Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-03-07
STATE FINANCES
AND GOOD ROADS
Hon. Percival w. Clement of
Rutland, VT, before the Citi-
zens of Windsor, Feb. >, 1904.


Much has been said and written the
bast few years about a greater Yer
mont and new Vermont 1t seems
TO me that these terms are misleading.
Vermont is growing old like all of us;
u contains 1855 square miles. 1t is
bounded by other states and a foreign
nation, all jealous of their own pres
tige. Ii is the most arrant nonsense to
talk about Greater Vermont. Vermont
never can be any greater. but it ca1 be
and ought TO be made very much better
as a place of residence. In the last 80
years our population has only increased
about 1900, and that mostly within the
last ten years. We never shall better
our condition by simply listening to talk
about Greater Vermont or dreaming of
its future greatness. Let us stop in
talking of Vermont trying 10 unravel
the fringe of a vivid imagination, and
begin TO saw wood. 1t is time that we
began TO do something 1t is time for
action rather than for words, if we
would benefit Vermont.
BETTER FACILITIES FOR TRANS
PORTATION.
In my opinion there is no one thin
that we need at this time more than bet
ter facilities for communication and
transportation. We have got two main
lines of railroad running through the
state. north and south. on either side of
the Green mountains. which give us
good accommodation Of that kind. and
the cost of transportation for freight and
passengers on those lines of road has
been steadily reduced since their con-
Etruction. but our wagon roads have
stood still for 100 years-nOt quite as
many stumps in them now as then, but
they were dirt roads 100 years ago and
they are dirt roads now.
WAGON AND RAILROAD TRANS
PORTATION.
The cost of transporta ton in this
country on railroads is about $780,
100000 per annum.
The estimated cost of TRANSFORMATION
OF wagon roads is $3.50 900 900.
The cost Of handling q ton of freight
per mile by railroad is considerably less
than half a cent.
The cost of handling a ton of freight
by wagon road is 25 cents in this coun-
try. We cannot. of course, ever expect
70 handle freight as cheaply by wagon
ms by rail- but we can certainly reduce
the cost Of wagon transportation very
materially. In Europe the average cost
OF transportation of one ton one mile by
wagon is u Up cents or just one-haif
of the cost in this country If, how
ever, we had throughout this country
well surfaced macadamZed roads. as
exist in Europe, we would save u 1/2
cents a ton on all freight handled by
wagon, which would mean a saving to
the country of S4500OO.O 900 per annum.
Just about half of our national debt.
Think of what that would mean to the
farmer, to the merchant to every man.
because every man would profit by that
saving in proportion to his business and
capital.
MORE GOOD ROADS AND FEWER
BOUQUETS.
Here in this state instead of throwing
bouquets at each other about the beau
ties of Vermont suppose we go to work
and build a few lines of macadamiZed
wagon roads from our eastern to our
western borders across the mountain
ranges. BY good roads | mean some
thing better than a dirt or gravel road.
Broken stones rolled into place with a
heavy roller and brought to a smooth
surface by a top dressing is the road
which is accepted in this country and in
Europe as being the best surface for a
permanent roadway. This style of road
is called 'maca DAM" taking its name
from an engineer who strongly advo-
Gated it for permanent roadway.
need not take up much of your time in
showing the advantages of such con-
Btruction of such roads.
ACROSS MOUNTAIN TRAVEL
DIFFICULT.
Now if man in Bennington wants to
20 to Brattleboro or Bellows Falls tic
easiest way for him is to go down into
the state of Massachusetts. go around
by Greenfield and come up the Connect
icut river valley. 1t is practically a
adamized road kept in good condition
every day of the year a man would
make the trip of 40 miles with a good
pair of horses in four hours or with an
automobile. which is the coming means
of transportation through the country
IT. less than two hours; and think what
such a road as that would mean to al
of the farmers and manufacturers and
all people living on the line of it.
HAULING LOADS.
On present roads a farmer living siv
or eight miles from Bellows Falls, il
this is his market, in good weather. car
make one trip a day with a pair OF
horses and a load of Il ton or a tor
and a half. possibly under very favor
able conditions two tons: but there are
many DAYS in the year when his road i
practically inpasSable for a team wit.
more than half a ton. Suppose that HI
had a road into your town over which
he could handle three tons with the same
team in any day in the year. what woul,
that add TO the value of his farm?
won't undertake to estimate the in
creased value in figures. but you cal
readily see that it would increase tn,
value of all property located OH the line:
of such good roads.
THE ESTIMATED COST.
We cannot have these roads in a mo-
ment. 1t will take time and cost large
amount of money TO build them. W.
must have surveys and plans made anC
the work of construction should go for
ward upon some we'll defined plan.
estimate that it will cost $4,000 a mile
to build a thoroughly good macadam-
lied highway 16 feet wide. and wher
buiIt such a road requires the minimum
of expense for maintenance. Each roas
then. should we build across the state
will cost approximately n quarter of
million of dollars. Of course the town
through which such a road would ru'
ronld not afford to build il. That wOul'
he too much of burden and particu
iarly for the poorer mountain towns. l
etber states where permanent road
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