The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1919-02-07


the court were present. The court
heard report of the special committee
appointed at the January term for the
purpose of looking into road working
plans and report back to this special
term. The committees report is en-
bodied in the following resolutions
which were adopted by the court.
TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF
FAYEflE COUNTY
Gentlemen.- The Committee named
at Ihe last meeting of the court to
study the road question has done what
was possible WITH the time and facilities
ut It's disposal to look at this problem
from Ill sides and the following recon-
mendauons are the deliberate Judge
ment of the committee;
The committee began its study of the
problem imbued with few general
ideas as follows;
1t is an inexorable law that neither q
nation, q state, q county nor an indivld-
ual can get something for nothing.
Fsyette county cannot expect system
of improved highways unless th court
and the citizens are willing and deter
mined to pay the cost of construction
aud maintenance. This is arule so uni.
versslly acknowledged that it is removed
from the realm of conjecture and be-
comes fact beyond dispute.
Starting then, with this basis of fac:
the question arises, do the citizens of
Fayette county want better highways
wei enough to pay for them. II is the
belief of your committee that our county
must keep pace with the remainder of
the country and improve its commune
cations with each other and the world
outside.
lne merchant and professional man
is badly handicapped by lack of good
roads and Gud knows the farmer, who
m4kes up 9S per cent of our population,
needs them if farm. life is to be made
tolerable to those who must pass their
lives in It's isolation and seclusion.
1t is not necessary to discuss further
this phase of the problem. The ques-
tion remains then. how are we to get
better roads at the least possible cost.
The members of this court are as
familiar as your committee with the
peculiar nature of our soil and it is our
idea that any system adopted by the
court must be BASED on this premise,
that a spasmodic working of our roads
once or twice a year will not keep them
in shape.
Our soil washes badly, the rosd
ditcnes fiji up in a month or two and
constant care is necessary to keep our
roads in shape to shed water. We
always bear his fact in mind, that I'M
til we have reached that stage OF pros
perity where we can afford to use con-
crete and gravel in an euduring system
of highways, we must do the best we
can with the material on hand. The
court will agree with US however that,
although our dirt roads disintcgrate
badly In wet weather, if they are prop
erIy shaped, there need never be more
than temporary interruption of traffic
even in the worst weather.
In the pact we have used both the
contract and overseer systems. Your
committee Is of the deliberate opinion
that both of these systems have been
failures in the experience Of this county.
We think the contract system would
possibl, furnish solution if, under the
law the county could make contracts at
a large enough remuneration so the
contractor could spend all his time on
the roads from one years end to the
other and have no other business to d.
vert bis energies. Wehave asked legsl
advice on this point and find We have
been going the limit under the law.
In order to get information for the
court as TO the probable cost of road
cont acts In the future your committee
wrote 20 Of the old contractors the fol-
lowing letter;
We find that on an average contrsc-
tors will now want from two to three
times as much for the same work per-
formed in the past and. as the service
consists for most part Of Q lick and
promise, your committee cannot rec
ommend the adoption Of this system at
the increased cost 1t would entail. even
II the law permitted.
In former report this same commit
tee recommended thu use of tractors
and large road grade to work cur
main highways, retaining the overseer
system for the less important roads.
Since making that report Chairman
Shsl on has spent more or less time
Inve-t gatin the use Of tractors IN
road work and the result nf his in, esti
u,ill ia rnsd.s :. m. eonrt In ner