The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-04-12
FEDERAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE
IMPROVEMENT OF OUR PUBLIC ROADS
and Duty of Congress Unquestioned from the Founda-
ton of the Government

Extracts from speech of Oscar W. Underwood in the U. S. House of Rep
The H ,4 b 6Sms in nu Gon1 eaosi5% Of the Whole VIII sI Hoass n the state of the
a appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the fiscal YEA cnIms
T NJ. Underwood said:
Nj Chairman; OBJECTION eN: is made to this appropriation looking to the i'm
pGwpi oowe 95 Vd' te aOS satss. i Sy Sh TO @ n sat. ne tb s5quI H ID that n at i inv ts the, re re-
Y this House more jealous in his desire to protect the reserved rights Of the
their duties E perform and should perform them without aid or hndance on
11o55 enter gs in, into r the legislative s1s,3a fields sl@tl belong .9by to the States, D uS !
duty . perform for under under It the sI power; given it By the Constitution that it should i'd
i these gran, grants OF ,6 power NeT,,t TO- use the language of the Constitution, is TO estab-
70 5ad P 2oa,e2 Isl il tt the s. ynitsd States States 70 establish Poqstoaess M means 2:"s to
a lem mi may ot ,sSa at 5t thf BsogGsn 5o4 1 mdds say that hah the fathers lat did not contsm,
they they contemplated building roads to carry the mail through the wider Wilderness a ad
5 adm e5 d dooF. 81 But a I o want eP Po ssy, y Mf. c 1a msa fGad , be n dsiv ere oo at every
in the United States was no greater in the days of the fathers than today.
n Ne :.1 Douglas 5s r Wss5f $ossr the gentleman 45 i man, find ind, anything in the Constitution
T MR. Underwood Why It is very Gle clear H~@ The Constitution on gives the power
to The FEDERAL Gqysrq 7nSaa,, TO establish pst-oaoe: and .postf faS 'S ''"s
and that has been HE'D held d to be a very different different thing from building them.
decided in favor Of the construction of the Cumberland road BY some OF the
Mr. Jn e5!o, H., The Z. e1 gsss4sn. that j is ma made 4. today By the leaders Of the
s sgaII poae4 PR to- aid dI the u" States in building g g mo r qsd 4as cer 4as NO nc Son main-
tanned BY the leading men of the nation during the first half century Of Our
On March A. 1878, the House Of Representative. passed the following res
g ss :@@:: ::5 @ e; y: '.5 + s' ' 5sS e: + t. e. S $$: + ?s s:;s' &; 4 s S $5;ssy2 ss"a 'S other 's;
Thomas Jefferson said, in a letter to Mr.. Leper, in 1903:
Give us peace till iii revenues are liberated from debt and then, if
wr be necessary, it can be carried on without a new tax or loan, and
during peace we may checker our whole country with canals, roads,
etc. This is the object to which all our endeayors should be directed"
While Secretary of War in 1919 Mr.. Calhoun made a report to the House
of Representatives Oh roads and canals, in which he said:
mo object Of the kind is more important and there is none to which
State or individual capacity is more inadequate. 1t must be perfected
by the General Government or not perfected at all"
In addition to this Congress has a stronger and more specific warrant for
making this appropriations under the authority conferred by the Constitution
TO establish pos-oai9S and postroads" Cooley, in his book on Consttu-
dnnal Law says:
Every road within a State, including railroads, canals, turnpkes,
and navga5e streams existing O created within a State, becomes a
posroad whenever by the action Of the Post-Ofice Department, pro-
vision is made for the transportation Of the mails upon or over it,"