Show this illustrates a piece 0 mountain road in norway in the late spring or early summer note the heavy square stones set by the road side to prevent the traveler from off in the dork or it for any reason he was careless AN Is born with a restless spirit and early exhibits a tendency to roam children three years old i v a legga wander away led by curiosity to ex alore the unknown the savage picks his way long distances as best he can through forest or pral rie as the case may be he builds no roads but goes forward in the line of least resistance the buffaloes of the prairie follow beaten paths it is said the streets of boston were made to follow cow paths of colonial days when civilization came to mankind we find among its early activities evi dence of progress in road building As light dawned upon him he found an economic advantage in making the paths smooth it also entered his consciousness that to remove ob shades to travel was a common duty of everyone and not the special duty of anyone or a few no truer saying can be to ind than that the condition of the public roads in any community is an indication of the standard of civilization not an intall ble one of course but very trustworthy never it will be interesting to note what the world has done and is doing in making the roadway better so they will more fully meet the economic and social needs of the people and the state measured by the age of the mediterranean and oriental coun tries our own land is but an infant but it has grown and waxed strong beyond any of its ancestors it not only has learned much from the older countries but has been able to aach them many things as well in some things however we must confess that we stand at the foot of the class one of our two most conspicuous failures in the administration of public affairs is the inefficient wasteful and corrupt methods of administering our great municipalities and the other failure even more complete relates to the not only inadequate but idiotic methods that have pertained to the question of public highways space does not permit nor is it part of the story of the road to set forth the signal failure in the mismanage ment of o 0 cities but rather to point out some of our shortcomings as to the public highways u compared with the rest of the world A well known advertiser in speaking of the excel lence of his product and its popular ity says there s a reason and so there is a reason why we have so corn plemely failed in doing our duty to the road there has been money enough expended upon them in the last three generations to have made boulevards of all the main highways yet they are not much better as a rule than they were a halt century ago and this is particularly true in the middle west take for the purpose of illustration and as a type the great state of nois the third in the union in wealth and population in the last 30 years there has been expended on the high ways of illinois in grading bridging malting and spoiling the roads ap proximately and what is there to show for ita the larger part of this colossal sum has been tritt ereA away by honest but misguided effort by doing the wrong thing the annual road pian cs where a dozen or more farmers with their boys would meet in the fall to do work that ought to have been done in the spring to work out their road tax have a good time tell stories play practical jokes do anyone knowing the first principles of road building should know the sur face of the ground should not be dis after the first of july and that road grading done in march april or may gives the best results as the summer rains and traffic work the earth down smooth and hard so that it will be in the best condition to stand the trying weather of the win ter and spring following the first great step in reform is a wise ind sane expenditure of the money now raised which in illinois Is about 5 per year the writer has spoken upon the question of high way improvement in more than one halt the counties of illinois and has discussed the labor system methods employed with hundreds ot the most intelligent farmers of this country and they generally agree that most of the money raised is wasted are some fundamental errors cespon sible tor this and some mis concep road building in porto rico since it came under united states gov eminent control pre ident taft told the writer he built good roads in ciba porto pico and the philippines and the united states govern ment advanced the money to do it it suggested that if the goern could do so much for an alien people why not help fix up the rural your point is well tal en route roads for our own folka the reply was here Is a road over the mountain pass between china and manchu ria with chinese farmers on their way to market hather primitive transportation you say compare this with an illinois and missouri earth road in march with a fine team and modern wagon in mud knee deep we can imagine these chinese farmers commiserating this piti able condition if they could see it this Is one of the best types of high class road building to be found anywhere stunts of physical prowess such as jumping wrestling etc with a small amount of work in plowing up a stretch of road scraping loose earth together with weeds and grass in a winrow and leaving it there and call ing this road building by the opera alon perchance a hundred dollar road tax had been worked out and ably two hundred dollars of damage done to the road in doing so this is an extreme case but there are tens of thousands of such instances in more or less aggravated form this shows a splendid plen did type of a hard road in southern california with palms one side of the road trees on the other corn pare this drive with a i valley road the residents of califor nia are no better able to bind good roads than the farmers in the belt very greatly some farmers and a few so called experts however entire ly overestimate the balue of the drag there is only one type of road that is worthy the name of good and that is one that Is hard smooth and usable days in the year and one that Is not affected by weather conditions the main roads these comprise not more than 25 per cent of the total mileage should be graveled or mac adami zed after first being thoroughly graded and drained the experience of the world for twenty centuries Is back of this