St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1911-04-15
SALARY ABOL.
ISHED BY GOVERNOR
That Is, This Is The Effect Of the AppoInt-
msnt Of GsrVias Lombard TO
HEAD OF ROAD SYSTEM
First Stretch Of Good Reads by the Governor,
To Begin In Grant PARISH The States
Comments.

UvInE3GHlSs
AS will be seen by an article
which we print elsewhere adver-
tisements will be started on Mon
day for bids for the first stretch
of public highway under the
plan of Governor Sanders, which
was ratified by a popular vote in
November.
Ten parishes have already indi-
Gated a desire to avail themselves
of the new law, but Grant, which
Endorsed the Governors idea and
voted its tax even before the
amendment was adopted is to
have the honor of the first sec
ton of highway paid for jointly
by the parish and State. The
line is to run from Colfax. the
parish seat, to Rochelle, eventu-
ally becoming a link in a COM
prehensive system of modern
roads girdironing the whole State.
The plan adopted is the sum Of
the experience of communities
all over the country and was
evolved with the assistance of
the highest authorities on good
roads development in the Federal
service.
By vote of the people a quarter
mill tax is laid on all the assessed
property of the commonwealth.
AT the beginning the annual rev.
enue will approximate $40, 900,
and it will grow correspondingly
with the increase of the taxable
wealth of the State. For every
dollar the parish contributes the
State agrees to provide an equal
amount, SO that we shall have as
a starter more than a quarter of
a million dollars a year to expend
on this scheme of public high
ways. It is not too much to ex-
pect that at least half as much
will be spent by the local COM
munities upon lateral roads to
tap the main highways to which
the activities of the State are
to be particularly directed.
: Of course the state money is
not to be appropriated without
certain necessary conditions. The
aim is to provide permanent high
ways, which means highways
properly maintained after they
have once been constructed, and
each parish will be required to
set forth its plans-the money it
is to raise, the project it has in
contemplation, the character OF
highways it desires to build and
the fund it will set aside for road
maintenance and bridge c n
struction and repair. The idea
is, of course, not to build intra
but interparish roads, to make
each stretch constructed fit ulti-
mately into continuous highways
between the important cities and
towns, and there must always be
kept in mind a reasonable assur-
ance from each parish that it will
do its share toward the proper
maintenance of the highways
which lie within its borders, so
as to keep the whole system IN
tact.
All contracts are to be at pub
lie letting and all the work is to
be under the supervision of the
best available engineering skill
and executed under the superin-
tendence of a practical road
builder. In the latter connec-
ton, the Governor has been for
tunate in obtaining the services
of Mr.. George L. Cooley, OF the
Public Roads Department OF the
Department Of Agriculture,
whose experience has covered
most of the country and who for,
the past two years, has been IN
charge of all the model road
building which has been going
on in Louisiana.
In inaugurating his p a n,
which is the most advanced OF
any State in the Union, Cover
nor Sanders has very sensibly
decided on a system Of rigid
economy to the end of making
ovorv dollar eo11nt. His enemies