The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-04-13
FOR PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
AN ASSOCIATION OF ALI OFFICIALS
 CONNECTED TREREWITH.

IN ASSOCIATION OF ALL OFFICIALS
 CONNECTED THEREWITH.
 Its Organization Proposed by State High way Commissioner James H. Macdonald Thinks the Need of Such an Associa tion is Imperative-Op Opinions of Citizens Asked For.
 The following circular letter has been issued by State Highway Commission CT James H. Macdonald:
 Hartford, Conn, April 8, 1898.
 Dear sir: This is an age of pro- gress, and in keeping pace with the times it is absolutely necessary that that will afford us all the knowledge that we can attain, leading up to, or away from any matter that will be of profit to us, and this proposition, believe, will not be denied, and it is for the purpose of obtaining all the knowledge and information that it is possible to reach, that would like to see organized here in the state of Con- necticut an association composed of all the officials who have any connection with public improvements, state as- sociation, constituting all Boards of Trade, mayors of cities, street super intendants, boards of public works, off, f1cers of village improvement societies and all other persons who have any, thing to do with streets, roads, side walks, street lighting, drainage, tree planting, etc. I believe they should be brought into personal contact with each other by an association and a so- ciety that can be called their own, electing their president and subordi nate officers, who would arrange for meetings at frequent intervals, at which time papers could be read, and discussions take place on every matter of the nature that I have mentioned for improvement along the lines spok- en of. I think such meetings would be a great education to everyone att tending them, and believe that the necessity for such state association is imperative to-day, for the taxpay- CTS in every city and town in the state of Connecticut feel as they never have before, that great deal of money has been unwisely spent by reason of the fact that a great deal of the work that has been done, and for which we paid the bill, is very often experiment. ally done, and access to other work I. L. J-.- 9., I. IL. ... which other methods are in use, and what has been the result in their use is not known, and an interchange of views and experiences would result in saving thousands of dollars to the cit ies of our commonwealth.
 confess this thought has grown out of my work as commissioner, I1av- ing seen so many things wherein im- provement in methods practiced would result in the saving to the, towns a great deal of money, I have had occa- sion to notice that what is true of highway matters is true of other things that we have to do with, and believe that the mistakes and suc- cesses which have attended the efforts of officials, and for which people have spent their money, if told, would be valuable, and stop, perhaps, in some other place, the unwise expenditure of money which some town may perhaps have wasted in wrong method
 The door is open wide for improve ments, and the people are to-day look ing for Improvements. The demands but it would be manifestly as unwise tc f all, and by thus discussing matters in the way of improvements, everyone present at such meetings would return amply repaid for the time and money it cost to attend.
 I should like to have your views as regards whether you think an associa- tion of this kind would be feasible or not It is my purpose, if enough peo- ple favor the plan, to call a meeting in the near future of all those who signify a desire to organize such a movement and elect officers and committees, and plan for a future meeting for the dis cussion of state improvements. This would not in any way abridge the au- thority or interfere with any associa- tion now existing, but would rather be more as an auxiliary to the increased usefulness of any and all associations existing in the state of Connecticut The plan of organization is crude in my mind, and could be determined af- ter preliminary meeting, such as have described, had been held, and the plan be determined later as to the ex- act course of work.
 As I have said before, I have no definite plan of action. The only thought clear in my mind is simply to organize a society of the character that I have described, that shall have for it's object intelligent methods of spending the public money in the making of improvements throughout the state of Connecticut.
 Very respectfully yours,
 JAMES H. MACDONALD,
 Highway Commissioner.