Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1922-02-01

sioners had desired to arouse or aug
ment opposition to the building OF
the Hancock Sullivan bridge, they
could have adopted no more effective
measures than the attitude assumed
at Bangor last Thursday, when they
refused an audience to the DIRECTORS,
invited there by the Hancock county
commissioners. To the credit of the
of Hancock county commissioners be
it said that they urged the admis-
sion of the DIRECTORS, or their repre-
sentative, to the meeting, but they
were overruled, arbitrarily and
automatically, by the State highway
commissioners.
The people of Hancock county,
no less than the people of this great
free republic are utterly and unal-
terable opposed to anything smack
ing Of gag law. Granted that the
State commissioners We're right in
their attitude that they were acting
under an order of the legislature,
and that the time for objection had
passed, common courtesy demanded,
and ordinary intelligence should
have suggested as palliative to OPP
position. that they should have adj
mitted the DIRECTORS, composed of
representative citizens from all sec
tions of the county, if for no other
purpose than to explain why they
could not at this time entertain any
objection.
1t is to the further credit of the
county commissioners that because
of the attitude of the State COM
missioners toward the DIRECTORS.
they refused to be a party in the
action of the meeting, and in the
vote taken on the type of bridge to
be built, insisted that their one
third vote in the meeting be recorded
mo vote or neutral,
All this is beside the main. ques-
ton as to whether the bridge should
be built. We believe it should be,
and that it is to the interest of the
county as a whole, as well as to the
southeastern section, that it should
be. The opposition is largely
from towns which see no direct
benefit from the bridge
Opposition from the Mt Desert
island towns. enjoying so largely the
benefits of the free Mt Desert toll
bridge under circumstances similar
to those under which it is proposed
TO build the Hancock Sullivan
bridge, might seem little incon-
sistent. but we understand that the
representatives from the island
towns appeared more as inquirers as
to what all the fuss was about,
rather than as open DIRECTORS to the
bridge, though the slap in the face
given them by the State highway
commissioners has cemented them
into something very like opposition.
AS the matter stands now, the
building of the bridge is problemati-
cal. temporary injunction has
been invoked to stop further pro-
oeedngs, and the result of the hear
ing on petition for permanent in
junction, or stay of proceedings I'M
til the next session of the legislature,
cannot be foretold.
The grounds on which a perma-
nent injunction is sought involve the
legality of steps so far taken, and
possibly the constitutionality of the
proposed bond issue. The matter
may hinge upon the question
whether sufficient and proper notice
was given of the committee hearing
on the bridge bill in the last legis-
lature to now debar the DIRECTORS
from hearing on the main issue as
to whether or not the bridge should
be built,
II is fact that no notice of the
legislative hearing on the bridge
bill was published in The American
or any other county paper so far as
we know, but it is also true that no
legislative hearings of any kind
were advertised in The American
last year. AS we understand it, this
program adopted by the legislature
or legislative committees, by which
few daily papers were selected to
carry official notices of legislative
hearings, instead of publishing them
in the county papers as heretofore.
Entirely aside from our personal
interest, we believe this to have been
a mistaken policy. The people of
the county have the right TO be kept
, fully informed of hearings on pro-
posed legislation directly affecting
them, and no other medium reaches
them as does the local paper. The
hearing on a matter of. SO great i'm
portance as the Hancock Sullivan
bridge, involving the expenditure OF
several hundred thousand dollars
should have been advertised in every
paper in Hancock county.
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