Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1910-02-17
COPELAND OPPOSES
ROAD ASSESSMENTS
AGAINST PROPERTY
oodbury County It Would
Confscation-He Has
Another Plan.

Correctionville, Ia, Feb. 12.-There 10
strong indication that there will be de-
termined effort made this year to Gre
ate good roads sentiment which will
bear fruit when the legislature meets
next winter. The plan OF Judge Will
liam Hutchinson, Of the district court
of Sioux City, n for which 1t is UNI
derstOod he has prepared q bill, to
nave the entire cost assessed against
the abutttng property, finds strong OPP
position from Supervisor E. C. Cope
land. OF this place, Who has made q
special study OF road matters during
his seven years service on the Wood
bury county board.
Mr.. Copeland says plainly that such
a plan, II carried into effect In Wood
bury and other hilly counties would
result in the confiscation of many small
farms. which are m~ortgaged for half
they are worth, as 1t would take the
other half Of their entire value to f1x
the abutting. roads In anything like de-
cent shape. He points out that the
poorer people live on these farms and
the burden of the cost would come on
them and they would be elected onto
the very highway they had spent their
all to fix up for others. The man
whose money is invested in moneys
credits would be able to drive his fast
horses over these roads at not one cent
of cost to him, under the Hutchinson
plan.
Supervisor Copeland would have the
road money concentrated and not par
celled out as now among h boards OF
supervisors, the township trustees and
town councils, neither body getting
enough to warrant going ahead with
adequate plans for permanent Dad i'm
provement. He would also have a
outlined and then he would hold this
engineer to the strict performance of
his duties. The time has come, Super
visor Cope. thinks, when Iowa must
take decisive steps toward the better
ment of her highways.
Copeland's View.
Mr.. Copeland makes the following
observations on good roads subjects:
II will say 1 nav always been q.
firm believer in making the public pay
through h present system OF taxa
ton for all public benefits. and 1 do not
think there should be any exceptions
in this case. Now as to our road laws,
I will a I am not in a position to
criticize U law makers. as I have
attended their sessions enough to know
the universities they are compelled to go
up against every day. However. I be-
lieve u present road laws could be
improved in a few particulars.
In my opinion, there should be a
system devised to place the money
oIoSd " od0 III Il pFdCIl-
cal o man's hands, and make that
man responsible for the money he
handles, in the districts he covers.
Under the present law the money is
divided and placed in three or four
mems hands. probably all inexperi-
the responsibility OF the condition OF
the Dads. For example, a complain
ant will go to a road supervisor, with
his complaint. that officer will at once
inform him that the county supervisor
is the proper person to see, and that
man of many troubles politely tells
him that as has only about one-tifth or
one-sixth of the money raised for road
purposes, he had better call on the
township trustees. After a conference
with those worthy gentlemen. and get
ting their answer, the complainant
usually returns home in disgust.
A stated above, I would be pleased
to see the road money concentrated.
and a start made toward building the
main Travelled roads heading into
towns.
TO show the present system Of
building roads, suppose. there were ten
miles of levee to b. built. and there
were o inexperienced overseers to
build the same. a one Of those
men has an idea of his own. One man
will form the idea that the dyke should
be built ten feet wide n fou feet
high. the man next him would build it
12 feet wide and two feet high, and so
on. The same rule applies to cutting
down hills. I ave seen waterways
built four feet wide on n road, and
a mile above, ten feet wide, and the
lower culvert would be compelled to
carry a third more water thar the one
| above.
I'm my opinion a county engineer
should be appointed, be instructed as
to the roads you want built, leading
into town, thereby giving every man
a chance to travel on them, as we
are all compelled to go to town C or
twice a week. Procure a competent
man to build the roads on the same
principle that you would if you were
building a residence for yourself. I
believe then you would have inc of
the many problems of road building
solved. In following the bov rule,
we would soon learn the value of
goods roads. we would urge u law
makers to allow us to levy q greater
tax, and extend the good work in all