The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1899-09-26
THE ROAD QUESTION.
Interesting Communication From MI T.
Hunter


70 The Free Lance
| wonld beg permission through ihe
columns Of your paper, 10 suggest %
the voters Of Caroline county that there
are questions, to them. # more lmme-
diate Importance In the approaching
election than the choosing II an L )
Senator While it is a great hardship
10 an agricultural county to be misrep'
resented in the State or national legis-
latures, by one bound to opposing cor
porate interest, this burden can be only
removed by the combined action Of
majority in the State, and Is of remote
interest as compared with some qnes-
tions Of county economy, which the
county can settle for itself, and can d.
without exciting any.pArty antngonism
The rst in imp)rthncs OF these do
mestic 1estions is the difficulty IN the
maintenance OF the county roads And
in electing legislator we shDuli aim
70 select one who is wiling and cHp,-
ble 10 remove this difficulty We all
know n AT. since the Court Of App'al-
did away with stAtut5ry or compulsory
labor we have fallen back on what
is called the Allensworth Llw, which
provides that tax shall be lev
led for the maintenance Of the roads
This law acts very well until ~e
come to the expenditure Of the m 1neys'
so collected The law provides that
each county supervisor shall have
charge Of the expenditure OF
the money collected IN his district
and he is held to no Accountability
This surely is not business, very ie"
supervisors are good road masters and
no one man can supervise the roads OF
county district. eSen II he devoted
his entire time to the work. The con-
sequence is that the tax collected
about 81 4C0 yearly is mostly INIT
cred away, without any appreciate
benefit to the roads The Legislature
has generally been willing to give to
any county any road law that its Rep
resentative will ask for; it makes no
difference what party he votes for.
We should meet and decide on tho
law we want. and we should elect
member who will ask for the law we
want. And, as have taken upon my
self to point out the weak point in the
present law, | will 60 further and sug-
gest a remedy.
Instead Of having a single supervisor
to expend the funds of his district, let
US have the Board Of Supervisors 20
meet at a stated time, and lay of the
roads Of the county into c)u tinuous
sections Of, say 10 miles each and let
the County Judge select three Of the
largest Taxpayers, residing on THIS
section, as a section board. They she'i
act without compensation let this
board meet and nominate suitable
man who by appointment OF the county
court shall become the road master Of
this section, and who shall give bond
for double the amount Of the funds
that come into his hands. which funds
will be the road tax, collected on pro-
perty contiguous in his section, and
which shall be paid into his hands by
tie County Treasurer, he giving his
receipt for the same.
The road master shall be paid GER
tain sum, per diem, for all time that
he il actually engaged on the roads,
and shall expend all moneys paid over
to him-under the supervision OF the
section board for the maintenance and
betterment of his section, including
! bridges of a limited span. aud shall
keep itemized accounts Of his receipts
and expenditures, which shall be au-
dited first by his section board, and
then sent ,on to the County Board OF
Supervisors. For any shortage in his
accounts or neglect Of his duty, he can
be proceeded against on his bond The
section board, being personally inter
ested, would, think. see that the
road m lster did his duty.
l would also suggest that the road
fund may be considerably increased, by
so amending the criminal laws Of the
State, that in all misdemeanors now
punishable by fine and imprisonment
in Jail, the penalty woUld be con-
demnation to so many days service ou
the roads. in the section where crime
was committed, and under sthe SUPER
vision of the road master OF that Sec
ton
And in this connection l would
say. that see no injustice in the old
Bible law, that the thief should pay
back more than he stole. And that
under our present laws there is iDjus-
tice in my having to help to support a
man In Jail who has stolen property
from me. would be very glad if the
tax payers Of the county would taAe
up this question.
Respectfully.
T. Hunter
Ruther Glen, Va.
| Sant % 1899