Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-06-24
PLAN rs JUST AND EQUITABLE.
Some Arguments and Opinions
Showing Soundness Of This
Doctrine.
Good Roads Benefit All.

what State Aid contemplates. In or
der to make this clear, let us ask and
answer a few questions.
1. How do the railways benefit by
good roads and why should they be
taxed to pay for same?
g Why should the wholesale mer-
chant in the city be taxed to build
roads that the farmers user
8. Why should the well-to-do OF
large cities be called upon to build
country roads when they are heavily
taxed for paving the city streets? Also,
why should not the farmer pay taxes
to pave the city streets in return for
| the city's contribution to building the
country roads7
4. Upon what ground can the taxing
| Of the workingmans home or the
widows cottage to build hard roads in
the country be justified?
The above questions certainly look
ike posers, and they get harder as we
90 down the list. We will answer
| them briefly in the order given, and
anyone who studies the subject can
readily amplify these and find addi-
| tional reasons.
In the rush to move the crops every
fall the railways are swamped with
business. The stations all along the
| line are calling for more cars than the
companies can furnish, and if they
were able to supply the cars they
would not have sufficient locomotives to
haul them. The trainmen are worked
overtime and the cost Of moving the
freight Is considerably increased A
few weeks later the roads break up
for the winter and the railways then
| have more men and cars than are
needed. Thus, instead Of the railway
business being uniform and regular, it
Is erratic and Intermittent such con-
ditions increase the cost Of operating
the railway. If the country roads
were good, the delivery Of freight
would be more nearly uniform and the
business of the railways could be more
cheaply conducted.
| f. A. Delano President Of the Wa
bash Railway, says: "You have no
idea to what extent bad roads affect
railway traffic. We notice the fluctua-
ton of business from week to week.
| The falling off due to bad roads is
often as high as so per cent Of the
business received at country stations.
In the rush Of the crop-moving season
the railways are generally so swamped
with business that an adequate equip
ment and prompt service is difficult II
not impossible.
uniformly good roads over the coun-
try would prolong the crop-moving per-
iod several months, and thereby not
only relieve the traffic congestion, but
the financial situation as well. With
good roads and equalization Of the
traffic, the railways could furnish bet
ter facilities to their patrons with 10
to 20 per cent less car equipment than
at present, with the intermittent and
cratic shipments. The greatest need
Of this country to-day is good roads. y
The wholesale merchant depends for
his business upon the country dealer.
The country dealer in turn depends
largely upon the farmer. Do not for
get that the farmer is the backbone of
the country and the largest customer
Of the merchant. Bad roads interfere
with the merchants trade; they pre-
vent the farmer from reaching town.
With bad roads the traffic upon the
highways falls off 30, 60 and even so
per cent for weeks at q time. If the
farmer happens to be cut short Of sup
plies, the family skimps along as best
they can until he can get to town.
The Illinois Highway Commission
has gathered some valuable data as to
the effect Of road and weather condi-
tons upon highway traffic. Observa-
lions were made at seventy-two well
distributed points in the State, and the
actual number Of vehicles passing upon
given days was recorded.
The report shows that the travel
over hard roads is fairly uniform
throughout the year, while that upon
the earth roads Is subject to the widest
variations. A few figures will illus
trate.
The CfSar Lake earth road leading
into Springfield, H., for four days -
March showed an average traffic !
1914 vehicles per day. Over the same
road In June and July following the
average was $50 vehicles. On the
corresponding days in Peoria, over a
hard road, the traffic for March was
166 and the average for June and July
1913.
Observations at Champaign on the
Tolono earth road showed an average
for January, February and March of
! 63, as against 2ee for September and
| October,
The count at Decatur, over a gravel