Arizona republican., 1921-03-23

THE ARIZONA REPUBL1 ming parallel with the Arizona Eastern railroad.
 Twenty-Five thousand dollars 925,- 000) for necessary roads and bridges between ESGbrook and Apache county line on Old Trails highway along San ta Fe railway.
 "Twenty-five thousand dollars (s25,-
 000) for construction of necessary lroads and bridges between west line of Apache county and New Mexico
 state line near Lupton, Ariz., on Old
 Trails highway, along Santa Fe rail way"
 Tells of Highway Program In his message the governor said: Tt has been the policy of the state highway department, since the time of l its creation in territorial days. to lay
 but and construct state highway system to connect the various county seats and at the same time afford road facilities to as great a number Of clti- zens as possible upon whom fall the cost of constructing and maintaining the same, always keeping in mind their interstate character. This plan has been consistently followed, legislative 1 interference, dictated by local self 1 interest interfering to some extent with the carrying out of the we'll
 planned and logical program Alter l the lapse of a number of years and the
 expenditure of considerable sums Of
 money. roads have been constructed l or surveys made, embracing in the sys-
 tenn some 1900 miles of highway. This system consists of an east and west highway across the most highly deNei- oped portions of the northern iour 1 counties of the state via SprlngerNll/i St. Johns, Holbrook. WlnsloW. flas staff Williams Ash Fork, kingman, Gold Roads. Oatman and Topock. to a Iconaection with California at Needles; l an all-year route from the Atlantlc 10 l the Pacific. serving the people or the icentral and southern counties or the state and joining the transcontlnehtai system eastward at Rodeo. N- M, ana
 westward at Yuma. This hlghWay m
 Arizona serves the populous secdons 1 of Douglas. Bisbee, Tombstone, Ben
 son, Tucson. Mesa, Tempe and Phoe- ink: central route connecting the important mining centers Of Greeniee l and Gila with the agricultural secuons
 of Graham and Maricopa; and north
 and south, highway from Nogaies on
 the Mexican border, passing through
 Tucson and Phoenix and thence nortn ward via Prescott to the Grand Canyon.
 .sThe aetuating principle of my ad- ministration relative to road matters | is to first serve the citizens ana tax payers of Arizona, holding as second ary in importance, interstate or loui- ist traffic Arizona is land Of scenic wonders and in time will be one Of the greatest playgrounds of the world we have much to offer. our inducements for tourist travel are too many to emu merate and in time we VIII De s-pfe- pared to cater to this trade. At tne present time the economic necessities of our own people must be given prl- mary consideration. After we have solved our own road problems. we can then make preparations for the guests who desire to visit us. l am not un- mindful of the future value of some ot fhe road construction as contempiateu by several of the sub-sections or senate 1 bill No. 51, eliminated herewith, but cannot ignore the tax burdens that the con nstruction of these roads would create at a time when the major ln- dustries of the state are so close to the point of pafalyZation, resultant rom general business depression. 1t IS therefore best in my judgment. to temporarily eliminate from ArlZona road program the projects which can not properly be classified or regarded ! as links of the highway system. 1 Selfishness Charged
 conservation and experience have demonstrated that the present plan or l building slate highwaysas open to se- l were stricture. It is to be regretted l that the legislature found itself unable
 or unwilling to agree on different,
 more efficient and more economical i method than the one it adopted. Local
 self interest and not the benefit of the state as a whole seemed to be the dominating idea in framing senate blll ! No. 51 This selfish and narrow spirit was in the ascendancy at all times and 1 IS found deeply embedded in the meas ] ure Log rolling and pork barrel tao tics, which are always concomitants of
 poor legislation. were markedly in eVi- dence. The outstanding desire, east ing aside other considerations which should have had weight in the framing of this bill seemed to be to get slice of pork for some particular locality. l "If it were not for the fact that our laws are patently inadequate to admit
 the construction of system of state
 highways, due to the selfish limitation that 75 per cent of all moneys raised except for special appropriations and relatively nominal sums from sources
 other than by tax levy must be ex-
 pended in the counties of their origin
 leaving counties poor in taxable wealth
 but large in area to Unfit for them
 selves. I would veto this measure in it's entirety. It. is unnecessary, however
 to work with the tools provided by
 legislative will. as expressed in senate bill No. 51, and endeavor to save sucn portions of it as will assist in the con- struction bf highways where most needed, particularly those on whicf large sums of money have been spent are yet incomplete and therefore can not be utilized by the public.
 Fear has been expressed as to the ability of the state. under the terms o | this bill to secure federal aid funds ft 1 match those herein appropriated. NC apprehension need be felt on this score | as there is no question as to fedora funds being available for all thes, projects
 rrba Nom York AsaOciation for I'm