The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1892-12-15
ROADS FOR FARMERS,
The Congress at Indianapolis Attacks the
Question with Energy.

The Congress at Indianapolis Attacks the
Question with Energy.
The second days session of the In
diana Road Congress at indianapolis,
was attended by $50 or 5Hto del" gates.
While the congress Is divided as TO
what steps should be taken to secure
better roads it is ap; aren, that the out
cone will be at least Il healthy public
sentiment in favtr Of g>ai +, ads. which
will result even ualiy in some .esi:a
legislation. The farmers vino are in Il
aiority in the congress have rot had a
great deal to say, tut whenever they
have S. oxen they have opposed any
movement VIII ch proposes to lncr,aSa
their taxes or add 10 their bonded in
ae5tadncsS.
At the opening oe The session Ru.us
Nagep OF loSanSport otetcd a re . IL
tion that the Worlds Fair he opened or
Sunday. Lhe resolution was laid tn
the table by Tn" congress without dis
ctss:on The Illinois Highway lmp, ovc-
ment Association sent a letter Of greet
ing TO the congress. AMI stated that tor
twenty years it had been trying to Ic
form the road laws Of Illinois. an | now
be- an to see daylight. The letter s'at' Il
. that the Governors eject an a majority
Oh me liletfIEtIS > o. me lie -fSidttte WtIt
ric.!ge 10 loa reforlna',nl.
The first pape. OF the day was by W.
| L. Carmichael. o. Weltiny ord. 1t dealt
with some Criticisms oi the Present
System of Ioad- Making in Iui;na.
IN the discussion Of the pa; cr Mr..
Brown. Of Eavtt!e County, said that
there are in the State about forty thou
sand miles ot road lie es,imat, 8 hat
the roads could all tc Put in good OH
,iition at a cost OF Sst0 mic. This
would entail an expense of 1.5n an acre
tor the land in the State. JEi5 cost
could lie distributed over len years and
would ,ost the owners Of the land %
cents an acre each year. He thought
tina; this expense would not he burdeH-
some.
Mr.. Martindale said that the idea
prevailed that Indiana was leh,hd her
sister States in the construction Of
roads. That was IL mistake. The SUI
! pcrvisor system. lie said. was defective
in itself. II had not been eSecut. d as
/ il might have been. 1t was sab ishcd
! at a tine when it wa Necessary to so
| from village 10 village. The hest that
| ,ou d be done with 1t was To use it in
| keeping the mex: roais passahle. He
| said that if the delegates came here
/
| present law they were on Il mistaken
| mission. 4 he thing 10 do was to amend
| and better the present laws.
| Prof. ". B. Johns on, of Franklin
! College, in an address. said that the
| roads of the State were faulty in the
| essential particulars of gool engineer
/ ing. Roads, too, he Said We're faulty
I as TO construction of bridges and drain
| age, Which was the most important
factor. The natural soil, clay, was
| strong enough to support any load
placed upon it. Along The roads were
deep bitches, bat they do not carry
water Drainage unccr the road is al
most wholly unknown. The present
| supervision Of reads, he averre 1. was
! faulty. Supervisors We're generally in
telligent men. but they lacked technical
| knowledge Of road bull. ing and main
t,nancc. 1t was desirable to have a
trained corps of men to build roads and
keep them in repair.
J. 4. Robinson, OF Shelly County. a
Peoples party man. said he had reached
the conclusion that any effort 70 tampeI
! with the present road law would result
in the getting Of no law nj all. He be-
| licved with many farmers that entirely
too much money was spent inside the
| court houses on The read questions. He
! said he believed that any report which
! looked to the increase of the bonded in
| debtedness of the farmers would rece.-e
| Il black eye in the Legislature. II
| seemed to him that there were meu
who We're always ready 10 put addition
| al burdens ON the farmers. Th, nSn
! who had built this nation were the farm
crs behind the plow. Progress, he said,
| declared that the people who supror:cl
this nation had right to demand that
the general government come out here
and assist i'll iking good roads. Mr.
Robinson mate long Plea for thc
! farmer.
The congress was furnished s'ate-
| mcnt from the State Auditor in the after.
noon showing that the tota! load tax in
Indiana in 1892 was S2,a63.G7,. This
sum. it was stated, did not include take
raised for free turnpike- or for bridges.
Many of the delegates expressed the
opinion thar this amount of money, il
wisely spent each year, ought to build a
great many good roals.