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Show ! GOOD ROADS. I t m - j There is undoubtedly a very strong sentiment for improved highways in America. The perfection of the automobile has given this sentimenf'a form that will crystallize in active work of road improvement improve-ment on lines laid down by road building experts, and it may safely be said that the next decade will see a vast improvement in the condition of the road? and highways in all parts of the country. And it is gratifying to note that the west is keeping keep-ing pace with other more densely settled parts of the country in this work. The west is a country of magniticent distances; the roads between town? are longer than thev are in the east, hence the per capita expense of a mile of road in the west is much greater than it is in more densely settled sections. sec-tions. P.ut that fact should not deter the people of the west in their efforts to improve their highways. It may take longer to get. the roads in good shape, and it may cost a great deal of money, but the re-j re-j turns will make any justifiable expense in improv-i improv-i ing our roads a good investment. ' In this connection, one of the most reliable nu- ihoritics in the country on the subject has compiled ' statistics on the cost of road transportation, and i fixes the price at 2o cents per ton per mile. The ! same authority says the cost of such transportation ! over the almost perfect roads of France is but 6 cents, and the average for all the European countries coun-tries is I:?1 ! j cents. In other words, it costs the i American farmer more than four times as much to place his products on the city market as it does the French farmer, and twice as much as it does the fanners of continental Europe. It is only fair to presume that the consumers of farm products must pay this "mud tax," so it is not a question of interest only to the pretdueors. but is of vital interest to the city dweller, who has been wrestling with the problem prob-lem of the high cost of living for the past few years. Wo hear much of the high railroad freight rates, and it may be those rates are excessive in many instances, but the price pa id by the American consumer con-sumer on account of the poor cemdition of the high-j high-j ways is given comparatively small attention. The authority we have cited says the "mud tax" : the excess cost of highway transportation due to j bad roads is no less than $.'52:j.OOO,000 a year, or more than a million dollars a day for each working day of the year. This tax is a goodly sum to pay for our shiftlessness, especially when it is considered consid-ered that there is no beneficial returns from it. Tt amounts to about $20 a year to each man who ha3 five persons dependent upon him. The question is. Can wc afford to have any but the best roads? It seems that good roads could be built and maintained main-tained for that amount of money. ilTt were judiciously ju-diciously and economically expended, over a very large part ef the country. |