Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, March 21, 1912, Page 3

THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1912. Home Course ——In Road Making IV.—State Aid In Road Improvement. By LOGAN WALLER PAGE, Director Office of Public Roads, United States Department of Agriculture. Copyright by American Press Asso- olation, 1912, HE principle of state ald and state supervision seems to of fer the best solution of the road problem. The firat state to adopt state aid was New Jersey, & Jaw having been passed Ly the legls- lature of that state in 1891 Since that ttme about two-thirds of the states of the Unlon have adopted some form of state aid or state supervision. In order ro receive the aid of the state the countles or townships are re- quired to pay a portion of the cost. This amouut varvies in the different states from 25 to 50 per cent, but in some of the states the whole cost of certain trunk line roads is paid by the state. The principle of state aid is that the state contribute to road im- provement out of a general fund to which all taxpayers contrlbute. The fund does not come from farmers alone, but from all the people. and especlally from those that are more Many sufferers from rheumatism have been surprised and delighted with the prompt relief afforded by applying Chamberlain’s Liniment. Not one case of rheumatism in ten requires any internal treatment whatever. This liniment s for sale by Barker’s Drug Store ) RUTH M. WIGHTMAN TEACHER OFIPIANO Residence Studio—917 Minnesota Ave. Phone 168, NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY. Open daily, except Sunday and Mon- | 9|tlon as far as possible from the in- p. m. Sunday 8 to 6 p. m. Monday 7 to 9 p. m. Beatrice Mflll Librarian. TOM SMART DRAY AND TRANSFER SAPE AND FIANO MOVING Res. 'Phone 68. 818 America Ave. Office *Phone 123 EDUARD F. NETZER, Ph. C. RECISTERED PHARMACIST Postotfice Corner Phone 304 Personal attention to preseriptions NEW BATH ROOMS OPENED In connection with my barber shop I have opened new bath rooms on Minnesota avenue, four doors north of Rex Hotel. H. K. FINCH MACHINE SHOP We do general repair work of allkinds. Gasoline and steam engines a specialty. OL.AF ONGSTAD Shop—Rear of Pioneer Building T. BEAUDETTE Merchant Tailor .Ladies' and Geats' Suits te Order. Fremch Dry Cleening, Pmdu and Repairing o s l-'fl-l”lvu- - C. 6. JOHNSON Lands Loans Stocks Come & and look over my list of lands in Polk and Red Lake Counties. Office—Bacon fl INSURANCE Huffman Harris & Reynolds Bemid)l, Minn. Phone 144 PROPOSALS FOR FRAME SCHOOL- HOUSE AND BRICK LAUNDRY. Department of the Intefior; Offics of Indlan_Affairs, Washington, D. C., Feb- ruary 13, 1912, Sealed gropnwls plain. Iy marked on the outsids of the sealed envelope: ““Proposals for Frame School- house and Brick Laundry for the Leech Lake Indian School, Minnesota.” and gddressea to the Commisgioner of In. dian ‘Affairs, Washington, D. C.. will be recelved at' the Indlan Office until 2 pril 8, 1912, for fur- n.lahln? Hiateriaia Ana ibor for the oyos: tion of a frame schoolhouse and_ brick laundry _at the Leech Lake Indian School, Minnesota, in strict accordance with the plans, &pecifications and in. structions to bidders, which may be ex- amined at this office, the offices of the Supervisor of Construction, Denver, Col- orado, the Improvement Bulletin, Min- neapolis, Minn., the Pionger,, Bemiaji, Minn,, the News Tribune, Dultith, Minn., the U, S. Indian Warehouses at Ghicago, 1, St. Touis, Mo, and Omaha, Nebry The Builders and Traders Exchange at St, Paul, Minn, and at the school. For further information £ppIY 10 the Eumr- Beriool, Onigurs, Minnesots, O oK 5 3 50 A % ke, Acting Commissioner. . abundantly able to bear the burden of taxation. A great injustice has been done the farmers of this country in ex- pecting them alone to shoulder the en- tire expense and responsibllity of bullding country roads. The residents of clties have sigulfied a groater will- ingness to contribute to this fund than those who live.in the rural distvicts, notwithstanding the fact that prac- tically all the state ald laws -prohibit A STATE AID ROAD IN NEW JERSEY. the Use of the money within the limits of cities and towns. State aid tends to equalize the burden of taxation. Every one who uses a highway or recelves any benefit from it should con- tribute to the cost of its improvement. The farmer is not the only one who uses the country roads or receives benefit from them. They are also used by the country merchant, the