El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-17

acted at the last Two sessions Oh our
state legislature This legislation, al
though doubtless incomplete in some
respects is wise and practical, and of
a distinctly constructive character. 1t
has furnished the laws from the lack
of which we have suffered for many
years, and provides definite and sensi-
bic methods for the Improvement OF
our roads. One act has given US the
100000 state bond issue, the benefits
Of which we begin to reap after July
l of this year Another has brOadened
and strengthened the work of our cen
tral road administration organization,
the state highway commission. A
third has made 1t possible for coun-
ties to issue bonds for ROAD and bridge
purposes. A fourth gives to our road
funds added revenue from delinquent
taxes A fifth created the state auto
mobile license which Will supplement
our road funds with a neat additional
sum. And a sixth requires the sign
posting Of our roads by county au-
thOritieS-
Big steps for Progress.
These acts. placed upon our statute
books within a short u months cOnSl-
tute a record of which the road en-
thuSiaSts Of our state may surely De
proud. With the enactment of this leg
iSlatiOn which has given US the legal
machinery by which to build our ROADS,
we stand face TO face with the cues
ton of taking advantage of these laws
and of considering the question OF now
best to set this machinery in motion
State Highway Commission
The administrative road organlza-
ton Of this state cOntemplates a cen
trail authority in the form Of the state
highway commission, cooperating with
the county authorities, and charged
with the duty OF selecting. laying out
and constructing a system Of state
highways. Enough has been seen Of
the policies OF our state highway com
mission 10 convince us that the Work
being accomplished IS on broad INES.
calculated to be Of the greatest GOOD
to the state, absolutely free from the
faint of politics, and actuaIed by mgn
motives. The building and MAINTENANCE z
of any system Of state roads IN sat
is factory manner demands cOopera-
ton between the cOunIles through
which it passes and the work OF the
commission can only produce It's great
est results If il is backed up Dy our
county road organizations Thls, es-
pecfaIIy on the part of those counties
who are most anxious to complete their
road system. means patience and a
willingness TO consider statewide IN
terests even before the selfish local
interests.
County Road Bonds.
One OF the wisest acts ever placed
on the statute books of our state was
that passed in 1912 authorizing cOun-
ties TO issue bonds for the building ana
maintenance of roads The IaN-leEylhS
plan of building highways By ellneF
county or state has been weighed IN
the balance and found wanting. HOW
many miles of good permanent hlgn-
ways have been built by the cOuuueS
of our state after all the years OF IelS
ing road taxes that we have eNper4-
enced2 The figures show that up 10
two years ago less than twO-tenths OF
/ percent of the highways OF New Mex
leo had been improved
Old Patchwork System.
The tax-levying plan means patch
work effort, lack OF cOnnectlnS sys-
tenn, poor maintenance, anJ the IN
fair distribution OF cost Inc only
proved satisfactory plan for financing
and county highways is by the issuing
of bonds, first, because it distributes
the cost over future years and places
the burden Of payment more equItaoiy
on those who use the roads, and sec
Ond. because it makes possible an IN
Vestment at a low rate of interest tnaI
pays our citizens IN enormous div
dends BY the money saved each year
Dona Ana county, by an affirmative
vote which brought out 20 percent or
our registered electorate and resulted
In an affirmative vote OF nearly 90 70
!, recently approved county ROAD 9Ohu
issue of S10o, 0O0- the bonds have been
sold. and we start work with the pro-
ceeds next month
Good Roads Save Money.
We have carefully figured out in our
county the high tax we are paying for
bad roads We find that on one crop
alone il viii be possible with better
county the sum of over $4,000 Tor
hauling alone, and the result OF a con-
seryative and sane estimate cOnvinces
us that our 500. 600 of 5 percent bonds
will pay our county a dividend of more
than $4,000, or 25 percent a year
No better financing can be under
taken by the counties of our state than
the issuing of county road bonds with
in the constitution limit, and no in
vestment that a county can make VIII
produce such large returns as these
county bonds well sold wisely eX-
County Cooperation.
There should be hearuer cooperation
between our county commissioners ana
our county road boards 1 beIleVe lh9t
in some parts of our state the devel-
opment and improvement of our HI ShWay
systems is being retarded because OF
a lack of cooperation between county
commissioners and county road boards
This is neither the time nor the place
to consider what has caused these con-
ditiOnS. One thing, however, IS GER
tain and that is that without an uu-
selfish and hearty cooperation between
these two bodies, the tax paying pub
lie viii suffer.
Dona Apa'S Work.
Tt would not be fitting fOT me to
pass judgment upon the work that our
county has accomplished at this time,
but if We have achieved any measure
of success, it has been largely through
the lnStrumentanty OF a definite cOun-
ty organization We have a DOna Ana
County Good Roads association, whose
membership includes the representative
citizens in all parts of the county. This
association undertook, more than a
year ago, to arouse the people of the
county, by defininte facts and figures,
to a realization of what better roads
would mean for our farmers and mer-
chants and every day citizens. The as
ISOLATION got behind the state bond is
sue last fall and carried it in our cOun-
ty by a vote of practically 1900 to 80.
Again, last December we carried our
county bond issue by a practically
unanimous vote.
Definite Road Results.
This enthusiasm has produced def
mite results by giving US county high
ways that are today in better condition
by several hundred percent than they
were one year ago We have opened
up a 30-mile highway connecting with
the beautiful paved road that reaches
up to US from FL PasO, and the SPLEEN
did condition of this road is shown by
the fact that The FL Paso Herald makes
a daily delivery at all towns along
this road within an hour or two after
il is off the press 1t is costing our
farmers less than it ever did before to
deliver their hay and other products.
And best OF all, we have a board of
county commissioners who are working
in the fullest harmony with our road
board.