STATE AND LOCAL INDEBTEDNESS 47 by certain features that distinguish it from the preceding period. After the close of the World War Missouri gradually became aware of the fact that, if the highway system of the state were to keep pace with developments in other states, an extensive construction program would have to be under- taken at state expense. Accordingly a constitutional amend- ment authorizing $60 million of state highway indebtedness was submitted to the voters, and it was approved Novem- ber 2, 1920. The current period in Missouri's debt history might be said to have begun with the approval of this amend- ment, but since the first bonds were not issued until Sep- tember, 1922, that date has been taken as marking the actual beginning of the period. The current period differs from the preceding one principally in that recognition is given to the benefits that can be made immediately available through recourse to public borrowing. Although borrowing has been confined mainly to the highway function, the volume of indebtedness that has been incurred for this function alone implies a radical change in the system of financing state activities, as compared with the preceding period. The principal reason for this fundamental change is found in economic development, particularly in the changes occa- sioned bv the growth of motor vehicle transportation. ConsTiTUTIONAL LIMITATIONS OF STATE AND LOCAL INDEBTEDNESS The present constitution of the State of Missouri was adopted in its original form by a vote of the people October 30, 1875, and went into effect one month later. During the half century and more from 1875 to the present, numerous amendments have been approved, several of which have involved a liberalization of the highly restrictive debt policy of the state as laid down in the fundamental law. The third period in the history of Missouri's indebtedness began not many years before the date on which the constitution was adopted, and that period as a whole was characterized by a successful liquidation of the state’s bonded indebtedness. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the constitution of 1875 provided that the credit of the state should be care-