The Virginia enterprise., 1908-05-08

Australia and New Zealand countries newer than our
own, less populous, and with nothing like aggre.
gate wealth. The fact that the of the world has
good roads while we have bad Is Significant; it
shows that the plan have been pursuing has not
oeen successful. In three hundred years less than
eight cent of the highways of our country have
Deen permanently improved and at the are 60
Ing 1t would require nearly four thousand years to
complete the job. So roadbuilders the people of
the United States have been failure
This is all the surprising when we consider
that they conspicuously successful in every other
line of human endeavor. Millions upon millions of
dollars have been wasted in every in the union
upon the public roads by l-timed msdrected ef-
fort and with really very little show for the ex.
penditure 1t is only within the last ten fifteen
years that real progress has been made along
line of permanently improving the conditions
The trouble is We have been endeavoring
tange the snarl by pulling the wrong string Without
for doing the farmers the country
Maine California, from the very assumed that
the country roads belonged to them and it their
business to improve them and this misconcepton held
sway for nearly 300 years.
few years ago q man in New Jersey made dis
covery 1t was that the highways public property,
as much as the state house. This raised the ques-
ton: "Why, if the highways public property should
not the public take of it's own; why should the
state and all property therein contribute to building
the roads?' Everybody is interested in them, every
body is affected through the markets by the road
dons; they are benefited by good roads and injured
by bad ones. The thought spread throughout the
state and finally New Jersey led the way better con-
dons by passing law by which the state should
roads. Other states followed, increasing the proper
tion to onehaf and in case, Massachusetts, to
three-fourths.
In many of the New England states farm
property is only very small portion of the taxable
property, in some cases not ten cent when
cost of road improvement was distributed prop
erty of the state the burden hardly felt and vet
immense were raised for road purposes Best
Of ALL the roads were built under proper SUPERVISION
instead of leaving to the inexperienced hands of tho
loca: path master.
Ten years ago New York state began in a small
aid and appropriated $4,000 start the work
The plan in favor rapidly that within five years
the state by overwhelming vote passed constitu.
tiona amendment providing for issue of 900
in bonds to help build the highways. What record
In five years from fifty thousand to fifty millions! The
tax necessary to pay the interest this enormous
sum and then finally pay of the bonds will hardly be
felt by the property owners of the Empire owing
to their immense list of taxable property.
Ohio, after 40 years of building roads by the old
plan of local taxation and bond issues in which the
farmer had to pay practically the whole BILL has
passed state aid law which will enable it to build
three miles of improved roads where it has build
ing one, without increase whatever in taxation
upon farm property.
Virginia is the first southern state to join the
state aid column for good roads, Kentucky alive
the situation and is taking steps to change it's cons
tuition in order to be in position to spread the road
over all the property in the state.
In certain parts of the country notably in the Mis-
sissppi valley, there is entire misconception
vha: the state aid plan of road building means. Some