The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-12-20
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For National Rock Roads.

why don't the States build trunk
roads of macadam SO solfdly con-
structed that trains of automobile
freight wagons might be operated
upon them?" said T. A. Witten. Mr..
Witten is an attorney. He is inter-
ested in good roads. and has made a
study of the subject.
"A system of rock roads owned by
the State. and connecting the big
cities, would do much toward solving
the railroad rate problem" he con-
tinued. These roads would be as
straight and as level as possible, and
broad, and would be kept in perfect
repair. The State would build. own.
and maintain them, but any individ-
ual would have the right to use them
free for any purpose. Now suppose
we had such road from Kansas City
to st. Louis. 1t would be used by
private and public automobiles, some
carrying passengers for pay But its
greatest use would be by freight au-
tomobiles. The day of the automo-
bile is just dawning. In twenty years
from now small family automobiles
will be so low in price that any fam
lily of moderate means that can of
ford a horse and carriage can own
one. And the freight automobile
will be so developed within q few
years that they Will be used extern
sively for handling freight
I'm London a few weeks ago I
saw many trains of motor cars upon
the streets. They were composed of
four or five heavy iron cars loaded
with sand, rock, bricks and other
building materials, hitched to a
heavy motor car which hauled the
train with ease and at a speed,
woud Judge, of about ten miles an
hour
''If we had a solid, level rock road
between Kansas City and st. Louis
you would see in few years hun
dreds of these motor trains hauling
slow freight between the two cites.
! believe 1t would go far toward the
regulation of the freight rate upon
fair basis. The freighting business
upon such a road would require no
franchise and create no monopoly.
You must bear in mind when think
Ing over this plan of mine that these
motor freight trains upon macadam
highways would travel almost as
fast as the average local freight
trains.
If the Government wishes to en-
ter into competition with the rail-
roads in the carrying of interstate
commerce why should it not con-
struct national highways of macadam
but instead of carrying the commerce
1t should allow any one to do so who
wishes to operate his own vehicles
upon these roads, the Government
simply maintaining the road and
keeping 1t in repair
Compare the cost of building a
system of governmental rock roads
with the cost of building all the rail-
roads and their rolling stock, and you
will see that for one-half the money
1t would take to buy the railroads
the Government could build system
of rock roads that would reach al
most every town and city in the land.
THE Government has a precedent
for doing the very thing. Between
1920 and 1910 the United States
built national highway of macadam
from Cumberland. Md, westward,
terminating somewhere in Indiana.
This road was fathered by Henry
Clay
THE automobile and the perfected
public highway is the ultimate solu-
tion of the railway and rate ques-
tion Kansas City Star.