Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-10-03

seate or Maine has sent to WASHING
ION over 100000, so Won viii $40
tnat FEDERAL aid returned TO ne ranN
resents only small portion of what
lily is taken from the state.
waa,.i is movement on foot in
Washington to have the states re-
h unle some OF the function that have
orr. m .aken over by the federal gov
dow e ~ IN recent years. If this be
uo r the federal government shouId
IeneVe the states from certain b,r-
uens or taxation they now impose
upon us. Federal aid roads con-
s.ructed and under construction IN
20 July l, 1923 amount to: gravel
loads' 9l.S, bituminous roads. 103
concrete roads. 1914, a total OF 231
inlieS: l should like to see the Old
aoctrine Of state rights revised, under
when the federal government at
.ehds only to those functions that pro
petly belong to it. leaving to the
to me management Of their in
happens we shall take all the n s
money to which we are entitled, II
- easy 10 see what could be accom-
pisneo IN Maine with the money. or
even oo2c of 1t. that Is now being
taken to Washington.
Maintenance
Inc maintenance Of our roads is
rully as vital as the construction Of
new ones and marked progress has
oeen made In this direction. In 1918
.he STATE did not spend Q dollar on
e,,,a,ntenace, while In 1922 1t spent
sl'oZ9,ll2.20, and the mileage covered
was 4,6S1. In my travels / notice a
marked difference in sections of road
.nat are being patroled. Some patrol
men take great pride in their work.
ana certain roads in Maine are kent
up to high standard. In other
sections the maintenance is sorely
neglected. You all. no doubt, have
seen what can be accomplished by
We SIMPLE process of ragging a road
aller a rain storm. Often times
wren l come upon a patrolman who
mas started right In after a shower TO
drag his section. l stop and congrat-
uiate him. for word of encouro ee :
ihent goes long distance.
II is natural for any administra =
tion 10 want to make q good showing
IN road building; the danger is, thar
we may build more roads than we
properly can care for. 1t is funda :
| mental that we should proceed
slowly in adding to our burdens of
lev ROADS until we make sure that
every mile constructed will be pro-
Ply cared Tor. This is ordinary
ootililioh sense and sound political
| economy as well.
Gravel Roads
A great deal has been said about
gravel roads. and since became
| Governor l have learned much abou,
tleln' II Is commonly supposed thar
! sood gravel roads can be constructed
at a comparatively small OUTLAY. hut
| S'ch is not the case. In 1929 orr
| nrst class gravel roads cost per mile
| Sl4.q1 ~. as compared with the 1921
! cost OF Sl7,011.95. You no doubt are
| y. the opinion that these figures are
! ialse, ana agree with you. but it
j Seclis impossible to materially re-
| uuce them owing to the high cost of
| labor and materials. and TO the w.
cesslty of building these roads with
! proper grades. substructures and
drainage: Second class gravel roads
averaged per mile in 1922. s5.9SeC7
ana in 1921. s5,95O97. But of course
! second class roads will not stand the
Traffic of the first-class. and the com
! parison of the figures should be made
win that thought in mind.
j., Inc more I learn Of road condi
! tions, the more inclined am toward
me hard surfaced road. especially
I '-'N'A COSlS are cOnSi6 l.
! cred. When the cost OF the gravel
/ surface approaches that Of bitumi
/ nous. there is no question but tha
the latter form should be adopted
! even though we do not build quite
as many miles of new construction
each year. Bituminous roads. ey-
! cept for snow. are available II
months in the year: while the gravel
| ROADS VIII not give more than s
months good service. T.
| Inc figures in the annual reports
! OF the Highway Commission cover
ing the ten-year period show that
eraVel roads on the average have
| cost much less than the figures
! have given YOU. but it is not rea
Sonable to compare figures Of five
and ten years past with those of the
! present owing to the great changes
| in costs of labor and material. The
! Governor and ouncil went into the
| gravel road situation very carefully
! and hoped 10 obtain information
| that would show that this class of
! construction could be properly
! handled at $4,000 or $1,000 per mile
on first class roads. But we may as
| we'll accept the inevitable and &C
| knowledge that, on an average
gravel roads will cost US about s15.-
| 600 mile. With that as basis we
can then lay out our road program
and determine what type we need in
any given location.
State Highway Commission
OF all the branches Of our State
government. none have been more
severely criticized than the Highway
Commission. This is natural he
cause of the fact that everybody uses
the roads. and almost everybody
thinks that he or she can build bet
ter than State officials For three
years I have studied the question
| carefully and unhesitatingly say that
the work Of the Commission has
meant a great deal for the State, and
that in my opinion they have carried
| It on in businesslike way. They
have rendered a distinct public serv-
ice. and T believe have been abso-
lutely impartial, and have done their
hest to serve all sections OF the
State fairly and equitably.
1t is encouraging to know that men
| like the present commissioners, as
we'll as those members who formerly
| have served on it. have been and are
willing to subject themselves to the
criticism that is their lot. In SO far
as ! am aware. politics have not en-
! tered into their deliberations. The
| state owes THESE EtHIlelIltn Il NHpt
Of gratitude. We were fortunate in
securing Mr.. Lanigan as the new
| member. In so far as I know Meth
or he nor his friends ever thought of
! him as Highway Commissioner. +.
however. for some time had him in
mind and wrote a letter asking him
to serve. appealing to him to do so
az n public duty. In accepting he
made considera bile sacrifice of his
personal affairs. ] wish more promi-
nent business men in our state
| would do as he did when caplled
| ,,r,nr, 70 cnr,,c h,r tho (Ihinf ENrenrti1-e