The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-26


 missioners of each county. road over seers practical ways and methods how to build good roads and bridges Also each county is to share alike without regard to its size or popula- tlon In one-sixty- seventh part of the whole State appropriation should the Legislature choose to appropriate any money for State aid. It is not the in- tention of the advocates of good roads or the Alabama Good Roads Associa- tion to create an army of officers, but it is intended under the proposed prac- tical method that the Judges of Pro- bate, the County Commissioners and Road Oyer-seers will do their own work. but will be managed and ad- vised by a highway commission who will In turn employ practical and skilled road engineers to give the nee essary grades. advices and material that is required.
 The experience of Alabama shows that covering a period of over seven ty-fve years or more that 1t has dem onstrated beyond all dispute that no general lasting Improvements of our county roads can be secured through any policy which leaves the responsi- bility and the burden on the county. and that statute labor provides an un- disciplined and unskilled and thor ough inefficient class of labor.
 
 necessary In road work just as 1t is in all other lines of human activity. The best illustration Is that the present great movement toward State super vision and State aid is to prove that States, like New Jersey. New York, South Carolina. Massachusetts, West Virginia, Missouri and Virginia and in fact more than twenty other States have adopted and changed their laws and modern methods of creating high way commission and to give State aid The schools of Alabama are managed by State Supervision. What would be the condition of the schools of our State if they were not controlled uD- der one head and receive State aid' The answer Is that we would have bad school system just like our road system.
 The Alabama Good Roads Associa- ton recognizing that the much ne glected roads of the State should be improved by business methods, as the present system that Is now in vogue Is wasteful. For the large sum of money expend. ed and statute labor called out by the counties of Alabama is about two million dollars annually. and for that vast sum of money and labor not ona mile of finished read Is constructed. However. few counties in the State are issuing bonds and with a very few exceptions of those counties there are nc good. hard roads.
 The cotton crop of 1906 and 1907 was about l.250.0OO bales. In order to move this crop so that the farmer could get his cotton to the markets, the average haul is eight miles. It costs the far mers 25 cents ton a mile to haul his cotton over the bad roads of Alabutuas but if the roads were made good that could be reduced to 10 cents ton mile. This shows an absolute loss Of 34 cents on each bale of cotton. a stand total of &425, 1000 was the abso- Iute loss than went in the bad roads and for one years crop. the farmer or the people of Alabama could never get that back. Had we good roads that $425,O00 would have been in the farmers pockets instead of being stuck in the mud.
 Another example to move a product of the farms of Alabama. The farmer has about 500,000 tons of cotton seed to sell and in order to get hIs cotton seed to the oil mills. steamboat land ings or railroad stations 1t has to be hauled over our bad roads and tho average haul from the farms Is about ten miles It costs per ton a mile over our bad roads 25 cents for ten miles which is $2.5o--if we had good roads 1t would only De lU cents ton a nlh@ -S1 for the ten miles. This shows p loss of $I.0o per ton on 600Uo0 tons and shows a loss of s7s0s0o0.
 Let us take another item of product that the farmers are required to have to raise their crops. f believe 1t IS estimated that about S0O.00 tons of commercial fertilizer or more are used a year to raise the average crop In Alabama. Take this item to haul the fertilizer from the merchants, railroad stations or steamboat landings, the average haul of ten miles costs 25 cents a ton a mile to haul over tho bad roads. If the roads were made good the cost would be reduced to 10 cents ton mile. an absolute loss Of $l.50 per ton on every ton of fertiliz- CT that is hauled over the roads of Alabama. This shows an absolute loss to the farmers of $425,000.
 Let us add up these four items-take frst-S2, 900, 900 that the various coun- ties, the County Commission Courts, are expendlng in. their road construction and maintenance because the average County Commission Courts, road sn- pervisors are overseers are unskilled in road building and maintenance.