Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1918-08-16
TOLL GATES ARE
NOT WANTED
Citizens Go on Record Against
Antiquated Method of Col
lecting Maintenance Mon
ey-Limit the Loads.

In large and representative meet.
ing. of the citizens of the county
held i'll the courthouse Tuesday, il
was decided by almost unanimous
vote that there shall DO no toll-gatcs
in Tazewcll county.
The meeting was called by the SUI
pervisors in order to ascertain the
sentiment of the people on the toll
gate question.
Chairman ID. B. Daniels called the
meeting to order and stated its oh
Ject and requested an expression of
opinion from the citizens present.
Mr.. j. N. Harman wSs present and
aired his views on the matter. He
said that the main question to he de-
tcrmined was whether the toll-gate
system was the best system fci. pro-
ducing revenue for the maintenance
of the roads. He said that under the
old toll-gatc system, in vogue MANY
years in Tazewell county, il reouir-
ed more money to pay the gate keep
er than was collected as toll And
with this experience before us, he
thought it would be very unwisc to
adopt such Il method of collecting
maintenance money for the reads. He
said further that he had been in
formed that i'll one magistcrial dis
trict III the county there is now IL
surplus of money for maintenance,
which the road authorities have bcen
unable to use on account of scarcity
Of labor.
Senator Harman called attention to
Sec. 10 of the road law, wherein it is
provided that foreign automobiles,
that is, automobiles from without the
State, are subject to taxation within
the State, if they visit or pass thru
that State a period of more than
fourteen days within one year. This
law, according to Senator Har-
man, seems To have been overlooked
by the county authorities. IL appear
ed that the enforcement of this pro-
vision of the road law would be very
difficult, as it would require an in
spector on the roads on all The time
to take the numbers of the cars to
see who came under its provisions and
who did not
DR.. Isaac Peirce opposed toll-gatcs
and said that the people had begun
to wonder how often these epidemics
of toll-gate agitation would break out
ih the county. He said that the toll
gate question had been forever ban
ished from further consideration when
the people of the county submitted to
additional taxation for road mante-
nance, and that the vexing question
should be banished fom our minds.
MI. Peel Harman, of Cavitt's Creek
rose TO say few words, whercupon
Senator Harman moved for All immr-
date adjournment, but receiving no
second to the motion, the speaker was
allowed to proceed, and opposed Wig
orously the toll-gates.
County Road Engineer M..rtin en-.
tered the courthouse, accompanied
by Mr.. Pettigrew, of the State High
way commission. Mr.. Pettigrew was
asked to express himself OH the toll
gate question. He replied that he was
not at all in favor of the toll-gate
system of road maintenance; that the
system he favored was decreasing the
loads to the carrying capacity of the
roads; not to put a ten pound load
ON pound road. He stated that
the roads in Maryland and in Eastern
Virginia are being torn to pieces by
the heavy army trucks, somewhat 81
mllar to the trucks now being used
IN TaZewell county, and that the gov
ernment mad made provision for re-
pairing the roads, but as Tazewell
has no claim upon the federal gov
ernmcnt for damage to roads, it would
be necessary to limit the loads haul
ed to $50 pounds to the square inch.
Supervisor w. l.. C. Burke, of the
Maiden Spring District, expressed
himself on the truck question in no
unmistakable language. He also air.
ed his views on auto speeders. He
said that if something was rot done
to limit the speed of automobiles in
Tazewell county that the people would
take the law in their hands and deal
with the speeders in their own way.
A meeting was held in the court
house last Saturday afternoon to dis
cuss various road questions. The
meeting was called mainly to take
up the matter of the heavy trucks
now operating in the county, ard the
damaged, it is charged, they are do
ing the roads. The question of main
tenance, builing new roads, complet-
ing those already under way, and
other matters were discussed.
MIR. John G. st. Clair was made
chairman Of the meeting.
The main object of the meeting was
to discuss the damage now being done
to the roads by the trucks operated
in the county.
| After much discussion, the follow
ing resolution was adopted:
Resolved, That it is the sense of
this meeting (D, That the mainte-
nance Of the roads of the county is
being overlooked and not properly at
tended to and that the county is not
getting value received for the money
expended on the county roads for the
maintenance and repairs or construc-
ton thereof, and that it is the duty of
the county authorities to remedy this
situation; (2), That the trucks in use
on. our roads, both the county and
private trucks, have plainly proved
themselves q damage and injury tc
the roads and that their use on the
roads should be properly regulated
and restricted both as to size ant
weight of the truck and load; (3)
That the further construction of new
macadam roads in the county by the
county authorities be restricted as
much as possible till after the war