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[Events are taking p lace with amazing rapidity. With the end of the War, there can naturally be ex­pected all kinds of busi­ness readjustment. The prevailing sentiment should be unbounded op­timism—backed by the knowledge that even as success has crowned our efforts in war—so also we can well meet the exigen­cies of peace. As ever, this Institution can be depended upon for the maximum of as­sistance and cooperation.

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WILLMAR TRIBUNE Established Feb. 19, 1895.

Published every Wednesday at 328-330 Benson Ave., Willmar, Minn., by Victor B. Lawson, under the firm name of Tribune Printing Company.

TELEPHONE NO. 51.

(Entered December 5, 1902, at Will-mar, Minnesota, as second class matter, under act of March 3, 1879).

THE TRIBUNE PUBLISHES ALL OFFICIAL MATTERS OF COUNTY AND CITY.

One year, in advance $1.50 Six months 75 Two months 25 One year to Canada 2.00 One year to other foreign coun­

tries 2.50 i — — — _ — — — _ ^ _ ^ _ _ ^ _ _ . .

The printed mailing list is corrected the first of each month. If the yellow slip shows no credit one month after you pay, please notify us.

In sending change of address, give the old address as well as the new.

The restrictions of the War Indus­tries Board under which we were obliged to cut off all subscribers in ar­rears has been relaxed, with the re­commendation, however, that the rules be adhered to as far as possible.

PERSONAL MENTION IN LOCAL EXCHANGES

(Raymond News.) Mrs. John Lindner was a Willmar

vistor Monday. Ernest Person of Wllmar called on

his trade customers Saturday. Jerry Bonnema was in Willmar be­

tween trains last Friday. Miss Ida Heller was a Willmar vis­

itor Wednesday. Wm. Bucholtz was a Willmar vis­

itor between trains Saturday. Miss Hannah Martins accompanied

her nephew to willmar on Monday. Miss Berkness who visited with the

Misses Minnie and Frieda Holtz last week returned to Willmar last Satur­day.

Anita Doesken visited over Sunday at Willmar with the E. Person family.

Dr. Wanner of Willmar was here on professional business Tuesday.

£ (Meeker County News.) C. B. Nelson of Willmar was visit-

' Ing old friends here the last of the * week. Mr. Nelson was in business

here about twenty-two years ago.— , . ' Dassel Department.

Lawrence and Malcolm Cole came I , down from Willmar and spent Sunday

i. with their folks in town. Miss Francis Olson went to Will­

mar, Tuesday noon, to recuperate. j6 _^ Francis has been ill for eight weeks Tj" " with the "flu" and pneumonia. She

- Is stfll so weak from the effects that „ p . Miss Florence Perry accompanied her

ttri to Willmar to see that she arrived safely.

Green Lake Breeze.) Rev. A. M. Lunde and daughters

were at Willmar between trains Mon­day.

J. Albert Peterson of Willmar was a guest of relatives here on Tuesday.

Nels Johnson left Thursday on a several days business trip to Willmar.

John Bergman and Ole Berg left Thursday1 on a business trip to Will­mar.

Rueben Benson returned to Willmar Thursday after a short visit at the J. E. Glarum home.

Miss Alice Boreen returned to Will­mar Saturday after spending the holi­days at her home here.

Mis* Amelia Carlson left Thursday for Willmar for a several days' visit with her sister, Dena, who attends the Willmar Business College.

Meter's Ice .Crew arrived the fore part of last week and on Monday be­gan filling^tho ice house*./ They will #0ft atari loading car* until the latter

part of the week as the ice is too thin to ship.

Mr. Henry Desens sold his residence and plot of ground east of this city a few days ago to a gentleman named Gust Klutzke of Willmar. Mr. Desens is planning to move back onto his farm north of this city.—Litchfield News Ledger.

Miss Frances Olson, who had been staying with the A. W. Peterson fam­ily, left yesterday for her home at Willmar. She had been somewhat poorly from the prevailing influenza —Litchfield Independent.

