Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-10-30

upon the people, that the party may be
kept alive The PILOT considers the
remarks of the speaker relative to this
scheme, of sufficient Importance to give
them entire, viz
II must pass to the question of state
issues,' he said 81 will first take up
the question that | think is now of
great Importance in the campaign, and
| that is the question of state roads.
Now it may be that it is not generally
known that that question is in this dis
cussion The democratic platform,
adopted at Madison, says that the dem
ocratic party is in favor of good public
highways and it stops there. We recog-
nize this fact that the question of public
roads to travel on, to and from town, is
very important measure for the
farmer.
'We are in favor of good public roads
and we find this to be true: In some
places we have good roads and in some
places we have poor roads, but the
roads generally correspond with the
farms and the farm houses, the barns
and fences-that is, the roads generally
correspond with the condition of the
country in which they are built. |
think you will all agree with me that
this is true. 1t shows this, that our
roads are improving gradually as the
country improves. We have not posi-
bly,, the most satisfactory system of
handling our roads, but under the old
system in which they work out their
road taxes, we are gradually getting
: better roads. The democratic position
is that we will go on working as we
have been working.
Now in the republican platform you
will find this:
we favor the enactment of appropriate
legislation at the earliest practicable mo-
ment extending state aid for the CORstruc
tiOn and Improvement of the highways Of
| the state.
"Now just note what that platform
is. To meet that appropriation at the
last session of the legislature, an amend
ment was passed by joint resolution
which provides that the state may en-
gage in such work. This is published
here by the secretary of state-to pro-
vide that the state may appropriate
money in the treasury or to be there
after raised by taxation, for the con-
struction or the improvement of the
public highways of the state.
Now then, under that proposition
the state proposes, as Mr. Lenroot
argued at Sparta and Appleton and
Eau Claire, that the state shall take
charge of all the public highways in the
state. The old system by which the
supervisors of the highway and the
town board managed the highways
in your district is going to be entirely
wiped out and the proposition of the
republican platform is that the building
of highways and the Improvement of
highways throughout this great state is
going to be taken into the hands of the
state, and the town boards and county
boards will have absolutely nothing
further TO do with the question of
roads" He went on and further ex-
lplained that there would be a great
board at Madison, a central board,
that would have charge of this ques-
ton, and in every one of the seventy
two counties of the state they would
Iappoint another commission that would
have charge of all the roads in the
country.
Now then, if out of the money in
the treasury the state would take
surplus moneys and distribute it among
the counties to build the roads of the
country, that might be a very taking
proposition. If, without taxing your
selves, the state treasurer would dis
tribute IN this county several thousand
dollars for the improvement Of the
roads, that grould be very nice scheme.
But under this proposition there
never can be one dollar for any such
purpose. except what is raised BY direct
taxation. Not one dollar. Now why
Because there never has been one year