Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1905-01-27
NO EXCUSE FOR DELAY


The people of Polk county are
awakening to the need Of better roads,
and are earnestly discussing the
relative merits of plans proposed to
secure the desired results. They are
tired of wasting money and labor in a
vain effort to build dirt and gravel
roads that will stand the heavy traffic
of the rainy, winter months, and are
beginning to agitate the use Of crushed
rock in making roads that can be
kept in good condition throughout the
entire year. The gravel that is found
in the beds Of most of the streams of
the county is absolutely unfit for road
purposes, and all Improvements in
which this gravel is used are but
temporary at best. Hundreds Of
thousands Of dollars have been spent
in Polk county in the last thirty or
forty years in an attempt to build
substantial gravel roads, and the
public thoroughfares are practically
in no better condition than in the be-
ginning. The supervisors are not to
blame for this state of affairs, neither
are the taxpayers Of the county. The
people have simply done the best they
could with the money and material at
hand, and have probably accomplished
as much in the way of bodybuilding
as have the people OF any other county
similarly situated.
But the time has arrived when a
change of methods is necessary, and
when old-fashioned dirt roads are no
longer adequate to the needs Of a rich
and progressive county like Polk. If
the farmer is to prosper, he must have
roads over which he can haul his pro-
duce to market at any season of the
year when prices are most favorable.
Ii the towns are to prosper, the roads
leading in from every direction must
be kept in condition that will enable
the farmers to market their produce
and do their trading at any time OF
the year they see fit. There is no
earthly excuse for allowing the farmer
to be cut off from the market and to be
practically isolated for six months in
the year, when the expenditure Of a
little money and the exercise Of a
whole lot Of common sense in road
building would render complete
change in existing conditions.
The people Of the towns owe it to the
people Of the country to assist in build
ing better roads, and the people of the
country should assist in every reason
able way in building up the towns
that provide market for their pro-
duce. The advantages are mutual.
We can all help ourselves and help
each other by aiding any practical
movement that has for it's object bet
ter county roads.
The way to build good roads is to
build them, and the time to begin is
now. There is no possible excuse for
further delay, and no more money
should be thrown away in the present
methods Of road building. Enough
money will be wasted on road work
this year alone, despite the most honest
work of supervisors and taxpayers, to
purchase rock crusher and a COM
plete outfit ofroad making machinery.
Polk county is amply able to buy
rock crusher and road roller, and the
expense would not be felt by any tax
payer. The County Court is probably
waiting for an expression OF opinion
from the people in this matter, and it
is the duty of all progressive. citizens
to make their wishes known. The
members of the Court are practical
business men, and, as such, must
certainly realize the need of a better
system of road building. The OBsER-
YER believes that if any considerable
number Of the citizens of the county
would ask for county rock crusher,
the Court would not hesitate to make
the purchase
1t is hoped that the citizens of Polk
county will keep up the agitation for
better roads, and that they will insist
upon the purchase of a rock crusher
and other needed road machinery.
Write petition asking the Court to
take this important step and circulate
it among the people of your road dis
trict Getyour neighbors interested in