St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-01-26

ScIlOuS ul'uCulIleS, Out WHEN we Ill
crease our horizon so as to include all
the roads in the state, we meet with
such variety Of conditions of soil and
topography. such difference in the
wealth and taxing power, such lack of
material In some places. and such DIFF
tcutieS of transportation of material to
places needing IL, SO much Ignorance of
what is necessary. to say nothing of
prejudice and active opposition to every
practical remedy suggested, that the
immensely and compleXity of the sub
Ject grows with the broadening of the
view until ones mind is almost over
Wheimed with the prospect, and his
ardOr and hope tor immediate reform
somewhat cooled and dampened.
So little is known of the ma
terial at hand in Minnesota
the cost of building of the Minnesota
material. the needs and possibilities of
the different parts of the state, and there
are so few presidents in the way Of
legislation for permanent highways of
the most improved modern type, and
the subject is so large and intricate and
involves the expenditure of so much
money. that any hasty or ill-adviSed
legislation would be likely to cost the
state and the cause of good roads very
dearly.
The second inSurmountabie difficulty
In the way OF comprehensive legiSla-
ti0a this winter is the state copstitu-
tiOnal provisions, which cannot be
changed in time to permit desirable
legislation until the next meeting of the
legislature.
Although it seems impossible to Sc
cure the legislation we need this win
ter, nevertheless [ will make few gen
eral suggestions which it seems desira-
bic to put in form of legislation as soon
as circumstances will permit. All the
highways of the state should be
Divided Into Three Classes
according to their commercial impor-
tance. as follows: All roads which. by
reason of their use or because they eX-
tend beyond the limits of any county
are of the greatest commercial impor-
lance should be put into the first class,
and might be called state roads; roads
OF secondary Importance which extend
beyond the limits on any one township
should be put into the second class and
called county roads; all other roads would
simply be feeders of the state and
county roads and should be in the third
class and called township roads. Esta6-
lish state board Of highway commits
siOners, one of whom shall he practical
civil engineer. and place all state roads
under their supervision to the extent of
determining how, when and where state
roads should be built and kept in repair.
All county roads should be under the
supervision of special county super
visors, and all township roads under
township supervisors. Abolish all other
road districts and road supervision. 1t
does not seem probable that supervision
of Onr roads according to this plan
would necessarily cost any more than is
paid the 1000 road oyerseerS of this
state at present.
While we are waiting for the neces-
Sary change to be made in our cOnSti-
tuition, there is much TO be done to pre-
pare the way for legislation two years
from now. BY means of permanent
road Improvement association the peo-
pie of the state may be educated to a
proper appreciation or the subject in
general. There is large amount of in
formation concerning the situation in
Minnesota which ought to be obtained.
This state consists of large territory
and people ranging all the way
from a highly improved and civil
lied condition to that of a
dense wilderness inhabited only by
savages. and highway legislation suit
able for one part of the state would be
altogether lmpractlcablo for another
part. For these reasons the Intelligent
classification of our highways, the test
ing and selecting of the best materials
our state affords, the determination as
near as possible of the kind of material
and the probable cost and the necessity
of building permanent highways III
different parts of the state cannot be
done without great deal OF scientific
and practical investigation. IntOrma-
ton should also be secured of legiSla-
tion in other states, and bill should be
prepared for the Legislature which will
meet two years hence. A state COM
mission, consisting Of three competent
men. should be appointed by the pres
ent legislature to do this work.
II. S. Fairchiid, following Mr. ChOate,
said New Jersey macadam roads cost
$4,000 mile, built under most favor
able circumstances and conditions, and
similar roads could not be built in Min
nesOta for $4,000, because we lack the
material and the ground is too hilly.
County surveyors should establish GER
tain grades for roads and maintain
those grades for all time. Then draw
plans for best improving county roads,
and place them in the hands of each
county supervisor and each road over
seer in the state, and let them follow
these plans in building roads. Let
them devote their energies to the bad
places and let the good spots alone;
lower the high places and raise the low
ones. Publish information on road
making in country newspapers, ana the
benefit will be far greater than that
which accrueS from state road conven-
ton.
On Dirt Roads.
"Dirt Roads. Their Location and Con-
dition," was the subject OF the next adj
dress. which was delivered by j. ID.
Estabrook, of st. Paul. Public i'm
provements should be not only we'll
planned" said the speaker, "but we'll
adapted to surroundings and to the pur-
pose they are to serve. The best road
for use in the city is likely to be en-
tirely out of place in most rural dis
tricts. Riding through New Jersey one
occasionally meets with paved streets
overgrown with grass and weeds. where
some one has unfortunately attempted
to suddenly transform farm land
into city property without waiting
for it to pass through the inter
mediate village stage OF Improvement.
Here III Minnesota we must not expect
to apply at once all the rules that are
servlceable in older states. We cannot
leap at a single bound from frontier
conditions to an advanced stage of rural
Though we may not go
so far in the way of improvement as
older states. we should, however, start
in the right direction. What work is
done from year to year should be so
many steps toward the ultimate compile
ton of wisely planned undertakings. In
locating a road too often the order is:
'Put it along the section linel It's not
very important, and there's no time
now But we find that nature paid very
little attention to section lines in its dis
tributon of watercourSes, ridges and
ravines, and both road lines and farm
boundaries should often depart from
section lines. The first great step in
road building is to secure proper loca-
ton. With that accomplished, then the
work done afterwards, however small,
will be in the direction of good, perma-
nent roads, and not waste, increasing
from WAR tO wear uNDn fem DOrarV