The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1909-05-18

drive over. so difficult to haul over,
that the farmer can't be induced to
try to market the by-products of the
farm He simply won't bother with
them Yet, the aggregate loss from
failure TO market what the farmer
calls his odds and ends of the farm
is astonishing
THE secretary of agriculture says
in his report for 1907: AS to losses
by bad roads, the Office has learned,
by consultation with many thousands
Of the most intelligent farmers of the
country. that the expense of moving
farm products and supplies average
on all our country roads, % cents
per ton mile; whereas in the good
roads district of this and other coun-
tries the cost is only about one third
| of this amount. This extra expense
amounts in the aggregate to more than
the entire expenditures of the nation
al government, and taking into ac-
count all the hauling done on the pub
lie roads the loss is equal to one
fourth of the home value of all thu.
farm products Of the United States.
The increase in cost of hauling ac-
tually done is by no means the only
| loss resulting from bad roads. The
loss Of perishable products for want
Of access to market. the failure to
reach the market when prices are good
and the failure to cultivate products
which would be marketable if mar
ikets were accessible add many mil
lions to the actual tax of bad roads.
Moreover, the enforced idleness of
many millions of men and draft ami
mails during large portions of the year
lis an item not always taken into ac-
count in estimating the loss. The
tax of bad roads will become con-
nr,6A
of the United States are brought into
keener competition with the cheap
productions of other agricultural
countries These are facts that all
farmers know. Do you find the farm
ers rousing themselves and getting
move on and correct the abuses2 Not
much! When the farmer reads that
the nation is losing a couple or Dill
lions a year because of bad roads, he
simply chuckles and says: Let her
slide Guess I can stand 1T If tire
country cant
Boost For Good Roads.
Gentlemen, we are here today to
ask Columbia county to join Walla
Walla in boost for good roads. We
do not ask that you take the 1nitla-
i've but we do ask for your enthusi-
site cooperation for several import
ant reasons: 1t will make you good
roads at minimum cost; it will bring
YOU closer to your market, and enaDle
YOU to diversity your products win
corresponding profit to yourselves,
and it will give employment to a class
of men otherwise unproduct-Ve ana
unemployed by taking them from the
close confinement of a prison and put
ting them to work in line OF INDUS
try non competitive with other work
ers ana beneficial alike to themselves
and to the community at large"
l.. E. Meacham, publicity agent for
the Walla Walla Commercial club
spoke for the booster man." and he
closed by saying:
Help the booster man by fixing the
roads
C. l.. Whitney, when called upon t"
discuss this question spoke briefly
and to the point.
"Think of us coming to this city to-
night" he said, lin 100000 worth OF
rolling stock over a forty-five cent
road. If the railroads can afford to
spend thousands of dollars for roads,
for their stock to move on why can't
we? Let's get a hustle on and build
Them
John A. Fox showed plain figures how
by working in conjunction the good
roads movement and the waterways
project could be made a high paying
venture to the farmers, who could
thereby secure the minimum rates on
all their produce. The object of his
talk was for the people to make al
appeal to congress for an appropria-
ton sufficient to build the waterways,
as he stated that in this way only
could thew ever secure the rates that
would put money in their pockets.
The subject having been argued I'M
til there was not person In the audi
ence who was not heartily in favor of
the good roads movement, the PROPOSE
ton was put before the residents of
Columbia county by H. S. Blandford,
who asked them to pledge themselves
to take so much CT the output of the
proposed quarry and guarantee to-
construct a certain amount of road
with it,
Daytonites Favor Good Roads.
A. p. Cahill, a member of the board
of commissioners of Columbia county.
answered by saying that the people of
Dayton and vicinity were heartily in
favor of good roads and had always
been.
For" said Mr.. Cahill. 1--WE now have
better roads than Walla Walla, and
right town for such a proposition, and
| can saw for the board that you will
receive the heartiest support from us.
Start your crusher and / venture to
say that our wagons will be backed
under it as soon as any of them. We
are now planning on building two
miles of gravel road for this county,
but can easily stretch that to a longer
distance if the crusher is put in oper-
alton. The Commercial club, 1 know,
will heartily endorse the movement,
and l can assure you that this county
will not be found wanting"
Mr. Cahill was followed by DR. Piet-
rzychi, who in a few words bore out
the statements made by him, and saio
that he and all of the surrounding
country were hearty advocates of the
proposed set of resolutions:
"Be it resolved that this meeting of
the citizens of Dayton, held for the
purpose of securing the cooperation OF
the PEOPLE of Columbia county for the
establishment of one of the four state
quarries for crushing rock, for the
making of good roads do hereby pledge