Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1910-04-21

that an engineer be employed,
though he cost considerable a
for the location, construetiw
maintenance Of roads are On
that no man or set of mf without
the aid Of an engineer. can ccadgct Ia
the proper way to get the hes, re-
suits at the least cost
'The money raised for roads byi
bonds should be kept intact until it
has been ascertained exactly what
class of roads viii best meet the re-
quirements Of the location and what
type of road il is best to build. These
facts can be secured through the aid
of the national government The
Caice of public roads stands ready to
give gratious advice and supply
skilled highway engineers who are
amply qualified to tell what type Of
road would best meet requirements
and to demonstrate those suggestions
by supervising the building OF
stretches of model highways, after
which local officials may take pattern.
When county officials learn to appre-
ciate the fact that road building is
an art, they will rely more and more
upon expert advice and scientific de-
monstration, and when they have
learned what class Of roads is desir-
able they will construct them and
then guard them
THE NATION SHOULD HELP.
Il am an earnest believer in fed
eral and state aid and cooperation
in building good roads, and l believe
that the time is at hand when the
government will hit upon some plan
whereby it may cooperate with the
state, and the state with the county
in the work.
1T has been argued that it is un-
constitutional Why should it be
more so than the expenditure of
money for river and harbor improve
ments, which often takes the form of
private enterprise? AS a matter of
fact, it has been shown conclusively
in congress that far from being un-
constitutional. the government in its
very beginning began the construction
of good roads and expended more
than 100000 on the old Cumber-
land road from Maryland TO St. Louis,
distance of 700 miles, and the work
was abandoned only because there
arose a question of authority and re-
sponisbility as to who should main
tain and repair the road, the states
or the federal government.
what does the government do for
the farmer?
1--WE spend millions annually on
the army-a dead loss, though doubt
less necessary.
I'VE spend some hundred millions
on the navy
eve have spent $500,0O0,O0O on
river and harbor Improvements.
During ten years we spent more
than $4,000, 1000, 900. of which about
$4,000, 600 went to the agricultural
department.
But not a dollar for the promo
tion of good roads, common blessing
for all the peoples During so years,
of all the vast sums our government
has disbursed for one thing or an
other, not a dollar has. been appro-
priated for roads.
And yet the farmers of the coun-
try compose the bulk of the popula-
ton. and last year contributed to the
national wealth some $4,000. 900.
The farmer forms the foundation OF
the nation. And what has the gov
ernment done for him? Nothing. The
burden is upon him He foots the
bills, and the government takes his
money and spends it on everything
under the sun by the millions. on
everything excepting what effects him
most-roads.
1T is interesting to study the
effect of the automobile on the good
roads movement. Everywhere, in
spite of prejudice. the automobile
creates sentiment for better roa1s
The machine has come to stay and
it is idle to fight it on the ground
that it destroys a road surface. II
it does, then we must have a surface
that it will not injure.
I'm the south we believe the cause
Of good roads is growing more
rapidly than in any other section OF
the Union. In the last six months
of 1909 more than $2O.OO0.OOO wa:
appropriated for highway improve
ment."
? Last Sunday IT, X Bacon. linotype
, operator in the Maverick Office
made a trip to Glenns Ferry ant