The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1920-09-17

FRIDAY. sEPrEMsER u, 1870. :"
the legislature as hersinbefore pro-
vided, the legislature may provide by
law for taxation of all taxable prop
|erty in the state in an amount suf-
ficient to meet the deficit or IL may
in its discretion appropriatn to such
sinking fund moneys In the state
treasury not otherwise Appropriated.
Make Bonds ssIeabIe
OF course every thinking man
knows that this provision is placed
in the constitutional amendment for
the sole purpose Of making the bonds
saleable; in other words 1t 10 the. way
in which the faith and credit Of the
state Is placed behind the bonds with
out which 1t would be impossible to
market them at par. Every member
of the legislature and every one con-
nected with the Babcock plan knows
full well that never was the tnten-
ton that bonds should be issued In
financed by motor vehicle licenses.
As stated before, II the motor We
hicle license fee 70 fixed at such
level as to bring in q return OF $18
per car, the Legislature can then au-
thorize the issuance OF bonds to the
full limits fixed to the amendment,
or $4,000. 900 annually until the
maximum of $75.000,000 10 reached.
If by any freak of chance the license
$1.S per car It is not likely that the
legislature would issue bonds to the
limit fixed In the amendment. To
state IL plainly If the average fee Is
l8 then the legislature may author
ixe the issuance Of $10,000,000 per
year and, according to Mr.. Bsbcock's
estimate the major part Of construc.
ton work can be done in ten years:
If on the other hand, the fee should
car, then it is to be expected that the
legislature will cut the annual issue
to 100000 and 1t will take twenty
years to complete the system. In no
event Is 1t to be expected that there
will be tax to meet interest and re-
tirement charges.
Sinking Fund Disposal.
There is another thing that 10
worthy of particular notice and that
is that the sinking fund is created
before any bonds are issued and that
the sinking fund can be used for no
and retirement charges. with q def
nitely determined sinking fund 1t is
just as easy for the legislature TO be-
termine how many bonds may be H.
sued without requiring tax levy as
1t is for man to look at his pocket
book and determine how much mer-
chandise he can purchase with the
cash on hand.
There is also provision in the
constitutional amendment which pro-
UT n af IN ho rf 0f ha
ton of new county or by reason OF
a change in the county seat on any
existing county, and city. or village
not a county seat at the time OF the
adoption of this amendment Is con-
stitutionally constituted the county
seat Of any county, the legislature is
authorized to add to the trunk high
way system such additional routes as
may be necessary to connect such
other county seats and other points
In the state. This particular feature
was written in the amendment to
take care Of conditions In undevelop-
ed sections of the state where large
counties are likely to be divided and
where present conditions do not war
rant the laying out Of trunk lines.
There is also provision that when
rs, per cent OF the total number OF
miles In the trunk highway system
have been constructed and perman
emily improved the legislature II au-
thor1zed to add from time to time ad-
ditional routes. provided there n sui
ficient funds available for their con
struction and maintenance. This pro-
vision was written into the AIMED
ment to prevent impounding of large
sums Of money which would natural
ly accrue when the major portion Of
no Of Of hn ma IN
had been completed.
Takes Over Town Streets
Another thing that is worthy OF
attention Is the fact that with the ex-
ception of cities of the first class the
trunk lines run continuously across
tls state. This means where q WILL
age or city Is located on a trunk line
the state will take over such streets
las are necessary just as are the rural
highways outside of the village or
city limits.
Any one who has motored over the
state knows that 1t frequently har
pens that the worst stretches Of high
way encountered in his journey are
found within the corporate limits of
cities and villages
What the adoption Of the consti-
tutional amendment means to the
state beyond the comprehension of
any individual. There are 1000 miles
of roads in the system and on basis
Of one square mile on either side of
the center line Of the roadway we
find that there. are 1900 square
miles Of land abutting on the trunk
highway system. Can anyone real
fize What it means to the state to
have system Of paved roads so laid
out that $4,000 square miles Of land
lies within q mile Of one of the sys-
TENS roadways? There are only S4,-
600 square miles of land in the state