90 



i 



hering to the opinion that the National Government 

 has neither money nor means for attempting to seri- 

 ously improve the ways and communications . There 

 is no reason why a central body should not be confided 

 with the duty of attending to the principal routes, and 

 find funds enough to carry out a modest plan of im- 

 provements. With the guarantee of the State this 

 should be possible for rural roads, more or less on a 

 similar plan to those accorded under "Bonos de afir- 

 mados ' ' . 



TJie banks would find no difficulty in^idvancing 

 the money under satisfactory terms of re-imbursement. 

 What is wanted more than the necessary money is a 

 feasible road scheme. In regard to the funds necessary 

 for maintaining the roads in good repair, monies could 

 be raised by a return to the toll-gate system, if the 

 contributions for vehicles, "chatas" and automobiles 

 "patentes" were found to belong to the local author- 

 ities exclusively. I am well aware that such a proposal 

 sounds like going back half a century, but I do not see 

 why there should be any shame in this. The roads are 

 more than a century behind at present. 



TOLL GATES. 



A state contribution will always be necessary and 

 is justifiable, for from the standpoint of state security, 

 i.e., the movement of the army, good roads are neces- 

 sary. In no case will it prove so onerous to the State 

 as are the bad roads nowadays to the average country 

 inhabitant . 



In 1915 it was admitted by a Minister that the 

 losses from bad roads amounted to over one-hundred 

 million pesos: one might conclude that the magnitude 

 of the figure would startle us into doing something to- 

 wards lessening it instead of folding our hands and 

 thanking our lucky stars it is no worse. 



For the Buenos Aires water and sewerage works 

 the State was able to contract a loan, it is true at a 

 rather exhorbitant rate, which was justified by the 

 authorities on the plea that the works had to be carri- 

 ed out without delay in order to avoid considerable los- 

 ses, both of money and in welfare. 



Why then not a loan for the greatest of public 

 works, for one which in truth concerns every one of 

 the public in every sense of the word, and whose defi- 

 ciencies occasion the greatest loss of money and affect 

 the public welfare of the whole land? 



