The Mena weekly star., 1921-05-26
Federal Aid for State Roads
By Clio Harper.)


 tion seems to oe very much confused and the situation has not been clsri- he'd hy the dgvei0pments in Arkansas. in fact, the Arkansas situsuon seems to be one of the bones of contention and to be furnishing more material than that of any other state for carry ing on the controversy Many Of the statements made with reference to Arkansas are incorrect or grossly ex- aggeFsted. For instance, the state ment has been made by some authori- ty in Washington that federal aid is likely to be withdrawn from Arkansas because the projects aided have not been maintained The actual facts are that the projects cited hy the gov enment constitute ony 2.28et of the total mileage.
 One of the bills, that prepared by the legislative committee of the Amer ican Association of State Highway Officials, provides that the states must match dollar for dollar the money given by the government and that federal aid must be spent on state and interstate trunk lines and not on laterals. lt Is also provided by an bills pending ia Congress that there must he provision for the adequate maintenance of state roads This is one of the features Of road develop.
 aent ln Arkansas which has not been at all times taken care of.
 The State Highway Departments of ali the states are unanimously behind President Hardine's demand for con. tinued federal cooperation with the
 states in the building of hishways
 President Harding made the state
 nent m his message that;
 With the principle of federal par. hcipation acceptsbly established, pro. bably never to be abandoned, it ir important to exert Federal influence fr developing comprehensive plans look. ing Go the promotion of commerce anc apply our expenditures in the suresi way to guarantee public return fol money expended
 IL is in keeping with this general policy that President Harding an. proved the plans for systems of high ways covering the entire country tc be built by Federal and state money
 The state highway officials are not go much concerned about who shall administer the duties, as they are that the government shah recognize the fact that it is as much federal function Go cooperate with the states m road building as it is for the states to aid their minor subdivisions. We have passed the period in our na tionai life when it should be necessary to prove that highways are arteries of trade of national importance. Our one concern should be to see that such legislation is enacted and enforced as will cohserve the public funds, guard against political abuses and serve the common good As the servants of the people who pay the taxes, whether thru state or federal funds, charged with the proper expenditure of these funds despite pressure from petty local interests or from those who would build only a certain kind of road and limited to a mileage to gain some personal end, these men have for months been seeking for a sane middle ground Of constructive char acter upon which the state and Fed eral governments can establish 9 per manent policy.
 Maintenance of roads, once con structed, has for years been the source of more trouble and contention than any other item of highways con4 struction. Roads build bv Federal aid have been go recent that they have not had any appreeiable chance to de- eriorate if made of hard surfaced ma- terial, but roads long since built with state funds and county funds have in many cases been allowed to take care Of themselves while the weight and speed of traffic has been increasingly augmented To meet this very inn portant situation. this bill pronoses that the Secretary of Agriculture, shall not approve any projects in any state until said state shall provide a state fund adequate for the maintena ance Of Federal aid roads. and bv law shall place said maintenance work un- der the direct control of the State Highway Department"
 John T. Hopkins, of Little Rock, who has resided in Pulaski county for the Pennsylvania oil fields in the early nearly 90 years. in a letter to Gov ernor McRae makes some suggestions relative to practical road building which, in view of the petroleum devel- opment of the state should be given careful attention by experts.
 He says that his father worked in days and that crude oil was used to mix with the earth in roads. IL was thoroly worked into which was then dragged and packed, making the finest roads in the world The governors correspondent estimates the cost of preparing the road bed at si19 a mile. 4 barrel of crude oil properly dis tributed would be enough for one fur row 66 feet long There were 3s fur rows in the road bed and it would therefore require B barrels of oil for every GG feet of road. or 2e40 barrels of oil for each mile of road way. He says further in support of his theory Thru the papers 1 have learned that 50 cents 3 barrel Ia the best offers the producers have had for crude oil. This would make the cost per mile for crude oil yiJ20. Add this to the cost of teams and labor and we have Si482 per mile for the finished road Ro. tary disc harrows and road rollers would reduce this cost California and Colorado have adopted this svs. tenn and it has done more than all things else to give them their renown as health resorts. No disease germ can live five minutes on petroleum highway This system might be em- ployed in all If our river bottom land and all south of the Arkansas river There is an ample supply of sand and other raw material and in addition such road beds are noiseless. free from dust and far easier ofi vehicles than any other road. If taken hold Of at once lt will enable our oil men to