The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-20
.,;:l!sa,al!I.E7
PUBLIC ROADS
And the sardid Indifference of the
 People.

~NA0 kAS 9NS0lo 4uukneteuGe VI bnc People.
 Huntsville, Ala, Aug. IS, 1903.
 My recent campaisn in Sumter coun-
 sue si5SooS oSpRor Worth of tRirtysyeSr Ht Dc bonds Ids
 of improving the eu public IT roads Of afpHss pSas county stimulate me to write you this The sordid indifference of the people of Alabama, more especially the agricultur- ist. as to the matter of obtaining cheap transportation of their product to the nearest shipping point or market, is dis tresslng to the thoughtful man, l scarce
 know to what should attribute this in- dinerence, but 1t is traceable to one of two causes. the inactivity of the brain
 ot our people or as the negro would say they have Host their speret," and like a man whose sensibilities have become Diunted by extreme cold. the numbness superinduced by the stagnation of blood dying condition. This is a country of magnificent distances as well as one of primitive and miserable public highways. Here i've farmers" fail to reckon the pense account incidental to marketing still they are strangely clamorous against
 an increased tax rate, especially if this
 tax rate Is calculated by the prevalent,
 ttnoughtful and progressive to alleviate
 the heavy tax they most patiently and
 unwisely bear in the matter of transit of
 I have had occasion to study and in-
 form myself as to the methods of more
 enlightened civilization as to farm labor saving devices and the expense account
 or the delivery of farm products to the
 market: A comparison of our country's
 methods with the economic methods of
 foreign countries is quite discreditable to
 our country.t Qs course we attempt to
 shield ourselves by saying that this is a
 new country; We plead the baby act
 whenever our progressiveness is. assailed.
 lions.. Birmingham, for instance, in the
 fourth Of century. Private or corporate enterprises evince capacity to build and
 equip thousands of miles of railroads in century we scratch our heads in in- efficient study of how to alleviate the
 greatest tax on a .country's prosperity,
 progress, which are the miserable public
 highways of the rural sections.
 Alabama's dependency is her agricul-
 tural resources. 1t Is the backbone of our
 commercial prosperity. all other inter
 ests are mere shadows. Therefore. we
 should nurse and cherish this interest,
 but strange to say. we treat 1t as though
 fondly embrace and nourish every other
 interest The result is we have encour4
 aged and produced wonderful re-sults in
 other behalf while the neglected child
 has become cowed oppressed, depressed,
 unattractive. mortgaged and a much
 shunned industry by those who can pos
 sibly ind other fields of profitable labor:
 Another very striking characteristic of
 this Southern people Is, we resent very slight affronts personally, but collective ly We grin and endure any neglect the state Government will visit upon us. In other words, to be an average agricultur- ist in this country you are not to expect much more consideration as to your com fort and advancement than that extend- cd dumb brutes. Will this neglect of our agricultural interest never cease? Let
 us thoughtfully consider this question of public highways. its relation to the and higher civilization. It Is conceded that the steepest grade on a public high way establishes it's resistance as against the motive power of those who seek to to highly civilized and well governed countries. but 1t is with melancholy re- gret that we present that the slusniness and depth of the mud holes in this State are the principal regulators of their re- sistance against motive ur hauling power This Is not all 1t indicates, for a mud hole shows the standard of peoples pro- gressiveness, their economic, moral and intelligent status. Let us make compar- lson Of well governed countries with this From the report of Consul Norhcet liar ris, Consular District of Leeds. England, we find the following:
 T have made diligent inquiries and can report that of course the cost of moving of York varies according to the roads to be covered in the hauling, some being much more broken or hilly than others and in some measure by the distance to around the city of Leeds, a two horse wagon and driver will carry to the rail- road stations each day during the week or 2,2i0 pounds, which is universally con- sidered as ton here), 10 miles from the railroad and return home the same day, pr epared to repeat the trip the day fol- lowing, and doing this six days in the week. the cost being 10 shillings, or g. 40 In American money. This Is considered the actual cost to the farmer; for, as one said to me, he could not do the haul ing for hire for another at this price.
 The substance of this is embodied in the hauling of 4,4S0 pounds, From the context we ascertained that he referred to two horses doing the hauling. This would be equivalent to nine bales of cot ton. or ffty-nine bushels and forty-iive of Alabama during the month of Feb ruary and what could two of our best horses do with 4,4S0 pounds in a day? Toen, They had }Tst as vel Iry try to g.. move are roads In the Black Belt. the greatest agricultural center of our State, In which we are told two horses cannot haul an empty wagon in the spring and this con- dition prevails in North Alabama to d vast extent, our bikes being the eXcep- ton. but conceding they could haul one bale of cotton, 1t would therefore require eighteen horses over our roads to do the hauling of two over a road in country where an eye Is had to the economlcal moving of agricultural product
 We estimate that the days labor of an able-bodied agriculturist and two horses and wagon Is worth at least g. per day. He can improve his farm to this extent in hauling out stable manure hence We use this standard of value We then say he can haul two bales of cotton ten miles to the market. This would be a freight charge of $1 per bale. Put the road in a condition that he can haul eight bales and the expense is reduced from $l to 2o cents per bale, saving of $6 on the days labor. This saving would pay the interest on Sl00 turnpike bond at 6 per farmers, or 'croppers" who raised eighty raised eighty bales would save enough to pay interest on $l.OO0, which would build excellent gravel or Macadamized roads in this country. passab1e that you could haul eight bales of cotton, or equal weight of anything else. Ten pro- ducers of eighty bales of cotton could build ten miles of bikes. In other words the saving on the transit of eighty bales of cotton to market would equip a mile of good road and pay the interest on the investment. The increased taxable value of abutting lands, taken from the standpoint of increased convenience, comfort of living, attractiveness to buy. CTS and salable cash value which would represent a road frontage of twenty miles. would afford a sinking fund which l would easily liquidate the bond ct the expiration of twenty years. These are | plain figures, comprehensive to any in | telligent mind. The truth of what we |