The Coolidge examiner., 1943-12-10
Plan Postwar
Works Program
Now,IsUrged
Coolidge, Florence, Casa
Grande men hear state
highway engineer empha
size need of starting def.
mite work program te
absorb men back from
service and people now ir
defense industries.


Consideration of practical
community works program I'd
cushion the effect of postwar
unemployment" was urged by Ber1
nard Touhy, state highway engil
neer, at meeting Tuesday night
in Coolidge. The meeting was at
tended by Coolidge, Florence and
Casa Grande men, as well as repl
resentatives of the state highway
department.
Such a program, Touhy said, is
urgently needed to absorb the
men in service who will be return4
ing and seeking work and large
numbers of people in defense in
dustries who will be out of work
when the war is over.
Don't let history repeat itself, I
warned Touhy, speaking of the un1
employment problem. Lets get
going now on a definite program
of work that will take care of
those people who will otherwise be
unemployed"
Present at the meeting, in addi1
ton to Touhy, were DR.. R. VI
Campbell, president of Coolidge
Chamber of Commerce; J. Jl
Jones, Chamber of Commerce sec1
retary; Ben Arnold, Louis Fiscel,
county engineer; Carl Mcfarland. /
Robert Denton, county supervisor
from Casa Grande; Howard Gosa,
H. o. Pace, state highway COM
mission, Casa Grande; P. M. Brad
bury, resident location engineer
state highway department.
Practically all states are setting
up some sort of works program|
and are giving careful and intelli-
gent attention to the postwar per-
iod, Touhy said. The federal gov
ernment is likewise considering
steps to be taken to prevent a re-
occurrence of the unemployment
problem experienced after the last
war. 1t was pointed out by Nc
Farland that the California legis-
lature has appropriated seven mill
ion dollars for postwar planning.
One of the programs command
ing most attention at present, both
from state and federal viewpoint.
Is that of roads and highways.
Federal grants for road work are
already being sought in many in
stances and with some sort of
state-federal road plan going into
effect, the highway construction
program will be considerably ex-
panded, especially with regard tol
farm-to-market and town roads.
"The state is in the picture, y
said Touhy, "only because it rep
resents an agency that can help
communities get started and be-
cause it can aid in supplying en-
gineering talent which is practi-
cally impossible to secure"
General community planning
boards have been established else
where in the state for the pur-
pose of investigating projects with
an eye to whether or not they are
practical and desirable. Unrea-
sonable projects will be weeded
out. At Touhy's suggestion,
Campbell named three men-Ar-
mold, Mcfarland and Jones-toI
form a planning committee for
Coolidge.
The committee will fill out an ap-I
plication setting forth Coolidge'sI
greatest project need. This appli-
cation will be submitted to the
state highway department, which
acts as state planning board.
AS stated by Jones, COOLIDGE
most needs an adequate sewerageI
system. Preliminary work for
such a project has already taken
place, the sewerage, district hav-
ing been surveyed and mapped by
engineers and application filed
with the Works Project Admins
tration. At present, the applica-
tion is being held, pending approx
al of state health department and;
military authorities.