Gunnison news-champion., 1913-09-26
. Our Washngton Letter .
CONGRESSIONAL VIEWPOINT
OF GOOD ROADS MOVEMENT

faanclas wIll res.lt 10 the speedy
eonsaruefson of a svssem If hi3hssys
which wsil be satisfactory 10 both
the fsrmer aud the tosr.ss live
~utrs-s the work 10 the nss,onsl
eoSernmeut. ! lear snserminsbIs d.
laws and in the hong run the interest
Of the farmer may bs less s,sbi of.
There are many plans bstoss Con-
eres- providing federal sid fos the
State Highway Depsrsussnss. Each
have strong po.sts and sssnsssliy
the best trsisrss of each may be in-
coTporsted IN one bill
sHAoKLEFoRD's pLAn.
Goneress@sa Shackleford of Mis-
soari, Chslrmas of the Rosde Com-
mittee of the HOUSE. lnsssss that the
sOseramsas SAould pay the s.s.ss for
the privilege Of trsnsportins the
mails oser the sssae sosds. I'VE psy
the rsilEoeds for . ssmilar ssrsice,
why not psy the sssssse" u his sres.
meat
He WOULD diviAe tbs puaAs into
three classss bod On thes eoadi
sion - b. a0ssiaG ssss.csive
bonuses fog esesllsst pasds sneour-
age ssch eooesaity 70 plscs its
highways in The bsss possible coudi-
tloa.
The ShsckIsloFd scheme 10 sot Q
bad one for ssssled commssities
where Psscsicslly every aile Of pes
sable rod V trsvssssd BY STAR
route or . rsral Tree dslivesy carrisr.
Something more 10 required in the
sparsely sssslsd states Of the wsss.
Colorado, With en- assa exceedins
one hundred thousand square miles
and a populstioa Of less than one
million cannot afford TO meet the
cost Of constructing roads needed 10
open the "playgrosnd Of the nation"
10 the people Of the nation.
Title TO more than half Of the land
of this state still resss in the Federal
Govern0ent. The vast area does
not contribute q penny to the upkeep
Of state, county or municipal govern
ments. In Washington where the
government owns about one
fourth the property, Uncle Sam con-
tributes one half the cost of MAIN
the district government
This amounted 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 that will
vastly enhance the value Of his pro-
perty.
MOST FEASIBLE PLAN.
1t is not necessary that he should
give the state one dollar for this
purpose. All we ask is that he per.
nit us to select one million acres of
grazing aud agricultural land from
Lhe national domain and sell it at
public auction to actual settlers.
This land would bring an average
price of at least seven dollars an
acre and the settlers should be per-
nitted to pay ten per cent of the
purchase price on the date of the
sale aud the remainder in Is annual
nstallments at six per cent interest.
In that way the interest charges
would exceed the principal and the
states road fund would be enriched
by fifteen million dollars.
| have submitted this plan to the
foremost good roads enthusiasts of
he state and without exception they
have endorsed it. / believe it is the
,nly feasible scheme for securing
substantial Federal aid for good
roads IN this and other western
states. All western Senators and
Congressman, without regard to
political affiliations, can be united in
support of it, and l believe there is
hope Of it's adoption at
the regular session of Congress. As
- xha Ho.~a p,aAa Cavx