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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1920)
'-f -HaBHICT ". .r r? rf " " f r f r The Y0L.2O,NQ.1O v .WBvr .. 1, IN if A Good Roads Plane ,;c .There is a great deal of discussion today on the Question ol! road construction I mean public highways and much is being said that Is quito uncomplimentary to tho present system of road construction.' In fact, you can scarcely pick up ft liewsnaner Without finding . cnmnTftlnf. ftttlior against the contractors or boards of commis sioners on the improper construction o roads. Wo are- not far enough removed from political influence and tho desire to graft to gdt as high efficiency in road construction, as is; necessary to guarantee permanent roads X have givfin some thought to tho question of road construction and may have read more on this" subject than tho average man, because of my hav ing the subject on my mind and, therefore, I may possibly bo more familial with tho general com plaints being made on account of faulty road construction. t I In order that wo may get away from the politi cal Intluonce and drivo the corrupt politician out 0 the road building business, I believe it would be wise to put the United States government in di rct charge of the construction of our trunk lines of. highways and authorise the United States army to supervise the construction, using their splendid engineering department, also utilizing all the present army equipment that would bo applicable to road building. ,! believe that the government should operate its own brick plants, cement plants, crushed stone pjants, sleel mills, for its structural Iron in fact, produce .all the materials needed for road construction. The Bureau of Standards should pass, upon Uie kind and quality of materials thai would be used in. the Construction of the roads and the roads should be twenty miles apart; east, west, north and south, across the United States. The engineering department of the United States army should be directed to make con tours okall streams that would permit the de velopment ol water power and wherever power could be developed, bridges should be built, with concrete going anciently deep into the sub-strati to produce propor dams and at the same time, make tho top of the bridge the roadway across the stream. .. "... This kind of construction would develop & groat deal of power that could be utilized in running, mills and at the same time, there would be water sufficient to irrigate all our small val leys, which would mean an abundance of food stuffs throughout the growing season and with good roads, the farmer would be more accessible, the consumer would be able to purchase much of his living direct from the farmer and fresh from the field. Permanent, overy-day-in-the-year roads will moan much in the way of reducing high living costs. It will make it possible for farm com munities to own jointly powerful trucks that will pull a number of traUers and will guarantee to the farmer an assurance that he can market his products at will and without depending on insuf ficient Cars ousteam roads to carry kis products to marKot. This system of roads will do more to reduce the cost of living than any one thing. It will en able those who are equipped to go to tho country for. their foodstuffs, to go direct to the farmer for them and it will enahle the farmer to "iring to. the doorft of those who do nothave this oquip mont, his products at a reasonable cost. The fanner can go to the mines for his coal and transport it ilireot,, to his own bin. Many small coal mines can be kept in. constant opera tlon that do not now have rail facilities on which they can deliver their coal. Such a system of roads would make steam lines a competitive proposition. Thereould be no hiding coal cars on blind sidings and then pleading a shortage of cars, because the small mines would bo busy supplying coal direct to users and the large op erator would be compelled to keep his mines' going, s This system of roads would class the steam roads as common carriers, instead o$ being; on- crated as speculative properties, which was the practice prior to the war and will, no doubt, again be the practice, if tho properties go bade into tho hands of the former owners. ' The United States government can popularize itself with 90 of its people by building sucK a system of roads building them quickly and, of. course, they will bo built efficiency',' 'if the ariny is in charge of the work. Think of the great' group of intelligent soldier tibys in" charge of thousands of trucks, plants for producing brick, ' J,, ..--- crushed stono plants, cement plants concrete mixers and practical in every way. Think of their interest in assisting to prepare our country for the highest efficiency in peace times and making " preparations that would make ua safe from the entire world, In case of war. The states and counties would complete tho inside, or intersecting roads, purchasing their materials from the government and building their roads under the same supervision and standards and in this system of construction, we would, in a very few years, have a system of roads that would not, or could not, be surpassed in any other part of the world. Tho cost of. government road construction would be borne equally through direct taxation by the people of the nation. The extremely ell-to-do, who enjoy their heavy motor cars, would pay their full share of road construction and this should bo so. It is the proper system, because it compells those who are amply able to bear the major portion of the burden to pay their full , share and why should not the well-to-do be cont pelled to makelarge contributions to the coun try's preparedness, if the great masses of common people are to offer up their lives in defense ot the government, when it has to go, to war? The government calls upon the farmer and mV chanic in times of great need to increase produc tion, in order that necessaries of life may too abundant, when they are needed and the response has always met with hearty approval and co-" operation. Thorefore, I believe it to be only fair and right that the government would step in at this time and take charge o our road construc tion,, to the end that every farmer in the United States would have the opportunity every day in, the year of delivering his produce to market "We have reached a point in our country to-' day, where our transportation equipment is en- tirely too heavy for our present roads, in even th most favorable seasons. There are many months in. the year, in. which the roads are, not acces sible for ourgpreent motor equipment and, iri orjler