The Saint Paul globe., 1904-06-26
SUNDAY, JUNE 2s, 1904
A HAPPY VETO

- F7AFFI VGlO
The ruling made by County Attor-
ney Kane on expenditures for road i'm
provements is happy veto of the grab
which the county commissioners at
tempted to put through. t. e Gle b e
is more than delighted that Mr.. Kane
should find warrant in the law for
the opinion which it had expressed
hope that he might be able to render.
1t calls upon him now, and upon the
officers and members Of the Good
Roads association and upon all good
citizens to join in the fight and call no
truce until a scheme for real road i'm
provement is in practical operation.
The ruling of Mr.. Kane is exactly in
harmony with his expressed opinions
on the subject and with the decision of
the courts. He says, as the district
court has said, that the country roads
must be repaired, where the work done
involves an expenditure of less than
$500, under the direction of the town
boards and not by the county board.
The latter has nothing to do but make
the appropriation, which the local body
will then eXpend as it's best judgment
may direct. The process is analogous
to the conduct Of city departments
where. for example, the city council
must appropriate money for the con-
duct Of the schools and the care of
parks, but the school board and the
park board have exclusive jurisdiction
of the manner and purpose for which
this money is expended. Where, on the
other hand, the expenditure is more
than $500, the county board has juris-
diction; but the work must then be
done under the contract system after
calling for bids.
The immediate effect would seem to
be complete veto upon a county
board which it would be charity to
call merely incompetent. 1t has abso-
lutely refused to help in the work of
making good roads. It has denied
every request for the expenditure of
the peoples money in the construction
of real highways. 1t has clung to the
old practice of peddling out these large
amounts contributed by the taxpayer
for so-called repairs here and there.
distributing the money according to
ideas Of its own, absolutely without
the slightest benefit to the roads under
Its care. 1t has played politics. and
the smallest and meanest and most ig-
norant kind Of politics at that, from
first to last, and we are glad to have it
find master.
OF course we do not regard it as an
ideal arrangement that this money
should be at the disposition of the
boards of the several townships of the
county. Centralized control would he
better. because good roads can be made
only under the direction of a competent
engineer, On large scale, at the ex-
pendlture of considerable sums Of
money and in short lengths at a time.
1t will probably be difficult to make
the town boards see the matter in this
light But the thing to, rejoice at is
ga that the power to squander the peo-
pies money in the old way has been
taken away from the county board.
Probably its members may not be in a
hurry to appropriate funds for the town
boards unless they can put UP some
deal with these men; and we think too
highly Of most of these local authori-
ties to believe that they will be willing
to traffic with such fellows as the ma
5ority Of the county commissioners