Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1900-03-09

"cnr'al Roy Stone recently address,
a. a.. Automobile club OF America IN
Ne" lora city on the subject of road
h..T'N'JucnL General Stone said:
w"uid Ge glad il cuN.d trust my
' advise You as To luc line uf ac-
..'. q should take in promoting road
.I.. .acu. II would seem a. though
.'. ed "iScly take up some of the
iAr.,. .",n"ms which we haze consid-
rl,. nat which were beyond the
.v@I.> AT cur control. ia this great
country ii is often easier L. do nig
things than small ones. You have on
y To each The public tJlry and stir up
public .Itmclt and unlimited meas
are placed at your disposal.
There are three great enterprises IN
connection with the good roads work.
any onr Of which is worthy of Your
consideration.
Three years ago. wh,g the price Of
steel "1ilS was below cent pound,
we " re on the point of success in in
. Producing the general use of steel
tracks. but for the lack of So .uGu or
&3.nn to pay for new rolls to make
special shapes of rails we were com
PEELED to patch up our specimen tracks
+ from shapes already in the market and
/ thus failed 10 make them successful
/ and attractive. When steel comes
down again To normal value. ii be-
comes the logical and necessary road
material. Nll the considerations of easy
+ traction. cheap maintenance and even
( Of moderate first cost are in its favor.
/ "A second great departure which
/ many of Us have advocated looks to
the provision of vast SUMS of money
/ II very low rates of interest for the
/ general construction of highways
/ throughout the country 1t involves
/ the establishment Of postal savings
. banks and the loan of their funds or
/ on county bonds issued exclusively for
road Improvement and guaranteed by
! the state. the rate of interest to be no
! mere than that paid by the government
/ on deposits POSSIBLY > per ccut-the
/ government gaining its compensation
! n tic Improvement of the highways
and the better and cheaper transporta-
ton Of the mails.
The campaign for postal savings
! banks is already half won, and the on
| ly serious drawback to it is the Difficult.
! ty Of n lack of the proper investment
of the funds. No investment could be
safer than that in public roads, which
! ala I,art ,,uf,ll fb.ir N tho
value of the property which IS pledged
for the debt The small interest charg
| ed could in most cases be taken out
of the present amount of road taxa
ton and still leave enough to keep
good roads in good order, so that the
great result Of good roads everywhere
would be brought about without Il per
| rpptiblc increase in taxation, while
their benefits would be accompanied by
that increase of rural thrift and eCsDnO
my which would result from an eX
tension to all the agricultural regions
of convenient savings institutions and
the saving habit.
""lAere are two or three minor meas
urnS OF great practical value In the
gradual development of road improve
mcnt. such as strengthening and broad
cuing the work which the department
of agriculture is doing through the Ill
vis.on of road inquiry in order that the
larger educational work may be done
both in the literary department of the
office and in the object lesson work OF
road construction; such again as deVel
ODing the employment OF convict lahol
in the preparation of road materials IL
quarry camps. where the cOnviCts ear
be gUardvl and secluded as well rs II
prisons and where they can have
hCalthtNl occupation, nOncompetltivt
with free labor. and such finally as The
promotion Of state aid to road build
ing under which the most substantial
progress in road construction has St
far been made.
"Rut the third of the grand under
takirgs which would like to com
mend to YOU is the construction of /
great national object less in road i'm
provomcnt and in the advance of val
ucs dee to good roads. 1t is the build
ing of a national highway across the
continent and along both its shores
Such Il highway. extending. for in
stance. through all the great coast cit
los Of the continent. branching .uOrtl
and south along the Pacific, woul'
traverse or touch two-thirdS of th'
states of the Union. 1t need not h'
built hy the general government eX
ccpt through Indian reservations an'
public lands, whore the govcrnmen
itself would reap the profit in the al
vancpd values. Each state could buil'
it's portion as n part of its own system
and it's own object lesson in road con
struction. The national supervision
would insure the proper location an'
connection of the different state sec
tions in order to form continuous ant
we'll located through line. Such high
way would be the great thoroughfa"
Of. business and pleasure travel fo
vehicles Of all kinds. 1t would soon b.
lined with villages. villas and mode
farms throughout its entire length, ant
the advance in property values woul'
he 50 plain that he who runs ma.
read
"a project so vast may seem like
vision of drpamland. but in all its vast
ness it is only fraction of what al
ready has been done in the construc
ton OF our continental railways. AM
il is no more than a fitting adjunct o
sequence of the great transformatlo'
of travel which the successful adven
of the automobile has wrought for tn
future. Such field for your vehicl'
would multiply their use hundred
fold. Road and vehicle would mt eac
other. and t. gether they would wortn
" signallzt the advent of the twentie'