The record-union., 1898-06-02

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| the call for the election, it would at
least have bettered the conditions Of
| these roads, constructed permanent
| ub-StructureS, and we believe the
! money would have been expended as
| economically as it could be by any
other system or by any other hands.
1t will require men to build roads
whether it be under the bond system or
| by any other method; it will involve the
| trusting of men in the payment of the
| funds; and can we expect one set of
men to be more honest than another,
especially when they have been chosen
by the people themselves? Villa change
in the system of appointing agents to
| transact our road business render the
service free from men who defraud the
public? We live under representative
Government where agents are generally
chosen by the vote of the people in
terested in the performance of a specific
| task. No man can truly be called a
| thief until he has pulled some of the
chestnuts out of the fire, and once he
| has done so we can avoid employing
him thereafter The law can provide
a punishment for public offense but
it cannot punish a man before he has
committed a crime. Who shall de-
termine a mans honesty? Not man or
| court or jury, but his acts must testify
to his guilt or Innocence. The law
can and will punish the offender.
| SO far as I am interested, / have no
| fault to find with any man because he
| does not believe with me, as long as he
uses fair and honest argument against
| my propositions, but / have little re-
| spect for a man or body of men who
| Will resort to a base and false misrep-
| resentation of the facts, or clothes him
| self or themselves in the robe of a re-
| former in order that he or they may
assail under the guise of a friend, the
proposition for any public improve
| ment. The man who asserts that he is
| as much in favor of good roads as
| you are and when the time comes to
| build roads and supply the necessary
funds is found to be your strongest op-
| ponent, is the character Of man who
| will never build good roads.
You will pardon me for this introduc-
ton of my subject, but in speaking
| as l have simply desire to state some
facts in order that we may be guided in
| our future action and understand the
conditions that confront US.
l have some facts which / desire to
bring to your attention, believing as
do that they may serve to guide US in
| the consideration of the various Ques-
| tions regarding road building.
We are informed from facts taken
| from the records Of your counties that
| nearly two million dollars are expended
yearly on the roads of the State of Cal
ifornia. Nearly every county in the
State expends no less than $50 900 to
| $4,000 per year, and have continued to
expend this sum for many years past.
San Mateo County expended in 1896 no
less than $4,000; Colusa expended
31,5So during the fiscal year of 1896
| d; Yolo County expended during the
| fiscal year 1886 the sum of S52 544 90
and in 1867 the sum of S42, ,S54 70;
| Solano County expended in 1856 $41, :
$50 Is and in 1867 S53, $50 II for
road purposes; Contra Costa County
| SCI ,266 80 in 1886, and S44, ,215 06 in
| 1867; Glenn County, one of the lately
| born sisters of your commonwealth, ex-
pended for roads and bridges in 1886
| S2S,OO1 o., and in 1867 S2O,35O 81.
Your own county expended in 1896
$43,6S4 81. and in 1867 SAG, ,156 81.
There are many other counties l
might give you figures upon, but these
| few will suffice to illustrate the amount
! of money each county places in road
work and structures each year. We
| find by an inspection of the report of
the Bureau Of Highways Of 1886 that
| the total amount expended for road
purposes in eleven years is S17,959,-
| IA a, or an average of 81 ,623, ,1O1 per
annum. This sum, however, does not
| represent all Of the moneys expended
| for road purposes during the period
named, and we are firmly of the belief
| that S2,OUO,OOO per year will reach
| nearer the mark than the sum above
| named. This is an investment you are
making every year, which only can rep
resent the interest upon the amount of
! capital that at fair rate of interest
Will produce this sum.
! If we look at the question from this
/ point Of view, we are convinced that no
| less than fifty millions Of dollars would
| suffice to produce this amount with in
! terest at 4 per cent per annum. The
| total assessed value of all property in
| the year 1898 for the counties consid-
cred in this expenditure was $S06, ,669,-
O3o; we will call it $500, ,OOO,O 900 for the
purpose of figuring, then would the
amount invested each year, or $50, 600 :
| 900 be one-sixteenth or GA per cent of
all the property assessed in the counties
outside of the city and county Of San
/ Francisco? But we learn from the
same source that only a little over
| 5000, 100000 is assessed for road pur-
poses. Therefore. If you expend ST.
oo0,0OO per year you are expending the
| interest at 4 per cent. on one-tenth Of
the value of all your property assessed
for road purposes. This is a constant
drain on the taxpayers of each county
There seems to be little possibility Of
relief from this tax unless a reduction
can be made by the introduction OF
| some system that will eliminate some
| of the causes Of expense If by the
| expenditure of this vast amount of
money an end to some of the leaks could
be discernible or a better system Of
| roads promised in the future, then we
could we'll bear the burden; but when
| one examines the records and sees lit
tie or no progress made in the construc-
| ton of good roads. yet year by year
the same amount of money is being ex-
pended, we must come to the conclusion
| that some other method of constructing
roads should be adopted.
These remarks are not intended to
cast any reflection upon the work of
any Supervisor for we must give each
one of you credit for doing all that
| your best judgment would dictate un-
der the circumstances surrounding each