The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-06-15
New York State will Spend
Millions on Highways.
METHOD OF DOING THE WORK
Legislation in That Great Slate Per-
tanning to The Betterment Of
The Country Driveways.

100000 for the improvement of its high
WAYS. The outlay of this vast sum
which marks an epoch in the history OF
road building in the United States, Is
the result of the lesson taught by full
century of mistaken was wasteful eX-
travaeance. When the work which has
been undertaken has been completed a
network of smooth, hard thoroughfareS
will have been spread from the Penn
svlvania line to the Canada border and
from the confines of New York city to
the limits of Buffalo.
There are seventy-five thousand miles
OF these roads in the state. They are
laid out in communities which contain
less than twenty per cent of the states
population and less than 10 per cent of
its assessed valuation. There are TWEEN
in the state, the product of which must
be taken to market over these roads. Be
fore the legislature of 1898 the roads
were supported by the towns and the
value of the labor expended upon them
was about $3,OOO0OO a year.
These figures will serve to give some
idea of the magnitude of the task that
the state has set itself to perform. Near
" all the roads as originally laid out
followed the course of Indian trails and
little or no effort was made to avoid
heavy grades or to find the shortest dis
tance between the points which were
connected
Once the beaten track had been form
ed generation after generation continued
to use it, climbing hills and descend
ing into valleys that might have been
avoided had suitable care been taken
when the road was first constructed.
The mode of maintaining the roads was
equally shortsighted. The men of each
town were accustomed to turn out in
the spring after the frost was out
of the ground and repair certain portions
of the roads nearest to their property.
The occasion was usually made a species
of outing or picnic and the work was
performed i'm the careless and haphaZ-
ard manner In the spring the roads
were, and are still, often wholly impas-
sable, and the fall rains wore them in
to dangerous gulleys Even in the sum-
mer they were cut with deep ruts and
heavy with dust and sand.
This was the "labor system which
prevailed throughout the state until
within the last few years. Gradually
some men who did not desire to work
personally on the roads began to OBJ
tain immunity upon the payment of a
sum of money, which was expended by
the towns in labor and for the purchase
of machinery for working the roads.
This was the basis of the "money sys-
TEN" which promised such good results
that the more progressive towns soon
substituted it entirely for the unsatis.
factory labor system"
Another evil of the old system was
the fact that the supervision of the
roads was placed in the hands of com.
missioners elected annually and serving
for a small compensation. These men
were usually ignorant of the scientific
principles of road building, and they
gave to the work only such time as they
could spare from their own affairs.
These conditions, with all their de.
fects, still exist in the greater part OF
the state. and nobody until recently ever
thought of questioning their wisdom
The old policy is now about to be re-
versed. Instead of makeshift roads, re-
quiring practically to be rebuilt every
year, permanent highways are to be
constructed and maintained under the
supervision of the state.
From an economic point of view, the
value of this change can hardly be over
estimated. The waste of energy anC
of effort entailed by bad roads involve:
an enormous financial loss. According tt
the United States department of agricul
ture, the average cost of hauling on the
roads in this state is &c cents for ev
cry ton for each mile. The construction
of permanently hard roads, the lower
ing of grades and the shortening of dis
tanees will make it possible to hau
heavier loads and greater number o
loads in given time. This means re
duction in the cost of hauling The aver
age expense in European countries wher
the roads have been improved is 10 cent
mile, as shown i'm the consular reports
If the same average could be reache,
here it would cause saving of 9,
cents on each ton for the average hau
of six miles.
On the basis of forty millions tons
year, which is regarded as low esti
mate, this reduction would bring abou
total saving in this state of 1913 400,
600 year.
In addition there must be taken int
account the increased value of propert,