Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-06
MAKING
IN GOOD ROADS
OLD SUBJECT TREATED IN A
NEW FORM
QUESTION WILL NOT DOWN UN.
TIL SETTLED RIGHT
Well Known Authority Propounds
Some Thoughtful Problems and
Works Them Out in Logl-
cal Way

There is under way a movement go-
ing to the foundation of things in the
good roads matter, says Coker F.
Clarkson of the Association of Licensed
Automobile Manufacturers To many
good roads are an uninteresting and
hackneyed subject. But of their vital
necessity and of the advisability of con-
stantly urging their construction there
should be no debate. No other i'm
provement will pay to the people such
dividends as modern highways. A ma
tion's reputation for enterprise, prog
ress and all that goes to make it worth
living in is determined very largely by
the character of its roads, the great
arteries through which flow the busi-
ness and pleasure of the nation.
The public road is principal feeder
of our civilization. We take pride in
our crops and products, often forget
ting public roads must bear them to
market. We lead the world in rail-
road building. But for every mile of
railroad we have ten miles of high
way-such as it is. Perhaps this in a
way indicates the relative Importance
of improved highways.
The benefits to be derived from
reasonably good common road system
would be shared by all classes, the
farmer reaping a better profit through
easier transportation to commercial
centers, the inhabitants of towns and
cities by the product of their labor
reaching the rural districts more eco
nomically This is a fair analogous de-
duction from the history of the reduc-
| ton of freight rates by the improve
ment of road beds and rolling stock, to
which much of what science, experience
and invention have developed has been
applied.
The history of good road construc-
| . 1- L.
few fundamental methods. The Ro-
mans laid down large fiat stones. Then
| in France rough stones were set on
edge, a layer of broken stone being
superposed. A similar theory was later
| followed in England Early in the
nineteenth century McAdam announced
| the principle that small pieces of
broken stone placed in layer are, by
the action of water and travel trans
formed into q more or less homogene-
Gus road surface. Two or three gener-
ations afterward the road covering eff
feet of crude oil became known.
Problem Is an Old One
The good roads problem, although
precipitated by the automobile, has
been left alone for generations and ex-
tends in it's far-reaching importance
and effect much further than the con-
sideration of it's relation to the automo-
bile-in fact as far as any economic
question can reach. The automobile is
| broadly a medium of communication
and traffic upon which the very life of
the nation depends. Roads are simply
media for facilitating traffic, incidental
to animate and mechanical road trac-
ton, and not an end in themselves. This
| last should be obvious, but some seem to
think the preservation of roads out of
date for modern purposes is the great
desideratum. But progress in funda-
mental matters cannot wisely be I'M
peded by incidental considerations. r.
is clear that the automobile is an im-
proved method of accomplishing fun
damental function.
Our roads of the present day were de-
veloped for horse-drawn traffic, in the
case of which the elements affecting
the making and preservation of roads
are materially different from those of
automobile traffic. The effect of horse
hoof impact is plain. The effect of
rolling and driven motor wheels Is, in
great part at least, understood. 1t is
fact that for the same speed an au-
tomobile Injuries road less, at least no
more, than horse-drawn vehicle. On
a properly built road the effect of au-
tomobile traffic is beneficial, not inju-
rious Very few we'll informed highway
engineers will state that the automo-
bile alone Injuries an ordinary macadam
road more than a horse-drawn vehicle
alone. The rapidly growing theory is
that the meat of the problem lies in the
combined horse and motor traffic:
horses cutting up the roads and auto
mobiles stirring up and displaclng the
materials thus cut up. The automobile
is not an abnormal or fragrant offender
even on roads which were never con-
structed for it, Even If 1t were more
of an offender it must, as a medium of
progress, be provided for adequately. 1t
is anything but an ''engine of destruc-
tion," "a thing of inordinate pride" or
"a national nuisance" as stated by
some picturesque United States sena-
tors, who perhaps may charitably be
considered as adding to the gayety OF
nations, if not properly representing or
leading their constituents. The auto
mobile is a fundamental economic fac
tor than which nothing is more in keep
ing with American genius. BY it trans
portation of persons and freight on
common roads is cheaper, quicker, mora
comfortable and pleasant than by any
other method
An irresistible movement for the con-
struction of good roads is under way in
this country. The members of the
highway commissions in many states
are high grade, able men, bending every
energy to road progress finding the
best specifications for modern roads and
how to construct and maintain them.
The United States department of good
roads is doing a great deal of efficient
work. having recently commenced a
series of tests, co-operated in by mem-
bers of the Association of Licensed Au-
tomobile Manufacturers. TO secure re-
liable data on the actual effect of auto
mobile and horse-drawn traffic on
roads. There are many technical and
financial problems in the whole large
question, which problems. it is very
gratifying to note, are being taken up
in a rational, thorough and, in all prob
ability. successful way.