The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1962-04-06
By FRANK SMALL

A very strange thing happened il
a Highway story wrote last week
In telling about the troubles we hav,
trying to get bridges across the Mis-
souri, and Yellowstone | tranpose,
from my notes the town of Harlem
for Poplar. Harlem was in to see the
Highway Commission about the by
passing of their town and forgo-
to tell of their plight.
Poplar is at the mercy of the fed
eral agencies because they are re,
sponsible for most of the lands on
each side of the Missouri and the cost
of connecting Poplar to the activities
on the south bank must be largely
borne by those agencies.
The pending financial ruin of life
time investments in Harlem is indeed
a fact as brought out in Superior and
Deer Lodge, which have received the
Interstate treatment.
1t looked for a while at the meet
ing last week that the townsmen from
Harlem would win out having Com
missioners Otis Waters, Ted James
and George Gosman on their side ia
voring the continuing of traffic up
the main drag around the right angle
curve. There was concern that the
proposed route curving gently to the
west would flood the water supply
when the river overlooked as it has
in the past. However the chief con-
Germ was with the loss of business
from diminished traffic through town.
The point of Comm. Stan Halvor-
SON was we'll taken though when he
pointed out the long term COMPETE
ton those along the Hi.Line were
facing from across-state traffic which
would be attracted to the Interstate
lying across the southern half of the
state.
Another study will be made of
the bypass which means that the
small towns can look forward to a
general by-passing policy because
more studying" can be done in Hell
ena than can be imagined in Boon
docks, Montana.
A bypass is very much like a
bridge if you look at it certain way.
Roads don't actually go anywhere
only people do. People only go to
other people. They transmit them
selves via roads. Rivers and towns
are only obstacles to get over or
around by certain egineering views.
Contrasted from engineering to
the river is the most |
asset the people have and |
he towns are the financial points |
which give Montana its political valid
ty.
The ghost town is familiar figure
n our history and its spectre rises
again unless some means is devised
20 raise the consuming power of our
yillages to attract commercial activi-
les in them with resultant cultural
broadening. The depressed wage scale
n our towns in eastern Montana
'eally is causing the death of the
owns. The economics of Montana
owns can not be treated as if it
we're some sort of political insurance
program which applied the formula
hat the fewer the people in the group
he less valuable the individual is.
Corporate philosophy is destroying
he survival value of Montana citi-
enship.
While the Engineering" of roads
nay dictate by-passing of towns there
hould be renewed interest in making
asy ingress and egress from the
highways for the tourists to get to
he services of the towns.
"We're all just tourists here
Ieaven is our home"
| hope Harlem will accept my
pology for leaving out their story ]
nd Poplar for leaving out their name
ast week.
Speaking of apologies that "con-