An exchange says: Physicians working 18 hours a day, eating and sleeping irregular, riding in the cold, over bad roads are subject to what is known as the hunger disease. Don't let the doctor leave your place on an empty stomach, no matter whether it is meal time or not. Doctors are too proud to ask for something to eat, but it will not be necessary to use violence to get them to absorb a cup of hot coffee, a few fried eggs, warmed over potatoes, a slice of pork or a chunk of hot beef would look good to them Don't forget it.—Ex.

Mrs. C. H. Ahlfs returned last week from the Willmar hospital where she was operated upon for appendicitis and gall stones.—Clara City Herald.

(Atwater Press.) Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Anderson

went to Willmar Saturday for a visit. Misses Florence Nelson and Abigail

Falk returned to Willmar Monday to resume work at the Seminary.

Litchfield Saturday Review.) Miss Cora Palm visited at the Ed

Benson home in Willmar while en-route to her school work at Browns Valley.

Miss Florence Perry was in Will­mar between trains Tuesday.

WHAT TO USE TO PREVENT APPENDICITIS

Wilmar people should know simple buckthorn bark, glycerine, etc., as mixed in Adler-i-ka, flushes the EN­TIRE bowel tract so completely that appendicitis is prevented. O N E SPOONFUL Adler-i-ka relieves ANY CASE sour stomach, gas or constipa­tion because it removes ALL foul mat­ter which clogged and poisoned your system. The INSTANT action sur­prises both doctors and patients. Carl­son Bros., druggists.—Adv.

Makes the farm a better and more desirable place to bye and to work.

DELCO-UGHT Vbm oomput* Bl«otrlo ttgut and

Fow«r Slant.

PETER PEARSON, WILLMAR

SOUR, ACID STOMACHS, * GASES OR INDIGESTION

"tape's Diapepsin" neutralizes exces­sive acid in stomach, relieving

dyspepsia, heartburn and distress at once,

Time it! In five minutes all stonv ach distress, due to acidity, will go. No indigestion, heartburn, sourness or belching of gas or eructations of undi­gested food, no dizziness, bloating, foul breath or headache. © ^ ^

Pane's Diapepsin is noted for its speed m regulating upset stomachs. It is the surest, quickest stomach sweet­ener in the whole world, and besides it I* harmless. Put an end to stomach distress at once by getting a large fifty-cent ease of Pape's Diapepsin from any Jjrug store.*) You realize in Ave minutes how .needless it is to suffer from indi­gestion, dyspepsia or anv stomach dis­order catted by fermentation doe t* ajeeative adds fat *t«s*a«h, - *.

OBSERVATIONS (By a Cornfield Philosopher.)

XX—LEGISLATIVE LETTER. The Legislature met promptly at

noon-on Tuesday with every Senator present except Gooding, and all o f the 131 members of The House in their seats except one Hodnapp of Blue Earth who was absent on account of illness.

Lieuteant Gov. Frankson presided in the Senate and Geo. W. Peachey was elected clerk with a full comple­ment of other officials.

Ah appropriate resolution relating to the death of Theodore Roosevelt, the first citizen of the Republic was adopted by a unanimous vote. Geo. H. Sullivan, the defeated standpat leader filed notice of a contest against W. W. Wilcox, the non-partisan candi­date who won out on the face of the returns by about fifty votes. Sullivan expects to m a k e * hard fight for this seat for without his leadership the re­actionaries in the Senate are at a de­cided disadvantage.

The House. As already noted, W. I. Nolan of

Minneapolis was-chosen Speaker with the solid vote of all the members not endorsed by the League except two, Strand of Lake and Miner of Minneapolis, radical labor leaders who cast their lot with the organized farmers.

Two League members, Nett of Stearns, and Scherf of Goodhue, voted for Nolan for personal reasons. The League voted for J. A. Urness of the banner League County of Douglas, giving him 23 votes. Oscar Arneson who has been chief clerk for several sessions and is well qualified for the place was elected to that position by a unanimous vote with a full set of other officers. The League members from the 9th District made an effort to elect Wm. Nelson of Crookston, as­sistant Sergeant at Arms, who held that position two years ago, but he was defeated mainly by the efforts of Rep. Carlson of Polk County. So all of the minor positions went to the supporters of Burnquist.

