Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1908-06-08

ROAD Bosses should Be Removed From
Politics and Made TO Pass an Ex-
animation Showing Their Efficiency
Change Needed In Road Laws.
4 back numbcr-thc bad country
road Is "A back number II is rs much
out Of place ana date as the grain era
die or Hail thrashcr. They had bad
roads away back I'm grandfathcrs time
ever since people began to travel. to
haul stun in modern narrow tired
wagons. They had good roads away
back I'm Caesars time I'm the old world
What progress have wc made in road
building? Very little. over three
fourths Of all the miles OF country
roads In the midwest are still unlm-
proved, says the Agricultural South
west In most states 30 per cent would
be more nearly correct OF course
every bit of road gees It's annual tcur
ing up ~ the road u4Hc+ah5. who drnw
a salary fW calling poad "lmpTove-
mont"
Why IS it thusl There's reason
why country roads are bad. Can't lay
1t 10 the weather or the rond material
either. As one furmcr says, IL have
seen in twenty-thrcc years hundreds of
thousands OF dollars of taxpayers
money expended on the roads I'm town
and country; but, after all. our roads
are still as bad rs ever" A bad rs
ever! What comment TO make upon
the appearance of country homes had
ii been said that the farms had not
been improved I'm twenty three years.
But, no; the farms have improved. the
towns have grown, and business places
are better than they We're twenty
three years ago, but the country roads
are "as bad AZ ever" after spending
fortunes upon them.
The reason IS this-road building IS
not done in the same bushessliko
manner rs other tLdHgs uro managed.
We have seen the creamery come into
existence. We have seen the skilled
buttcrmaker turning out carloads of
butter finer than that made by the
farmers before the crcameries took
the job of their hands Science and
business methods have made the
change IN buttcrmaklng. But the
roads are "ns bad as ever because il
Is farmers job, to be done when II
suits his convenience II Is done 10y
men who have never studied the sci
cnCc of road building. 1t is done in Il
hit and miss method devoid of business
principles. This is why hundreds of
thousands of the taxpayers money have
failed To make the roads any better
And again we say It is not because of
bad weather or poor road building
material The buttcrmaker takes bad
cream and makes pretty good butter
! from IL because he knows how. OF
course he could do better with good
cream. Likewise the skilled road
| builder can make good roads out of
! just plain country dirt because he
| knows how. OF course he could do
| better with crushed rock and all of
| that 1t is not scarcity of money or
| If material. but lack OF the right sys-
tenn, that is responsible for bad roads.
Dollar for dollar what we want to
see is dollars worth of good roads
for dollar spent in road tax And
why not have It? Isn't 1t about time
10 quit pouring money into mud
holef Most roads could have been
| nicely paved with the dollars they
have cost since first laid out. Where
has that money gomez Don't cry
graft" OF course there has been too
much politics-ah, politics; there's the
| rub-but there has been no political
| graft TO speak of I'm connection with
! country roads The trouble is the sys-
| tenn IS and has been wrong. Road
building is for the public good, just as
mail carrying IS The mali carriers
| are under civil service, out of politics
ntrely. They are paid for knowing
heir business. They must give IA dol
lars worth of service for a dollar I'm
| pay. Why not handle the road prob
lem that wayf Remove the road boss
| from politics and make him pass an
| examination showing his efficiency
| Keep him just as long as ne does hfa
| work well. Then you will see good
| dirt roads wherever there is nothing
| better. Enough money VIII soon be
| saved I'm road tax TO macadamizc every
mile Of the main Travelled country
I roads
y farmer would be foolish to 20
| ahead with a large Job OF thing with
| out having the whole thing mapped
| out and levels established Boy some one
/ capable of doing &c. Then he would bo
! equally foolish should be not study the
| capacity of tile needed 90 drain the
area Intended il is good business
sense for him TO hire q competent sur
| 'eyor or ditcher Just one tile put in