Putnam patriot., 1910-07-15
Mud Roads
With Improved d Roads

duced where 1t Is consumed. and di-
 rect result of the erewding of the popu- lition into the industrial districts is an increase in the retail price of food due t1 increased haulage. The important fact is, that the necessary increase Of cost from this cause is many times greater than it need be. owing 10 our
 backward system of rural eemmunica- tion.
 It has been calculated that the aver age length of road haul of agricultural produce under present conditions of rural transport is ten miles, at 8 cost of 2o cents per ton mile. The aggregate amount handled is at least POO ,000, ,000 tons annually. In fact this figure is far below the actual total, for it only takes account of produce actually de- livered for shipment to the railroads, and makes no allowance for produce shipped by water, or for coal, lumber, supplies, machinery, &c., hauled from the depots to the farms. This gives as the direct "wheel taxa paid by the ultimate consumer, the gigantic annual sum of half billion dollars. Many years of experience in France, Germa- ny and England, have shown that on improved roads, in fair condition, the ton mile cost should never exceed len cents. This would give the cost of hauling 2oo, ,0o0, ,o0o tons an average dis tance of ten nils as S200, 0,oe0,00o In other words, there is direct addition to the cost of living of the nation as whole of S300, ,0ee ,000 per annam, which is quite unnecessary and due simply To our inferior road systems. If we take the total road mileage of the United States AS 2,0o0, 900, it follows that eve " mile of unimproved road means net loss to the country of al least $50 per annum. And this charge is actu- ally met in the shapeiof increased food prices, principally by the class who can least afford to bear 1.-the wage earners.
 While the substitution of good for bad roads would directly reduce the cost of living by reducing the haulage cost on food products, the indirect ef- feet in the same direction would be even mere important. 1t has been proved by actual figures that in every case where the roads have been inn proved the rural population has been increased. Thus the congestion of the cities, which is at the very root of the question of the increased cost of living would be directly relieved bylthe con struction of adequate roads.
 Another result of road improvement is the accompanying increase in the value of the adjacent farm lands. This is of course direct gain to the farmer, as the enhanced value of the land is due to the fact that it can render better service in food production.
 It is the opinion of well-informed Frenchmen who have made practical study of economic problems that the superb roads of France have .been one of the most steady and potent contri- buttons to the material development and marvellous financial elasticity of the country.
 It may be taken as a general propo- sition that there is not one of the bene- ficial effects mentioned above as result ing from the construction of good roads, which is not increased many times by the invention of the motor car. If good roads increase the value of farm lands, good roads plus the motor ear tend to increase their value still more. good roads reduce the cost of living and bring back population to the country dls- tricts, curiaiI the power of the middle man and increase the power of the far mer-each of these ends can be aehiev- ed more quickly, more certainly and to a greater degree with the aid of the motor vehicle.
 It is not strange that their early ex- perience of the motor car blinded the farmerSto it's true mission. They saw high-speed machine driven along the highways, often to the common danger and they protested against it. But in the course of time the motor car began to find itself. From being an end, q new sport, automobiling became means to ian end. People discovered that there was 6 useful side to this new invention-that it meant mechanical transport for men and goods without the limitations of the railroad and the troll lev line. The motor car began to fit into the ordinary round of city life. Doctors syailed themselves of 1t to make their rounds, merchants to serve their customers, newspapers to distri-