The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1924-05-29
]. N. MACKALL SOUNDS
WARNING TO The COUNTIES
State Road Chairman Urges
Representatives to Fight Or
ganized City Delegation

| County and the other counties of the
| State wake up and send men to the
Legislature who will combat the Bal
timore City organization, road build
ing in the State will stop, or taxes for
road building are certain to go up. In
the past the strongly organized Balti-
| more delegation has been able to make
the legislature believe that Baltimore
was the reason for Maryland; that
Baltimore was entitled to anything its
! delegates wanted; that Baltimore paid
more to the State than the counties.
and that Baltimore contained all the
Christianity and brotherly love in this
1 State of Maryland" was the fiery note
of warning sounded by John n Mack
all, Chairman of the State Roads
Commission in an address to a pack
ed auditorium of the Chamber of Com
merce Good Roads dinner at the Ha-
gerstown Y. NJ. C. A. one night re-
Gently.
"Since 1908 Maryland has been
ahead of the rest of the United States
in road building, and for that reason
in many other things, and has more
miles of improved roads at less ex-
pense than any other State, and it is
up to us to keep it in that position"
said Mr.. Mackall. eff Maryland ad-
vertised the wonderful roads of this
State as California is prone to do, we
would have greater influx than Cal
ifornia has in the winter or New Eng
land has in the summer"
The Road Commissioner compared
the road system of California and of
Maryland and showed that although
there are $4,000 miles of roads of all
kinds in Maryland, and $1,000 miles
of all roads in California, Maryland
has 2,30G miles of improved roads, all
of which is in frst-class condition,
and California has only 2,1OO miles of
improved road, 200 miles of which are
virtually impossible.
"Why has Maryland the best roads
in the Union and such an advantage
Gus showing when compared with 9TH
er States?" the speaker asked. "The
answer is that Maryland has had an
uninterrupted road program since
1908, and that program has been in
force because the road commission
has always used a fundamentally
sound policy-that of building only
such roads as the taxpayers believed
that the State could afford, and at
such times as the State could best
! afford them"
The speaker then launched an at
tack on the bonding and rebonding
for road building and showed how
the Maryland policy, which was
laughed at when inaugurated, of tax
ing motor vehicles and later gasoline,
to supply funds, has enabled the state
to progress from roads costing $4,000
per mile in 1908 to the present stand
ard of $35, 900, which he stated was
/ probably the maximum which would
be attained.
eve believe that we have built
roads just as fast as taxpayers were
actually able to build them, and just
as good as the people are able to pay
for" was the way the speaker eX-
planned the stand of the road COM
mission.
Mr.. Mackall praised the system of
taxing motor vehicles to maintain
road systems.
"These roads are built by a prop
erty tax" said Mr.. Mackall, "and af-
ter these roads are built and become
a help to every man and woman, they
should not be allowed to deteriorate,
nor should he the builder be requirded
to maintain them. The person who
uses them most, and consequently
causes the maintenance expense, is
the user of motor vehicles, and he is
the one who should be required to pay
for their up-keep.
'The demand for roads is greater
today than at any other time, and
defy any man to say we have enough
roads and won't build any more!"
was the challenge thrown down by the
speaker.
Mr.. Mackall said that he had been
confronted time and again by the
query: "Why didn't you build the
roads wide enough in the first place 2"
He stated that the State did not have
money enough to build roads both long
and wide, and that to cover the ground
it was necessary to make them mar
rover than the width desired at pres
ent. He then showed that the money
saved at that time by only building
the width road constructed, had earn
ed enough interest in the meantime to
build all the roads contemplated on
the program at present without
touching the principal.e In the
hands of the taxpayers it had proba-
bly, mounted to much more than mere
bank interest by this time, he ex-
al. IL