Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-07-07
COL ORDINATION
Is PURPOSE Of
HIGHWAY SCHEME
Friends of New National Plan
Say Present System is Slow
and Would Require Many
Years to Complete,

Years to Complete,
,,,--,., crssEsponpEHce TO MORNING JOURNAL |
Washington. July 2.-Legislative at |
tention, from the standpoint of high |
way development is beginning TO CEN |
ter upon the National highway Dlll
Introduced in congress by SenHof
Townsend. This measure PROVIDES Tor
the creation of federal hlShWay
commission and the establishment Vi
a national system of highways. II Isl
presented by its supporters as piece
of legislation designed TO BRING ABOUT
the construction of Il national hlgh-
way system within reasonable length
of time, to coordinate all the high |
way activities of the government, ana
TO publish statistics and data on high |
way transportation, construction ana
maintenance for the benefit of all the
people.
Secretary Houston, of the depart |
ment of agriculture, has raised ques !
ton as to the desirability or the pro-
posed legislation. In reply to an in !
uuiry from a city chamber of COM |
merce, recently, he stated, that the
roads in each section of the country
vary in degrees of importance in the
service rendered or that may be rem |
dered to any particular locality, that
the traffic conditions vary greatly in
the different sections, that the state
highway departments are better able
TO classify the roads than anyone else,
that under the present Bankhead Dill
the government is cooperating with
state highway departments in the GAS
Sification of the roads, and when the
classification has been carefully mace,
and by agreement between the state
highway departments of ADJOINING
states the roads of first importance
generally meet at state boundaries.
Having the above points in MIND, the
secretary added that he could not see
the wisdom of substituting for the
present cooperative program plan
which would commit or limit the FED
eral government to the construction oil
two federally owned trunk line high
ways in each state
II G Shirley, member of the fed
eral highway council and former state
highway engineer of Maryland, stated
today that the national highway phi
does not in any way interfere with theI
cooperative plan now existing among
the states with the federal govern
ment Ii only substitutes for the sec
retarv of agriculture the federal high
wav commission. which, under the
law, is charged with the duty or car
rying out the provisions of the fedefal
aid law as now operated, and all other
obligations or contracts entered INTO
by the secretary of agriculture with
the respective states. Therefore the
effectiveness of the federal act plan,
lNy
culture, will not be interfered with in
the least. The bill has further made
it the duty of the commission to make
n recommendation TO congress as to-
the future operations of the federal
aid law after 1921.
New Legislation.
'The National highway bill Is en-
tirely new piece of legislation sad
Mr.. Shirley Its object is to build in
each state trunk line highways to
the extent of not less than 2 per cent,
nor more than per cent, of the total
mileage of the state, and to join them
IN with the main trunk lines of other
states so as to make a complete ma
tional system connecting the entire
country together 1t creates a system
of national highways, independent or
the states, and highways that will car
nv Interstate traffic. and that are
necessary for the welfare of the coun-
try as a whole.
Under the present federal aid law
the federal government has no power
to select the roads 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 to
~, fnt o.
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 construction.
All federal aid projects start with the
forty-eight different state highway
departments, and such projects are
considered in forty eight different
lights, by forty-eight different men,
holding forty-eight opinions. and 1t
can be seen that a national plan that
would evolve from such procedure
would be most chaotic, to say the
least, 1t is also impossible under the
federal aid law to so coordinate the
forty-eight state systems that a plan
would be finally evolved that would
form q connected system throughout
the country in a lifetime.
THE personnel of the state nigh
way departments IS constantly chans-
ing, and in a more or less degree the
state highway systems are changed
with the changing of the state high
way officials. 1t is therefore out OF
the question to expect any connected
system of roads between the forty
eight units. over which there is super
yisory power or anyone with authority