The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-06-24
GEORGE N. PALMER ON ne0OD ROADS AND
THEIR maintenance"
Address Delivered Thursday Meeting 0r.sss and Members
Of Town Board.

about all he could to to manage his
team, as was. quite often the case in
those days He was too busy for ut
terance, but as soon as the machine
was past and he could spare breath
enough he turned and shouted after
the automobile driver: Il wish all dem
things was in hell / am quite sure
he was perfectly honest in his express
sion. Possibly some of you have wish
ed the same. We are glad that there
is no feeling now on the part of the
farmer against the men who drive au-
tomobiles, indeed if there were, it could
not be confined to the city, for there
are now getting to be quite good
many automobiles in the country, and
| am glad to see that the farmers
themselves are making use of this up
to-date method of transportation The
day is not far distant when thousands
of farmers will own automobiles. 1t
has come to stay unless the price of
gasoline goes out of sight
Business and Pleasure.
Our country roads are used for both
business and pleasure by the farmeA.
and city dweller alike. You farmers
haul all of your produce over the coun-
try roads. Every load of grain beyond
the amount consumed on the farm
must be hauled to some market Every
one of you makes many trips yearly
to the local creamery. You are social
beings, you like to visit the neighbors,
you like to go to town, to church, to
lodge and to the various functions
which makes up the social life of every
community. You must use the roads
Tor all these purposes.
Il lately had occasion to ask about
twenty representative farmers of this
community how many times they used
the road yearly. The average was 222
times, and every one of them said that
if the roads were always good, they
would use them still more. With such
an immense use of the country roads
by the farm population, isn't it won
der that during all those years our
roads have been left in such poor con-
dition
1T is but very short time since
any systematic road work has been
undertaken in this community. Every
man present can remember the condi-
tion of our roads four of five wears ago
when the first good roads work was
undertaken by the Commercial club.
During wet spells the roads were i'm
passable, and after they dried up they
were SO rough and full of holes that
1T was at great expense of effort and
wear and tear on equipment that any
business was ever done over them. l
remember ringle trip to ST. Clair five
urha har
ticle of mud, but there were so MANY
ruts and pitch holes that it was q
wonder any buggy or automobile could
ever stand the strain of going over the
road with a descent load
Do Not Claim Credit.
The people of this city do not claim
any undue amount of credit for the
great Improvement that has been effect
ed in the roads during the last four
years. We can rightly claim some
credit for we have spent money and
effort to cooperate with you in bring
ing about the improved condition of
affairs. Under our system and laws,
you who are present today must do
practically all of the work that is
done upon our country roads To be
sure, the county sometimes steps in
and helps out, but generally the work
is done under the charge of the town
boards and overseers, and to you we
must look for the further improve
ment that is so absolutely necessary.
| will not waste your time by point
ing out the necessity of good roads to
you. 1t would be almost an insult to
your intelligence to do this You know
and realize i'm some measure the great
Importance of having good roads. The
question is how to get Them In the
days following the Civil war the great
question before the people was how
to resume specie payments!' The old
er men present will remember the prob
lem, and you probably will recall the
saying of Horace Greeley: The way
to resume specie payments, is to re-
sumo. and the way to get good roads
now, is to make them.
I'm an old, rich and we'll settled
community such as you represent, there
can be no excuse for not having good
roads. We may not be able to build
macadem roads all over the country
nor it is necessary. We may not be
able to build gravel roads everywhere, de-
sirable as they are We should gravel
our main travelled roads without fur
Their delay, but where it is impossible
to do so, we can certainly have good
earth roads almost all the time if we
put forth the proper effort, and use
intelligence in our work
THE system under which we are
working is not the most desirable, but
until our laws can be changed the
problem is to make the most of what
we have. 1t seems to me that i'm this
vicinity we have been playing at road
building almost, and yet | realize that
a vast amount has been accomplished
during the last four or five years, and
am glad to give credit to the men
who have done the work, and accom-
plished the great improvement that has
been effected
The city and the country has CO.
operated in bearing the expense and
this is right and proper While we in
the city pay about one third of the
entire amount of taxes raised in Blue
Earth county, the business men have
not stopped at that, but have put their
hands in their pockets and contributed
several thousand dollars toward improve
ment of country roads, and are still
doing so, and propose to continue doing
II You of the country will push the
work, as You can do and as many of