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Show (,'linnt-fi In ltn I .Mnldnc, i H KY have been slow In cntit-I cntit-I ' Ing to this country, hut now I ' that they have started they g arc coming with a rush. One of tlic latest States to adopt the money system of working the toads Is lowa. In that Slate there Is to be no mole working out the tax by Individual laud owners, l'verylhlng Is to be done by the money system. New Yoik Is fast working that way. Whole counties are leaving the old way and adopting the new This change conies hard In some localities. lo-calities. The old men have rnr so many years looked forwaid to the time of woiklng mads that they do not like to have it done away with. It has been looked upon as a son of picnic, a lime when we can get together and talk over all our own affairs and thoe of our neighbors. Kwrybody's btisl-ness btisl-ness Is raked fore and nft nt these annual an-nual gatherings. A little mud or loose earth Is li'iuled Into the road-nsually where It Is least needed and the rest of the time 1" sp-'nt silting under some tree or In the fence corner. True, a few districts have always done good, faithful wot Is. All honor to those dls-trlcts. dls-trlcts. They shall bine all the credit due thein. hut we all know, and they themselves know, that they are exceptions excep-tions which prove the rule. Time ami money enough have been wasted by men under the name of working on the road to put the highways of (Instate (In-state In flrst-class shape. Hut what are we getting In return? That Is what troubles some Incredulous soulij. They arc always suspicious of new things. They look on the new everywhere with doubt. So In the matter mat-ter of the money system of working the highways these men profess to see grave dangers. Some districts will be neglected. The work wilt lead to wholesale Jobbery. The highways will bo no better than they used to be. It will cost more, nml so on, nd Inllnltum. It must be left largely to time to tell us what part oT all these gloomy forebodings fore-bodings nre to become true. It seems reasonable, however, to suppose thnt If we elect honest men for highwny commissioners com-missioners and that we ought nlways to do tho work will be done fairly and lti the most workmanlike manner possible. It Is true that not all honest men are competent to build roads'. o will doubtless soon see to It that there are schools under the supervision of the State lu which practical roadmnk-lng roadmnk-lng shall be tnght. We will also be more Inclined than lu the past to keep competent men In the olllce of highway commissioner when once we have found thein. The trend Is lu the right direction, anyhow. Mistakes may bo made. We will prollt by them and gradually will come n perfect system. K. L. Vlnieut, In the New York, Tribune. Tri-bune. Tilrrnl AM to Itonrti, The good roads movement thnt seems to be going over the country Is one of the best signs of the times. It Is, perhaps, per-haps, a better evidence of real progress than Industrial enterprise of any other character. When a community once gets well started lu good road building It Is very likely to keep It up, for every advance on this Hue gives a fresh object lesson of the practical value of good roads and the wastefulness of bad ones. For several yeais past a campaign of popu'lr education on this subject has been carried on lu every section of the country by Individuals and organizations, organiza-tions, by newspapers and mngazlnes, nnd to a very notable extent by the Federal Government through Its admirably ad-mirably conducted Department of Agriculture. The railroads have also given It very valuable aid. This work hns seemed In m.uy localities to have little effect, nml there hns been much to discourage those who have devoted' themselves to It. llut they have kept bravely on, and now on all sides the fruits of their labors are beginning to appear. It is a safe prediction thnt there will be more miles of llrst-clnss roadway laid In the United States this year than In any previous yenr of our history. It hns become much easier than it formerly was to Interest the masses of the people, the farmers, the business men, men of property and pro-I'csslounl pro-I'csslounl men the public generally In this subject, which couci-riis us all and touches all our Intetesls. Iutcrcst in road Improvement Is growing into enthusiasm en-thusiasm for It ns a larger proportion of the people are coming to appreciate Its Importance and profitableness. We nre at the beginning of a great orn of road building lu this country, which Is equivalent to saying that we are making surer the way to the substantial sub-stantial development and progress of the country. Itcprescnlatlve Ileldler, of Ohio, has Introduced In Congress a bill which should receive the hearty support of men of all political opinions. It Is emphatically a measure for the advancement of the public welfare;; It Is hard to conceive one that would better bet-ter deserve that title, .The Heldler bill provide1- for the assembling as-sembling of a convention representing tho War Department, PostotT.eo Department, De-partment, Agricultural Department, Interior In-terior Department of the Federal Gov- rumcnl, ns well as every Statu and 'errllory In the Union, Such a conveut'nn would be com-insed com-insed largely of men who have mnde a .pedal study of the couslruclloti nnd cm o of ro.nls. From It we might therefore reasonably expect recommendations recom-mendations thiit would be of Immense Milno to Congress, ,tjie Slate Leglslnt-urea Leglslnt-urea and county boa tils in their leglsla- S.-1T.I alM-.-t.-- .y. live and wrulnli't vi" v .jiif t f. road wo' Is. - J ''III- I'liliM'llt'otl el, ht Mln ley tlf i (insls cd' a u:'. .ti"l good reas iiol'-t that would hcnt-lil the rt; !. r r e a much ns the Government') hi' t-p I e.pe'dltiie for tlver a a,! lair: .' : u prmciuriit. The H-hllr.' Mil "s mi" i t''- . tuaci'eal it'-d p:i)irl"i'i ii-r,""'r"s t'"-1 has been prmnseu tn l'u".'res In a long time. Atlanta it a. Jo-irual. |
