The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-02-20
FOR BETTER ROADS.
Good Roads Mean Larger Sales ant
More Remunerative Prices for
all Products of the Soil.

County Engineer Charles Dayii
yesterday transmitted to Harrisburg
he final report nf the Committee OF
Rord1 of the Engineer-' Society o
Western Pennsylvania together will
the draft of a proposed road act.
The report is comprehensive in
character, while the draft of the pro
posed law. which is substantially tht
same as heretofore presented to th'
society, has been revised and
amended in minor particulars, bu
without changing the genera
scheme. The committee has beer
more anxious to awaken public opin
ION than to enter upon IA discussion
of the scIeutific principles of road
making.
The committee says "that there Il
a peculiar propriety, therefore, il
engineers discussing the road prob
len, there can be no doubt. OF one
thing we are sure, viz : That if ell
ginpers had been called upon to lay
out, construct and supervise the
maintenance of roads in The Eastern
States, during the last 10 years,
vastly different picture wouiGGr tef
found from what apperrs to day. r
COUNTIES AT A STANDSTILL.
"Many of the counties of Pennsyl-
yania have come to a staudstill, so
far as increase in popula ion and
value of natural products are con-
cerned. The tide of immigration
from Europe passes INCREASINGLY
through the territory without stop
pin. although the proportion of IN.
broken or forest land in Pennsylvania
is still very large. By the census of
1850 it is shown that in Pennsylvania
Ia" PERCENTAGE Of forest to total area
was 24.3. OF the remaining rs per
ceHt nearly one-haIf is norrcultiyated
o. waste land. In New York the
pr cent of forest to total area was
26 = in Maryland. 3l.7. and in New
Jersey as much as 438.
at is therefore "A fact that these
States, which mbrace the chief COM
mercial and manufacturing cities of
the Union, and the denses: pOpula-
ton, considering their combined
area, haYe a greater proportion of
unbroken ground than other regions
Of the same >ize in the more sparsely
populated regions of the West.
PLENTY OF ROOM FOR SETTLERS.
Here then there is room for many
thousands of settlers. The farming
lands of these States are only yalua-
BILE on the narrow strips bounded by
a few miles width, through which
the railroads pass!
The hue and cry has gone forth
that Pennsylvania farmers cannot
compete W5th the wheat raiserS of
Minnesota and Dakota, because of
some mysterious evil that the RAJ
roads have done them. There are,
no doubt, causes of complaint hy
Eastern farmers of the railway adj
ministration, but. siftPd down, most
of the troubles which atfiict the Penn
sylyania agricul;urist originate in
their inefficient means of reaching
the markets
ITO the farmer the market simply
means the nearest railway station.
from the railway the character of
the roads often requires whole day 5
labor with a team of horses to trans.
port 600 or 700 pounds of produce to
the station. 1t never occurs to those
who lay and construct these roads
what Il iOss this eXtravagant use OF
horse power INVOLVES. Land at the
railroad may I've worth 500 per acre,
while the same kind Of SOL, ten miles
distant, may not be worth more than
one-thErd that of such an amount,
IF he could trayeroe the miles in
less time, and with three times the
load the farmer could market his pro-
duce with one third the number trips,
and the time land expenditure of
power lost on the road would 90 to
the hetterment of his farm. He
would live better. have more cOui-
forts, and be able to have better
SCHOOLS for the education of his chill
dren.
Good roads mean another thing
to the farmer-an improved breed OF
horses. If the farmers sons have
good horses. and good roads to ext r.
clse them on, they will form an at
tachment for the country which no
allurenent for the city can detract
from. As it is, however. the farmers
sIns grow restless with the plodding
ways of their fathers, and seek oppUr-
tunity to emigrate.
WHAT THE COMMITTEE PROPOSES.
"Tne salient points of the law
which your cammittee would like
to see enacted, should provide for