Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1890-01-10
COUNTRY ROADS.


missioner OF Agriculture. 1t COW
ers the whole question and is OF
the greatest interest to all our PEG
pie. 1t shows Enthusiastically the
absolute necessary for good roads
if a section of country is 10 become
prosperous. The present wretched
system, the only one our county
has ever had, has been The mill
stone to drag US down, and the
sooner our people ac5 upon an in
telligeut view of this question the
sooner Will our famers and our
people generally find themselves
upon the real road to pros
perlty. Nothing can make this
matter clearer than the article in
question, and we hope they viii
give 1T their most careful attention
and study.
A wise well-regulated system of
public roads and highways through.
ont the United States is daily be.
coming a greater necessity for the
material Development of the re-
sources of this country, and merits
the earnest attention of Congress-
The common roads of the country
ale the veins and arteries through
which flow the agricultural pro
ductions and the commercial sup.
plies, which are the life blood of
the nation. to those great ducts Of
travel and transpOrtatiOn-the rail.
roads Of the country.
While our railway system has
become the most perfect in the
world, the common roads of the
United States have been neglected
and are interior 10 those of any
other civilized country in the
world. They are deficient in every
necessary qualification that is an
attribute to a good road; IN di.
rection, in slope, IN shape and ser
vice, and, most of all, in want of
repair. These deficiencies have
resulted not only from an ignorance
of the true principles of road-mak.
ing, but also from the varied sys.
TENS OF road. building in force in
the several States of the Union,
due to detective legislation. The
principle npOn which the several
States have based much Of their
road legislation is known as the
"rOad.taX" system of personal SER
vice and Communication, which Is
unsOund as a principle, unjust IN
its operations, wasteful in Its prac-
tice, and unsatisfactory in its re-
suits. 1t Is a relic Of feudaliSm
borrowed from the "statute labor"
of England, and its evil results are
to day apparent in the neglected
and ill conditioned common roads
of tue country.
II is question Of vast import
ance to the welfare of this nation
that these arteries of agricultural
and commercial life should receive
the attention that their Importance
deserves, and that an effort should
be made to remedy the defects now
existing and establish a system
that could be made uniform and
efficient in all the States of the
Union.
By the improvement of these
common roads every branch OF our
agricultural, commercial, and man.
ufacturlng industries would be-
materially benefited. Every arti.
Gle brought to market would be
diminished in price; the number of
horses necessary as motive power
would reduced, and by these and
other retrenchments millions of
dollars would be annually saved to
the public. The expense of repair.
ing roads and the wear and tear
of ve1lcles and horses would be
essentially diminished, and the
thousands of acres of land the pro
ducts of which are now wasted in
feeding unnecessary animals in
order to carry on this character OF
transportation would be devoted !
to the production of food for the
inhabitants Of the country. In
fact, this great object IN the i'm
provement of our highways are in.
calculable, not only to the agrlcul-
tural community as a class. butte
the whole population as a nation.
The Government itself would be ben
Gifted in reduction of the charge
incumbent upon the transportation |
of Its mails where these roads are
used as pOst.rOads.
An investigation pertinent to
this subject has been inaugurated |
by the dean of tue engineering de.
partment of the Vanderbilt Uni. |
verSlty at Nashville, Tenn. He
has collected a large amount of
data bearing upon the various sys-
tens of highway administration,
collection of statistics, showing the
amounts expended for new roads |
in each locality, maintenance and |
repairs of existing roads, length of
roads, aud the amount of travel on |
them. This amount of material
already collected has been rendered |
to this Department, if the work
would be continued by it and pros
ecuted to an end. Having no fund |
available for such and lnvestiga.
tlon, | have been unable to accept
this information upon the terms
proposed. | would recommend t.
Congress that it would be advls
able to provide for this inyestiga.
ton to be made so that the out.
lines OF a system could be prepared