Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-04-17
PETTY GRATING UNDER PRESENT
HIGHWAY SYSTEM IN THIS STATE

That there is an immense amount of
petty grating by township officials in
Illinois under the present system Of
road maintenance was the assertion of
the good roads commission created by
the last legislature and which reported
at Springfield Thursday. The report
says in part:
I'VE find enough taxes are levied in
Illinois annually, if expended in an eco
nomical. uniform and systematic man
ner under the supervision of practi-
cal head. 10 construct a system of high
ways, intra-township, intra-county and
intra-state. that would be monument
to the progressive character of the peo-
pie of the state and add materially 10
the prosperity of every community.
But so long as the present system
of leaving the sole and exclusive con-
troll of the highways to local commune
ties and their township or road district
commissioners is maintained the pres
ent system of petty grating on the
part of these commissioners and their
satellites will continue.
States Attorney Burke of Sanga-
mon county succeeded in disclosing one
of the avenues OF this grating by
means of commissions upon road ma
chinery. and his revelations ought to
be sufficient to convince the members
Of the general assembly that the time
has arrived when radical measures
must be taken in order that the high
ways in Illinois Will be freed from the
barnacles that have kept them in
condition 100 years behind those of
sister states
Under the present system there is
no means Of ascertaining how many
miles of road there are in the state Of
Illinois. where they are or what con-
dition they are in. who are the commits
sioners or where they reside"
The commission recommends that the
county surveyor in each county be COM
missioned as a superintendent of roads
10 act as a deputy state highway COM
missioner. To this purpose Represen-
tative Mcconnell introduced in the
house a bill embodying the reforms
suggested by the good roads commits
sion.
Among other things the report Of the
commission says:
In Illinois the laying out and con
struction of highways is without con
sideration of uniformity or system. |
This is wholly due TO the obsolete plan
Of having three highway commissioners
elected from each township and max !
ing the road question one of local is /
sue Under the present scheme of road I
supervision n counties under township |
organization. each township is laid into /
three road districts. with a road com
missioner from each district. and these /
three commissioners have the sole jur- T.
isdiction over the roads and ezpendi- /
lures of the road tax in their respec- /
tive townships.
In Illinois there are approximately /
500 of these commissioners. Under
the law these commissioners are able
TO levy road tax Of 81 on each 500
of assessed valuation and IN most in
stances they levy the full amount In
10 this they are authorized
20 levy a hard road tax"
After reciting that the majority of
reports obtained show the commission
ers TO have been working every day
and that the pay rolls are padded with
and political hangers on, the
report adds: According TO some Of the
reports enough money was expended
and labor performed 20 have paved ev-
cry highway in the township. II
We have found instances where one
township in It's tax levy and expendi-
lures for road purposes has been al
nest ludicrously extravagant in the
care and construction OF its highways.
and possesses a system OF roads that
are almost the equal OF the best mac
adam pavemeats, while the next town