The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1890-05-08
GOOD HIGHWAYS.
To the Farmers Good Roads Are Directly
Beneficial.

| line advantages TO be OBTAINED
from good system of roads is very
little appreciated. 1t is asserted that
the military roads of Marshall Wade
through the Highlands of Scotland
did more for the civilization of the
Highlands than all the preceding eff
forts of the British monarchs, and
that the later roads made under the
more scientific direction of Telford
produced a change in the state of the
people unparalleled in the history of
any country for the same space of
time. Large crops of wheat soon COW
cred former wastes, and the country
was advanced 100 years in Importance,
while real estate increased in value
sevenfold.
"To the farmer roads are directly
beneficial. By the most accurate ex-
periments of eminent road engineers
it has been found thai on good bro
ken stone road horse can draw
three or four times as much as he
can on common dirt road. This
supposes that both roads are in fair
condition. In the rainy seasons the
relative capacity of the horse is greatly
increased, for on the metal road his
tractive effect remains nearly the
same in wet and dry weather; but on
dirt roads his effective tractive force
varies from one-third to zero. We
thus see under the most favorable cir
cumstances the amount of team to be
used in the case of the broken stone
road is decreased two-thirds. But
taking into account the fact the mer-
charitable crop of the farmer is ready
| for the market in the winter, when
the roads are usually in bad con-
dition, it is safe to say that broken
stone offers an advantage of four to
| five times that OF our common road
| AS the result of close observation in
the State of Illinois, it is stated by
| her road commissioner that for two
thirds of the year not over half of
what is usually considered good load
can be hauled. One of the civil en-
gineers of the State, estimating more
in detail, says that for one-quarter Of
year only good load can be hauled !;
for another quarter, two-thirds of a
full load, and for the remaining half
year not over one-half of good load
can be hauled. This estimate for
Illinois would not be materially
changed for Texas. 1t is true that
our winters are not so long, but our
dirt roads are much worse, and even
after dry weather sets in they often
remain for long time in the horrible
condition which the last Heavy rain
let them.
"The advantages to a city from roads
radiating from it are well seen. With
the ease of travel only double, the
amount OF trade would be increased
four times. The comparison of the
amounts of trade in the two cases is
easily made by considering the town
or city the center, and drawing circles
whose radii represent according to
scale the relative advantages of the
roads. The areas of these represent
the comparative amounts of trade.
II town is the market for wheat or
cotton, and its feeding roads are SO inn
proved that the same wheat or cotton
can be hauled three or four times as
far, its trade will be manifestly in
creased nine to sixteen times. This
supposes uniform population and no
competition from other towns. Even
the latter factor as pointed out by
Prof. jerks, in his "Road Legisla-
ton for the American States" intro
duces another decided advantage to
the farmer in giving him the choice
of markets and he can thus command
the situation. When one town knows
that it is impossible on account OF
roads for the farmers to take their
cotton or grain elsewhere, it is natural
that the town should offer the lowest
price of the market; but when the
possibility of the farmers going to
some other market confronts them, it
is very likely that the highest prices
will be offered. 1.-THE farmers, too,
get the benefit of the competition thus
brought about between rival towns in
the lowering of the price of goods
which they must buy, with often
times an increase of those they must
SELL"
Some years ago an estimate was
made in Berlin to ascertain how much
an improvement in their pavements
and roads would save annually per
horse. After many observations it
was found that this was over $25. In
other words, the people were paying
that much per annum for not i'm
proving their streets. Prof. Ely, of
Johns Hopkins University, thinks
that conservative estimate for Mary
land and the adjoining States would
be SIS. This means that the farmer
is paying each year SIS per horse for
the privilege of using bad roads This
is the toll road, in every sense of the
word. Every bad road in the country
is a toll road, that exacts more tax
than the annual gate fees would
amount to on turnpike. The State
of Texas has no provision in her laws
for toll roads, but here they are,
without any legislation on the subject.