of the available
convict force. Is it to be wondered at
that the people speaking through the
chief grand jury of the county, complain
and grumble?
What the grand jury says about the
road construction that is now being at
tempted should sink deep into the minds Of
every citizen. What is the use of vast
ing money in constructing roads that will
need repairing continually, and that when
repaired will be wholly unsatisfactory?
That is what we have been doing for
years, and why we have nothing to show
for the large amount of money spent upon
roads.
Drainage and road building must go to-
gether. and in county like this roads
to be worth anything must be constructed
scientifically. If the money that has been
spent in patching roads in this county had
been used in constructing roads upon
scientific PLAN we should now have many
excellent roads throughout the county.
The grand jury recommends the compile
ton of the Meridian road. Other grand
juries have made a similar recommenda-
ton. Does anybody know why no atten-
tion is paid to the recommendation? If
the grand jury represent the people is it
not about time the people were demand
ing why their wishes are not complied
with?
We believe we speak for nine-tenths of
the people when we declare that they
want the drainage around the city pushed
with all possible vigor, and that they will
take occasion to express their dissatis-
faction with their public servants if their
wishes in this matter are not respected.
ReIIrion and PubIscity.