Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-02-15
nIacElLANEous REooRn
county supervlsor Of Roads.


County Supervisor Of Roads.
While the Levy Court may claim
Huthonty Of law for appointing a county
supervisor Of roads, it may not claim
authority Of law for making that Office
q burden upon the county through a large
salary. II is well TO have this fact in
mind, as the matter of compensation is
still open, to be determined, probably,
at the next meeting Of the court.
The law in relation TO a county super
visor Of new roads is contained in Section
~ Of "An act to provide for the perma-
nent improvement Of the public high
ways in the State Of Dlaware," passed
At Dover, April l4th, 1903, and known
as the Good Roads law. The section re-
ferred 10 reads as follows AMY road
constructed within the provisions of this
act, except within the limits of any city,
shall forever thereafter be a county road,
and the duty Of keeping the same in re-
pair, except within the limits Of any city,
shall. devolve upon the Levy Court and
the county supervisor hereinafter mem
toned; after the first highway
shall have been constructed under this
act in any county, Il shall be the duty of
the Levy Court to appoint a county
supervisor Of roads. who shall hold his
office for four years and until his sue
cessor is appointed; he shall give bond
to the Levy Court in the sum Of $1,000,
conditioned for tho faithful performance
of the duties of his office, with such salary
or allowance as the Levy Court may
fix; IL shall be the duty Of the
county supervisor 20 report TO the Levy
Court all repairs he may think necessary
or proper to be made to such county
roads, and under the direction and control
OF said Levy Court to spend moneys
raised for such repairs in such manner and
upon such roads as viii tond to keep them
in the best possible state of repair; no
part Of said money shall bo paid into the
hands Of said county supervisor, but all
expenses Of repairs shall bo paid by the
county treasurer on order of the Levy
Court, granted only on the presentation
Of bills verified and approved in New
Castle county by the county comptroller"
Only ordinary investigation will be
required to establish the fact that for
several years there will be little work for
the county supervisor of roads. In the
first place, his duties will be confined to the
new roads that have been, or may here
after be, constructed under the provisions
Of the Good Roads law; all other roads are
under the supervision and control of the
road commissioners of the respective
hundreds outside Of Wilmington. All
that the road supervisor need do is to
keep an eye on the roads, and, whenever
he notices defects, report the same to the
Levy Court, and subsequently he will be
called upon to "spend the moneys" that
may be applied by the Levy Court to
such repairs.
At present there are only 71S miles Of
public roads in New Castle county that
will require the official attention Of this
county supervisor, and, being newly-built
roads, Il is not expected that they will
need close supervision or important repair
for a long time. There are more than
715 miles Of good road in the county, but
the Marshallton road, and the Haro's
Corner road, recently constructed ARE
by the terms Of the contract, still under
the care Of the contractors, to remain foi
at least a year. After the expiration oI
this time, they win come under the
Ecrutinizing eye ofthe county supervisor
Now, il cannot with justice be urged
that munihcient salary should be ap.
piled to an Office the only duties Of which
will be to keep an occasional eye on y.
miles Of road and report when any portion
Of them may be in need Of repairs. OF
course, a jealous official Jealous in the
cause Of compensation, we mean-might
put in full time inspecting these y!
miles Of road, and 20 over every foot Of
them nearly every day in the year. For
such an expenditure Of time he would
doubtless demand good compensation;
but with a knowledge Of the situation
as herein set forth from the provisions OF
the law, no taxpayer Of New Castle county
VIII listen calmly to the suggestion that
heavy salary be attached to this prac-
teal sinecure, so far as duties are con-
oened. j. stands to reason that large
salary for this Office will be an unneces-
sary burden upon the taxpayers.
So much for the office itself. The next
matter Of consideration is the man who
has been selected to fll it. II ever an
Office was filed in this county for purely
political reasons, and without regard "a
the good Of the public service or the in