The Topeka state journal., 1922-11-16
County Officials Told About
Building Laws in Kansas.
Z. W. James Urges States to
Cooperate With Government.
NEED STATE HIGHWAY DEPT.
National System Roads Would
Be Great Blessing He Says.
u. W. Watson Is Opposed to
Present Benefit District Plan.

The road laws of the United States
in their application to the road laws
OF Kansas and the future road build
ing program of this state, with the
aid from the federal government. re-
ceived a thoro exposition from three
angles at the joint meeting OF the
county commissioners, county engi-
neers and county clerks, held this
morning in representative hail. For
three hours. the county officials lis
tened to explanations of the provisions
of the federal aid laws, its workings
the reasons for its provrs:ons, and the
things which it can do for road build
ing in Kansas.
H. V. Brookaw of IIiawatha, presi-
dent OF the county commissioners as
sociation, who presided at the meeting,
declared. There is now no room Tor
nnisconceptfon of the purposes or
workings of this law. and think eV-
cry county official in TINS room has
had any such misconceptions cleared
up and his attitude toward the state
highway commission of the state of
Kansas. and toward the federal gov
ernment in its efforts to assist in the
building of roads in the states, II lnlrn-
ical, has been changed.
Gave RcactiOnaries Food for Thought
E w. James, chief engineer of de-
sign fo~ the United States bureau of
public roads. opened the road program
with "A brief account of the federal
road building activities of the United
States, since 1915
Altho making no specific mention of
the movement which has appeared in
Kansas toward the abolition of the
state highway commission. and the
reluctance of the state to develop
real state aid road law. James made
some pointed statements as to the
provisions of the federal aid law ap-
plying to these projects
Among the requirements of the
first federal aid law" he said. was
the necessity OF cooperation of the
states with the federal government
thru state highway departments-be
cause the federal government could
not deal with the 200 counties of the
state. The law required that the state
highway departments be technical
bodies, and not figureheads- The law
granted them certain definite and spe
c'fic authority and imposed upon
them certain definite and specific du
tics of supervision and approval.
In 1921 the first federal aid law
passed in 1916. expired by Limitation,
and il was necessary for congress to /
pass a new law. As a result of the
experiments of the five years preced- |
ing. new requirements were added. In /
the law of 1921 it provided that after /
three years the funds which are
matched against federal funds in the /
building of roads. must be bona fide |
state funds. not county funds. nor
benefit district funds. 1t . provided I
that the states themselves must main /
tain these roads after they had been I
built and a clause with teeth in it was
inserted which assessed a definite fl /
nanc-al penalty on the state which /
fails TO maintain these roads to the /
satisfaction OF the federal govern I
ment."
James gave the road law reaction /
aries some food for thought when he /
said: You forfeit your federal aid 4
rights in Kansas If you abolish your |
state highway department. if you cease /
TO maintain these roads after they
have been built or if you fail to create /
n real state aid road fund to match 4
the funds of the federal government"
He explained that the law OF 1921 i
had been amended to give the states /
until November 9, 1925. to create this /
state road fund. on account of the
limitations of some states which /
rake the amendment of their con-
stitutionS a slow and difficult matter.
James brought out the decision of /
congress to concentrate its aid pro-
gram on per cent of the highway I
systems of the state. This decision
was arrived at with the approval of /
the Grange, the Farm Bureau and the |
Owners associations of
the United States" he said 1T does
away with the Paphazard application
of the federal aid to an incoherent
and scattered set of roads all over the
state. The per cent of the highway
system will include the roads which I
carry the heaviest traffic
Greatest National Blessing
The motor traffic in the United
States, if a real highway system is
built. will increase beyond all present
James declared. "A na-
tional system of roads and highways
will be the greatest blessing which
could come to this nation. County
and state lines will be wiped out. the
coast and the Pacific coast
will be neighbors. There will not be
provincial. a sectional or an isolated
district in the United States. and we
viii become truly one united nation"
NJ. w. Watson, state highway COM
missioner, declared that he was will
ing to stop all road building and
five prohibit the .
of all automobiles. and
burn those we have; stop the produc-
ion of gasoline and forbid any per-
son from travelling on the highways
from 1 a m to midnight. Then and
1nly then can we stop all road activity.
I'm not here to accuse you of ex-
-ravagance. but honestly believe that
you do not understand the cost of the
present haphaZard system of earth
roads to this state" Watson declared,
and produced figures to show the eco 1
1omic waste of attempting to get
along with cheap roads. II
Watson declared that he is opposed
% the present benefit district plan.
because the traffic is of an inter
county and interstate nature and the I