The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-24
GOOD ROADS MAKE
 LITTLE PROGRESS
Substantial Appropriation
 Still Lacking
CONGRESS RELUCTANT
Matters Has Reached a Nation Wide Agitation, But Real Physical Results Are Few So Far.
 Champ Clark's Opinion
Rv SIDNEY EsPEY

Washington, December 23-(Speeial)- Conventions, associations and nearly ev- cry conceivable sort of organization have been for many years bending their efforts toward the improvement of the highways of the United States, but so far little prog ress other than a nation wide agitation
 has been made.
 Primarily, the thing which the agitation
 is intended to stimulate, namely, sup- stantial appropriation, is still lacking. The only appropriation for the promotion of the good roads movement now operative is that which maintains the office of pub lie roads of the Department of Agricui- ture
 This office even has not been signihed by the name of bureau" For some req son Congress has been exceedingly re- lluctant to appropriate money to be ex- pended for the construction or to aid In the construction of highways Rivers and harbors all branches of agricultural ac- tivities. commerce, labor and scores of other industrial enterprises have had liberal share of the public money, while the coffers of the land have practically been thrown wide open to the army and navy and the pensions.
 | The roads, however, have been utterly neglected by the federal government, in this country In the insular and foreign possessions money has been lavished on roads it being deemed military neeessi- i ty but the mainland has suffered, the be- lief being apparently that the piping times | Of peace need no subsidy along this Inc
 In the, individual states road improve ment has gone forward. 1t is true, eut wholly without federal aid, and principal l Iv in those states where the automobile 1 in terests have stimulated the improve ment.
 With the present agitation for good | roads, which emanates from the farming l classes, at last making itself heard, ana with bill providing for the creation of a department of highways to be intro- duced at the present session of Congress- the voice of the people bids fair to be needed at last.
 Champ Clark, speaker of the House, In 1 a recent speech, states that both houses of Congress looked upon the road ques- ton favorably and probably would vote | a large sum of money should suitable l bill be presented to them.
 It will not be the first time that con gress has taken the roads of the country under it's wing but not since the building l of the Great National Road from Cumber- 1 land. Md, to St. Louis. has any con- siderable amount of federal money been expended on roads in this country At that time road building became l necessity velopment and it behooved the govern ment to establish national highway over which the citizens of the east might drive their OK teams and prairie schooners in order that they might become the pion- | eers of the west. But when that work was accomplished an apathy settled down upon Congress as far as the road move
 ment was concerned. Nothing further was done The time has now come when | +1, of l1a ia frn are demanding that the work be taken up anew and the construction of highways proceed.
 Gen. Floyd King, who served as chair man of the first inter-oceanic canal com } mittee which ever sat in this country to ], consider the feasibility of the digging Of an artificial waterway to connect the two seas. has evolved a scheme upon which
 is based bill which Senator Cullom in- troduced in the Senate last session.
 The bill provides for the construction of seven national highways, leading from
 Washington to seven cities: New York
 city. Chicago, Seattle or Portland, San
 Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans and
 Miami, which is near the end of the Flor , ida peninsula.
 These roads would cost $14s, ,000.00o. Gen. eral King and Senator Culom point out
 that the Panama canal is costing nearly five hundred million and question whether , the latter enterprise will be of greater
 benefit than the system of seven roads. l The plan includes the extension of the seven road system by the construction of , ramifications, to be built by the states
 which they are to traverse, The roads
 themselves are to be built partially by , the states and partially by the govern
 ment.
 The new department of highways, if ere
 ated. will become an important factor in
 the department of the rural districts. It's
 head. who will have the title of secretary of highways, will be a member of the
 Presidents cabinet.
 The office of public roads. as it now ex- . ists, is little more than an experimental $ laboratory for the testing of rocks suit , able for road building. It's director, Logan
 Weller Page, is a scientist and has bent most of his efforts during his adminstra- l ton as the head of the office since 1905, 2 in making tests and gathering informa- D tion concerning the needs of different sec a tions of the country, already so well
 known.
 It is proposed to federate the many good ' roads associations throughout the country ; into one large body and maintain a lobby 1 at the capital to exert all possible inffu- II ence toward procuring legislation favor
 able to the general policy and the specific
 project of the seven road system.
 If Congress believes that the system
 provided for in Senator Cullom's bill is
 planned on too gigantic scale efforts
 will be made to secure lesser concessions but the advocates of the good roads move u mont are determined to get some sort oi j. federal aid