The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1921-09-21

ly pardoned.
rected against the state highway
commission. He said they are work
| ing on road No. 2; that he saw an
engineer, a road superintendent, three
niggers with two hoes on the road
near High Springs. Said the white
men were sitting in the shade and the
niggers were strolling down the road.
He knows they must have expected to
go to work. He likens the highway
commission to circus detectives who
go into town and put the local po-
lice to following some false trail
while the crooks with the show fleece
the town people. Said the commits
sion was pulling the wool over our
eyes that way.
DIR. Watkins of Micanopy, had an
other little kick to hand the highway
commission. He said it was building
road No. 2 and yet the commissioners
say they have no money to work with
He suggested that the counties which
have bonded and have money GO
ahead and build their roads without
aid from the state, but his suggestion
was vetoed many times during the
meeting because a majority of the
convention felt that we are taxed to
maintain the commission and we
ought to get our share of the benefits
derived therefrom. DIR. Watkins says
Alachua county is going ahead and
build her own roads.
Col. r. F. Rogers of Ocala, repre-
sented Marion county. Col. Rogers
is more optimistic in his views. He
said road Nc. 2 is going to be built
and within two years will be COM
pleted. He read a letter from Gov
Hardee stating that he is going to
see that road No. will be construct
ed at the earliest possible date and
that he realizes the Importance of
this road to the state.
Col. Rogers urged diplomacy and
said that "when the people speak, the
people will rule" Col. Rogers SEEM
ed to think the other speakers had
been little too drastic in their con-
demnation of the state highway COM
mission.
Mr.. Willis Powell of Leesburg, said
ic was not the state highway COM
mission that we are bucking, but it
is the city of Jacksonville and the
sooner we realize it the better it will
be for US. He said that Jacksonville
has for years been the gateway of
Florida in the railroad connections
and that they want to make it the
same with the highways. He said
that Jacksonville was once, now and
for all the time pulling for the East
Coast alone and that our fight is
against Jacksonville. He said his
information was first hand. As sec
retary of the Leesburg Board of
Trade he sent over 400 letters out last
fall routing people over road No. 2
into Florida. He had many replies
from all over the country saying that
they had letters from Jacksonville
saying the only way to come into the
state was via Savannah and Jackson
vile, when the roads on the Savannah
to Jacksonville route were practically
| ;~,1o.-,blo u raoo,,,roapda1 70 oil
the other counties represented the
employment of a good road engineer
and attributes Lake county's road
success to their county road engineer.
He said if all counties had a man at
tie head of their roads who knew
how to build and maintain roads we
would have a system of roads that
would make US independent of the
state highway commission.
Mr.. Cox of Orange county, pledged
the support of his people and invited
the convention to hold its next meet
ing in Orlando.
Mr.. H. P. Dickey of the Tampa
board of trade, endorsed road No.
although they are on road No. D. de
said they see that road No. 5 is not
of the near future and want Us tc
have what we need, realizing that any
prosperity brought to US viii have 1t:
influence on them. He favors eoun.
ties building their own roads without
aid from the state. He somewhat de
| Tended the highway commission, say