Gloucester County Democrat., 1908-04-02
HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT.
A Subject That Is Demanding Much
Attention In New York.
Especial Correspondence. ]

Especial Correspondence
In determining upon our highway
Improvement policy we must consider
the purpose that the roads are to serve.
The most important use is to enable
the farmer to market his produce and
procure supplies ait the least annoy
ance and expense for transportation.
Being the foundation industry, we may
justly claim that the first object should
be to provide enhanced facilities for
travel and traffic between the farms
and the business centers or shipping
points. The welfare of the state de-
pends upon a prosperous and remuner-
atiye agriculture, and plans should be
made to conserve the interests related
thereto rather than to build long lines
of connecting highways that are not of
material use to the farmer or any 9th
er business or industry. The establish
ment of through roads should be made
secondary to an Improvement Of the
radiating highways that are used to
reach every point from which produce
is shipped or that is in itself a center
for the disposal of produce or the pur-
chase of supplies.
The proposal to set aside something
over 5000 miles in the state, to be i'm
proved at state expense, to constitute
a so called trunk system, while plausi-
bly, presented, does not carry weighty
argument and should not prevail over
the needs and demands of the farming
a I1<. ls1,
the state system. SoE1e localities
would reap advantages from the use
of roads thus built obtain relief from
taxation because of their building and
profit by the enhancement of property
values that inevitably follows highway
improvement, while in comparison 9TH
er localities that the state is under
quite as much obligation to aid will be
left to struggle as best they may un-
der adverse conditions.
If there was an unlimited fund at
the command of the state, each locali-
ty might in time be reached by a share
of the benefits. But the bonded debt
cannot exceed S50,00o,000, and it will
require practically all that remains of
that sum to complete the state roads
as projected by the legislative commit
tee. While provision is made in the
bills introduced by the joint committee
for both state and county roads, yet it
may be easily foreseen that the state
roads are to have first attention, and
when that is accomplished the fund
will be absorbed, and the state cannot
therefore assist in the Improvement of
the county roads.
The question of through roads as
against the radiating business roads is
OF far more Importance than many ap-
preciate Every town hamlet or ship
ping station is entitled to consideration
in the distribution OF favors that the
state has to grant, and there should be
no privileged localities. The state
should not build highways for one
town or district and withhold the same
advantage from another. The roads
that are of sufficient Importance to JUS
tify expensive construction and main
tenance should be joint charge upon
the state, county and town and be so
apportioned that they viii provide an
equitable division of benefits as be-
tween localities. With such a policy
the fund of the state can be made to
cover much greater mileage, and
there will be no discrimination.
e. j. YOUNG.