Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-10-23
HOW MITCHELL MADE ITS ROADS,

When Mr.. Meredith spoke at Usage.
Mitchell county, lately The Usage Press,
in its enthusiastic anxiety to take a
fall out OF the good roads candidate
said:
1t would seem to d listener that Mr.
Meredith mas mol been very close
observer OF the road situation III Iowa.
lie stated that It was necessary to bond
the different counties before enough
money could be raised 10 economically
make permanent roads. He discIaimed
that he insisted on pavement, but he
said that before hills could be cut
down, holes filed culyerts and bridges
properly built, it would De necessary TO
issue bonds. ii Mr.. Meredith would
ride about over Mitchell county he
would see very much evidence that all
that very work was being done rapidly
without the issuance Of bonds. People
VINO travel over the roads realize that
a wonderful Improvement has been
made in the county roads in the last
three or four years, and with d con-
tinuance Of such progress three or :0ur
years hence should leave very little
to kick about on the local road mat
ter-and all that without tying UP the
county with thirty years bond issue
that will have to De paid, with inter-
est, sometime
Perhaps the facts as to the road stu
alton in Mitchell county and the mis-
statements Of the Press as to the man
uer in which they were accomplished
are typical. For comes G. II. Adding
ton with a correction OF those mis-
statements published in the same
Usage Press that made them. 1t ap-
pears that Mitchell county had issued
bonds. Agreeing with the Press on the
vast improvement of the county roads
and bridges and pointing out that it
was done under what thinking peo-
pie are beginning to see is an excellent
system Of state supervision Mr.. Ad-
dington goes on to explain how the i'm
provements were accomplished:
Right here I Will state that during
the past year the board Of supervisors
OF Mitchell county sold bonds to the
amount Of $29,6g4.75, $22,961.SU of this
was for the purpose of taking up out
standing warrants drawn against the
bridge fund, and $6,112.95 TO take up
outstanding warrants against the road
fund. | will also state that II was good
iunanciering to issue these bonds as
the warrants drew ) per cent interest
while the bonds bearing 4 " per cent
were sold at a premium of $513.50. And
Il is not crt Of place 20 further state
that this nearly $4,000 was expended
during the preceding TWO years in ad-
dition to something like $4,000 per
year raised for road and bridge work
by the regular levies, which are now
required by state law. : You men
ton the good road work done IN our
county but you should not forget that
it required running the county in DEBT
and issuing Of bonds 10 pay that debt
before we had much of showing to-
ward good roads. This, and the fact
that Floyd county to the south OF US,
and Howard county to the east Of US,
and many other counties in the state
have issued bonds in larger amounts
than has this county, all goes TO show
that Mr. Meredith is correct in his
statement, which you quoted from his
talk at New Hampton.
The Press, delighted with and point
ing with pride TO the improvement OF
the highways OF Mitchell appears t.
have been in ignorance as to how the
Improvement was accomplished. 1t ap.
parently did not know or had forgot
ten that the bonds had been issued and
sold. Still, that was one OF the mos
! important items of business transacted
| by the board of supervisors for years
1t all illustrates the fact that man!
newspapers and many individuals are
| savagely attacking road bonds without
having looked into the merits or de-
merits of the proposition. 1t is purel!
a business matter, as much so a
| court houses and school houses ant
other public improvements and s'houl'
be approached in the game judicial way
not in ignorance of the facts and Il
! the utter abolition Of elementary arith