The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-04
FOR GOOD ROADS
JOHN CRAFT ENDORSES PROPOSED
 AMENDMENT.
Good Roads People VIII. Heartily sun. port Amendment Proposed by
 Which State Can
 Help. ~

| For the purpose of getting a, copy of the law on the subject and get started the agitation for the proposed amend ment to the State Constitution which VII enable an appropriation from the Les1siature for good roads. Hon. John Craft. President of the Mobile sCommer- clai Club and vice-presidcnt of the Ala. oama Good Roads Association came to Montgomery yesterday. Mir. Craft also represented the Commercial Club or Mobile in the hearing of steamboat officials before the Railroad Co,nmia- sion held yesterday. tl
 It is hard to find a more enthusiastic man on the subject of better roads in Alabama. than Mir. Craft. For many years past, long before the Les<fsiature ever considered the question. Mr. Craft has been identified with the
 movement. He has visited national convention after national convention to post himself on the different phases of the matter, And now that there is an oppertun. ity to. get look-in on the states strong box. Mir. Craft does not pro- pose to let the chance go by default. He declares he and all others who will line up in favor of the issue will treat the opportunity according to the In. gals theory and beginning now they will throw every resource at their com rnand into the proposition. believing that opportunity knocks but once at the door of the State as we'll as the Etndividual. t
 At the last session of the Legislature an earnest effort was made to get State aid for good roads. Great in- terest was aroused before that body under the leadership of Mir. Craft and others, but this had no immediate re- suits. It was discovered that 1t was impossible for the State to render any aid because the Constitution prohib- ited it.. @
 Deciding" to cross all bridges only as they came to them. the good reads advocates had passed an act allowing the people to vote on a proposed amendment. The proposal is to amend Section S3 Of Article of the Consti- tuition which says the State shall not engage in works of internal improve ment nor lend money or It's credit in aid of such; nor shall the State be inc terested in any private or corporate enterprise, or lend money on it's credit to any individual, association or cor- poration." If the people vote for the amendment proposed the State will be enabled to appropriate as much as 1t sees At from the net proceeds sof the convict department. And the people will vote on the amendment on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in next November
 There Is mo reason why, if we are going to agitate the railroad regula- tion. we should not take still more in- terest in the improvement of our dirt roads" said MT. Craft yesterday. 'Tn fact, there are thirty three times more reasons for looking after good roads in the State than for regulating the railroads. This is simply because that is the relation of cost between the two ways the farmer has to haul his product.
 There is but one county in the State of Alabama that is going at the good roads proposition in a profitable and really enective way. and that is Mont gomery To my mind the cheapest way Co the State or to the county to work and establish fine dirt roads is the working of the copviets. At the same time 1t rebounds to the moral and physical welfare of the convict him. self. It gives him as good health as anyeother field of work and restores his morals or induces to that end more than any other kind of work that know. of. tr
 My individnal idea about the state coming to the aid of good roads is I'd adopt a law providing for. say, a High way ConlHisslon. Let this commission be we'll chosen, by the proper author. ity or authorities. and let the commits sion be empowered to appoint conpe- tent engineers to supervise the con structton and repairs of dirt roads. let the technical schools of the State. es- pecially the Alabama Polytechnic In- stitute establish a special course for this sort of engineering and after this commission gets we'll under way. with sufficient funds to work on, supplement- ed of course by county approximations. I heartily believe quick and good re- suits will be. gotten.
 Il believe no one will fail to see the advantages of state national or local aid in the way of improving our high ways. Certainly everyone sees thai if Is very essential to the farmer in the marketing of his products. It gives a new impetus to education. It brings our county folk together in way which the railroads can do only to a limited degree. It will give progress to religion. enabling the farmers to reach their churches from distances and under weather conditions which heretofore have rendered worship im- possible. For these and hundreds of other reasons I do not zee how the people of Alabama, if they are wide awake. are going to vote down the constitutional amendment in November next. This would give us the entering wedge"