The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1909-06-05
GOOD ROADS IN LOUISIANA
Governor Sanders Explains His Good
Road Propaganda 10 the State
Press Conyention

L0uIsIdnH E7f6SS# ASSDGtdbA0H hb Wv
ington on the 4th OF May, Gov. Jared
Y. Sanders took occasion to describe
at some length the plan he is present.
ing to the people OF the state for the
building Of q system Of good roads,
and The Chief takes pleasure in repro
dueing the following brief and incom-
plete summary OF the governors re-
marks:
Every man and woman in this
world has a certain work to perform.
There is no duty greater and more
underpaid than that of the publisher
and editor of newspaper. Where
one man makes fortune IN the bust
ness, thousands make clearly nothing
beyond bare living. | cannot i'm
press too much or too strongly upon
you that you ought to weigh carefully
the things you put IN type. You ought
to make up your mind fully as TO the
things you honestly and conscien,
ttously believe to be true, and having
made up your mind Of that, then pub
lish them to the world no matter what
the conse quences may be, nor whom
they may hurt; but in making up your
mind let your mind be q responsive
mind so that you can cast aside what
is bad and take what is good. You
are the guardians of the different
members of the civilized communities
of the state of Louisiana.
aNow, my friends, there are certain
things that are your duties, believe,
I would like to discuss with you, but
/ am going to discuss but one OF them,
"There has in recent years been
inaugurated in the state OF Louisiana
the idea of building good roads SO
that one community may be linked
with another by e.ss1fs...sess EFT highways.
That particular thought has enlarged
and in all of this state we find people
eager and anxious for permanent
highways through their communities.
Take this ore thought home with
you: the permanenee of your public
roads. II you want to build court
house in your parish, you figure on
the cost of the building, then you cal
culate how much money you can have
to put into building and you build
it either by levying q special tax Tor
that purpose or by infractions on your
revenues for ten Years. What would
YOU think of your police juries if they
decided to build a courthouse in your
parish and SAID: We will build it
within the next ten years. We will
nut down the foundation the first
wear. the walls the second year and
the partitions the third year, and so
forth. The people as one man Foald
rise IN. and say: What kind OF business
is this. The money they have SPENT
this building will be absolutely vast
ed and thrown away, because when the
ten wears will roll round and the fin
lshing touch is put upon the building
they will have spent more than it was
worth. When you go to build
school, you first calculate how much
money you have and then you build
the schoolhouse and pay for it as the
wears roll round. You don't build il
by piecemeal, but you capitalize your
funds and build it. If you build a
! bridge you do the same thing
aNow you cannot build your public
roads by piecemeal any more thar
yoa could build your courthouse OF
schoolhouse or bridge, or anything
| else. You have to treat the public
roads question just as you have treated
the other important questions that are
rising. Every department OF public
| Improvements, public men and repre-
sentatives have grasped the true con,
ception Of how to work and how to Dc
public works, saving the one thing, te
build public roads.
IF my friend MIR. Marks Of Assump
ton will i-yestigate he will find thai
his parish spends each year ,00t
on public roads. They will never
have permanent highways IN the par
fsh of Ass umption. For the next ter
wears they will spend $3.50, 600 on the
roads. and instead of spending it yeal
hy year to the end that when the Ter
wears shall have gone by and the
money shall have been spent you shall
have no better roads than you have
now. Law aside SD, 600 for ten years
and raise $50, 900. Put it in perma
nent highways throughout the Length
of Assumption parish. You will hav'
the use of your public roads for ter
years and you have not slent a dollal
more than it would have cost you now
It is the simplest proposition in th'
/ world. A community is entitled Il
have inst what it wants. Ii you pre-
fer having bad roads there is nobody
Fin the world can do Anything to fore
YOU to have good ones, but if you pre-
fer good ones, you can have goo'
ones at the same identical cost tina
YOU are presently paying for bad ones
and it is up to the people to say Wha
kind ofroads they want.
sMaior Kerr and myself hay
worked up a system. We have map
ped out in the state Of Louisiana ;
comprehensive system 70 build pub