The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1903-11-11
WHAT IMPRESSED THEM.

WHAT IMPRESSED THEM.
Benton Delegates Report Officially to-
Court About Good Roads Conventions.
At last weeks session ofthe coun-.
ty court. the del gat IS from Benton
who attended the Good Roads con-
vention in Portland, submitted a
report. Much of the matter is Of
interest to the public, and is as fol-
lows: d, @..J s,as.
The subjects under discussion Of
which we consider of most impor-
tance were:-The employment of
our convicts on the public highways
national and state aid for the inn
provement of our highways, the
relative value and economy Of good
and bad roads. rh4 r-latipn of the
road question o educ, T.. n, and the
cost, construction ana tna.4ltainance tna
of good roads
With the present disposition Of
convict labor they are brought into
direct communication with free
labor. s4
sa;saeI sCoNyIcTs ON ROAD. 's4a
The labor Of the convictc of the
state has been leased to the Loe-
weinberg & Going Company. ofPort
land for IS cents per day of ten
hours for each man. The duration
of the lease of the convict labor
will soon expire and some new ar
rangement for the employment of
our convicts must be made. Ill .B1
Other states are . utilizing their
convict labor in the Improvements
of their highways, we believe that
Oregon should do the same. In
tnis way their work. would be of
public benefit and would not as is
the case come into competition
with free labor.
The Hon. M. o. Eldridge of the
Office Public Road Inquiries Wash
ington D c.. showed with the s,eri-
optican how the convic,s were
worked OF the roads in other states.
Views were shown where they were
at work with ball and chain alta
ched. Also the portable steel cage
in which they were enclosed for
safe keeping at night was shown. A.
cook wagon coca right along with
them.
We believe that it would be a.
good moral lesson to the youth of
our land .as we'll as the conyicts.
themselves to be made to work
where they can be seen. We agree
with the Hon. M. O.. Eldridge that
it is no more than right as We en-
deavor 10 mend their ways. to make
them mend our (highways). We
hope that the next.-legislature will
make proper legislation along this
line.
NATIONAL AID FOR ROADS. -
IL regard to national and state
aid forthe improvementofo four. high.
ways. there has been !, millions
appropriated by Congress for the
imorovement OF rivers and harbors
and we believe the highways Of our.
land are worthy the consideration
Of our congress. We urge that our
representatives in congress do all
they can toward they enactment of
the Brownlow Bill which provides
for the appropriation of $40. .ooo, 200
for the department Of Public Rood
Inquiries inorder that object les
sen roads may be made in every
state.
Oregon's share for such an appro
priation would be about $I5o,ooo
Good roads are of great value to
any country. There is no econe-
my 10 bad roads. They cost yearly
great deal mora than the interest
on the price of good roads. 1t is
only to true that our country
schools are not on a par with the
gaaded schools Of our cities.
/ MONEY HAS BEEN WASTED.
Onrsta.ez zS1psr:nts3i eait of Pub
liu Instructiou aaptbats $ tue CEN
tralization OF our oa4,sfy schools,
and 10 thstWay give the country
boys. and girls an equal chance
with those In the, cities. There is
nothing thatscau insure the success
of this schemezmore than an early
improvement Of our public roads.
There should be some system to
our road work. As it has been
done much time and money has
been thrown away. The first of
many things that should be done
in the way of Improvement of our
public roads is Strengthening the
l. ! Ia