The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-21

ruts and mud; S2 eents on sandy roads when wet, and 64 cents on sandy roads when dry The agricultural department estimates that the average cost of haul Ing the cotton crop to market in the south is 27 cents per ton per mile over l the roads now used in the southern states
 Saving Due To Hard Roads.
 In other words, if our main thorough fares in the south were well built ma cadamzed roads, such they have in France and other European countries, We could reduce the cost of transportation 19 cents per mile. As we have practically a monopoly on the cotton crop, this saving i'll the cost of transportation should go into the pockets of the people who pro- duce the crop. In the case of crops like the wheat crop, where we have to com pete in the London market with the Ar genuine and the Russian wheat fields, the saving of this much in the cost of trans
 portation would often allow us to enter the European market successfully, and with profit to our credit, where we could not do so under present conditions. To state it in another way, in estimating the selling price of the wheat crop in London, one of the greatest charges which must be considered as a factor in the price is the cost of transportation, where the cost of transportation is much less to us than to our competitors we
 would have just that much more op- portunity to sell our crops in the con- peting market at a profitable price. The agricultural department estimates l that it costs an average of 19 cents per 1 ton per mile to carry the wheat and corn crops to market ever the present system l of dirt roads, and 27 cents per ton per l mile to carry the cotton crop to market t.ift Artf saving due to hard roads in transporting
 the wheat crop to the market would amount to $10,256,000 each year, a saving i in carrying the corn crop to market of l S2, ,709 GOO, and In transporting the cotton l crop s5,076000, a total saving on these l three crops alone of over BPS, ,000, 900 each
 year, which does not, of course include i the saving to the farmer in the cost of hauling fertilizer back to his farm, nor for his other crops not mentioned above,
 nor does it include the saving to him in l the preserva ton of his stock and the wear and tear on his wagons and har- ness.
 Bonds Carried on Saving. 1 The government at this time can float
 a bond issue bearing 2 per cent interest 1 and the S28,000 900 annually saved by req ] son of good roads on the three great
 crops would pay the interest on $560, ,000, 900 ! at the rate of per cent per annum. In ! other words. if that much money was i invested by the government in good roads the interest paid by the people would be 1 returned to them In the saving on the
 cost of transportation of these great
 crops. and they would have the benefit of
 a magnificent system of roads.
 Development of Road Legislation.
 I have found, in my study of the de-
 velopment of road administration, that
 xxyit nnl1a ,,,,it
 namely, the parish in the year 1555, the
 parliament In that year providing for the l election of surveyors of roads for each 1 parish and for the working of the roads
 by compulsory labor Since that time
 England has greatly progressed and from 1 smaller unit to larger one, 1t has gradu- ! ally advanced to national aid in the su- i pervision and building of roads. In the
 time of William ", Queen Victoria's pre-
 deeessor, statute and compulsory labor
 was abolished in Europe, and the roads were built by local taxation and appro- prations made directly by parliament. i until now they have a very successful and permanent system of good roads.
 Lack of Progress In America.
 On the other hanu. we have made prac- 1 tically no progress in our system of road | building in this country over that adopted 1 by the British parliament in 1555, when
 they provided for local road surveyors | eiio coiHPulSOIy ldDOT
 Barbarty of Present System.
 In my opinion, such a system of road i building is barbarous; it would not be | tolerated for a moment in any other coun- l try than free America. Taxation should
 be just. should always be uniform and l should be largely borne by those who re- 1 ceve the benefits derived from the ex-
 penditure of the money so received There can be no question in the world 1 that the owner of the land Is the man l who is benefited by the development of i the road systems of any country. It im-
 proves the price of his land and enables him more readily to market the products ] of his farm; the profits, however much,
 go into his pocket But a system that
 says that labor, which has no personal or 1 direct interest in the matter, shall be re- ! quired to work so long a time, or pay
 as much road tax as a man who may ! own thousands of acres over which the road passes. is not only barbarous sys- l tenn, but 1t is one which cannot develop system of good roads in any country.
 Worth Paying For.
 | You can never get anything worth hay 1 ing without paying for it. and if we
 want to build system of highways in ] the country, the people in the United i States have got to pay for it by local
 taxation, aided by appropriations from | | | true that there are some rich commun- i ties In the United States, and some rich
 counties in Alabama, which can build
 their own systems of good roads. Mobile, i Montgoemry, Jefferson and Madison coun-
 ties are all developing excellent road 1 systems at their own expense; but in l developing a system of state roads it will ] be necessary for them to go the poorer counties well as the richer ones
 and many of the poorer counties un-
 able, without national state aid to
 build macadan highways, and. therefore, 1 it is absolutely necessary for the ad-
 vancement of this system of roadways | tbat the state and national governments
 should aid in the development of the same.
 Amendment To State Constitution.
 An amendment to the state constitu ton will be submitted to the voters of | Ala bama in tte November election to
 determine whethe CT or not they will au | thorize the stite legislature to make
 appropriations to aid in the develop
 ment of the road system of Alabama. In $ eep1 c s s Store AAn n