Norwich bulletin., 1909-12-23
A. J. s.RpsEYE WRITES
Strong Letter in Defense of High-
 way Commissioner Mcdonald.

| " 7
 To the Editor of The Hartford cour-
 ant:
 Having been a member of the legis-
 lature os 1907, which made the first adequate appropriation for road build
 ing, being familiar with the condition | of the roads of Connecticut and know | ing much of the detail of MT. Mac- donald's office, I have naturally been interested in all the discussion and criticism in the press of the commits
 sioner and his work. The great ma- | jority of the criticism eff honest) 1 shows an utter lack of knowledge of | the subject and some of it is abso- | lutely vicious.
 | One can readily understand that
 commissonership developing as this
 has with millions to disburse should
 attract politicians with itching palms, and who, for purposes of their own, would start a campaign of criticism to | discredit the work of the present in cumbent and one can readily conceive i of such action on the part of dis honest contractor who, maybe, for the | first time, has been compelled by the commissioner to fulfill specifications; but honest men, who have the welfare | of the state at heart, it seems to me should familiarize themselves with the facts before rushing into print to | criticiSe an official or refrain until there are excellent reasons to believe that he is either dishonest or incom- | petent.
 That MT. Macdonald. as highway commissioner, has been and is not
 only absolutely honest and has so far
 spent the states money as judiciously as the circumstances and the law would allow, I think can be shown to the satisfaction of any honest, think ing man.
 mi
 cion of graft or dishonesty in his de-
 pertinent.
 Second-He is absolutely in love with his work and devotes his whole time thought and energy to it. Third-He comes as near being national authority on road building as any man in America, being the oldest
 road commissioner in point of service in the United States and the recogni- tion of his works on the subject, his lectures and addresses all over this country, and the demands made upon him for advice and counsel in road building are ample proof of this asser- ton.
 Fourth-He has plead and fought with the people all over the state for fourteen years to awaken them to &C., tion on the subject of good roads and whatever of advancement we have
 made in this direction is due as much, if not more, to his efforts, than any other man or agency in the state, and this much to his financial disadvant- age, past, present and future. even though he be given life tenure Of the office.
 Fifth-That he possesses the execu- tive ability to disburse the large fund at his disposal to the best interests of the state at large is practically proven by what he has already done in two short years. when it is known what assistance he was able to command under the law and what cooperation he has been able to secure from the towns.
 The history of road building by this state practically began April 1, 1908, and was made possible by the appro- priation by the general assembly of 1907. It was with slight hope of pass age that the law was framed, and but for its connection with the appropria- tions for the state armory and H. brary 1t probably would not have gone through. Had it been loaded with pro- visions for large clerical force of en- gineers and deputies, it certainly would have failed of passage. but through the combined effort of Senator Bulke- ley and James H. Macdonald the meas ure became a law with all it's limita- tions. However, the start was made and the commissioner realized the
 problem of 16S towns demanding i'm mediate roads for which they would pay about 25 per cent of the cost and which demands he was compelled by law to recognize, with insufficient ma- chinery of office and a dearth of re- sponsible contractors at his command. It is a matter of record that his best efforts were put forth to defer a great portion of the work until such time as 1t could be properly supervised and the state not placed at the mercy of the contractors. But the clamor of the press and the towns continued and the commissioner went the limit of per sonal endurance to satisfy it, no relief being in sight and the pressure con- tinuing until the rising of the general assembly in 1909.
 Another reason for the commission CT discouraging such haste was that no provision was incorporated in the 1907 law for the maintenance of roads further than for the commissioner to furnish each town with a certain quantity of stone for the town to do their own repairing, he having no au- thority or men to superintend this work. The result of this assistance in material to the towns by the state was that many selectmen ordered months after they were notified by the com- missioner that it was ready, and in stances are known where this material was used for other roads and the com- missioner's roads allowed to go to- pieces and he powerless to prevent 1t. Thus it will be seen, if this be true that the statement that the commis-