St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-19
IN THE WAY OF GOOD ROADS.

IN THE WAY OF GOOD ROADS.
The gospel of good roads may be
preached to the country districts I'M
It'll doomsday without effect just as
long as parsimony rules the road
districts, and the road system re-
mains as it is. The theory on which
it rests is that each road is divided
into SegmentS, the ends of which
are the limits Of the districts. The
true conception is that every road
is a matter of common concern to
every one. There should be no small
er subdivision than a county, and
that merely for convenience; for a
road in Rock county is in some way
a matter of interest to the citizen
of st. Louis. There is a benefit in
good roads in the one that is shared
in some measure by the resident in
the other. The method of road work.
ing, that is, the construction and re-
pair of roads, rests on false basis.
1t presupposes that any one can
build or repair a road. It also pre-
suppoSes that the men who COM
mute their road tax with labor will
work as well as if under pay. The
sum Of these two errors is univer-
sally bad roads except where nature
has been kind enough to provide
material that men cannot spoil.
The country must learn what the
cities have learned. Good roads are
not luxury, but an economy. The
visitor to the cities from the coun-
try marvels ait the immense loads
the teams haul over their streets.
Twice or three times the weight is
more easily hauled on the paved sur
face than could be hauled over the
ordinary road. But good roads cost
money. So does every other good
thing. A self binder costs more than
sickle, but farmers have learned
that the binder is the cheaper inn
plement. The hobgoblin of cost must
be laid aside before good roads can
be had outside the cities. 1t is some
thing striking, this inconsistency one
sees in the residents of country dis
tricts. Let some promoter come
along with a proposition to build a
railroad through a region if the
townships will vote bond bonus,
and forthwith there is a willingness
to stand the expense. Why? Because
the railroad offers them a better
road to market; one that will carry
bigger loads at a less cost than
any method of individual transpor-
tation. And yet, go into any one
of these townships with a PROPOSE
ton that the same amount of money
be raised to improve the dirt roads.
and you would be scoffed at as crazy:
although a good road from the farm
to the station is just as valuable, Just
is the road of iron rails.
There are some obstacles to be
swept out of the way before the
state will enjoy the comfort and
the economy of really good country
roads. The town and road district
system must give way to the county
system modelled after that of New
York. A competent road engineer
Will have to be a, permanent feature
of the county official system. Con-
struction of roads and their repair
will have to be a matter of contract.
The idea that roads can be laid
where Land cannot be cultivated, that
is, that the poorest lands are good
enough for roads, must be replaced
with the true conception that the
greater interest of all in good roads
must control over the personal in
terest of the land owner. The state
must lend hand in aiding construc-
ton, for every road is a highway
on which every citizen of the state
may travel if he will. These condi-
lions having been fulfilled as indis-
pensable preliminaries, the work Of
real road improv cement may begin.
We could wish that the necessity
and the value Of it might be preached
to the farmer without intermission
until he should be moved to save the
hundreds of millions that we now
pay out annually as the extra cost
OF carriage over poor roads, to say
nothing of what they cost in depre-
Chatting the value of farm proper
ties and adding to the isolation and
discouragements of country life.