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Show P' 1 r, WHO SHALL DRAG THE ROADS? HV iSomowhcro Between Two Extremities B, of Opinion Lies Ultimate Solution H of Vexed Problem. . H ( Thcro 1b a serious difference of H opinion among authorities as to H , whether or not the responsibility for H , dragging roads roflta solely upon tha H farmer's shoulders. Hero, for In- H 4 etanco, 1b ono of the throo mombora H t of tho recently appointed utato high- H way conim -slon of Iowa declaring: H "Take tho road work out of tho farm BB ' era' hands. It 1b not fair to the farra- H or to make him work on tho roads. H 'Now, I am a f armor myself. I pay ray H road taxes In monoy. There 1b no roo- BB eon why a farmor should get out and BB . work on tho roadB any moro thaa H should a bankor. Then, too, road mak- H Ing Is becoming too much of a bust- H f VnosB to lot anybody and overybody H praotlco It. Ono man should have H. BuporvlBlon of tho road work." And H hero, on tho othor hand, la ono of the BB )f .loading newspapers of tho same utato, H a long and ardent champion of good H roadB, declaring: H "Quthrlo county men dragged a Hf highway acreas tho country In an Hi hour and a half tho other day. The H dragging bee had been arranged for H (, '. and was pulled off on schedule. It H reminds of a Btory told by Jim Flsk, H,j one of tho early magnates and mill- H, illonalroB. He was tho son of a H .Bhrowd old Now England farmor. Ono H' (day tho old man told Jim that If ho H, would clean tho stables woll ho would H I pay him a gold dollar for the oorvlco. H u (Jim, with tho golden reward In sight, H ' ttugged and Btrainod and finished the H Ib table on Umo. His fathor gavo him H ji 'the dollar. Thon ho said: 'Jnmes, if BH I you can clean tho stables one day for B v la dollar, you can clean them every H day as a duty.' And thereafter James H I 'denned out tho stables. m "If Outhrio county, and other coun- h , ties, can- drag the principal highways BBJ , of tho county in an hour and a half BBJ vwlth a hurrah and to show what can yUv be dono, thoy can drng tho prlnclp.il HB -ronds nftor a rain as a duty. An ar- Bfl rangement go successful us this should Hl suggc6t a permanent system. The Hf gratifTcation with which thoBO road i draggero turned to survey their com- 1 pleted work ought to teach them that BBfl BTviBrTnv mtcu ?",V(!t'?!' B Beautiful Cour.ry Road In Southern H ' B a good road la a Joy forevor. If It B .Is worth making as an object lesson,' B , . It is worth maintaining for everyday B I ' ' Somewhcr between the two ex- B 'tronfitles of opinion (turning tho work B over to experts and making tho farm- B or do It all by himself) Ilea the ultl- E mato and tho satisfactory solution of B tho vexatious problom, saya tho Iowa B Homostead. Thoro Is no denying B , that road making has become ( aa B much of a sclonce and a profession as B farming ltaolf, or teaching school, or B running a bank or piloting a locomo- BH tlve. Why, then, Bhould tho farmer B bo expected to bo the sole and only B road maker and repairer, any more B than tho school teacher or the rural BBJ mall carrier? Yot, on the othor hand, Hl tho farmer haB tho first-hand, direct BBJ j, information of what roads need most BBJ to be made or repaired. Ho travels B them moit frequently; ho should as B I stst In bringing them to that stato of Bf permanency which will minimize his B JYn troubles en route botweon farm H 'and town. B - In the last analysis, successful road B making dopendi upon harmonious co- B operation botvrra individuals and B, county, state and national authorities. i We may not have reached the stag B when state aid to the eztent of many Hj .millions of dollars 1b advisable, bat B we certainly have roaohed the stage B 'when tho burden should be taken froat H! Ithe unsupported shoulders of th H -farmer, where It has rested all too H ' iMg. The Tanner 1b perfectly willing H 'to. do 1))b shar$; be simply object to a hoggisn policy wmen inaKOB nis sharu all tho work and none of the credit or roward. |