lumber dealer, the itinerant peddler, the village doc- tor, the commercial salesman, by the wheelman and the automobilist, and to a greater or lesser extent by the en- tire people. The city dweller cannot live without his daily supplies from the farm, and he must pay daily and in cash the greater share of all extra cost attending their transportation. | Some of the state highway depart- ments are operated on a purely politi- cal basls, and it very frequently hap- pens that the highway commissioners, as well as their subordinates, are re- moved from office for purely political reasons, no matter how efficient or com- petent they may be. This is the most serious defect in our state ald system. Any law providing for state super- vision and state aid should be so framed as to remove its administra- fluence of partisan politics. A plan that seems to be meeting with general approval is one which provides for a nonpaid, nonpartisan and technically competent commission that consists, for instance, of a professor of clvil en- gineering from one of the leading uni- versities or colleges of the state, the state geologist and one civillan mem- ber to be appointed by the governor. A commission thus constituted has a majority of its members selected be- cause of their training and ability and without reference to their political af- fillations. The civillan member ap- pointed by the governor should bring to the commission the business ability essential to the proper and economic organization and prosecution of its work. At the same time, so long as the governor could appolnt only the minority of the commission and the same being nonpaid, there would be lttle inducement to make the position one of political preferment. The actual work of a state highway Mepartment should be under the direc- ‘tlon of one man possessing technical qualifications, experience and execu- tive ability. This offical should be ap- pointed by the commission. He should be a civil engineer, skilled and experi- enced fn road construction and main- tenance, and his salary should be fixed by the commission. His position should be permanent, and he should not be re- ‘moved except for incompetence or wal- ‘feasance in office. The state highway engineer should be empowered to appoint all of his as- sistants after proper examination and with the advice and consent of the commission, to receive all bids and to award coniracts, to supervise the work of construction and maintenance, and, in fact, he should be given full authorl- ty in all executive work of the depart- ment. The state highway engineer should prepare a map of such of the main highways of the state as should most properly constitute a system of state or trunk line roads to be improv- ed either In part or wholly by the state. State road improvement should be car- rled forward with the ultimate idea of il developing a continuous system of trunk lines running throughout the state and connecting, if possible, with similar trunk line roads iu- adjacent states and with the necessary lateral roads in each county. The state highway englueer should be given authority to call on county or towuship road officlals for Information concerning the roads under their super vision, and it should be made manda: tory on such officlals to furnish such fo- formation upon request. This is very desirable, as it 1s necessary for the state highway department to keep post- ed as to conditions existing in different counties. In most of the state aid laws the initiative in obtaining state ald rests with the county or township authorl- tles. This is a wise provision, because, in the first place, the local authorities are in better position to know what roads it will be to the greatest advan- tage of the county or township to im- prove, and, in the second place, they are best able to determine the extent of the county’s ability to share in the expense of such an improvement. - An- other consideration of great importance in this connection 18 that if the initia- tive were to rest entirely with the state there would be a certainty of conflict of authority between the state and the counties, resniting in the ult: mate fallure of the state aid plan. The only case in which the roads can be bullt by the state without the full and hearty co-operation of the coun- tles or townships Is where' the state pays the entire cost of building and maintaining the roads. Most of the laws provide that state aid shall not| be granted until the application of the local