The Coconino sun., 1923-12-07

Due to a program of retrenchment
made necessary in order to keep with
in the funds supplied from the 25 per
cent apportionment of the state road
levy, Governor Hunt last week placed
E. w. Samuel, secretary of the COM
mission of state institutions, in charge
of the state highway department and
released 44 employees, 81 of whom
were shop and warehouse employees,
two district engineers and five mem
bers of the accounting force. Frank
Goodman, state engineer, will retain
his position, but will give his time to
field work hereafter.
The action will in no way affect
the highway work in the state, the
governor said, there being ample
money at hand to carry out projected
roads and to keep established ones in
repair. The step was made because
of the recent ruling that rs per cent
of all road taxes paid into the state
treasury must be expended in the
counties where they are collected, "by
the state engineer and boards of su-
pervisors Jointly" This probably
means that the counties themselver
will have considerable voice in thi
expenditure of funds, and is directl,
opposite the plan of Thomas Maddox
former state engineer, who insisteT
upon having absolute control of al
road work done with the rs per cen
fund. The plan of Maddox causet
considerable dissatisfaction in some
counties, and in one county held Il,
road work for two years.
No contracts in the state will b.
affected, the governor said, and no op
portunities for procuring federal al
will be neglected. He said the de
partment would be conducted on ths
money procured from the 3-cent gas
oline tax and the mill tax of the high
way law. Although the departmen
has only about six dollars on hant
now, more than $4,000 will be avail
able within the next Is days, he said
The new highway law, the governor
pointed out, instead of providing fund.-
for road work in the state, in reality
provides funds for the counties. II
fact, he declared, the department i:
worse off under the highway bill thar
it was prior to its passage, because
at that time the department received
ali of the one-cent gasoline tax where
as at present the department receives
only quarters of cent of the
tax collected.
Since the supreme court rendered
its opinion in August, holding the We
toes of the governor void to the high.
way bill, certain sections of which the
governor vetoed, state officials have
been at loss as to what was to be
done in the highway department un-
der the highway bill, which distrib-
uted three-fourths of the total amount
raised by it to the counties.
The bill provides for the registra-
tion of warrants by the state treas
urer when the funds of the 25 per
cent fund are exhausted. However,
Wayne Hubbs, state treasurer, has an
nounced he will not register warrants
under the bill, and Richard n. Ram
sey, state auditor, has announced he
will not draw warrants for claims pre-
sented on the 25 per cent fund.
For time it was proposed to man
danus these officials in an effort to
get them to carry out the provisions
of the bill, but this was given up be-
cause the bill, while providing that
the warrants shall be registered for
six months, does not provide for the
payment of the warrants or the re-
registering of them.
Mr.. Samuel, the governor said, took
active management of the highway de-
partment last week and at once
began cutting down the force of
the department. Eurth@ cuts in the