Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-01-15
GOODRICH ROAD
OPERATIONS HIT
TREASURY HARD
Director Wright Spends $685.
900 a Month Maintenance
in Dead Winter.
RECORDS NOT PUBLIC

BY the simple process of insistence AMI
reiteration, L. II. Wright. director Of
J the Goodrich centralized state highway
Aemmssion, expects to make the people
Indiana believe that they are getting
kvalue for the expenditure of about
% a month in the maintenance of
way commission in the middle Of
winter.
r. Wright who is now appearing on
platform with Mayor Charles Jewctt
Indianapolis, in an attempt to bolster
the badly broken Goodrich Jewett
machine in Marion county, advises his
hearer that the highway commission law
will be an asset to the republican party
before the next election He does not
base his assertion on the number OF
men he is employing to do political
work with the taxpayers good roads
money, but that is pretty generally IN
derstood in Indianapolis where more
than 200 employees of the commission
visit the statehouse often enough to draw
salaries ranging from $50 to $3.50
month.
ALL EMPLOYEES
VITALITY INTERESTED.
OF course all these employees are re
publlcans, all had the approval Of Good
rich before they were employed and al
are desperately interested in maintaining
the highway commission in its present
form in order that their pay checks may
not cease.
But even this organization. powerful
as it may become, is not sufficient to sat
isfy the greed for power Of Mr.. Wright.
He has at his disposal a rotary fund OF
$4,000, which he maintains by two drafts
on the treasury of the state every month.
From this fund he hires men by the
day to work for him. OF course, the
supposition is that the men are to do
work in connection with the state high
way system. But there is no possible
way by which any one can check the
amount of work these men do either
on the roads or in the upbuilding of ne
political machinery of the republican
party.
Mayor Jewett, whose hold on the Ma
rion county organization has been slip
ping for some time, is now receiving
the active assistance of Mr.. Wright and
his organization for the reason that
Goodrich looks to Jewett to take care of
the Seventh district for him in connec-
hon with his presidential aspirations.
The most laborious work that was
done by the highway commission in the
month Of December, 1919. was the prep
aration of a map showing the roads the
commission has tentatively designated as
state highways This map, compiled
during a period. when the commission eX-
pended about $4,000 for help, is be-
Ing known as the 100000 map Of Indiana
roads"
1t is most interesting to Indiana cit
liens for the reason that 1t shows the
utter disregard of all other than polit-
ical motives in designating state high
ways 1t also proves to Indianapolis
residents that when the state highways
are all built in accordance with Wright's
plans there will be no possible way Of
going any place" on them.
AWRIGHr REFUSES
#GOOD ROUTES. ..-.-.
n For example, the great bulk of north
2feast traffic out of Indianapolis is be-
II ween Anderson and Indianapolis. In
Gorder to get to Anderson from the cap
Vital on a state road 1t is going to be
aeSsrssary to travel to Greenfield, thereby
Sdtng about fifteen miles to the route.
W order 10 use state roads to Mobiles
Wle from Indianapolis it will be neces-
4 sary to go to Westheld over the longest
arcute in use between the two places.
But the climax of diocy in the des-
ignation OF roads is the selection of the
Plainfeld route to AfartinsyilIe from III
dianapolis There are now several very
good routes between Nartinsville and In
dianapolis, and there is a demand that
the Dixie line be designated and i'm
proved as a state road. But Mr.. Wright
has decided that road from Plainfield
to Martinsville is III that is necessary
10 care for this Traffic, and so 1t now
stands. No reason has been announced
i by the commission for this designation,
A but it is one that pleases the cement
industry of the state immensely, for 0
build a hard surface road over 1t win
\ cost the taxpayers many hundred thou
sands more than It would to improve
one of the other roads. And the cement
industries do not appear to believe that
y The commission will ever get over lts
n fancy for cement concrete, ono course,
i roads of the kind the progressive farmer
builds in his barn lot.
A cursOry examination of this "S20.OOO
map" shows that between Mitchell aud
\ Vincennes not a single state highway
runs south; that here IS a stretch of
road covering about FIVE counties east
and west that affords no outlet toward
the southern tier of counties which 1t
parallels.
But there is a highway eslgnated be.
4 tween Jasper and Princeton That Is
4 down in the neighborhood of the coal
4 holdings in which the governors son aud
4 'close business associates" arc interested
And right now the IToosier Automobile
j club and others are trying to figure out
4 some good reason why the commission
should build this road. other than the
interest Of these certain persons in 1t
Copyright, 1920, Indiana Publicity Blu