Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-03-25
GOOD ROADS MOVEMENT
A Hearing Today Before the House Com
mittee on Agriculture.
Interest Of the Southern States
shown In q Circular Letter
of Mr.. H0lmes.

The thorough organization Of the good
roads movement throughout the United
States is shown In the pressure upon Con-
sress for the passage Of the bill creating a
temporary special commission of inquiry to
asce rtain how the work Of education and
agitation, carried on for the last three
years by the Department Of Agriculture,
may be broadened and extended.
Letters and kilograms have poured in
from every state from Maine to California.
All the official and unofficial organiza lions
for road Improvement have sent resolu-
tions of Endorsement, and many of them
have sent their officers here to work for
the bill. Today the secretaries Of the Good
Roads Associations Of North Carolina, Vir-
GINA, New Jersey and Michigan were pres
ent to attend meeting of the House COM
mittee on agriculture and to push the work
OF acquainting members generally with the
Importance of the bill One of the sugges-
tions made by the good roads people Is
that all party platforms this year will con-
tain road improvement planks and that
no party can afford to neglect any prac-
ticable effort to make a favorable record
in this regard.
The main object of the proposed commits
sion is to help along and give direction to
the great educa tional movement in the in
terest of better public roads in all sections
of the country. Friends of the movement
sion will arouse a new interest in the good
roads movement all over the country and,
further, that it will secure a large reduc-
ton in the rate of transportation by rail-
reads of road materials in the several
states.
Mr.. j. A. Holmes, state geologist of North
Carolina, has sent a circular letter to the
Representatives in Congress from half a
dozen of the southern states, asking their
interest In the bill. In the course of the
letter Mr.. Holmes says: I'm answer to sew
eral thousand Inquiries made in practically
every township in the southern states, 1
have returns which show that It costs our
southern farmers to market their crops
practically four times rluch AS 1t does
the French and English to haul their crops
the same distance: and costs them from
TWO to three times much to haul their
farm products the same distance IS it does
the farmers in New jersey, where good
roads have been built. 1t costs our south
ern farmers more than five and half mil
lions of dollars per annUm to get our cot
ton crop alone to the railroads: at least
two-thirds of which amount would be
saved If we had good roads.
Our southern states must continue to de-
pend on agriculture as their greatest source
of wealth, but SO long as our farmers are
hampered by the enormous tax which these
bad roads impose upon them. they will be-
come less and less able TO compete with
farmers in other countries and other sec
tions of our own country where good roads
exist
We nave IN the southern states no such
strong and pushing agency us the League
of American Whe slmen to stimulate this
movement, the membership of this
league is confined almost entirely to the
northern and New England states. We are
now just fairly beginning the road i'm
provement agitation, and already We are
wasting money and energy by misdirected
efforts. Hence. more than any other Sec
ton of the country, We need just the work
which it IS believed this national highway
| commission will inaugurate; and the mem
bers Of our road Improvement associa tons
hope that you can aid in the passage of this
t,Il''