Bills Introduced. The first bill introduced into the

House was presented by Nimocks of Minneapolis, and prohibited the dis-display of the Red Flag, and other emblems. It is a radical measure and some think it covers the buttons of social and benevolent orders as well as the we'll stick buttons of the League, but it is a long ways yet from being a law.

The Tonnage Tax. Hon. A. C. Welch of McLeod, leader

of the League forces in the House, introduced a bill providing for a ton­nage tax of 10 per cent on the net value at the mouth of the mine of all iron ore: A similar bill fathered by the League and Labor members has been introduced in the Senate. Rep. Bendixen introduced a bill for a ton­nage tax of 2 per cent, similar to the measure defeated in the Senate two years ago.

To Abolish the Safety Commission. s Senator Bessette and Rep. Pitten-

ger, both from St. Louis County, have introduced a bill in each House to abolish the Safety Commission. Pitt-enger says the Safety Commission Act was a war measure purely, and the war now being over, it is a useless expense. In addition to this, Senator Bessette proposes or has submitted a resolution providing for the investiga­tion of the activities of the Commis­sion including its expenditures, etc., which is bound to excite a hot debate. To Ratify the Prohibition Amendment.

Rep. Haugland of Chippewa intro­duced in the House a joint resolution to ratify the National Prohibition Amendment. Dr. Safford, the head of the Anti-Saloon League, hopes to get action on the measure early next week. It is almost a foregone conclu­sion that it will pass both houses. Some predict by a two-third vote. On Thursday both Houses adjourned over Monday evening when the Commit­tees will be announced and on Tues­day, the regular grind will begin. It is expected that a bill appropriating $30,000 to pay the Wolf bounty will be the first act to become a law.

— The Governor's Message. While there may be a good deal in

the Governor's message that all must agree with, especially that relating to the promotion of genuine American­ism, yet its general tone is re-action-ary in the extreme and it breathes a spirit of hostility to both the organ­ized farmers and organized working men. The Governor recommends that the old party system be restored, so that all candidates must run under a party label, including members of the Legislature. A bill of this nature was badly defeated two years ago, but a desperate effort will be made to put it through at this session. Labor agitators, including Nonpartisan Lea­gue organizers—although he did not specifically mention them—who go about stirring up strife and creating "class feeling" should "not be allowed to run at large." The Governor rec­ommends the ratification of the Prohi­bition Amendment.

The Safety Commission is highly praised and some of its orders should be enacted into law. The Governor struck hard at voluntary labor organi­zations, insisting that they should be compelled to incorporate and thus be­come legally responsible. He con­siders the Red Flag which Socialists use as emblem of world brotherhood as a menace, and its display should be prohibited. He wants the Home Guard and Motor Corps because they are composed of mature, level headed and patriotic men made permanent, and more stringent laws enacted defining "Sedition and Disloyalty," and finally that School teachers should get bet­ter pay for their services. The mes­sage will be divided and referred in Sections to the standing committees for action and bills will likely be pre­pared covering all of these, and many other recommendations.

Notes.

The organized farmers need not be ashamed of their first venture into politics. While they have only ten of the 67 Senators and twenty-four of the 131 House members, and cannot therefore expect to enact legislation by their own strength alone, yet they will he able to make up the Issues and put every member on record.

Northwestern Minnesota came into the limelight on the first day. Rep. Victor Holmquist of Kittson, made the speech nominating J. A. Urness as the candidate of the organized farm­ers for speaker. He was followed by Rep. Berve,of Marshall and Enstrom of Roseau, who seconded the nomina­tion. The speeches of these young farmers delivered without apparent embarrassment in t h e presence of a vast audience were 'so apt and so pointed,that they drew applause even from confirmed' standpatters.

Nobody was «*n4 among <h* law

mm makers who enthusiastically praised the Governor's message as a whole However a strong effort will be made to put the Governor's program through.^ ••-/'•"*

The House refused to suspend the rules and pass the 130,000 appropria­tion for Wolf Scalps. It is a fore­gone conclusion that the bill will be­come a law early in the week.

