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Show & bhtefS QWMS B I i? i i f 'hri In any fluid of pulillr .-. T' nplrna-.l acllvlly In llm I nll. tl ! tj Htalra hiih et'iliilii out toll !&-J" rpl'-uoua above nil nthrra be- iotVit' t-aune of roitiit proKrt-ne II la ttlllt llih l-oniiTln llarlf wilh I I' I , the bi-tirrmrnt of our publlf I ff f - hl:hwaye If ulivbmly limt pro j n"frT"Tf "llrtftl a f-w ynira bin k tli.it the rVei bi'ilniillia of the ainnd deiailr of llm tKiMHIeih iiintiry would I " niarkfd nnd Idrnprrnd I Vlt " ,nl,r',l't",nt of t!' public I Ity roaila of the ( nlliil Mtntra bo aaaeaaaaaaaaaaaoaaat w"ul'' proh llily lluve brrll I lailKhi'd lit by all aiive fhoae few entliuitlaen who were lookid upon until a abort i time nao aa "t rankn." 1hl la not auyiuic. mind you. that thero la not miKh yet lo he clone to bring iho Inuhnay ) tem uf tills arm! land to l he point ln re li tiuitlit to bo and to nialnuiln It there. We are mil a ry lonx way behind moat of the tnmitrlea of the old world notably our alaier republic of frame- In Ihti condition of our matin. Hut that la perfectly natural, not beiauini the forelKiiera are any butler road bulltlera lliuu e are. but ilr Mmi Imply beeauso their blaliwaya have been In the maklnK for n',ny r.nlurlia. whereaa we hae niliiliiy few tiiruplkea ihat ure morn than one hundred or at moat two hundred yenra old. And furthermore on top of the yuuili of our country In road building there la the circumstance of the trrmcndtma alia of Undo Hum'a domain. No wonder the Kurnpeana havo been able to have good roocla when half or two-thlrrta aa many pro pie aa we have In thla whole vast country have been cntiirlbulInK their work and their taiea to keep up the roada In a territory no larger than one of our medium nlxe atalra. Hut for all the lead given by time and the ad Tamaite of dcne population It louka aa though we would orerlako our roualua ovcraeaa In the mailer of the poaseaalon of good matin. Indeed, even now In wnin alalia, audi ua aecllona of MaaHnchiiHetia. there are roada aa linn aa anything any-thing of similar rhaiaeier on the other aide of the big pond. Thn aet nt of thla boom In road building In America Ilea In oriMiilxallon aa will aa agitation ami the country la Ilka ly to nee new fmlia from both during I he mid. lie wei k of Hi p tcmber when n "Conil Itondx Week" will be held throughout the I'liUnl Siaiea. J 1 1 week of "mlanloiiary work ' la inpei iid to at: Ir up ,i good ly share of our people on the tin aiiou of fowt roaila and It la Imped ili.it to me of Hie new eon vena and the old w 111 iluu Meek praeilie abut tlicy pre.iili to tin. ikieui of lending a baud to the bulMlni, hue and Ihero of aireiehea of "model mud" thai mil aerve aa run vim Ihk object IcitKona. "(lootl Honda Week" la going to be held In eon nrctlon wilh tint llrm annual eonvi ullnti of the American Asaoi-lutlon fur HlKliway Improvement which will bo held at Hu liumnd, Vii., and will be atlilreaaed by niuny of the moat prominent men In Ibe country. 'Ihla nuiloiial orKaiilitailou will, of cnurae, be much In I he public eye In thla con necllon, but It la only one of acorca of aaaoclu-tlona aaaoclu-tlona grcut nnd email that have been helping In thla cuuae. There are al.tto orgaiiUailona nnd toiinly org.iiililloiii and etin township nrgaul- aatlnna all over the couuiry that have I n aup porting our nutlonal. anile and munlilpal guveru-nietiia guveru-nietiia In what ihey have been doing for belter ruid". mid the nsujis attained prove wl iu can be accomplished wheu a hug ' number of people who aro very much In eurncal aet out lo all "pull together" to-gether" toward a desired goal. A good ir.any people who have nol looked very deeply Into the subject have gained the Idea that the motorlata are more largely responsible than any other class of people for thla dawning era of good made. Nuw, It would not be right lo disparate dis-parate what the automoblllata have done, which haa been considerable In one way or another, but In the Interns! of the truth II must he pointed out that the one factor supreme In Influence for heller rouda haa been the wldeawuke farmer. To he sure It la a fuel, and a mighty algnlllcant one, that the largest and most powerful corporal Ions In the rtinuiry business liitei-esie such as our biggest railroads nnd l ho stool trust and the HUndutil Oil rorpoinllon are working energetically energetic-ally Willi tho new American Aanoclailon for Highway High-way Improvement because they realize Unit anything any-thing that will help the condition of the country at large will help their buelncsH. At the aame lime It Is tho farmer clans t tin t are supplying the backbone of Ibla movement Just aa they ure of every other big movement affecting rurul condl-tlnna condl-tlnna and have been from lime out of mind. It la uat as well lo admit right here, too, that Ihe average farmer who la going In hard for the rnuae of belter roada la not devoting hla time and kla labor lo Ihe project on any fanciful aenllment-al aenllment-al basis. Of course. It contributes to bla pride lo ee bla farm bounded or bisected by a splendid road and he Is graillled thai the good folk who go paat hla door pleasure riding should have an may pathway, tut the great underlying Impetu la found In the need of good roada to enable the farmer to market bla product convMleutly and oooonlcally. 