Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1904-02-18
THE PUBLIC
ROAD QUESTION
Taxpayer Writes on Existing Con.
ditonS.
DO NOT BLAME COMMISSIONERS.
Aid Must be Received Through
Legislative Action.
DO NOT BLAME COMMISSIONERS,


various papers of the county, have
appeared articles rejecting upon
the county commissioners, and
particularly in the matter of the
expenditure of county moneys for
road purposes. These articles have
intimated and in some instances
have directly charged that the mon
ey has been expended recklessly,
it not dishonesty.
1t is not my purpose to present any
excuse for the condition of the
roads of the county; every one
knows they are bad; everyone
knows they should be impr owed +;
the question is how can they be
bettered? are the commissioners re-
sponsible?
A benevolent Providence sends
the rain of heaven upon US in great
abundance; the soil of Camas
Prairie is of such rich black loan,
that in the rainy season the roads
are almost impas sable; grading the
roads by simply throwing some OF
the earth to the centre does not
keep them dry; nature has given
us conditions that make it a hard
il not an impossible matter to keep
our highways in repair.
The county commissioners, in
road matters, as in everything elst
have to act in ac' ,Ordance with law
and cannot expe nd more than the
law allows on roads; and the gen
eral manner end scope of theil
authority in Dad matters is lait
down by st Atute. If the entir'
system is wrong then let us try t.
find where the difficulty lies an.
60 to the legislature for the remedy
The commissioners, unCler the
law, may levy for general road
purposes not to exceed 60 cent?
on the 800; the last year 1 be-
lieve the levy was so cents. Ii
the county are A road districts ant
no man on earth can tell the mum
Der of miles of highway; they viii
however run into the thousands
Take the road fund of somethin,
like $4,000 and after deductins
the amount paid for damages fo
rlght-of-way for new highways how
much is there to be divided among
the Al road districts? Any on
district in the county could use
every cent of this money and there
would still be room for more to bt
spent to advantage.
Naturally this is the most expen
sive county of the state in which
to build roads; when they are onc'
built it is just as expen sive to keel
them in repair.
In each of the A road district
is road overseer who has direc
charge over the roads in his dis
trict and is supposed to keep then
in repair; that is, he is supposed +
do what he can with the none,
and means at hand to make hi
roads passable. These overseer
may be elected by direct vote o
the people in tie district; if til
people do not elect then the county
commissioners appoint upon ;
petition from citizens Of the dist
rict. We hear constant complain
about this and that road overseer
the people, not the commissioner
are responsible for the manner o
man selected for the place. Hav
ing the say they should see tina
only the best men are selected fo
the place.
In addition to the levy made by
the commissioners there is a rOat
poll tax to be collected by the diff
ferent road overseers; the old, th'
lame, the halt and the blin are ex
empt from payment of this tax
exery road overseer when he call'
upon the int abitants of his district
to perform the road work is sur
prised to find the number of meI
who from appearances are in per
feet health who are, according tt
their story, in many cases backed
up by physicians certificates, I'm
able to perform rnanual labor; j
seems that the majority OF people
consider it met orious thing to de
fraud the county in the matter O
paying taxes and certainly the pay
ment of road taxes is no exception.
Having the general supervision
over roads and over the expendi-
ture of all county moneys it is per
haps natural that the commissioners
should be blamed for everything
that is not to the liking OF the
people. With the means at theil
command nothing more can bt
6ono than koap tho roads aS near