Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1922-02-20

On reading Mr.. Barretts cOmmuni-
cation appearing in last weeks issue
of the Advertiser" in opposition TO
the construction OF a bridge across
South River nj Riverview. ! was i'm
mediately struck with the similarity
Of the thoughts expressed therein, 10
those conveyed to me by Mr.. Hayman
the County Engineer. in a cOnversa-
ton in his Office on the morning of
February 18th. Indeed. the letter
makes use OF almost the identical
words Mr. Hayman used 10 me. lead
ing me 10 infer that he AZ least sup
piled the information on which this
letter is based. This fact prompts my
reply.
Now this correspondent so far as /
can learn. is not at all familiar with
the Riverview community or the larg-
ted by the proposed bridge, and has
not visited il with a view TO gaining
true and unbiased information as TO
existing conditions, He simply goes
ahead and gives public utterance to
statements based on second hand in
formation. Therefore, it seems TO me.
/ in justice To all concerned. that the
public should know what seems to be
the source OF this information; and
the correspondent himself. for the
sake of his reputation for veracity,
should welcome an answer which viii
correct the misrepresentation under
which the article is evidently written
AS regards the effect of the article
! itself. ! really feel that the writer has
conferred favor upon the advocates
of the bridge. To my knowledge this
Is the first published statement .ex-
pressing views antagonistic to this
| bridge. and for the first time oppor-
tunity is given 10 publicly reply to
such views. The opposition hitherto
mas beon largely Elusive. nothing on
which to base a reply. What we want
is to get before the public a true
statement OF the facts in contrast with
such erroneous statements as contain
ed in the article in question; and
there is no doubt but that a just COM
parison of the two will create a
stronger sentiment in favor of Tho
bridge in the minds of all fair minded
citizens.
In the first paragraph of the letter
the writer says in criticism of for
mor article for the bridge, The state
ment was made that ii was TO aid
traffic e" Where is the point here.
for if bridges are not constructed pri-
marily to facilitate traffic. for what
purpose are they built? Then he goes
on quoting that il would shorten the
distance from the lower county TO An
napolis." This is entirely misleading.
Lower Anne Arundel county. general
ly known as the Eighth district. has
never in any way been connected with
the argument for the bridge They
have their State Road and bridge
which give, them the best possible
route TO Annapolis. and we are glad
they have il. What we do maintain.
is that this proposed bridge would
open up the most direct route TO An.
napolis from Prince George county.
for all traffic between Queen Anne
and Governors Bridge. extending
back in the same direction even TO-
the City OF Washington. Let our cor
respondent verify this statement bv
consulting the residents OF the Mitch
ellville and Collington neighborhoods.
Then crossing the PatnXent River. il
would take in all that section of Anne
Arundel county between the head
waters of Boards Greek and the main
source OF South River. territory
about five miles in width. gradually
narrowing down to the point on South
River where the proposed bridge is Il
go. This is a large farming section.
all Of which would use this bridge en-
route 10 Annapolis. cutting off sew
eral miles of hauling. besides afford
ing safer traffic for the farmers who
wish 10 avoid the dangers of heavy
automobile traffic on the State high
ways. Even the present ferry with
its delays and Inconvenience, is used
IN preference 10 the State Road. and
as many as forty teams from this side
have used the ferry in a single day.
How do you reconcile this with the
dozen families" which the letter
states are all that would be benefited
by this bridge? If all those who ap-
peared at the State House on Tues
day last as advocates of the bridge
comprise simply twelve families. then
say each family in itself might be
considered a whole community. The
gathering on that occasion was large
and representative. and had the con-
ditlons OF the roads not been so bad.
there would have been twice the num-
ber