The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-03-15


J. ksoM 81 Tampa Fla. formerly
member Of ihe Board of Count,
Commissioners of Hillsborough Coun
iy. aud one Of the leading citizens Of
than county who has given the suh
lect Of road construction and main
,rnarre considerable attention. has
,rii.en 10 the State Road Depart
mcnt regarding proposed legislation
and says that on the whole he be
lieye, the recommendation will be
entirely satisfactory.
Concerning the details of the rec
concentrations. Mr. Jackson has the
following to say:
However. there is one change in.
or rather. addition TO. the recon-
mendations that ! would offer, and |
would also like TO call your attention
briefly TO two other causes.
First In the second clause | note
the recommendation call for an ap-
preparation OF $4,000 for the year
1917 and Sl35O0o for the year 1918
for the maintenance of the proposed
State Convict Road Force The next
session of the Legislature, after the
1917 session, will be held during April
and May. 1919. and | would like to
know if the appropriations asked for
will be sufficient to carry the Con
Wet Road Force to them iddle of the
year 1919? trust that you have
been mindful of this and have taken
care of it, although the amount of the
appropriation recommended seems
rather small. In this connection,
fail to find any appropriation recon-
mend for the purchase of mules,
wagons, machinery and other equip
ment, which will cost, roughly speak
ing, perhaps more than $4,000.
Second. In regard to the sixth
clause of your recommendations
clause relating to county and district
bond issues for roads and bridges /
would suggest an additional sen
tence, as follows: That no county or
road district be a'lowci in future TO
bond for more than "A certain fixed
percentage of its assessed valuation
would suggest 10 or II per cent as
a maximum. believe that this is
necessary in order to guard the in
terests of the tax payers. | believe
that your idea of having the State
Road Commissioner approve specili-
cations for work to be done under
bond issues by counties and districts
is good and would act as a safety in
behalf of the people of the counties,
sioncr can take the time to study the
varying needs of the different coun-
ties. In this connection, it must be
remembered that we have some very
large yet thinly settled counties, hav-
OF some of the richer though smaller
counties in area, and yet there is a
demand in those counties for an ex-
tended mileage of roads, which will
thus necessitate a great modification
in their specifications. However, |
have no better suggestion to Offer
trusting the Commissioner will have
sufficient time to handle the matter
carefully and will use tact and ability
under the provisions of the law"
Commissioner Cookies Reply
Replying to the above letter, State
Road Commissioner VIM. +. Cooke has
written to Mr.. Jackson as follows.
and by permission of Mr. Jackson and
Mr.. Cooke the correspondence has
been given out for. publication, so that
all interested in the proposed legisla-
ton recommended by the State Road
Department may have better under
standing of the recommendations:
February %, 1917.
Mr.. J. NJ Jackson,
Tampa, Fla.
My dear Mr.. Jackson:
| beg to acknowledge receipt OF
your letter of the 21st instant, and
| am very grateful for your sugges-
tons and criticisms, especially as
know that you have made deep
study of the questions referred to.
AS the legislative recommendation
of this Department contain some
things looked upon as innovations.
believe it is important that they be
as widely discussed as possible, and
] welcome this opportunity to explain
some of the points which could not be
covered in detail in the letter ad-
dressed to the Governor.