Sistersville daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1902-1905, 1903-06-20
MILLIONS FOR ROADS
LARGE APPROPRIATION FOR IMPRov-
ING Pennsylvania HIGHWAYS.

How the Keystone State VIII Aid In
Building Good Roads-over S6,OOO,-
600 to Be Expended During the
Next Few Years.
The leaven Of road improvement
seems to be working in all parts OF the
United States. An eastern man who
has recently taken trip through Tex
as says the enthusiasm with which the
people have taken up the good roads
idea is wonderful. in some countries
they are in danger OF going Wild on
the subject. Funds are being raised
mainly by issue of county bonds.
The state Of Pennsylvania is going in
for good roads on large scale, and II
money counts for anything in this
work the keystone State will have
many miles of improved highways in
the near future. The Sproul good roads
bill which recently became a law in
i Pennsylvania carries an appropriation
Of $6,5OO,0OO, the largest appropria-
ton ever made by any state in the
Union for road improvements.
The bill provides for the establish
ment Of a state highway department.
The governor is to appoint commits
sioner who shall be a civil engineer
and receive a salary Of $500 a year
The commissioner shall appoint one
assistant at $1,000 year, chief clerk
at 81 500 and a stenographer at $1,000
The state highway commissioner shall
supervise the expenditure Of the mon
ey appropriated for good roads.
The state is to bear twothirds the
expense Of road building, the counties
one-sixth and the townships one-sixth.
The state aid is to be apportioned
among the counties according to the
mileage Of township roads in each
county, and county commissioners have
the right to select the kind Of road to
be built.
The $6,5O0,OO0 appropriated is to be
spent as follows: First and second
years, 100000 each; third and fourth
years, $1,25O,O0O each; fifth and sixth
years, 81 100000 each.
The loss to farmers and other coun-
try residents from difficult transporta-
ton over the roads, the resulting wear
and tear and the waste Of bad work
manship and ineffective repairs is
serious burden that presses upon the
| whole population and keeps the coun-
try poor. On the other hand, the pros
perity that has come to rural commu-
mites that have substituted good roads
| for bad is so conspicuous as TO 1nclte
| emulation. But many counties ana
townships have not the means nor the
proper equipment to undertake the i'm
proyement of main roads on q compre-
hensive scale The state, therefore,
comes to their support.
The principle involved in the state
aid plan is exactly the same as that in
volved in the scheme for national aid
which has developed such popularity
recently. The fundamental idea or
| both is that road improvement is not
merely matter Of local interest ana
responsibility, but matter Of interest
and concern to the whole people, or, to
| put it another way, road building Is
| coming to be viewed as n species OF
internal Improvement belonging in
the same class as river and harbor i'm
| provcmentS.
Another reason why national and
state aid is becoming so popular is
| the realization that unless something
Of the kind is adopted the burden OF
| bad roads. like the poor, will be al
| ways with us. The bottomless roads
of the country constitute q sort Of
slough of despond' in which the peo-
pie are destined to founder until some
one comes along to help them out In
| fact the expense for improving the
roads in many localities IS q burden
which the local population is wholly
unable to bear. 1t is believed that
whenever the state or the nation reach
es out n helping hand to such commu-
mites they will grasp it and bend all
their energies to the great work of i'm
proving their highways, but they will
never undertake the job without help,
| from the outside.
The frequent rains Of the past few
weeks have made the roads almost I'M
passable in a majority o. = local
communities throughout the eastern
half of the United States. Perhaps this
is one Of the reasons why the good
roads idea is uppermost in so many
minds.
- n.-t. nrgI5. Good ROada.