The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1906-02-20
PUBLIC OPINION.

pleased for his claiming me with the
backwoods class, as there is where
you will find the best timber, the fore
part or front woods being long since
culled out ! also thank Mr.. Brissel
for his literature he sent me on the
good roads, but would say that the
picture on the first page is an insult
to the farmers of Stark county. The
picture is a farmer boy with slouchy
dress and hat with pipe in mouth and
two horse team and wagon with
horses in mud up to their knees.
drawing wagon load with hind axle
dragging in the mud. Also / think
the term mud tax" is an insult to the
farmer. On the second page is an
appeal to the voters of Stark county
eled 10000 miles of wagon roads of
Stark county In the past four years.
/; and studying the road question by
attending the national and interna-
tional good roads conventions. He
has come to the conclusion that the
large expenditures of money in Stark
county is annually being wasted. that
our roads are not being sufficiently
benefited by scraping the sand, clay,
sod and stones to the center of the
road and calling it road improvement
Here is my advice: Pick out the stones
and haul on good coat of gravel, but
where would you get the money to do
the work he wants without an increase
of tax, unless you cut down the bridge
fund from $50, 900 to $4,000, as he
says he would do? II that can be
done, why not divide the $4,000 with
the townships of the county and let
us use the money to build roads as
we see fit, or leave it in the pockets
OF the taxpayers, where it belongs,
instead of giving it to road builders.
And the next thing would be a road
builders trust, as well as we have a
| bridge trust.
He also says ON page two, that it
must be said that good work has been
| done in the way of drainage to our
| public highways by the construction
| of bridges and eulvert, but little
| thought has been given to permanent
| grades of our roads. He says the ma
! jority Of our culverts are situated in
| the raYines with a big hill on each
side. On page three of his literature
he says one of the first principles OF
| road improvements is grade. He says
| if this is to be the case the majority
of these culverts are not constructed
with sufficient width to stand the fill
which will necessitate their recon-
| structioQ at a great expense. In re-
CARDS to building Of bridges and cul-
| yerts / admit, but where there is big
hill on each side they have been built
wide enough for all purposes and by
| all reports we have paid, ! think too
great a price for the value of the
! same. He says, by reducing the
bridge fund to $4,000 and the levy
| under Section 1922 would make us
a, road fund of $23, 100. He claims that
would build seven miles of macadam
or 20 miles of gravel roads. First,
| does he mean to say that the COM
missioIers are taking $13,700 more
| for bridges than they need each year?
and second, if he can only build with
out extra tax but seven miles of ma
cadam Or 20 miles of gravel road in
one year, it would take Is years to
build 105 miles of macadam road or
about $50 years to build 1850 miles,
which is only about one-seventh OF
our roads in Stark county. And for
gravel road, to build 20 miles per year.
would take five years for 100 miles, or
so for 1000 miles, or about $50 to
! build all the roads in Stark county
without increase of tax. All, Mr.. Bris-
sci, that is too slow road building for
the backwoods class, if you please.
He also says the Stark county work.
house has cost the taxpayers from
Sept. /, 1904, to Sept. /, 1905, expend-
itures $14,3SS.15; earnings from out
side prisoners and brush factory
| $6,3976S; overdraft not counting tax
levy, $7,990.47. Now he says by using
| the workhouse convicts on the road
at rs cents per day, would reduce the
cost of road building and would as
sist the workhouse to be self sustain
ing. Now Mr.. Brissel, the workhouse
is another thing that we backwoods
class told you it would be a great big
expense to the taxpayers, and no good
come from it, and so far as working
the convicts on the road, it was tried
some few years ago and was not a
| success. He also says that convict
labor does not come in competition
with free labor. say convict labor
does, and don't care what they make
or what they work.
Now he says in his literature, who
will be benefited? The farmer, the
businessman, the consumer of coun-
ty produce, the milkman, the coal
man, the mail carrier, the doctor, the
undertaken, the churches, the schools
and the pleasure-seeker. Now Mr.
Brissel you might have said the farm.
er and city people. You mention tht
farmer too often. We are business
men. We are a consumer of country