The suburban citizen., 1902-09-13
Highway improvement Important.

important subject:
The infinite number Of interests af-
'ected by the good or bad condition
IF our public roads makes the question
)f their improvement one of universal
concern. Indeed, so varied are the
objects to which public roaa improve
ment extends that no man has yet
oeen bold enough TO declare that any
1arm has ever come to a person or
community by reason Of having n bet
.er public road. Private interests and
public interests are best subserved by
good road; pleasure and business are
enhanced in the sections where a man
can drive every month in the year over
firm, smooth road which does not
punish his stock or injure his vehicle.
TO contrast the blessings Of good roads
with the discomforts Of bad roads
would bring into account the expert.
ance of every man who Is compelled
to travel over them to carry on his
business, or who rides for the pleasure
to be gained from this sort of profit.
able recreation.
To enumerate the phases Of life that
would receive benefits from better
highways would be to include the
entire list Of human avocations. Any
attempt to confine the benefits Of good
roads to a particular class or commun.
ity must fail because If man does
not use the public road in the ordinary
ways Of travel he does reap the ad-
vdntages accruing from them in the
increased prosperity which has never
failed to come to section that has
constructed permanent good roads.
No other public improvement is so
generally conceded tc bring good to
every inhabitant, and yet no other
great public work seems so thoroughly
neglected or so poorly understood by
great mass of our intelligent citizens.
Practically every State in the Union
has recently awakened TO the fact that
the prosperity Of our growing country
Is to be along lines Of productive and
commercial enterprise. a number OF
these States are looking toward North
Carolina for lessons in economic and
practical road building. 1t is an ac.
knowledged fact that some of our
counties have as good roads as can
be found probably in the Worthwhile
on the other hand, it is also a fact
that a very large majority of our
counties have roads that are frequently
impossible and as unsatisfactory as
can be found anywhere Our hope Of
salvation from this latter condition is
that the public-spirited citizens are
going to take up this roads matter in
methodical way and overcome the
prejudice in the minds of some citizens
who think that a tax for building per.
manent roads is a costly experiment.
Experience and statistics prove the
reverse to be true; ii is the most profit.
able and satisfactory investment any
community can make. The old labor
system of working the puDhc roads is
not in keeping with advanced methods
in all other departments of modern
life. A number OF the counties in our
State have adopted the plan of levying
n small tax for road improvement pur.
poses, to supplement the old labor
requirement, and the results from this
combination are of a highly satisfac.
tory nature Every county in the
State should at least try this plan and
see If it won't to some extent improve
the condition of the public roads.
In the South, tie producer is espe.
cially hampered because he cannot
prohtably get his stuff to the great
centres of trade and competition. A
striking illustration Of this disadvan.
tage to our North Carolina farmers is
seen in the recent statement from an
authentic source to the effect that
great many necessarles Of life can be
brought from California into our own
State on the railroads and sold to our
city population at less cost than the
same articles which must be hauled
into the cities from points in the same
county fifteen or twenty miles away!
This is because of the fact that the
hoilAOabS Ndb utAhl plOuhNN a AnphHdhh
miles on their GOOD ROADS cheaper
than our farmers can haul it twenty
miles over our BAD ROADS. And
yet it is rather interesting to know
that the railroad companies are the
most earnest advocates of improved
public highways. Ordinarily we would
think Of them as opposed TO a line OF
communication which would seem to
compete with them. But they have
realized the important fact that
greater territory will be opened to
them; farmers can profitably haul their
farm products from much greater
distance to the main line of the rail.
road and thus increase its traffic, while
the general prosperity Of the inhabit.
ants of the section will add to the
value Of property, promote educational
facilities and create a tendency to.
ward wider usefulness for every citizen
where this material advancement is
going on.
Information on these subjects is
being continually collected from every
part of the world, and our Federal
fN.vr. Ii l.. a.