Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1916-03-28
TUESDAY, MARCH %
DON'T.

Lewis was the rrSt county III tii0
State to vote bonds. 1t is noun
tain and a pauper county. The
amount of bonds voted was $4,000.
Knox also a pauper county, was
among the first to follow Lewis lead.
In Lewis county 100000 is report
ed to have already been spent with
one mile of road to show for the ex-
penditure. In Knox county the Fis-
cal Court has not agreed on the loca-
ton of the roads, although bonds suf-
ficient to build a countrywide system
were voted in April, 1915.
The grand jury Of Lewis county has
indicted certain of the county officials.
The indictment charges that relatives
of officials, who were ignorant Of the
work to be done, were put on the pay
roll and that officials have prOfted
from the letting of contracts. Thou
sands of dollars more than was nee
essary were, it is charged, spent in
construction. All that Lewis county
knows definitely is that most of its
money is gone and that it has no
roads. In Knox county seven of the
eight Magistrates were indicted in
September OF last year, but not one
of them has been brought to trial,
their cases having been continued to
one term after another
Neither Lewis nor Knox is any bet
ter off in the matter Of roads than
it was before the bonds were voted.
In both counties the contracts en-
tered into for the building of roads
have never received the approval of
the State Department of Roads.
The aggregate amount OF bonds
voted by counties since the State
aid law went into effect is IS, $50, 900.
Bond issue elections are pending in a
score of other counties for an amount
almost equally great.
In the light of the experience of
Lewis and Knox counties. The
Times is beginning to wonder wheth-
er Kentucky is to be congratulated or
commiserated.
There are but 10 per cent of all the
counties in Kentucky where the Coun-
ty Engineer is a civil engineer. II
couldn't be otherwise when the aver
age salary paid is 5000. In 10 per
cent of the counties there is not even
a County Engineer, so-called, the
County Judge looking after the du'
ties that can be safely trusted only tc
a competent civil engineer.
In all the counties the Fiscal Courts
have had something like century OF
unrestricted power as to the eXpendi-
ture of road funds. II is but human
nature that many of them should re-
sent what they regard as the Interior
ence of the State Department Of Roads.
The recent General Assembly, in
its infinite wisdom, refused to in
crease the number of State supervis-
ing engineers, imperatively needed if
the counties without competent engi-
neers and the State, which is obi
gated to pay one-half the cost OF con-
struction, are to be given adequate
measure of protection. Last year
there were but six State supervising
engineers and four borrowed from
the Federal Government to oversee
the road work in the ninety counties
operating under the State-aid law.
This year there will be l04 such coun-
ties.
Unless a way is found by which
under the law of 1914 the number of
State engineers can be increased or
unless every county that votes bonds
follows Christian county's example
and names a commission to have ex-
elusive charge of the expenditure of
the road bond issue, at the same time
taking the further precaution of OBJ
tanning the services of competent
civil engineer, our advice to them
would be Don't. Louisville Times.