The St. Paul echo., 1927-01-15
INCREASED FUNDS
HIGHWAY PATROL
AskEDBY BABcOck
Plea to Legislature Asks for
Capital to Help Road
Construction.
Ask Gas Tax Increase
Recommendations Include Estab-
fishing a State High
way Patrol.

Pointing out that the vehicle and
the road are equally important parts
in any transportation system, and
picturing the automobile owners as
members of great cooperative road
building society, C. M. Babcock,
commissioner of highways, in his rec
concentrations to the legislature,
urges that funds be provided for
more permanent highways so that
our road maintenance bill and our
automobile operating bills may be
reduced.
More Funds Wanted.
Mr.. Babcock this week transmitted
his recommendations to Governor
Christianson in advance of the pub
lication of his complete biennial re-
port. To provide more funds for new
construction, he advocates:
That the gasoline tax be in
creased from two to three cents
per gallon.
That the basic rate on licenses
be increased from "a per cent
to the old rate of 2.75 per cent,
and that the minimum of $12
on small cars and SIS on large
cars be restored.
That authority be granted to
issue s10,OOO,00O in bonds for
each of the next two years.
Other recommendations for legis-
lation affecting the highways include
the following: l.
Revision Of tha state traffic
laws.
Establishment of a state high
way patrol.
Requiring all vehicles to carry
lights at night.
The trunk highway amendment in
effect made all the automobile own
ers members of great cooperative
road building society, Mr.. Babcock
says. The vehicle and the road must
be considered together. Neither is
of any use without the other, and we
should strive to keep a proper rela-
tion between our expenditures for
vehicles and for roads. Unlike the
railroads, that are required to raise
capital by selling stock or bonds for
track-building before they can oper-
ate, the automobile owners have put
most of their capital into cars, and
the state is expected to finance high
way building through contributions
made as small part of the cost of
operating their cars.
Tax Small Cost.
The total of the license and gaso-
line taxes for 1926 was only per
cent, and the total for all roads in
Minnesota, including state aid, coun-
ty and town tax levies, only about
10 per cent of the money spent for
buying and operating motor vehicles.
Other states, and many local divi-
sions in Minnesota, have obtained
road building capital by issuing
bonds, but the State of Minnesota
has never done so, and while good
progress has been made in road con-
struction, Mr.. Babcock declares, the
state has never caught up with the
rapidly growing traffic.
Although Minnesota has paved $50
miles in the last two years, the mile
age of unpaved trunk highway carry
ing more than the economical limit
of 500 vehicles per day has increased
instead of decreasing. There are
now $500 miles in the system carry
ing more than this limit. Mr.. Bah
cock, however, does not advocate
paving that much all at once, but
calls the paving of 1000 miles of the
most heavily travelled arteries urg-
ent, both for the sake of reducing
maintenance expenditures and to give
the people roads adequate to modern
traffic. Gravel is the most econom-
ical, and nearly as satisfactory as
pavement, where traffic is moderate,
but where traffic is heavy the cost
per vehicle per mile is twice as great
for gravel as for pavement, and it is
impossible to keep the surface in
good condition at any cost.
YOUNG MATRONS ELECT