The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1908-02-12
Uncle James Arnold Frees His Mind
as to Road Legislation of
Last Session.
Thinks Attorney General Has Not
Helped With "ShaII' and
"May'' Decision.

Township officers all over the state
are wondering where they are at in
regard to looking after the roads in
their respective jurisdictions. If
State Commissioner Cooley has any
working basis for managing the
roads of this state for the coming
season, he would confer a great
favor by making his program pub
lie.
In the communication of Jas.
Arnold of Vesta township the diff
culties in the way of road making
so far as township action are con-
cerned are fairly presented. Mr..
Arnold is an authority on drainage
and good roads, and we defer to his
judgment and suggestions in the
main, though we believe that the
old township plan was by no means
just what it should be, in SO far as
it failed to provide for building
roads to systematic plan from
year to year, or to get the most
work done for the least expenditure.
Mr.. Arnold is right in asserting that
there is urgent need for legislation
that will undo the muddle made by
the last session and that will either
resurrect the old law or enact
better one that will work.
Ed. GAZETTE: Winter is the time
when farmers can see each other
more frequently and discuss matters
of common interest. Among sub
jects talked of the present winter,
the new road law passed last session
holds quite prominent place, and
the criticisms of supervisors and
citizens generally are not very fiat
tering to the legislature, especially
the attorney generals construction
of the first section of the law.
1t must be remembered that the
road laws of the state, up to last
winter, are the accumulations Of
the experience of so years in this
state and the adoption of road wis
dom from older states also, yet our
last legislature with one fell swoop,
in obedience to the automobile lobby
abolished one of the most important
road offices in the state, an office
by which nine-tenths of all the roads
in the state, outside the cities, have
been made, the remaining one
tenth and the bridges having been
built by the annual levy of road
and bridge tax levied at the annual
town meetings.
know it is quite the thing for a
lot of ignorant city asses to laugh at
the farmers working the roads I'M
der the shade trees and talking poll
tics, but the farmers have made the
roads we have by this method, and
/ am confident that southern Mime
sofa has as good roads as any other
state of a like age. Even paying
the whole tax in money and con-
tracing jobs has proved a failure,
for townships that adopted this
method had gone back to the old
system of road overseers and road
districts before this law passed.
One of the biggest follies Of this
new road law may be seen in the
fact, that though the legislature
abolished the office Of road .overseer
they did not revise any of the old
road laws, many Of which come in
conflict with the present law. I will
mention a few cases in which the
new conflicts with the old. The old
law says that the board of super
visors shall have charge of all the
affairs of the town not committed to
other officers by law.
These powers give them the right
to build bridges, let road contracts,
make bitches to drain roads, and
above all other things. the purse