The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1916-04-13
ONLY FIVE STATES
FAIL TO QUALIFY
FOR FEDERAL GOOD ROADS AID
-..SOUTH CAROLINA ONE
OF THEM.

Forty-three of the forty-eight
States will qualify for Federal aid
in roads under the Bankhead bill.
recently reported favorably to the
Senate by its committee on post
offices and post roads.
South Carolina. Indiana, Georgia.
Mississippi and Texas are five States
which have yet to equip themselves
with a centralized direction of roads
improvement. Indiana has an ac-
tive campaign in progress which
aught to prove successful. energized
in great degree by the Hoosier State
Automobile association. which is
affiliated with the American Auto
mobile association. says an exchange.
Indiana is a great automobile pro-
ducing State. and a large percent
age of its farmers have adopted the
self-propelled vehicle.
Georgia is giving the question OF
State highway department, serious
consideration, while South Carolina
is in an equally hopeful condition.
while Mississippi recently voted
against the creation of State COM
mission. The legislators opposed
the legislation because it called for
engineers, with salary Of $4,000 a
year. Maine pays $1,000. and pos
sesses an unusually competent Of
fetal.
Texas under under Bankhead
measure would obtain more Federal
cooperation than any other State in
the Union; its area taking it into
first place, though it falls behind
many other States in population and
road mileage. 1t is a certainty that
Texas will provide a highway de-
partment within three years, for
section 8 of the Senate measure
contains this proviso: Except that
amounts apportioned for any fiscal
year to any State which has not a
State highway department shall be
available for expenditure IN that
State until the close of the third
fiscal year succeeding the close OF
the fiscal year for which such appor-
tionment was made
The memorandum which accom-
panies the Senate substitute bill con-
tains this reference to the phenome-
nal traffic growth:
"Backwardness in the building of
public roads has been all the more
marked by constrast with the enor-
nous development of traffic. With
insthe brief period of about 10 years
the motor vehicle has been intro
duced and developed until it is now
asserted that there are over 2,SO0.-
900 motor vehicles in use, or about
one for every mile of public road.
If these vehicles are estimated to
average only 25-horse power, it
would mean 8 tai of over 57.0OO,.
OOO-horse power brought into use
on our public roads with a sudden
ness having no parallel in industrial
history. This new and domestic
traffic has, by its peculiar effect up
on road surfaces and its great strain
upon bridges and road foundations,
rendered infinitely more complex
the problem of road construction
and maintenance, which our systems
of management had already proved
utterly inadequate to meet.
Ordinary horse-drawn traffic has
also increased to such a point that
we now speak Of tonnage. not in
millions. but in hundreds of millions,
and of the ton mileage in billions.
It has been estimated that to move
, the wheat crop alone in 1915 involv-
ed the hauling of more than 30,00p.-
600 tons over the public roads at
cost of over $50. 200, 900. Some con-
ception of the immensity of our farm
production and the consequent move
ment of farm products over the coun-
try roads can be gained from the
estimate prepared in the department
of agriculture that the production
of corn. wheat, oats. potatoes. cot
ton and hay in 1915 aggregated
270.807,000 tons, while the total
agricultural production for that year
was valued at nearly $11, 900. .000,-
000," and this ensures a very close
fit. not liable to be affected by vi
bration."