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Show THE CITIZEN I two schools of thought as to how the national government should go about the work. These two schools of thought are represented, first, by national highways; and second, by fed- eral aid. NUMBER 2297. The Citizen has accepted a Newspaper Association Membership in the National Highways Association (Washington, D. C.) with fwhich are affiliated two hundred and two road associations and organizations. It stands, not for any particular road, but for Good Roads Everywhere, through the establishment of National Highways." The Map Device at the head of this column expresses 'our interest in roads, your interest in roads. It is the symbol of an Association which for twelve years has worked faithfully and hard for the dissemination of road information, which has published thousands of maps, and millions of pamphlets, in the interest of good roads, and which believes that the future civilization of this great country will go forward as fast and no faster than we develop our systems of transportation. .The motor and motor truck have come to stay. The farmer of twenty years ago on an isolated miscalled ar oad, who today lives near a hard surface road and drives his car to town and back in an hour where formerly he required a day, knows what roads and cars mean to him. Good roads mean prosperity; they mean progress; they mean education; they mean a full life, worth living; they mean the greatest amount of goods purchased for the least amount of haulage; they mean greater profits from farm produce because they cost less to haul over good roads. Good roads everywhere mean prosperity and happiness everywhere. That is why we have become a Newspaper Association Member of the Association which will eventually produce Good Roads Everywhere. National highways should mean trunk-lin- e owned, highways built, and controlled maintained, by the national government, without any connection whatever with the civil subdivisions; namely, states, counties, townships, and towns. The money used in constructing these roads should come solely from the national treasury, and the work should be done entirely under the direction of engineers and commissioners employed by the national government. . Federal aid in road building may take a variety of forms, but the gen- - eral idea is that the national government should donate money to the various states, counties, or townships to be used by them for the construction of roads, as in the federal aid laws . now in effect. Federal autnorities have : . some kind of general supervision over the construction of ther oads, but the real authority is in the hands of the local communities, while half of the money comes from the government. The national government has the legal right to construct national highways, because road improvement, is a national concern. Railroads have long been regulated by the government under the Interstate Commerce Commission; and roads, being also a means of communication, are in a precisely similar class. If we adopt a nation-wid- e system of These roads will necessarily have a uniform excellence of construction and maintenance, having, as they will, the highest highway engineering talent obtainable to direct and carry out this work, which is possible only in ' our great 'government projects. Thus the government will lead the way and make an example for all to follow in the: attainment of good roads . . . , HIGHWAY MONEY. Roads that will comprise the federal-ai- d system of highways have been definitely designated in 24 states, according to the Bureau of Public Roads 'of the United States Department of Agriculture. A study of the system in the 34 states now approved shows some interesting facts. Nearly every city of over 5,000 population is located upon it and the few that are. ont will connect with it over, improved roads. Indications are that over 90 per cent of the entire population of the United States will live within ten miles of .a federal-ai- d high w.ayj In a number of states the figure is as high as 92 per cent and in none of the states will it drop below 65 per cent. ' The following tabulation shows the mileage in the system by states, estimates being given for. those states whose systems are not yet- - approved. The total is 187.406 miles:. Alabama 3,958 Arizona 1,498 - " : s --. y ' . ? - ' . A , U , f . ' " rn.. r . , . .. h i- V- . I t , u '? v : v , , . t , ' A vfs,? . mud-wallo- Arkansas 5,037 Connecticut Colorado Conecticut Delaware 35 Kentucky. .. Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri .. . Montana 3,360 835 266 1,855 5,662 2,772 4,987 3,957 7,154 6,423 3,250 2,667 1,393 1,036 1.290 4,582 6,801 3.290 7,040 4,697 Nebraska 5,5Ct Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota 1,456 Florida . Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana -Iowa - Kansas HOW NATIONAL HIGHWAYS DIFER FROM FEDERAL ROADS old-fashion- of good roads. ! . At the end of one hundred and forty years of national existence we have barely 10 per cent of our mad mileage with any semblance of improvement. Evidently there has been something radically wrong wtih our system of attacking the road problem. Years ago all road work was considered as a matter of purely local concern. Furthermore, it was then thought that almost any one had knowledge enough to build such a . common thing as a road, and it was due to these two ideas form of statuthat the tory labor on road work was so long in vogue, and even yet remains in a few scattered portions of the country. But gradually there was development: First, from local roads to county roads, and more recently, to state highways. Now we have progressed to still another stage, and the people are now firmly demanding that the national government take a hand in solving out road problem. As the result of this demand have grown up national highways we will speedily see our country covered with a network n s 3 f ed 988 983 3,258 4,498 3,816 4,855 4,506 Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rode Island South Carolina South Dakota TpnnpRKPP Texas M Utah- - Castle Gate, Utah, on main line, Denver & Rio Grande railroad. Vermont Virginia ! - 7,889 2,814 3,954 165 ! 3,179 8,Cj7 4,564 ..11,655 1,430 1,043 3,016 |