The Monroe journal., 1922-12-26
THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
SHOULD ALWAYS BE HEARD

SOiit dS ltdliull dbouN lWO petitions
that are being circulated and spon-
sored by Sheriff Griffith, who is a
member of the board of county COM
m ssioners and is chairman of same.
About the same time that these petit
tions were put in circulation and pub
liShed in the papers | saw an article
signed by the three members of the
cid board of county commissioners,
two of them now being members of
the new board of county commission
crs and who constitute majority Of
same, stating in part that they "de-
sire 1t to be known through the press
that they are neither parties to, nor
sympathy with the petition that is
being circulated asking that the road
commission be abolished and the put
ing of road business into the hands
II the county commissioners" etc. If
| remember correctly, less than two
ears ago this very same question
was submitted to a vote of the peo-
le in the entire county and the peo-
pie by substantial majority voted to
et the road commission remain as it
now is-separate, distinct and apart
from the office of county commission
ar. Now this was what the people
said; not the voice of one man, but
the voice of the people. The people
have spoken and they spoke through
nd with that mighty weapon-the
ballot. The voice of the people is su-
preme and will prevail.
or course that election cost the
,cunty some money, but it was we'll
ipent, for we have found out just
what the will of the people is.
Now, Mr.. Editor, if the people are
dissatisfied with what they did then
and feel that they have made mis-
AXE, then in that case let them petit
ton for another election on the mat
Ter and then go out to the polls and
vote their sentiments and then, and
,nly till then will you know what the
'eople want. This petition business
won't work unless it is a purely local
matter when every one if familiar
with all the facts. can start out
o-day with a petition and get signers
impeach the Governor of North
Carolina. No trouble to get signers
% petition if you will get up some
kind of pretext or bugaboo such as
taxes are too high, they are just
throwing away your money, it'sall
going for jobs, salaries, ETC." | know
taxes are high, it seems. Can Sheriff
Griffith put US on plan to get them
reduced? Are you going to cut down
he amount for schools? Are you
going to cut down the amount for the
roads? Are you going to cut down
he amount for the poor? Are you
| going to cut out the courts? II not,
what are you going to do? You don't
mean to tell the people that you are
Going to reduce taxes and save the
nople lot of money by transferring
'cRae's job over to you and Collins
job over to Mr.. Bivens, and Thomp-
sons job over to Mr.. Secrest? That
would not save the tax payers any
money.
Mr.. Editor, this thing is a puzzle to
IRE any way. When did this thing
start? Have the people in mass
meeting spoken? If so, it must have
been a secret meeting. Did a group
)f citizens meet somewhere and ap-
HOllll TIE koHtIlil W ldht lIltSt pctl-
lions for them and get signers?
Let's look into this matter just a
tile and see just what we can dig
Up; let's analyze just a little. Last
summer during his campaign was
here anything said about this mat
er. II Sheriff Griffith was banker
ng after McRae's job, why did he not
run for road commissioner instead of
county commissioner If the Sheriff
vas real earnest as to his present in
.ention then why did he not publish
% the world during the campaign that
IN case he was nominated and elected
IS one of the county commissioners
hat he would take this course? Then
ye would have known what to expect
1 him in case he was elected. Why
Keep it a secret? Why keep this
,od thing up your sleeve all that
tme9 II he had it in mind then, he
.as afraid to let the public know.
When did this thing first dawn
on the Sheriff's mind? am
igging and trying to analyze to see
{ we can just locate the time and
place. Sheriff, won't you please take
Up your pencil and paper and just put
down the alpha and omega-no not
the omega, for the omega is not yet.
And then while you are at it please
also tell US just how and show which
OF the dear peoples money you pro-
pcse or rather will save? Sheriff,
we elected you as one of the three
county commissioners, to that office,
and to perform the duties Of that Of
ice and nothing more. We elected
Mr.. J. d. McRae as the member at
large to the road electorate and the
electorate in turn elected him as one
member Of those as the road COM
missioner, to that office and nothing
else. We did not elect Mr.. McRae to
the road commissions office with the
intention of him and his board to take
over the duties of the county commits
sioners' office. Nor did we elect the
Sheriff to take over the road COM
missions office. We elected Mike
Long as our Register of Deeds. Mike
is not asking that the Clerk Of the
Courts office be turned over to him.
What is the use of having the
Board of Education's office? Can't
Sheriff Fowler take over that office
and thereby dispense with the pay of
five men? That would be just as
reasonable or little more so that
the one the county commissioner is
asking for.
II taking over and consolidating is
he order. of the day, and is the rem