The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-01-18

|
 assist these towns a hundred fold fol
 any expense the town may incur ill the
 construction of a pleasant piece of roao
 for them to drive over.
 TAX PAID FOR POOR ROADS.
 There are many other and more inn
 portant reasons for the improvement of the roads of the state, for the summer
 visitor effects financially only certain sections of the state. The most impor-
 tant matters to be remedied by road i'm | provement are the additional nr;nber oi
 horses required to carry the produce to | market, the weight of the load, the
 number of loads, loss of time, wear and tear on horses, wagons and harnesses
 the denial of access to market at all
 seasons of the year, and the thousands of dollars annually spent in rounding
 up the mud roads, whose only return 1 for the money so used is to furnish an
 easy prey for the elements to wash
 away with every storm the farmers | hard earned dollars. This great waste
 of money has been tolerated for years
 and the burden of taxation has grown | larger every year. l have heard in very l Ae'NNN' | stated.
 Farmers are fast beginning to realize
 the fact that no matter how fertile the
 soil or how abundant the yield, how | well built their houses, how large or 1 convenient their barns may be or how securely his land is fenced, that trans | portation must be had to the market place at all seasons of the year No business can be successfully car ried on where bank in which the mer-
 chant has deposited his money falls to honor his check when presented. It is safe to say that such bank would be stunned by depositors and soon will have to close it's doors. The farms in which the farmers have placed their money cannot be continued profitably except they are accessible to market
 at all times of the year If they are
 not made so sooner or later the owner will have to go out of business. To no class of people in our state is uninter-
 rupted success to the market so essen-
 tial and necessary as to the farmers whose farms are remote from railroads and whose only communication With the market is by road.
 But there has been a great uprising of the farmers all over the state against the continuance any longer under the old conditions. And we may expect a radical reformation to take place in all future work.
 CONCLUSION.
 The last century has developed more hidden causes than ever before in the worlds history and with the progress made in other things the good roads movement has made rapid strides, so that to-day we find twenty states at work with commissions or under some method for road improvement, and we are pleased to know that our little state is keeping step with other states in this respect.
 A movement has been started asking for an appropriation from the national government for fifty millions of dollars ($50 000000) for road improvement throughout the country and a bill will shortly be introduced in congress for that amount.
 There is a righteousness in this for the reason that no class of men work harder or longer hours and from whose labor benefits come so directly to so many as from the farmers of the coun- try And if in the fostering care of q great government any business pursuit is to receive recognition by the govern l ment, the farmers of the country cer- talnly deserve consideration. The ben etits through road improvements, under ! this appropriation, accruing to the ! farmers will be retrospective, for no el- | ement of cost in the production of food { Is of more importance than the cost of | the produce of the farm to | market.
 It is not so many years ago that a few men controlled all of the available grain in the country and held it in their elevators, thus controlling the entire wheat market, and the price of flour went up ruinously high The key to he situation which could not be used 10 unlock the doors of these elevators vas good roads; for contained in the lins all over the west was enough grain, could it have been brought to market, to have supplied the necessities If the hour and relieve the situation, )ut the roads were so impossible that t was utterly impossible for the farm IFS to bring their grain 10 market. and IS consequence every loaf of bread vas increased in price and a great na- ion paid this large tax on account of ,oor roads.
 The United States government spends millions of dollars every year for river nd harbor improvements, and properly 0, and it is very wise expenditure of honey, but it is nevertheless a fact that cry few freight carrying vessels could e maintained as a paying property to heir owners a single month if the trib- taries over which the freight is first rought were closed. The government has done practically othlng toward this great question since appropriations were discontinued on the | road except to organize a , apartment of road inquiry under the apartment of agriculture. This de- I artment, although having very I mall appropriation from the govern c lent, has been doing splendid work uu- I CT the able direction of General Roy : tone.
 The work of the department has been z } distribute literature containing in- :. along the line of intelligent pad construction, also giving some ex- :. nples in practical way in road build lg, but the department has never been ble to do as much as if might have l