Milford chronicle., 1917-05-11

! IN JOSEPH CROSS Sussex Count
; had an efficient man to supervise th
public roads, and who is especial
fitted to place the heavy dirt road
along the bay shore in Slaughte
} Neck, in excellent condition, and
had performed this service with sue
results as to call forth comment frOr
the general public which Travelled ov
er the roads he had placed in condi
ton this spring. He was continuing
to do this work until last week. whel
he was informed by direction of thu
Levy Court Commissioners. that his
pay for serving the county would bt
50 per day, and an allowance of 81
addition for the use of his automobile
for hauling workmen to and from the
points where work was to be done
making the total of SO per day in all
This marked underpayment of a very
competent man for his personal SER
vice, and for the use of a fve-passen-
ger machine, was so unfair. that Mr.
Cross resigned the job promptly, and
now the road work of the First Dis
trict of Sussex County is at a stand
still. For the same service in Kent
County, supervisors are paid S4 per
day for self and auto or team of
l,o,oo.. tvt 4bo au4ounobi1o will do
five times the amount of work as the
horses, and in one tenth of the time.
There are men serving as supervisors
in Delaware whose executive ability
is certainly not worth even 81 a day,
but where unusually competent men
are to be had, the Levy Court must
use common sense and pay for results
obtained, rather than have as an OBJ
ject the low amount of money paid
out This policy will lead to criti-
cism of the Levy Court as a business
body if it is continued. 1t is time to |
correct errors now, and not let the
practice of penny pairing"
fasten itself upon the policies of the |
men who are named to conduct the
affairs of Sussex County. Just to EN-
Dhasize this point, we call attention |
to the manner in which the Levy
Court published the list of delinquent
-axables in April. The list is publish
ed for general information of all of
Sussex County-at least that is the
object of the law-but the Levy Court
,orgot this matter of information en-
irely. and held to the one idea of
essening the actual cost of the print
ng. and for that reason alone. the list
vas published in a paper outside of
Georgetown, with less than five hun
Ired circulation, and one paper at the
county seat for a small sum of money
ather than insert it in other papers
With five times the circulation in Sus-
ex County and which circulation was
.eneral over the entire county. In
tead of complying with the intent of
he law, the members of the Levy
'ourt deliberately ignored that in
ent, and placed the advertised list of :
before only a small part J
( the people Of Sussex County. If
nat is business. then God save Sus-
ex County from that particular brand /
/ the future. Now again the business
roposition in maintaining the public
ighways. is looming big before the h
eople; and unless the Levy Court a
eets the situation with business p
ethods, and bring practical results,
le people will become so dissatisfied h
ith the members of that body that, v
le howl will result in radical chang
at the next election by the people.
'e have hoped much from the Levy n
ourt in its present form, and we be- n
eve that it will get down to bigger o
ings and do things which will B
ing results. No patching, no cheap
ldlt ueLuOuSs WHICH Euleu DuSSGA
ounty for years. and which were by
form laws thrown down, but by do G
g business on broad lines of prac- c
cal results. These thoughts or ex- d
'essions are not intended to hinder
create trouble for the new Levy b,
,urt. but to show them the workings h
the minds of others in Sussex S'
,unty, who are as deeply interested "
its affairs as are the members of in
e Levy Court. If the body is wise,
will accept criticism in the spirit
helpfulness, and not as obstructive la
Let us all live in the future VI
d make the results the best obtain oi
lie. If it is necessary to pay sal q
Y to get a good man. more than it tn
to get one who is incompetent, then
y that salary, and get the results. M
,laware has had one lesson in this
e in the State Commissioner of be
ucation-now let the counties take
vantage of the experience and get be