The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-03-14

a Rainstorm)
and the wise provision in the law al
lowing the commissioner to meet the
conditions by which the town is sur
rounded. Almost all of the objec
lions offered by the towns in regard
to former laws are removed under
the present law. 1t will be impossi-
BILE, however, to draft any law that
will be entirely free from objection,
for it is impossible to build any law
that cannot be improved in some re-
spects.
1.-The present law, governing as it
does the whole of the action of the
state and town on a liberal plan of
financial assistance, and broadening
the policy of the state in the method
of construction, and also keeping
well within control of the state the
whole movement, has enlarged the
field of work for the commissioner
and has reduced somewhat the iuris-
diction of the towns accepting state
aid; but so far every change from
the laws of 1895 and 1897 has been
very much more beneficial to the
towns and around the whole move
ment safeguards that has already
demonstrated its worth.
ut has never been the policy of
the state to be unpleasantly arbi-
trary in her dealings with the towns,
although at the outset of the move
ment it was difficult to have all towns
understand this. AS the work has
progressed the towns have been
brought into full knowledge of the
attitude of the state.
ut was at first thought by many
people of our state that when the
roads through the villages were i'm
proved the interest would die out,
and that vote for the improvement
of others would not be had. On the
contrary, the desire for general
improvement of the roads in all
towns in which we have constructed
roads is increasing rather than di-
minishing, which fact speaks well for
the future of the good roads move
ment.
five and six sections on main high
way with an appropriation of 81 900,
and while each section would not eX-
tend over many lineal feet of road
the sections selected are places that
had been for years a weak spot on
the road, and would have been i'm
proved long ago had the town been
financially able to so do. 1t stands
to reason that if a road having five
or six bad places at different points
on a road six miles long, and these
bad sections can be removed for
$1,000, thereby retaining and MAX
ing good road of the five or six
miles, it is money well invested. AS
a matter of fact, the largest return
for the money invested is the i'm
provement of these sectional pieces
of road throughout the state"
Commissioner Macdonald makes this
protest against the old drag scraper:
81 have seen thousands of dollars
wasted with this old time practice of
putting the washings from the road
back on the road. The road scraper
properly used is a great assistance to
our country roads and saving of a
large amount of money and time if it
is intelligently used. The old drag
scraper system is back number and
should remain so. 1t is the lack of
knowledge of how to use a road
scraper and not the road scraper
that is to be condemned. 1t would
be better in the use of the road
scraper when the sand washings are
found in the gutter to lift up the
blade and let the washings lie where
the rain left them, and go on and
drop the blade only into good mate
rial, and thus leave the road in
passable condition, instead of eight
inches deep, as 1 have often seen it
with worn out road scrapers."
The commissioner does not think