Arizona republican., 1919-02-22
Highway Legislation

The word has somehow gone out among former employees of the state. in road camps and on bridge work and whose places secured to them by their loyalty to the Hunt administration that they are about to come into their again; that they will ze their old places back They already congratu- sting themselves turn of fortune which is about to restore to what they lost in the election of November when a majority of the people of Ari- zona voted for a change
 All this has an intimate relation to the pending highway legislation.
 We do not suppose that in the framing of senate bill Y it the intention of the senators to revive the old work machinery with it's notorious waste and ineffeetiveness which have left little to show for the hundreds of thousands of dollars which have been expended We think too highly of the gentle Of the senate though the circumstances attend ing the bill leave little doubt of the purpose of the maiority to retain political control of the machinery which they doubtless hope will be improvement upon the old. They have assurance though that it will be improvement and do not believe that a good roads department constituted senate bill IT arranges be improvement, existing as it would. in a partisan atmosphere and conceived in a party caucus.
 The Republican IS not strong for party It falls far short of that doubtful virtue known party regularity It does not claim that and
  The Republican by either democratic republican politicians Altogether we are rather proud of its lrreguarity in this respect
 We have gone into this that we may speak the more freely and urge that the complexion of the department be left to determination by the governor because he is a republican but because he is the It is of for the legislature 10 take precautions against the playing of politics by the governor and think it can very easily do that.
 We do not believe though that Governor Camp bell or any other governor with proper understand Ing of his relation office and of his obligations the people will introduce politics into such an i'm portant thing a good roads department He could afford to do To the highest efficiency in that department. to the most roads for the least money is the governors strongest play. The worst thing he could do politically would be to allow the department to fall down. His responsibility would continually upon him.
 state highway board composed of officials offices fierce primary and gen election campaigns burdened with political debts could take upon itself the responsibility which would rest upon the governor. The responsible fly could not be fixed for failure waste graft With the appointment of the highway commission and the state engineer. the members of the highway board would have washed it's hands of the matter The buck would have been successfully passed. The members of the highway board could meet the plants of the tax payers and the complaints against efficiency only by expressions of regret member would devote himself to proving that he was not individually to blame. All would put the blame 1 upon the commission and the commission upon the engineer.
 We believe the legislature will make political mistake if it creates such irresponsible state high board. It would, of course. make positions for democratic partsans. but the people at large the thousands of them. democrats and republicans, do not care what party holding the jobs. They care hough when they learn that the job holders are costly and inefficient