Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-09-12

~, Iowa. under the Act OF Consfee'
March .. 1879.
Forsiens representatives: Cone ,;,d;ur
Chicaeo; 226 Fifth Ave. New !ofT
City: 0umbel Bldg. Kansas CITY. MO
WHO is ExTRAvAGANT7
Under the above heading, D. w
Norris OF Marshalltown, one of the
most earnest good roads enthusiasts
in the state, sets forth the following
pertinent remarks:
Everybody has heard Of the wonder
full paved roads in California and our
first impression 10 that they are pro
hibitiye in expense to any but the idle
rich. With this in mind 1t is interest
Ing to find in the recent report OF the
California state highway commission
that they have spent 316.l l9,5S3 gu.
. of their state bond issue OF $lS,OOO,ooo
and have paved 1895 miles OF state
highway besides putting 395 miles
more to permanent grade ready 1or
paving.
NOUS expenditure for California to
make within the past three years, but
did 1t ever occur to you that the auto
license which we are now paying IN
Iowa plus the federal aid which will
come to us under the new law Will
give us $15,OO0.0O0 for roads within
the next Ave years? What are we go
ing to get for that money?
Our state highway commission
recommends graveled roads for slowa
traffic because we have the gravel In
seventy of our ninety-nine counties
and we have few large cities to make
traffic too severe for graveled roads.
It's engineers estimate an average cost
of $4,000 per mile for two course gray
ell work and $1,000 per mile for one
course work. At $4,000 per mile that
sum Of $15,OOO,OO0 would connect ev-
ery county seat town In Iowa with
every other county seat town. north,
east, south and west, with good grav-
eled road; a state road system five
times as great as the California sys-
TEN. ~ y.
Fam not saying that the trunk line
would be the wisest policy OF con-
struction for the roads leading to mar
ket towns are greatly needed, neither
do desire to urge the paved road
where traffic. does not demand 1t, but
my point is that we ate eQualling Cal
ifornia in the fextravagance of our ex-
penditure and am putting the ques-
ton to you, are we getting as much
for our money! #
Now note that the S16,O00,000 which
California has spent in the past three
years has not yet come out of the tax
payers pockets and il will not all be
paid by them short Of fifty years
while Iowa taxpayers must dig up
their $15.OOOOO0 during the next five
wears in auto licenses and federal aid
alone. Bond holders living in Iowa
and New England have paved the
roads for California and have turned
them over to the people Of California
to be paid for as used out of taxes
which those*people would have paid
anyway. H.
In Iowa we are soaking the
taxpayer for taxes before he gets
his roads and we will take this
s15,00O,000 out Of him during the
next five years whether we give
him good road or not. We will take
this much out of him in auto license
and then we will soak him for $21 ,0OO,-
900 more for bridges at our present
rate of taxation. $12,000,000 for coun-
ty roads from the land tax and $13,-
100000 for township roads. Unless we
change our SYSTEM our present rate
of progress will give us only $500
miles Of permanent grading and $40
miles of crawling for all this $25,O00,-
900 OF road money whereas 5000 miles
could be graveled for the $15,000,000 of
auto money and federal aid alone.
Why is this? The California method
Of getting the money in lump from
the sale of bonds which merely anti
cinate the taxes that are going to be
Maid anyway enables the state to let
large contracts at low prices. The
California commissions report shows
S7A per cent of its road money in
vested in permanent work. The Iowa
state highway commissions report
for last year showed 70 per cent of all
the road money in all the counties
spent for temporary work. Five mil
lions last year out OF 100000 went
into the class of work which has to
de done over again every year.
If we would let bond holders pay
: the nTSLa COSIt VI SOAC VI ou1 AOoNo IL
Iowa we could do more permanent
work and use some Of the S., 100000
/ which we now waste, in temporary
grading each year to apply on the
bonds. The bonds would not increase
our debt in fact nor our tax. The tax
is on us now and that is the deot or
we have to pay it. The bonds would
merely mobilize a few years taxes for
more efficient work AS the Iowa law
stands boards of supervisors can, and
a few do, sell bonds, but out in Cali
fornia and in Al per cent Of all the
counties in all the states the people
have voted their bonds. Should not
. the voter in Iowa be given authority
over the bonds which are to mobilize
and anticipate his own tax?
1t was not many years ago-less
than ten that billion dollar con-
.. +vaa sInral dad d far and wide