The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-04-04

No more enthusiastic body of men has ever assembled in Ala bama than that now holding a convention in Birmingham for the purpose of working out a plan for constructing and main taining good roads in the state. Delegates are present from all but three of the counties, and these will be representa- at to- days sessions.
 Good roads talks were made yester- | day afternoon by Senator Underwood, State Senator John Craft of Mobile, J. T. Bullen, district engineer federal bureau of good roads, with headquar- ters at Montgomery; w. F. Wilcox of Birmingham, Judge J. H. Nathan of Sheffield, Senator John A Rogers of Sumter county and Representative G., w. Dansby of Choctaw county, and a War Savings talk was made by Thomas Cobb, field representative of the War Savings campaign committee 1 in Alabama
 Senator Underwood explained some of the provisions of the federal aid bill, pointed out how Alabama can secure her share of the fund thus created and urged the importance of building per manent highways.
 WHAT DELEGATES WANT l The delegates to the convention are representative of the citizenship of Ala bama; they represent all classes and callings; the merchant, the lawyer, the manufacturer, and preacher the work irg man, and the office holder. Be their business what it may, or their ! likes and dslikes ever so divergent, whatever views they may hold on other /, subjects they are united on the propo- i sition to give Alabama good and last ] ing roads. And the delegates say the people back home are behind them in l this movement. The people of Alabama | have come to realize, they say, that without improved roads there can be | little progress made in the state; educa- 1 ton must languish, churches go unat- tended; business suffers and the farmer sustain losses through usage of roads ! that are almost impossible. The concensus of opinion, as ex- pressed by the speakers, is that the state should issue bonds to pay for permanent roads and thaA the autOmo- | bile license tax should he applied to the payment of the interest on the bonds and to provide sinking fun to retire them xvheu dnc. ha 1s lef of 1 the tax to he applied to the mainte- nance of the roads.
 AUTO TAX AVAILABLE This proposition was advocated by every one of the speakers, and they de- | clared that the people back home be- lieved on this question as they did. Figures were read showing that the automobile license tax would take care 1 of the interest on several millions of dollars worth of bonds and provide a sinking fund to retire them in from IS to 20 years.
 | Senator John B. Bankhead, chairman ] of the Senate committee that put ! through the s2oO, 900 road appropria- tion in the last Congress. and who has been advocating government aid for highways for many years, was unable | to attend the convention. Wednesday, night he wired Senator Underwood, exA pressing his regerts and rendering his services in building up sentiment in the state favorable to bond issue for road purposes. Senator Underwood read the telegram. which follows, to the conven- tion:
 q cannot begin to tell you how much 1 egret not being able to at- tend the road convention which meets in Birmingham Thursday. am detained here on matters of vital importance to Alabama and our soldiers, These duties are so pressing that cannot neglect them even to meet the highway men as-
 sembled at the convention in Bir- mingham.
 q beg you impress on the con-
 vention the necessity of providing
 ways and means to match the fed
 eral aid law. It means everything
 to Alabama The total road fund
 will amount to $12,0O0,000 more
 than 100000 to each congressional
 district.
 Urge the imperative necessity of
 a bond issue. say $20,000,O00. The
 benefit will pay the interest many
 times over and make Alabama one
 of the foremost states of the union
 q am willing to devote all the
 time at my command to canvass
 the state in the interest of better
 and more highways.
 JOHN H. BANKHEAD"
 UNDERWOOD'S ADDRESS
 Sid W. Lee, chairman of the Jefferson