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Show T ' VSi sZSLiiS V v ATM r . 1 K? A Natlonnl Vrolilem. llfH Htrii T Is claimed by some that m ISl the- building of roads Is T strictly a local matter, .! that the benefits nro u- IHH E tlrcly local, and that the whole expense should be borne by the locnl communities. This Is not the view taken In the most progressive countries of Europe. There the building nnd maintenance of roads Is one of the Important functions of government. France, Germany nnd Switzerland nro covered' by n network of the finest roads In tho world. As h result tho western half of Europe Is the pleasure ground of the world. The revenue derived from tourists Is one of the principal sources of Income for people of nearly all classes. But without with-out these good roads, this revenue could never be secured. The nlm of the people In those countries coun-tries Is to make their grand mountains, moun-tains, their beautiful lakes, their lively valleys, their castles and monuments easily accessible by menus of fine, hard, smooth roads. What a contrast appears when we turn to our own country. Wo have the finest scenery In the world In the great mountains of the West, but It Is practically Inaccessible. Except as they get glimpses of It from enr windows, win-dows, the grandeur of our mountains nnd canyons, nnd the beauty of our mountain lakes, streams nnd vnlleys nro a scaled book to the general trav-cling trav-cling public. And this will nlways bo the case so long as steep stony mountain moun-tain trails are the only means of travel beyond the railway lines. Indeed, In-deed, much of our finest scenery cannot can-not be reached even by such trails. If tho United States Government, In cooperation with the Sfatcs and locnl communities would build great smooth highways, making tho wonders nnd beauties of our great West easily accessible ac-cessible to tourists, In a few years the tide of travel would bo turned westward. west-ward. Not only would millions of dollars spent nnnunlly by Americans In Europe be kept nt home, but other millions would bo brought to our shores by tourists from foreign lands. But the natural attractions of our country.nro not the only things which are mnde Inaccessible by the lack of good roads. Our places of historic Interest nro mostly In tho same category. cate-gory. Take, for instnnce, Montlcello, homo nnd tomb of the immortnl Jefferson. Jef-ferson. Few Americans even know where It is, much less visit It. Monti-cello Monti-cello Is only three miles from the city of Charlottesville, Vn which Is on two great trunk lines. Why, then, is It so little known? Because three miles of about as bad road as can be Imnglncd Ho between It nnd the railway rail-way station. One cannot travel over that nnrrow, steep, rough, muddy country rond without a feeling of shnme. At present an effort Is being made by a smnll band of patriotic men nnd women to build whnt is known ns the Jefferson Memorlnl Boad to mako Montlcello accessible to the public, pub-lic, but only a beginning Iiob been mnde, nnd they nre finding It up-hill work to raise funds to complete the task. But nfter all the encouragement of travel Is not the most Important reason rea-son for building of good roads. They nre absolutely necessary for the prosperity pros-perity nnd happiness of the people. Tho crn of railroad building on n large scale is practically at an end. In the courso of commercial and Industrial development wo have reached a point where the grent problem of Improving the common roads must be faced. Wo enn no longer treat It as n local question. ques-tion. We have tried that for three-quarters three-quarters of a century, and In nearly every section of the country the mis-crnblo mis-crnblo results nre apparent. The good ronds problem will never be solved locally. It Is too vast. It can be solved only by the genius, the wealth, tho labor nnd the patriotism of the whole people. A great national movement move-ment Is necessary. In co-operation of tho nntlon, the States, the counties and the locnl communities lies the solution of tho problem. |
