The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1922-01-19

ST Johnsbury 70 either Essex June
ton or ST Albans 100 miles From
ST Alhans to Richford 80 miles
J These distances are not all precisely
accurate but not far from correct
! Anyhow the total will not vary mucl
from 700 miles and this is only a mod
lest system. The road from Benning.
ton to Brattleboro ought to be includ'
,ed. also from Bethel TO Rochester
I from Bethel to Montpelier via Ran
dolph and Mortified, from Waterbury
to Morrisville, from Hyde Park 10
Newport, from Middesex 10 Warren
from Vergennes to Bristol, from Man
chester TO Granville, N. Y, from st.
Johnsbury to Guildhall, from Mont
pelier TO St.. Johnsbury, from Brat
Itleboro TO Londonderry, from Rutland
to Ludlow, from Ludlow TO Bellows
Falls, from Burlington through the
Islands, from Newport TO Island Pond,
from Barre to Bradford, and few
other similar highways, altogether
well upwards of thousand miles OF
trunk line Vermont roads.
Bond For $40, 10000
Making real start toward building
hard-surface road system for Yer
mont would compel pairing down the
mileage to the fewest that could be
considered a genuine State system. As
will be seen from the foregoing fig
ures, the irleducible minimum is not
much below TOO miles and the very
size of the total cost makes bonding
formidable-s20, 900, 900, at the lowest
estimate.
In the long run il would make no
difference whether the bonding was
scattered along for twenty years or
was all in one lump. The annual cost
for interest and sinking fund would be
considerably greater than TO start
building the same 700 miles by direct
tax at the rate Of 40 to so miles
year
GAL
know il will be said that it is non
sense to talk Of bonding for any such
large amount, that what we should do
is to bond for two or three millions to
provide cement roads where they are
most needed, and then for two or three
more millions to go ahead with the
work. Such scheme seems to me un-
fair to the great majority Of the towns
of Vermont Two or three millions
will build only few miles Of road. III
placed where most needed il would
provid. / cement road from Rutland to
from Barre to Montpelier,
from Montpelier to Northfeld, from
to Williston and from
White River Junction to Windsor, or
equal mileage in other selected locali-
ties. As outlined above l9 Of the 247
towns Of Vermont would get section
,f cement road from bond issue
equal to the grand list Of all the towns
titles Of the State.
bOnuS 100 neaNy DutusH
II can be readily seen that bond !
ssue would not be just unless it were
arge enough TO provide a hard-sur- j
ace road system with its benefits fair o
v distributed over the State. Any a
hing less than a 700-mile system .
.ould hardly be considered and that l
would mean bonding Vermont TO six 0
,r seven times its grand list So a
leavy a debt could hardly be floated D
Inless payment were distributed over n
period Of 30 years or more. Bonds 0
t five per cent on a 30-year basis
means paying the principal and ap- Y
100 per cent in interest. =
Z the bonded debt were s15,0O0,000 d
he total payments Of principal and !
interest would be s33,000,000. To pay s.
o huge a debt would mean a heavier p
urden every year for upwards Of 30 K
ears than would be required TO build
90 miles OF cement road in dozen or D.
5 years under a pay-as-you-go pol 2
y which would have the whole bill 81
aid when the system was completed.
he proposal TO bond the State TO Of
uild hard-surface roads appears TO "
ie emphatically wrong business pol er
y. =
The theory that the bonds could be n
Iet by the automobile registration o
.es will not work in fact Every n
,llar of that money is needed FOR ha
aintenanee purposes and always will ~
J. Even II the State could be pro eh
ded with 100 miles of cement road.
ere would still remain some 5000
lies of so-called selected roads and
900 miles OF other roads which must lai
kept open and usable. II the motor
gigtration fees were used FOR paying 8.
tereet o. State bonds. a direct tax