| Summary |
The purpose of this study is to tell, and in some measure to interpret, the story of the good roads movement in Virginia between 1916 and 1923. The desire for improvement of roads in the state grew out of the Progressive movement which began at the turn of the twentieth century. The first two decades of this century witnessed the creation of a Virginia Good Roads Association, a Virginia State Highway Commission, and the advent of direct state aid to roads in the form of convict labor and small appropriations made available by funds from property taxes. Even more important to the good roads movement during this period was the advent of federal aid in 1916 which began a new era in road building on the "dollar-matching" principle and required Virginia to create a sorely-needed state highway system. New federal aid appropriations were made in 1919, 1921, and 1922. The heart of the good roads movement in Virginia was a debate over a feasible method of financing the state's highways. Two opposing plans emerged: A state road bond issue and the "pay-as-you-go" plan. Bond issues or deficit financing, used by many counties in the state, were very popular and widely used throughout the nation. The "pay-as-you-go" plan, an old fiscal policy in Virginia, required that state revenue be available before road construction could begin. The ensuing battle between the two opposing plans developed into one of the most controversial issues in the state's history. It brought to the forefront bitter sectional jealousies and rivalries and determined the future course of many state politicians, notably Harry Flood Byrd, Sr. In order for the state to issue bonds for highway construction, the constitution required amending by two successive regular sessions of the General Assembly and a vote by the people in a referendum. The legislatures of 1918 and 1920 passed the road bond amendment with little opposition, and a popular referendum on the subject in 1920 gave the bond issue a sizeable victory. The 1922 General Assembly, however, became deadlocked over the issue by special and sectional interests, and no fruitful legislation was passed. Immediately the cry went out for a special session of the legislature to provide sorely-needed road funds. Finally bowing to extreme pressure, Governor E. Lee Trinkle called a special session of the General Assembly for 1923. The special session passed two noteworthy measures: A "pay-as-you-go" 3d gasoline tax bill and a proposal submitting the bond issue question to the voters in a referendum. After a bitter campaign between bond advocates and bond opponents, the voters of the Old Dominion gave the anti-bonders an overwhelming victory in November, 1923, thus establishing the "pay-as-you-go" plan as the state's fiscal policy for roads. |
