The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1920-08-26
Whitman COunty's Veteran Leg
islatOr Is Strong Supporter
of CarlyOn Measure.

be worth reprlntlng Tor the DeHeIiI VI
any one who may have missed it
R. E. PRATT.
To the Editor of The Spokesman
Review: AS you are devoting consid-
cradle space in The Review to state
ments about the Carlyon bill, and as
have served on the. resolutions COM
mittee of the state good roads asso-
citation at two, sessions when they con-
sidered the bill and reported In favor
of giving the people the facts that they
might vote intelligently on the SUBJ
iect, and / was also chairman of the
committee on roads and bridges of the
state senate when they considered the
bill, and as have also served on the
committee on roads and bridges with
Senator Carlyon since the beginning
of the state road program In 1913,
believe I am qualified to give the peo-
pie the facts about the bill.
In my whole legislative experience
I never yet saw bill of such I'M
portance as the Carlyon bill that /
could not find in it, what to me seemed
Just grounds for criticisms in certain
portions of it.
Section one of the bill establishes
system of trunk line roads under
the assumption that it is necessary to
pave the main lines in order for them
to stand the traffic and that it would
be proper and right to use so per cent
of the money received from auto Ii
censes for this purpose.
! Look at road map of the state of
Washington and see if it is not fairly
good system as outlined in the bill.
Section two refers to the type of
road to be built. 1t has never been
the policy of the road committees of
the legislature to pose as experts on
the construction of roads, but to de-
vote their time to the framing of
laws that would permit the experts
to build roads, and we have never
considered the idea of looking for
road engineers or experts in news
paper office and l will confess that
l visited the highway commissioners
office instead of the editorial rooms
of The Review to discuss the section.
In section two, the legislature ex-
presses a preference for base of
Portland cement concrete, but wise
ly provides that if the state highway
4
ticable to improve any portion of any
highway herein described by paving
as herein provided the state highway
board may provide for improving of
such portion of the highway in such
manner as in it's judgment will best
accommodate travel thereon. In my
opinion one of the best roads made
is brick on concrete base of five
or more inches, but it would be inn
practicable for the state to build such
a system on account of its high cost,
although it would be permitted un-
der the bill.
Section three provides for the con-
demnation of lands necessary for
right-of-way and to get road material.
| Section four: In this section the
highway board is. required to begin
work in different sections of the state
at approximately the same time, and
to make dilligent effort to complete
the system in six years, but does not
require that any particular amount
shall be built in any one year. Under
the law the highway board could ex-
pend only, three million dollars or less
amount during the biennium of 1921
and 1922, and in that case could only
sell three million dollars of bonds dur
ing that period.
The law says the system of roads
/. shall be constructed as soon as prac-
ticable-and that the highway board
shall make diligent effort to have the
system completed in si2d years after
the taking effect Of the act, and fur
ther says-"bonds to be issued, dated
and sold from time to time as the
work progresses" and further says:
"that the bonds shall not be sold for
a sum so low as to make the net in
| terest return to the purchaser exceed
five per cent per annum."
We intended that the highway
board should have power to do bust
ness in business way and meet con-
ditions of labor and material, and not
be held up by any one, and yet you
imply that the bill would place thirty
million dollars of bonds on the market
next year, and you take interviews
from some of your business men bas-
ed on this misinformation. .
The present labor conditions, and
high prices were not our only reason
for giving great latitude to the high
way board as to amount of road to be
constructed the first years after the
law went into effect. We realize that
owing to the fact that we had not built
much of this type of road, our contrac-
tors were not many for this class of
construction, but if we should build
a comparatively small amount, the
first biennuim and time was given
them to prepare for large amounts,
they would be ready to handle the
work economically. Concrete road
work does not require expert labor,
but only expert foremen and engin-
GERS.
Any contractor can equip himself
to build roads and all would get ce-
ment at he same price; and now for
that great bug-a-boo cement trust.
Cement costs the state or contrac-
tors one dollar and fifty cents per bar
ra1 E \ fhic roo~ opI xya&