The Democratic advocate., 1909-04-23
TURNPIKEs GOOD ENOUGH.
The State Should Take Some Bad Road
and Make 1t Good.

Anu udhe III UOOOs
D. Webster Groh, of Hagerstown,
writes as follows to the Baltimore
American:
The many persons who appeared
| before the State Roads Commission
in Baltimore, February 26 advocating
| different routes from that of the old
National pike as proposed, indicate an
almost unanimous opposition thereto
People generally want more good
roads,, not, merely substitution of a
state road for an already good pike
a policy that will not increase our good
road mileage one foot, but may, tenn
porarily at least, even decrease our
mileage of good Highways
The state should take some bad road
and make it good, thus relieving our
county commissioners of that expense
and permitting them to devote the
money thus saved to improving the
remaining roads. The pike companies
have so greatly benefited us that our
county commissioners formerly took
stock in them to encourage them and
the attempt to GUST or parallel or con-
denim these, our very best roads, is a
complete reversal of former ideas un-
der which we grew so prospectus.
AS our pixies are about the only good
roads we have, why destroy them or
turn them over to county or state care,
as happened to the National pike west
of the Connococheague, whoich is now
so much complained about? The pos
sible, nay, probable, reapeal of state
road law that repairs nothing but
roads already good would then cause
our county commissioners to make
much more road than they are now
Obliged to do. Offering us good roads
where roads are already good seems
like offering another good coat to him
who already has an excellent one, but
whose seedy breeches sadly need re-
pairs. If he who wears clothing should
pay for its making, likewise he whose
travelling wears out a road should
proportionally pay for it's mending,
as tollpayers do.
1t is as honorable and legitimate to
profit by macadamizing as by mer
chandising or any other useful indus
try, and the state has no more reason
to oust or run one than the other. In
case it did either, however, it should
as necessarily pay full price for the
one labor product as for the other,
having no right whatever to confiscate
or discriminate in either case. And
even the most ultra state socialist who
would coniscate everything to the
state ought certainly to be sufficiently
fair to treat all industries simultane-
ously alike and not confiscate one be-
fore another. Furthermore, though
pixies built by the average stock COM
pany cost only about $1,000 per mile
against about $4,000 per mile for the
average Shoemaker or state road, and
probably proportionate rates for year
ly maintenance, yet the former have
even been run at considerable aver
age loss of interest, as their stocks
depreciation below par clearly proves.
And certainly the travelling tollpayer
has reaped the benefit Of this stock
holders loss, which represents chow
much less he paid for use Of the good
pike than ''it cost to make it..
AS governments proverbially pay
high prices for inferior services
through political graft" ETC., individ-
uals, by watching their personal in
terests and patronage more closely,
invariably accomplish very much more
with the same money. And as the
travelling public should-and would
eventually-p2y for the road making,
pike companies will doubtless con-
tinue to give it much more for the
money than the state possibly can,
for that part Of the state called the
County has already been giving us
the "bad mud roads," Of which there
has been so very much complaint.
And if our own local vitality interest
ed responsible county commission
ers, who personally know the man
ayers and workmen to whom they en-
trust the roadmaking, can't satisfy
travellers for the expenditures, how
much less will foreign, unacquainted,
irresponsible (appointed) state road
commissioners do it? Until our
local part of the state"-the county
or the state itself once gives us bet
ter road at-4ess cost than our pixies,
| it should certainly leave them alone
and make only our county mud roads.