The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1894-12-07
THB EARTH'S HIGHW AVS
Ably Discussed and
Compared.
Our Own Country Pos
sesses the Worst.
Economic Statements as to Cost OF
Construction the World
Over.

The public highway question is
now one OF, the most important mat
ters that is being considered by the
people of the United States, and
when we take irto consideration what
forcible and convincing arguments can
be advanced in favor of good macad-
amized roads it is strange indeed
that the public mind Is SO slow in
the situation. Good roads
assist the farmer in his
money making and put him upon a
higher plane, socially, commercially
and financially. At the same time
they widen his influence and add
much to the comfort and convenience
of his family. They place him in bet
ter accord with the busy world and
therefore bring him in closer contact
with it's civilizing influences. 1t is i'm
possible to enumerate the number of |
ways bad roads entail loss upon the |
people. The necessity for more help, |
the wear and tear of vehicles and har |
ness, need of extra draft animals. the |
depreciation of farm lands, the great
personal inconvenience and so on
which, taken in connection with the
fact that good roads are cheaper than
OLu OlIcS3 SlouIu uuO pCOPlC "
act promptly and effectively.
We expend $14O,OOO,OOO annually
upon our public schools. Statistics
show that an average of 80 per cent
of the pupils are absent in every
school day in the year and that fully
three-fourths of the absentees are oc-
casioned by bad roads. At every
political election the question of good
dS orto MT hot Y~in
the result, for it has been proven time
and again that bad roads alone have
often prevented full expression of
public sentiment in different portions
of the United States. 1t is certainly
not very pleasant commentary upon
a great nation like ours to say that
the success of an important political
movement may be placed in jeopardy
and perhaps be defeated by bad roads
when the arguments for establishing
good roads are so strong and con-
yincing. There are 100000 horses
and mules in the United States. Say
these animals are kept in the stables
upon an average of only twenty days
in the year ON account of bad roads,
and value them at only 25 cents a day,
and we have loss of $SO,OOO,OOO,
which would macadamize 10000 miles
of road, which would more than ma
cadamize every road in the state of
Oregon. To illustrate to what ridicu-
iouS ends the perseverity of the human
mind will sometimes lead, the follow
ing incident is given: A half-loaded
wagon stalled in the mud in almost
the shadow Of the twentw million
dollar state house at Albany, N. Y,
at the same time when the farmers
of l11y, t0y II f,Dr f1Io
grams to members of the state legis-
lature asking for the adjournment of
a committee because the roads were
too bad to permit them to get to town
in time to oppose a bill that sought
to make the roads better.
Outside of the social and political
features of the matter and the direct
influence they may have upon the
personal fortunes Of the farmer, bad
roads invariably force the consumer
to pay a higher price for produce be-
cause it cannot be hauled to town
,1IrIer such conditions and the middle
man, Or speculator, takes advantage
of the situation and secures a big
profit thereby. Indeed it is costly
and paralyzing condition Of affairs for
county to have bad roads at all,
and measured by every rule of econ
omy, public and private, the United
States has by far the worst highways
in the world.
The people Of Europe have learned
by experiment ard still better by long
experience that true economy in the
construction of public roads consists
in making them durable and broad
enough to meet all Of the demands of
travel and traffic. England has a
most admirable system of roads and
so have the other countries of Europe,
but France is acknowledged to possess
the most perfect of them all, the great
impetus to highway improvement
having been given the country by the
first Napoleon. Although only four
times larger than the state of New
York, France bas spent 100000, 900
on her roads, and it now only costs
her little over 2 per cent of the cost
to Keep them in repair. This tallies
closely with our figures, for we said
in our last issue it would not cost
over $4,000 a year to keep our ma
cadamized roads in repair, which is
about 2 per cent of the cost of con-
struction. amounting to $45O,O0O.
Francis w. Loomis, United States
commercial agent at st. Eitenne,
France, in his report to the state de-
partment at Washington, speaking
Of the road system of France, says:
"The road system Of France has
been Of far greater value to the coun-
try as means of raising the value
Of lands and putting the remote peas
ant proprietors in easier communica-
ton with their markets than have the
railways. 1t is the opinion of we'll
Informed Frenchmen who have made
a practical study of economic prob
lens that the superb roads Of France
have been one of the most steady and
potent contributions to the material
development and marvellous financial
elasticity of the country. The far
reaching and sp1endidly maintained
road system has distinctly favored
the success of the small landed pro-
prietors and in their prosperity and
the ensuing distribution of wealth lies
the key to the secret of the wonderful
financial vitality and solid prosperity
Of the French nation
The roads in Norway are very fine,