Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1913-03-28
MIR. Fitzpatrick
Talks "Roads''
To the Editor

In a recent Issue OF th3 Leader
you ask for the opinions of some
of your readers on the Roads Ques-
tion. Will Say that my opinions
are not tn, same as yours. You
admit that much money was wasted
buying useless machinery, but say
the Court got some value for the
money in the way of experience.
Now experience paid for with other
peoples money is not nearly as
valuable as that for which the
buyer swaps his own hard earned
dollars. And. again. who got any
experience that is going to bs of
any use to him? The members of
the Court are constantly changing
and the rev comers never follow
the policy of their predecessors.
If Lincoln county is going to give
every man eligible to be a member
of the Court a sufficient amount of
road making experience to help any.
the county had better incorporate
as benevolent educational insttl.
tion and do all future business on
that basis.
You say the machinery could be
sold. Perhaps so, but who to and
for how much? Some men can
sell exclusive territory to tightening
rod agents. and that is the kind
of a man Lincoln county will ne ID
to get to sell that 1879 model loa ]
making outfit. You could not
run fast enough to give it to a Jew
junk peddIer and if it was dumped
into the tide slough. where it be-
longs. the War Department would
object.
The rock road from Toledo to 81
letz is a great benefit to this part
of the county. but if the people
got 100 cents worth of road for
every 81 expended we would de-
rive just twice as much benefit as
we now do. Now, l don't blame
the County Court, the contractors
or any other indil idual connected
vi h the work. | believe each per-
son looked out for the best interests
of the public as he saw them. but
what do they know about road
work? Any freighter knows more
of what the proper grade should
be. The machinery deal shows
that they did not know how to
handle the financial end of affairs.
as YOU admit much money went for
experience. The fault is not in
any man but in the system. If you
want water piped into your house
you hire plumber. if someone Is
sick you send for a doctor, if a
legal tangle is to be Strengthened
out you employ a lawyer, but if
roads are to be built you put the
matter up to a Judge, a merchant
or farmer and a God.only-knows-
what. This trio divides its respun-
sibilities among the district super
visors. The typical district super
visor is a sort of a one-ring politi-
cal parasite who controls ut least
several votes or is someone's broth
er in law. He knows fully as much
of road making as does a hog of
astronomy. but need is the mother
of greed" 50 he summons his
horses. his oxen, his relatives, their
horses and oxen and proceeds to do
the county for all he thinks the
Court will stand. Some supervisors
are of different species. This
kind tries to get too much done for
the money and when he gets done
the job needs doing over again.
Still another specie exists. The
man who thinks any old way will
do as long as the county pays for it.
His men loaf eight hours a day
while he sucks his pipe in the shade
and dreams of castles in Spain or
orange groves in California.
We need good roads. Everyone
with the good of the county at
heart knows that. but how are we
going to get them? Never by our
present system. Of course. we
have some good roads but who are
most of them good for? For
motor car tourists and troken-down
city sports to run out to Newport
to recuperate; while for the strug-
Cling farmer and homesteaders dirt
roads are not proving to be exactly
the ideal method Of transit.
l fully realiz. that it is easier to