The "Big Three" in the House membership are Theodore Christian-son of Lac Qui Parle, Charley Warner of Aitkin, and C. M. Bendixen of Red­wood. The former will undoubtedly be chairman of the appropriations Committee, and both the other* will get important places. All of them are old experienced members with pro­gressive records and none of them very enthusiastic friends, of the Gov­ernor. The fate of progressive legis­lation in the House will depend large­ly upon the course taken by these gentlemen.

The two most determined oppon­ents of the program of the organized farmers among the. new members, as developed so far are Reps. Adams of Ottertail and Serline of Kanabec.

The Governor says in his message that the Legislature should devise laws, which, if possible, will secure to the farmer the truth instead of falsehood. That is a long felt want that the farmer-owned press is rapidly filling and no legislation is necessary.

The Senate will be the battle ground during the session. The two ablest re-actionary leaders of the last ses­sion, Sullivan and Duxbury lost out at the election and there are none to take their places. Magnus Johnson, for the farmers, and Mike Boylan the plumber orator from the Range, ably reinforced by others, will make it mighty interesting in that body for the defenders of privilege.

The. farmers who belong to the League and those who do not are fraternizing, and on many measures since their interests are identical will be found voting together. Rep. Pitt-enger of Duluth who introduced the bill to abolish the Safety Commission, if so disposed, can get that measure up for consideration within two weeks.

The Governor's message is remark­able for what it omitted. No men­tion was made of the reign of terror and lawless violence; of the Tonnage Tax; of rich tax shirkers; or of the great profits of the Beef Trust, or of the Steel interests. Not a word in the message could be construed as being offensive to big business.

There is a general feeling that the Constitution should be amended to allow the issuing of bonds for the construction of highways, but the League and Labor forces will insist that the amendment shall contain the words, and "other business enter­prises." The tug of war will come over these words, as they mean State grain elevators, storage plants, pack­ing houses, pulp mills and even elec­tric railways, if necessary.

Rep. Wicklund has the honor of being the first League member recog­nized by Speaker Nolan. He was ap­pointed a member of the Committee on Mileage the first day of the session.

OF THE STATE

HOW TO AVOID INFLUENZA

Doctor Says to Cut Out Fruits, Sweet and All Fried Foods.

To be immune from influenza cv out fruits, greasy foods, sirups, confei tionery, honey and fried foods. This i the advice of Dr. Frederick de Lue o Boston, an expert.

Here are some of Doctor de Lue'. influenza pointers:

Influenza bacillus locates . raosi readily in rheumatic people. Acids in the system are the cause of colds. Chocolate that we give our soldier ooys makes acid, and acid serves as food for the influenza bacilli. Boiled rice is a better ration than chocolate.

Measuring the Height of Clouds. A scientist attached to one of the

bureaus at Washington has been en­gaged in measuring the height of clouds by photography. Simultane­ous pictures of a cloud were made by two cameras placed 600 feet apart and connected by telegraph wires. From the amount of displacement of the cloud caused by viewing it alternately from each end of the 600-foot base line its height could be calculated. Some of the "mackerel sky" clouds photo­graphed were seven and a quarter miles high. The loftiest clouds whose elevation was thus measured belor"-to the type known as cirrus, or *i cloud," the height of which was a lit­tle more than seventeen miles.

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DEPARTMENTS: Academy

Business Music

per ; Tuition, Board and Room $25.00 month, by the year in advance.

For information address: P R E S I D E N T ' S O F F I C E

North-western College Fergus Falls, Minn.

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Babcock's Plans for Improvement of Minnesota Highways.

By HARRY G. DAVIS Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:— Your presence at this enthusiastic

gathering today assures me that there is little need of presenting any lengthy arguments In favor of road improvement in Minnesota. Never­theless, it will enable me the bet­ter to explain the comprehensive program for permanent road building in the state, as outlined by our cap­able and progressive commissioner, Mr. Babcock, if I preface the explan­ation with a brief consideration of road problems and the need of ex­tensive road building. An outline of these, problems and needs, you, will see, leads us directly to the merits of the plan which is being officially recommended to the legis lature. .

In considering the problem of good roads, our attention is at once direct­ed to two closely allied questions: First, that of transportation, and second, the more technical question of road construction. A thorough —that of transportation—automati­cally leads us to a proper and satis­factory solution of the second prob­lem. In other words, it is a simple engineering question to build roads if we first understand exactly what burdens of transportation will be placed on these roads.

