The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-26
Building roads and bridges requires trained and experienced men.
 EmnRr1nnua I.naaaa. .

I
 Building roads and bridges requires trained and experienced men.
 Enormous Losses. .
 The second item. the cost to haul the | crop of 1906 and 1907, was 1,250,00o bales of cotton. the loss Is $425.o00.
 The third Item, the loss on boo,o00 l tons of cotton seed is $750,0o0.
 The fourth item. the cost and loss of transporting 100000 tons ot fertilizer l Is $4S0,000.
 Theae four items alons show an ab- | soiute and direct loss to the people of | Alabama of t2,s25.000 annually. This l ia only a portion of the loss that is charged to bad roads.
 The Alaabma Good Roads Association I held a meeting in Birmingham, Als.. I December 2s, 1908, prepared a bill to | provide for State highway commits sion and have State aid. 90 thai She construction and maintenance Of roads | could be done by practical business | methods that this dreadful loss thai 1 is the heaviest subject of taxation that l the people of Alabama have to bea< should be stopped.
 I The Alabama Good Roads Associa- tion appointed committee to present ! the bill to the Legislature and appear I before the proper committee to edvo' cate it's adoption | Senator John W. Oyerton, presented 1 the bill in the Senate of Alabama ana | said bill was referred to the commit tee of the Senate. Commerce and com mon Carriers Good Roads Committee annea red before the Committee of I Commerce and Common Carriers at the adjourned session of the Legislature 1 and advocated the adoption of the Dill 10 1 create A highway commission whereby roads would be built along practical I business methods, and with trained and efficient supervision.
 The object was to stop the dreadful waste of money. Hon. John A. Lusk, majority of his committee and the l Governor opposed the bill for highway commission and State aid. giving the reason 1t was in violation to the Con- stitution of the State of Alabama to appropriate any money or loan its credit for internal Improvements. l Then the Committee of the Alabama Good Roads Association had Senator 1 John w. Overton to introduce bill to amend the Constitution whereby the Legislature if they wished, could create highway. commission should the Con I stitution be amended. The benefits | in having a highway commission is the best kind of expert advice, skill | ed supervision, economic. practical methods will be the result in establish I ing commission for State supervision whereby material. trained road engi- neers will be in charge and each county will get it's part of the money and ad- vice should we ever have State aid and a highway commission. The Judges of Probate. County Commissioners will have the benefits of trained advices.
 The object Is not to create an army | of office folders. have no doubt that three patriotic men can be found in Alabama that will give their best ser vice to the State just like the colleges | av6 nfh ruAA AkVnkN Nsnn vseal by true patriotic men without pay.
 The enormous burden that the people have to sustain due to the unbusiness methods of the present law as illus trated by the four items is a greater tax than the entire amount of tax that are being paid into the State by the people of Alabama to run the govern ment.
 This can be relieved by the amend ment to the Constitution. and as a tax l payer and the man who loves his State not seeking a State office, don't want any, deny the aspersion that am advocating the amendment to the Con stitution for the purpose of creating officers Nor do wish to deny or de- prive any old soldier or his widow of any pension or take anything from the l common schools My record in the Legislature will show that I advocate liberal pension and a liberal ap- propriation for public education. No Legislature could be elected by the people that would dare to deprive the old soldier or his widow of their pen sions or take away from the schools.
 Other Interests Protected.
 have full confidence that the people of Alabama will select representatives l to go to the Legislature and that they l will select patriotic men who will be capable to do justice to the old sol thaN vryf1V Ta<. recognize that the bad roads of Ala bama are the most burdensome sub Ject of taxation that they ever had to bear, and that they win devise prac- tical legislation to stop the dreadful unbusiness methods that are now in vogue in the various counties and be relieved of the taxation in the present law. This will be done honestly and economically with new practical methods such as the States of New Jersey, Connecticut. Virginia, Missouri South Carolina and more than twenty other states who have adopted highway commission and state aid.
 The people of those states are having good roads by the least cost. all these states have changd and have adopted these modern methods in the last few years
 have undertaken to give all the publicity for the reasons why we l sn OulQ nave BoOQ rOaoS ana why the Constitution should be amended. and l am not advocating good roads for the pleasure or the eXcursionists.
 This enormous sum 1t due to bad roads. It is a larger and heavier bur den than all the taxes the people have to pay and all due to fhepresent meth cd and present laws under which the roads are constructed and maintained.
 The people are not unintelligent, but need good road education, and to that end I have personally for a number of years as well as the Alabama Good Road Association given all publicity, agitation for the sole purpose to arouse and educate the people whereby laws will be enacted that the most good for the least money can be had and that is why I and the Alabama Good Roads Association are advocates to change the organic law and I in- tend to vote for the overton amend ment.
 cannot understand why any cIti- zen of the State can object to reduce this burden of taxation which Is bear. ing so heavy, all due to our bad roads
 Good For Education.
 The above example of the four Iteml of the cost on account of the bottom. less mud roads of Alabama amounts tS two million six hunrded and twenty. five thousand dollars and this Is onIJ portion of the loss the people ar, |