Norwich bulletin., 1913-11-12
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Canterbury Roads and Affairs.

Mr. Editor: SandWiched in among the items of news in your issue of Oct. 27th I note an article signed "A Tax
 payer of Canterbury" and pertaining
 to deal with facts and incidentally the
 condition of the roads in this poor
 roadless town, but person endowed
 only with the intelligence of setting
 hem dan readily understand after reaing the article that the man who wrote or inspired the same did so eith-
 CT through ignorance or some personal grievance against a member of or the entire board of now retired selectmen. For what sane man can honestly be- heve that our selectmen (be who they may) or our road surveyors can keep our roads in good condition un- der the present system of taxation and
 of working them?
 Our books q use the word books ad- visedly) show that we have the enor- nous sum of something near $1,000 to Squander each year upon the 100 miles of road that lie within the borders of this town, just ten miserable dollars for each and every mile but even in this case figures lie, for the roads of i this town do not receive more than $500 per year in actual labor, or $6 per mile, and the shame for this state
 of affairs rests not upon the shoulders of our officials, but upon the taxpayers
 themselves.
 I made the motion in town meeting
 that we levy no tax for the roads for
 the ensuing year, and by motive was intended as no slur upon the past,
 present or future officials of this town;
 it was simply an attempt through an indirect method to pull the town away from the ancient system of allowing the taxpayers (some of who can't work,s and most of them, myself in | IA ,1f working out their road tax. But my motion was voted down, for the major ity could see no benefit to be derived by making the change and in a way they were right, for we don't work out our tax now; so why legaliZe our lit tie yearly pastime of trimming the town" They say death and taxes are
 the only certainties of life, but in Can
 terbury the tax part of the saying is open to discussion.
 And yet to hear the howl" of MT. Taxpayer of Canterbury you would be led to believe that our officials entered upon their duties poor men and retired
 blrated capitalists. But some one
 must howl Every walk of life has it's Mir Taxpayer" the same as every
 hive of bees has it's drones; but there is this difference, nature has a quick, sure way of dealing with the drones, while the laws of this free land of ours unfortunately gives a man the privilege and protects him under cer- tain conditions in his miserable career of slandering. But, MT Taxpayer of Canterbury. If this town has been so terribly mismanaged, why were the se- leCtmen permitted to continue for three years in office? And if you know or knew of any unlawful act of theirs while in office, do you think that you have been an honest citizen of this
 town to wait until they have retired
 from office before making it public
 If our town report, our records and
 our cancelled bills are, to be believed
 $1, 900 was paid on the town debt last
 year, $650 was paid for state road, $23S
 was advanced for the state and paid
 for sheep killed by dogs, $170 was paid
 for a safe that the state ordered the
 town to purchase, $40 went toward
 the cost of new bridge, and besides
 all of this current expenses of the year
 were met Yet you have the nerve to
 roar about two insignificant little law
 suits, to indirectly charge the select
 men with a debt that occurred before
 men with a. death that occurred before
 their time and you deliberately insult the Christians of this town by intimat-
 ing that the condition of our roads
 could possibly interfere or prevent
 their attending church, and you wind
 up your garbled vail with the impos- sibIe sIpposition of our governor be- ing escorted by one of our selectmen
 over roads that even nature is asham-
 ed of and is trying to hide. Don't
 blame the roads, for everything has an end, and sometimes that end is called a tail and I feel safe in stating that the roads you mention are the tail of Canterbury. And if our selectmen
 even contemplated the trip he or they
 would deserve shooting. This town,
 though, is really sick and is constant
 Iy growing worse, and as one of the
 several hundred doctors within her
 borders I suggest or prescribe: First,
 that a money tax be levied for the
 roads and that the selectmen be em-
 powered to hire men and teams to
 work the roads for the entire town.
 Second, that the appraisers of the
 town be paid for their services and in
 structed that they must visit each
 farm (instead of warming chairs in the town hall), and tax every one fairly.
 Don't tax me $25 for a $20 cow and another man $200 for a $1,500 barn. Don't tax the east and south of the
 town $15 and $20 per acre for land and the north and west $5
 Third. make the non-residents who
 are constantly cutting up our roads with autotrucks and heavy teams, cart ing lumber, ties and poles pay for the damage they do
 Fourth, instruct our representatives to introduce a bill in the legislature
 that will give the voters of the town the right to decide what main road in their town they want to be a state road
 The present board of se1ectrnen are not, and neither were the former board of my politics, but when I see man undeservedly assailed, and bysa man who either through fear or mod l esty CD concealed his name. I say to you, when thus attacked, to remem- Der that Christ himself was upon this earth for awhile, and they even cruci- fled him.
 JAMES w. GASKILL.
 South Canterbury. Nov. Il, 1913.