OCR Text |
Show BOND ISSUE IS BIG PROBLEM Best Means to Pull Counties Out of Land of Mud Make All Improvements Improve-ments Permanent. The biggest single issue before the people today is good roads; biggest not alone of itself, but biggest because be-cause the prompt and satisfactory solution so-lution of a permanent road system iu every state will help to solve a half-dozen half-dozen fundamental problems and indirectly in-directly affect for good, as well as in dollars and cents, almost every phase of farm, social and industrial life in the state. We cannot expect to have a real system of roads unless it is based on large units and this is best accomplished by accepting the county and state basis with a few experienced and responsible men in charge in each case. We must have roads that begin and end somewhere. Many counties are presenting to the taxpayers the question of a bond issue for the improvement of their highways. high-ways. The bond issue for a public improvement should be governed by the same considerations which govern a bond issue by any business organization. organiza-tion. When a manufacturing concern issues bonds, the money raised is placed in permanent improvements in the plant which will last far beyond the life of the bonds, or else no investor in-vestor would purchase the securities. Bonds for municipal purposes or for public improvements are not always subjected to this acid test, and instances in-stances are numerous in this country where bonds for twenty years have been issued for the construction of public roads, where the type of roads built with the proceeds of the bond issue could not possibly last more than ten years, and even then expensive maintenance is continually necessary. In some instances history shows that during the life of such a bond issue the original road has been worn out and rebuilt with a different material, and with the proceeds of subsequent bond issues as many as three times, and still the original boiads are a liability lia-bility on the community. Bond issues for better roads are the best means to pull counties out of the Land of Mud But it must be certain that the road improvements will last the life of the bonds. This can be assured as-sured by securing expert and unprejudiced unpreju-diced engineering advice on the best kind of roads for the soil. The banker bank-er can perform yeoman, seinrice in this ; connection. In the state of Iowa the mom who- began be-gan with nothing- and now owns a $30,-000 $30,-000 Iarm believes in paying, as he goes when building a road, but toe- will borrow bor-row money from an insurance- company with) which to buy more lanid; and he has- not yet seen that whem he- builds I'M wl W Making Necessary Repairs, on, Macadam Macad-am Road. at concrete' bridge with. on- year's tax money, he has made a Christmas present of that bridge to posterity for the next one hundired year's. He says that thirty-year paved roads are impossible im-possible beanse 10,090 per mile is too much to pay out of one year's tax money, and it has not occurred to him that there will still be taxpayers wtten he is dead and gone, who will be using that road, and by rights should have to pay some of it, Wallace's Farmer. COST OF VARIOUS HIGHWAYS Macadam Road Is Most Expensive, But When Built Is Satisfactory and Permanent. Dirt roads are ordinarily surfaced with sand, mixed with clay or with gravel, or brick, or crushed stone, concrete con-crete or other like material. The gravel grav-el road will cost from $1,500 to ?3,500 a mile the difference in cost depending depend-ing upon the accessibility of gravel. The macadamized road costs from $2,-000 $2,-000 to $10,000 per mile. It is the most expensive, but when .well built is both satisfactory and permanent. Essential Foundation. Permanent foundations, having uniform uni-form bearing quality, are essential to all types of engineering structures. Roads are no exception. Try Draining Wet Place. Did you ever try draining that awful aw-ful wet place iu the road? Try it some time once will be enough. Don't Build c.i Paper. If you went that road you're going to bui'd :, be of an " ''up. build it I on th not |