The log cabin Democrat., 1912-10-31
FINAL REPORT 0F
 jtDCE ]. 4. LEA TERM EXPIRES THURSDAY
AND JUSTICES FOR ASSIST ANCE DURING HIS TERM.
To the Honorable Quorum Court of
 Faulkner County

To the Honorable Quorum Court of Faulkner County:
 1t is with a feeling of deep grati- tude to the justices of the peace of the county for their assistance to me in administering the affairs of the coun- ty that I make this final report as county judge to you. During the six years that 1 have served as judge, 1 have found the magistrates of the county, with very rare exceptions, to be an intelligent, progressive and eco- nonnical body of officers. They have aided me with their counsel in levying court and have assisted me in keep ing down the expenses of the county by their handling of criminal cases . brought before them.
 COUNTY ROADS.
 While for the past four years the supervision of the public roads of the county has been practically out of the hands of the county judge, 1 deem it proper to refer briefly to this subject ln my report to you. During the past year there has been more or less criti cism about the condition of the roads While this complaint is in a large measure justified, yet it should be re- 1nembered that last winter was an un- usually severe one and was particu- larly injurious to roads. The roads everywhere, not only in this county but all over the state, and in fact, all over the couhtry, were rendered i'm passable by the hard freezes, followed by thaws and wet weather It will take several months to repair the damage done to our roads in this county last winter. Then, too, the weather since last winter has been very unfavorable to road work.
 Our road overseers have lately re- ceived considerable criticism on ac- count of the roads. Some of this criticism is justified, but some of it is not. We have among our road oV erseers some splendid men and good workers. 1 understand that hereafter the road overseers are to be appointed by the county judge. This will give the county judge an opportunity to build up strong and efficient road working force throughout the county, and we will doubtless see a great inn provement in the road work during the next few years.
 Our present road laws make our system, even with the best overseers. q clumsy and expensive one. We are simply forced to patch and repair roads that will never be good roads, no matter how much money is spent on them Our road laws need revis- ing, and they need it badly. l firmly believe that if our laws were such that the county could handle it's finances just as a successful merchant or banker manages his, Faulkner county in less than five years time could be covered with a network of splendid bikes, gravel and macadam- jzed roads, and that this could be done without increasing taxes one cent.
 During my administration 1 have tried to have some permanent work done on our roads, and l believe that our roads of the frst-class are now in such condition that they can be easily repaired 1 have also had number of metal culverts installed in tie place of small wooden culverts. These metal culverts have proved to be a success, and they will save the county many dollars in the way of repairs.