Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1908-10-10
BUILDING GOOD ROADS
Highway Expert Tells Why the
Government Should Help.
HAS THE RIGHT AND ABILITY.
Secretary Of Farmers Good Roads
League Points Out How States Can
Be Helped by Bond Issue-Definite
Conclusions on Construction Methods.

II. IL. NIIOSS, SECRETARY VI llc 4 III III
ers' Good Roads league, has written
as follows from Chicago to the clitOr
OF the New York Tribune on the sub
jcct Of building improved highways:
Should the federal government by n
bond issue assist the states to build
public roads? If So TO what cXtentt
The answers to the above questions
involve the consideration of several
things-first, the right Of the govern
ment to do so, the need of II, its ability
aud, last, whether ii is wise policy
to adopt. In the brief space available
we must assume the necessity for good
roads; that their condition affects mar
ket conditions and thus concerns all
the people; that bad roads are pro
ductive of n great and prcventable
waste that amounts to several dollars
person year; that one OF the great
est needs for the social and economic
development and welfare OF all the
people Is good roads.
As to the right or power of the fed
eral government to build or assist to
build highways, section S of article /
OF the constitution says among other
things:
Congress shall have power Ito establish
postofiices and post roads"
More than 40 per cent Of all the high
ways and most of the main roads are
used for rural mail delivery and so are
postroads in the meaning of the cOnsti-
tuition. President Monroe in a mes
sage to congress May L. 1902, says:
In whatever sense the term establish"
is applied to postoffices II must be APP
piled in the same sense to post roads.
Cooley in his book on constitutional
law says:
Every road within a state, including
railroads. canals. turnpikes and naviga-
BILE streams. existing or created within
state. became "A post road whenever by
action OF the postoffice department pro-
vision is made for the transportation of
the mails upon or over 1t.
The above Is deemed sufficient to
show the government has the unqueS-
tlonable right to improve highways
used for rural mail delivery.
Article l. section s. clause /, provides
In part: THE congress shall have power
to lay and collect taxes, duties. imports
and excuses to pay the debts and provide
for the common defense and general wei
fare OF the United States"
Is not highway improvement for the
general welfare?
On March II, 1878 the house of rep
resentatlves passed the following resO-
luton:
l,u..g mn
der the constitution to appropriate money
for the construction OF post roads, mill
tary and other roads and OF canals and
for the improvement Of waterways
Among the early statesmen who held
that the federal government had ample
power to build roads were Jefferson
Madison, Clay, Webster, Calhoun and
others.
The government has expended mil
lions on the old Cumberland road and
a number of military roads, establish
ing n precedent. The public roads Of
nearly every civilized country In the
world have been built In whole or In
part by Its general government 1t Is
the only plan that has ever succeeded.
1t is the world precedent.
AS to the need for better highways
no argument Is necessary. The gen
eral government Is expanding $4,000
600 n year on rural delivery. Accord
Ing to Senator Bank head of Alabama
the postofilce department estimates
that uniformly good roads would mean
longer routes, more regular service and
n saving of 20 per cent In the cost
Thus the loss to the postoffice depart
ment due to bad roads is now $1,000
600 n year and Is increasing as the
service Is extended. 1t will soon reach
$1OOOO.OO0 year. While bad roads en-
tail loss to the mail service OF ST.
100000 to 100000 year. the loss
to the farmers and consumers OF farm
produce cannot he less than twenty
times as much.
AS to the ability of the federal gov
ernment to assist In building good
roads, how better can we judge this
than by comparing the debt per capita
of our country with the leading nations
of the world that have built good
roads and found 1t paid to do sol
The per capita debt Of Germany, ac-
cordlng to the Chicago Daily News Al
manac and Year Book for 1908, is $40;
England, SIS. SO; Italy, $50; Spain, sos;
France, s144, and the United States,
Sill. The amount Of annual inter
est charge to be met by n citizen Of
Germany IL 50; France, $G05; England,
$3.4T; United States, 20 cents
The panic OF 1907 was occasioned
largely by the enormous demand for
currency ''to move the crops" Why
need the crops he moved with such
haste and at such great inconvenience
to the railways and so completely
drain the cities of money as 10 cause
b panic and the loss OF many millions
The farmer knew the winter and bad
road season was approaching and that
If he didn't get his crops OFF before
the roads broke up he didn't know
how long the embargo Of bad roads
would prevent him from doing SO.
Another factor was the insufficient
amount of government bonds 10 serve
as the basis of national bank clrcula-
ton. AS no bonds We're available the
banks could not increase their clrcula-
ton, as they would have been glad
to do and which would have lmmedi-
ately relieved the financial strain. The
country needs good roads, and II needs
a larger debt (strangc rs that may