The leader., 1902-04-23
COUNTY PUBLIC ROADS.

This cause coming on to be heard on
the report of Hon. G. T. Montgomery,
road commissioner of Lincoln county,
and it appearing to the satisfaction of
the Board of Supervisors of Lincoln
county, as shown in said report, that
whilst all public roads of the first
class are in good, passable condition,
that the same are not worked and
kept up according to plans and speci-
fications and the contract entered into
by the said public road contractors to
and with this Board; and it appearing
that none of the public roads of the
second class in said county are worked
and kept up in accordance with the
plans and specifications, and in fact
that some of said last-named public
roads have not been worked at all, and
are not in safe, passable condition;
wherefore it is ordered by the Board,
that no allowance shall be made, nor
shall any money be paid to the public
road contractors, until all the public
roads of the first class in said county
are worked according to plans and
specifications, and so reported by the
Hon. G. T. Montgomery, road com
missioner. 1t is further ordered by
the Board that unless all of the public
roads in said Lincoln county, of the
first class are worked according to
plans and specifications and so re-
ported by said road commissioner,
under oath, within 80 days from this
date, and the second class roads are
put in good, passable condition of the
width prescribed by the specifications
where practicable land the road com
missioner shall be the sole judge of
such practicability,) proceedings will
be instituted to cancel the contract
with the said road contractors, and
for the recovery of all allowances made,
where no work has been done to show
for the same, and the county COM
missioner of public roads is hereby
charged with the duty to closely and
carefully see that all roads are worked
according to plans and specifications,
and opened and worked the width
adopted by this Board in said speci
fications contained.
In passing the above order, the
Board has acted none too soon or too
decidedly. THE LEADER has heard a
good deal of complaint about the der
ELECTION of the road contractors, and
also some severe censure of the Board
of Supervisors for not requiring the
contractors to keep up the public
roads according to the terms of their
contracts. These complaints we have
been inclined to regard as largely
captious and made in a fault finding
spirit that would demand the imprac-
ticable if not the impossible; but here
are charges of the gravest and most
direct nature, made by the board
itself, on the authority of the County
Road Commissioner, and their cor
rectness cannot be questioned.
The first class roads have not been
worked according to plans and speci-
fications and contract stipulations,
says the board in it's order, and some of
the second class roads have never been
worked at all Though the contractors
engaged last September to work all of
these roads,.
In soil such as that of Lincoln
county's, where neither gravel nor
stone is used for finishing off the
roads, it is demanding too much, it
matters not how we'll graded and
smooth the roads may be worked, not
to expect them to become muddy and
cut into ruts by the continuous travel
of heavy vehicles over them in wet
weather, and here and there in low
places, find bad hole. Therefore, if
nothing more serious than this were
alleged against the contractors, they
would have good defense and might
answer that the unreasonable and i'm
practicable is being demanded of them.
Besides, the ruts and holes might be
gone over in little while when the
roads are dry and filed up. The chief
indictment against them however, and
the one that they will find it hardest
to answer is, that they hare not aUorhed
the frst-class roads according to plans
and specifications, and hdUen't rOrked
some Of the secOnd-cldSS roads at all!
though it has now been over a half
year since they entered into agreement
and bond to do just this thing, and, as
may be inferred by the boards Ian
guage, have also actually been paid
money to which they were not justly
entitled.
If the board will stand firmly and en-
force the position it has taken, there
is no doubt but it's action will be heart
lily sanctioned by the people of the
county. If it does not, it win receive
from the people the condemnation it
has placed upon the contractors, and
its members will deserve it. Really
there is so much involved, that the
Board cannot afford not to act along
the line it has mapped out, if the con-
tractors fail to respond as they should.
Lincoln county has won a deservedly
high reputation for her improved pub
lie roads during the last few years, and
the contract system was at first intro
duced against strong popular pref
udice, which has been mainly over
come by the good results so far
achieved. To cause a complete re-
vulsion of public sentiment and a
return to the old order of things,
simply through failure of the Board
of Supervisors to require the read
contractors to live up to the contracts
they voluntarily assumed after years
of practical experience, is not to be
considered.
XVoIA 4