Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-02-08
COST OF POOR ROADS.
srupeNpous SUM WASTED IN MAR
keTlNG CROPS.
Careful; Estimates Place the Amount An
uualiy sunk In the Mud Mt $500. 00o, 900.
Mr. Otto Dorner Advocates State Aid
For Highway Improvement.

Mr.. Otto Dorner, chairman Of the ma
tional committee for highway improve
ment, League Of American Wheeimen, |
in an address ON GOOD Roads" deliv. |
cred at Urbana, Ills, said;
"A leading agricultural paper in the
east has severely criticised my state
ment that the farmers of Wisconsin. |
where live, might, by the construction
Of good roads, save IS, 500, 900 each year
in the cost Of marketing their oats,
corn. wheat and barley. This figure Is
indeed 80 stupendous that il is not sur
prising its correctness should have been
questioned. Figures Of this kind deserve
to be subjected to rigorous criticism.
and | am glad to say that these figures
are based upon the highest authority
and will bear the most careful analysis
The United States government, through
It's bureau Of road inquiry, has made an
extensive investigation into the cost of
hauling crops and has found as the re-
suit of replies to its circulars, coming
from i,200 different counties, that the
average cost III marketing ton Of farm
produce in the United States Is some
thing over So The United -tates CENSUS
ought 10 b. pretty good authority ~ tol
the amount Of crops harvested in cach
state. With these two authorities rs z
foundation. IL was easy for mo 10 csti
mate the cost If hauling these four
crops. which, is about sS, $50. oG0
The progress of the good roads
movement has brought about careful IN
vestigation rs TO the possible saving
from good reads Both the department
of agriculture and the secretary Of the
farmers national congress agree that
the cost OF hauling farm products might
bc reduced by thirds through iho
building Il good reads. Two-thirds OF
IS, 250, 600 is g.. 500. 600, a. any school
boy can readily figure cut. The paper
in question would 10 amply untitled in
attacking thcSe figures if they were sim
ply my own and II IL werc not for the
fact that they are Iascd upon careful in
vestigation conducted by the United
States government, lmIartiaily made,
for the simple purpose of honestly as
certaining the facts.
lin the same way we an able O. as
certain n few things with regard 20 the
losses from bad roads in Illinois The
United States census Of 1890 shows that
the farmers of Illinois harvest annually
over ESQ. goo, 600 bushels uf corn, or
something more than 5000. COO tons,
nearly 1850. coo tons Of oats, nearly
5000, 600 tons Of hay, considerably
more than 900. 600 tons Of wheat and
enough rye and barley to make more
than another 100, 600 tons This makes
total Of nearly 10. 500, 600 tons, and
does not include many other crops. such
as potatoes and tobacco. Ii Is safe 10 Us
sumo that 1000. 900 tons Of these are
hauled % market, and this costs the
farmers Of Illinois according tn the
United States department II agricui-
ture, lust about s96. 600, 600 This, q
course, does not represent cash, but II
the value Of the time and effort cXpcnd
I'd each year by man and beast in tray
cling over the roads ~ they exist today.
II il be- true, rs the department Of agri.
culture estimates, that wo-thlr,is Of
the cost Of hauling might b. saved
through the building Of good roads, II
means that the farmers Of Illinois are
each year unnecessarily expanding s2i,.
600, 900 worth Of time and labor IN
hauling their crops 10 market.
Equally large amounts might be
saved in other states through the con
s;ruction of good roads. The department
% agriculture estimates that III the
United States good roads would save
over $500. 900, 900 each year in the cost
Of hauling crops, and the estimate made
by the secretary Of the farmers ma
tional congress results in the same enor-
nous amount While great deal Of
effort has been expended ON our public
roads, very little actual improvement
has been made in them, and / doubt II
the cost Of hauling crops by wagon has
been reduced one third since the clos
Of the war We can today ship u bushel
VI grain from Chicago 10 New York for
inst one-fi fifth Of what il cost tn ship ii
in 1868, and, while We formerly paid
i0ls cents for carrying that bushel OF
grain from New York to Liverpool. the
freight across the water today amounts
10 only cents Ii il fortunate for the
farmers Of the United States that the
cost Of transportation has thus decreased,
for, with the rapid growth of agricul
ture in this country, We must depend
more and more upon foreign markets 10
dispose Of oar grain products and must
certainly depend upon these foreign
markets TO control the price of grain
even here at home. II American wheat
is To successfully compete in the cities
of Europe with grain imported from
Russia, India and South America, where
land and labor are cheap, 1t is of the
Greatest importance that the cost Of its
transportation be reduced 10 a minimum.
This applies not only 10 freight rates
from Chicago to New York and 10
Liverpool, but with equal force to the
cost Of hauling that same grain from
the farm TO the railroad.
The greatest improvement IN our
system of building country roads is the
plan of state aid as advocated and pro-
NOTED by the League of American
Wheelmen This is the system under
which the famous stone roads If New
Jersey have been constructed by diyi-
sion of their cost between the state, the
county and the adjoining property own
or. The farmers III New Jersey today
are hauling loads over these state aid
rogds which are four times rs large as
those formerly transported over the old
dirt roads. The essential feature Of this
system is state tax levied upon city
and country taxpayers alike, thus Ell
abling all city property holders to con
tribute To the cost of roadbuilding.
Tennyson and Birds.
Agnes Weld, niece Of Tennyson,
speaks thus of the poet in The Contem