Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-12
In the Motor World
BY G. ADAMS HOWARD.

economy really is" John w. Reid
of Detroit, president Of the Amer
lean Society of Municipal Engi-
neers, declared while in st. Louis
attending a recent society con-
ference.
MANY times the endeavor to
keep taxes below a certain point
has resulted in greater costs to
taxpayers" asserted Mr.. Reid.
For instance" he pointed out, "a
city may have several streets that
are badly in need of replacement,
but action may be postponed in
the effort to keep the tax rate
down. Yet year after year more
money may be spent in maintain
ing those rough streets than the
interest charges and funding OF
a bond issue for street rebuilding
would cost. In either case, the
fellow who pays the bill is the
taxpayer.
where people are massed to-
gether in cities the city must
assume many and varied duties.
The larger the city, the more COM
plicated and costly city duties be-
come. If cities didn't grow they
could probably be operated at
fixed costs, and the taxpayer
might know with surety what his
taxes would be five years hence.
But cities grow and more sewers,
streets, schools, traffic lights,
policemen and so on must be
supplied.
that is adequately supplied with
public structures, and by that I
do not mean that it is a hopeless
struggle to keep up with the de-
mand. But I do mean that when
a municipality makes a definite
effort to reduce expenditures by
ide-stepping the construction of
needed facilities, there is a very
great danger of handicapping and
imposing a surprisingly large
burden on the taxpayer.
Bargain Prices Prevailing.
Looking at the bargain prices
that now prevail in construction
work, am of the opinion that the
city that does not go ahead with
its needed Improvements, as in
normal times, is indeed short
sighted and not playing fair with
it's taxpayers. Above all things
work should proceed on projects
called for in approved city and
regional plans.
There are still many unem-
ployed men. I know of no large
industry that requires the man
power that construction does.
Contributions through local taxes
and voluntary donations to well
fare organizations have already
reached large amounts. If, through
provision for needed public con-
Struction, some of the money 60
ing for welfare could be used to
furnish employment to men who
would much prefer employment
to charity, the city would benefit
permanently.
"It is true that in many cities
the efforts Of private citizens and
business leaders to relieve the dis
treSS brought to many families
are only partly efficient because of
failure of municipal leaders to
cooperate, with consequent
delay in work giving public con-
Struction. OftentimeS there is
on the part of political
leaders in creating new projects
But If the project is sound and of
a definite value there is no good
reason why any one should ex-
hibit obstinacy.
Numerous cities are econom-
ically carrying on improvement |
which are affording real
unemployment relief. Among these
are New Orleans, Memphis, Taco
ma and Cincinnati, while other
cities such as Houston and Kansas
City have projected improvements
for immediate construction.
kansas City recently adopted
20 bond issue proposals calling
for the expenditure of $4,000, 900
and the theme song that won the
voters approval was that of pro-
viding work, of building needed
structures, and bargain prices"
said Mr.. Reid.
Retaining Cotton.
Cotton as we'll as rubber can
now be reclaimed from automobile
tire trimmings. Discovery of a !
process which permits this sal
wage has been reported to the
Chemical Society.
Previously it was possible to re-
cover only the rubber from the
This was done either
by washing or by an acid process
during which the cotton fabric |
diSintegrated.
The actual cost of recovering
cotton and rubber by the new
extraction process in 20 per cent
lower than the acid method, and.
in addition, both are completely
reclaimed without suffering any
deterioration. The methods for
merly used resulted also in either
a deprecated product or an in
complete separation of the rubber
and cotton.
The utilization of tire trim |
mlngs, which are composed of |
rubber and long staple
cotton, has always been a difficult |
problem, according to the report. |
Though their potential worth was
always considerable, the actual |
money value was only a fraction
OF what it should have been, due |
TO faulty retaining processes
which wasted the cotton, and re-
covered the rubber in an inferior
condition.