The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1917-01-11

II is -often'ssid In Hood River. I'VE
have spent quarter Of q million dol.
lars on our roads in the last five or six
years. Go out and see What we have
bought with our $3.50, nO0."
! Is there any danger (exeept TO the
jobs OF such supervisors as cannot
stand being supervisedl in changing the
system which has brought about pres.
ent conditions? Let US see whst il
thought about il at Washington. Un.
Gle Sam has appropriated $500, 000, 600
Tor roads, to be apportioned among the
counties Of the United States during
the next 10 years, and the Secretary
OF Agriculture has announced that in
distributing the money counties run
ming their road affairs as we do will be
Disseminated against! Who can blame
Uncle Sam for insisting ons having
partners who will spend his money un-
der q system which will at least give
him chance that it will be we'll spent.
This road work is engineering work.
Years OF experience have taught en-
gineering firms the world over the
maxim. Management OF an engineer
ing job is worth 10 per cent of the cost
of the job" We spend on our roads
upwards of $40, 900 year. So, if en-.
gineering companies know. their bust.
ness, we could afford to pay road.
master 81, 900 a year. and be would
save Us more than his salary. We
could get a good man for far less
money than that; but how blasting to
our hopes of good roads il would be to
have q roadmaster who would do the
job for say S3 day, and perfectly
willing to give his entire time to it.
except-when he was too busy spray
ing or thinning or propping or picking
No. We want man right in the seat
Of Ford runabout at Z o'clock every
morning from the time the roads begin
to dry in the spring until work has to
stop in the early winter, paid enough
to enable him to give every minute of
his time and every ouncesof his brains
to seeing to it that every dollar We
take out of our pockets for road tax
buys us dollars worth of road--and
armed with such authority that he
needn't say please" more than once
to any man in the road work who will
not do as he is told.
How gladly our county newspapers
would give such a man few incheslof
space every week to tell US what he
was doing. where the principal work
was in progress, what he planned to
get at next and why.
In order to avoid, if possible, the
charge Of vagueness usualiys brought
against suggestions for reform, re-
spectfully petition the county court to
change. IN March next, our present
county engineers authority over our
road work from a dead letter TO an
effective thing, by appointing him
rOadmaster at salary, paid out of the
existing road funds, thoroughly ade.
quate to secure bis entire time for the
county's road work and surveying, to
arrange for the daily use Of bis Ford in
the road service: and then to back him
up by removing at his request, without
argument, any road supervisor or other
road employe from whom he could not
get results: and by referring to the
roadmaster Though comforting with
him in private about it. if necessary
every inquiry. suggestion, request,
kick, or compliment about road condi.
tions. from anyone in the county, from
the supervisors down.
Yours very truly,
Ralph Root.