Arizona republican., 1921-04-12
COUNTY HIGHWAY. BOARD |S HEADED BY A. ], JONES
Commission Reorganizes- Makes Statement Pledg- ing Itself To Loyal Ser vice Of The People

The county highway commission was reorganized yesterday by the election of A. J. Jones, former secre- tary of the commission, chairman, and J. G. Peterson. secretary. c. A. Baldwin, the new member. who was unable to reach Phoenix on Satur day. appeared early, filed his bond with the board of supervisors and went to the office of the commits sion.
 R. c. Perkins, who has been head of the engineering department of the commission since its organization. was e-elected chief engineer, and l. l.. Reuter- was reelected to the posi- tion of assistant to the secretary.
 All these elections took place by the unanimous vote of the commis- Sioners.
 The proceedings of the new com mission were preceded by prayer by Chairman Jones:
 "Oh God, we recognize Thee as the Ruler of the destinies of men and nations. We have met here as the representatives of 9o,000 of Thy peo- pie who have placed literally of their wealth into our hands for the up | building of this, their part of a great l Christian nation. We want to pledge | the best that is in us to Thee and to | them for this cause Help us, 1 pray, | for Christ'S sake. Amen"
 The chairman then offered the fol- | lowing resolution or statement which was unanimously approved and be- came a part of the records of the commission, with the signature of each member attached:
 | The Commissions Statement 'Tt is a sad aad serious duty which we are now called on to per form, that of acting as stewards for l the largest amount ever set apart by any county consisting of 90,000 peo- pie, for the bettering of living condi- | tions in the most glorious and favored spot in this great Christian nation this fund of ss,500,000 contributed from their wealth of S135, 000, 900 for the building of S05 miles of perma- nent highways to serve the present l as well as future generations.
 Three of you and myself have been three times appointed by the Board of Supervisors and twice Il elected by the voters of the county to perform this unheard-of task. The | task Is a sad one in that you will be cism engendered by the emissaries and propagandists who represent bis l interests. or politicians who are seek ing to lay hold of those funds either for transportation charges, contract ing costs or political graft, and thini you are too zealous of these funds and you will be made to hear iron
 some of your best friends and neigh
 bors charging you with dishonesty
 and graft on account of this propa' ganda.
 'The task is a serious one becaus'
 S5,000 of these people whom you serv,
 know nothing of the working of thes'
 professional politicians and insidiou.
 propaganda of some big business in
 terests whose aim it is to poison tn
 minds of your friends and fight yol
 through them. Most of these 90.00
 people whom you represent are busy , engaged in their daily task, and m
 small number are trying to recuper : ate losses of the past year and bull up run down improvements ol
 ranches in this valley owing to al adverse cotton season. This sad ness and seriousness can only b
 made a joy and pleasure in the con
 sciousness of our stewardship we
 performeds
 Some of our friends have sai
 that when we lost Mir. Hackett. tn
 commission lost all its brains bu
 knowing Mir. Hurley for his sterlin sense of justice and loyal devotio
 to duty, and Mir. Peterson for hi
 child like faith in his fellow man an
 sterling honesty, and MT. Carrick fo
 his quick sense of right and long ex e perience with big business, and tn I new member, Mir. Baldwin, who i l, said to combine all the above goo 7 qualities, I do not feel alarmed as {
 the outcome. In losing Mir Racket
 whom we all learned to admire fo e his foresight and blunt, four squar n rock -of-ages manhood, we did los t our right arm. The commission e now ready to follow the America e soldiers example. who had his rigf y Tor his holster with the left and joi e with his comrades and new recruit l. to rush for No Mans Land
 Pledged to Service L. Tn that land they will seek to Ia n pledges and bribes on some or all , a you, as has been attempted in tr if past; but with our experience a ,- ready gained, we are better prepare ir than ever to stand four square fC
 the public and we hereby pledge oui
 selves to each other and warn il propagandist that whatever he Sd,
 to one of US he has said to five, ar s' that truth and honesty hurt no ma
 and they may be able to have us r, = moved, but not for betraylng the ia, . fN-J VI '- -NON Oiit OI NQQlu SGI' l. for the paitry salary which means
 sacrifice to us. if it were not fro
 the standpoint of service. and ce
 tainly not at the price of honor.
 Tn pledging ourselves to or
 another we are also pledged to ca,
 and every taxpayer in this county f,
 the best that is in us, and covet u T counsel of you all. Our office ar V files are open at all times to you al v welcome.
 | The policy as to cooperation wi
 the state and federal government n, hereby pledged to the limit insof 1o as the statute under which we a !; working will allow, as it has been ,,, the past. We promise that no Q ;- fort will be spared to obtain freig i1 rates on cement and gravel more re 1d sonable than the rates at present ir 1g posed on our county for public iu ls provements.
 t And last, but not least, all class I or construction will be considered .H' their relative merits of value at a ~ time new construction may come r S this having been tho policy of f - highway commission" '"
 'N The reorganization having been z fected, the commission proceeded eo the transaction of routine business