The Newtown bee., 1908-10-02
The Newtown Bee.
 Newtown. Friday. September B. leos.
HOME NEWS. A WORD FROM D. c. BEERS. TO THE REPUBLICAN TOWN
 COMMITTEE.

Dear Sirs: My nomination as first selectman thereby placing my name at the head of the Republican ticket, came as a surprise to me and entirely unsolicited. l thank the voters at the caucus whoever they were for their confidence thus expressed in me and l will accept the nomination on the fol- lowing platform: As the nomination came unsolicited do not propose to spend any money on it. l am not much of politician and there are scores of voters in this town whom l do not know and consequently do not know their politics. Neither do l care whether they are Republican or Demo- cratic so long as they are good, honest citizens and trying to do their duty and get an honest living. l will firmly support an honest town government and am bitterly opposed to any meth cd of SO called graft. am a friend of good education and believe it better to spend our money On educating the young than to spend it on reforma- tories. l am a firm believer in good roads, and right here l think we lack at the present time more than any where else. Our roads are not in a good condition as they should be. The old fogy system of working them up once or twice year, and that just be- fore they are inspected ought to be con- dcmned. They ought to be kept in good condition all the year through. l am not prepared to say whether the contract system or work by the day is the better, but am convinced that it matters little what the system is un- less it is thoroughly carried out. It is anIinsult to the travelling public to have to wind its way around holes and stones in the early spring and wait till some one has his corn planted and po- tatoes hoed before those bad places in the roads can be repaired. AS soon as the frost permits the roads should be looked over, the loose stones thrown out and the bad holes and ruts repaired. A few hours spent at this time will frequently save as many days month or two later, and preserve the patience of the travelling public. When the time comes that the road machine can be successfully used the roads should be crowned up so as to throw the water off from them. and the ditches and sluices made open enough to carry and keep it off. Too little attention is paid to the drainage. In many instances l see the road crowned all right but no place for the water to go to and it must stand in stagnant pool or work its way into the road again in some other place and undo much that has been done. The road beds in many in- stances are too narrow. 1 can point out places on some of our most trav- eled roads where two carriages can hardly pass and what must be the re- suit if timid horse should meet a motor vehicle at such a point? The loose stone should also be kept thrown out better. These little details well looked after ought not to cause much additional expense to the town and would add 50 per cent to the comfort of the public. With good roads, good schools and an honest town govern ment our town ought not to be a bad place to live in and l have no doubt that it might attract more people from outside and be a decided benefit to all concerned. If the voters of the town see fit to elect me on the Board of Se- lectmen I will endeavor to do my best to further the interests of the town and especially in the lines herein set forth. Yours Respectfully, ID. G. Beers.
 September 18th. 1908.