The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1910-08-04
GOOD ROADS
A NECESSITY
SAYS CONGRESSMAN SULzER OF
NEW YORK.
6 AND PROSPERITY
COME TO EVERY COUNTRY WITH
WELL IMPROVED HIGHWAYS.

of Hon. William Sulzer of New York
in the house OF representatives OF
the subject of good roads. Mr.. SulzeI
has long been an earnest advocate q
good highways and We believe his
speech is worth reprinting. He says.
One af the greatest and most i'm
portant conventions ever held in this
country will be the third National
Good Roads congress. which has been
called by the National Good Roads as
sociation TO meet at Niagara Falls, y
Y. The appointment Of delegates is
invited by the officials OF every state,
county and city of the United States,
and by every agricultural, automobile.
commercial, educational. good roads.
industrial. labor, transportation and
woman's organization in such number
as each may determine.
FOR years i have been ali earnest
advocate Of postal savings. parcels
post and good road building. They are
sure 10 come, and l shall briefly dis
cuss some of their advantages. Good
roads mean progress and prosperity.
a benefit 10 the people who live in
the cities. an advantage 20 the peo-
PIE VITO live in the country, and 1t
win help every section of our vast
domain. Good roads. like good streets.
make h~abitation along them desirable:
they enhance the value Of farm lands.
facilitate transportation, and add IN
told wealth u the producers and con
sumers OF the country; they are the
milestones marking the advance OF
civilization: they economic time,
give labor a lift and make many mil
lions in money; they save wear and
tear and worry and waste; they beau
tify the contributing IL in touch
with the city: the aid the social and
the religious and the educational and
the industrial progress Of the people;
they make better homes and happier
hearthsides; they are the Of
trade, the highways OF commerce, the
mail routes Of information, and the
agencies OF speedy communication;
they mean the economical transporta-
ton OF marketable products-the max
inum burden at the minimum cost;
they are the ligaments that bind the
country together in thrift and indus
Try and intelligence and patriotism;
they promote social intercourse, pre-
vent intellectual stagnation, and in
crease the happiness and prosperity
Of our producing masses; they contrib
ute TO the glory of the country. give
employment TO our idle worknen. dis
tribute the necessities of life-the
products OF the fields, the forests and
the acknowledgements energy and
husbandry, inculcate love for our seen
ic wonders, and make mankind better
and broader and greater and grander.
The plain people of the land are
familiar with the truths OF history.
They know the past. They realize
that often the difference between good
roads and bad roads Is the difference
between profit and loss. Good roads
have a money value far beyond our
ordinary conception. Bad roads con-
stitute our greatest drawback 10 in
ternal development and material prog
ress. Good roads mean prosperous
farmers: bad roads mean abandoned
farms, sparsley settled country dis
tricts, and congested populated cities,
where the poor are destined to be-
come poorer. Good roads mean more
cultivated farms and cheaper food
products for the toilers Of the towns;
bad roads mean poor transportation,
lack OF communication, high price for
necessaries Of life, the loss of untold
millions in wealth, and the idle work
men seeking employment. Good roads
will help those who cultivate the soil
and feed the multitude. and whatever
aids the producers and the farmers of
our country will increase the wealth
and our greatness sand benefit all the
people. We cannot destroy our farms
without final decay. They are today
the heart OF u national life and the
chief source Of our material greatness.
Tear down every ediice in our cities
and labor will rebuild them, but
sbandon the farms and our cities will
disappear forever.
Oas N ass crying needs In this
country, especially in the south and
west, L. good roads. The establish
ment Of good roads would in q great
measure solve the question Of the high
price of food and the increasing cost
~ uytng. ~ reducing the cost of
tsansportAtion II would enable the
farmer Il market hia produce 1t .
much lower price and = q larger
pro0t y ~ same time. 1t would
hrAnr commrnft&os closer together and