Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1919-04-18
POSITION ON
COODROADS FOLLOWS
SENTIMENT IN COUNTY
Figures In Past Elections
Show City And Rural Vote
On Par.

Word has come to the good roads
workers in Salem that the rural districts
will vote all right on good roads and in
favor Of bonding the county, but that
some doubt is felt as to how Salem will
vote. There is feeling among the
rural good roads workers that in the
past Salem has swatted every good
roads proposition that has come before
the voters.
The election records Of May l., 1914,
at the spring primary of that year and
Of the special election called June 4,
1917, do not justify the feeliag that Sa-
lem has been against road improve
ments. The fact is, the official figures
show that Salem has lined up on an
average along with the ruraf districts.
AT the May 10, 1914, election when
the people voted ON bonding the county
for $S5O,000 for permanent road CON
struction the vote stood in the county,
for the bonds, 3j79; against the bonds,
1901.
OF this total vote, the vote of Salem
was-for the bonds, 1907, against the
bonds 1913. Dedueting the Salem vote
from that of the county, the vote stood
for the bonds 2372; against tae bonds
451S.
These figures show that Salem went
about two to one against the bonds and
that the country vote was in exactly the
same proportion. And the entire vote
in the county showed two to one against
bonding. In other words, the official
records show that Salem voted as the
county did and was not against the
bonds at that time in a larger proper.
tion than the outlying districts
Il may be of interest to know that
five years ago when there was but little
interest taken in good roads and also
less in general road contractors, that at
the following precincts, maiorities were
east in favor of the bonds for road i'm
provement: East Gervais, East Hub.
bard, West Hubbard, Mckee, West Mt.
Angel, precinct II Salem, East Silver.
ton, West Silverton, East ana West
Woodburn. On this 1914 election Mill
City broke even on the vote, 80 TO 80.
AT Champoeg, only one man voted for
good roads, at Shaw only one man and
at Sidney, only one man.
At the special election of june II,
1917, Salem went stronger for the 49,.
O0O,O 900 state road bond issue and high
way than the rural districts in the coun
ty. The vote was not very heavy that
year, but in Salem, 1908 voted for the
s6000,000 road bonds and 1881 against.
Thus Salem voted about even on the
big proposition. But the county went
against H.
The official figures for that election
show that the vote on the @6,000,00O
road bill in Marion county stood, 1897
against and 1871 for the bill. Deduct.
ing the vote Of Salem both for and
against, the vote outside of Salem was
2Os9 for the s6,O0O,0OO bonding bill and
against, 3540.
While the vote in Salem in 1917 was
about a $3.50 proposition for the &c..
100000 state road bond, in the rural dis.
triets. SO per cent Of the voters cast
their ballots against il. In the 1914
election for the ss50,O0O bonding bill, 65
per cent of the rural voters were against
the bin, and Salem was about the same.
Taken as a whole, the election records
on file at the eouty clerk 8 office show
that Salem voted exactly with the out
lying districts on the road proposition
in 1914. That in l9l7Salem went $3.50
for the state bonds while outside Of sa- /
lem the vote was against the bonds on
a per eentage basis Of So against and