The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-28

fertflizer ana the poor farmer agitateu in the recently political campaign that the railroads were charging the poor farmers too much to haul their fertil- izer. My friends, I believe there ie about 100000 tons of fertilizer used a year by the farmers of Alabama, and 1t costs them 25 cents a ton a mile to haul their fertilizer from the railroad stations, the steamboat landings or the merchants store. The average haul of ten miles If the roads were made good and built permanently would be about 10 cents ton a mile. This is an ab- -solute loss of S1.50 on every ton of fer tilizer the farmer has to haul over the bad roads of our state. This is an ab- solute loss of s600.000 annually to the farmers of Alabama; or take this for forty years and that would be s24.00o.- 900 more
 Now, my friends. let us take the four items for forty years. The first item on account of the unbusinesslike meth eds in maintaining our road system in Alabama is S2,000,000 year, or ESQ., 000,000 for forty years. The next item on account of bad roads is the hauling of cotton, an average million bales year for forty years Is 3is.e00, 900. The next item, the hauling of 500,00o tons Of cottonseed, loss of $750.0o0 a year. for forty years is s3o.o00 900. The other item, the fertilizer. 4o0.o tons, is $600,000 year loss annually, and for forty years is $24,000, 900.
 My friends. in these four items alone the farmers and the people of Alabama lost this enormous amount of $147600,- poo. This is only a small average of the losses and the enormous tax on &C., count of the bad roads. My friends in the recent campaign the Governor claimed that the railroads needed reg ulating; that the rates of freight were excessive, and we heard so much about the fertilizer and the poor farmer, and I did not know if the railroad rates were excessive or not. but I want to say to you that it costs more than thirty times as much a ton to haul ton of fertilizer over our bad roads than tt-does by the railroads. And there is thirty times more reason why you should want better country roads.
 And I think 1t is time that we should reduce this tax. and we should attack our bad roads and make them good. am not unmindful that the railroads of Alabama. due to their splendid sys- tenn of development. have done much for the development of our State.
 Next to agriculture. the railroad in- dustry Is the most important. The first good roads we had was the rail- roads. because they reduced the tariH on cotton. fertilizer and other pro- ducts in the last twenty-five years to my knowledge. Would like to illus- trate: Before you had railroads the farmer of Alabama, years ago, in order that he might get his bales of cotton to the markets Of the world, had to ship them by steamboat to Mobile, and then by sailing vessels at cost of Si2.50 a bale. to Liverpool, then the best market of the world.
 The railroads built the first good roads. You can ship a bale of cotton and put 1t Into the markets at Liver. pool for less than $5 and the transpor- tation does not require one-half the time. This is an illustration to show you what the first good roads have done for Alabama. Good roads will improve our agricultural position, will build up our waste lands and nothing will advertise your country and attract a higher class of intelligent, industri- ous farmers with means and their new ideas quicker than good roads.
 Compare the agricultural position of our State. which is only 40 per cent. [; take the State of Iowa and its agricul- tural position is lEs per cent. How to improve this7 Why, build good roads, so that we will not count distance by econonized and good roads economize time and forces travel and transporta- tion of products by the easiest methods at the ieazt cost
 Many places in England and many places in this country, the traction en- zine is fast supplanting the animal, because the handling of products is much cheaper and quicker and it will be necessary to be abreast of the times so that you can haul your products by the cheapest methods. This is the age of competition. this economic problem will be . necessity. Massachusetts spends more money for good roads than any State in the Union. and they. have good roads. New York has recently, by vote of her people. voted bond issue for $50.ooo.000 to have State aid for the upbuilding of her country reads at the rate of s5,000.00o a year. New Jersey has the best roads of any State in the Union, and is one of her best Investments.
 My friends, would respectfully urge that you cast your vote at the coming November election to amend the Cons stitution so that the Legislature can. if 1t wishes to. create a Highway Com mission and give State aid for the up- building of our much-neg1ected country roads.
 This is a, proposition that is of much importance. It is not a partisan or factional problem, but the farmers. the merchants. the schools and churches and the women are all interested in this crusade for better highways. have cited to you four items of taxation on account of bad roads that shows the enormous loss in the last forty years of $l47, ,000. 900.
 Had we have had wise and practical methods to build roads every mile of our country roads should have been, macadamized and made hard for the money we have lost alone on those four items that I have just illustrated to you.
 After you have obtained State aid. and all of the States of the Union have enacted wise and economic good road laws. and by the way, in the last six or seven years the National Good Roads Association, of which am one of its Vice Presidents. have been agi- tating this question, and about thirty States have adopted a wise highway commission. with State aid, and when all the States have goon road laws uni- formed that are constructed on busi- built permanently and the money not squandered. then you and I can rest assured that the National Government will appropriae at least $25.000, ,000 a year for the next twenty or thirty years until every State in the Union will have a better sysem of roads.
 My friends. do not let yourself be deceived by those who are opposing the Overton amendment, whereby 1t will be possible to have State aid fool you. You have been fooled too much in the past. Do your own thinking, and do not be carried away by the fact that