Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-03-14

$4,000, 900 On Good Roads.

According to an article in Appleton's
Magazine. the people OF the state OF
New York have voted to spend $780,
100000 upon the improvement OF their
highways. The appropriation Of this
sum, large as 1t is. will probably con-
vey no very definite idea to the mind
OF the reader unless he Is familiar with
the widespread agitation which has
been going on throughout the country
for the last fifteen years for the i'm
provement of the highways; but to the
men who have led the fight for better
roads it signalizes revolutionary
change of policy which is OF profound
significance.
1t marks the beginning of the end OF
the most disastrous experiment. In pub
lie ownership and maintenance Of a
great public utility that has ever been
tried. 1t means that the people have
at last realized the inefficiency and
extravaganza which has characterized
the management Of the most valuable
and useful class of property that they
own in common. 1t means reform in
the methods which have been tolerated
for more than century Of national
growth. These methods have involved
a direct annual loss in the United
States of from $500, 10000 to $500, 600. 600
year after year. and their indirect
blight upon education, progress. and
public spirit has been incalculable.
When the pioneers rolled back the
wilderness, they followed the water
courses and the trails made by the
moccasined feet of the Indians. The
settlers maintained these trails, cut
ting new roads as occasion required.
These pathways We're cut to meet the
needs of the present without regard for
the requirements Of the future They
led the wayfarer over hills and through
swamps or tracts of shifting sand.
The winter frosts undermined them
and the spring thaws converted them
into impossible stretches of mud. The
autumnal rains washed them away
and the snowdrifts blocked them tn
traffic. For two or three months each
year in all the Northern states the
farmhouse which depended upon these
roads for communication with the rest
OF the world was cut off almost as eff
fectually as though it's occupants had
been marocned upon a desert island.
Every year in the spring and fall the
farmers were compelled to turn out to
repair the ravages Of frost AMI rain,
clumsily restoring the roads so that
they might get their crops to market
To do this they were compelled to
neglect their own tasks in the busiest
seasons of the year and as the popu-
lation increased. millions Of days of
tl,o
roads. The result at best was a
makeshift. Tremendous effort, ignor-
antly directed. produced miserable
tracks, heavy with mud and sand and
rendered still more difficult by steep
grades. Bad as these costly roads
were, the farmer was fortunate if he
was able to use them for nine months
in the year. Then came the frosts and
the rains. and the work was all to be
done over again. These primitive
conditions were established when the
country was settled, and they have ex-
listed ever since. OF all the roads in
the United States only nine per cent
are good, while ten per cent. are pass
able and eighty-one per cent. arc bad.
It has been estimated that the ia
caused a waste of $40, o0o, 900 during the
last century. The work was done 'un-
der the supervision Of salaried officials
chosen by the voters. These men were
usually ignorant of the most ele.
mentary principles of road building
and the elections tended to place the
most incompetent men in charge. The
official who compelled his neighbors
to contribute the full value of their
tax in the form of labor was certain
to prove unpopular, and in the next
election such am an would usually be
replaced by some rival who was willing
to permit the work to be done in solv-
only and inefficient manner. Rotation
in Office prevented any road official
from learning much about road i'm
provement and maintenance, and the
most incompetent officials were likely
to remain longest in Office. Every tax.
payer tried to do as little as he could
on the days when he was working out
his tax, which was measured in days
of work instead of in accomplishment
Thus the labor system directly en-.
couragcd incompetence and Sinking.
According to the United States cen.
SIS New 1OIk state mas Z4,OOO,UuU acres
of farm land, and about 100000 tons
| Of produce of all kinds are hauled an.
nually over the wagon roads Of the
state. The average haul is six miles
and the average cost is 26 cents a tor
fur each mile. The average cost of haul.
ing ton over the good roads of Eu-
, ropean countries is 10 cents mile. Ir
other words. the producers in New