The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-10-04
The Alabanaa Good Roads Association Appeals to Voters
 To Amend the Constitution

public roads, and the laws that are in vogue for the last seventy-five years. results show from the present system we expended in money and statutory labor, about sl,s0,o00: and for that vast sum of money not one mile of perma- nent. hard roads are constructed. The roads have been this way for the last forty years; always bad and at times impossible. Add this for forty years and 1t will show that they expended the vast sum of s72,000, ,000.
 Now add up the four items above. Take the loss in hauling his farm product. the cotton crop. amounts to $4,25o, 900.
 The next item: The farmer loses on his fertilizer, for twenty years. would be ss.o0o.o0o.
 The next item: Money expended. the loss for maintenance of the county roads for forty years, Is S72,o00,000. and this will show the enormous bur- den of taxation on the farmer which is eavier than any other subject of taxation he has ever had to bear, is the vast sum of s1oo.00o,00o. If we had good. practical road legislation by good State supervision. money enough has been wasted In bad roads to have built good trunk high-ways all over the State of Alabama. 1t Is these conditions that the Alabama Good Roads Association want to i'm prove by asking you to vote for the overton amendment at the coming elec- tien in November.
 The Alabama Good Roads Associa- tion, fin convention assembled, Decem- Der, 1906, in the. city of Birmingham.
 recognized that, the country roads of
 Alabama should be improved along
 practical, permanent business methods.
 with State supervision and State aid
 in pudsuaneA to q resolution, the con
 vention was requested to prepare .
 bill and present same to the Legisla-
 ture, which bill was prepared and in
 troduced in the Senate by Senator John
 w. Overton, and referred to the Com-
 mittee of Common Carriers and com-
 merce. and the bill was declared to be
 unconstitutional.
 The Alabama Good Roads Association then had Senator John w. overton, | in the Senate, to introduce bill ask ing that the Constitution be so amend ed that 1t would be possible to build roads under state supervision with State aid. should the Legislature al any sirno desire This is the reason the Alabama Good Roads Association
 is appealing to the voters of Alabama irrespective of what party or faction they belong to. The proposition oi amending the Constitution Is not q
 partisap one. but an economic one. The Democratic. State Convention, ir
 September. 1908, adopted the following resolution:
 "FIrst-Resolved, That we favor the 1 building of good roads and highway | throughout the State of Alabama. "Eecond--We favor as liberal aE l appropriation by the State Legisla. I ture as the treasury can bear without interfering with the appropriation fol l the Confederate soldier and schools to aid the counties of the State 1T | building good roads"
 The last State campaign. the issut | was, the railroads were charging thu farmer too much to haul his farm prod I uots and fertilizer. and that rate need ed regulating and should be reduced l It costs the farmer to haul his fertili ger and farm products over the dir l roads, such as we have in the Stat' of Alabanaa, from twenty to thirts | times more q ton a mile than the rail | roads are charging. So there ar, | twenty to thirty times greater reason | why we should have the laws whicl I will enable the people to have gool | roads where 1t will not cost the farm | CTS and the people of Alabama SSs.00t ! every time the sun sets, which is ai l absolute loss to the people of ou | State, due to their bad roads It Il f estimated by the United States Agricul I tursl Department that every timi l the sun sets, the American farmerl I lose S1,500 ,0oO. The pro rata of thi