The Newark journal. (Newark, Ark.) 1901-1959, 1909-03-05
A CHANGE is NEEDED.
Little PROCESS Made in Road Building
Il Under Present System

strong an advocate of good roads as
can be found in the county, and / be-
Iieve that no better plan can be devised
for string up an interest and causing
people to think seriously on this sub
ject than by friendly discussion of
it through the columns of our local
papers. This is subject which affects
our interests deeply, yet we are putting
it in the background, and, seemingly,
giving it no thought at all. Lets get
interested; note just what is being
done in road building, what ought to
be done and the best methods of doing
it. II, after a careful investigation,
we find that we are making no i'm
provements on our roads with our
present system, lets try some other
system.
We think, next to churches and
schools, the question of road buildings
the most important question now con-
fronting the people-especially the
farming class of people.
l think Mr.. Taxpayer, in his article
on good roads in The Journal of the
10Th, brought out some thoughts ne
would all do well to consider. He has
made step in the right direction, for,
unless we have better and more sys-
tematic plan for working our roads,
we had just as well throw up the
sponge and think no more of good
roads in Old Arkansas.
Ofcourse some sections of our country
have made some little improvement,
but when we figure the amount OF
money and free labor used on our
roads each year, we will see the roads
are not in the condition they should
be. Go TO the records and note the
amount of money and free labor that
has been used on each mile of road in
our county within the past eight years
and see ii you think we have value
received.
Do you think il we had road com
missioner, paid by the county, say
something like s.. 80 per day, to act as
a kind of general oyerseer for the
county; make it his duty to investigate
and study road building and to visit
each township, once a month, ride
over the roads, plan the work so that
the work done by each overseer would
be in harmony with that done by the
sother-do you not think that this
would be better plan than our pres
ent system?
Then make it the duty of the over
seers to carry out such plans to the
best of their ability or have him re-
moved, so that the work done by the
overseers would be more systematic
and permanent; and will stop much
patch work that great many of our
overseers seem to be following. Patch
work cannot possibly benefit the tax
payers of this, or any other county,
where they have levied a tax for the
purpose OF building up some perma-
nent roads roads that will not wash
away, at lest for year. Let us as
taxpayers and citizens of Independence
county consider moment and see how
many hillside roads we know of that
have been graded and left with no
water breaks across them; or at best.
water breaks that are not sufficient to
turn the water from the middle of the
road; and when the rains come thewater
starts at the top, and washes all the
way down the hill and in less than
year the work must be done over.
Now il some plan cannot be devised
that will do away with this slip-shod
method of doing business, we had just
as we'll give up, content ourselves with
mud, and the rough rocks and leave
the question OF good roads for the
rising generation.
Being interested and having given
this subject . considerable amount of
study, | have noted every move made
in the interest of permanent roads
and am sorry to say that most of the
townships have made no advancement
at all, as the patch work plan seems to
be the favorite among our everseers.
| think that we have reached the
point when something must be done to
arouse the people to make a demand
on our iegieinture Tor change in
our road laws, so that by the time
eight more years has passed and we
have p saSo IN work and money, an
other s2oo per mile for our roads, we
may see much more advancement than
we have for the eight years past.
With best wishes l remain.
TAXPAYER No. 2.