Show GOOD WAGON ROADS OF SCOTT- OF the House of VH March H Ferris v Chairman and Gentlemen of the I introduced in the Sixtieth Congress a bill providing for the of the post-roads of the the state and the nation to share the equally I reintroduced it this of and I very much crave Ke attention this and the as to consider the advisability such Bf Not a New B. question is not a new but a old one During the years from to 1838 this government appropriated Federal treasury for the of and since that have appropriated That the improvement of which government carries its mail 1 government is constitutional think none gainsay or K For the benefit of those opponents of this legislation who may for ulterior reasons the charge of I to refer to a resolution passed by the Congress on the day of The following is the exact of the Constitutional That Congress has power Constitution to appropriate money for the construction of and other and of and for the improvement of fB It is no less interesting that the great in convention assembled the good year embodied in their platform the following I quote with pride and no little es- We favor federal aid to and local authorities in the ana maintenance of For the Rich and nave the same observation to point fact that the roads are used by rich aid and soldier and government and even and Surely the of a medium of such general and uni- utilization is not was not never will be For if this be let all embrace it If this be the word no possesses a stigma or a For who would longer make this charge we can but stand and be amazed at them stand-jag threadbare of reason and sound iK Three Methods of There is a charge made against the im-provement by federal aid of the post-roads f this country that has at first blush more than the It is the charge ls too gigantic in its too fr this government to My reply to this charge is but to compare what government has rendered the three methods of that of the that of the and that of the common roads or of the country I can not resist before entering on a discussion of the three great methods of transporting the nation's wealth assert that the question of transportation is not outdone in greatness with even production Government Aid to This government has granted acres of the public domain to the railroads of the country to encourage them in railway This at per would be an amount to an appropriation of of the people's This Vas the granting away of homes for American families of 40 acres This was not for the benefit of all of people and to remain their but was for the direct benefit of the to become their private and for the indirect 1 benefit of all of the rest of Rural as there are rural routes in the United States of approximately twenty-four miles we have a total rural route or post-road mileage of if the amount we have appropriated to railways in government land grants could have been expended on the post-roads of this country in conjunction with the states and every post-road in this United States would have received an expenditure of per mile and there would be in the treasury to extend rural routes and bring and progress to the heart of every citizen who enjoyed its beneficent influences and This comparison must make those who would oppose the improvement of roads in their seats to observe how they have been generous in the past with which are private and how they are now practicing economy on those who are entitled to liberality and fair To appropriate for post-roads would not be passing public property into private but placing it at me disposal of for the use of and the property of all Waterways and What the Government Has I Done for The has aided the waterways of the country from time to time by the appropriation from the federal treasury of and this does not include the Panama which has already cost and in the estimation of the cost when Neither does the first amount named include the appropriation for waterways passed at this very congress for more than forty-two and passed without even a roll call or record The Greatest Good in Post to those who would oppose this legislation on the ground of impossibility of I want to call your attention to the fact that the amount expended for waterways would improve every post road under the cooperative in the United States and leave a balance on hand of for the further extension of roads for rural and thereby extend the blessings of government to the plain who produce more every year than they themselves T This would be a dis- of the of this government to producer and the to the and civilian to every citizen of the land irrespective of color or M c It may also observed that if we should appropriate same amount each year that we have appropriated this year for x waterways and there were no other source v to draw from we less than twenty years have every and I sub- 1 that it would be distributing benefits more would be more lasting in and would add more to the and power Again we may observe that the amount appropriated for the Panama canal each year for three years would improve every post-road under the cooperation plan and have money left in the treasury for extension and further improvement of rural routes and I assert that it is not only not but the part of and economy as Government Aid for Post Offices and Public It is interesting to note that the government has expended for federal buildings throughout the country more than answering the charge further of its being too gigantic in character for the government to we readily observe that an expenditure of per mile under the cooperative plan could be ex- on every post-road in the country if this amount be appropriated each year for six and one-half MUCH FOR WAR TOO LITTLE AGRICULTURE AND The American Congress is appropriating too much for war and too little for The American Congress is appropriating too much for war and too little for agriculture and internal The increase in the average for army and navy for the eight years succeeding the war with Spain over the eight preceding years is This increase for the last eight years if you expend under the cooperative plan on every mile of post-road the United States and leave in the treasury for extension more than The American people have the right to Would not the latter expenditure on roads benefit all more than the increase in annual appropriations for war or The people have a right your This eight-year increase exceeds the national debt by It exceeds the entire expense of the government for the whole year of It is three times the estimated cost of the Panama It is more than the entire irrigation projects planned for the next It is for every family in the United Interest on this increase for the past eight years at 8 cent yield per year to every family making up city of Our defenses prior to 1898 were adequate and why not presume that they are adequate No war clouds hover or about Why not spend this enormous increase on internal improvements and legislate the of this country the govern- ment by light rather than drive them away with heavy Four hundred million dollars annually for war and navy and for agriculture is all out of proportion and will not operate to cement us but will drive us It will unnecessary-tax us beyond our It will burden us for things we V do not It will