The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1909-01-13

l
1T depends entirely upon the char
acter of the country through which
the road passes" said Mr. Humphreys
when asked what 1t all cost. "If 1t be
wooded so that fuel can be bought
for say, $125 cord. the road can be
made for $1,000 n mile. may say
that 1t costs from one-half to one
fifth as much as macadam road
costs, and 1t is as easily and as cheap
ly maintained.
"In a country where the people
have never gone into the building OF
good roads the thought of paying
$4,000 a mile seems prohibitive
Where the experiment is once made,
however. we all know that the people.
and especially the farmers, who usual
ly at first are most violently opposed
to the undertaking, demand that the
roads be constructed and are most
willing to bear the tax"
In explaining how easily the bur
den Of taxation would be borne, even
II the authorities of his county de-
cided to expend half million in the
construction Of a perfect system of
high class roads. Mr.. Humphreys
said: "If the farmer, instead of haul
ing six bales of cotton with two
mules, as could be done with ease last
winter over the burnt clay road near
Greenville 0he one built as a model
by Engineer Spoon of Director Pages
office), could haul but two, he would
he taxed for bad road at higher
rate than anybody was ever taxed
for a good road, not counting the wear
and tear on mules and wagons.
81 have seen seed cotton in the
pens in July which had been picked
after the rains had begun to fall T.
the previous winter and which ha6
not been hauled to the railroad wher
the gin was located because the road
were too bad to travel. Think of th
tax that man was paying, and that
too. for a road he could not travelv'
Mr.. Humphreys, who has taken
great interest In the splendid wOrs
being done by Director Page and who
is apparently thoroughly familiar
with the experiments and scientific
ndvancemepts being made by tina;
scholarly road expert. named a num-
Der Of the publications issued by the
ONCE and told of the vast benefits the
formers Of the country were receiving
through their distribution. He refer
red especially to the efficacy of the
split log drag as road builder and
maintainer and read letters from men
who had attained the most gratifying
results from the use of this simple
but effective device.
Last year the 100000 miles of poor
roads In the United States cost a vast
fortune to the farmers and incidental
ly another to the city men. the added
cost to the farmers of hauling farm
products over the well nigh impassa
BILE roads being in the end paid by the
men who consume them.
Statistics gathered from the leading
countries of Europe prove that the
cost Of hauling over the American
roads Is far higher than in any other
country, the average in France, Ger
many and England being 10 cents a
ton mile last year to cost of % cent
here. That difference of 10 cents Is
the unnecessary tax burden the Amer
state and county authorities have long
been blind to the benefits which woul
follow an awakening to road impor-
lance.
AS the average length of the haul
of all American farm products is 9.4
miles, it will be seen that every tor
hauled cost the farmer who hauled II
$122 more than the hauling Of q ton
of similar products would cost the
farmers of England, France or Ger
many. Last year nearly S6,000,000'
100000 pounds Of farm products were
hauled over the country roads. Re-
duce that vast weight to tons, charge
1t $1.22 ton. and it proves an annual
loss to the farmer of $52,46C,000.
And the saving of that sum would
be triie of fraction of the benefits
that would come from an immediate
construction of perfect roads, for 1t is
but portion of the weight annually
of the department of commerce and
labor after liberal deductions placing
the quantity at approximately $50,
100000 TONS The saving In the han
ding of that stupendous bulk would
be $305, 100000 annually.
1t has been ascertained also that the
construction of model highways in a
rural community brings an immediate
Increase in the value Of the property
which such roads traverse. There are
| 840,000,000 acres of farm lands in the
United States at the present time
| Statistics show that the improved
road increase in farm values is from
So to 50 an acre. Were all the acres to
benefit even the lowest amount the
gain would be $1,6S0,000,000, which
might be saved in hauling, and the
total would be amply large enough to
| gridiron the length and breadth of the
continent with macadam roads as fine