The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1908-11-12
CAUSE OF BAD ROADS.
Road Bosses Should Be Made TO Pass an
Examination Showing Their Efficiency.
Change Needed in Road Laws.
THE RIGHT SYSTEM LACKING.

as much out of place and date as
the grain cradle or fail thrasher.
They had bad roads away back
in grandfather's time-ever since
people began to travel, to haul
stuff In modern narrow tired wag
ons. They had good roads away
back In Caesars time in the old
world. What progress have we
made In road building? Very lit
tie. Over three-fourths of all the
miles of country roads in the mid
west are still unlmproved, says
the Agricultural Southwest. In
most states 80 per cent would be
more nearly correct. or course,
every bit of road gets it's annual
tearing up by the road officials,
who draw a salary for calling 1t
road "lmprovement."
Why is 1T thus? There's rea-
son why country roads are bad.
Can't lay it to the weather or the
road material either. AS one
farmer says. 81 have seen IN
twenty.three years hundreds of
thousands of dollars of taxpayers
money expended on the roads In
town and country; but, after all,
our roads are still as bad as ever. "
AS bad as ever What a com
ment to make upon the appear
ance of country homes had it
been said that the farms had not
been improved IN twenty three
years. But, no; the farms have
improved, the towns have grown,
and business places are better
than they were twenty. three
years ago, but the country roads
are as "had as ever" after spend
ing fortunes upon them.
The reason is this-road build
ing is not done IN the same busi-
nessllke manner as other things
are managed. We have seen the
creamery come into existence.
We have seen the skilled butter
maker turning out carloads of
butter finer than that made by
the farmers before the creamer-
les took the job off their hands.
Science and BUSINESS methods
have made the change in butter
making. But the roads are "as
bad as ever" because 1t is a farm
er's Job, TO be done when 1t suits
his convenience. 1t is done by
men who have never studied the
science of road building. 1t Is
done in a hit ano miss method de-
void of business principles. This
is why hundreds of thousands of
the taxpayers money have failed
to make the roads any better.
And again we say it is not be-
cause of bad weather or poor road
building material. The butter
maker takes bad cream and
makes pretty good butter from
it because he knows how. OF
course, he could do better with
good cream. Likewise, the skill
ed road builder can make good
roads out of just pain country
dirt because he knows how. OF
course he could do better with
crushed rock and all of that. 1t
is not scarcity of money or OF
material, but a lack of the right
system, that is responsible for
bad roads.
Dollar for dollar - what we
want to see is a dollars worth OF
good roads for a dollar spent in
road tax. And why not have it?
Isn't it about time to quit pour
ing money into mudhole? Most
roads could have been nicely
paved with the dollars they have
cost since first laid out. Where
has that money gomez Don't cry
graft" l." OF course there las
been too much politics --ah, poll
tics; there's the rub but there
has been no political graft to
speak of IN connection with coun.
try roads. The trouble Us the
system is and has been wrong.
Road building is for the public
good, just as mail carrying is.
The mail carriers are under civil
service, out Of politics entirely.
They are paid for knowing their
business They must give a dol
h lars Wovkh Of sorvice for a. doIIar