that the" .country may keep pace with the rest of the world, it; is necessity that yr begin: In the most practical way to build, our trunk !ihV highways, with the United States army in' charge, there will be no question as to rapid pro gress of the construction, no bickering as to the kind or quality of the material, there will be no political pull as to what particular stretch of road must bo built wlth'In a given time and there will he no need of complaint about the government owned and state-managed trucks, there willbe no need of inspector's who draw salaries from both the material men and the state. The cost of construction will be very much reduced and' the quality of construction will be very much in creased. If the United States army could build the Panama Canal 'and without the slightest sus picion of graft, the United States army can build our trunk line highways. Why not a?k the gov ernment to take charge, at once, of our trunk line highway construction and utilize the present equipment that the government now owns, in stead of either sacrificing it, or allowing it to rust and rot? --, , '. This plan would put all the government trucks ' and automobiles into actual service, and create an additional market for equipment of this kind and when these roads are built, the army should be in direct supervision of them, looking after the needed repairs and policing the roads that traffic rules Would be obeyed to the letter. This construction means both peace time and war time preparedness. JAMES KIRBY RISK. " ' """" ' - ' MR. TAET ON THE DRY DAW (Prom Chicago Tribune, July 27, 1920.) Polnte au Pel, Quebec, July 22. (Editor of The . Tribune.)! am in receipt of several letters com- wb w iuicu vjuw wiin me said to be tp. ported in The Chicago Tribune in which I am represented as approving a modification of tho Volstead law so as to allow the manufacture and sale of light wines and beer. I have not sm the interview; A reporter of your paper metm at the Blackstone hotel just as I wSs IeavinLS? a i extended speaking trip in the Dakotas in Jhne last. He rode to the train with me. In that con versation I expressed no opinion favorable to $ modification of the Volstead act I said I was m faror of its enforcement, that I wafaVemocrat Bpelled with a small d. and bowed to the will; the' people expressed in a constitutional way Your reporter pressed mo to say whether under ' the eighteenth amendment congress had power , to define intoxicating Jiquor in such way as to allow the making- and tale of light wines and beer with a greater percentage of alcohol than now provided in tho Volstead lawi I answered that congress had that power within the limits of good faith and that the supreme court would be very loath, to attribute bd faith to congress, a 'coordinate branch of tho government, in such a case., In respect to the enforcement of prohibi tion, I ventured the opinion that it coulct be better enforced by" moderate ppnalties and reasonable provisions than by deaconian severity, and that harshly inquisitorial measures and heavy penal ties, sought by fanatics," would obstruct rather than aid the law and would stir protest ahd turn tho people a'gainst prohibition. . As a matter of fact; I amnot In favor 'of al ' lowing light wines and beer to be sold under tho eighteenth amendment. I believe it would de feat the purpose' of the amendment. No such dis tinction as that between wines and beer on the one hand, and spirltous liquor on the other, is practical as a police measure. I did not favor nationalprohibiyon when it was an issue. It has been adopted under constitutional forms by the people and it should be enforced in" good faith. Any such loophole as. light Wines and beer would make the amendment a laughing stock. Kindly publish this. WH. TAFT. r ,..- THE NINETEENTH AMENDMENT, The Nineteenth amendment to the constitu tion of the United States reads as follows: "Sec tion 1. Tho right of citizens of She United States to vote shall not be -denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account qf.aex. Section 2. Congress shall have power by .appropriate legislation to enforce the pro visions of this .article , The amendment. Was first submitted' to' con gress January 10, 1878. It .was finally passed by.the Hqusg of Representatives on, M ay 2 J, !! and by the Senate on June '4, 1919. It was. ratified by 37 states in the following order: 111..'.-. ..June 10, 191$ N, Dak. .Dec. 1, 1919 Wis. ...June J), ,119,. S; DakWDec.., 1919 Mich. . .JunelQ, 1919 Colo... Dec. 12, 1919 Kan. .Jime 16,. 1111)9 R. -Ii .vJam.,6, 1920 N. Y. ..June 1C, 1919 Ohio ..June 16, 1919 Venn. .June 24, 1919 Mass. ..June,2j5, 191J9 Texas . .June 28, 1919 Iowa . . .July 2, 1919 Mo. ...July 3, 1919 Ark. ..July 28, 1919 Mont. ..July 30, 1919 Nebr. ..Aug. 2, 1919 Minn. ..Sept 8, 1919 XV. i. ..sept.1 10.. 191 9 Ken.... Jan. 6. 1920 Ore. .;'.Jan. 12, 1920 Ind. . r. Jan. 16, 1920 Wyo. . .-Jan.-,27, 1920 Nev.... . Febl 7, 1920 N J. , ..Fob. 9,. 1920 Idaho ..Feb. 11, 1920 Ariz. .n.Febi 12. 1920 N. M. .Feb. 19, 1920 Okla . .Feb.- 28, 1920 W. Va. .Mch.lOi1 19,20 ,Wash. .Mch; 22, 1920 Utah. , .Septr 30,19lV; "Tenn.'.'.Aug, 18. 1920 uanx, . .jnov. l, 1U19 n Conn. . .Sept. 21, 1920 Maine ..Nov. 5, 19i9 - Literary Digest. '.'' '- v ' BiQHARD COBDEN, JOHN BRIGHT, AND WDj- ' DIAM JENNINGS BRYAN --""-' ' When any man of prominence in pubft life does a thing so startling as that done by Wil liam Jennings Bryan when he resigned as Sec retary of State it. is to be expected that .the peo ple will be divided in their opinions and com ments on the action. .Mr, Bryan Is receiving both commendation and criticism. Some of the criticism in the news papers is partisan. There are mfon wlio never ' see any good in those who differ with' them on important 'questions; and theyare, in the press and elsewhere, ever like barking, snarling curs. But a great deal of the criticism in which men and women often Indulge Is due to lack of in formation aid errors 'in judgment. Ourvopininn is that Mr. Bryan's, action in re signing shoi. Id bo commended, . ' He had lang stood as an apostto of peace, in his 'advocaev thereof 'he had gone beyond Mr. Wilson eitber as a private citizen or as presi dent. As cMef magistrate of the nation Mr. Wil son, in his handling of th& problems Jn bur re lations wit! Germany and England, had not ad vanced so fir as Mr. Bryan had. Bryan desired to act in accordance with the treaties recently negotiated with many different nations and ar bitrate certain questions, President Wilson did not. Moreover, Mr. Bryan was of opinion that a note to England concerning her persistent dis regard of noufraT rights, and of international
