The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-26

| | tribute a portion of the cost of improv- l ing our public roads, and, in making this
 contribution, it will so far from commit
 ting an unwholesome act of generosity, | open up new and improved channels to l the marts of trade and commerce. stimu-
 late industrial enterprise, inspire every l citizen of the rural districts with a brighter hope and higher ambition. and l add new tie to bind him with increased
 loyalty and patriotism to his country. Generosity To Islands.
 | Congress has been exceedingly generous | in it's appropriations for Cuba Porto | Rico and the Philippines. It has spent | large sums in these island territories for | internal improvements and much of it | has been expended on the construction
 and improvement of the public roads, | These appropriations were made to an i alien people who add but a meager con- | tribution to national revenues, have 1 but little more than humanitarian claim | upon our government, and have shown | thrift no spirit of progressiveness, and
 no industrial enterprise or aptitude.
 These appropriations it would seem have | found sanction under our constitution
 and general public policy. If so, then
 what valid objection can be interposed l to appropriatlng money for similar pur- 1 rose to our own people? Our own people | deserve the first consideration at our hands. They have demonstrated to the | world their superior thrift, energy, in- | dustry and enterprise. It is from them l that we derive our national greatness
 and our national revenues, and they have i right to expect to be first considered | and to receive even-handed justice from l our government of its beneyolence and
 the distribution of its revenues.
 l Another reason for national aid is to be | found in the fact that nearly all of the | eyFaa rtof ftnr,c do l.xy are for projects that do not benefit the rural districts The shipping interests | have had the rivers and harbors im- | proved to expedite their business; the l cities have been supplied, at a cost of | $500, ,000,000. with postoffices and custom | houses the railroads have received large l appropriations, and have made use of the | credit of the government millions col | lected from the people have been loaned l to the banks without interest, and iron | masters have descended upon the govern | ment to construct great locks and dams l for facilii ating the assembling of materials 1 at cheap rates for making iron. The | tariff laws have been shaped to benefit | the manufacturers. but none of them | are intended to benefit the great Ameri- | can farmer. Some of our ablest states
 men, and many of those most solicitous 1 of the pubic welfare, often oppose meas 1 ures which ultimately prove the greatest | boon to the people. On the other hand | it has frequently happened that Con- l gress, in it's zeal to extend the blessings l of our government to the greatest num- | Der, has given it's sanction to projects which savor more or less of futile eX- l perimentaton Congress, however, and 1 ] might say wisely so, has been slow to l stamp it's approval upon such legislative l projects, but after they have once been l iraugurated, and have met with popular | favor, and proved a benefit to the people, ] t has been equally slow to take any step which would cripple their action or
 tard their development.
 Rural Free Delivery.
 MT. President, let us now consider tho | rural free delivery system, which is so | intimately connected with roads. What | has been the history of this service? The l friends of this measure were long time l gaining the ear of Congress, and the ques-
 tion was agitated many years before it ! received legislative approval. It was re- | garded by many as an impractical theory,
 an iridescent dream, so, to give it 8 trial, | Congress, in 1884, appropriated the sum of $40,0O0, only $10,000 of which was used the
 first year. This appropriation met with , such popular favor, and there was such l a demand for rural delivery, that it | was not only renewed but increased by l 25 per cent in 1898. The appropriation of
 1898 was increased by 200 per cent foc
 1899, and an equal rate of increase has | continued for each of the eleven years the service has been in operation. During i these eleven years they have increased | in the aggregate from $40,000 in 1897, to
 $34, 900 in 1907. It is stated in the last
 annual report of the fourth assistant postmaster general that on June 30, 1907, | there were 37,72S rural delivery routes in
 operation, the average, or standard, route
 being "A miles,. The carriers on the 37,72s
 routes travelled daily over ,06S miles of the roads of the country, which is nearly
 half of the total mileage of the public
 roads of the United States. Every road ! over which these mails go is a United States postroad, and under the consti- 1 tuition, Congress has authority, and in i equity and justice should contribute to their improvement and maintenance.
 While the extension of this service has
 been marvellous, it has yet encountered 1 no serious obstacle. It has been confined
 to. communities blessed with good roads | Such communities, however, have been very largely supplied, and the future l extension of the service must needs be
 mostly to communities not having good l roads. The fourth assistant postmaster
 general, in his annual report for June
 30, 1907, to which 1 have already re-
 ferred, has this to say with reference
 to the bearing of good roads on rural
 delivery:
 The maintenance of good roads not
 only insures early and more expe-
 ditious delivery to the patrons residing
 on that portion of the route last to be | served, and from whom most complaints
 come, but lessens the liability of irregu-
 lar or suspended service on any part
 thereof"
 Troubles of Carrier.
 It was estimated that the carrier who
 travels a 24-mile route daily over bad
 roads, could, with muck -.iore ease, travel from 10 to 15 miles additional over good | roads. But suppose we take a more re- stricted estimate and say that the average | carrier could travel six miles more if we had good roads. This would increase the l average or standard route to 30 miles, | and would eliminate every fifth carrier now employed and would also abolish all
 the crossroads postoffices, both of which
 would be direct saving to the govern | ment. By increasing the average stand
 ard route to 30 miles, and eliminating | every fifth carrier, we would reduce the | force of carriers by 7516, which at their 1 salary of $500 per year, would be direct l! annual saving of $6,764, 400, to say noth- | ing of the abolition of the numerous star ] routes and local postoffices, thereby say 1 ing to the government many more mil | lions. It is necessary for the continued | growth of this service that something | be done toward improving our roads. We
 cannot permit it to be checkmated in it's
 growth. No service rendered Ey the gov l ernment is dearer to the hearts of the ,..1.. At,nnr rfpor lA