Evening star., 1936-06-24
The Story of Aft M. Landon
Chapter X-Methods That Worked.
BY RICHARD B. FOWLER.

TINE story of the two methods that
produced the Kansas legisla-
ton is as old as the knowledge
= of human nature. The Gov
ernor of Kansas called in the strongest
men of the State and saw to it that
they got credit where credit was due.
The methods are suggested in the
story of the financial legislation; but
it Is the cumulative effect Of the entire
program that is most important.
Gov. Landon promised to cut in half
the already low license fees on motor
cars, to put the highway department
into a SOUND financial condition and
to speed up road building. 1t looked
like cutting in half $4,000, ,000-a-year
source of revenue. The program ap-
peared to be contradictory.
BY typically Landon methods the
loss was made up by stopping the
leaks. AS he predicted, halving the
fee didn't mean halving the income.
People in the sparsely settled sections
bought license tags for the first time,
with the result the income the first
year was 100000 above the estimate.
Closing the leak on tax-free gasoline.
presumably used for tractors and farm
machinery, was an item worth several
hundred thousand dollars. 1t was
done after one of Landon'S statiSti-
clans discovered that all the farm ma
chinery in Kansas running "a hours
lof, couldn't h1lrY1 q II
the exempted gasoline.
A port of entry law, pioneer legisla-
ton, brought in the necessary addi-
tional revenue. Sixty-five offices, or
ports, were set up on highways enter
ing the State. All trucks were re-
ouired to stop. The law made it pos
sible to collect ton-mile tax assessed
on some $4,000 trucks that pound the
Kansas highways and it stopped a
large part of the bootlegging of gaSo-
line in and out of the State. The in
come from the ton-mile tax jumped
about $3.50 900 year and income from
the gasoline tax was increased $l,00O,-
600 year.
From Hill City, out in the fiat, tree
less regions of Western Kansas, there
came in distress a dust-blown farmer
named Minor Young. He must see
the Governor-it was about his trees.
Young had a beautiful half-mile row
of cottonwoods. Some 80 years ago
he had set them out. Now, Kansas
Highway 81 was to be widened 40 feet
and run straight as a gunshot across
the State to scoop out his trees.
The Governor called in his secre-
tary and said, willard, you are &C
quainted out there. Those people
seem to value their trees"
They think more of them than
anything except their kids" said Will
lard Mayberry.
To insure effective highway build
ing, Gov. Landon had established
policy-hands off the engineers. He
wanted roads that went somewhere.
But what of Minor Young's trees?
The Governor got the Highway Com
mission on the telephone. What about
Highway 81? Couldn't it be managed
without cutting down the cotton
woods? The engineers said, mo, there
is no way to miss the trees without
putting kink in the road on a fiat
plain"
Well" said the Governor to Young,
"I'll not let them cut your cotton
woods"
When Minor Young went away
beaming, Mayberry said, Did you
know that man is one of the strongest
Democrats in his part of the coun-
try?"
It forgot to ask him." said Landon.
There is a kink in Kansas Highway
81 today, and for half mile along
the road is a row of beautiful cotton
woods.
X x
A state of war always has been