The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-01-16
Because There IS No Continui-
ty. of Purpose or SyS-
tematic Work. .s.,i..s.a.s

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15.--Afillions
Of dollars have been wasted on road
building because there has been no
continuity Of purpose, no co-ordina-
ton Of management, no GENERALIZATION
OF control In tho work. Tho plan
pursued. so far as there has been any
plan, has been OF the higgledy-pig-
gledy, here q little. there a little, or
der and with generally disappointing
results. The national government does
not exercise any Administrative con-
troll over public roads except those
built on government reservations. and
until recently the Rtates took no d.
rect part In tho construction of I'M
proved roads, which for nearly half
a century were controlled and financed
by the county or by subdivisions OF
tho county, 80 that the public road
which should be operated for tho benz
eft Of all the people was In fact moth
Ing more or better than "a purely
local utility"
In the circumstances. there could DO
no competent authority to admins
ter the highways and no adequate re.
sponslbility, and this naturally and
Inevitably resulted in almost an ut
tor stagnation OF road construction" as
few localities could or would employ
competent engineering supervision or
provide adequate funds to build I'M
proved types OF roads. lawns not I'M
I'll 1891 that the state Of New Jersey
provided q fund to aid the counties
in road building and three years lat
or established a public roads depart
ment Of tho state government under
tho direction OF commissioner, and
It's example was followed quickly by
other states until now, only Che states
of South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi
Texas, Kansas and Indiana are with
out some sort Of state supervision of
and appropriation for tho construc-
ton and maintenance OF the public
highways. Even the most advanced
states, however, have yet much far
Their to 60 before the ideal condi-
ton will be reached and effective state
control will take the place Of the DO
cal agencies which have failed since
the days Of the colonies to deal with
this great problem In efficient way.
Too Many Methods.
There are today almost as many
methods Of road making as there are
states In the union, and in most OF
the states there Is the verlest patch
work Of what are called Systems.
Generally speaking. the states now.
supervise the roads, towards the con-,
struction OF which the state contrib
utes all or part Of the cost, and ex-
perlence has shown that the best re-
suits can only BIO obtained by the
adoption of a plan. or system, OF state
highways and building to this plan.
1t is q process Of evolution out Of To-
cal control toward centralized state
control, and the step from state con-
troll to federal control or federal gu
pervislon will be easy MS II is inevi-
table II the public highways, partic-
'ularly the main or trunk lines are to
be Of the greatest public service.
I There are 2,250,000 miles Of public
roads In the United States and the
annual expenditure for road construc-
tion and maintensnce amounts now
to about S26o.Oo.0oo annually. Such
a work Is Of sufficient magnitude and
economic value TO Justify the most
thorough andleficiant organization and