Arizona republican., 1921-11-30
STATE ROAD WORK
 TOPIC IF MADDOCK
 AT K|AWAN|S MEET

Al kIAWANlS MILL
 In an address which was as witty as it was informative, and which de-
 lighted his auditors as much as it gave them new insight into the workings of the state highway de- partment, Tom Maddock, state engin- eer, outlined to the members of the kiwanis club yesterday the inside facts of the endeavors of the depart
 ment, the Apache Trail, the road to
 Yuma. the Florence Superior high way, the mystery building in which the department is now housed, and a number of other pertinent subjects in which the club members, as buSi- ness men and taxpayers, were inter- ested.
 Maddock's address was easily one of the most instructive to which the club has given it's attention in recent months, and 1t was delivered so CO., gently and with so much humor and pithiness that those who heard it
 knew that they were attending one of the real events of the club. The talk was made in the mystery building" at Seventeenth avenue and Jackson street. where the club took luncheon as the guests of the highway depart
 ment, and it was followed by a tour through the roadmaking plant of she state, where a view was given by the state engineer of what is being ac- complished in the office of the state engineer for better roads.
 After welcoming the Kiwanians as the guests of the state engineers of- flee. Maddock entered upon a discus sion of the so-called mystery build ing in which the state highway de- partment is now located.
 The mystery building,''' he said, lis mystery because it is the first public building in the state to be erected without costing the taxpayers cent. This structure is being paid for by the rental we receive on fed
 eral equipment we have received from the war department through the de- partment of agriculture, and that
 rental is proving more than enough | to pay for this entire edifice.
 We are still receiving these funds. and so We will be able ultimately 10
 pay for the lots on which the building
 stands and for necessary additions.
 and you may judge for yourself whether the investment is not one of the best which the state has ever
 made. The total cost will be a little more than $50. .000-money which has come not from the taxpayers but from those who were more than glad | to pay to the state for the benefits | they were receiving in turn.
 'The building was built by work
 men who before this edifice was 1 started were employed on the Mari nette bridge. When that job was icompleted they were told that if they
 would give their labor to this build ing during the months of April, May | TlIna thew ka fr Tx,1
 as we knew that we would have mon- ey for them at that time. They con- l sented to the agreement, and worked faithfully and honestly during three months, when we were able to pay l them their due. They believed in l Arizona-that it is able to pay It's l debts and to carry out its obliga- l tions, and this building is the resul; l of that belief
 1 But there is another mystery in the state engineers office-and this
 is the state highway department 1 There is really no state highway de. partment. What is usually termed
 thus is merely an outgrowth of the work of the state engineers office in
 the matter of road building, and In reality has no existence outside that office. The state highways are only 1 those which are built with state | IGIQS. OI MllGll ON lliG Stdlt
 in conjunction with county funds
 The functions of the so-called state
 highway department. however. ars
 becoming so important that it $
 probable that it will more and more
 become distinct part of the work ci
 the state engineer"
 The speaker here took occasion tc
 show that the burden of taxation con-
 corning which complaint Is being
 made is not due to the road building
 activities of the commonwealth, lay
 ng particular stress upon the fact
 that appropriations made by the last
 legislature for roads were 50 per cent
 below those of the preceding one, and
 drawing attention to the fact that the
 gasoline tax, amounting to about
 $15o,0 900 year, is not only an indirect
 tax upon the citizen and one which
 is not felt, but is the only means
 whereby the tourist can be assessed
 for the support of the roads ovei
 which he travels.
 He followed this with a short dis
 cussion of the Apache Trail and tho
 plans now under way for its better
 ment. He pointed out that more thar
 $500, 900 will soon be in hand for it:
 improvement, and that the work to bt
 done with this money will result ir
 making the highway passable ant ! 'flQaDle at all times. New bridges
 culvert system and the surfacins
 of the road are contemplated, he said Mir. Maddocl then talked on th' Phoenix-to-Y Yuma road and the diff faculties in the way of completing this much desired highway. The sa. lient points of his remarks were tha it will soon be possible to start worl On gravel road from a point 40 mile! this side of Yuma, which is alread! paved, to the Maricopa county line He then talked on the Florence Su perior highway and gave a definite idea of what is being done there witt prison labor from the state peniten tiary.
 At the close of his address he wa roundly applauded.
 Following the state engineer Charles Hamilton, chairman of th board of supervisors of Riversid county. California, who with othe members of the board of supervisor of that county and several resident of Blythe, Cal, who were guests o J. c. Dobbins during the luncheon expressed his appreciation of the en tertainment which had been afforde' him and his companions In Maricop' county and emphasized his hope tha the Phoenix Blythe highway, tn E,breu harp road might soon be