Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1907-12-20
coon ROADS MASS MEETING.

Leading men from all sections of this
county attended mass meeting In the
Town Hall here Tuesday to further the
movement recently started by the farmers
and citizens associations OF the county In
the interest Of radical changes in the county
road system.
AT meeting two weeks ago Of represen-
tative farmers clubs, resolutions were pass
ed favoring the employment of convict labor
on the county roads; county ownership OF
equipment for road building, such as steam
rollers, steam drills, steam crushers and the
required engine power to operate the drills
and crushers an issue Of bonds to provide
funds with which to purchase the equip
ment the appointment of a road supervi-
sor for each collection district of the county,
who will hold Office during the pleasure OF
the road commissioners the appointment
of competent engineer for supervision Of
the road system OF the county, and the del
egating to board of three road commits
sioners the entire control of the county road
system, these commissioners to be appointed
by the Governor.
The meeting Tuesday was principally for
the purpose Of having the taxpayers pass
upon these resolutions, and the gathering
heartily approved all of the suggestions ex'
cepting the one providing for the road com
missioners, which was amended 30 as to
make the number flve-one from each col
lection district instead Of three, and pro-
viding for their election by the voters OF the
various districts. John Thomas, Of Ednor'
who was chairman OF the initial meeting
was made presiding officer of the meeting
Tuesday, and J. G. Christopher, Of Lay
louisville, and Harry L. Heiskell, Of Bethes.
da, were secretary and treasurer, respec.
lively.
In calling the gathering to order Mr..
Thomas delivered vigorous speech, in
which he emphasized the great need of bet
ter roads and declared that many OF the
roads of the county are a disgrace to the
enterprise and intelligence of the people Of
the county"
Upon the conclusion of Mr.. Thomas re-
marks, Mr.. Allen Farquhar, Of Sandy
Spring, read an interesting paper dealing
with the proposed reforms. He advised the
adoption of "safe, middle course, and res
olutely sticking to it," In regard to the
employment of convict labor, he said
"The plan is proper one and an excel.
lent one if it can be carried out in practice.
az aOnothaPaH inuaainn nj tho
rights of labor for the work Of convicts to
be brought into competition with that of
honest laborers in most business undertake
ings, but that objection does not apply here,
especially now when labor is so scarce that
men are renting their farms and vast areas
of corn are still unhusked within week OF
Chaistmas because the needed help cannot
be had. The working out of this plan is
problematical, as we have no actual expert
ence to guide US, but every stroke of effective
work done by a convict on our roads will be
double gain the roads will be improved
and so will the convict II he receives small
per diem as an incentive and reward for
faithful work. The State should bear part
of the expense, as 1t is saved to that extent
the cost of maintenance"
In regard to the control OF the roads, Mr..
Farquhar said: zone supervisor for each
collection district, responsible to a nonparti-
san board of road commissioners, and with
no conflicting duties, would probably prove
much more effective than the half dozen or
~ ha xnh ~
posed to be chosen more for their ability In
corraling and delivering votes on primary
election days than for their experience in
genuine road improvement. cannot OBJ
ject to the idea of having competent en-
gineer for the county, but we must be sure
he is competent engineer and not some
brokendown politician or kid-gloved dude
full Of fancy theories, for if he is our last
state will be worse than our first"
Concerning the Shoemaker law he said
"There has been much criticism of the
Shoemaker law, but we must remember that
we have now miles of such roads which,
without such law, we could not have
hoped to have Tor long term of years. The
State pays half. But 1t costs 30 mach OF
course it does, when the County Commits.
sioners scatter the work each year over sew
eral different roads, instead OF concentrating
it on one. When the county owns its own
outfit and the entire appropriation can be
applied every year in an economical manner
on single stretch of road, we will find that
the cost for each mile will be much cheaper"
Papers by Charles Il. Darby, Of Barnes
vile, and A. F. Kinnan, of Garrett Park,