Hide Article Text (OCR)
STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSIONER’S VIEWSMiles Cannon, of Weisqf, a prominent business man of that city and member of the State Highway Com-mtat'on, with a party of the engineers ▼fcfwlng the route, passed through Idaho Falls Wednesday week, enroutq to St, Anthony, viewing the proposed highway from Pocatello to the Yellowstone park, or as the official title of * the road, the Idaho Falls-Yellowstone highway.Mr- Cannon was met at Blackfoot by Dr. Snodgrass of the Caly Auto company and escorted to Idaho Falls, where he met a number interested in good roads. It was the intention to proceed to St Anthony ud Rexburg immediately after dinner, but, rain making the roads heavy, only a short excursion was made and the trip competed Thursday morning.Mr. Cannon and those with him stopped at Jw?7b«rg to consult with 2aark Austin of that p»eo»% president of the Upper 8nake River VfcH*/ Good Roads association.Mr Cannon as an individual ana mwhber of the highway commission is mncK interested In good roads and states that be is pleased to see the interest manifest throughout this section, where more real interest Is shown, he states, with the exception il thtft, part of the state between Bliss and Boise, than any other part of the state traversed by the highway.Mr. Cannon, who has had a grec* deal of road-building experience, is much opposed to the present system, and states that his county spends from $50,000 to $65,000 a year on road and gets nothing bu-t a lot of temporary w+rk which doos not result in good roads, even for the time being, has /to -be- all dons over again each! year.The same condition prevails in qv ery county in the state under the present system, meaning that bne and a hKh million dollars U spent In the state each year with no real practical result.A bond issue In each county which would raiBq enough money to build good roads once and for all will solve the problem and is the only solution according to Mr. Cannon. The amount Of money paid in taxes each year fori .. ____road work would more than pay the interest on the bond indebtedness- It would cost no more than the present system and would result in permanent glt;*d roads which would not only be a comfort and a convenience, but would reduce the transportation cost to the farmer and every man who uses roads and increase the value of evqry acre! bf farm land in the stateMr. Cannon states that that part of the highway from Pocatello to tho national torestf reserve will be built and reedy for use this summer, that Jthe engineers will have completed their work and will be in Idaho Falla by Saturday evening.Tbe work can not be done through the national forest reserve until the funds appropriated by congress for that purpbse are made available. Senator Brady and other members of tho Idaho delegation are busy on the matter and it Is very likely that the road will bo ready tor use through the re* serve and to the entranoe to the park this season.In discussing the present conservation policy, Mr. Cannon stated that he was not opposed In the least to consorvaMoa but he did believe that Idaho and Other western stains which had great resources locked up within the reserve wero entitle*! to all the benefits which resulted-The stake of Idaho, he stated, had paid into the government treasury one million two hundred thousand dollars for grazing and other permits and timber sold from the joservo and that every cent of that money is due Idaho and should be used in road building and development of resources. He was opposed, he stated, to/the men of Idaho bnrrttfniftg TiTtrwHf *to dredge harbors and build government works on the Atlantic seaboard. Other stakes have been permitted to use their natural resources to their 'own advantage hut the states of the northwest are barred from that privilege. He had no objection to government control but did object to the money received leaving tho state. That money would build all the roads we need, he contlnuod.The proposed highway will be 24 fec»t wide with a 14-fofct crown. The
Newspaper Details
The Blackfoot Optimist
Blackfoot, Idaho, US
Thu, Apr 23, 1914
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Allison G.
USA 22 Mar 2024
Other Publications Near Blackfoot, Idaho
Blackfoot Bingham County News
Blackfoot Idaho Republican
The Blackfoot Optimist
Blackfoot News
Blackfoot Idaho News
