Show u I f L 1 I Pr 0 r i 9 TYi r q R r s i rTA j aoss 5c1c4L GRIClIl7L1 6 n N r AJY 4 r I f rt 1U fiST now there In I no moro Important nucotlon before the American public than 1 the general Improvement of the highways 9 to tho standard of twentieth century requirements Li t re-quirements Tim volumo of traffic over i wl tho public highways IB ciiunl to or exceeds ex-ceeds that of all the railways The food + products of tho world pass over these roads to reach tho market Had roads tA I interfere with tho regular distribution of these products resulting In an erratic Fq and Inconstant mipply for a fixed and regular demand a I Had roads have necessitated tho practice prac-tice of rushing tho crops to market nil I In a heap taking but two op three months Instead of eprendltig this delivery over six to ten months ScIon fr i t J 1 tlflcally farm products should bo moved from producer t I to consumer us they arc needed for consumption but tho farmer will find tho loads In tho winter and + t spring bad and at times practically Impassable and for this very reason ho hurries his grdln to market as I f loon as harvested I n + This causes congestion on tho railroads and works + havoc In business conditions Tho moving of tho crops ak requires an enormous amount of money and a general upheaval up-heaval In financial centers every fall Is the result of this sudden drain v J t The hurried disposition of the years crop has necessitated ne-cessitated tho building of largo storage houses In 4rmlt the grain Centers to care for It In Chicago the storage t stor-age charge Is ulna cents per bushel per year tho carrying f car-rying capacity of tho elevators of that city alone Is about 8C000000 bushels representing a storage charge of over f5000000 per year Tho passing of tho food r supply Into tho control of tho grain kings means a loss ° I to tho farmer and an additional and unnecessary cost Y f to tho consumer t Tho general Improvement of the highways of tho country Is vastly more Important to tho people as a whole than tho building of tho Panama canal the 1m mm tho semiarid lands of tho west Plioso rtwl olnrlh havethe aveled 3I Those who have traveled know that tho roads ° 4 y throughout Europe aro good tho samo Is true of Ij I w t 4 v 2 k tl + < i 1 f ifj V N < t + Kui ri 11w i n II rt I nLSF c Ya nda b rP tr 8t x iI e 4 w r Y 2 G y z IL ° I1 I t GON e T UG l4D C A TYR O < S se 0 i f rM c Z uej IOR j R 1N r90 j 6 1b 4 ° Jv It n R SUP 1OADWAY1w IS CI3IGRN A o d 8Y GOOD 2 ALAND Itfc Ml fc Australia amt Now Zealand countries newer than our l own less populous and with nothing like our aggre t0rt4y gate wealth The fact that tho rest of tho world hast has-t good roads while wo have bad JimsIs significant It shows that tho plan wo have been pursuing has not been successful In three hundred years less than eight per cent of the highways of our country have r been permanently improved and at tho rato wo aro goIng f i go-Ing It would require nearly four thousand years to complete tho job So as roadbulldors tho people of r tho United States have been a failure This Is all tho more surprising when wo consider that they aro conspicuously successful In every other i Itl4 line of human endeavor Millions upon millions of dollars have been wasted In every state In tho union T upon the public roads by Illtimed or misdirected effort 1 ef-fort and with really very little to how for tho expenditure r t ex-penditure It Is only within tho last ten or fifteen yenis that any real progress has been made along the I r + ± lino of permanently Improving tho conditions s r b t a The trouble Is wo havo been endeavoring to untangle ar t tangle tho snarl by pulling tho wrong string Without t 4 any reason for doing BO tho farmers of the country from Maine to Callfoinla from tho very first assumed that x ek tho country roads belonged to them and it was their ran d H business to Improve them and this misconception hold sway for nearly 300 years as + t < Jft A few years ago a man In Now Jersey made a discovery 1 t dis-covery It was that tho highways are public property v as much so as thou state house This raised tho question 74 n4 jty ques-tion Why If tho highways are public property should Y a not the public take caro of Its own why should not tho i state and nil property therein contribute to building c 1 i tho roads Everybody Is Interested In them everybody u4 every-body Is affected through tho markets by tho road conditions con-ditions they nro benefited by good loads and Injured by bad ones Tho now thought spread throughout tho state and finally Now Jersey led tho way to better conditions con-ditions by passing a law by which the state should contribute c con-tribute one lhlyd the money requIred to improo theY the-Y roads Other states followed Increasing tho proportion propor-tion to onehalf and In one case Massachusetts to l thrccfouiths l t In many cases of tho New England states farm property Is only a very small portion of tho total taxable property In some cases not ton per cent and when the r cost of road Impiovemenl was distributed over all property t I prop-erty of the state tho burden was hardly felt and yet ± Immense sums were raised for road purposes Best r of all the roads woro built under proper supervision a instead of leaving It to tho inexperienced hands of the + 4 local path master i Ten years ago Now York state began In a small way to aid and appropriated 50000 to start the work