The Greeley tribune., 1904-02-11
GOOD ROADS.
EFFORT TO GET NATIONAL
APPROPRIATION.
Small Amount Colorado Would
Receive Would Benefit But
Little.-The Brown
low Bill.

OsA ASoouSOu w
OF Tennessee has bill pending in con-
eress to appropriate $24, 900, 900 from
the United States treasury for the
building and maintenance Of country
roads throughout the country. The
money Is to be distributed to states
according to population. Under its
rating In the scale Of population,
Colorado would receive $3.50, 900. The
total amount OF the s24, 900, 200 will
be expended during the first three
years after the passage of the bill.
Many people In the west believe
that the passage Of this hill should
be urged, as 1T would place westerners
more on an equa,lty with easterneIs
In securing slice from the national
treasury, to say nothing OF the good
1t might do in improving roads.
Nearly all of the eastern state secure
government aid for the Improvement
Of rivers and harbOrs and while often
times the entire appropriation for
certain river or harbOr Is sQuandered
in enterprises that will never he
worth dollar, the people are salts
lied because they think they are get
ting something for nothing.
Because there Is no slightest pos
s,bility of the Poudre or Platte rivers
ever becoming navigable for anything
Of greater draft than teal duck we are
never likely to have river and har-
Dor appropriation mere. AS ouI
irrigating system Is better than any
other in the world, we are likely to
be also passeG py IN the government
irrigation schemes. For that reason,
the good roads bill is about our only
hope The only trouble is that it
is spreading the appropriation too
thin. The $3.50, 900 would hardly pay
for the inspection of roads, that
would of course be necessary before
any money for improvement could be
apportioned. If an equal division of
the $3.50, 600 we're made among the 81
counties in Colorado, each would re-
ceive 81 1856. Cutting this into three
equal parts would give 81 ,462 each
year for three years. While it would
be help, the amount Is not sutfic-
lent to lose any sleep over. Weld
county spent S36, 6,9l7 "a for ROAD i'm
provements during 1903 and it is prob
able that an even greater amount will
be spent next year Taken as a
whole, there is not state in the
union that has roads TO compare with
those of Colorado. Usually all there
is necessary is to drive out over the
plains a few times and fine grayeled
road is the result OF course, in the
mountains it is different, but 81, 462
would not so far in road building
where it is necessary to blast way
through rock.
The main thing that the present
Brownow bill would be good for
would be to encourage bigger local OF
state appropriations for roads. The
remedy for bad roads is more in the
nature of local application than of a
constitutional nature, as'work OF that
kind done by the general government
usually consists in eating up the ap-
propriations in big salaries and but
little real work In much better
shape to gain something of real value
from the bill are New York, Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio and Illinois. Under the
bill the first mentioned would receive
81, los, 900; Pennsylvania, l,s2S, 600;
Illinois, 81, 39s, 900, and Ohio, 81 ,206,
600. As the middle western states
need improved roads more than any
thing else one could name we might
be generous enough to help them
secure this appropriation.