New Era of Transportation. We are simply stating an axiom

when we say that we are now in the first stages of a new era of transpor­tation. For the past dozen years, we have seen the automobile rapidly re­placing the horse in pleasure and light commercial traffic. We are now witnessing the nrotor truck sup­plant the horse in heavy commercial transportation, and it will be only a matter of a few short months until we see the motor truck take the place of the railroad train in the transportation of freight in less than carload business. This has already taken place in many parts of the east and would be an accomplished fact today in Minnesota were our roads of a type which would make the operation of the motor truck practical.

A Road Census. Even close students of highway

transportation problems have been startled by the revelations of a traf­fic census taken on thirty-four state roads in Minnesota during the sum mer of 1918. These roads were situ­ated in a various parts of the state and were carefully selected so that the average of the traffic on them might safely be considered the aver­age of the traffic on all state roads. The census on each road was taken for a seven-day period and the re­sults carefully tabulated. The traf­fic was divided into two classes, light and heavy, and each of these classes again subdivided. Automobiles and horse-drawn buggies were considered light traffic and motor trucks and horse-drawn wagons were classified as heavy traffic. The tabulated counts of traffic on the thirty-four roads revealed that 94 per cent of the light traffic was automobiles, while only six per cent was horse-drawn. The check on the heavy traffic was motor propelled while on­ly 55 per cent was horse-drawn. A comparison with the traffic census of 1917 on the same roads, shows that there was an increase in the use of motor trucks on our public highways of 400 per cent in one year.

What the future holds in store for us in the matter of motor truck transportation, no one can foretell, but it is very certain that the roads of the future will have to be con­structed with a view to this kind of traffic in ever-increasing volume. In order to prepare for this traffic, it is necesasry to change the type of our road construction and this brings us squarely to one of the controlling considerations which have resulted in Mr. Babcock"s re­commendations to the legislature.

Motor Truck Problem. In addition to forcing the con­

struction of a different type of road to carry this traffic, the motor truck has still another effect on the road problem, namely, that of in­creasing the length of routes. Where the horse-drawn vehicles used to de­mand a road ten or a dozen miles long, the motor truck now travels fifty or seventy-five miles with equal ease and equal expense. This com­pels us to treat the road problem on a larger scale, or rather as a larger unit than was previously the cus­tom.

It always had been necessary to treat the highway question from the point of some unit. For instance as an individual road, as a local road district as a township system, as a county problem or from a state or national point of view. When the preponderous proportion of traffic was horse-drawn and the maximum distance was twelve or fifteen miles, the county unit was the maximum basis of which it was proper to treat the problem. This was recognized

BANK OF WILLMAR Resources $1,100,000.00

A Safe and Sound Banking Institution.

If it were possible to use any greater precaution in making this Bank a sound financial institution we certainly would have done so.

Organized as it is under the stringent State Laws, every trans­action must have the approval of the constituted Authorities, who regularly inspect its books.

We write Insurance and represent the strongest and m«f t re­liable Fire, Tornado and Hail Insurance Companies in the World.

We loan money on Farms and City property.

Your account is solicited and appreciated.

BANK OF WILLMAR A. E. RICE, President. 8. B. QVAIiB, Vice President.

N. S. SWENSOK Cashier. EDWIN SEL.VIO, Ass't. Cashier.

by the f ranters of our constitution and the members of our legislature have never seen fit to depart from the precedent. The furthest point to which they have progressed has been to recognize the state's interest in highways and to provide a fund with which to aid the counties in con­structing roads and bridges, perhaps with the object of obtaining co-or­dinated systems of improvements in contiguous counties as well as en­couraging improvement in the indi­vidual county.

In the days of the horse-drawn ve­hicle, the road question was one of purely local importance and one county, as a whole, had little inter­est In what another county was do­ing. The commerce of any communi­ty so far as it moved over the high­ways, was very restricted from a geographical point of view, and there was no logical reason for enlarging the unit.

But that day has passed. Now the county unit is too small. Many careful students of the good roads question have been converted to the belief that a National Highway Sys­tem is necessary: few are to be found who favor treating the problem from the point of smaller unit than that of a state system.

