Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1903-10-07
a National Problem.

A National PROBLEM.
It is claimed by some that the build
ing of roads is strictly a local mat
ter. that the benefits are entirely To-
cal, and that the whole expense should
be borne by the local communities.
This is not the view taken in the most
progressive countries of Europe. There
the building and maintenance of roads
Is one Of the important functions Of
government France, Germany and
Switzerland are covered by a network
of the finest roads in the world. AS
a result the western half of Europe
is the pleasure ground of the world.
The revenue derived from tourists Is
ore of the principal sources Of income
for people of nearly all classes. But
without these good roads this revenue
could never be secured.
The aim Of the people in those coun-
tries is to make their grand mountains,
their beautiful lakes, their lovely val
leys, their castles and monuments cas-
.!y accessible by means Of fine hard
smooth roads.
What a contrast appears when we
turn to our own country. We have
the finest scenery in the world in the
great mountains Of the West, but 1t
is practically inaccessible. Except as
they get glimpses Of it from car win
dows, the grandeur of our mountains
and canyons and the beauty Of our
mountain lakes, streams and valleys
are a sealed book to the general tray-
cling public. And this will always
be the case so long as steep, stony
mountain trails are the only means Oh
travel beyond the railway lines. In
deed, much of our finest scenery eau
not be reached even by such trails
If the United States Government, In
cooperation with the States and local
communities, would build great
smooth highways, making the wonder
ard beauties of our great West easily
accessible to tourists, in a few years
the tide of travel would be turned
westward. Not only would millions
of dollars spent annually by Ameri-
cans in Europe be kept at home, but
other millions would be brought to
our shores by tourists from foreign
lands.
But the natural attractions Of our
country are not the only things which
are made inaccessible by the lack of
good roads. Our places of historic in.
terest are mostly in the same category.
Take, for instance, Monticello, home
and tomb o. the immortal Jefferson.
Few Amer cans even know where it
is, much less visit it. Monticello is
only three Lilies from the city of Char
lottesville. Va, which is on two great
trunl, lines. Why, then, is it SO little
known? Because three miles of about
as bad road as can be imagined lie
between it and the railway station.
One cannot travel over that narrow,
steep, rough, muddy country road
without q feeling of shame. At pres
ent an effort is being made by small
band OF patriotic men and women to
build what is known as the Jefferson
Memorial Road to make Monticello
accessible to the public, but only a be-
ginning has been made, and they are
finding it uphill work to raise funds
to complete the task.
But after all the encoura cement
of travel is not the most important
reason for the building of good roads.
They are absolutely necessary for the
prosperity and happiness of the people
The era Of railroad building on large
scale is practically at an end. In
the course of commercial and indus
trial development we have reached a
point where the great problem Of i'm
proving the common roads must be
faced. We can no longer treat it as
a local question. We have tried that
for three quarters of a century, and
in nearly every section of the coun-
try the miserable results are apparent.
The good roads problem will never be
solved locally. 1t is too vast. It can
be solved only by the genius, the
wealth, the labor and the patriotism
OF the whole people. A great national
movement Is necessary. In co-opera-
ton Of the Nation, the States, the
counties and the local communities
lies the solution Of the problem.
PUNISHED FOR MARRYING.