The Marietta journal and courier. (Marietta, Ga.) 1909-1918, 1912-10-04
Colonel John P. Cheney Writes
offhe Road Problem in Cobb
And Hoe 1T Can Be Handled

ana their ideas was that they lived
| in town, and did not need the pub
lie road, and did not feel like paying
money out Of their pockets to build
a road for somebody else (the farmer
to travel and enjoy, but this objec-
ton seems to have died away now,
for most Of the well-to-do people
| now living in town own automobiles,
and so far as l have been able to
! learn, they are now almost unani-
| nous IN their sentiment for bond
issue, to improve public roads, and
1t does not seem to lie, that If we
have these people In their frame of
midn, it would be folly for the farmer
not to take advantage of it, and get
the roads for his benefit while he can
! We ought to remember that the
towns in the County pay great ma.
jority of the taxes of the county, and
the burden of paying for this good
road system would fall much heavier
upon them than it would upon the
| farmer
My plan would be to first have a
special act providing for a special
registration for a bond issue. BY
doing this, none would register except
those who are really interested in the
road proposition. AS the matter now
stands, it is almost impossible to
carry any kind of bond issue in the
county, no matter If large majority
of the property owners should be in
favor of it, because you have to get
tWo-thirds of the qualified voters to
vote in favor of bond issue, as it
now is, before you can carry it.
Then | think that the County Com
missioners should employ some COM
potent engineer to make an estimate
upon the main or trunk roads of the
County, as to how much it would cost
to put them upon some reasonable
grade, and with this information in
hand, you could take the $3,000,000
100000 bond issue and prorate it to
the different roads, according to what
would be necessary for each, and a bill
could be drawn to be put through the
Legislature creating a special Com
mission of three good men who for the
named in the bill, and afterwards
first one, two, or three years should be
elected by the people, and the powers
of this Commission should be limited
as far as possible in he bill. and their
duties defined as far as possible, and
make it provide that this bond money
should be turned over to them, and
that they should have this grading
done by contract, let to the lowest
bidder before the court house door
after due advertisement, and give
them the right to reject any and all
bids If they think a combination is
being formed against them by the.
bidders.
Let these commissioners sell these
bonds, which should be thirty year
bonds, as the money is needed; let
them go right to work upon all of the
roads, or as many of them as posi-
BILE without delay, so that all parts of
the county will be treated alike. and
receive the benefit at the same time;
let them have power and authority
to invest the money to be used as
sinking fund in good interest-bearing
municipal bonds, so that 1t will be
drawing interest to help meet the
principal Of these bonds when they
shall mature.
When these bonds are sold, and the
money is in the hands of this CON-
mission, let it be deposited among
the various banks in the county &C
cording to their capital stock, and let
the banks pay easonable interest
on this deposited money, and if any
bank did not want it, let its share go
to the others and be divided in the
same way. Or they could let the
banks of the county bid upon the
money as to the amount of interest
they would pay for all or part of these
deposits. In other words, it should
be handled so that no money would
be laying idle. The deposits ought to
draw interest and the sinking fund
certainly ought to be invested in good
interest-bearing bonds of some kind
This commission should not be re-
CURED to do anything but. merely
grade the roads. The matter of top
soiling the roads, which l think is all
We could do by direct taxes, should
be left for the county commissioners
with their convict system, and when.
lever a road was graded and ready to
be turned over to them, it would be
an easy matter for them to say to the
people living along the graded road
that they would top soil the road ana
put it into good condition for winter
use If the land owners would sign up
a written agreement allowing the
commissioners to go upon their lands