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Show Good Roads vs. The Knocker i A cartoon in the Salt Lake Tribune, Wednesday, April 15th, 1908, Arbor Day, a man tagged "The Knocker" was being struck squarely in the face by another, and the following comment in a space at the side "The knocker should be planted straight from the shoulder ' quickly and with much force. You will find land in the vicinity of I the lower jaw a suitable place to plant." ! Part of editorial, Salt Lake Tribune, March 6th, 1908: NEW GOOD ROADS MOVEMENT. "The good roads movement was killed in this state some years ago by the political interference of Apostle Smoot in the organization. ! He insisted upon ousting the old officials of the good roads organiza tion and on putting his political henchman, "Fussy Jimmy" Anderson, in charge. From that day to this nothing has been heard of or from the good roads organization of Utah." FACTS OF HISTORY. In the first place there never was a state good roads association prior to the present one which was organized at a convention held in Salt Lake City four years ago, when the officers of the National Good Roads Association visited here on their way to the International Good' Roads Congress at the Portland Fair. There was therefore, no necessity for he (Reed Smoot) insisting "upon ousting the old officials offi-cials of the good roads organization." The Tribune has therefore mis- represented the facts. J When that good roads convention (the first one) was held the I committee on permanent organization was appointed, and during recess this committee met and Mr. James H. Anderson, then chairman chair-man of the Board of County Commissioners of Salt Lake County, was nominated to be president of the Utah State Good Roads Association. i In the speech of nomination before the committee the following statement in substance was made, "James H. Anderson as chairman of the Board of County Commissioners of Salt Lake County, has made a splendid record by way of making ordinances regulating the roads and their construction, and has been the prime mover in the ) building of the roads in Salt Lake county. Prior to his tenure of office the roads of Salt Lake county were in poor condition, but i through his ability and effort they are the best county roads in the i state, and the roads of Salt Lake county arc better than the roads oi f Salt Lake City outside the paved districts in the city. Not only has ' he been interested in his own county, but also in the matter of legis lation that would benefit the state and with one or two others he J stands out pre-eminently above all the rest in the fact that he has ac- i complished a great deal and has made it a study, understands the question and is qualified to discharge the duties of the office as ( president. You cannot name a man who has done more for the good i roads cause or who understands it better, or who is better qualified." The man who placed Mr. Anderson in nomination for president is I responsible for the statement that Reed Smoot had nothing to do with the nominating of James H. Anderson, not even to the mentioning or suggesting of his name, but that Mr. Anderson was nominated wholly Because of his interest in, and knowledge of the question and his work in legislation and construction which, was well known to the man who nlaced him in nomination. There was a little opposition to Mr. Anderson in the convention because of some personal piques of local people, and a misunderstanding misunder-standing on the part of the officers of the National Good Roads Association. Asso-ciation. Mr. Anderson was the almost unanimous choice of the convention, con-vention, and was elected. The Deseret News began knocking the movement that very day, presenting to the people a virulent article playing the baby act bc- ..causc of the personal animus of the reporter toward Mr. Anderson. The day of the election the Tribune knocked, which was of course expected. Sometime ago, when the officers of the Utah Good Roads Association Asso-ciation called a convention, arranged a program which was a splendid i one and carried it out, the attendance at this convention was slack, but was none the less valuable and interesting. The Tribune instead of assisting the movement for the sake of the cause did nothing but knock, and everything has been done by some powerful influences to injure and retard the progress of the movement, because they were not the direct sponsors of it. So much for the association never having hav-ing been heard from since its organization. This question is greater than any one man or any set of men, and will win though stumbling blocks are placed in the way and it ap-pcars ap-pcars now that the Tribune editor is beginning to recognize this fact and is trying to get in the good roads band wagon and don't know how. If the Tribune really wanted to benefit the public more than themselves is it not reasonable to suppose that they would join anyone, no matter who, in helping in every way this great movement, and quit maligning and misrepresenting. In view of the editorial above referred to and countless other little squibs similar to this one, they have unconsciously tagged themselves "The Knocker" of good roads. The cartoon above referred to has placed them in the position of standing in front of an old time batter-ing batter-ing ram drawn to its highest tension and pulling the trigger them-selves. them-selves. The Tribune flatly lied in order to attempt to gain a point, and has shown contemptible narrowness and ignorance of the roads question. In their cartoon they have placed themselves in a pitiable and laughable position by pronouncing sentence upon th . .-nsclvcs and inflicting the penalty. It pays to be fair. Yours sincerely, FAIR PLAY. H |