The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1916-05-04
The County Road Bonds.

pretty fully by recent action the right
of the average American citizen to
change his mind. The president has
| switched about on a number of great
national questions and following his
lead we feel it only fair that the
opinion of this column on the question
OF road bonds in the county might be
| subject to revision after seeing the
prospectus. Of the men who favor
| the bond issue.
The county board, by a majority
vote, has bounded itself in honor to vote
for the issuance Of bonds to pay the
county's share for the building of tbs
roads in Pleasant Prairie and Somers,
| provided the people of these two towns
are willing to issue a like amount in
| bonds. The total expenditure of these
| roads is going to be in the neighbor-
hood of 100000.
! This means that the county, towns
and the state must pay interest in
round numbers of $4,000 to pay for
| the accommodation extended by the
money lenders. This amount is to be
| spread over term of ten years so that
| the annual rental that the two towns
! and the people of the county must pay
| for the use of the roads is going to be
| about $4,000. At the end of the term
of ten years the bill will be paid and
| the towns and the county will have a
clear title to the roads. Of course,
there is lot of city, township and
county pride at stake in the building
of the Sheridan Road. It goes against
the grain to have it said that the worst
| road in the neighborhood of Chicago is
| just out Of the city of Kenosha, but
even at that the county could stand
! this ignominy if it were not for the
| fact that the road is really wanted and
needed by the people of Kenosha
| county. Bonds issued by any corpora
tion like the county and city grow all
too rapidly, but there must be some
time when it is right to issue bonds
because so many counties and cities fol-
low this course in financing big move
ments. IF the county issues bonds for
Pleasant Prairie and Somers it must
| be ready to follow the demands of
other towns in the county and it is
not improbable that the total will run
up to a considerable sum.
Now the proposition is just this: IF
the bonds are issued the people of the
county are going to have the roads for
use while they are paying fo, them and
Is is probable that they will build shem
at a lower cost than they could build
| them later on. The very excellent pub
| lie spirited 11en who STRONGLY urge the
bond issues hold that if all the work
can be let under one contract the cost
| Of it will be much less thar if it is let
in small contracts from year to year.
| We believe this to be fact, but we do
not believe that it will make a differ
ence of $4,000 on a 100000 contract
to let it all in one lump. The people
roads right now and they do not want
them built in piece meal. There is no
one who is going to blame the people
for not waiting twenty years for roads
which are needed now. There are some
that hold that it is discrimination to
build road in front of one man IS
farm one year and wait several years
before you give the same Improvement
| to another farmer living on the same
road. This objection seems to be just
| as reasonable. Now if all the farmers
want the roads at once there is only
one way to get them and that is to
issue the bonds. Figures which are
| produced by the promoters of the
scheme would indicate that in the long
run the cost Of the city to build the
roads by the bond issue route will not
be greatly in excess of the year by year
piece building which has been going on.
OF course, there will be the added bene-
fl to the city people that they will
have the use Of the roads.
| We are still of the opinion that the
| bond habit is Just as bad e habit for