by Laurel | February 20th, 2014
20 February 1910
Approximate Location of Old County Road
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Again Before Aldermen
It would appear from the happenings at the meeting of the Board of Aldermen Tuesday evening, that the county road difficulty is a specter which will rise to face the coming boards unto the third and fourth generation. The last request seems not to be for the aldermen to declare the road reopened, for if so, or if the road is to be declared not legally closed then it would seem that the original width of 100 feet would have to be allowed and some of the Elmwood residents have got to get busy and push their property off the highway. At one time a cow path was all that was desired and later a road 10 or 15 feet in width was wanted. With the surety that an injunction or some other legal measure will be set going if the road is declared open, the Aldermen do well to sit down calmly for a while and think carefully before they vote regarding the question. The petition presented at the board last Tuesday evening was imposing and would have had considerable effect had it not been remembered how prolific Elmwood has been in the past in the petition line and how that unhappy hamlet has a record of petitions on both sides and in the middle of nearly every question of interest which has arisen in that section of the city during the past 10 years. It will be recalled that at one hearing given by an aldermanic committee that petitions enough from Elmwood were received to nearly paper the aldermanic chamber. Alderman White gave notice that he had been informed that another petition was in process of construction against any reopening of the road and after some debate the matter was laid over until the next regular meeting, which it is probably will be attended by Elmwood residents who will represent both sides of the ancient question.
The veiled inference that opposition to the opening of the road would mean political death to the opposing aldermen was not taken probably as seriously as it was intended for although a large ward, Ward 3 does not yet have the entire say as to what aldermen should be elected to the board or rejected. It is to be noted that a number of the aldermen-at-large did not seem favorably disposed toward the petition which would tend in a way to narrow down the ward’s political influence regarding the county road difficulty to the election of a ward alderman and their strength in this can more readily be determined when the number of voters on the opposition petition have been counted. There have been reports in the legal aspects of the case and it is more than probable that at some time, if not in the present year, that the courts will make a final decision on the question. It is evident that there will be no rest until this happens.
Adapted from The Springfield Republican.
