The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1914-04-02
Il FEW ROAD Law FACTS. \

The exacting regulations and ap-
parently unreasonable conditions im-
posed by the state highway commits
sion bid fair to work disastrously to
the good roads law recently enacted,
before it is given even a fair trial.
Already a formidable revolt. which
had its inception in Olmsted has
spread to Fillmore county, judging
from the meeting of farmers held at
Lanesboro last week. People object
not SO much to the tax, but they
want a say as to where and how the
money is to be spent, and there
would seem to be good logic in this.
In this land of vast areas it is
simply impossible to build concrete
or macadam roads. The burden
would become too great and the re-
suit would be only a small number of
trunk roads for the benefit of the
comparatively feW.-Preston Times
| There is nothing "exacting or
unreasonable" in the rules and regu-
lations of the highway commission.
Heretofore road and bridge con-
tracts, in some counties at least,
have been surreptitiously let, and
| the taxpayers and general public
have not been the gamers. Sec. 7
chap. 235 laws of 1918 safeguards
the interests of the taxpayers. The
rules and regulations of the highway
commission are, of necessity must
be-, in conformity with the law,
otherwise they would be void and of
no effect. 1t is no longer possible for
a bridge or road contractor to do a
Ipoor job and not be called to &C.
count. Furthermore, the new law,
land the rules and regulations of the
highway commission, make it diff
cult for corrupt town or county
board to connive with road or bridge
contractors and accept inferior work
or material at the expense of the
Taxpayers.
''People object not so much to the
tax, but they want say as to
where and how the money is to be
SPENT" remarks the Times. We are
alta loss to know wha t tax is re-
ferred to. Under the new law as
under the old, the people, by their
own action and through their own
ichosen town and county officials, de-
termine the amount of road
taxes to be levied, save that the
Legislature levies the state road tax
which cannot exceed one mill on the
dollar, and the county auditor is
obliged to levy one mill dragging
tax, every cent of which is returned
to the town in which it is raised to
be expended III that town.
! Road taxes raised by a town are
expended by that town; road taxes
raised by county are expended by
that county. The town and county
boards determine how much shall
be raised and when and where the
same shall be expended, subject, of
course, to the maximum limitation
of three mills for a county and
fifteen mills for a town. Further
more, the county, through it's
county commissioners, determines
upon what state roads within the
county the money received from
the state road and bridge fund shall
be expended.
! We heartily agree with the Times
that concrete and macadam roads on
an extensive scale are simply out of
the question in Minnesota. There
may be isolated localities where con-
crete is the only material that will
meet the reQuirem ents of partic-
ular stretch of road, but those locali-
ties are few and far between. A
properly rounded and we'll drained
road surfaced with gravel or crushed
rock is the best we can expect in
this state for generations to come.
A common dirt road, if properly
graded and drained, can be kept in
good condition by the frequent use
of the road drag. .@s
Demagogues who are hungry fol
office have misled some of the gooc
people of southeastern Minnesota.