r f R Tho plan grew in favor so rapidly that within five years 1 + the state by an overwhelming vote passed a constitutional constitu-tional amendment providing for an Issue of 50000000 j Ij tr I f In bonds to help build the highways What a record r i In five years from fifty thousand to fifty millions The I I j laY t n4tnsFary to pay the interest on this enormous 1 i t I t n I r A l l < < 1 r i r I 4 t f t > < < r rr cl fti ° J r m r M j b Ir 4t k r tl V µ 9IY e e lkt t l 9 ° tsourx w AxorA Y 1 yti R FMr y1r a f IMPROVED fC ROAD NEAAr I k r I f ARKANJAi sum and then finally pay off the bonds will hardly bo felt by tho property owners of the Empire state owing to their Immense list of taxable property Ohio after 40 years of building roads by tho old plan of local taxation and bond Issues In which the farmer had to pay practically the whole bill has passed a state old law which will enable it to build three miles of Improved roads where It has been building build-ing ono without any Increase whatever In taxation upon farm property Virginia Is tho first southern state to join tho state aid column for good roads Kentucky Is alive to the situation and Is taking steps to change Its constitution consti-tution In order to bo In a position to spread tho road tax over all tho property in the state In certain parts of tho country notably in the Mississippi Mis-sissippi valley thero Is an entire misconception as to what tho state aid plan of road building means Some imagine the state would take control of the highways build expensive roads and tax the people to pay for them others that It Is a scheme to force road building against the wishes of the farmers Nothing could be farther from tho truth Tho state does not In any manner under a state aid law Interfere with the absolute ab-solute local control of tho highways The voters of every township decide whether any roads shall bo Improved im-proved what roads to what extent when It shall be don 1 at all Tine state has absolutely no voice in tho matter If however tho township by a majority vote decides to build a load under tho state aid plan it makes application to tho state for that purpose the state engineer thereupon visits tho locality goes over tho road proposed to be Improved with tho local authorities author-ities and decides upon the character of the Improvement Improve-ment best suited to tho conditions He then prepares plans and specifications and when these are approved by tho highway commissioners or other properly constituted consti-tuted local authorities tho cpntract Is let to the lowest responsible bidder and the work Is then done under tho supervision of the state engineer This Insures proper construction and that means durability and low cost to maintain tho road afterward Under a state aid law not a rod of road could bo built unless the residents of a township decided to do so Not a dollar of state money could be expended unless tho farmers who live in tho rural township voted for Improvements If It should bo alleged that state aid was a plan to compel railroads corporations merchants and manufacturers manu-facturers to help build tho roads It would not be far from the truth Under state aid the farmers control the situation If they decide to improve the roads the other people are obliged to help pay the bill In order to build roads cheaply they should be built extensively It costs a great deal more proportionately propor-tionately to build a half mile of road than It does to build ten half miles No contractor cares for a small Job but for a large one competition is keen It takes just as much time and bother to get ready to build half a mile of road as It does to build ten miles IJy build ing In the larger quantities from 20 to 25 per cent In cost of construction canbe saved As roads properly built will last for a great many years they should be built ns school houses and court houses are built viz by a bond Issue thus a township under state aid could build 10 15 or 20 miles of roads In one year havo the roads to use and spread the pay ment of tho samo over say 10 or 20 years If this Is done and tho state aid plan prevails there will bo very little if any increase in taxation Few people have any Idea to what extent bad roads interfere with tiavcl and how they affect the business of the merchant In the country town The Illinois highway commission has gatheted some very valuable data upon the effect of road and weather conditions upon highway Iralnc Observations were made nt j2 woll distributed points in the state and an actual count was made by tho vehicles passing upon different das throughout each month of the year covering all kinds of weather and road conditions rho report shows that traffic over stone or gravel roads was fairly uniform throughout the year while upon tho earth roads It was subject to the widest tlons Tho vnra followIng ligures nre slgnillcant and toll wvAvAj jj < jmjv The following table compiled from figures gathered by the agricultural H the percentage of Improved roadways In each state agricultural department In I 1904 shows Alabama 313 Iowa 1 Net ada Arizona 36J Kansas 126 Now Unmpshlro 265 50 South Dakota Arkansas 64 I en t lie k y 1660 New JlTSey 163 T nnessea SH California 1SS7 louisiana 13 New Mexico 01 Txn 175 Colorado GS Inlno 910 New Yorlt Utah 796 867 Connecticut 1C75 Maryland 93 North Carolina 25 Vermont 134 Delaware 220 Massachusetts 4S9 North Dakota IrglnltL