The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-10-15


 Brick Manufacturers Association.
 
 out limit, submit endless problems entire- ly unsolved that have come face to face with civilization for years and years. De- spite all the wonderful means of com munication man has with man in the af- fairs of life, the transaction of business, his social we'll being. is enhanced or con- tracted-measured yet-by a good, bad. indifferent or luxurious road over which he must travel to shake hands with his neghbor, convey his products to market or deliver the goods of the artisan to the consumer.
 "Good roads head the list of unsolved problems, and by good roads mean such roads as mark time and such as are in harmony with our civilized requirements and admitted necessities. The road prob lem has Jagged in two particulars, their importance has not been appreciated, their quality has lacked consideration. Why this has been so is almost inconceivable. The public highway created by pubic ex- penditure is the one convenience that Is enjoyed in common by the citizenship of the republc, rich and poor, old and young even the tramp has common right to the highway Why should not all become enthusiastic and favor good public highway? Not only is your right a common one, but it is an enforced one. The customs of life put us upon the high way one-sixth of our lives. You are there, your family is there, as absolutely cer-
 
 But do not know that it Is necessary to go into any argument that might be pro- ductive of sentiment in favor of good roads. I believe that the people are aroused in this country upon this sub feet as never before.
 "The time has simply passed for man to wait for conditions or season in which to travel, whether bent upon business of upon pleasure. The peo- ple are today in a feverish heat for betterment of road conditions. So much so that the time has come for the exercise of great care as to wheth- CT or not we shall get value received Ar the enormous expenditures that are ing made all over the country in Her to revolutionize the conditions our intercommunication. The time has come when we want little of gilt tering generalities and less of barren idealities; but we do stand in need of the best metho ods that greatest wisdom can give and a whole lot of good com mon horse sense. We want not only that the roads be made satisfactory for traffic and travel, but we want them durable and economical. Where the travel is severe, we want them so that they shall endure against it without the travel is less, they sh ould still be built to resist the strain of wear and tear. They sh ould be built neither wider than is necessary for the travel nor too narrow to accommodate it. Nor is the practicablity of sound sense all that is needed in this campaign and in the endeavor to prepare to build good roads.
 "Any species of graft should be stamped upon as reptile of the most poisonous kind. In selecting the kind, we should be reminded that the ex- citement at the bargain counter is sure to be followed by regrets of ill., spent money, while from careful in- vestigation and consideration of the deliberate purchase, satisfaction Is sure to result. The exercise of sound judgment is not only called for, but such sound judgment as Is afforded by the wisest heads among us. In the