Meeting of August 9, 1916

The question of state highways was discussed at the Club meeting of August 9, 1916. At the conclusion of the dinner and business meeting at the Hotel St. Francis, President Hodghead called the meeting to order as follows:

Remarks by President Beverly L. Hodghead

THE PRESIDENT: I wish to say in line with some of the suggestions during the discussion just before the recess that this committee which is to report on the highway question this evening (we do not call them. highwaymen in public) has done an immense amount of work within the year past in attempting to accumulate authentic information on this question of the proposed $15,000,000 bond issue; and I want to congratulate them upon the fact that so many of the members of the Club have come in after the dinner to hear this discussion.

The committee has been at work on this question for some months, holding a great many meetings, communicating with the civic bodies, supervisors and chambers of commerce in a great many of the counties of the state. They have had very valuable and material assistance from the State Highway Commission, which has given them the benefit of all the information which it has upon the subject, and it has pretty nearly all of it; and we are honored also this evening by having two members of the commission with us to assist and aid and direct the discussion.

Any subject which involves the expenditure of thirty-three millions of dollars of the state's money merits a very thorough consideration and discussion. That sum is made up of eighteen million dollars voted some years ago, and almost all of which is expended, and fifteen million dollars which it is proposed to issue provided it meets the approval of the people at the coming election in November.

The former bond issue of eighteen million dollars was approved by the people at the general election of 1910, during the administration of Governor Gillett. Governor Gillett, a few days ago, in making a statement to the Highway Commission, said that he suggested the first bond issue should be for only eighteen million dollars, not because he supposed for a moment that such sum would build all the needed highways in the state, but because when they had expended that money judiciously the people would feel so highly satisfied with it that they would really begin road building. What has been done with the eighteen million dollars is to be discussed and reported on this evening; and what it is proposed shall be done with the fifteen million dollars which you are to

vote upon in November is also to be covered by the report of the committee.

Mr. von Geldern, the chairman of the committee, collaborating with the different members, has an exhaustive report here which will, I have no doubt, constitute a library of information on this question. It will be printed and sent to the members. After its reading, and the reports of one or two others of the committee, we wish to have the discussion continued by the members of the Highway Commission and the members of the Club generally.

Now, we will first have the report from the committee through the chairman, Mr. von Geldern.

Report of the Committee on State Highways

MR. VON GELDERN: In October, 1910, the report of a committee was read before the Commonwealth Club which dealt with the thenproposed State Highway Act, an act subsequently adopted by the people, which authorized the incurrence of an indebtedness of eighteen million dollars to provide a system of highways for the State of California.

The committee did not endorse this act. While expressing its approval of the necessity of constructing modern highways, its conclusion was this: "That the act fails to meet the conditions that are sure to arise, and that in its present form, instead of proving a benefit to the public, it is likely to become a hindrance to the satisfactory completion of the very object which it seeks to accomplish."

The Commonwealth Club members present, by an unanimous vote, disapproved of the proposed bond issue of eighteen million dollars for the construction of state highways.

Objections to the Original Act

The objections which the committee enumerated were many. The principal one embodying them all, however, appeared to be the ambiguity of the act in its attempt to deal with problems that require considerable deliberation and a thorough preparedness, before entering upon the expenditure of so large an amount of money.

1. The act made no provision for a properly qualified body, to be created for the exclusive administration of this great work, such as was subsequently called into being without any apparent legal authority; for, with the exception of the State Engineer, the officials authorized by the act to handle this huge project were in no sense professionally qualified. They were: The Governor, the chairman of the Board of Harbor Commissioners for San Francisco, the Superintendent of State Hospitals and the State Engineer. Upon this so-called Department of Engineering, so heterogeneously assembled, the entire responsibility of the construction of an adequate highway system for one of the largest states in the Union was made to rest.

2. There was no provision in the act for the maintenance of this system of highways after its completion.

3. The committee, in its criticism of the act, referred to the exemption of the City and County of San Francisco from bearing any portion of the interest burden of the bonded indebtedness, and it questioned the legality of a bond issue in which the principal is a lien on

the whole state, while in the payment of interest certain subdivisions of the state are exempted.

4. The relation of the state to the counties in matters of finance and administration were discussed, and the difficulty of a harmonious co-operation was pointed out by the committee.

5. That it will be impossible to construct the system of highways enumerated and described in the act with the amount of money to be voted. The committee went very carefully into figures and estimates, and its conclusions were definite.

6. The lack of all plan for such a great work appeared to be a grievous fault. It was the unqualified opinion of the committee that before the people were asked to vote on an important measure of this nature it should be made clear to them, in a more definite manner, just what was to be accomplished with eighteen million dollars of their

money.

What the Act Specified

All that we were given to know about the location and construction of the proposed highways was this: That there were to be two great trunk lines running north and south through the state, one traversing the great central valleys and the other running along the Pacific Coast, connecting the county seats of the counties through which they pass, either directly or by means of laterals or branch roadways.

The selection of these routes was left in the hands of the Department of State Engineering; in fact, the law appeared to be very definite in making this department the sole custodian of this work. It was authorized to purchase, receive by donation, dedication or lease any right-of-way, rock quarry or land necessary for the construction, use or maintenance of the state highways, and it was authorized to proceed, if necessary, to condemn under the Code of Civil Procedure. any necessary property of this kind. All supplies, materials and machinery were to be purchased by this department, and no law could have been more definite, or more liberal in investing a public department with an unquestionable authority. There was no reference to any subsequent commission.

All that was asked of this engineering department was that the highway to be constructed by its officials shall be permanent in character and finished with oil or macadam, or a combination of both, or of any other material that in the judgment of this department shall be most suitable and best adapted to local conditions.

We note again that these important powers requiring professional skill and ability in a special field of engineering were by the act placed

into the hands of four men who had specific duties of their own sufficient to occupy all their time, and it became evident to the committee that provisions to administer, to control and to supervise this work would have to be made subsequently, if the act carried, and that this subsequent provision should have been clearly defined in the act itself, in order to avoid legal entanglements that may arise later on.

Cost of Construction

The cost of construction was gone into by your committee. The then State Engineer, Mr. Ellery, stated that the cost of macadamized highways runs from $6,000 to $7,000 a mile, depending upon local conditions. Gravel roadways cost about half this sum and concrete construction may reach double the cost of a macadamized topping. Good earth or earth-oiled roadways, wherever adequate, make the most economical highways of all.

Naturally, this statement was more or less indefinite, and it, therefore, became a problem difficult of solution to determine just what could be accomplished with the eighteen million dollars. In the first place, nothing was known of the probable overhead expense. This must amount to a considerable percentage, in a case where the organization to carry on the work has not been established and where neither plan nor survey exists to indicate the method of procedure. It goes without saying that the mere establishment of a system will take considerable deliberation, considerable time and considerable money.

The Present Condition

In November, 1910, the act was submitted to the people. It was duly approved and for about six years the work authorized under it has been in progress, and the available money has been nearly all expended, and $20,160,000 of interest money will have to be paid within the next forty-five years.

The people are now asked to vote another bond issue of fifteen million dollars to continue the work. This committee has been requested to study the problem and to submit to this Club the result of its studies. In order to treat this subject systematically and intelligently, it will be necessary to ascertain just what has been accomplished with the original eighteen million dollar appropriation.

It is extremely difficult for anyone not thoroughly acquainted with the activities of a highway commission to pass upon its work. To do so from the standpoint of the engineer or the roadway builder requires a thorough inspection of the highways; to treat the problem from the