Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1893-02-23
FARMER AND PLANTER.
GOOD ROADS.
Another Chapter from the Gospel Of
Road improvements.

The organized effort in behalf OF
good roads is one OF the most promising
reform movements OF the time. In
deed, we know of no other concerning
which the beneficial results TO be OBJ.
tanned are so unquestioned, 40 great
and so immediate, Yet strange TO say
IL is reform which does not readily
and strongly commend itself to the
public mind. There Is no man SO fool
ish that he would not prefer good roads
to bad II the question was put to him
IN that naked form, but there are many
thousands who choose TO pull through
mud, tumble through :gullies, blunder
over rocks and toll up heavy hill
sides, rather than pay the first cost of
a good road. The chief difficulty in
the way of educating the public mind
to a proper appreciation of the advan-
tages Of good roads Is that so few peo-
pie in the agricultural districts have
therefore not had the opportunity to
compare the cost of good road with
that of bad one. The man who has
once enjoyed the advantage Of easy ac'
cess TO market in all kinds of weather
and at all times vi the year would not
complain Of additional taxation if nee
essary TO restore him to that condi-
ton. II is theoman who has grown
TO accept bad roads MS an immuta-
bic fact, part Of the primeval
curse like the necessity of eating
bread in the sweat OF ones face, and to
whom there is d sort of sanctity in mud
and gullies, because they were good
enough for his father, who makes all
the trouble Such o man will never
consent to the extra first cost of a good
road until the visible and realizable nd
vantages are brought before him. You
may prove to him by argument that it
would be an actual saving of money,
but the Wis inertia, the power of estab-
lishcd conditions, does not readily
yield to reason. The best argument
in the world for good roads is a good
road. II every stretch of mud road
in the country altcrnated with n hun.
dred yards or so of sound and level
highway, people would not be long in
getting a notion as TO the comparative
cheapness of the two. 1t will be nee.
essary to prosecute the work in behalf
of improving our highways like drum
mer sells his goods-by showing sam.
Piles. A few miles of good road in every
county would do more to awaken popu
lar interest in this subject and get the
popular mind into a reasonable and re.
ceptivc mood on this question than all
other arguments could do in lifetime.
To every man who has made invcsti-
cation, or even allowed himself to
think on the subject, it is plain that
the worst road is the most costly, and
that good road is cheap at any cost
After a road is once made thoroughly
good the cost of keeping it so is trifiing
less than that of the almost wasted
labor given to the average country
road, which for a large part of the
year is almost If not quite impossible.
The farmer who is repealed by thought
of the first cost of making a good road
does not think of the immense waste oil
time and labor, of the increased wear of
his vehicles and the strain upon
his horses due to bad roads
He does not stop to think
that it will require twice as
many horses and wagons and twice rs
many teamsters to haul the produce tC
market through the mud as it would re
quire to haul it in the same time over &
turnpike; while for many days, perhaps
for many weeks in the year, he might
in the former case, be shut out from the
markets altogether. fine does not con
slider this n very onerous tax upon his
labor it is because he hasn't giver
thought to the subject. There are
thousands of dollars worth of mar
letable produce in every agriculture
community that rot on the farm be
cause of inaccessibility TO market
There are thousands of unprofitabl,
farms that might be made profitable by
improved highways. Every improve
ment in the road brings the farm neareI
to the market. The good country roat
lies at the basis of all commerce. They
are the feeders of traffic to the grca
railways, which, without them, would
be worthless. The locomotive mus
wait for the wagon.
We are glad that so intelligent anC
earnest body of men are now assem-
bIed in this city to consider the i'm
provement of our public roads. 1t is {
! question which we have often com
mended to the attention of our com
mercial bodies and the thoughtful con
sideration of our legislators. 1t is on,
with respect to which all the argumen
is on one side, and which needs only t.
be intelligently and aggressivel.
pushed to bring the desired result
Memphis Commercial.