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Show REVIEW G0N0!T 1 U. S. HIGHWAYS Nation's Road Problems Considered by National Commerce Chambers. URGE FEDERAL AID Highway President Cites Huge Sums Expended With Small Results. Thn question of ways nnd meant of improving America's highways was thoroughly discussed at the time of the annual mooting of the chamber of com-mereo com-mereo of the United States recently held In Chicago. This important subject sub-ject was ably covered in addresses delivered de-livered by two of the most prominently known men in tho country, heading gTeat industrial enterprises, who are giving their time in - advancing the interests in-terests of good roads. These were F. A. Heiborlinp!, president of the Goodyear Good-year Tire & clubber company of Akron, Ohio, and president of the Lincoln Highway High-way association, and It. D. Chapin, president of the Hudson Motor Car company com-pany of Detroit, Mich., chairman of the highways transport committee of tho council of national defense and vice president of the Lincoln Highway association. asso-ciation. Mr. Chapin delivered an address in Which ho outlined the important work of tho highways transport committee which is serving to facilitate transportation transpor-tation needs through tho extension of the use of tho motor truck for overland hauls to relieve the railroads of their present staggering burden of traffic. Seiberling's Message. Mr. Seiberling spoko of the highways transportation problems of the day, saying say-ing in part: "We need, and should have at once, created and empowered by proper legislation, legis-lation, a strong, independent federal highway department, adequately supplied sup-plied with money and with broad discretionary dis-cretionary power's over its expenditures and so organized that it could make a thorough survey of the requirements of motor truck transportation and dictate to tho state, county and township road-constructing road-constructing units upon what roads their money should be expended. By this correlating the efforts of all of our road -constructing agencies and being in a position to supply additional funds where needed to augment the local finances, fi-nances, to bring about a uniform, continuous con-tinuous system connecting our main cities connecting our mines and farms and factories with our ports, such a federal fed-eral department would bo of the greatest great-est possiblo benefit to the country and accelorate tremendously, and at once, measures for transportation relief. Spend Money Uselessly. "Our total expenditure for reads, according ac-cording to tho figures of tho office of public roads of the department of agriculture, agri-culture, has been for several years past more than $250,000,000 a year, and yot only approximately 10 per cent of the total mileage of roads in the United States has received any attention whatever; what-ever; nnd less than two-thirds of that 10 per cent is in any way adequate for the type of transportation we have been considering. Further, even this proportionately propor-tionately small mileage of road improvement improve-ment does not link up to' form what can be called a road system. It is scattered; its usefulness for interstate freight transportation is negligible. An immediate im-mediate building programme, designed to connect up existing scattered construction, con-struction, is essential. War Roads Needed. "It is estimated that approximately 20 per cent of our roads will carry from 80 to 00 per cent of our traffic; or, in other words, 100,000 miles or so of permanently per-manently and properly constructed roads in tho right place in this country would practically complete our necessary neces-sary highways. At the same rate of expenditure, this national system, this wonderful adjunct to tho nation's transportation trans-portation facilities, could ho accomplished accom-plished in twenty years without a cent more than we are now expending, if some central authority empowered by the government, taking a broad, bird 's-eye 's-eye view of the national situation could, from an unbiased standpoint, designate which roads these are. The same authority, au-thority, by promptly indicating the immediately' im-mediately' necessary war roads, could bring about their uniform improvement at once with funds already available." |