Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-05
FARMERS AND ROADS
ENGINEER CROSBY TALKS TO
CARROLL GRANGE.

/ WESTMINSTER, Nd, March 6.-State
Engineer W. W. Crosby Saturday addressed
the Carroll County Grange at its quarterly
meeting here. The session was public. and
q large audience heard Mr.. Crosby's plea
for good roads. He said, in part:
81 do not need to detail to you the ad-
vantages Of good roads. City people may
appreciate a good road when they go out
into the country. but 1t takes farmer to
fully understand all that the improvement
Of the road means. The farmer not only
uses the roads for convenience and pleas
ure but he uses them because he has to. In
many cases. And when the Improvement
of the road results. as did the improvement
of mile of the road between Bladensburg
and Washington. the farmer fully realizes
not only the value of this particular i'm
provement. but what would be the value to
him of more such roads. The instance I re-
fer to is the statement by a farmer living
near Bladensburg to Dr. r. S. Hill, MEM
Der of the last general assembly from
Prince George county. The farmer said:
up to two years ago the mile in question
used to be the worst between my place and
the city Now when send load to town
1 send one horse home as soon as the team
strikes the new road, and you can imagine
what that means to me-.
The Shoemaker Law.
"The Shoemaker law was not designed
primarily to affect or injure the turnpike
companies. If. in it's operation. by force Of
the example of the results secured under
1t, an Improvement in the condition Of
some of our pixies is secured. we shall all
be grateful. But the opposition expressed
in some localities by those interested in the
pixies to the law is unwarranted. l per-
sonally believe that the day Of toll roads In
Maryland is past. but l do not believe In
taking private property for public use
without just compensation. l think that
the state and the counties. acting together,
should take over the pixies, paying their
owners fair price for them, ana make
practicable to do this Immediately. In the
meantime I would suggest that the coun-
ties. with the aid of the state, improve the
main feeders of the pixies, and such other
main roads as are needed to meet the pub
lie demands not satisfied by the location Of
the pixies themselves.
'It is entirely reasonable for the state
where no pixies have been built. to meet the
existing demands of the residents, to i'm
prove system of main roads, including
main STEM as II might be called. and In
those localities where the development may
have occurred in a totally new or different
direction from that anticipated by the turn
pike builders, to improve main roads that
may to some extent even injure the existing
however. would generally be slight, as the
development away from the pike has al
ready done the pike almost the greatest in
Jury possible"
Better Roads Here to Stay.
Better roads have come to stay all over
the country, and Maryland. am sure, will
not be found in the rear. The people are
demanding them all over the state and puz-
cling their county officials to satisfy these
demands.
'The sincerity of the requests Is most
strongly proved by the offers Of the petit
TONERS in almost every case to contribute
from 10 to 30 per cent of the cash needed.
Some counties, realizing fully the value
of the investment, have actually borrowed
the money needed. Others are talking seri-
ously of doing so. Carroll county, out of
its limited annual resources. has built two
pieces of modern road. and so far as l know
they have been entirely satisfactory, al
though the second one is not yet quite COM
pleted. At any rate, the neighborhoOds are
demanding the extension this year of each
piece Applications are in for similar roads
In other sections of the county, and un-
doubtediy the county officials will deal as
fairly and as literally in each case as their
Judgment and resources permit. l can only
wish you may all be fully satisfied