The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-10
PLANNING TOPUT GOOD ROADS WORK 0N SOUND BASIS Disconnected Agencies in Country Are Not Work
 ing in Harmony FEDERAL OFFICERS
 ARE BEHIND PLANS United States Is Only Nation Not Affiliated With World Con
 etesses on the Good Roads
 Movement
By WALTER HARPER

By WALTER HARPER Washington, September 9.-(SpeciaD. -
 The development of a strong sentiment for better highways in the United States
 has brought about many disconnected | agencies and movements of more or less organized nature to further the interests of highway building.
 Good roads associations and clubs have
 been formed by states, counties and com
 munitics, but without any general plan
 of authenticated plan of cooperation. The United States is the only civilized
 nation in the world that has had no offi- cial good roads associational utilization with the permanent International Asso- ciation of road congresses up to this year We have had socaled national associa- tions. but they have had no direct rep
 resentative utilization of state. county or district organizations of co-opera-
 tive nature.
 The principle business of some of these organizations seems to be to hold annual conventions once twice or even more times year where city or town puts
 up the highest bid for the meeting in
 cash.
 Other organizations are sustained In good faith by interests, and people who
 are really interested in the improvement of the public highways. but make no | claims to national authority or regular ity of public organization.
 But all these organizations have done | their part and good part in educa- tional work No one would discourage their efforts whatever the aims and pur-
 poses of the organizers may be. Every word that is spoken for good roads is
 a help.
 But the need of some authentic nation tion of state and other associations has for some time been realized by public officials and others who have at heart
 the real. practical improvement of the public highways. There was need or some accredited organization that would be recognized by the federal authorities ana that could send regular delegates to the international congress. the official good roads organization of the world
 Such an organization was affected a little less than a year ago in Washing ton under the direction and supervision of the federal officials. It is the Ameri- can Association for Highway Improve ment. It was organized November a2 1910, at Washington with l.. w Page. di- rector of the United States office of pub lie roads. as president. It has the sane ton of President Taft and every other official of the government as well as most of the good roads movements of the country. It has also been recognized of- ficially by the permanent International Association of Road congresses.
 Recognizing the American Association for Highway Improvement as the nation- al good roads organization of America. the permanent International Association of Road congresses, in which 35 nations are officially represented has designated 1t to be the correspondent of the inter- national body in the United States.
 In letter just received by J. D. Penny packer. Jr, executive secretary of the American Association for Highway Im- provement. the president of the interna- tional association who is also inspector general of the superb road system of France, says:
 We propose to consider your associa- tion as our correspondent in the United States and to depend on it to harmonize the studies which it has undertaken with those which are proceeding in the differ ent countries represented in the perma- nent international association"
 Thanks to the high patronage of the President of the United States" says the letter, which is dated from the head quarters Of the international association at l Avenue d'Iena Paris, and is written in French, and to the influence of the members of the bureau of directors and important personages who have taken fha i.,ft ct tv, . sociation, 1t seems to us that your as- sociation must certainly have great development rapidly and that 1t will suc- ceed in order to combine their efforts in grouping the numerous associations which have been or may be created in the diff ferent states of the union. We have also learned with pleasure that your associa- tion proposes to do all that will be in its power to obtain the official associa- ton of the government of the United States in the permanent International As socation of Road congresses.''
 The letter calls attention to the fact that the United States Is the one great power that is not officially represented in the international association to which other nations have designated represent atves through diplomatic channels. The international association was formed for the purpose of international cooperation and exchange of thought and experience in road building and the greatest. en- gineers and scientists of the world have attended the great road congresses that have already been held. The first con- gress was held in 1908 at Paris the sec- ond in 1910 at Brussels, and the third is to be held in 1913 at London.
 Now that the American Association for Highway Improvement has been officially designated by the international associa- tion as the representative of the United States and the American correspondent, Secretary Pennybacker, announces that the American association will make an effort to bring the next international con- gress to America. After the convention at London in 1913. two years will prob- ably e'apse before the next congress and this will give the officials of the Ameri- can association plenty of time to agitate tlle alestinn The1. yrill lra tl,air rla.