The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1903-01-01
THURSDAY, JANUARY /, 1903.
ADVERTISING FOR A LEADER.

ADVERTISING FOR A LEADER.
Some of the Democratic papers are
advertising for leader. They look
oyer the list and see that every man
Bryan, Cleveland, German, Boies,
Hill, Tom johnson. Pattison and all
the rest of them-who were mention
ed in any conspicuous way before the
recent election as a leader of their
party were knocked obsolete by that
contest. Not one of those who have
been named will be of any account
hereafter, either in the role of Il pro
phet or a boss for the Democracy.
Even Cleveland, who had less to lose
by the recent Democratic smashup
than any of the other big Democrats
named, for he had no aspirations for
the presidency again, has lost that
little by the wreck.
But what would be the use of a
leader for party that has no prin-
ciples? A party which does not know
what it wants or how to get any of
the things that imagine it wants has
no use for a leader The Democratic
party is in exactly that fix. One
section of the party wants free silver
Another section is against that folly,
and denounce all who favor it. One
faction is as socialistic as Debs' party
was in the canvass of 1900 Another
faction of it fights that ingredient,
and rejoices, as it did in the Hill coal
naturalization plank case, when the
boss who is responsible for this idiocy
is beaten. Hill put a coal government
ownership expression in his recent
Democratic proclamation, and his
candidate for the governorship took
pains on the stump to let his hearers
and readers know that he was not in
favor of it.
THE BROWNLOW GOOD ROADS BILL.
A recent article in the Washington
Star on the need of better roads pre-
sents this important matter so clearly
that we give it in full in this issue
According to this article the losses
and disadvantages due to our bad
roads amount to the enormous sum
of $50, 200, 100000 or nearly one HIN
dred times the cost of the Spanish
War. This loss is enough to build all
the mainly travelled roads in this
country fifteen times oyer by new
method of improving country roads
and also city streets, by the use of
brick wagon wheel tracks. The road
system, which was clearly explained
in the New York Herald of November
9th by the Hon. Martin Dodge, U. S.
director of the office of Road Inquir-
les, will enable the finest and best
roads in the world to be built for an
average cost which should not exceed
$4,000 per mile, which is about one
fifth of the average cost of stone roads.
The direct loss due to hauling pro-
duce over our bad roads appears to
constitute a mud tax of over 5000, 000,-
900 year, making a mud tax of over
$4,000, 900 for each working day in the
year and nearly $500 yearly for
every man, woman and child in this
country. The indirect loss probably
equals a like amount, while the in
crease of farm values, estimated at
only $500 per acre, would equal some
$4,000, 100000, or enough to build all
the mainly travelled roads several
times over. The increase in road
building in New York State, where
one-half of the cost is paid by the
State, has been two hundred and thir-
ty fold or twenty three thousand pei
cent. in the past four years.
The Brownlow II. r. Bill, Number
1869, if passed, will enable any town
or county road supervisor to apply
for and receive one-half the cost of
building roads in his district from the
National Government, and should
start road movement that will give
us the finest and best roads in the
world in few years of time, and also
save the enormous losses mentioned
above, besides making rural mail de-
livery almost universal. In view of
this it would appear to be the duty
of every person to ask their Congress-
men to promptly procure the passage
of this bill, which would so greatly
ations.