256 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



Advertising Association. And what was the motto and the theme 

 and the cry of their lobbyist to us? Why, these highways are not just 

 confined to the limits of one State, this is a national problem. (This 

 was before the interstate highway system was set up, but it was 

 being anticipated.) Let's make this a national beautification pro- 

 gram. They helped to defeat the legislation. 



Well, it wasn't very long, just a matter of four years, until I found 

 myself living in Washington, D.C., where my husband was a mem- 

 ber of the Senate. And I used to sit in regularly on the highway 

 department hearings and lo and behold, my old friend, the lobbyist 

 from Salem, Oreg., was there and what was he saying? This is not 

 a national problem ; this is an individual State problem. 



Well, we are a little more sophisticated about it now. But let me 

 tell you that self -policing doesn't work. You've got to have a law ! 



What has the Federal Government attempted to do? It has at- 

 tempted to coax, by offering the bonus. Twenty States out of 50, 

 have passed legislation to conform to the Federal law and the De- 

 partment of Commerce standards. But how much money has been 

 paid out because people were willing to conform or control? Less 

 than half a million dollars about $450,000 along all these miles of 

 interstate highways. Why? Because they haven't been able to 

 control billboards in most cases. 



In fact, the fault of the present law and restriction is that it only 

 applies to rights-of-way that were acquired since July 1, 1956. In 

 many places, the new highway, of course, was built along existing 

 rights-of-way and this is where we have been hamstrung even 

 though we have been conforming with the Department of Com- 

 merce standards. It is because we used our existing rights-of-way. 

 I think that the law simply has to be changed to make this much 

 more effective. I enjoyed the comments of Mrs. Fox about the tax 

 deductible item which has proliferated some of the worst abuses 

 along the highway. 



Let me come back to Oregon once more to show you an example 

 of what can be done. 



Just a short time ago I was in Oregon and traveled over a new 

 freeway through our city. It is depressed and, therefore, runs under 

 existing streets. This necessitated a lot of banks. It is very new; 

 it has been open only a very short time, and yet those banks are 

 beautifully planted with azaleas and scotch broom. It is pretty 

 now, but you can foresee what it is going to be. Of course, we are 



