Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1891-05-22
GOOD HIGHWAYS.


The improvement Of country roads is
a subject that concerns everybody, 1t
is important to transportation interests
by land aud by water, as well as to
farmers manufacturers and traders.
Tho development of the American rail
way system and of facilities for water
carriage has been SO rapid and so attrac
tive to investors that too little attention
has been paid to the means of delivering
freight frCAn farm or workshop at docl:
or station.
There is little in the novelties Of
modern traffic to vary the old rulc that
the character Of the roads of country
should afford fair tess OF its prosperity.
Especially where u region is perincatcd
lv water courses, as is the state of New
( York. with its rivers and canals, or
Louisiana with its bayous, the parity
between ancient and modern conditions
in this respect remains substantially I'M
impaired
The facilities that lie close to the hands
Of producers are the most Important to
tn welfare of a community, 1t is Of no
greater convenience to the farmer to
have cheap freight from the station near
est his farm to great market than to he
able to carry his crops cheaply to the
shipping point. He may have choice
between competing frcightagc routes by
land or water, but he must haul his
products over his neighhorhood high
way The cost of delivery at wharf or
depot falls directly upon him. and if the
roads are SO bad that he is compelled to
\ 70 " ~ i,lo
and lose much time and wear out ami
mails in slow and hard travel, his profit Is
greatly diminished before the property
hi5 labor has created passes out of his
hands.
The New York state Association for
the Improvement Of Roads has been in
session recently at Syracuse. Its pur-
pose is t. promote a system Of common
roads under the auspices Of the state
New York, with farms valued at 81 ,000,-
600 600, producing annually crops worth
SIZE, 900, 0O0-more by one-half than the
worth Of the entire agricultural product
OF New EnGland-is in respect to coun-
try roads the most backward of all the
OLD northern states Of the Union The
association asks the expenditure Of $40
OCQ 900 for road improvement on the
system contemplated by the Richardson
bill Of last session. The taxation for the
outlay Is TO be extended over period of
eighteen years, and the agricultural
population Of the state is to bear only its
proporiionatc share Of the cost.
Tho association seems to regard the
matter chiefly from Il farmers stand
point In fact. il concerns all other in
dust,ios Of the state as well. The slow
growth Of manufactures in the interior
Of New York las been generally ascribed
to the effect Of the low rates of through
transportation lines The picture has
been ovcrdrawn. The neglect OF com
mon highways has been responsible for
the check TO our manufacturers in al
most equal degree with the preference
given to long haul railway freightage
II is Away Wc,l to deal with an evil al
, its root, and the origin Of the cxtrava
giant outlay required for New York
, manufactures les in the initial expense
of transporting materials and supplies tC
r the ,nill on snop, and finished product;
thence l' the freight depot
. The advantage Of better facilities fOl
q light travel on business or pleasure, aul
. the now demand created by the rapit
development Of bicycling. are perhap
, minor considerations III the road qucs
tion, but they are well worthy Of atten
r ton. Indeed, American wncclmen ma,
hc counted on as active and efficient mis-
eiouarirs in the cause Of highway i'm
4, proycmont,
r At one session Of the Road Improve
lncnt association there were shown
a photographs representing respectivel,
a III" condition of an ordinary countr,
, road in Franco after storm and that 0
I one Of the best roads in the state 0
Pennsylvania under similar circum
s stances. Photographic representation o
, vehicles that travelled over those high
ways under like conditions We're also OK
+. hibited. This object lesson of the yalu
. Of a we'll kept road to the producer wa
n followed by the passage of IA resolution
4 urging the enactment Of measur
4 known rs Senate bill No. 30, which sui
f stantially embodes the provisions Of tn
Richardson bill Of 1890,
= The question of country highway i'm
"a prOvement should be seriously considere
: Dy metropolitan commercial bodies dc
voted rois..c and transportation. Thes
organizations have given much attentio
to discussion Of canal, river and railwa
y transport. They have an equal concer
/ in the more primitive but always nece.
& sary carriage over the common road
That are feeders to the rail all waite
9 routes.-Ncw York Recorder.
l.
S, Hamilton observed in his report O
10 the manufactures: There is perhap
!, scarcely anything which has assisted tn
he manufacturers Of Great Britain bette
II than the moderation Of the public road
il Of That kingdom and the great progres
d which has been of late made in canals
le OF the former tho United States stand
\ much in need. There can certainly
" no object more worthy Of the cares {
~ the local administrations, and it were t
Ut be wished that there was no doubt {
al the power OF the national government I
re lend its direct aid on "a comprehensiy
ne Dlnn This is one Of those imDroyeInent