The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-01-20
PUBLIC HIGHWAYS.
The L. A. w. Petition to Congress for $5,000O00 for Public Improvement What tIn stNNhnnlp Sa1,e

|
 l What the "Wheel" Says,
 l The League of American Wheelnen | has officially requested congress to ap- propriate the sum of five million for the | improvement of public highways. The l bill waypresented through Senator Pen l rose and Representative Graham, Of i Pennsylvania, and will be considered in 1 it's proper turn. V
 l This brief announcement is pregnant l with possibilities to cycling. The sim l pie fact that request has been made | for the appropriation does not indicate | the principles underlying it. It means l for one thing, that the good roads move ment-growing steadily, but certainly | during the, last ten years-has become | of national importance. The league 1 has, in one action, become something more than an aggregation of state dl- l visions. It has become national In l character. The league and good roads 1 are now connected in a comprehensive movement.
 | The situation is full of possibilities. l Has the league the leaders who can make the most of them? That is question that results alone can answer. If they are successful with this measure they will be hailed as able; if otherwise, otherwise.
 The leaders in this case are the chief consuls, with the national executive committee in command. Here 1s chance for every state division, howev-
 CT small to do something. The congress
 sional representatives of every state
 will have a voice in deciding whether
 this bill shall become law Every
 chief consul will have a chance to ex-
 ert the influence of his constituency
 upon those representatives. Individual
 ly their liability will be measured by
 the success or failure of their importu-
 nities of these representatives. Collec-
 lively they will be judged by its passage
 or defeat.
 It would seem they are placed in
 trying position Such does not appear
 to be the case when the measure is
 studied. It should become law if con-
 gressional justice Is possible, and as
 there are no signs of great discontent
 in this country it is reasonable to sup
 pose the bill will be properly considered.
 The bill should become law because it is framed in the interest of the peo-
 pie, and if supported properly by the l.. A. w. will be the best move that or
 sanization ever made. The league has
 been In a turmoil for three years be-
 cause of the racing hulabaloo, Here Is
 the chance for 1t to demonstrate that its
 greatest abject Is the improvement of
 highways, and that racing is a branch of cycling that has been fostered in the fat pf ho uopnra1lu WOr< for this and similar measures and do it as solid, harmonious, vigorous, ag- gressive whole, and success will come to the league, and, with success, plenty of new members
 The muchly-maligne League of American Wheelmen has done a great deal of unappreciated. unselfish work for all wheelmen In the United States. It has been so busy for three years ex- plaining its attitude on the racing ques- ton it has neglected to tell the public what it knows of and what 1t has done for highway improvement It appears the new leaf is turned and on it is to be written some of the reasons why congress should pass national good roads measure.
 Speaking of good roads as an econom- l ic proposition, there is no doubt that If the common highways of the United | States were placed in anything like proper condition they would save mill lions of dollars annually. A govern | ment expert estimates it at half bil- | lion dollars, or one-half the appropria- | tions of the famous "Bllion Dollar Con- | gress."
 There was a national good roads l movement on different principle early | in the century. It included the building | of national turnpike from Washington | to St, Louis The advent of railroads | nipped the movement in the bud, and | all that remains of 1t to-day is the | Cumberland turnpike. But highways | were needed and the necessity was rec ognzed. The iron rails have been made | the leading highways during the past | half century.
 A railroad is a highway of commerce | in the same sense as a public road, and | so are rivers harbors and canals They l are the arteries of trade. This country l has spent billions of dollars for railroad I hundreds of millions for canals | and still more for rivers and harbors.
 Yet not one ounce of any commodity, l of any kind, that is hauled over rail- roads, canals, rivers and harbors, but is first hauled over country roads or city | streets.
 Freight rates on railroads, canals. rivers and harbors have been reduced tremendously during the last twenty five years Because every attention has been turned in the effort to perfect them. The second part of the products haul has become scientifically mini mixed Practically nothing has been done for the first and most important part. It cost three to six times more to haul produce in this country than 1t ] does in Europe, because Europe has roads that are something more than streaks on map.
 The country roads and city streets are the feeders to the railroads, canals. l