EDITORIAL PAGE

Arizona Highways

Published in the Interest of Good Roads by the ARIZONA HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT

THE HIGH COST OF DETOURS

A comment from a tourist recently called attention to a phase of highway construction on which the public may easily gain an incorrect viewpoint. We refer to the very important matter of the cost of detours.

Into any contractor's estimate or proposal of the cost of building a road, on which his contract is based, is embodied the item of "maintaining detours", - practically always a considerable sum nowadays, usually running into thousands of dollars where traffic is heavy and a road is merely being rebuilt or improved without changing the location.

A case in point was from Wickenburg to Congress Junction, where the cheapest thing to do was to move the new road over parallel to the existing and only slightly improved road and build a new highway. Thus the cost of detouring was brought to practically a minimum, which reduced the bids. Incidentally the comfort and safety of the traveling public was greatly increased over what would have been the condition if the old road had been reconstructed.

It is usually cheaper to construct a highway on a new location than to reconstruct an old highway that is being used for travel. The attention of the public is respectfully invited to the above.

UNDERMINING GOOD GOVERNMENT

Addressing the League of Minnesota Municipalities several months ago, Governor Floyd B. Olson of Minnesota tempered some advice on economy of local governmental units with a well-timed warning. "How-ever," he said, "at the present time we should güard carefully the way in which government costs are reduced. If they are cut down in a frenzy, in a mood of passionate despair, in a temper of revenge, then indeed is the spoilsman likely to flourish and the technician and expert to be cut off." If words such as these were not drowned in the tumult of abuse dinning into the ears of representatives of government, from congress down, they might help to abate the frenzy a little. The chief complaint against the detractors of government is that their accusations are not specific; they lump the good with the evil. Some cynical people are likely to suspect them, having observed that there are unscrupulous individuals who profit by the bad government which unwarranted abuse encourages. Others are inclined to view the phenomenon as the spasm of a mob which-sorely chafed, it must be admittedseeks a curious, blind revenge upon its appointed governors. At any rate, unqualified condemnation of government servants and enterprises is bound to turn out a costly luxury for which we cannot afford to pay now or in the Happy Days to Come, when the habit of handing out is firmly fixed once again. It seems unnecessary to remark that government has legitimate, expanding functions which should attract efficient and honest servants no less than private enterprises. But such people will never be attracted if the service itself is stigmatized, and they cannot afford to be attracted if the economic rewards are low. By all current standards, the sins of government are not so black; we are simply paving the way for large-scale evils if we squander all of our breath in denunciation and save none for praise of what is manifestly good.

TO A HORSE

Oh horse, you are a wondrous thing; no horn to honk, no bells to ring, no license buying every year, with plates to screw on front and rear. No spark plugs to miss, no gears to slip, you start yourself, no clutch to slip, no gas bills mounting every day to steal the joy of life away. Your inner tubes are all O. K. and, thank the Lord, they stay that way. Your spark plugs never miss and fuss, your motor never makes us cüss. Your frame is good for many a mile, your body never changes style, your wants are few and easy met, you have something on the auto yet. Arkansas Highways.

GOOD ROADS AND TIRES

Not so very long ago, ten to twelve thousand miles was all that could be expected of a tire. In these days, due to smoother roads and better tire construction, twenty to thirty thousand miles represents the minimum life of a tire. Factors that add to the life of tires also add to the life of cars and mean the saving of many dollars each year to automobile owners. Wyoming Highway Bulletin.

AUTO TAXES HEAVY

The automobile is now the heaviest taxed nonluxury article in the country. Some 16 different forms of taxes are imposed on the manufacture, sale and use of motor vehicles. The annual tax amounts to 25 per cent of the average value of a car during its seven-year life. In some states truck taxes amount to as much as $2,000 annually for a single vehicle.