Show AKING UNITED STATES AWAY BEHIND REST OF THE WORLD IN THIS WORK EVOLUTION OF THE HIGHWAY Ak awakening nIng of the people to necessity for fop road improvement slow process state governments at last aroused vote money for work by HOWARD H GROSS Is it not strange that in this country where we have tho the largest aggregate ot of wealth that the world has ever known and where we havo have achieved the greatest success in human history along certain lines of endeavor that we have failed to keep pace with the march of progress and that we are a century behind the rest of the world in the matter of handling public roads the conditions of the highways in american are a great surprise to the foreign traveler who has haa been used to smooth hard bard roads throughout his land upon his arrival in now new york he Is overwhelmed by the immensity of the buildings and the gigantic scale upon which everything la Is done A day or two in tho tha metropolis prepares him to believe that americans americana can do anything and accomplish anything the resources of the country seem to be boundless in this frame of mind he starts his journey westward and against the plan were soon among its ita foremost advocates new jersey began state aid with an appropriation of per year lnla sum was soon increased to five times the amount the state aid plan oil of road building spread from state to state until now fully halt hair ot of the states have adopted it and it has everywhere proved popular and successful it la Is the plan that gets the roads and so BO distributes the burden that the taxa tion alon la Is not appreciably higher than it was waa before state ald would hava bay been impractical in the early days oz 01 the republic but now under the coun try wide plan of distribution of 0 food products and the factory output and the enormous amount of city and corporate property nil all of which la is bene fitted by good roads the plan removes a heavy burden from the farmers by requiring all classes of property to stand its just proportion of the cost new york presents a example of tho the growth of the good r roada oads sentiment and the possibilities ot of road construction this state began state aid with a measly appropriation of but in five years by a heavy majority voted a constitutional amendment ment authorizing the issue of of bonds for state aid in road building thus the wave of progress goes on with increasing momentum and it will eventually sweep the whole country when one looks back bach over tho the cam laign for good roads in any community ho be finds that when the subject was first brought up scores of good people became frightened at the tha expense and they were loud in denunciation of the proposal saying and believing that it meant the confiscation of their property that they never A 74 T V 3 va V xa ni YI 4 VA axt i R ah V i 14 itla 1 V IU ki V I 1 splendid trap rod road near lagrand 0 ore re this splendid road Is near la orande akande oregon it la in built ot of trap rock and has ha proven of 0 inestimable benefit to a alne stretch of country counte nine such roads are to bo be built photo supplied by the united states ot of public rhoada from the railway window he can see roads that are practically bottomless bottom leBa and teams struggling through tho the mire that la Is nearly knee knea deep ila he la Is perfectly amazed that such conditions should obtain ile iio cannot understand why it should be so in a country that has baa uch such I 1 marvelous resources the fact act is that america la Is the only country in the world that la Is rich enough to stand the drain handicap and the losses that bad roads impose again may we ask why la Is it that in this land where so many great successes have bavo been scored in so BO many fields that wo we have utterly failed ailed in dealing with the highways in the writers opinion the reason will be found in certain fundamental misconceptions they dato date back to colonial times in tho the early days the people settled along the water courses in the valleys farming was done in I 1 t primitive way it was the day of t the he homespun the hand band loom and spinning wheel were wera found everywhere the people lived very simply what they wore they made what they ate they raised the community was self belt centered and had very little to do with the settlement over the bills in the next valley the spirit of 1 borne bome rule was vaa everywhere dominant the roads were regarded purely ax as of local concern they were just juat such auch I 1 oads as aa the people cared to build and nd whether good or bad it was no ones business but their own thus the concept that the tha highways were purely a local matter and did not concern any one outside of the immediate vicinity became firmly established and held bald undisputed sway until about 20 years ago abena when a new jersey man made a discovery that was far more important than finding the north pole and that was that tho the roads roada were public property they belonged to all the people and as such it ft was the states duty to take up tho Q question of highway improvement and not leave the whole burden upon the towns township pip ahern the amount of taxable property was limited dallied it was shown that the worlds food supply had bad to pass over those these roads end and that lad bad roads increased the cost of delivery made the food supply instead of constant and that bad roads produced a havy burden to everyone every ona and was a serious economic error A movement was started for state aid in road building it met great opposition and principally from those who would most greatly from it the farmers they feared it was a sebe achem rwei to take tahe the roads out of their hands and no telling where they would land or what taxation would be put upon them but the tha movement grew because it was vas right in two or three years yeara after tho the people had had the experience of building roads roada un or r tho plan lad used and paid for thim them they found it was rt a splendid in and that instead of adding to their burdens aba grod roads tok many burden off the plan became i lo 10 0 o popular opposition died out and 1 thosa who aln at first wern vera strongly could stand the tax and that good roads spelled ruin in every case however where the plan was proceeded with by state aid the people were surprised that they had bad the roads and that they did not feel the tax that in fact more and more roads were demanded up to the lawful limit thus it has ever been and probably wll be tor for years to come good roads mean more social life more pleasure less drudgery they mean better schools a more enlightened and intelligent citizenship they mean progress and civilization |