Milford chronicle., 1913-09-05

which have heretofore been either
quagmire or a sand bed, and so
made these good" in comparison
10 their former conditions; but il is
with the system we war, and not
the individual member Of the Levy
Court, or the almost useless County
Engineer, who IS only 6gurehead,
and created only to deprive the
LevycOurtman Of his job ofexpend-
ing the money on the roads. The
Sussex Republican expresses the
situation in Sussex County N a
recent editorial on the subject OF
Our Roads, and it IS reproduced
50 that It may have a wider circu-
lation among the people, and we
hope it may cause them to think
seriously upon the subject. Il says ::
Nothing too harsh can be said in con
demnation of our present system Of road
care and its administration, and if the
present condition continues some drastic
action will be taken by some Of ouT people
Under the Interpretation Of our County
Engineer Act authority over the care and
maintenance Of old roads is vested in the
County Engineer, while the Levy Court
retains control over the expenditures for
new roads and even TO the maintenance
thereof. The repair and maintenance Of
the old roads are under the direction of
a civil engineer. wiki the construction Of
our new roads or road building is under
tha direction Of novices, men who are
elected as members Of the Lew Court and
have no expert knowledge Of road build
ing. Under such direction road building
IN this county now consists largely of
hauling gravel ( so called from the county |
gravel pit at Gravelly Hill, and deposit /
ing the same on part Of a certain Sc
lected road, generally upon a road in /
which the Levy COurtman IS personally /
interested. This gravel is deposited by /
humping and then spread, to be packed /
by passing vehicles. This gravel varies, /
and much of that hauled is no better than /
iirt. Good prices are paid for this haul
ng and our farmers receive very Iemun- I
,rative prices for such work, and, of |
,ourse, many Of them favor such a plan Of II
road improvement. OF course, II
most anything makes better road than
and, and our sandy roads are greatly
by such deposit of gravel or
ny earth of clayev nature. But such
Dads are not wearing we'll They are
oon tull OF holes and in wet seasons are
aslly cut up by heavy teams. The present
ystem OF repair largely consists of filing
P tie holes when they become so large
S to become a source of danger. Some
mes a road drag IS used spasmodicallv.
With such lack of system, is it anv
'onder that our taxpayers are complain
*? They know taxes are on the in
-ease, but they do not see any commen-
irate benefit. No doubt the County En-
ineer is doing his best OF thinks he is.
18th the limited amount be has to expend
each districtunder his Limitation, and no
oubt the same applys to the Levy Court.
ut the public do not think so, and are
ot going to put up with it much longer.
To our mind, there is only one solution
our present difficulties, and, that is, TO
1t- the supervision of our roads under
ipert direction and the expenditure of
'ery cent for road purposes in the same
inds. We should borrow money to the
unty' financial ability as rapidly as il IN
n be used for permanent road construc-
IN. But the Legislature has not long
ace adjourned without providing any
medy for existing evils so we suppose
must grin and bear it, unless some
gal remedy can be found to end the
esent disastrous division of authority
tween the County Engineer and the
Wy Court, and thereby put an end TO
present wastful expenditure in tenn
rary road building