OCR Text |
Show Water and Dust-Proof Roads Help Farmer Good roads, in the opinion of Dr Julius Klein, Assistant Secretary of Commerce, "have revolutionized the business of the nation, and the end is not yet." In 1904 the State and Federal governments spent $2,500,000 for highways and in 1929, the last year for .which complete statistics arc available, they spent $827,000,000, or 330 times as much. In addition, the expenditures of counties and other local units of government reached the total of $8322,000,000. Since 1921, the annual aggregate expenditure for roads has been above $1,000,000,000. These are impressive figures and one might think we have all the roads we are likely to need for some time to come. But such Is not the case. Our cities have been adequately provided with expensive streets and highways but most of the Agricultural and rural country depends on the same type of road that exixsted in the horee and buggy bug-gy days. Five million of our 6,-250,000 6,-250,000 farmers are cut off from theeir markets during several months of each year by a barrier of mud. It is a lucky farmer who is assured of all-year contact with the outside world over water and dust-proof roads. Good low-cost farm-to-market roads offer better economic and living liv-ing conditions to our farms. |