The record-union., 1896-02-13
FAIR PLAY A JEWEL.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel says;

The members of the State Board OF
Goods Roads Commissioners are no"
on an inspecting tour in both enos "
the State 1t is good time to lnVesei-
gate. When their journeys are ehoeo
thew VIII meet in Fresno and compdfe
notes. Will they do anything wnere 81
much is expected or required!
The foregoing and many similar items
we find floating in the press. Ihe sen
+tnel,s" is the miIdest of them me
most Of the expression to which we re-
far is that of dissatisfaction that the
rss,7lt of the erection of the Bureau OF
Highways has not been the immedlate
construction of good roads here tnere
and everywhere
n is of first Importance in all state
matters that there should be clear
understanding before there Is any crlta-
cisrn. We open the statute books tnere-
fore to ascertain why the bureau was
raised and what are its duties, ana we
find what we already knew-slnee TINS
naner carefully considered the measure
when It was before the Legislature
that there is not so much as a syllapie
in the law to warrant the assumption
that the creation of the bureau was
intended to set body of men at work
building good roads. There is no pro-
vision that any roads shall be built, no
money appropriated for the building OF
roads. not even a dollar for modeis or
experimental stretches, not a cent to
aid in any highway construction
In short, the scheme Of the bureau
never contemplated anything of the
kind. Nor should it have done so, for
the State has not settled upon the pol
icy of a State road system. That policy
has not been adopted in any State of
the Union but two. Massachusetts mas
a State Road System and in New Jersey
State aid is given to districts to en-
courage the good road spirit. California
is not ready for that; her people have
not even had it in mind.
The Bureau of Highways, the law
plainly shows, was erected for specific
purposes, which are clearly set forth in
the statute. Common justice and the
dictates of fair play therefore call upon
our CONTEMPORARIES to inform them
selves before they criticise. One South
ern California paper before us says in
effect Here 1t has been seven months
that the bureau has been junketing
around the State and not a good road
built yet What was it created for?"
Cur contemporary could easily ascer-
tain by reading the law.
10 Is simple, common, everyday jus
tioe to the bureau and to the law to say
that II has not been and is not 'tjunket-
ing because the law requires that it
shall hold one meeting in each year in
each county of the State. There are
flfty-two weeks in the year and fifty
seven counties in the State. They must
move, therefore, with some degree of
celebrity. The law requires the mem
bers to ascertain certain facts, and re-
port them to the Legislature, and these,
1t Is simple justice to assume, they are
gathering. They are to advise county
officials where their advice is desired
rs 10 TCdQ 1uey are TO
ascertain the cost of roads under the
present system and to report whether
It is economic, and If not where reform
is needed and what it should be. They
are to examine into the question of title
to the roads we have. into the locations
of material for road metal; to inform
themselves as to road conditions in each
county; ascertain what is being done,
and what experience has demonstrated
in other States as to road economies
They are, in short, as we read the law,
to exploit the whole subject, meet with
the people in each county in consulta-
tion, scatter abroad information con-
cerning economics OF road construction,
TO ascertain why the present road laws
are unequal in operation, and to advise
the Legislature as to what the road law
should be. They are to furnish assist
ance when requested to city and county
officers in the planning of roads, bridges
and highway constructions and so on.
In short, they are to do much as the
celebrated Massachusetts Road Com
mission did in the first two years of its
existence but they have no power to
build roads, to compel counties to con-
struct them, to enforce their ideas re-