The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-06-24
Good Roads VIII Come.

rms agitation for good roads is
meeting the cordial Endorsement Of all
our public men who stop to give it
more thana passing thought EX-Vice
President A. f. Stevenson is now
among those who strongly commend
the movement of the League of Ameri-
can Wheelmen for better highways.
Says he in a recent letter:
Il am in full sympathy with the eff
forts now being made to secure GOOD
roads throughout our country. This
is living question. There is little
difficulty in getting from one large city
to anOther, or even in crossing the con
tinent, but the important question is
how to get from the country home to
the SchoOlhOuse, to the church. to the
market. 1t is a gratifying fact that this
questionis undergoing a thorough dis
cussiOn in many of our states The
result will be beneficial. Like other
important questions, it will work out
its own solution. | agree with Gov
Markham that good roads mean ad-
vanced civilization.
When people like Mr.. Stevenson be
gin to emphasize the need of better
country highways, surely there must
be a great public interest to be sub
served. And what are the facts? Mr.
Stevenson lives in Bloomington, ILL.,.
in the center of district whose roads
are VIGOROUSLY bad. 1t is not the
emily district Of its kind, by many odds.
There are dozens OF such districts in
every state IN the Union The Bloom
ington district is only sample, and
should not be singled out as an illus
tration, but for a coincidence. A
prominent paper in Illinois published
an interesting dispatch from its
Bloomington correspondent a few
weeks ago. Let the dispatch speak
for itself:
The embargo OF mud is complete in
central Illinois. Farmers who have
lived inMcLean county more than half
Il century declare that they have never
seen the roads so utterly impossible
as they are now, general stagnation
III retail trade is the result Farmers
find it impossible to come to town in a
light vehicle drawn by four horses.
Much of the corn stored in cribs has
rotted on the cob and crumbles in the
/ shelter. The condition Of grain is
/ giving the farmers serious trouble. -
Another interesting piece of news
comes from Massachusetts,. Ina town
in that state of about 5000 inhabitants
/ Il dwelling house was recently burned
/ to the ground because the roads were
too muddy for the fire department to
reach it. Insurance men claim that
the town can be held responsible for
/ the loss.
/ But these are not isolated cases. 1t
would be wrong to point our fingers
at Illinois or at Massachusetts; others
might point their fingers at us, and
with equal justice. There are too
many of these mud roads all through
/ the county. Our methods of road
building, as a rule, are thorough
failure. Millions of road taxes are
spent in each state every year, while
the roads themselves continue as bad
as ever. Reforms are sadly needed.
Complaint is often made that the
wheelmen are the ones who demand
good roads, and that wheelmen alone
are to be benefited by their construc-
ton. Yet what is it the Bloomington
correspondent gives emphasis to?
-Four horses cannot draw a light
wagon to market; stagnation in retail
trade is the result; corn Is rotting in
the cribs, and the condition of grain
gives farmers serious trouble Does
it not seem as though the interests of