'fff ' 'fill I ' ' I. ' -r.tJia'-t" I y I 'Ihe iiveri-ce old lllue lurmer wna pmne lo baik upon bad roinla aa a necessary evil. He reallied In a scute what a detriment they were lo hla Interests, In-terests, bill be put up with the situation becausn bo Hid not see any way oul of the dilemma at leaal not without more urk Ihnn be could afford lo give. Then along came ihe ''tilled Hialcs government. gov-ernment. In ti rural free delivery commen' t-d to be liiirotliiecd, and deelaied l hat these rural mall curriers could not be phrtd In dtstrlcia where Ihe ronils wire not In fair condition. This did much to uiMikcn Ihe farmera to the Ituallon, for every luial home prims the boon of a dslly mall delivery. And. at about Ihe same time Ihe farm era, who I bus bad their scrloua attention focused UKtn Ihe good roads question, found, as Ihev looked closer, that bad reada meant a hole In Ihe pockeibook of every Hilar of the soli. It began to be ri allied that If a farmer required the services serv-ices of four hoists nnd an entire day' time to gel a load of produce lo market via bud roada Ibe losa lo him waa Jusl aa serious aa though he had to accept a very low price for Ihe yield of his erea. Herein la found I lie supreme Incentive among ninny that has collated Ibe progressive farmer In behalf of better rouda. One of ihe beat tblnga aceotnpllshcd for the farmer by rood roads Is I hut It lias broadened hla markets. With rocky or muddy highways enforcing en-forcing slow progress Ihe nveruge farmer waa In the old tluya restricted to one market town the one nearest bla farm. Now with good roads he can In a ahorter Interval tbun waa formerly re-tiulred re-tiulred reach any onu of several communities located lo-cated In diffcri nt directions. Thla enahlea him lo nlliiln the market altera be can get tho best prtcee. Similarly with good roada thn fanner la not likely to be ao restricted to ono rullnrad for hipping facllltlea. If the road nearest hla farm will not give him the cars ha necdi or otherwise pluy fair he most likely haa some redress by driving acroas Ihe countryside to a rival line. And the very fact Ihat Ihe Introduction nf good made la destroying sucb monopolies haa aerved to render the rail roada more obliging to their farmer cllenla. The new country-wide Highway Improvement association whirl, la to hold Ita first annual eon-gresa eon-gresa In the near future will not seek to drive out or aupplant the various good-road associations I, ""''-"'"- -. i '' i.i...i..a that have been orgnulxcd all over the couuiry and many of which are, aa haa been aald, doing an escellent work within a mortt or less local spheru However, the new national Institution la designed lo serve aa a clearing bouse ihat will pass on all good roada schemes wherever Ihey may originate nnd Hint will aeek to bring together all llm varloua local num. Ii.tlnni". liurmoiiUliig th' lr alma and pollelca where In llm P"" Ihey have too often been working at ei-OfS purpoMes. Ti e I'nliiil Hinies government l bai k of Ihla new national oigaulra Hon upon wlilib public niicntlnn la now being foiusid. Intlcd. the llrst president of llm body la 1'iiclo Hum's thief ipert on good roads namely, Mr. Ixigati W. I'age. director direc-tor of Ihe I'nlttd Hialcs ollleti of nubile muds. And Just here It should be noted t hi. public "" ""''?- branch of the UnH-l """ 'l"Prtmenl ' '' ' lre-l. doing a .".ml lin-.rianl work for "' , of road Improvement th.oughoul llm l-ngth and breadth of the laud. For one thing, laboiiiiorles it e maintained al Witsbltibion . specially e..Hpa-d ascertain which of these ure best adapted to use in any sncclll.d loculllv or under any given con-dlilonr con-dlilonr run more Important ! Ih" work or llm government hurt nu In building sirel. h-a ol 'model r"l'niler this plan at hulldliig model roada to aerve aa object lesson. In Ibe possibilities and benellta of hhvhwiiy Imprnvemcnia 1'nrle Ham senda bla fon t, of engineers and experla Inloany community wblt h seems to lie. d to be aroused regarding good roads and with their own helpers, or by means of a force of workmen rei rulltd in Ihe neighborhood Ihey eonaiiuct a mile or two miles of Just Ibe aurt of mud that la Ideal for that particular district How benell. lsl th"'"" object lesson, urn la proven by the diet that thousands of miles of good roada have been bulli III various parta of the country this puai few years wilh these governmental "sumpl. minis ' us ihl terns. The showing made by rurul mads "before and after" treatment by the government govern-ment nu.d tlociurs ban prorrpted atale legislature, eoiinly commissioners, local boards of trade, farmers' farm-ers' graiu es and other bodies to appropriate money for a inure cmeiislve good road campaign In lo-ealltlea lo-ealltlea H at have thus bad a lastn of the benefit., ami In some stuns, notably Delaware, wealthy men have paid out of ihelr own piaketa for long strut. In s of Improved public roads for ihe uae of ihe whole cominiinliy. |
