Weekly journal-miner., 1919-11-26
New Federal
 Aid Bill Gets Consideration
 Of The (. ofC.
(From Fridays DaiIy)

bers of that organization the aim of the Townsend bill, which is one oi the most important measures ever attempted by the United States gov ernment. This bill, S. 1909, provides for the establishment of national highway system, to create a Federal Highway commission, to encourage efficient and economical highway transportation and to promote the general welfare of the United States 1 This system of highways will com- prise not less than two per cent nor more than five per cent of the total highway mileage actually used as such in any state as ascertained by the commission; not less than two !! per cent nor more than four per cent of the total highway mileage actually used as such in all of the state as ascertained by the commission and aftording convenient ingress to and egress from each shate at not less than three points and connecting with highways forming part of the national highway system in adpoin- 1 ing states.
 The Federal Highway commission will consist of three members to be appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the senate. The members of the com mission will be chosen from different geographical sections of the United States and not more than two mem bers shall be of the same political party.
 For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the Townsend act, $50,000,000 shall be appropriated out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated and to be- come immediately available; $75,000,- 900 for the fiscal year beginning July 1 1, 1920; and $lO0,OOO,O00 for each of the three succeeding fiscal years; in | all, $42S, S,000,000 shall be available and expended.
 The mileage of public roads in Arizona is 5987. The mileage of pro- posed national highways under this bill for the state would be 1900. These national highways will also act as state highways and as county roads and town or township roads for the localities through which they pass. Their building and mainten- ance by the national government will thus relieve the state, the county and the town or township of the cost of building and maintaining these trunk highways and give each and every one of them one, two, three or more principal highways, as the case may be, built and maintained free of ex- pense to the local community. The funds of the state, the county and the town or township can therefore be used for their other and secondary roads less costly to build and main tain.
 The national highway bill is a piece of legislation designed to bring about the construction of a national highway system ill a reasonable length of time, to coordinate all the highway activities of the federal gov ernment and to publish statistics and data on highway transportation, con- struction and maintenance for the benefit of all the people Under the oraca,,k feJar,i ,;J 1,,,. t{,o f,Jaraf government has no power to select tn eroadS in any one state that will be improved. The initiative is with the state highway departments, and in many instances is really with the counties themselves, who have put Up the states portion of the money. The only limitations prescribed by the federal aid law are that the roads shall be rural post roads" When a road has met this condition, it is the duty of the secretary of agriculture to give his approval to its construc- ton. All federal aid projects start with the forty-eight different state highway departments, and such pro- jects are considered in forty-eight different lights, by forty-eight differ ent men holding forty-eight opinions, and it can be seen that a national plan that would evolve from such a procedure, would be most chaotic, to say the least It is alsi impossible, under the federal aid law, to so CO., ordinate the forty-eight state Sys- tems that a plan would be finally evolved that would form connected system throughout the country in a lifetimelN
 It will take many years to com plete these state systems under the 1 federal aid allotment, and at the 1 present rate of construction it will be at least fifty years before there will be connected up few roads in all the states approaching a national system, and at least ono hundred | years before the entire state systems | have been completed and built up so as to form general system of roads from which reasonable national system could be established.
 The road work of the country has