The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-04-04

ture as may be helpful to the counties in solving their road problems.
 The federal highway council believes
 that it is the duty of the government to
 take over about 5000 miles of the main highways to construct and rebuild where
 necessary. as a national system. the states to take over 240O00 miles as a main
 state system, and the counties to take over about 300, GOO miles of market county
 roads, making a system of about 600,OVO
 miles, of which between 200O0o and 250,VvV
 miles have been improved, and leaving between S0O.Oo0 and 5000 miles to be in- proved.
 The highway problem, during the last century has grown so extensively that the communities under whose supervision it came could not satisfy it's needs. and it was necessary for each county to try
 and supply the want that the community failed to satisfy As the country de- veloped and traffic increased. the county
 could not cover the broad need, and there fore state aid was extended to the county | by the state. But this In turn did not satisfy traffic demands It was not a great while before the state realized that more powerful unit should step in
 and take over certain number of mics of road and build a state system. so srnte highway departments were formed. The need was met as far as the state condi- tions were concerned, but due to the great increase of traffic brought about by the advent of the motor vehicle, the govern ment realized that to properly take care and develop interstate traffic on the hfgh- ways. it would be necessary for the gov ernment to cooperate with the states by appropriating money to assist them m their road building programme. Congress passed an act appropriating a large sum to assist the states in building their
 main roads and to properly establish an efficient state highway department.
 STIMULANT TO BUILD
 Federal aid has been a great stimulant to the road building programme of the country, and whereas up to the present time there has been only a limited nfnounv of road building completed, yet great good has been brought about by requir-
 ing the establishment of state highway department in each state, and by encour-
 aging the counties to enter on larger
 road programme. The, federal highway
 council is of the opinion that federal aid should be continued and extended until all the state highway deparymenss have been well organized and on a firm, finan-
 cial and efficient basis, yet it realizes that regardless of how efficient the state
 highway department may be, there still
 exists a want that it will be impossible for them to satisfy, even with the as
 sistance of federal aid, and that want is
 a national system of highways. sys-
 tenn to be constructed and maintained by
 the government under the supervision of a federal highway commission, whose sole
 duty it will be to devote their energy
 and time to this work and administer federal aid.
 Officials and others concerned in hkSf- way development ssert that it is impos-
 sible to expect forty-eight states and the
 District of Columbia operating under forty-nine different units to coordinate
 their plans and systems so that a na- tional system would be constructed in the least possible time, especially when there is no one who has the power or authority to bring these forty-nine different units
 into accord Each state highway depart ment is independent to act and build the roads that will be of the greatest com mercial advantage to it's state, regardless of whether such road will be a link in the national system not. It cannot De expected, they say, of a state highway
 engineer to devote his time and energy in studying the road conditions of an ad- jacent state and the states beyond, which
 would be of great value from a national standpoint. It is his duty to devote his
 state that will be of the greatest value locally, btu which may not form the main connecting link in the national system.
 Therefore, the council is firmly of the be- lief that it is the duty of the government to step in and establish national system of highways, create federal highway
 commission to take charge of their con- struction and maintenance, and to admin ister federal aid. It also believes t.at federal aid should be extended to the states, helping the state highway depart