The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1907-03-07


proportion 10 the funds available
for road purposes. l have no
official figures for 1906, but some
years ago | had the honor TO pre-
pare a paper on this question for
the Farmers Club of Gloucester
County, and at that time, if my
memory serves me fairly, there
were, according to the compute.
ton OF the Road Overseer for
this district. $50 miles of road in
the county, and the entire read
fund available for repairs, other
than bridges, salaries. &c. was
only $I2.5 SO per mile, while he
asks for 500 a mile, sum which
If expended on all the public
roads pro rata would entail road
fund of $4,000. which is-rather
more than our citizens would
care to subscribe for that purpose.
1t is the fashion to blame the
authority for the present deplor-
able condition of our highways,
but this is unjust, they are power
less 10 benefit us unless we sig
Nifty our willingness to pay for
what we want. There was an
excellent act passed by our As
senbly at the last session, pro-
viding that the road may be de-
vlded into sub-distr cts of not
less than ten miles each, and that
a local Chairman, Secretary
Treasurer and Overseer or Over
seers may be appointed to as
sumo charge of the sub-district.
and TO hold mass meetings at
which elections may be held. in
which every registered voter has
voice, and which by a majority
vote agree to levy an extra tax Of
soc. to the $IoO for the better
maintenance Of our highways,
and | am sure our Board of SUI
pervisors will willingly extend to
any division of our county this
privilege.
am of the opinion, however,
that any enc attempting to get
such a vote carried, will find our
people are not prepared to lay
this extra burden upon them
selves, gladly as would be to bear
my own portion of it, and my
reasons for SO thinking are as
follows:
In Queens County. on Long
Island (now noted for the best
roads to be found in New York
State), where l spent my boy
hood. we had along in 1880 about
such roads as we had in Mathews
in 1895, when l first came here to
live, when the highways were in
far better shape than at present.
he property holders were gen
orally respectable farmers and
good solid conservative men who
controlled the elections by small
majOrities. This condition did not
last long, however, for the foreign
element came in. mostly Irish,
with fair sprinklng of Swedes,
Germans. Italians and general
riffraff from all over Europe. The
Germans are all right as a rule,
but poor politicians, while the
Irish, when out OF Ireland. are
fthe best political organizers l
have ever known. These people
paid no taxes. were on principle
agin tn Government" and very
anxious for Office, which they
thoroughly understood how to
make profitable. and as the better
element of the party in power
would not employ them in posi-
lions OF trust, they naturally voted
the other ticket, and soon secured
"a majority which put them in
control. From this dates our
era Of road improvement. The
party who paid no taxes was the
party that fixed the levy, and it
was only short time before a
property holders taxes were the
hardest Indebtedness lie had to
meet. Now the point l make is
this: These staunch old Long