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Show GOVERNMENT TO AID GOOD ROADS With the early opening of headquarters headquar-ters at Washington bj the American Automobile association, the campaign of the organized motorists of the United Uni-ted States for national roads takes on new vigor and becomes centered, properly, prop-erly, at the national capital While the principal headquarters of the A A. A. will remain in New York, the association's asso-ciation's policy of promoting the plan of road building by the federal government gov-ernment has been found to necessitate ' such close and constant touch with the varied federal agencies involved, including in-cluding the office of public roads of the department of agriculture, the engineer en-gineer corps of the United States army, the department of the interior, etc., that it is felt thaf the work ca be greatly expedited through the maintenance of a permanent Washington Wash-ington office Chairman George C Diehl of the A. A. A. national good roads board declares de-clares that the outlook for the National Na-tional Roads convention to be hcjd in Washington, March C and 7 next, is Ivery promising indeed. Every mail is bringing announcements from every ev-ery part of the country of the appoint ment of additional delegates to this convention, and it is already assured that it will be the most widely representative repre-sentative and nationally influential good roads gathering that has yet been held. A very encouraging feature of the convention preparations is the remarkable remark-able interest that is being displayed In the national roads proposal by the great bodies of organized business men, who are at present more active than ever before in the development of various sections of the country Chambers of commerce and boards of trade from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Lakes to the Gulf are naming delegates, or have announced their Intention to do so. while it is now practically assured that every stare will be represented by official dele gates named by its governor "In the eleven months that have elapsed 3inco the first federal aid convention con-vention was held at Washington the sentiment in favor of national partici patiou In highway construction has developed to a poir. where there is no longer any apparent opposition," writes Chairman Dlehl. "The only question at issue Is as to the form which federal aid shall take. The "gospel of good roads" has become as definite an American policy as the right to vote to vote or trial by jury No arguments are needed to convince a farmer, a business fhan, a merchant, a manufacturer or any one else of the essential importance of good roads The point to which attention must be given now is how to get good roads and the quickest and best way to get them is for the federal government to lay out and construct n system of national na-tional roads connecting all the states, pnnidlns a medium for interstate traffic traf-fic and furnishing an object lesson to the states, as well as relieving them of the burden of improving the main traveled routes." |