1902 |
Representative Walter P. Brownlow of Tennessee introduces a bill in the House of Representatives to create a "Bureau of Public Roads" and provide for a system of national, State, and local cooperation in a $20-million program for the permanent improvement of the public highways. The bill resulted from a chance meeting between Brownlow and an acquaintance, OPRI's M. O. Eldridge, on a train trip to Washington, DC. Inspired by the view outside the train window, they began discussing the deplorable condition of the Nation's roads. When Brownlow asked Eldridge to draft a bill based on New Jersey's State-aid law, Eldridge did so with the approval of Director Martin Dodge. The bill sparks controversy, but is not approved. Eldridge worked behind the scenes to support the bill (at one point sending out a million copies of Brownlow's floor speech, printed at government expense and mailed under the government frank of supportive congressmen) but when he is found to be the source of the lobbying
campaign, he is dismissed from service. He was later reinstated at lower pay and loss of his rank as second in command of the OPRI.
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Walter P. Brownlow
Member of Congress from Tennessee |
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