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Show ' ST now there i no wort) important question before the morkan public than the general improvnuit nt of the higha)B to the standard of twentieth century The volume of traffic over the public highways is equal to or ex ceds that of ail the railwajs The food Lrw products of the world pass over these toads to reach the market l!ad roads interfere with the regular distribution of these products, resulting in an erratic and inconstant suppi) tor a fixed and regular demand Had roads have necessitated the practice of rushing the ciops to maifcct aU In a heap, taking but two or three months instead of sp'eading tlus delivery over six to ten months Scien tifleall), faini I oducts should be moved from producer to tonsumei as they are needed for consumption, but the fanner will fand the roads in the winter and spring bad and at times practically impassable, and for this very teason he hurries his grain to market as soon as harvested This causes congestion on the railroads and works havoc In business conditions The moving of the crops" requires an enormous amount of money, and a general upheaval in financial centers every fall Is the result of this sudden drain The hurried disposition of the years crop has necessitated the building of large storage houses in the gialn centers to care for it In Chicago the stor age charge is nine cents per bushel per year, the car rying capacity of the elevators of that city alone is about 85 000 000 bushelB, representing a storage charge of over $5 000 000 per year The passing of the food supply into the control of the grain kings means a loss to the faimer and an additional and unnecessary cost to the consumer The general improvement of the highwavs of the count! v is vastly more important to the people as a whole than the building of the Panama canal, the tm ptovenient of the inland waterways or the irrigation of the semtaild lands of the west. Those who have traveled throughout Europe are good. more forcibly how great is the burden of bad road than anything else can possibly do The Clear earth road leading into Springfield, Illinois, showed an average traffic for four days In March 1906 of 651-- . vehicles per day Over the same road la June and luly tie average was 589 vehicles' On the same davs In Peoria, 60 miles away, under the same weather conditions but over a hard road, the traffic for March waa 166, and the avetage for June and y .Australia and New Zealand, countries newer than onr own, less populous, and with nothing like our aggregate wealth The fact that the rest of the world has good roads while we have bad ones is significant; It shows that the plfin we have been pursuing has not beeu successful. In three hundred years less than oight per cent of the highways of our couny-- j been permanently Improved and at tiie rate we gre go- lug It would require nearly four thousand yearsv to So as roadbuilders the peopteof complete the job the United States have been a failure. This is all the more surprising when we consider that they are conspicuously successful In every other line of human endeavor. Millions upon, millions of dollars have been wasted In every state In the union upon the public roads by 111 timed or misdirected effort and with really veiy little to show for the exIt is only within the last ten or fifteen penditure years that any real progress has been made along the line of permanently improving the conditions The trouble is we have been endeavoring to untangle the snarl by pulling the wrong string Without anv reason for doing so, the farmers of the country, from Maine to California, from the very first assumed that the country roads belonged to them and It was their business to improve them, and this misconception held sway for nearly 300 years A few years ago a man In New Jersey made a discovery It was that the highways are public property, as much so as the state house This raised the question. Why, if the highways are public property, should not the public take care of its own, why should not the state and all property therein contribute to building the roads Everybody is interested in them, everybody is affected through the markets by the road conditions, they are benefited by good roads and injured by bad ones The new thought spread throughout the state and finally New Jersey led the way to better conditions by passing a law by which the state should conthe money required to improve the tribute Other states followed, increasing the proporroads tion to one half and In one case, Massachusetts, to three fouiths In many cases of the New England states farm property is only a very small portion of the total taxable property, in some cases not ten per cent., and when the cost of road improvement was distributed over all prop-ertof the state, the burden was hardly felt, and yet Best Immense sums were raised for road purposes of all. the roads were built , under proper supervision. Instead of leaving It totBe Inexperienced hands of the local path master .Ten years ago New York state began in a small to aid and appropriated $50,000 to start the work. way " Tha plan grew in favor so rapidly that within five years th state by an overwhelming vote passed S constitutional amendment providing for an issue of $50,000,000 la bonds to help build the highways. What a record! In five years from fifty thousand to fifty millions! The ' v necessary to pay the interest on this enormous one-thir- d v July 1)3 Observations at Champaign over an earth road showed the aveiage for January, Febitiary and March to be bj, as against 200 for September and October The cotint at Decal ur over a gravel road waa March and April, 240, uly and August, 278 Over an earth road leading into SiUlivan, the count for January, February and March was 5i, Aug 1st and September, 316. Wc.le delivering an address upon 1h writer was once Interrupted and asked if he would favor taxing the widow's cottage to help build the roads He answered that he certainly would, Ws the annual tax would probably not exceed 10 or 15 cents, and he gave the following illustration of how bad roads A woman goea into ft grocery burden the people store for a dozen eggs and a pound of butter. When told the prices, she protests The grocerln defense, says "Well, you see, madam, the roads are so bad now, verv few farmers are coming to town, so butter and She pay s three cents more for eggs are scarce the eggs and four cents more for the butter, andjlhte seven cents tepresents her bad road tax paid tfaT evening This Is repeated from time to time throughout the year, not only In her case but in hundreds of ntheis In that town and In thousands of towns throughout the length and breadth of the land,. There is bo doubt that the woman In question would benefit through good roads by at least ten times the amount of the tax on her cottage It would be Interesting to take a concrete example of state aid, apply It to a typical farm in one of the central western states and see exactly what state aid means so far as taxes upon that farm are concerned. For the purpose of Illustration, let us take an average farm of 160 acres in the corn belt of Illinois, and tee what the effect upon the taxes on that farm would be If the state should undertake a very vigorous campaign good-road,-- rf L sum and then finally pay off the bonds will hardly be felt by the property owners of the Empire state owing to their Immense list of taxable property. Ohio, after 40 years of building roads by the old plan of local taxation and bond issues, in which the farmer had to pay practically the whole bill, has passed a gtale aid law which will enable It to build three miles of Improved roads where it has been building one, without any increase whatever in taxation upon farm property. Virginia is the first southern state to Join the Btate aid column for good roads. Kentucky Is alive to the situation and Is taking steps to change its constitution In order to be in a position to spread the road tax over all the property In the state. In certain parts of the country, notably in the Mississippi valley, there la an entire misconception as to what the state aid plan of road building means. Some imagine the state would take control of the highways, build expensive roads and tax the people to pay for them, others that it is a scheme to force road building against the wishes of the farmers Nothing could be farther from the truth The state does not In any manner, under a state aid law, interfere with the absolute local control of the highways. The voters of every township decide whether any roads shall be Improved, what roads, to what extent, when It shall be done, If at all The state has absolutely no voice in the matter If, however, the township, by a majority vote, decides to build a toad under the state aid plan, it makes application to the state for that purpose; the state engineer thereupon visits the locality, goea over the road proposed to be improved with the local author- Itles, and decides upon the character of the Improve- raent best suited to the conditions. He then prepares plana and specifications and when these are approved by the highway commissioners or other properly constituted local authorities, the contract la let to the lowest responsible bidder and the work ia then done under the supervision of the state engineer. This lnsnrea proper construction and that means durability and low coat to maintain the road afterward Under a atate aid law not a rod of road could be the residents of a township decided to do so. Not a dollar of atate money could be expended unless the fanners who live in the rural township voted for improvements. If It should be alleged that state aid was & plan to coapei railroads, corporations, merchants and manufacturers to help build the roads. It would not be far from the truth. Under state aid the farmers control the sltsation; If they decide to improve the roads the other people are obliged to help pay the bill. fa order to build roads cheaply they should be built extensively. It costs a great deal more proportionately to build a half mile of road than It does to build ten half miles. No contractor cares for a