authorities has been approved by the state engineer, which enables the ory power over the selection: of the roads to be improved. to the end that the various:roads thronghout the state shall conform fo n general system. All surveyg, plans, specifications and estimates for state vonds and, bridges should be made by the state highway engineer’s office, thus insuring unit formity and* a hizh dogree of excel lence. Al improvements to cost over, say, $2,000 should be let to contra a8 it has been found that this means economy both in time and money and with proper supervision will usually glve Dbetter results than could be ob- tained otherwise. Some of the states provide that the whole cost shall be paid in the first iu- stance by the state, the countles or townships being required to relmburse the state for their share at a'fixed time atter the road is improved. Bridges and culverts should be con- sidered as a.part of the road and the state should aid in thelr construction within proper limitations in the same manner as for the road itself. When the work is let to contract the contrac: tor must of necessity advance money in the performance of his contract and is therefore entitled to recelve partlal paywents thereon as the same progress. es, but not over 85 per cent of the con- tract price of the work should be paid in advance of its full completion and acceptance. ‘The state highway engineer should be required to keep all roads built by the aid of the state in proper repair, the total cost of such repairs to be paid by the state, the counties and townships to reimburse the state in the same man- ner as for the construction of the road. The reason for this is that road main- tenance is of as great or even greater A STATE ROAD IN CONNEOTIOUT. importance than road construction, and the best roads if uneglected soon go to ruin. 1t is utterly useless to establish a state highway system without at the same time providing an adequate source of revenue. Unless there is a surplus in . the greasury. for ;this: puy- pose a special tax should be levied or a state bond issue should be author- i#ed. On the theory that automobiles are destructive to Improved roads most of the state aid states provide that the proceeds of automobile licenses over and above the expenses connected with issuing such licenses be applied to the state highway fund and used for the purpose of constructing and maintain- {ng the roada. Hats for Suits. THE STORE OF QUALITY the Man The new Telescope and soft Negligee Hats al"e much in demand. We have all the latest styles, in any color or.mixture to match your new Spring Coffee and Teapots 75¢ to $1.25 Preserving Kettles 60c to $2.00 Mixing Bowls 25c to 90¢ Roasters $l 75 to $3 00 Reed Enamel is a Porcelain-like, Refined, Sanitary Glass, whichis fused over a stamped steel vessel as a protection against the rusting of the vessel and the contamination of any food cooked in it. Materials for this great enamel is assembled from all parts of the world : mcludmg the Great Death Valley, Germany, and the Mountams of Green- Reed Enamel ware has a beautiful Turquoise Blue finish on the outside, and the inside is perfectly white and smooth. Milk Pans 20¢ to 60¢ Milk Pails : 50¢ to $1.25 Covered Pails 40¢ to $1. 25 OTHER REED UTENSILS IN OUR STOCK Our Clothing Collanders, Sink Strainers, Tea Kettles, Dippers, Lad- dles, Spoons, Cups, Plates, Saucers, Jugs, Berlin Ket- tles, Pails, Dish Pans, Spittoons, Chambers. GIVEN HARD Bemidji, Minn. P p 'ARE CO. e Phone 57. Is Of The DIFFERENT SORT The Clothes we sell not only have that hand-tailored dash and style, but the material, finish and general workmanship are of the best. The hidden parts, the inner linings, etc., are of the: same character as the outside. Our label in your Clothes, means more to you than any brand you are familiar with. For Our Label is Our Guarantee to You that absolute satisfaction must be had or money will be refunded without any unnecessary red tape, - Our clothing will stand any test. for dura y, for style, for individuality, for workmanship and for material. We claim and are anxious to prove that our Clothing for the same prices is superior in every way to what you can get elsewhere. Men’s Suits $10 to $30 ‘Particular Buy Your " Every new Fad and -Fancy for Men, Youths and Boys can be found at this store. stant touch with the importers and makers and receive all_ new thlngs as soon as introduced. We keep in con- Boy's Knickerbocker Suits - $2.50 to $7.50 Furnishing Coods Here | | i {