County Unit Impractical.

But we have found recently that there are some in Minnesota who are still talking of the county unit plan and urging re-enactment of a statute similar to the so-called Elwell Law, which was repealed by our 1915 leg­islature. We believe that these peo­ple have formed their conclusions without full consideration of all premises and that any enactment which would seek to bind the road question to the county unit would-be a step backward.

In addition to the argument al­ready stated that there i s a need for road improvements on a larger basis than that of the county unit, if mo­tor traffic is to be properly cared for, there are two other considera­tions which would make a statute similar to the Elwell Law and a comprehensive road system in Min­nesota incompatible. These are:

First, the state has no authority, and never can have under an Elwell Law to compel a county to proceed with a road building project. The State, no doubt, has sufficient au­thority to provide by law the rules and regulations governing any im provement the county sees fit to make, but it can never force the county to make an improvement un­less the proper county officials con cur. The state might, through con trol of the state aid fund compel a co-ordination of improvements in ad joining counties when they are made, but could not obtain the continuous trunk lines, or arterial roads, so necessary to the proper development of the resources of the state.

Second, the Elwell Law, or any similar statute, is not adapted to con­ditions such as obtain in the Nor­thern part of the state, where the distances are vast and the values low. There is a road, or rather a part of a road, in Mr. Babcock's Trunk Highway system, which ex­tends from the Northerly l imits of the city of Minneapolis to Grand Rapids and connecting there with a road to the Iron Range and with a road at McGregor which leads to Du­luth. This Minneapolis-Grand Rapids road passes through the following counties:

An Example Cited.

Anoka, Isanti, Kanabec and Itasca. The total length is approximately 178 miles and on a basis of $25,000 per mile for a hard surface would cost $4,450,000. Of this road, 22 miles is in Itasca County, which extends for many miles beyond Grand Rapids. For sake of better illustrating the point I have in mind, let us elimin­ate this section of the road beyond the Itasca County line and consider the remaining 156 miles.

This portion of the road would cost, on the basis already stated, $3,900,-000. The Elwell Law proposes that the state pay one-half, the county one-fourth and the adjoining real es­tate one-fourth. Mr. Elwell says the assessment of real estate should be spread back three miles from the road on either side. Now we will analyse the problem.

The State's proportion would be $1,-950,000, or a little more than we re­ceive in one year from the one mill levy as provided by Section 16 of Article IX of the constitution. This would make the road impossible from the point of view of the state.

Let us now see what would be the situation as relating the counties. Anoka county has 26 miles, which would cost ..$650,000, or $162,500 for the county's share. Anoka county's assessed valuation is $6,000,000. To raise $162,500 in Anoka would re­quire a tax levy of 24 mills.

Isanti county also has 26 miles and its share also would be $162,500. Its assessed valuation, however, is only $4,600,000. Here a levy of 35 mills would be required.

Kanabec county has 34 miles and its share would be $212,500. Its assessed valuation is $3,700,000. The levy in this county would be 57 mills.

Aitkin county has 70 miles and its share of the cost would be $437,500. Its assessed valuation is $6,700,000 and its levy would be 65 mills.

With these cold facts staring us in the face, it does not seem probable that the counties would be likely to proceed with such an improvement. This would be doubly true of Anoka county where the road runs along the Eastern boundary of the county and the center of population is far to the westward.

Now comes the consideration of the so-called benefitted property. Mr. Elwell, in a recent interview, said that the assessment should be spread back three miles. We can treat this point of the -subject without regard to county lines. On his proposition there would be six sections of land assessed for each mile of road. The road would cost $25,000 a mile and assessing one-fourth, or $6,250, to six sections would mean an assessment of $1042 per section, or $1.62 an acre. I think you will agree with me that this is rather a high assess­ment when you take into considera­tion the market value of some of the land along this road.

No, gentlemen, such a statute as the Elwell Law will never solve the road question in Minnesota, Theo­retically, it may sound alright but when put to the test of practical application, It will not do much to "lift Minnesota out of the mud."

