Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-01-19

capable supervisors, whose duty It should
be to keep them daily in good repair. It
Is sheer folly to construct costly road
and, unsupervised, allow 1t to deteriorate.
No Politics in Good Roads
These supervisors should be licensed
roadkeepers and not political accidents.
Unless man knows how to repair a
road and is willing to put his knowledge
to use, he ought never to receive appoint
ment and pay from the State.
We also need State-aided roads. These
may perhaps best be worked out on the
county unit plan. The county, with power
to collect from each political subdivision
its quota of road taxes, should receive an
equal sum from the Commonwealth. The
money thus secured should be expended
pro rata by the county upon the roads
of the several townships. The routes
should be as far as possible those con-
Meeting county seats, and the plans and
perhaps all, surely part, of the supervi-
sion of construction be approved and sup
piled by the State Roads should cost
less than in the past The people should
know all the while what is being done
and what expense is involved. A good
highway is not only a public necessity
but an actually attainable good for our
people.
Requirement Of Roads
The State has now many miles Of
privately owned roads. These are main
tanned, some well, some badly, by the
fees exacted from the users. These
should be acquired and made n part of
the public road system of the State 1t Is
no credit to us that toll roads, once
blessing, now an Irritation, should con-
tinue to exist in Pennsylvania.
So vital is this matter and so imminent
isNthe demand that l urge you to reduce
your appropriations in other directions as
far as possible in order to give the high
ways the largest possible appropriations.
CIVIL SERVICE
The public service should be as efficient
and economical as private service. be-
lieve in and would approve sane and
practical State civil service.
EDUCATION
Under the school code our schools have
made commendable progress. With few
exceptions the provisions OF that code are
so essentially wise that they should not
be changed Your State Board OF Edu-
cation. to whom the law delegates the
duty Of suggesting such school legislation
as should be enacted, will in due time ad-
wise you concerning the laws, If any that
would increase the efficiency of our
schools. commend their findings to you.
AS the number OF pupils TO be educated
increases, the appropriations should in
crease.
Vocational Training Valuable
More attention must be given to voca-
tional education. We have the largest
number OF farmers OF any State in the
Union. Surely agriculture should COM
mand greater attention in our schools.
l favor the creation of many rural high
schools in which both boys and girls
may be taught how TO earn on the farm
and in the home an honest livelihood.
An education that does not increase the
size OF the loaf on the family table is
scarcely worth the attention of our people.
All education, no matter how liberal and
cultural. should be so impaired as to make
It usable. The facilities for training
teachers should be improved, better su-
pervision provided and higher education
encouraged.
But the emphasis OF the States concern
should rest upon the schools OF the many
the great common school so dear to our
people and so essential to their welfare.
We need greatly enlarged permanent
school fund. Universal education Is the