The Bismarck tribune., 1923-03-30
ROAD PROBLEM
BEF0RESTATE
IS REVIEWED
w. G.. Robinson, Retiring
State Engineer, Urges
Large Units in Building :
MUCH MONEY WASTED?

over any other unit of road build
! ing is urged by w. IL. Robinson,
! state engineer and chief engineer OF
, the highway commission, in Il state
ment reviewing the road work in
/ the state. Mr.. Robinson retirts from
office April /. Mr.. Robinson says:
: There are about 100000 miles Of
| section lines in the state. The total
, mileage of highways and prairie
| trails in use, as nearly as can be
determined, is slightly over 100000
! 1t is estimated that the improved
mileage is probably not more than
! half of this amount or about 10000.
1.-THE records of the State Tax
| Commission indicate that the total
road and bridge levies in the state
, Tor the 6-year period ending 1921
| by counties, townships, cities and
| villages, amounted to 2G,536 ,S77l5.
! If these lcvicS amount to over S26,
100000 in six years very conscr-
vativc estimate for the lcvics of the
30 or 35 previous years would be
| from $l5,000,000 to $2O,O0O,0OO MAX
! ing Il total of over $5O,0OO,OO that
| has gone into the roads and bridges
| of the state up to this time. The
| first question that naturally arises
! is, what have we to show for this
very large investment? If we have
only about $4,000 miles of roads
! that have been improved and we
have spent $50,000,000, it appears
! that the average expenditure per
mile has been approximately $1,000.
Some of this has probably gone in
to maintenance but this will be a
very small amount since the collcc-
tions from the motor vehicle regis
tration tax, which is usually used
for maintenance, has not been in
cludcd in the above figures. 1t has
also been suggested that the tax
lcvies for township roads do not
necessarily mean cash expenditures
and that most of these lcvics have
been spent in "talk in the shade OF
the farmers wagons" in working
out the road taxes If this is true
it is only another argument against
that meth cd of road building.
at has been argued by many that
the county and township officials
are able to build tirst-class roads
from $500 to $500 per mile. If this
is fact, where has the balance of
approximately $500 per mile gone
1t is probable that most Of these
funds can be accounted for by the
fact that several hundred dollars per
mile arc spent on these highways at
one time and no account is taken of
the expenditures Of previous years.
Furthermore, it is probable that
comparatively few accurate records
have been.kept of these expenditures
and statements of cost have been
! largely guess work.
''Ten Pcrcenters'
Regarding the matter of graft,
there seems to be few officials
known as "ten perccnters" who cx-
pcct a commission on every public
purchase made or contract awarded.
1t is not believed that these form a
very large class but taken as I,
whole during period of 80 or 40
years the loss to the tax payers has
, probably been considerable. The
best known case is where an official
brought or threatened to bring suit
oSpihoI a Sphliotloi lVI a SOiIilH
sion on a public contract and it is
said that he got" it. Aside from
the matter of actual graft, there
appears to be some irregularities
that are not for the best interest OF
the taxpayers. The practice still
prevails in some counties of award
ing contracts for bridges by the
foot without any definite plans.
Specialized Work
"Thc idea that any one and every
one is qualified to construct high
ways is an entirely erroneous one.
1t is doubtful if there is any other
line of work where there are so
many and varying conditions to be
met. Generally speaking, resign and
Construction Of highways does not
require high degree of engineer
ing skill but it does require consd-
cradle engineering ability plus u
whole lot of experience. However,
the designing of bridges is highly
technical and the determination OF
suitable foundations is vital mat
ter that requires considerable eX-
perience and care. 1t is therefore
very absurd to expect ordinary Off
cials to be competent to handle
| these matters.
/ All this is not to be considered
as reflection upon the ability and
| integrity of county and township Of
| ficials. 1t is believed that the great
majority of them are honest and
are earnestly cndeavoring to handle
work for which they have not had
the necessary training and exper-