The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1937-07-01

There is widespread agreement
among members of Congress that
the situation in Washington today,
whether it be called uncertainty or
by some other name, is primarily
due to the fact that we have reached
another period Of national readjust-
ment when the future depends, in
large measure, on the course that
will be taken. How far shall the
Federal Government go in changing
present institutions? What shall be
done in the direction of Federal
control of hours and wages, now so
vitality affected by activities that are
clearly interstate commerce in char
acter?
These questions press for answers
and there are many ideas as to how
they are to be found. In other words,
what is to be the concepts of Gov
eminent in the future?
Those who look for guidance in
the events of the past are, of course,
studying the trends of the bygone
days. For example, the COMPRESSION
al Record of 100 years ago shows
that some of the Congressional lead
ers of the past, many of whom we
regard as outstanding statesmen,
were just as fearful for the future
in 1887, as some of our people are
about what lies ahead beyond 1887.
But the developments of the last
hundred years have amply proven
that the fears expressed in 1887 were
unfounded. There is every reason
for hope that the fears of today are
equally as unfounded.
True, poblems of today are per-
haps greater than ever before. No
community nor state is self-suffici-
ent. The price which the Virginia
and North Carolina farmer will get
for his products is affected by in
dustrial employment in Ohio and
Pennsylvania. The ability of the
manufacturers of automobiles and
refrigerators in Indiana and Michi-
gan to sell their products is affected
by conditions in Georgia and Ten
nessee. Emergencies in California,
Iowa and Florida may curtail the
supply of food in New York. In 9TH
er words, whether we wish to admit
it or not, we have come to the point
where the Federal Government must
help to find the solution to problems
the states cannot solve alone. How?
Finding the answer is what causes
legislative uncertainty and slow
movement of legislative machinery.
Too much importance depends on
taking the right course.
Nevertheless, there is growing
realization that something must be
done about regulating the forces
that have widened the gap between
wealth and numbers. There is also
realization that some of the pro-
grams and policies already tried
must be reshaped in the light of the
experience developed.
The subject of highways, one of
Importance to every citizen, offers
a splendid example of changing con-
cepts of Government responsibility
over a long period of years. At the
outset, roads were built by town.
ships and communities. Later, finan-
cial aid was given to counties by
states-New Jersey being the first
in 1891. By 1903, eleven states were
giving aid to counties and ten years
later, forty-two states were aiding
counties.
But even then highways were be-
ing built around centers of popula-
ton and not so much to connect
those centers at any considerable
distance from each other. The need
for interstate roads were beginning
to be felt. Because of this need there
arose a strong public demand that
the United States Government
should contribute financially toward
d-building, as it had done hum
dred years before.
This demand took definite form in
1916, in the passage of the first Fed
eral-aid bill, and later came the
Federal-aid act of 1921 which gave
us the basis for our present inter-
state system of roads. And the situa-
ton as applied to roads has now de-
veloped in many other fields. There
is a loud clamor for Federal assist
ance in these other fields-assistance
in handling problems states cannot
control alone.