The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1903-06-24

the CONSTITUTION mas gwen
more undivided attention than
that Of good roads. and we
are highly grntfied 10 see that the
lcaven OF road improvement Is working
In almost every county IN Georgia.
From day TO day the Constitution
has contained excerpts from the week.
ly press OF the State telling how one
county after another is directing its
attention to improved highways, and II
Is evident that before many years the
county In Georgia that hasn't a thor.
ough systcfn OF modern. well-graded.
inacadamlzed OF grnveled roads will be
the exception and not the rule.
The frequent rains of the past winter
have, as usual, made the roads almost
impassnblc In majority of the coun.
ties of the State, and this has helped
to place the good roads idea uppermost
IN the peoples minds. Farmers. whose
hauling has been so seriously interfered
with thereby. and merchants. whose
trade has been correspondingly hurt.
are coming together on the proposi.
ton that good roads are the cheapest
in the end-that bad roads, in fact, as
the Constitution has so often said, are
about the most expensive luxuries that
any community ever INDUCED In.
In connection with the good roads
movement In Georgia It Is both inter
estlng and important to study what
other States are doing In the effort to
improve their highways. The Pennsyl.
vania Legislature, for instance, has
Just appropriated SG.50O.O0 to be spent
in road building throughout the State.
New York and other States have q
similar law providing for State aid
for those counties that undertake TO
secure modern roads.
In Pennsylvania the state aid idea
has taken firm hold. The plan Just
adopted is for the State, the county and
the township 20 cooperate in the work
of building ana improving the roads.
The State Is to pay two-thlrds of the
expense ana the county and township
In which the work Is done each one.
sixth OF the expense. The State has
made available for this purpose SO, 500.
600 to be expended during the next
few years.
The principle involved in the State
aid plan Is exactly the same as that
involved In the scheme for National
aid which has developed such popular.
ity recently. The fundamental idea OF
both Is that road Improvement is not
merely n matter of local interest and
responsibility, but n matter of interest
and concern to the whole people; or,
to put 1t another way, road building
Is coming to he viewed as n species
of internal Improvement" belonging
In the same class as river and harbor
improvements.
Another reason advanced why Ma.
tional and state aid are becoming so
popular is the realization that, unless
something OF the kind is adopted, the
burden of bad roads, like the poor,
will be always with us. The bottom.
less roads of the country constitute
sort Of Slough Of dcspond," in which
people are destined to founder until
some one comes along to help them
out. In fact. the expense for improv-
Ing the roads In many localities is n
burden which the local population is
wholly unable TO bear. 1t Is urged
that whenever the State or the Nation
reaches out helping hand to such
communities, they will grasp 1t and
bend all their energies to the great
work of improving their highways.
An Eastern man who has recently
taken n trip through Texas says the
enthusiasm with which the people have
taken up the good roads idea" is won.
derful. In some counties they are in
danger of "going wild" ON the subject.
Funds are being raised. mainly by
the issue of county bonds, and a sim.
liar plan is being adopted in North
Carolina.
All of these plans can be studied
with profit by the people OF Georgia,
now that we have become aroused to
the necessity of improving our high
ways. Too much attention cannot be
given this all-important subject.-At-
lanta Constitution.