OCR Text |
Show IMPROVEMENT OF j HIGHWAYS WILL BE SUPPORTED WASHINGTON. D. f April 19.' Many national organizations interest-' ed in one way or another in highways improvement will support in the next congress what is now- known as thei Townsend bill. This Is evident from, the numerous inquiries received by the American Automobile association from all parts of the country. These letters find their Waj to 'he A. A. A. main headquarters because Of the reoperation re-operation of this country-wide organization organi-zation of car owners with the American Ameri-can Association of State Highway officials of-ficials in the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act, as a reSlilt of which the federal government is now spending spend-ing ?275,ooo,nnn in the nexi 2 1-2 years with a like amount contributed by the several states. Director of Roads J. E Pennyback-er. Pennyback-er. who recently resigned as chief of) management of the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads to devote his energies to A. A. A. highways work, thus outlines out-lines the support that will undoubtedly undoubted-ly accumulate behind the bill which will call for a federal system of interstate in-terstate highways. AYhile it is to be expected that, the six million motor car owners in an or-ganlzed or-ganlzed form should contend most ig orously for a maximum federal concern con-cern in roads progress, there are other national associations the mem bers of which have an equally great! interest in highways Improvement For Instance, the National Grange would' approach the subject from the transportation trans-portation viewpoint, since it profitc ihe farmer little to raise crops which cannot be economical Ij deliyered to market, The United States Chiambei of Commerce, with its powerful local: chambers and thousands of individual members all over the country, givec evidence of its Interest in the subject by adding to Its commltlees one which will devote its activities to highways betterment. The American Association Associa-tion of Slate Highway Oftioials com- posed of the respective state highway I dep. ii tments and the Fed! Bureau oi Public Roads is concerned because' these are the road building organiza- j tions upon which the various common - I wealths depend for the construction and upkeep of state highways and tor coordinating these state systems wlth a national policy to meet Interstate' needs With the road user, the road builder, build-er, the food producer, and big business coming together In the interest of a sound national policy towards high-Ways, high-Ways, It cannot be doubted that tan gible results clearly in the interest of the public welfare would result. "There has recently been a get -to -gether movement of the national bodies identified with memorial and interstate highways resulting in the formation of the Associated Highways of America. These coordinating agencies agen-cies will undoubtedly sit in when the national bodies seek to smooth out their differences at a common table so to speak, to the end that congress may know just where the thoughtful men of America stand on this fundamental funda-mental question of highway Improve men! "It is not propaganda, primarily, but counsel which is needed at this stage. It is the time for getting down to brass tacks, with each organization speaking as a whole for all the interests inter-ests of all its constituents and in a spirit of coordinating theii interests with those of the other bodies involved." |