The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-10-25

chalns of ntains.-Nlneteenth Cen turj,
 ENCOURAGING ROOAD BUILDING.
 The importance of the Improvement
 Of the common roads in the United
 States is now so generally conceded
 that it needs no discussion. This con
 ditlon of the public mind is new, how
 ever. Since the introduction and eX-
 tension of railways until a few years
 back the common roads Il this country
 were neglected to such an extent that
 tey became an absolute reproach and
 hindrance to our civilization. The stol- i'd interference of the people in the country was stupendous, but not sur
 prising when it is considered that the
 majority of them sincerely believed
 that the farmers would have to pay the cost of everything In the way of in- provement while getting a fninimum of advantage. To combat thls idea the leaders of road improvement fnaJin- tained that as the government had
 used it's credit and lands in assisting railway development and river im- provenent it shuld olso do something to help the people with the common roIds for it was contended, with en- tire truth, that while the railways and naVigable rivers are the arteries of trade, the common roads are It's veins of supply and distribution.
 It has not yet been possible to get the government to doanyt hing in the way of direct assistance for road building but General Roy Stone some ten years or so ago succeeded in inserting what may prove to be an entering wedge. He persuaded the Agricultural Depart ment to get a small appropriation for the establishment of Bureau of Road Inquiry Of this bureau he was the first director, a post which he held un- til called to military duties lin the war With Spain.
 At the outset he discovered that talk ing and preaching lacked force. The people would listen, but do nothing. Following the maximum that Seeing is believing" he cnouded to try the object lesson method successfully adopted in other forms f educatinal work But where could he get the money? The United statese had pro- vided none, and the only states that were doing anything considerable on their own Massachusetts and New Jersey--did not need the assist ance of the United States, either in the way of money or advice. He persua- ded the men who had become interest ed in other states to visit places where good modern roads had been built Here is an instance quted from one of his earlier reports: "When the mem bers of the legislature of Virginia visi- ted the roads of New Jersey in the ear ly spring they found them covered with newly fallen snow, which the far mers removed so as to show the firm, smooth surface underneath This de- mnstration and the fact that wet snow did not make the macadam road mud dy were worth more than any amount of argument, and the Virginians went oooohoee to their impossible highways converted to road improvement"
 This, however, was object-lesson teaching at long range What was de- sired was to build sections of roads in every part of the country, so that the people at home could see what a good road was like, and make personal esti- mates as to the value, But congress still lent no assistance. Some other way must be found. The railway com panies became interested to an extent, and two at least of the great lines--the Illinois Central and the Southern--in cooperation with the government bu- reau, sent out good roads trains carry ing road machinery and road materi- als, and, at places where either the bu- reau or the railways could enlist prac- tlcal local interest, sections of road were built and the object-Iessons pressed home.
 There is scarcely a state in the Un- ion in which object lesson roads have not been built, The best report of the bureau shows that this object-lesson road-building is being kept up with un- abated zeal It is recommended, how ever, that the assistance of railways for free transportation and of road ma chinery manufacturers for free ma ehinery be declined and the work of the future be paid for. This will mean much larger appropriations from con gress than have hitherto been obtained. It also may mean, if the recommenda- ton be carried out, that much less work will be done. The latter would be 8 pity. As both railways and road ma ehinery makers benefit immensely by the extension of road building, why not let them help when they are willing to do SO?
 Notwithstanding all it's good work in the way of theoretical instruction and practical object-lessons, congress has done nothing in the way of apropria- tions beyond maintaining the bureau, though bills have been introduced and discussed They have been passed by, l believe and not defeated by a direct vote. And l have no reason to hope that they will not continue to be passed by, and the matter left entirely to the states, some of which are pressing ahead in the work with. commsndable zeal. In Massachusetts the state au- thorIties supervise the building of the roads. This is as it should be. In New Jersey the county authorities have charge; this is as bad as 1t can be, Where local authorities have charge of work such as this, which is at least too many influences, as before remarked, as to ocations and are brought to bear with all the potency of neighborhood graft.
 But the United States government as a teacher has only begun its work. The problems in the various parts of the