The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-07-09

| town and they did it right on the
heels of the defeat of county bond
issue for roads in the whole county.
Under the special district plan the
counties of Texas last year raised
more money for hard surface roads
than did any other state in the union
Out of sc bond elections the neces-
sary two-thirds majority was OBJ
tanned in 81 and had the require
ment been bare majority every
election would have carried excepting
seven.
The principle Of community bane-
fit is involved in the special road dis
trict as distinguished from the pub
lie benefit to the whole county and
state or the private benefit to near
by property.
So much for the financing Of
roads. There is work enough for the
banker. What we need is the pro-
moter. While every railroad pro-
had it's banker, it had it's promoter
first. States and governments in
Vulnerable have recognized this fact
and hence we find all around us ex-
cept in Iowa some form of state aid.
The state must dangle the bait be-
fore locality. The moment one
county accepts all other counties
grow envious and localities general
ly are stimulated to act.
Three years ago the state of Wis
consin tried state aid. Every county
but three applied, agreeing to put in
two dollars of local money for one
from the state The second year
the state aid fund of $37S,000 was
oversubscribed more than twice and
last year state aid fund of 81 ,2OO,-
900 has been oversubscribed by the
counties again.
The state of Minnesota has recent
ly voted one mill state aid tax for
! roads offering dollar for dollar to the
localities, and the paving of rural
roads is now in progress in the state
of Minnesota. Ohio offers $780,
900 annually in state aid. Illinois Of
fers nearly $2,00O,000, and most of
the eastern states use the aid of the
state to induce work to begin at
home.
Iowa needs the state for its pro-
moter and it has now almost mil
lion per annum in it's auto license
money which could be used for that
, purpose without increasing taxes one
cent We have road tax money
enough in Iowa today to pave our
roads if we would only use it with
intelligence. We are spending as
much on our roads annually as the
other states are spending which have
four times as many miles of improved
roads and on top of the money which
we are content to sink in our Iowa
mud we invest our savings in the
paved roads of other states simply
because the bankers of Iowa have
our money into Iowa road bond in
vestments.
Now, gentlemen, for fear that you
may get the idea that I am a dream
er l am going to tell you of anoth-
er editor who lived in Ohio nearly
100 years ago. When it was first
proposed to build railroad in that
state there was a bill before the Ohio
legislature to prohibit such wild
scheme for the reason, as given at
that time, that the engines would
brighten the cattle in the fields and
thereby prevent them from taking on
fat The editor fully abreast of his
time supported the bill, saying that
each steam engine would haul as
much as rs teams, thereby displac-
ing so horses, and 1t would no long
or be profitable for the farmers to
raise oats in the state OF Ohio.
This was 100 years; ago. about the
time the Cumberland road was built
by the federal government into the
frontier west from Cumberland, Md,
to the middle Of Indiana. The editor
lot that day IL zone. but the hills
which were cut down on the Cum