The suburban citizen., 1902-04-05


aid laws, given by State En-
gineer Bond, was evidently
most interesting to the good sized au-
dience, who showed it by asking many
questions, which were promptly and
satisfactorily answered State Bngi-
neer Bond sowed good seed, which is
bound to grow and develop into unan.
lmous demand for better highways. He
showed the necessity for them, the
economy and profit Of them, the com
fort and luxury Of having them. He
showed what the State was doing to
encourage good road work. and what is
of more Importance in this section, how
the failure of a county to take advan-
tage of the State gift entails on it the
burden of doing for other counties
without benefting itself. The, valu-
able facts and figures given by Mr..
Bond relating to what it would cost to
have good roads in any town in Jetfer-
son County, only about twenty-three
cents on each $1,000 Of valuation, dis
poses Of the argument against improve
lutui 1llG dNtldSC AhlhhS
when he is told that a good macadam
road costs from $4,000 to $4,000 per mile
that he has to pay the whole BILL and
the thought naturally staggers him,
and he is opposed to such proposition.
He thinks it will confscate his farm to
have such an expenditure. AS a mat
ter of fact, the present system costs
more than that in the same series Of
years a good road would last, and he
never has a good road. A further fact
is that under the State aid law, the
State paying one-half, the county thir-
ty-five per cent. and the townships
only fifteen per cent his proportion
would be small. The cities and vii
lagos, which get no aid for their OVID
streets, would pay all but fifteen per
cent. of the cost. That is, on each $100
expended in a rural town the cities and
villages Of the State would pay $S5 Of
the expense and the rural towns only
$15. Further than this, the expense of
building such roads is all in labor, and
the farmers would do the labor at re-
munerative prices. They would fur
nish the men and teams and material
at good wages and prices, and the rural
town would not only have nearly the
entire $100 left with it, of which it con-
tributed but $15, but would have the
road, stopping the large annual ex-
pense under the present system, enab-
ling the drawing Of larger loads to mar
ket encouraging rural delivery of
the mails, advancing the price OF farm
lands on such roads and gaining COM
fort and convenience. 1t would seem
as If the proposition was very favora-
BILE to the farmers, and that they were
the ones who made money out Of it.
When this is well understood, as Mr..
Bond explains it, we Judge that the
sentiment Tor good roads will grow rap
idly, and there will be such a demand
that the State will be forced to meet
1t with increased appropriations.
State Engineer Bond reports that the
demand is now greater than the ap-
propriations, and many counties are
waiting for the State to make provis-
ion for paying it's share. State Engi-
neer Bonds idea is that the State
should issue three per cent. bonds for
$10,000,000. so that the work can be
done at once and the roads enjoyed in
stead Of compelling counties to wait
number of years. The annual interest
would not be as much as the expense
Of the present poor maintenance of
highways and property would be pay
ing its proportion Of the benefits which
it would also enjoy.
State Engineer Bonds meeting was
q good one, and excited great interest
in this subject Hearing his talk sug-
gested another idea. Why should not
public officers do more of this kind of
educational work for the people. Their
dry reports have little value beside
such face to face information. The
subject of forestry, Of game protection,
Of fish culture, of taxation, of various
governmental functions elucidated by
men engaged in the work would bring
the people in closer touch with State
| affairs and give them greater knowl-
edge and interest in the machinery Of