The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1915-11-04
COMMUNICATION.
Editor The Gazette-Tim

Editor The Gazette Times
In a circular letter dater October
Is, we find the following: mo piece
of road in the County of Morrow is
more travelled or serves a greater
number of people, to say nothing of
the tourists using it. We believe the
small additional tax required to
build this road will burden no one
and benefit everyone"
The above statements are incompat-
ible with truth, because the so-called
small tax OF five mills is not small,
but exceeding heavy to bear by the
average taxpayer of the road districts
/, II, 16 and II respectively
'No road in the County of Morrow
is more travelled than that from
Heppner to lone" No one can deny
that this road is used considerably,
yet the fact remains that the road is
travelled principally by the automo-
bilists of the business and profession
al men, 10y riders" transient trav-
elers, drummers and light horse
drawn vehicles, but very little grain
is hauled along the road.
Bill Padberg, the most extensive
grain raiser in Morrow county, who
has achieved great success in his eX
tensive and intensive agricultural
work, is greatly opposed to the road
project and said that all the grain
sections of Morrow county receive
scarcely one iota of benefit from the
road if it were to come into mater
ialization as outlined by the boost
ers" of the county; but the extra tax
thus imposed upon the average tax
payers of the road districts Nos. /,
IL, 16 and II, would be difficult to
bear. Bill Padberg asserted that the
Penland Butte and the B. F. Swag-
gart territories, the northeast grain
belt of the Lexington country, the
lower Sand Hollow wheat belts; also
the Black Horse, Eight Mile and
Douglas grain belts-all these would
receive but very little benefit from
the projected road. Some of them
use that part of the road which is
within the limits of the incorporated
town of Lexington. And some when
hauling grain, would use the lower
part of the road for a distance of 1s
of a mile.
There can be no doubt that per-
sons who are familiar with the roads
Of the county, and who are not steep
ed in selfish interests, and who are
not embued with the egoistic spirit
of the destructive competitive strug-
gle for supremacy in worldly affairs,
so detrimental in its effect not only
in county affairs, but also in state and
national projects, will agree with us
that the benefits to the average tax
payer, to be derived from this road,
is very small and the burden of in
creased taxation unusually heavy to
bear and unjust because the pro-
ducers that have to pay the lrager
amount of the proposed tax, receive
very little or no benefit therefrom.
Good roads are important factors
in upbuilding of the county, educa-
tionally, industrially and socially; yet
they must be slow and gradual and
evolve in such manner as is consist
ent with the means of the average
taxpayer.
They should be the outcome of CO.
operative effort rather than the pro-
ducts of competitive and selfish in
terests.
In the first instance, the effort is
constructive, with tendency to ben
eft as many as is possible under pre-
vailing conditions. In the latter
case, where competitive and selfish
interests masquerading under the
cloak of gallant boosters, using pol
ished phrases; insipidity metamor-
phsised into gallantry and waggish
ness alternates with equivocations,
in order to beguile their fellow men.
What is a good, substantial and
well graded road, may we ask?
Is a graded road covered with
straw substantial and lasting in the
philosophical sense of that term?
A graded and strawed road does
not last long and is perennial bill
of expense.
Abe Lincoln, the illustrious and
sainted statesman of yore, was gov
erned in his wise administration by
his motto: "The greatest good to the
greatest number Of people" And it
is advisable for us to apply this motto
to the building of roads.
All the voters Of the road districts
1, 12, 16 and II should come to the
polls and cast their votes of nays and
yeas. And if so, the collective vote
of nays will outnumber that of yeas.
r T. SWAGGART