Evening star., 1913-03-02
The Joint Committee.

The post Office appropriation act pro-
vided for joint committee of five mem
bers of the Senate and five members OF
the House to make inquiry into the sub
ject of federal aid in the construction of
post roads. The committee is composed
of Senators Jonathan Bourne. jr., of Ore
gon. Boies Penrose of Pennsylvania, AISLE
]. Gronna of North Dakota, Claude \.
Swanson of Virginia and Lee 8. Overman
of North Carolina, and Representatives
Dorsey W. Shackleford of Missouri, Cor
don Lee of Georgia, Daniel j. McGilli-
cuddy of Maine. Martin b. Madden of IL
linois and Richard W. Austin of Texas.
The secretary of the committee is \.
W. Prescott; assistant secretary, John
Shackleford; statistician, j. +. Penny
backer of the American Highway Asso-
iation. and Richard B. Nixon, disbursing
agent.
The joint committee has accumulated
vast amount of data concerning good
roads, and a large number of members
from both the Senate and House have
introduced bills providing for federal
aid in one form or another. 1t is not
expected that many of the bills will
pass
Several of them contain little or
nothing that is good in the eyes of the
good roads enthusiast and will not be
delegates to the convention desire is
to pick out the good features OF all
the proposed legislation and have them
incorporated in one bill or in formal
report of the joint committee To this
end most of the. speakers before the
Washington convention will be sena-
tors or representatives who have in
troduced federal aid bills. They will
be asked to go before the delegates
and explain their measures and have
them discussed.
The leaders of the good roads move
ment declare they are seeking to inn
press upon Congress the necessity Tor
starting right in establishing gov
ernment highways policy The leaders
want to avoid the old pork barrel
methods of distributing the highway
funds. Senator Burton of Ohio recently
asserted that more than one-halt or
the 500, ,0OO.0 900 spent on the improvement
of our waterways had been wasted In
nolitical patronage to members of Con-
gress and 1T is declared that the same
story of Squandered millions In hlRn-
way building will be told unless this
sort of waste is made impossible at the
outset
Therefore the organizations behind the
national roads propaganda have mapped
out a program and are gong 10 Wasn-
ington with certain ideas, which. II put
into the governments highway laws. they
believe, will obviate possibility of political
graft in road building. First. they want
the federal government to lay out, build
and maintain comprehensive trunk line
system of highways. connecting, so Tar as
possible. state capitals and the larger
centers of population. these lines TO take
over where practicable, all established
interstate routes.
They want state roads which are to in
clude all highways connecting county
seats with the state capital. These roads
would be tributary to the national trunk
lines and built at the expense OF the
state alone. although it is stated that at
first, in some sections, part of the fed
eral funds might be apportioned to or
loaned to the state for it's own roads.
They want county roads to be paid for
at the joint expense Of the state. county
and township in such proportion as would
best suit the needs of the various states.
They want township roads to be jointly
| built by the state ana township. the ex-
pense of construction and maintenance
to he divided. Thus the township reads
| would iii into the county. roads the
! - unity into the STATE, l. +.et9 int ia