The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-11-24

A curtailment in the amount oi
 snow and fee removal work on State
 Highways must be anticipated this
 winter, according to State Highway
 Commissioner William J. Cox.
 Writing in the current issue of The
 Automobiler. official publication of
 the Automobile Club of Hartford,
 he says the reduction is being forced
 by three factors. These are short
 age of labor, conservation of vital
 equipment and a sharp reduction in
 State Highway Department income
 Commissioner Cox pointed out
 that the enormous demands upon
 the labor market affects the State
 Highway Department as severely
 as it does industry and commerce.
 New trucks are unobtainable and the
 current fleet must do the jcb for
 the duration of the war. Funds are
 being curtailed in direct ratio to
 the reduction fin gasoline taxes,
 drivers license fees and motor ve-
 hicle registrations.
 The article reads in part, as fol-
 lows:
 we used to pride ourselves on the
 high quality of our work. Roads were cleared completely and prompt
 iy. Service of that sort required 7 eduipment and men in increasing i quantities, and enough money to keep the service operating efficient ly. As the State Highway System was extended in size, more and more equipment was purchased = some for replacement and the rest to care for new roads. Men were hired to operate the equipment and the department not only kept pace with the growth of the road sys- Item, but 1t sought to improve the duality of its work on each mile Iof that road.
 'ThiS expansion was so gradual over the years that all of the users lpf the State Highway System have come to regard complete removal of Enow from all state roads as the usual thing. With the State High way system at gross mileage of p 800 sS of June 30. 1942, connecting lall of the settled areas of the state, lt can be seen that users Of the state iSysten comprise almost all of the motorists in Connecticut
 l Before considering the quality lpf service that we will have avail able this winter and in the succeed ing war period. 1t Is necessary to take stock of the means we have lat our disposal, We have q fleet of trucks in the State Highway Depart lment, to be sure, but 1t is fleet Ikhat already has felt the pressure snf war and preparation for war. It ISs R fleet to which the customary IAdditaons could not be made in sat- kSfactcry quantity last year. It will Ebs recalled that even at that time the needs of defense had slowed up the production of durable goods, such aS trucks. for the use Of civil aan agencies. ] "A year ago the competing needs of industry and the military serv- ice aAade some impression on our operations but the influence was Inot too apparent until after Pearl Earbor. Then 1t was that the State Highway Department felt the full force of the msnpower short ages that seem to beset most activi- Ieies in the country. Men with spe- eial skillS entered industry; men within the military age brackets entered the military service and, like lmany other working organizations ,In ths country faced with the same conditions, the State Highway De- Ipartment found itself with 8 peak (demand for maintenance work and a reduced labor supply. The rapidly diminishing number of men avail able makes our problem doubly acute. Unlike industry our work does not permit employment of women to replace the missing men.
 '"The automotive industry is engaged in war work which means, for practical purposes, that we must make our present equipment last for the duration the only change in the labor situation is an accelera- tion of the difficulties that have beset us for year.
 4ueu LileEe IS u AcW 4aSVo1, u4le full influence of which we cannot tdorsee with accuracy. We are go- ing to lose revenue, a great deal of the money that everyone took for granted during the days of unre- stricted motor car operation. The importance of this last may be measured by the fact that since the late 1920's all of the money devoted to State highways in Connecticut has come from highway users in the Form of motor vehicle and operator lees and gasoline taxes, The only exception has been matching federal funds which, In view of the federal