The Green Forest tribune., 1908-04-24
FARMERS EDUCATIONAL
 AND
 COOPERATIVE UNION OF AMERICA
PRACTICAL ROAD THOUGHTS.
Why Not Put the State Convicts to
 Building Public Roads?

"
 Why Not Put the State convicts to
 Building Public Roads?
 The American farmer is today con- fronted with no more serious econom-, ic question than that of good roads. Everything he touches is affected by the roads, and all the additional cost involved in the poorer transportation facilities must ultimately come out of the farmers pockets. We regret that the following clipping has come to us without credit, for it is a very valua- ble contribution to the good roads lit erature of this period and should fur nish some rich food for thought to the members of the Farmers Union:
 The farmers of Illinois have asso- citations looking to the betterment of highways, but up to date they seem to have missed the most vital point in an intelligent agitation.
 Convict labor will reduce the initial cost of good roads 10 a point where the tax on local communities would be almost u1noticea3le. The States cooperation in the building of good 
 may take either of two forms or both cash appropriations or convict labor.
 Some progressive Eastern States, like Massachusetts, cooperate with county authorities in road building by liberal cash appropriations. They stimulate local efforts by meeting the initial expense half way. The result ic Of I, .l,1 less progressive States.
 Not until within recent years has there been an organized attempt to improve Illinois roads by State super vision. Even now the State appro- priations for this purpose are so small that the road commission can only point out evils without remedying them. The roads of Illinois are a erowning disgrace to the third State in the Union.
 Farmers shy at the initial cost of building good roads. Then why do they not insist that their legislators shall aid them by the employment of convict labor? The latter will not in crease anybodys taxes. Bad roads cost Illinois farmers far more every year than any other single item of expense, direct or indirect.
 Bad roads are a dicect tax on agri- cultural industry. They add to the cost of hauling every bushel of grain or other farm product to market. They isolate the farmer and his family during certain months of the year.
 If the farmers would tax themselves for every dollar that good roads might cost they would gait financially by every outlay. But such tax is unnec- essary. They should demand the utfli- zation of the States eupply of prison labor.
 The perfect roads of European countries have all been built by the cheapest forms of labor They are maintained in most cases at govern ment expense and under direct gov ernment semi-militayy supervision.
 Even in the United States we have scattered object lessons as to the pos abilities of convict labor in building good roads. Southern convict labo,. built the almost perfect roads around Lookout Mountain. Some of the Southern States use this form of labor to the exclusion of general taxation for road purposes.
 Illinois, with a population only ex- ceeded by New York and Pennsyl- vania, has many prisons where the convicts work at various forms Of contract labor. The States prof, from this labor is of far less impor tance to the general public than would be the building of q system of good roads. The latter, as a permanent Tn. yestment, would pay increasing d'vi dends and swell the agricultural ricfes of the State