The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-26
Constitutiona|it of National Aid for Post Roads
 Is Argued
FARMERS NED BETTER
 ROADS FOR THEIR USE
Senator 5ankhead Shows How Govern ment Has Aided Other Projects Lib orally and Should Give Aid
 In This Great Work.

Washington. April 25.-senator Bank head of Alabama on last Friday spoke on his amendment to the postoffice ap- pIopriation bill, appropriating $5oO,OOO for the improvement of roads in states in which half of the money necessary for the proposed improvement is raised To- cally.
 MT. Bankhead addressed his remarks especially to the constitutionanty of ap- Dropriations for pablic roads, canals and waterways improvements He undertook to show the advantage of such improve ment in facilitating the delivery of rural mails.
 Senator Bankhead spoke as follows:
 MT Presdent-I send to the clerks desk and ask to have read copy of the amendment which 1 have introduced to the postofice appropriation bill.
 Provided further, that a sum not to exceed live hundred thousand dollars of this appropriation may be expended by the postmaster general, in cooperation with the secretary of agriculture, in im- proving the conditions of roads over which rural delivery routes are, or may be- hereafter established, to be selected by tneni tor the purpose of ascertaining the possible increase in the territory which could be served by one carrier, and the possible increase of the number of de- livery days each year, the amount re- quIred Tor proper maintenance In excess oi local expenditure TOT rural delivery routes and the relative saving to the government in the maintenance of rural delivery routes by reason of such i'm movements: crowded further, that the state or county, or counties, wmch may be selected for improvement of rural de- livery routes thereln under this provision cha a pQlldl amount of money for the improvement of the rural route so selected
 MT. President the question that l am about to discuss is not new one. The speedy delivery of the mails and the transportation and distribution of produc- ton has claimed the attention of our most enlightened and constructive states men since the organization or the gov ernment. The transportation and dlstrl- button of products is of more importance than production itself. It is the surplus which we sell that makes richer, adds to the bank account and cancels the mortgage. What the producer consumes at home adds nothing to our wealth. It is that which he sells and transports to the market that makes him rich. IT the cost of production to the producer IS equal to the difference between the cost of production and the selling price there is. no profit Indeed he is poorer be- cause his land is being exhausted, his team and his wagon wearing out, the deposits of his mine are being removed, his timber is being consumed, and his manufacturing plant is undergoing wear and tear, all without net results. In all classes of agriculture and in all lines of manufacturing and trade economy of transportaton is important item ill the amount of profit. There are three methods for the transportation of com- merce-the railroads, waterways and the common highways or dirt roads. need not discuss the first method. It has been she subject of extensive discussion, lesis- lation and judicial construction with which we are all famaliar. Transporta- ton by water has been literally provided Tor by, Congress. The dirt roads, over which 90 per cent of the internal com rnerce of the country must be moved first or last, has been sadly neglected.
 Question Must Be Met.
 The time has arrived when Congress must meet the great question of national road improvement fairly and squarely and give it that thoughtful and serious con sideration which it deserves. The farmers are being aroused, and already the Ma tional Grange, with a membership Of more than million farmers, is calling upon us for action in this matter. An ether great organization, the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America is urging legislation in the same direction. MT. President, the hordes Of southern Europe and the menace of alien races may cast their sinister shadows over our great cities, but, sir, that great silent patient element of our popula- tion, the America farmer, is American through and through. The very citadel of American liberty and it's most cher ished traditions are guarded by the farm CTS who are 9l per cent native born and constitute more than one-third of 1sI population.
 These men have contributed to the wealth of the United States to an eX- tent which staggers the imagination. The corn crop of 1907 alone was worth $1,- 350,0O0,000 the hay crop was worth $66O,- 000,000; the cotton crop was worth $675,- 0OO000, aud the wheat crop was worth over 5000 00O000 The grand total of all crops for 1907 was nearly seven and one-half billion dollars, and it is estimated that the farmers of this country have created during the last nine years S53,000,00 900 worth of wealth. The value of agricult- ural crops exported in 1906 was $969, ,457, ,306, or 561a per cent of the total exports, and but for the export of agricultural products the balance of trade would have been against the United States by $523, ,127, ,533. When the machinations of Wall street, the dangerous practices of high finance, and the injustice of our tariff system bring upon us the woes of financial strin- gency, industrial depression, and hard times, we must realize that the tilers of the soil form the real basis of our wealth, and that to the creation of real wealth we should lend our aid
 Demand For Good Roads.
 But it is not only the rural population that demands aid from the government in the upbuilding of our public roads. The numerous resolutions of the boards of trade. chambers of commerce, associa- .f ,f,,t o,,d f1a ad vocacy of many or our great railroad companies, indicate clearly that it only needs an organization of all these forces to bring about the united and effective efforts of city and country. Modern in ventive genius is responsible for new factor in the problem of transportation, which must be reckoned with in legislat- Ing for public roads. The automobils industry has now reached to Sllo,000,@U oer annum, and the makers and users