Middletown transcript., 1899-11-18
HIGHWAYS OF INDIA.
POTENT FACTORS IN olFFusiNe Ed
ucATIoN.

instrumental In Breaking Down
Caste Barriers and In Improving
Condition of the Masses-Economy
of Good Roads.
Good roads which the English have
constructed in India have perhaps done
more to break down the almost insu-
perable barriers of caste and to ameli-
crate the condition of the masses than
all agencies put together.
1t cannot, of course, be justly claim
ed that good roads are original causes
of civilization, for it requires public
intelligence to appreciate their value,
but they always promote the enlight-
enment which builds them. They are
potent factors in diffusing the educa-
ton which primarily created them,
says Professor Sylvester Waterhouse
of Washington university, St Louis.
In the colonial days Of this country
it sometimes took four years to send a
load of peltries from the trading post
of st. Louis to England and receive in
return a stock of merchandise. Letters
from New York to the same point were
not infrequently from four to six
months on the way. If these excep-
tional conditions, due to scanty popu-
lation and to a lack of facilities for
rapid transportation over vast reaches
of ocean and wilderness, had contin-
ued, the growth of American civiliza-.
ton would have been seriously retard-
ed. But the authorities Of this coun-
try early recognized the Importance of
good roads. Public moneys were spent
upon the construction of turnpikes be-
fore appropriations were made for the
Improvement of our harbors. The pol
icy of extending our highways and
railroads has been actively encouraged
by our government and vigorously car
ried out by the American people.
Good roads are always and every
where educational. Enlightening COM
merce, they broaden the range and in,
crease the profits of its exchanges;
difrusing intelligence and the agencies
Of spiritual culture, they bear to all
lands the benefits of the highest civili-
zation.
The economic Importance Of good
roads has been demonstrated by star
ting statistics. 1t has been shown that
the traction force required to move
1900 pounds at speed of three miles
an hour over level road of iron, as
phalt, loose gravel and soft sand is,
respectively, s, II, 800 and 44S pounds.
From this statement it may be easily
inferred how costly bad roads are. Iron
and asphalt are mentioned for the
sake of comparison They could not,
Of course, be used as the constructive
materials of country roads. But the
difference between good and bad roads
is so great that the team which can
draw only one ton on the former will,
according to the character of the i'm
provement, haul from three to five
tons on the latter. 1t is estimated that
the aggregate cost Of transportation
over public roads of the United States
is now about $1,000,000,000 a year.
This sum is largely more than one
third of the productive values of the
farms of the country. Careful calcu-
lat:ons indicate that fully one-half of
this cost of haulage could be saved by
the construction of good roads. In
tx ce computations the saving OF $780,
0GG 900 a year is limited to the trans
p5. tation of farm products, but there
wcIld be corresponding economy in
tn carria 90 TO the consumers of vast