necessitate neglect of things we do How wrong it is to ap- much for war and so little for industry and One appropriation makes widows and while one feeds hungry mouths and clothes threadbare Good i One is to maim and the other brings and War places homes in Peace and industry build homes instead of f One unites families in patriotism and the other dissipates and disrupts the A One adds to love of country and patriot- the other to and V I tell you such iniquities can not go on s without my I tell if this extravagance does not my protest will be the of the The amount of products that went abroad last bringing back golden treasure and wealth and power to this would in less than two years improve all the roads now used as Then this who produce more every year L than all of at home can and bring back to this shore treasure ing nearly have the right to t expect that some of the beneficent of the federal treasury may be used on the thoroughfares that make the ing of their crops the educating of t their profits in proportion to what they earn and what they and at government ex- Good Roads and V Good roads are the common milestones marking our Good like good live for- f while bad like bad re- tard our progress and Good roads make better profits for the and enable the consumer to buy a better grade of products for less Good roads are the pride and joy of the i- country that have it our duty to I tell this is not a single ap- but it is one common appeal from every citizen in every walk of It is an issue that will- not down until it is met by aid at the hands of this High Price of Living Due Partially to Bad This country is today in turmoil and furor at the enormous cost of Its unusual proportions are bringing pangs of hunger to the industrious as well as to the The wages paid the toiler of this land will not feed and clothe himself and the dependent We read of tho bread line in the and we read of the strikes in the great and it must tug at the heart strings of every citizen who has a heart to It must wound the pride of every No small portion of is caused by the inability of the market his crops when there is a demand for them at a reasonable price and forcing him at certain periods of the year to glut the market and destroy prices on account of bad with corresponding scarcity and inflated prices when roads are For with bad highways and bad roads the producer can not market his products when the markets are but when it is possible to get to market with Here the farmer gluts the market and destroys the prices at one period of the year and denudes the market at other periods of the In the one instance the consumer suffers and in every instance the producer A losing and a suffering at the hands of bad and impassable that could be and wisely improved merely by practicing economy in the lavish appropriations the army and navy for at least four or five Bad Roads Enable Middlemen to Corner The fact that during a large portion of the year the roads are wholly denying the producer the opportunity to market when he may market to It further enables a cornering of the markets and the exacting of exorbitant prices from the consumer without any corresponding advantage to the Here is an injustice that is today nation wide in the cotton-gambling evils and the bucket-shop evils haunt the producer and the consumer by day and by The Solemn Duty of I tell it is the solemn duty of this Congress to afford an open and an honest market for the producer to sell and the buyer to It is wrong to let the man who neither produces nor consumes fix the price or the seller and the buyer by reason of lax laws and the neglect in the improvement of the American highways and v In Progress and Power This Nation Stands at the in Road Improvements at the Foot of all Every heart swells with pride when we point to the sisterhood of states as standing at the very head of all the nations of the earth in power and in But how it must wound the pride of every true American to admit that with all our our and ambition we stand at th very when it comes to the improvement of our France and all of the civilized nations of the earth have improved their and here we are faltering and waiting and neglecting a duty we owe to the country and to Improve the Roads and Drive the Boys Back to the One of the greatest dangers that today haunt the American people is the universal desire of the American to leave the farm and go to the bright lights of the cities and the crowded This mania is not without a and that reason is apparent to us With bad the boy or girl living in the rural communities denied the use of the higher education that goes with the city school and that is impossible in the country schools where the country is sparsely It denies the country boy or girl the churches the the and places of With improved post-roads and high ways this distance will be annihilated evil will be and the farL H daughter and wm in the benefits that their industry and i will richly entitle them 1 These conditions are some of the J that is allowing the farm to grow these are the conditions that m the cost of living so extremely high- 6 i are the evils that will cause this nation T retrograde if not and it is the l of this congress to r Give the Farm Boy a I again Give the farmer's son and daughter a chance to attend the church the the the colleges and their their their dom from the bad their and earnestness of manner will but win them the success that their industry and intelligence have long entitled them j 1 P Farm Life 1 Improve the highways and make farm lite more attractive and the congested in the great centers will and the far- W mer's son will take his back track and again 1 take up his avocation on the farm with a light heart and willing It can but re- suit in to It will increase the scope of employment in the cities and i will increase the nation's wealth in we It will develop the bald prairies of the west and convert plain and forest into a garden of and the world will prosper and improve as the r speed 1 i Consumer Can Live fa The consumer can live more cheaply and care for wife and baby The j j with farm under a high state of can produce and market more products at a greater The the and the forest can be brought to the door of the and the world will be made brighter and better from every Do Not Neglect the Old Let us not neglect the- old homestead on- til it grows up in the weeds of about by neglect and unfair Let us not be unmindful of the old but you may tear don the cities and towns of this nation and willing hands will rebuild forsake tie farm and disaster will I order that we have cities we must first have order that we have farms we must have In order to have markets we must have In order to have transportation we must have 1 we must have working together and in unison and in accord or this nation will never reach the zenith of its ness and Results of Good I et the rural routes be and also carn I 1 the roads over which the faithful daily Let the mail go to him gol I e to his and the education and results that it accomplishes flow to him and It is worth more to in as well as in to have a P f patriotic free from o i taxes from without and more internal from This law i the plain who will defend us m of who will love us in times of Pc |