Evening star., 1914-02-22
Election of Road officials.

"Still another characteristic Of our pub
lie road system is the election Of road of
ficials for definite terms of office rather
than the appointment of such officials
for indefinite terms. I need scarcely call
attention to the fact that very few engi-
neers combine the qualities of a good en-
gineer and good politician. and it is
very likely that if a good engineer should
seek election to Office his opponent. if he
were a good politician and a poor engi-
neer, would defeat him, much to the det-
riment of the public.
IT would also call attention to the bane
full influence of partisan politics, and in
measure the influence Of local community
politics A public road Is a public utility
which is necessity to all of the people who
have occasion to use it 1t is liability upon
all the people who have to pay taxes
requires skill and knowledge and con-
slant attention, and wherever, for polit1-
cal considerations, any OF these essent1a'
features are ignored or modified the
public must suffer. We must get rid OF
a condition Of affairs where the practice
Of putting petty politicians in control of
vital public utility for the purpose of pay
ing a political debt must be stopped
where the expenditure of public money In
constructing a public enterprise which is
of benefit only to the politician or his
immediate henchman must be discontin-
ued. The road system OF this country
must be treated as a great business en-
terprise and conducted honestly. wisely
and with a reasonable balance between
benefits and burdens.
Significance Of Good Roads.
There are a great many people who
favor improved roads. but I doubt If
very many Of them realize the vital sig
nificance Of the good roads movement in
America today. Over half Of our people
,, are now concentrated in cities and towns.
and the city population is increasing far
more rapidly than the country population
Our exports OF food products have been
falling of steadily until we are almost
at the point where We shall have to go
outside for food unless we increase the
production on the farm areas which
are easily accessible. Isolated country
churches are struggling along hopelessly
in many cases because Of their inaccesst.
bility: country schools in states affiliated
with bad roads show an alarmingly low
ratio of attendance to enrolment as
compared with states which have reason
ably good road systems. For example
we found some years ago in five states
which had an average Of 1.5 per cent In
road Improvement the school attendance
was ffty-nine out Of each 100 pupils en-
rolled while in five other states having
an average OF NJ per cent Oh improved
roads the school attendance was seventy
eight out Of each 100 pupils enrolled
Something must be done to improve the
conditions Of rural life, and confidently
! assert that the Improvement of public
roads is one Of the most effective of the
! remedies which can be proposed to better
these conditions
National aid road Improvement is one
of the plans proposed. and I have no
doubt this plan will be inaugurated in
the near future. State aid is already
| we'll under way. and has been constantly
growing since 1891. when New Jersey
first embarked on the plan Of having aid
granted directly by the state. and meas
ure Of state supervision provided. Coun-
ties and states are bonding themselves to
build hard-surfaced roads, and this is
| helping to some extent, but to my mind
the primary necessity is SO to reform and
revise our existing road systems as to
| insure the efficient construction of the
roads, continuous and adequate main
| tenance and honest and capable handling
| Of our road revenues.
influence Of Politics.
II had hoped that when the states as
units took hold Of the road problem they
at least would eliminate to a very great
degree the baneful influence Of politics.