The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-09-29

should be punished more severely than violation by direct enemies of prohi- bition. The report of the attorney general may put law-abiding Ameri- cans on their mettle and strengthen their determination to put to the teJt this issue of supremacy of the law.
 -
 THE NEW HIGHWAY COMMISSION
 The people of Alabama have reason to believe that, with the appointment of highway commission of three men, the road-building program of this state has taken an suspicious turn. The personnel of the board is such as to furnish foundation for confidence of betterment in the administration of tue millions to be spent in this state on highways. Senator Rogers has been so long in public life that he is known throughout the length and breadth of Alabama. The fact that there was wide public disapproval of the high way results during the senator's con- nection with the old commission should prove sufficient indication to him that the people deserve a new deal. MT. J. H. Scruggs has had practical expe- rience in road construction and is avowedly in favor of the types that will give the most lasting benefits and the biggest return for each dollar of public funds invested It is feared that this ideal has not been suffi- cinetly prominent hitherto. With Mt Scruggs in charge of the department of construction this cause of complaint seems likely to disappear. MT. J. r. Suttle of Perry county has good rec ord as business man, is of independ- ent means, and has been given the de- partment of highway maintenance, hitherto one of the most neglected divisions of the work. Maintenance is even more important than construc- ton, for highway that is not cared for is liability and waste of funds.
 The new commission comes into of flee without being subject to any spe- cific political affiliations. The choice is no longer by political districts, but from the state at large. The psyche logical effect of this statewide re- sponsibility cannot help but be seen in broader and far wiser con- ception of the highway requirements of Alabama. Each commissioner is to devote his time to his specific duties, with the understanding, of course, that the commission as a whole has final authority over any phase of the work. In other words, each commissioner will be the executive officer of the commission with respect to his par ticular charge, or department.
 The welfare of this state demands good highways. The popular concep- ton of a system of state highways is not large number of disconnected highway units serving only disunited centers, but of series of highways connecting all the chief trading cen ters in the state. This is the age Of motor vehicles. The old idea of gray eled roads must give way before more liberal conception of economy in road construction. A main gravel road under motor traffic is the most ex- pensive road to build, not because of the first cost, although that is high enough, but because the cost of up- Hxyil1 hon a. nal cost within the period of the bond issue of which the road is built. The cheapest road is the one that will last the longest with the least expense for upkeep. And having once built road, the builders must see to it that it. is protected from the deterioration due to travel and the elements. Every road must be regularly patrolled and must be kept in condition, surface, shoulders and ditches, by whatever system the particular type concerned demands.
 There is no single public concern in Alabama that takes precedence over highways, for good highways, travel able every day in the year, are the foundation of our other public con- cerns, whether commerce, industry, education, religion or recreation. In order to attain their highest degree of happiness and prosperity the people must be enabled to move about freely from one community to any other and must have the most expeditions means of local interchange of commodities. There must be through trunk highways to bring the tourists, whose entertain ment and possible interest in Alabama investments will be worth to this state many times the cost of the very best type of public thoroughfares. The present commission may not be able to accomplish all of this, for that will require years, but it at least can lay the foundation wisely and substan- tially, so that those who come after them will have no fundamental change to make in the way this public project is administered The best wishes of the people of Alabama preat tho no,,,