Bisbee Daily Review

THE ROAD BUILDING LAW.

Under the new law regarding road building the supervisors in each county will have seventy-five per cent of the amount of tax collected for road building in their county to spend as they see fit, except that it must be spent for road building, not for maintenance of old roads. They are expected to act with the state engineer in mapping out these roads and in constructing them. The assessment for this purpose will be made this year and it will be payable in December. As it cannot be used until after being paid in, the only way highways can be built before December is to borrow money at the banks and issue warrants drawing interest. This is not a business like way of going about the work, but it is certain that in many counties where the roads are needed the warrants will be issued and the money for the work secured.

It is virtually left with the supervisors as to what road shall be built, as the state engineer intends to refrain from influencing the determination of the boards in the matter. He will simply see that the roads are not built which would not be state highways.

In view of this fact we hope the Cochise county supervisors will when they get ready to build new roads devote the money Cochise county is to receive to the construction of the Borderland route. This route is already advertised all over the United States where there are automobile tourists, for it is logged and mapped with the Transcontinental Tourists' association. It will be in the Automobile Blue Book next year and in all of the other books published for the information of the auto tourists. This means that hundreds of tourists will come over the Borderland route this fall and thousands more next fall. Thousands of auto tourists will come west over the Boone Lick road from St. Louis to Kansas City, and from Kansas City on to Colorado over the Santa Fe trail, will not stop in Colorado this year as they have been doing in the past, but will come on and go to the coast. They have been afraid to come through this country in automobiles because they feared they might get lost on the desert and that they had doubts about places to eat and places to get gasoline and to have repairs made.

The publication by the Transcontinental Tourists' association and in the automobile books of the Borderland route will take from the tourist all doubts and fears and they will come with a rush.

It is up to Cochise county to see that its part of this great highway is in good shape. Every dollar spent on the Borderland will bring more than two back to the country through which it passes.

Of course, the share of money Cochise county is to receive from the state tax for such work will not build the road, but it will help to a very great extent.