Show GOOD ROADS Perhaps one of the most important gather ngs of the present w nter as sembled in Chicago the other day when the eleventh annual convention of the Ameri an Boad Bu Iders associat on was called to o der The sabiect of good roads has attracted considerable attention in recent years It was very d fficult m the beginning to get people nterested but now that the attention of so many public officials has been attracted good roads meet ngs are largely attended and considerable en thus asm s shown over the prospects for securing mproved highways all over the United States At th s meeting of the American Boad Builders assoc ation delegates from 800 local and state organizat ons were present and governors of twenty fi e states were represented showing a w despread interest in the movement throughout the country Congress has taken up the matter and there is a prospect that some aid will be ex tended sooner or later although not to the extent the good roads en thus asts have a r ght to expect If all the money wasted each year by the senate and houBe committees could be diverted into a good roads fund what an immense amount of woik could be accomplished and how the value of property would be increased. The European nat ons are spending billions of dollars and sacrificing hun dreds of thousands of lives n a f ru t less and unnatural war Cities and towns are being leveled to the dust farms and fields devastated and the roads m northern F ance and Belgium some of them the best in the norld hopelessly ruined work that progressed favorably for a century or more has been stopped and there is no hope the roads will be reconstructed for years to come owing to the impover shed eon dit on in wh ch the var ous countr is will be left al the lose of the conflict The United States is spending hun dreds of millions on a naval establish ment in order to protect its shores from hostile fleets m case of war Will the time ever come when the vast amount of money ra sed by taxation can be appl ed to the great work of bringing water to the ar d lands of the west draining the swamp lands of the so th and building good roads all over the countryf In the meantime it s the duty of those who bel eve in the policy of bu 1 1 ing good roads to agitate the subject as much as possible and secure such help as they can from the various states an 1 the national government to say noth ng of the smaller subdivis ons and nd viduals who are alwavs ready to con tribute for any publ c improvement In doubtedly owing to the'unemployn ent of labor a glorious opportun ty exists at the present t me to build roads and put bread into the mouths of the fami lies of those who otherwise may be un able to secure work |