A Trunk Highway System. My purpose on this rather lengthy

discussion of these concrete princi­ples surrounding our road building problems has been to lead to an ex­planation of the program recommend­ed by Mr. Babcock. I wanted to fix these points in your mind so that you might know some of the considera­tions which directed Mr. Babcock and bit associates 1a their dattbaratlou

COME! Join With Us on- Our Next Excursion.

and See for Yourselves, the Great Land Value. We Have to Offer

*- l a T h « r-

LOWER RIO GRANDE

Much has been said with reference to the resources, opportunities and possibilities of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. . , . . -••

Fourteen years ago, this Valley was a vast cattle ranch, without a railroad. Since, the advent of die St Louis; Browns-viHe & Mexico Railway, these lands have been placed on the market and made available for the farmer, people from all over the world have been attracted'to this wonderfully rich country, by reason of its climatic conditions and general healthfulness, together with the excellent opportunities offer­ed for the growing of corn, cotton, hay, sugar cane, trucks, fruits, as well as for dairying, hog and stock raising and di­versified fanning. Twenty towns and villages have been established in this great Valley since the railroad came in; and the shipments for 1917 totaled 2£19 carloads of food stuffs harvested before June 1st

This Valley is from three to fourteen miles in width and fifty miles long; and all the lands within the reparian rights are available for water from the Rio Grande River, through one of the finest irrigation systems in the United States; and this water carries with it a silt which acts as a fertilizer for the soil, which produces three abundant crops a year. In 1917, 60,000 acres of the Valley cultivated under irrigation, produced and sold over $6,000,000 worth of pro­duce, during the driest season in the history of Texas.

The J. C. ENGLEMAN LAND COMPANY'S IS South Fourth Street, Minneapolis, Minn.

Make Your Reservations Early

by writing or telephoning the Nelson-Osmundsen Co., General Agents, Granite Fal ls , Minnesota, or our local representative,

Ruddy Brothers Willmar, Minn.

and which resulted in the decision to come out flatly for a constitutional Trunk Highway system to be built and forever maintained as public highway by the State of Minnesota, a system which would reach into ev­ery section of the state and which could be built of a type which will take care of the fast growing motor traffic.

The recommendations of Mr. Bab­cock, which will receive the atten­tion of the Legislature at its pres­ent session, and about which there has been so much printed in the state press, involves the adding of a new article to the Constitution of the State of Minnesota, and briefly em­braces the following points:

1. The creation of a new system of Trunk Highways of approximately 6,000 miles in extent, reaching into every portion of the state and afford­ing a reasonable means of communi­cation between all centers of popula­tion of 2,000 or more, to say nothing of the hundreds of smaller villages and towns, and the rural population adjacent to the lines of the system. It is proposed that the state shall have the power to locate, re-locate, construct, re-construct, improve and forever maintain as public highways the roads in this system.

2 Creation of a fund, to be known as the Trunk Highway Fund, the pro­ceeds of which shall be devoted ex­clusively to the work of building and maintaining the roads In this system. This fund is to be derived from the revenue received by taxation of mo­tor vehicles, but the legislature is to be authorized to add to this fund by providing that money received as Federal aid may be appropriated to it. A provision is also made that in event there is a deficit in the fund in any year, the legislature is authorized to add to it from any unappropriated mon­eys In the state treasury or by a tax levy on all assessable property of the state In an amount suffipient to bring the fund to a balance which will meet all demands on it. 3. Authorizing the legislature to tax motor vehicles domiciled in the state on a different basis than other per­sonal property is taxed but providing that any tax so levied shall be in lieu of all other taxes for state and county purposes. Briefly this means that the license fee on motor vehicles will be fixed at a much higher point than is now the case, but that the license shall be in lieu of personal property taxes. 5. Repealing that part of Section 5 vide by law for the issuance and sale of bonds of the state of Minnesota to provide money to carry out the intent and purposes of the amendment. These bonds will run for a period of twenty years, will bear a rate of in­terest not greater than five per cent and shall be retirable one-twentieth each year from date of issue. 5. Repealing that part of Section 5 of Article IX of the constitution which forbids the state to engage in, or become a party to works of Internal improvement, so far as it relates to the work of building, improving and maintaining the roads in the Trunk Highway system. 6. Authorizing the Legislature to pro­vide by law for the necessary adminis­trative machinery to carry out the In­tents and purposes of the amendment and to regulate the construction im­provement, maintenance and use of the highways in the system.

matter is that the proposal does not disturb the state road and bridge fund commonly known as the "state aid fund," which is established bv Section 16 of the Article IX of the constitution. This is the one-mill tax which is distributed to the counties on a basis of one per cent minimum and three per cent maximum to any county. Neither is the county and township road and bridge funds dis­turbed.

