East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1908-10-22

Cmdlllld county tllS dlttlHOo tH-
tered upon campaign or agitation
for good roads, when at an enthuslas-
tic meeting In the court room Judge
Scott of salem, outlined the plan of
the Oregon good roads association
and assisted in the organization of a
local association 10 be affiliated with
the state organization.
An automobile parade, participat-
ed In by many of the enthusiastic
supporters of the good roads move
ment and lead by the Pendleton band.
was formed this afternoon at 1880
o'clock, and proceeded to the court
house. where after few selections
by the band the meeting was formal
ly opened.
Co-Operation Needed.
Cooperation was the keynote of
the plan for better roads unfolded by
Judge Scott--co-operation between
the nation, the state, the county and
the individual property owners along
the line of the roads to be improved,
and, only. the speaker declared,
through such cooperation, could the
desired improvements be made.
The first step In the propaganda
o. the good roads association of the
state is to secure an appropriation of
the state of Oregon wherewith To
carry on the work said Judge Scott,
and the next, also In the way OF leg
fp1 L.. 70 =
ting the use of convict labor on the
roads of oregon One more step
which the state must take, according
TO the speaker was the establishment
Of state highway commissioner.
What size the states appropriation |
shall be has not yet been determined !
but is a proposition TO be decided |
upon by the local associations, as are !
many other details of the plan, now |
only roughly outlined.
Convict Labor Used.
The use of convict labor is essen
tial to the success of the scheme, ac- /
cordlng to Judge Scott and has been
found practicable by successful DEM
onstration in Marion county.
In the Willamette valley 1t is pro-
posed to establish two permanent
camps along the right of way of the
Southern Pacific and transport rock
crushed by the convicts by rail TO
the places needed. as the across-the-
state road to be built through the
valley would parallel the railroad. In
eastern oregon the nature of the
country would make such a scheme
impractical but camps on n movable
basis each consisting of about 25
convicts. could be used to advantage
in Judge SCOTS opinion,
Must cIarn To Spend.
The state must learn to spend
money in road building operations
upon an economical basis, according
to Judge Scott, before road improve
ment can be successful in the highest
sense Secretary Wilson, he explain
ed. has opposed national appropria-
tions for road building upon the
strength of the fact that the states
who would be given assistance by the &
money had had no practical expert
ence in such expenditures and there /
was no guaranty that money would
not be wasted The state must learn, (
and II must prove itself successful in I
the speakers belief before 1t can Sc
cure the needed aid from the nation. {
TO do this Judge Scott declares that {
a state highway commissioner under
whose direction the work shall be \
done is essential,
Also, he declares, every county
must have road commissioner, a
man who does nothing else and is ca c
pable of handling the engineering /
features Of road building in an eco h
nomlcal manner This base secured, g
the speaker predicted national aid c
would be easy of attainment. c
Roads of Great value. @
In the beginnng-for there must 4
be n beginning says Judge Scott, II r
will be wisest to build two roads q
across the state, one from the Cali
fornia line to Portland, a second from I,
Astoria to Baker City, These great I,
will be of inestimabe
value to the country they travers, ac- G
cordng to Judge Scott, who during
the course of his speech declared that
such a road passing through Pendle-
ton would make this city sort OF 6
division point through which all the e'
great traffic from east, north and 81
westbound for Portland, would pass, {,
making stop here that would mean a
an increased business, and In Judge O.