Iron County register., 1912-09-12
Good Roads Department.
Contributions to this column are solicited,)

tl0 WuOlos Ou0 argument IaVOrs
ing State aid is that it permits a
partial State supervision and
thereby better supervision than is
usually obtained through local in
huence.
A county Judge or township
commissioner is not elected be-
cause he is dentist, a lawyer, a
stone mason, a road builder or a
skilled artisan of any particular
kind, but because he is a good cit
izen and has sound judgment up
on affairs in general. The county
judges or commissioners, invari-
ably men Of good character and
standing in their communities,
cannot, as rule, as individual
members of the court, supervise the
actual work, draw plans, make es-
Inmates and look after his part of the
county's business. There should
be county highway department
in every county of every state with
powers for execution of the actual
road work, unhampered by courts,
boards and commissions. The Off
cial of this county department
should have authority to act upon
his own initiative, be free to carry
out his own plans and details of
his work, and should receive COM
pensation in accordance with the
Importance OF the work and skill
required.
A capable man in such an office
will see that the work is done
night, protect the county against
unscrupulous contractors, open the
road drains and prevent the roads
from being used for artificial farm
drains, cut the hedges, clear OBJ
structions from the right of way,
create wholesome respect for the
roads and the road laws, assist in
correction Of the road records,
know how many tools and imple-
ments the county owns, know how
and where the road money Is spent,
regulate accounts and avoid ex-
cessive bills, be an aid to the over
seers and build up road working
and maintenance system and
organization. A thousand small
details can be attended to-things
small in themselves which any
man Of good sense can do but are
otherwise left undone simply be-
cause it is nobody's business, in
particular, to look after them. The
cost of such supervision of the
road work of county is money
saved and not money lost, and if
any county does not improve road
conditions under it, it is the fault
of the county or the citizens there
Of, and not the law. The county
must get man competent to fill
the position--the law cannot legis-
late brains into men.
There are two things every man
thinks he knows how to do--one
is to build road and the other is
to Judge a gold mine. The road
work can never be successful while
| it is side business for everybody.
Men must attend to their own in
dividual business upon which their
living depends, and they are
usually too busy at that to proper
" attend to road affairs. AS a
general rule man must give
some one thing his time and atten-
tion to become trained or skilled.
In every community somebody
should be trained for road work
and kept in charge of it while the
other people are attending to their
own individual affairs. tt is slow
lly being recognized that every
man is not q born road builder,
and the sooner the roads are put
under trained supervision the bet
ter IL will be for the roads.
II is difficult to change the GUS
toms and habits Of a century, butt
it seems that If any taxpayer, in
many of the states, would take a
little time for investigation ofroad
affairs, he could not object to know
Ing that his taxes were being spent
with some resemblance Df skilled
supervision.