The purpose of leaving these funds intact was to enable the counties to build lateral or feeder roads necessary to weave the Trunk Highway system into a comprehensive and serviceable network of well improved roads. These secondary roads are necessary to pick up the traffic at the points of origin adjacent to the trunk highway, concentrate it on the main road and then, when necessary, take the traf­fic of the trunk lines and distribute to the point of final destination not located on the main line.

Three Classes of Roads.

Under the proposed plan, the state will have three classes of roads, each with a well defined service to perforin. First, there will be the Trunk Line system, which will carry the through traffic from one section of the state to another. This will be the backbone of the Minnesota Public Highways and will be built and maintained by the state at state expense. Then there will be the secondary system. This will be comprised of the 7,000 miles of state roads not included in the trunk line system. These roads will be improved jointly at county and state expense, through the operation of the state aid funds. They will be the main feeders of the trunk sys­tem and will be the branch lines tfty_ concentrate and distribute the trat1-c to and from the main lines. lastly there will be the teritory or local road system, which will feed the feed­ers. If you will pardon the expression. and will be built at local expense. They are the roads which lead to the outlying farmers gate; the roads which give him access to the trunk line.

Real Merit of Plan.

Would Apply to Roads Only. This is a concise statement of the

recommendation of the Commissioner of Highways. It will be noted that It does not disturb any of the provisions of the constitution, except In so far, and only so far, as these provisions interfere with the construction and maintenance of the roads in the sys­tem. This has been planned deliber­ately BO as to remove the proposition from the objections that it was tear­ing down restrictions long contained in the constitution or that it was set­ting a precedent for attacks on consti­tutional provisions relating to other

f f i f t ? * JLW,** M r ^ c o c k ' s Idea that the Trunk Highway system be submitted to the people ln such a form that the only question they would S E £ t o / s k J l , : !*> ™» ™ n t this road system? and not have it complicated by other considerations not at all re­lated to the question such as prece­dent for debts.

Does Not Disturb Present Fund. One Ttry Important feature which

*o« a* tnpttr oa tine free of U»

The real merit of this plan is seen when we learn that approximately eighty per cent of the money expended on state roads in Minnesota during the past five years has been used on the identical roads to be embraced in the trunk Highway system. This will mean, if the amendment carries, there will be available for the secondary system, or the state aid roads, ap­proximately 16,000,000 annually, or $60,000,000 in the ten year period required for the re-construction of the trunk system. This will afford enough money to bring these roads to a state of Improvement as high as that of any road in the state today that is not hard surfaced; a state of improvement, which, considering the lighter traffic which will move ovei-them, will be equal to the hard surface placed on the main trunk lines under their heavy traffic. There should be no trouble to obtain sufficient money for the local roads so that in 1931, the probable year of completion of the trunk line system, the state should be able to give vent to this proud boast: NINETY SIX THOUSAND MILES OF HIGHWAYS AND EVERY MILE ADEQUATELY IMPROVED.

Financing the Road. Now a few words as to the plan of

financing. One of the earliest meth­ods of financing highway construction was the establishment of the "toll road." The toll road was a road which was built with private capital and the builders were given a right to levy a tax, or toll, on every vehicle passing over it. . The plan was based on the principle that the traffic was benefitted by the road and that the user of the road was the proper one to pay for it.

Of course the toll road was a primi­tive proposition and I believe the idea was abondoned many years ago ex­cept as it was applied to the financing of bridge construction. The principal objection to the plan is the annoyance > although some say that others were * benefitted who do not pay their share, as for instance the merchant who pro­fits from the patronage of customers who pay a toll In order to get to his store.

While the plan of the toll road has long fallen Into disuse the principle i« employed In the proposed method

Continued on page 6.

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