District of Columbia63 Michigan 013 Ohio 3j 43 nahlnglon 309 3318 Florida 5A0 Minnesota 787 Oktahollla o ttest Virginia 67 Georgia 285 Mississippi 36 Oregon 75 Isconsln 97 Idaho 116 Missouri 52 Iennsylvania 16 7Y 210 Wyoming Illinois S41 Montana 26 Rhole Islalld 146 416 Indiana 3O4 Nebraska O South Carolina 446 The United statea 7U V moro forcibly how great Is the burden of bad Toy than anything else can possibly do Tho Clear Lake earth road leading Into SprlngjJ Illinois showed an average traffic for four day March 1DOG of Glilh vehicles per day Over the aaQi road In Juno and July tho average was 380 vehlel On the same days in PeorIa GO miles away under iii same weather conditions but over a hard road iii traffic for March was ICG and tho average for June w July 153 7 Observations at Champaign over an carh tosj showed tho average for January February and M1rl to be C3 as against 200 for September and October tit count at Decatur over a gravel road was March id i April 240 July and August 278 Over i an earth ro leading into Sullivan the count for January Febrj and March was 51 I August and September 316 While delivering an address upon good roads ih writer was once Interrupted and asked If he call favor taxing tho widows cottage to help build tb roads Ho answered that lIe certainly would as di annual tax would probably not exceed 10 or 15 rest and ho gave tho following illustration of how bad relb burden tho people A woman goes Into a groceri store for a dozen eggs and a pound of butter V19 told the prices she protests The grocer In defetu snys Well you see madam the roads are so bad nOI very few farmers are coming to town so butter uj eggs nro scarce She pays three cents more In I the eggs and four cents moro for tho butter and hi seven cents represents her bad road tax paid till evening This is repeated from time to time throuft out tho year not only In her case but in hundreds rI others In that town and in thousands of town through out the length and breadth of tho land There Is a doubt that the woman In question would benefit throtjl good roads by at least ten times the amount of C the la on her cottage It would be interesting to take a concrete examph of state aid apply It to a typical farm In ono of tli central western states and sea exactly what state ii means so far ns taxes upon that farm aro concerned For the purpose of Illustration let us take an erertp farm of ICO acres In tho corn belt of Illinois and set what the effect upon the taxes on that farm would if the state should undertake a very vigorous campalp of road building under stato aid one that contempt an expenditure of the enormous sum of 50000OMi ten years enough money to improve all the wu highways of the state connect every community JIll the market town and county seat and glvo a cos plete network of good roads from Galena to Cairo tti plan being that the state should pay onehalf the ii ponso and the townships or road districts the olr If 50000000 were expended In ten years III state would be required to ralso 25000000 of it to Then Is In the state property to tho total assessed valuatln of 1250000000 To raise 2500000 a year or IS I 000000 in ten years would require a two mill tax Von V-on this property so a twomill tax applied to all III t property of the stato of Illinois at tho present assessel vahmtlon and not taking Into account the possible I l crease In value thereof would produce the sum n i qui rod > quiredThe The records show that tho taxing value of average ICO acre farm In tho corn belt of Illinois it I little less than 2000 tho actual value being PPrctf mutely 10000 A two mill state tax on this farm I sessed on the value of 2000 would be exactly fl 11 year and no moro and in ten years the slate bj would bo 10 which would be tho farms proportion d the 25000000 total Where this farm would pa11 I It ono single corporation In tho city of Chicago wow have to pay 570000 another 190000 and the rd ways of tho state over two millions of dollars Thulf j see by a state levy of two mills for ten years oneW of the 50000000 Is provided for Tho other hall mr bo raised by local taxation or by a bond issue Let us assumo that the township In which the tars fin f in question is located votes bonds to the full consul tidal limit that Is goes Into debt just as far a M can go and pays tho highest Interest that the law pet mils It to pay Tho limit of tho bond Issuo Is fire P11 cent of tho assessed valuation so tho amount pf boob resting upon the farm would bo five per cent of IM or exactly 100 payable onetenth each year trlthli terest at five per cent The total interest on this W issue so far as this farm Is concerned for the ttl I years would bo 2750 J Thus If We add tho bonds 10000 Interest on bonds 2750 I And the state tax of 4000 J WO have a total > tax on tho farm of J1G7W which is exactly the amount of tho tax that would V levied statetil and collected upon this farm for both stato and to pay oft thc road bonds and interest This 1U10 Is about 10 cents and tho lo 111 per aero por year charge against tho farm for tho wholo ten yean wou bo 105 per acre This amount of money paid by thJ farm under tho state aid plan would enable the aUet to expend 50000000 upon Its highway and the < pendlluro of that sum would add to the value of fl f Property at least rlvo and probably ton times as t111 as tlb < respective farina would be taxed In order the bill < C ° PJ right 1MI b7 WiljliH ° tttcume I |