La Junta tribune., 1912-05-25

rad admIn0tyotlO0 ' o1Co n o0!VeSuDI-
n eonceded to b. th~ rery acme Of tn.
eobciency cy-name,y. statute labor and
!the working out Of property taxes
Men who work out s:sesr nx Do II
srudringly because they think tbsy
lare being imI'Osed upOn. They do Il
poorIy ,s>snuse Il II wpft which they
know but little about They render th-
tus, possible amount Of service BE-
cause II seems 10 be the general up.
derxtanding that the object Of the
s,ntuie laborer should b. to shirk work
rxther than 10 perform L. There b
scarcely any attempt at discipline. and
N Is obvious that dis tplin~ with such
an as-einblsge Of workmen would b.
Impossible
Many OF the staten provide for work
iny out the property road tax. and this
has grown to he an even greater source
Of weakness than statute labor. for In
4 100, sLout &aG.jnO.O0O Of the property
Ia. was paid In lsbor. Or. In other
words. WAS practically wnxiei.
| opposition ON the tart Of ultra con.
srvatives to the general improvement
Of the public roads u frequently bssed
or the ielief that the advocates Of
road Improvement contemplate sur.
facing with hari material the entire
osO 90 miles Of earth road In the
United States. They point TO the fact
tthst to rna.s.iamze o.OD.OD miles At
lSj 0..j per mile would cost fi0OOOO.
o. That this II n mistaken view Of
the subject can be easily demons'rat.
ed When NIL the roads Of the country
nre classified according TO traffic re-
oulrpments II will result IN the elimi
nation Of many thousands of miles of
totally unnecessary road and Of many
more thousands OF miles by relocasion.
stra ghtening Of curves aud various
Other eNpclients
Careful investigations have been car
rirl 0u In various parts %! the country
which prove that about ~ per cen: OF
tho rnnds accommodate. alou, 80 per
c.ni - the traffic. 80 that II the roads
nro 10 he improved in such way as
10 d. the greatest good to the great
est number II will h. necessary To i'm
prurr only about onc-ffih ~ the total
tsri8ls leaving tn" rest to De- taken
care n ns earth roads.
Tie whole subject of road improve
m,ni in the United States II now pass
lng through a irnusitory stage We are
sirtIug not only TO meet ia. new
= -s,a
of instruction. but our various state
legislatures are actively engaged In
eullnyoriug To meet the demand for
rnni improN emeut 10y the enactment OF
suitable legislation and by th. appro-
rrlHiIpu of the ne, e>sary funds
Ne have tried many .xpedients In
thr administration OF our public roads.
AMONG them the toll road system. which
Involves private control over public
utility. This Is mnnif.stly un>ound In
n public enterprise. and II l. a source
~ qualification that the toll road .ys-
TEN has been largely abandoned
Eveo - the stste~ whtcb have foi.
.6wed = progressive policy during ths.
iast few Year, most Of the rnn'is are
still under local control Year by year
we have been frittcriDg away our mil
lions maintaining the roads In their
primitive condition until the yearly
tribute Of road taxes In the United
States 0ow amounts to over Sl|0uD.-
0D and our petty road officials have
grown 10 nn army more than i0o.no
strong The Incompetence of n large
number Of oiiirials i more difhcult Ia
remedy than the Incompetence Of n sin
gle ofieisl II Is manifestly impossible
for = district or township with limited
revenues to SEIZURE the assistance. ad
vice aud supervision Of high grade
engineer. whereas In u centralized sy>
tenn the cost Is ~ widely distributed
ms to impose but = Sigh, burden on