system among the illus tra tion on this page are some stone roads that for 2 years have been used daily with but a moderate cost for maintenance another fallacy that must be put on the shelf Is the belief that a hard road cannot be built in the corn belt that it would not stand up etc upon the heavy black soil every en ameer knows and experience shows the most famous and one ot the world s oldest roads made and used before the saviour was born and ever since it was known as the ap plan way on either side we see tombs built up of masonry over this highway the legions of caesar passed in conquering the world eions that must be gotten rid of be fore any real progress can be made an ong these Is the abolishment ot the labor system collecting the road tax in cash and the employment ot someone of good judgment and skill to do road work following the advice that they can secure from the state engineer and from him learn what to do when to do and how to do it A thorough drainage of the main roads either by open ditches with un obstructed outlet or better by tile drains on either side Is an absolute necessity in order to have the best results unless perchance there may be inadequate natural drainage as in the case of rolling sandy soil and frequent and timely use of the split log drag used or immediately after the rains or when two or three inches of the rough frozen road has thawed out it would help martt that this soil if drained and graded makes an exceptionally good dounda alon to build upon another mistake and a rank unjust ice has been to place practically all the burden of road taxes upon arm property this plan has obtained from the first and is still in vogue in about one half the states the other halt have learned that roads are pub lie property they belong to everyone and it Is unfair and indefensible to place the whole burden of public work of this nature upon the farms it is sometimes said the farmers use the roads more than others and that Is given as a reason why they should do all the paying well the lawyers use the cour house more than others shall we tax them tor the county building 7 A jersey man in the last decade of the century just closed made one of the highest roads in the world A pach train leaving am atlo for quito ecuador ambatis is where an astronomical observatory t harvard university Is located its altitude and clear atmos phen ery far more important than the find ing of the north pole it was that the roads belong to the public and that everyone ought to be taxed to help build the roads in this thought state aad was born and it has spread from state to state until now 22 0 the 44 states are building by this plan it has been tried out and found successful it is no experiment it Is an equitable workable plan that gets results and spreads the cost in such a way that tt is no burden and gives everyone a square deal the building of a good atone and gravel road adds to the value of farm property so for that reason it has been found just and practicable to the illustration shows a detachment from the japanese arm a road so the army with its ordnance could approach for arthur in the late war the cloth hanging down the back of the bead ear is to protect the base of the brain from the heat of the sun keep insects away A similar device Is used in the interior of au alia where they are called pug gerles why this name was given t the writer never could ascertain make isome such division as this as to the cost of the public roads in any township leaving it to the people of the township to say what roads shall be improved and when and how much money shall be expended viz that the state from a general tax levied upon all property in the state shall pay half and the property owners of the township shall pay the other half suppose 2 were spent upon the roads of any township under this plan one half would be paid by the property owners of the township and a like amount 1 would be drawn from the state of the latter tl would be contributed by towns railroads corporations and other forms of property the writer has at many times asked farmers whether it would be worth to them two cents a bushel on their crops to have a first class road over which to market it very seldom has he to ind an intelligent farmer who did not agree that a road would be of thia much value to him and that by chiv hiv ing good roads and watching the nar ket he could easily get that much more for his crops and he could take them to market at less expense than under ordinary condl eions A calculation has been made very carefully by the writer and has been checked over by the best authorities of the state it shows and the billj Is prepared to defend it that the state aid plan the main hip in illinois can be improved class gravel and macadam within 10 or 12 years at i about 10 cents per aero pj the farm lands of the sat equal in the aggregate to an acre the writer believes that thel pal objection to hard roads the state Is by retired farmers j object to building roads for thea ant it they would but bealle two per cent on their rent anywhere from 4 to 7 per aar pay the tax and that it will n their farm more desirable ani can get their selection of tenants and sometimes BO cents an acre more cash rent they would arrive at the sion it they are not prejudiced that the n oney invented in roads Is the best investment they can make the trouble has been that the farm ers are paying enormous amounts 0 money tor highways improvement nj they have not seen the imp the money has been squanders next to production the 1 greatest industry la distri butic this world wide system the wagon and the country road 01 the first place and ought to have arst it the state or nation has the money to spend internal improvements let them aass the townships to build good roa the highways over which the child must to school the doctor to re the suffering and over which m pass every bushel of grain and ei bale of cotton raised the ru reaches every field every ta m home and every market town the people everywhere demand good roads good roads mean better schools more social life a higher standard of llvine they mean progress and civilization one of the beautiful mountain roads of switzerland note its excel lent condition adje to good construction and excellent maintenance from coper abt by rood underwood M |