The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1937-12-09
1899 FEDERAL
Continued from Page One)

mean at least 10000 man. jobs lost next
year. About 80 per cent of highway
funds he said, quoting U S. Bureau Of
Public Roads figures, go to labor.
Eighteen thousand man-job We're pro-
vided directly on Minnesota highway
work this year, he pointed out, and
thousands more, indirectly, in providing
materials and manufacturing of equip
ment.
Particularly perturbed was Commits
sioner Elsberg over the fact that the
ment recommendations would mean
that verbal promises given by the state
to communities for highway work in
the future will be impossible to full
! fill Under the terms of the Hayden
Cartwright Act, enacted in 1916, state
highway departments have been en-
abled to do long time planning, he ex-
planned. At the present time Mime
sofas program for next year is COM
plete and has been based entirely on
the Hayden cartwright Act assurance
that federal aid funds will be forth
coming.
| Commitments to communities were
made by him, Mr.. Elsberg pointed out,
| in good faith and with no suspicion
that a sudden move would come to
drastically slash federal highway aid to
| the states.
Commissioner Elsberg said the Presi-
dents desire for economy was obviously
sincere, but he cited the injustice of
the federal government diverting taxes
paid by highway users to non-highway
purposes to accomplish it. This would
be in direct contradiction to the federal
governments own road program policy
as several states have been punished
severely for diverting highway taxes to
other uses. In gasoline taxes and ex-
cises on motor vehicles, Minnesota road
users pay 100000 year into the fed
eral treasury, Mr.. Elsberg pointed out
If the entire federal aid program is
continued for the next two years on its
present basis, the government will be
returning to the state only SIS 500 600,
the commissioner added
''The federal government collected
$1S6, 542 900 in gasoline taxes from the
various states last year. 1t collected
another 0,495, 900 from excise taxes
imposed upon motor vehicles, tires, and
the like. Yet, it returned only $214,-
100000 in federal highway aid" Com
missioner Elsberg said in his letter.
"If the present proposal is successful,
federal highway aid to the states will be
slashed to no more than $125 900 900 an
nually, which means the diversion of
more than three-fifths of federal high
way revenue to non-highway purposes. %
In his information to Minnesota's
congressman and senators, Commits
sioner Elsberg also pointed out that
waste would occur in the event the pro-
posed curtailment was enacted, by de-
terioration of extensive mileage of roads
in the state which have received soil
sterilization and light bituminous sur
faces, with the understanding that adj
ditional surface treatments would be
applied from regularly anticipated fed
eral aid, already promised the state.
Also, the program to fill in pavement
gaps and to do extensive work in the
densely populated and heavily travelled
areas will have to be abandoned, he
said.
On the grounds that long time
planning is necessary to intelligent and
economic spending of highway funds,
the federal government and the states
have comparatively set up state planning
boards. These boards, Mr. Elsberg de-
clared, have not completed their studies.
Should drastic curtailment come now.
the planning boards would be dissolved
and their work to date, costing millions
of dollars, would be almost valueless.
Any supposed economy accomplished
by so nearly complete cancellation of
the road construction program in the
next several years would be purely false
economy, Commissioner Elsberg said,
as waste of what has already been
done and gradual dissolution of our
highway system would result, thousands
of men would be thrown out of work,
and economic life of many communities
dependent on highways would be ir-
|reparably impaired.