Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1919-04-18
TALKS GOOD J ROADS 4 D
HARRY DAVIS ADDRESSED AUDI
4 ENCE ON BABCoCK ROAD PLAN
MOVIES SHOWN.

the Milo theatre in this city Wednes
day afternoon, at which Harry Davis
of the state highway department., gave
splendid talk on the proposed hard
surfacinp of roads and on the proposed
Babcock amendment, relating to same
The theatre was seated to capacity and
it is believed that the meeting had q
most wholesome effect.
C. M. Babcock, state highway com.
missioner, was expected to address this
meeting but he was unable to come oW.
ing to the fact that several county del.
egations were to call upon him at St
Paul that day. W. E. Olson, secretary
Of the Board Of Commerce, called the
meeting to order and introduced Mr.,
Dayis. X
Mr.. Davis explained how this state
took up the great road project after
having studied the matter thoroughly
and found that under the old system
worth while roads can never be secur.
ed. He said that at present the funds
for road work are eaten up by the main
travelled roads, leaving practically
nothing to be expended on the other
roads. Eighty per cent Of the fund is
expended on the main thoroughfares
These roads are included in the Bah.
cock plan Of hard-surfacing and after
they are once built the state will for.
ever maintain them, should the Bah.
cock road law pass. The one-mill levy
for road purposes will nevertheless be
available and can then be expended on
other roads which now get very little
attention. The farmer living on the
back road will be benefited the most
by this plan, as those living along the
main travelled roads now have fairly
good road and will then have per
manent road, but the farmer on the back
road, who now has practically no road
at all, will get a good road.
Mr.. Davis pointed out what differ.
ence this big Improvement in roads
would make to the car user, by lessen
ing the wear and tear on the machines,
make all points more easily accessible
and tend to increase the value Of prop
erty as a whole.
Under the proposed plan the method
of raising the funds would be changed
and instead of the present personal
property tax on automobiles and the
license fee. there would be a single au'
tomobile tax. ...s;
Two reels of motion pictures were
run, showing hard-surfaced roads under
construction and after completion, and
comparing them with the old dirt roads.
The title of the picture was "Through
a Century Of Change, Of Unchanged
Roads, This film was used in Illinois
during it's campaign for the O,O0O,.
600 hard-surfacing plan, which went
through. s.-- -. ss.,s "
At noon Wednesday Mr.. Davis and
the two men operating, the war tank
were the guests Of the Board OF Com
merce at luncheon at the Buckman
hotel, at which twenty-o people were
present. At this luncheon Mr.. Davis
gave a brief talk outlining the Bah;
cock plan and explaining the proposed
constitutional amendment. He said that
this is strictly movement by the Peo
pie and that paving and manufacturing
concerns will not be permitted to exert
any influence as to the work.
Following the afternoon meeting MI
Davis was shown about the city by j.
w. Stephenson, president of the Board
Of Commerce, and Mr.. Olson, the secre
tary.