The age-herald., 1902-02-10
His Resolution Passed at the Recent Convention in
 Charleston
ELECTED VICE. PRESIDENT
Scheme Involves Appointment of Su- perntendents in Each State to be Directed by Department
 of Agriculture.

Mayor ". M. Drennen returned yester- day from Charleston. where he has been attending the Southern Interstate Good Roads Convention as a delegate from Ala bama. Mayor Drennen was elected vice president of the association, and the con- vention unanimously adopted a resolution offered by him to have the federal gov ernment undertake the building of roads throughout the country, and to this end to have a commissioner or agent in each state whose duty shall be to superintend the construction of the roads. This. if carried through, will revolutionize the present system of road building in the United States.
 Drennen's Resolution.
 Following is the text of the resolution:
 Resolved. That it is the sense of this Southern Interstate Good Roads Conven- tion that, Whereas, the highways of the United States are a disgrace to our ad- vanced civilization, and that this condi- tion is largely due to ignorance as to the best methods and materials necessary to their proper improvement, and that this condition Is attracting the general atten- l1On Ol the peOple Ol lHe WllOle COuhtIy y who are anxiously inquiring as to the best means for changing them, and the need for experimental and educational work is greater than ever before, and that this work can be done by the general gov ernment at no greater expense for the whole country than would be required for a single state to make the investigations for itself;
 That the time has now come when the office of public road inquiries of the Uni- ted States Department of Agriculture should be enlarged into a bureau and supported by such larger appropriations as will enable the secretary of agriculture to extend this investigation and educa- tional work to all sections of the coun- try; and that the secretary of agriculture be empowered and instructed by Congress to appoint one special agent for each and every state in the Union, who shall be a resident of the state for which he is ap- pointed, and who shall devote his entire time to the betterment of the highways of his state"
 To Appoint Committee.
 In speaking of the matter yesterday Mayor Drennen said:
 "A committee will be appointed by the president, W. H. Moore, to prepare a bill and have it introduced in Congress. I feel hopeful of it's being adopted, as every state in the Union Is vitally inter ested in the matter of good roads. and if 1t is adopted it will mean great deal for Alabama.
 Under the proposed plan there will be an agent or commissioner in each state who will receive a salary of at least $3000. The total cost to the government in the way of salaries will only be about $1500O0, which, considering the great good to be derived is very small item to the gov ernment The idea is to have these com missioners appointed by Secretary of Az riculture Wilson, who is a live man and one greatly interested in the question of good roads. No class of people are more interested in this matter than the farm CTS. and it would be proper to have the supervision of the construction of new roads given to the Department of Agri- culture"
 "I hope" continued the Mayor that this matter will be taken up by all the states and that the people will impress on their Representatives in Congress the necessity of passing such bill
 The Mayor said the meeting of thg Road Congress was a great success. ws1I attended, and that great interest and fn- thusiasm was shown.