The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-04-29
cENTRALIzING ROAD CONTROL.

Recent declarations at the meetings of
the Spanish Trail Association to the effect
that the government should build the roads
connecting coastal defenses, are more than
a mere passing of the buck, desire,to shirk
esponsibility-they voice the growing be-
lief that highway work should be central
lied
Such Capitalization, as has been pointed
out in a previous discussion, will best serve
national and local needs if placed in the
hands of the state
The county is too small.a unit. Modern
highway demands are too heavy. Overhead
charges are too great-as in the case of the
small public service corporation, which,
though it cannot give the same service for
the same price as the larger one, and must
therefore yield to it, can, as part of the
larger unit, perform very useful work
Counties exist only by virtue of power
delegated by the sovereign state, anyway
and if they are to be entrusted with the adj
ministration Work-whether in law, educa-
ton, taxation, or roads, it is the duty Of the
state to provide such conditions as will
yield the maximum returns for the invest
mert
Instead of the fit-or-miss system of to-
day, highway construction, on a great
scale under one control would be the result
OF knowledge gained throughout the entire
territory; records would be kept of cost,
method Of construction, and durability of
every mile of road and the cheapest and
best system evolved. Instead of surplus
of money in one section and none in anoth-
er, there would be a scientific apportion-
ment; instead of good roads in one place
and atrocious conditions in another,
throwing out the entire system, there
would be uniform excellence everywhere
Roads are no longer loca1-they are ma
tional
Capitalization is the ultimate develop
nient of road building, just as teeming
cities and fertile farms are the ultimate de
velopment of the wilderness New Jersey,
| pioneer in state participation in road work,
after an experience of twenty-six years
with decentralized control, has this year
adopted state highway system and inn
posed restrictions on the counties not only
as to state aid work, but also as to ordinary
maintenance. Massachusetts, early adopted
state control of main highways; the princi-
pal road building states all have it in one
1 form or another
! Florida says Col Edwin A. Stevens,
commissioner of the department of public
roads of New Jersey, in an illuminating
paper on this subject, FLORIDA, while dis
similar in many ways to New Jersey, is in
other ways not unlike her They are the
two most rapidly growing states in the
east and both depend largely on tourist
business. This business" he adds, and here
is the crux of the whole matter, "in both
instances is subject to competition and
each state cam by neglect, throw away
much of the wealth which it's natural at
fractions place within its reach And he
i adds:
applied to highway work is unsettled question That
they are not SO applied today. and that their appca
mind beyond DISPUTE f tie meet me Ass SCI
from e s.s.s ssls
estimate Of cost merely Of Construction. but
npksep and replacement and then Judge Of the JOB
the growth highway traffic. ana consider
nsn " s yeu
yet the administration a service so essential
WsfaFs OF the sssts to bunch Of men
| can find and pay what they worth. have
railroads and Industrial concerns that have suoeseded
The day is indeed past-if it was ever
lere-that we could afford to neglect our
roads as they are neglected-to waste
money as it is wasted-and will continu,
TO be neglected and wasted until the state
takes charge.
Let the legislature bear these facts in
mind when bills come up providing for ad
| ditional authority to the state road depart
ment; let them be the SPUR to still create
/ ronetri1ctivisu1f