small Job but for a large one competition Is keen It takes Just a much time and bother to get ready to build half a nill of road aa It does to build ten miles. By building id the larger quantities from 20 to 25 per cent. In cost of construction can be saved. As roads properly built will last for a great many ystrtlhey should be built as school houses and court houses are built, viz: by a bond Issiip. thus a township uader state aid could build 10, 15 or 20 miles of roads ia on year, have the roads to use, and spread the payment of the same over say 10 or 20 jears If this la done and the atate aid plan prevails, there will be very little, If nyr Increase In taxation Fw people have any idea to what extent bad roads latcrfere with travel and how they affect the business of the merchant in the country town The Illinois Wjhwsjr commission has gathered some very valuable ftta Upon the effect of road and weather conditions you highway traffic. Observations were made at 72 teH distributed points in the state and an actual count made by the vehicles passing upon different days throughout each month of the year, covering all kinds if weather and road conditions. The report shows that traffic over stone or gravel roads was fairly uniform throughout the year, while spon the earth roads it was subject to the widest varia-flouThe following figures are significant and tell bulk unless -- . -- ts e. The following table compiled from figures gsthwwd by the agricultural department of improved roadways in each state: , tho percentage Alabama Arlsona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware IS lwa M2 S4 14 I....... District of Columbia.. Florida Otorfii Idabo UHnoia Indiana 87 54 M 75 429 M ' Montana 44 Nebraaka 45 ...MB 01 York North CaroHna North W Ohio 10U Dakota .. Okiahoma TK7 Oregon jg ................. 50 1 55 N 18 Maryland Massachusetts Mlchlifsn IM Minnesota Iffi Mississippi Missouri Tiu 1st ffevada LtS ja Hampshire IS SO Hew Jersey It'.Vew Mexico Kansas Kentucky Louisiana DAKOTA Pniuyvn Rhode 1 52 .24 .02 . 25 22 7S ,,..3...." . 7S5 Island teate Carolina I TM 162 l l0 43.26 4,44 In 1904 shows of road building under stata aid, on that contemplates an expenditure of the enormous sum of $50,000,000 in ten years enough money to improve all the mala highways of the state, connect every community with the market town and county ae&t and give a complete network of good roads from Galena to Cairo; the the explan being that the state should "pay one-hal-f pense and the townships or road districts the other If $50,000,000 were expended In ten years, the state would be required to raise $25,000,000 of It. There is in the state property to the totaf assessed valuation of $1,250,000,000. To raise $2,500,000 a year, or $25, 000,000 in ten years, would require a two mill tax uptax applied to all the on this property; so a two-miproperty of the state of Illinois at the present assessed valuation (and not taking Into account the possible Increase In value thereof) would prodace the sum required The records show that the taxing value of an average 160 acre farm is the corn belt Of Illinois is a little less lhan $2,000, the actual value being approximately $10,000 A two mill state tax on this farm assessed on the value of $2,000 would be exactly $4 a year and no more, and In' ten years the state tax would be $40, which would be the farm's proportion of the $25,000,000 total Where this farm would pay $40, one single corporation In the city of Chicago would have to pay $570,000, another $190,000, and the railways of the state over two millions of dollars. Thus we see by a state levy of two mills for ten years, one-hal- f of the $50,000,000 Is provided for. The other half must be raised by local taxation or by a bond issue. Let us assume that the township In which the farm in question is located votes bonds to the full constitutional limit, that is, goes Into debt Just as far as It can go and pays the highest interest that the law permits it to pay. The limit of the bond issue is five per rent of the assessed valuation, so the amount of bonds resting upon the farm would be five per cent, of $2,000, or exactly $100, payable each year, with interest at five per cent The total interest on this bond Issue, so far as this farm is concerned, for the ten years would be $27 60. . $100.00 Thus, if we add the bonds... Interest on bonds 27.50 And the state uxtf 40 00 ll one-tent- h We have a total tax on the farm of $167. 3 which Is exactly the amount of tho tax that would be farm for both state aid levied and collected upon-th- is and to pay off the road bonds and Interest. This amount is about 10ft cents per acre per year and tho total charge against the farm for the whole ten years would be $1 05 per acre. This amount of money paid by he farm under the state aid plan wonld enable the state to expend $50,000,000 upon Its highways, and the expenditure of that sum would add to the value of farm property at least five and probably ten timet as much as the respective farms would be taxed In order ta nay the bilL fCopyrtgkt, IM, by Vrt.u .. Vxni) X |