Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1912-12-04
Bad Highways Not for Lack of Mon.
ey, But of Right Kind of Work.
$44 10000 ON IOWA ROADS
SPENT IN NINE YEARS
Seven Million Dollars Expended Dur
ing Past Year, Much of 1t
Wasted, Says Ames
Economist.

roads legislation in Iowa to give the
state the right system of highway
building and administration. Ac-
cording to John E. Brindley, econo-
mist of the engineering experiment
station at Iowa State college, the
bad roads of the state are not due
to any failure to spend money on
them. On the contrary, he finds that
the state spent approximately $44,-
100000 on it's highways in the nine
years ending with 1911 and more
than 100000 in 1912. But Iowa S
expenditure is not on strictly bust
ness basis, nor according to the sound
principles of engineering and eco
nomic science.
In a bulletin issued for free dis
tribution by the engineering division
of the college, Mr.. Brindley sets forth
plan for road legislation to secure
the scientific building and admins
tration of roads. 1t is based on the
best things he found in several years
study of road administration every
where in the United States. 1t calls
for county and state control of the
main roads, scientific construction
and skilled supervision, and state aid.
AS a starter for state aid, Mr.. Brind-
ley again urges, as he did two or
three years ago, that the state auto
mobile tax be made the nucleus of a
state aid fund.
Eleven fundamental principles are
named by Mr.. Brindley on which he
declares legislation should be based.
Condensed they are as follows:
1.-The civil township should re-
main the unit of local government
for maintaining secondary or town
ship roads, which includes dragging
them. AS most roads will continue
to be secondary roads, township trus-
tees will still have much authority
and any scientific road legislation
must leave them considerable juris-,
diction.
ITO make sure that township
road funds are expended intelligent
ly, the township trustees should APP
point a township supervisor, APPROX
ed by the county engineer and sub
ject to his supervision in general
way.
3.-The county should be made the
unit for building and maintaining
primary, or main-traveled roads and
the county supervisors should have a
country road fund large enough to
do the work.
An every county the supervisors
should confer with the state highway
commission on general standards of
work and make reports to it.
5.-The present state highway
commission should be granted larger
powers and authority and increased
appropriations. A policy of state
aid for roads should be established
and carried out by the commission.
1t should be made the leader and
the directing force in the good roads
movement in Iowa as in other states.
6.-New and adequate bridge laws
should be enacted and the state high
way commission should be empower
ed to establish standards OF con-
struction and to enforce them thro'
the supervision of the county engi-
neer.
Road improvement. districts
should be created for the building OF
permanent roads and the cost OF the
permanent road should be apportion-
ed equally, one-third to the district,
one-third to the county and the re-
managing one-third to the state.
S.-All or at least very large
part of the present tax on automo-
biles should be retained in the state
treasury and used as state aid fund
for permanent highways. Such
policy has already been adopted In
other states and is justified for two
good reasons: First, the automo-
bile has practically eliminated county
lines for the main travelled roads;
and second, the serious wear on the
roads by heavy machines has made
the building and maintenance OF Per-
manent roads at large and increasing
expense an imperative necessity.
all property road taxes should
be paid in cash. The payment OF
personal or poll taxes in money would
produce more satisfactory results.
1O.-Highway building and main
tenance should be given the full time
of thoroughly competent men II they
are to be placed on business basis
That applies to the township superin-
tendent, the county road engineer
and the state highway commission.
They constitute the logical and nec-
essary administrative machinery OF
the good roads movement. The ad-
1tA.g.