The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1921-02-26
GO SLOW ON
REDUCTION OF
HIGHWAY FUNDS
Senator Liederbach of Dunn
Says Good Roads Movement
Endangered
MAY LOSE FEDERAL AID
Senate Appropriation Not Suf-
ficient to Meet Commits
siOn's Needs
MAY LOSE FEDERAL AID

SlOQS NeeQS
Senator A. A. Liederbach from
Dunn, gave out the following state
ment today to the effect that the re-
suits of legislation now pending may
be far reaching in their affect on the
good roads movement in the state.
The statement follows:
The appropriation made. by the SEN
ate, for the State Highway Commits
sion, is not sufficient to meet one.half
Of the needs of the commission and
there is said to be strong probabil-
ity CT the house still further decreas-
ing this apr opriatibn. a,...
Should the approximation take final
passage and be approved in it's pres
ent reduced amount the State High
way Commission will be compelled to
cOnfine its attentions to the compile.
tion of work no under construction or
uuder contract and will probably be
compelled to store away plans which
are now being made for about five
hundred miles of proposed projects.
The surveys for this five hundred
miles have been made and the plans
are well under way but. with the re-
duced appropriations the State High
way Commission would not be able to
handle the work involved in the addi-
tional construction.
Would Lose Federal Aid.
Should the State Highway Commits
sion be abolished or should the State
Highway Commissions organization
be so reduced that it could not prom
Use the Federal Government supervi-
sion over the work of the War De-
partment trucks and other equipment
which the state has received from the
distribution of the. surplus war mate.
rials it is considered probable that
the legal advisors OF the U. s. Depart
ment of Agriculture will call for the
return of all Of the trucks and other
surplus war materials that have been
turned over to this state since one of
the governing conditions attached to
the distribution of the trucks and
other materials attached to the dis
tribution of the trucks and other ma
terials was that these would be and
remain under the supervision of the
State Highway Commission. North
Dakota has approximately one and
one-half million dollars worth of motor
trucks and other valuable stores that
would under this condition be jeopar'
died.
A considerable number of the coun-
- !, knr ri h1
federal aid work that has been started
in those counties is terminated At
the end of December of last year
there has been completed about five
hundred eighty-one and three'tenths
miles of road and at that time there
was still two hundred forty-nine and
two.tenths miles of road, in the vari-
Gus counties, under contract and to
be completed in 1921. II the State
Highway Commission should be abol-
ished the agreement that is had be-
TWEEN the State Highway Commission
and the Secretary of the U. S. De-
partment OF Agriculture will probably
be held, by the legal advisors OF the
Department of Agriculture to have
been avoided. AS condition prece-
dent ot allowing federal aid in any
state the Secretary Of Agriculture was
instructed by the Congress to require
each state to have bona fide" state
highway department. The federal
government in it's distribution OF fed
eral aid for road construction does
not recognize any agency other than
the State Highway Commission. If
the State Highway Commission ceases
to exist or is reduced to apparent con-
ditiOn of helpfulness federal aid will
probably be withdrawn from the state.
A large number of counties will be
left with contracts on their hands on
which contracts they have been ex'
pecting the federal government to pay
ne-half. The following counties will
be nvolved-Cavalier, Barnes, Sar-
gent, Towner Benson, Ransom, Mcln-
tosh, Logan, Grant, Grand Forks, Penn
bina, Bottineau, Foster Trail, Pierce,
Richland, Mclean. Will
liams, Ward, LaMoure, Burleigh and
Morton. Exact figures are not avail
able but it is estimated that if the
federal government disavows con-
tracts that have been entered into by
counties of the state of North Dakota,
with the understanding that the fed
eral government would pay One-half of
the cost of the work, the counties will
fail to collect in federal aid about one
and one-half million dollars of federal
aid that they are expecting to col
lect and are likely to new pretty bad
|y. 1t is to be considered that the,
Missouri river bridge project is one
'>tinued on~Page Seven)
SEAT CARR.
Washington, Feb. 26.-Patrick Nc
Lean, Democrat, of Scranton, Pa, was
by the house and John K.