The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1906-04-05

their grain 10 market al
soon as harvested. when
N the roads are at their best,
since by waiting q con
venieRt time they may not get there at
all because OF bad roads. This natur-
ally cOngests the market. forcing low
prices. TO the great detriment OF the
lprodUce-and without apDreciable BEN
edt to the consumer, because the aver
age family In town or city buys only
in small quantity at one time. say q
days or a weeks supply. What Is
. the fesuit2 The Spectator, finding
prices low and knowing that In a little
while the bad roads season Will be On.
when competing products viii be kept
from the trade centres. buys up the
surplus and stores il away for the
day Of necessity when he a demand
and receive his own price for his hold
iEgs-the stuff for which men toll,
which they are compelled to have az
whatever cost. and when the citizen
in townsville mechanic and operative
Of the shops and factories-is forced
in winter and spring to pay exorbitant
prices for those articles of household
necessity which went begging for buy
ers at low prices the preceding fall, he
figures the Increased cost Of living i'm
comparison. and grows restless and
discontinued, and is easily led into
strikes and other labor disturbances
that are so disastrous to the business
Of the country and so prolific Of other
hurtful consequences. This, Of course.
is not all that enters into strike causes,
but it contributes a full share
1t is a perfectly plain proposition
that the continuous, orderly opera
ton Of industrial business depends
on measurably contented employees:
that men are never, and never can be
cOntented when the cost of living is
above their earning capacity; and that
prices of fOodstufs from the farm
would be always at a decent living
level 20 all concerned If the country
had Systematically improved highways
over which farmers could travel TO
market any day in the year These
farmers would then realize better
prices for their products than they do
now, at less cost for marketing, and
still be able to sell to all classes of con
sumers at lower prices than are forced
by spectators in the bad roads season.
Again: The farmer, the mainstay
and dependence of the Republic in
every emergency. feels that his sub
stance is annually swallowed UP In the
unhappy conditions that deny him rea
sonable market communication at his
4~& [s,- .@IT n - l-A02k-A~6
when remembering that he pays about
sixty-eigbt per cent. of all the taxes,
and yet receives no direct c~Onsidera-
ton at f~he~hands Of the Government.
while unnumbered millions have been
given from the National treasury to
better conditions everywhere except
upon the farm. The man who digs out
of the soil that which sustains al
progress and prosperity knows that
while Government aid has been Law
ished upon railroads and ~ocean-going
commerce. not me dollar. since the con-
struction of the old Cumberland road.
has been expended by the United
States tt facilitate commerce between
the farm and market. The more than
four hundred million dollars which
have been given to river and harbor
improvement went out of the Treasury
on the theory that the Improvement OF
transportation facilities is a matter of
vital public concern. The theory is
correct, and it carries with it the in
dOrsement of Government aid in the
of wagon roads, because
these are the primary and therefore
the most important transportation lines
in our system. While it is undeniabIe
that the influence of public schools. the
press. the pulpit. and other institutions
marks the progress of civilization, yet
all these are more or less dependent
upon the facilities OF intercourse be-
tween the people. Good roads through
the country would do much to relieve
the congestion of population ir great
cities, and thus the social fabric would
be strengthened, because rural life is
conducive to the highest moral stand
ards. whereas in crowded city tene-
ments vice runs riot with its mafgn
infuence:-COliier's Weekly.