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Show l ....- ,. - M GOOD WAGON ROADS FOR U. S. A Ycry Edifying Coloquy on the Subject.. THE GOVERNMENT'S EXPENDITURES. The Trouble Now Is to Keep the Surplus Sur-plus In the Treasury from Becoming Too Largo "i. , In tho pamphlet that we mentioned last week In connection with the Rrownlow Rill which our readers will romember is about to bo Introduced in Congress in the interests of good . wagon wag-on roads, there Is pnbllshed tho following follow-ing questions and answers, which are good authority on the matter to which thoy relate, as the pamphlet is signed by Walter P. Rrownlow, member of ppngress.froni, Tennessee: BOMB QUESTIONS AND HOME ANSWERS. Question. Why aro the wagon roads In this country poor? Answer. Recause, as a rulq, except In' a few states, they aro built and maintained by the farmer without outside out-side help. Q Would not tho farmer perfcr a smoothhard road without mts. looso Btdncs, and with an easy grade? At Yes.he would; bat cannot afford 'to pay the cost of It. Q't Do Improved roads iucrcaso the value of farm land? s"- A Yes: in the States of Massachusetts, Massachu-setts, New Jersey, Connecticut and wherever roads havo been built by state aid, values of farm lauds have increased. Q Why is this so? A A good road enables tho farmer to haul liis produce to market tho year round, and to haul when It is ver. and ho can't plow: Ho thus can get a better bet-ter priec he can haul twice tho usual load ip less time. It saves wear and tear on wagons, team and temper. The children can always go to school. A man buying a farm will pay more for It on a good road than on a poor one. Q How many miles will Si.25 haul AtQln,to,h rqad, ayrolley. road, on a railway. and bn water? . .'. A SLSS.wllllinu) a ton ' " Amities btiUt jjQUimon ro&d.'J T- fl 12 K to 15 miles on a well made stone i .,jroad. I - ,f ( ' SOmlles on a trolley road. 250 miles on, i steam railway.' 1,000 miles on a steamship. Q WiiaVliavo trolley roads done for cities? ' A Tliev have riven hcm ranld tran- sit and .Increased tho value of real estate es-tate fn cities and 'in their, immediate neighborhood. Q What will good roads do for the farmer? A Thoy will give him rapid transit for his produce and improve the value of his lands, just as the trolley roads have done for cities. v Q What has tho Federal Government Govern-ment done lor commerce and tho cities? A It hah appropriated 533.540,109 in 1003 for improving rivers and harbors and in tho last ten years 8170.220,934 for this purpose. Q Does this expenditure benefit the farmer? A Yes. a little, by glying htm a better bet-ter freight rate; but most ot tho saving goes to tho freight carrier, i. c, tho railways and steamships, v Q Is the appropriation under tho Rivers and Harbors Rill evenly distributed distrib-uted among the states? A No, it Is mostly spent In tho Seaboard Sea-board and Lalcu States and' on the Mississippi Mis-sissippi Delta. Very little is spent In tho inland states. Q How is tho opproprlation under tho Rrownlow Rill to bo made? A It Is to bo distributed according to the population of each state, and each .state or county must add a llko uraouut to tho sum received from the Government. Q Is any locality compelled to havo Us roads rebuilt by tho Rrownlow bill? A No, each locality decides for itself it-self whether or not it will take the money offered by the Federal Govern-, .merit, If it does take it, it must add a .llko amount, Q What else has the Federal Govern-,mcut Govern-,mcut douo for cities? A It has built great public buildings post oil'ces, court houses, and frequent-ly frequent-ly custom houses in nearly every city of-importance, of-importance, Q What else does tho Federal Government propose, doing for com-,meree? com-,meree? ,-A It intends to build a canal across tho Isthmus of Panama which it Is estimated esti-mated will cost about 8200,000,000. ,Q -.What has tin - Federal Goveru- t ment dono.for railways? It haS given them Immense land grahts bfipublic lands, which the havo sold for nuny millions of dollars, and It has loaned its credit bv issuing bonds to help build them. R What has the Federal Go"ern-tu'ent Go"ern-tu'ent done'for Its soldiers who fought la Its wars? A Jt pays them and their families 5140,000.000 a year In pensions. Q What has it done for Porto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines A It has built many miles of road, established schools, done away with Yellow foyer In Cuba and keeps an army in the Philippines of about 22,500 men. j Q What has it done for manufactor- iestupfaJjtAn v Xj.',,.- '""A itJiJPruteclefl them by 'levying a high tnrlfTutitil we lead tho world in many lines of'manufacture, Q WliatTias tho Government done for the farmers? A It halS established agricultural colleges, experiment stations, made the head of thoifiureau of Agriculture a cabinet officer, created free rural mall dollyery inyecrtain sections, but after showing a miin'how to double tho product pro-duct of lila farm it has left bim unable to market, the produce he has created because of, tno 'bid-condition of the wagon roads. , . Q Has it done as much for tho farmer far-mer as furdtlier classes of citizens? A fto,. not nearly, so much. Q Why Is this?" A Because farmers hayo not made their demanijri Icnown to members of Congress, vftiie, on tho other hand, coiumerco and manufacturers aro con-slantly con-slantly nnjd.1 persistently demanding benefits nljvasjjlngtori. Q Is Government aid to farmers as important as iud to commerce and manufacturers? A Yes, moro.iniportaut; the fanner the merchau'm'anufacturer, the sailor,; tho railwayman and all the rebt. Q Wliat-has'tho'Stateof New York dunu for commurco? R It huf vSteU to spend S10 1 ,000,000, winch it WlljnUso by Issuing State bonds to wfclln iind deepen tho Erlo Canal. '$' ',' Q What, was tho national bonded debt at tlilcjoso.oj tho Clvi' war? A 52,773,230.173. Q What Is tho national bonded debt now? ."'Y' ' ' A 5914,57410 oh July 1, 1003. Q What5 amount of the national debt has beeffdjd git 'in tho last thirty years? " v ' A 51,858,001,703. Q "0XJ4yjel money Is there now locked "PjijUcln tho U. S. Treasury? A 8234j3j275 on July 1, 1003. Q Ras tho Gove'fnmout a larger In-comothau In-comothau its" expenses? A Yes, much larger; the trouble now is to keep tho surplus In the Treasury Treas-ury from becoming too large. |
