The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1919-05-07

EldIlOu VI DGucuL 10 Lue uCTLnETu
part Of the state, also spoke on the
merits of the amendment.
! Davis reminded his audience that
the Babcock amendment provides FOR
the hard-surfacing Of 600 miles Of
trunk highways throughout the
state, the work to be paid for by
license tax pm automobiles. He said
that the question of good roads is
this country been confron ted with
dial question in the world; In 1916
fhe amount of money paid the rail-
-roads ofetha limited States for carry
ing freight and passengers ekceeded:
all money spent by the national gov
ernment, states, counties, and cities.
of $4,000 population and over, COM
bined, by $170,000,00.
Today's Highway Cost. s,...
He said that there are three great
means g. of =. transportation--ra
water, and highway, and that, the
latter is the greatest of all. Twenty
years ago there was scarcely an auto
mobile in the state of Minnesota. To-
day there are 100000 automobiles.
A few years ago when all travel was
bf horse-drawn vehicles, a few hun
-dred dollars per mile made an ex-.
eellent road. Now with the hea. ~
motor: traffic, even gravelled r@abs
that cost. $4,000 a mile are tor ont
over night. On the street f/ear1n n
the heaviest: traffic in the /t,itv hf
Chicago, Il 900 vehicles So da},v.
on the high way: bearing 'Aa heaviest
traffic in the state Of N Fdnnesota, the
Jefferson highway sor .G Of The Twin
I Cities; 1900 vehicles pass daily-one-
thirteenth as: muc a traffic as goes
over W the heavies< travelled street in
. the world.
: Under the /bresent road laws, the
state Is pr Ahibited from making In
ternai ~ Nrovements, which is inter-
pre.eo 10y the supreme court as in
cluo 6g the building Of roads and
br1dges. This work is left to the
IT, counties and cities, individually
+ OFTEN the worst pieces Of road are
! found right in the city or village
7 limits, because of the fact that the
county builds good roads up to the
city limits and the city does not
Z have sufficient funds to carry the
: work through the city streets. II
the -Bahcock amendment passes the
ustate will take over the building OF
all the trunk highways from end tc
end, 80 that just as good roads will
be built within the city limits as are
built in the country. Should an
eighteen foot paved road be decided
UPON, the same width paved road
would be built right through any
city or village on the trunk high.
way system, and If the village OF
city wishes to pave the entire width
Of. the street where the street il
wider, it will be permitted to do sc
by paying only the additional cost
Of the extra width.
Each Vehicle Taxed.
If the amendment passes, it Is es'
timated that all trunk highways In
the state will be hard surfaced with.
in ten years at a total cost Of $100,
- 100000 and it will not cost tho ta1
payers a cent. 1t is planned to tai
all motor vehicles an average of SIS
per vehicle. While this is a little
higher than the present license tax
there is a provision in the law which
does away with personal property
80 tax on automobiles, and when the
roads are hard surfaced automobile
owners will save much more thar
the saving in running expense Of
the additional cost Of the license ir
their cars If the amendent is pas
sed, the tax will start in 1921, bu,
the benefits will also start that year
axsthe state will Immediately take
= over the entire trunk highway sys
tenn and begin at once to hard sur
face these roads.
Mr. Davis explained that the state
would be authorized to bond itself
for the money necessary to built