Cheyenne record., 1913-09-25

Viz otSstO ctlN HoeAOAe1t 6ONCAH-
ment on the basis of the states
doing the work and the national
government doing the advising,
and part of the financing will re-
suit in the speedy construction of
a system of highways which will
be satisfactory to both the farm
er and the tourist. five entrust
the work to the national govern
ment. / fear interminable delays,
and in the long run the interests
of the farmer may he lost sight
of.
There are many plans before
Congress providing federal aid
for the State Highway Depart
ments. All have strong points
and eventually the best features
of each may be Incorporated in
one bill.
SHACKELFORD'S PLAN.
Congressman Shackelford, Of
Missouri, Chairman of the Roads
Committee of the House, insists
that the government should pay
the states for the privilege of
transporting the mails over state
roads I'VE pay the railroads
for a similar service. Why not
pay the states?" is his argument.
He would divide the roads into
three classes based on their con-
dition and by Offering attractive
bonuses for excellent" roads
encourage each community to
place its highways in the best
possible shape.
The Shackleford scheme is not
a bad one for settled communi-
ties where practically every mile
of passable road is traversed by
a star route or the rural free de-
livery carrier. Something more
is required in sparsely settled
states of the West. Colorado
with an area exceeding one hun.
dred thousand square miles and
a population of less than one
million cannot afford to meet the
cost of constructing roads needed
to open the playground of the
nation" to the people of the ma
ion. 8.
Title to more than half of the
land of this State still rests in
the Federal government. This
vast area does not contribute a
penny toward the upkeep of
State, County or municipal gov
ernments. In Washington where
the national government owns
about one-fourth the property,
Uncle Sam contributes one-half
the cost of maintaining the Dis
trict government. This amoun-
ted to over five million dollars
last year.
The people of Colorado have no
desire to tax the national govern
ment's holdings within the State,
but they have a right to demand
that Uncle Sam shall contribute
to the cost of building good roads
which will vastly enhance the
value of his property.
MOST FEASIBLE PLAN,
1t is not necessary that he
should give the State one dollar
for this purpose. All we ask is
that he permit the State TO select
one million acres Of grazing land
from the national domain and
sell it at public auction to actual
settlers. This land would bring
an>average price of at least sew
en- dollars an acre and the set
tiers should be permitted to pay
ten per cent of the purchase
price on the date of the sale and
the remainder in eighteen annual
installments at six per cent in
terest. In that way, the inter-
est charges would exceed the
principal and the States road
fund would be enriched by fifteen
million dollars.
Ihave submitted this plan to
the foremost good roads enthusi-
asts of the State and without ex-
ception they have endorsed it.
/ believe it is the only feasible
scheme for securing substantial
Federal aid FOR good roads build
ing in this and other western
(Con... page 8, col. AZ