The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1898-02-24

land Opinion reports go candidates for road
commissioner in the town of Prospect That
| IS large number of asplrants for office in
small town, where perhaps less than a hun
dred voters are out. And, besides, road
| commissioners in the little town will not be
expected to receive more salary than the
selectmen, who in the past had to do all the
business of the town The town report
shows their compensation to have been as
| follows: First $40; second $50 third SIS
About ali the way the red tape change can be
disposed of to keep the roads in order as be-
fore is for the commissioner to appoint
veyors in the several districts as before and
give all chance to work. 1t is useless in
| the rural districts to begin or encourage any
attempt to get adrift at greater expense in
new tangled notions until there is some way
for the farmer to raise money easier than
now. All this talk about good roads, wide
tired carts hauling IL ton loads, and spin
ming bicycles over these billy roads by the
Bicycle League is useless talk For on these
billy roads in Maine the bicycle will be
thing of the past in less than five years. A
horse can be bought for less than bicycle
now and can be used all the year against
bicycle for few months only. Now some
| OF the big towns might make the change to
road commissioners and pay the added sal
aries and make it appear to be a better way.
But to wing out little Prospect with the adj
| ded officials, when the selectmen, the most
interested officials in the town, and The ones
who apportlcu the appropriations TO the
several districts, and have to stand respon-
sible for the expenditure of the money, with
another set of BOSSES with agents or survey
ors, is useless. When it comes down to ex-
perlence and economy in expanding the APP
propriations IN the several districts a resi-
+ dent of perhaps 20 or 40 years in a road dis
trict, who perhaps may have been a surveyor
/ 20 times, is the one to be elected Such res
idents are familiar with all the bad places,
! know how much water comes down such a
| gu!ch and such ditch and such A crossway
and when such plank is old and such
| bridge stringers are bad, and how much dirt
on all the crossways and everything about
| the road. resident of the district knows
more about the road without going over it
than new man can learn in one year. And
some Of the old timers can even tell where
the break will come when it rains so much
with the frost out, and what bridge will 20
in the night if it rains so long. A road com
| missioner chosen outside of the district is no
match in economizing, with the small funds
| to expend in the several districts in
our little town. But the 90 candidates
are a myth in Prospect. For little rural
-;tI,
name of a village in it, trying to ape the
ways of large town with villages seems to
be folly. And we have the Seth Low senti-
ments among the people 50 soon after the
passage of the new law, that the act if voted
on now would not make a clean sweep of
the rural districts The days of good roads
are gone in the rural districts. The roads
can never be as they have BEEN with the
| small fund and the changed conditions of
the road bed Very many miles of the old
| roads in Maine are from one TO four feet
below the land each side of the road wash
ed down the hill grades by the bitches. The
road machine stirring up the whole road
| every year has done its share. No effort is
made to finish a piece of road and let it
sod over in the bitches to hold the soil
The machine goes over all the roads in town
every year, and with new officials it will be
done again The way it has turned out,
very many miles Of roads have been turn
piked up in the years past over these hills
| and gravellyo loan stretches that ought to
have been left level, without even stirring
the soil OF course in the spring it would
be soft, but the poorly turnpiked roads are
worse aud the frost acts in the wet bitches
to make slough holes in all the says There
is sample piece of road here that has been
in use Is years, and with considerable travel,
and never was turnpiked. Probably $500
would pay all the expenses in these years for
repairs. Such locations could be found in all
towns. After the largest part of the teamng
that will ever be done in the rural district is
past, the largest schools done, and now with
the extra expense and willingness shown by
the rural town to give all its citizens fair
| chance with roads and schooling, it was too
much for the boss and the faithful and the
champions of efficiency. The small sums al
| lotted to the rural districts must de-
prive some of schools to make it sound like
| business, and the road fund has got to go
| to the faithful, such as We're born road
makers. The great reforners of the pres
emit centre the most of their talk on great
time coming when a macadamized road
| for wet weather and dirt road for
dry weather will be all over these hills and
valleys, and great graded school with a
great schoolhouse adorned with pictures
| from the best masters, located in the centre
of the town, and great efficiency staring the
rural population almost out of their wits
Every effort in legislation is to deprive the
rural population in the scattered sections of
every accommodation they have, driving
| out some of our best citizens. All the road
| champions are after is to get double grand
bicycle road from one village to another.
Already where the road commissioners have
tried their hand at making roads there are
some of the poorest roads in Waldo county.
The low swampy road and sparcely settled
places are left for more funds, and great
show is made in good machine-working
| places.