Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1910-05-10
Value OF GOOD ROADS
IMPROVED HIGHWAYS MEAN
PROSPERITY AND PROGRESS.
They Tend to Increase Value of Prop.
erty and Lower the Cost of
Living.

lated example must be multiplied by
100000 in order to obtain the cul-
mulative effect of bad roads upon traf-
fic in the United States. Not less than
$3.50, 0,000,0 900 is the useless tribute an
nually levied upon the people of the
United States by bad roads.
In 1896 a widespread inquiry made
by the office of public roads indicated
that the average cost of hauling on
roads in the United States was rs
cents per ton per mile. In 1906 the bu
reau of statistics ascertained from its
$500 county correspondents that the
average cost per ton per mile was
about 23 cents and the average length
of haul ga miles.
Zones of Production.
The high cost of hauling is not the
pie are carrying by reason of their
bad roads. In traversing a region of
country isolated from markets by rea-
son of bad roads one is struck by the
wastes of utilized land and by the lack
of variety in the products. This is a
condition more frequently due to lack
of adequate transportation facilities
than to lack of industry and intelli-
gence of the inhabitants.
The point may be illustrated by as
suming series of concentric circles
to be drawn about a market town or
railroad station, constituting zones of
production in all of which the roads
are uniformly bad. Within the first
zone all products can be delivered to
market at a profit Within the second
zone certain products must be elimi-
mated because of the length of haul.
Milk, small fruits and certain kinds of
vegetables requiring quck delivery
and careful transportation may be
cited as examples.
In the third zone still other products
must be eliminated because of the
prohibitive cost of hauling. The fourth
zone will include only those products
which can be held until the roads are
passable and then hauled long dis
tances and sold at a profit Beyond
this zone the land must be left unpro-
ductive or utilized for grazing and
timber.
Every improvement in the roads
leading from this market widens these
zones, makes unproductive land pro-
ductive and enables the farmer to eX-
ercise a wider discretion in determin-
ing the character of his crops. The
prosperity of the individual farmer be-
comes far greater, the traffic of the
railroad increases, the consumer re-
ceives better supplies at lower prices,
and thus the beneficial effects con-
tinue in an ever widening circle.
While it is impossible to assign an
arbitrary percentage or amount to
the increase in land values
by reason of road improvement, it is
believed that the average in
crease per acre within the zone of in
huence of an improved road would be
from 50 to SO per acre. AS there are
about 100000 acres of farm lands
improved and unimproved in the I'm
tied States the possibilities of aggre-
gate increase in value are enormous.
Losses Are Enormous.
These figures constitute conclusive
evidence of the immensity of traffic
on the common roads. They do more
they give food for reflection as to
where the cumulative losses in wear
and tear of wagons, harness and teams
due to poor roads, will land us on the
debit side. Nobody can ever approx
imately estimate this drain, but every
body must know it is in terms of mill
ions.
The loss in dollars is serious
for grave concern, but when
the additional charge is made that bad
roads are a menace to our institutions,
our health and our educational de-
velopment, it constitutes an indictment
of such gravity as to demand para
mount consideration. Hundreds of
millions of fertile acres remain untill-
ed, while the unsanitary and unwhole-
some city tenements are crowded with
human beings whose standard of liv-
ing must result in their mental, moral
and physical recay.
It is not generally realized that our
2 2155. 600 miles of road constitutes a
great source of disease. BY means of
dust. disease germs enter the human
system. This is particularly true of tu-
berculosis germs. Roads of the future
in great centers of population will be
practically dustless, and the bitumi-
nous and other binders which will be
used in the construction of such roads
will not only minimize the danger of
disease by reducing the dust nuisance.
but they are in a measure possessed of
antiseptic properties.
There is no phase Of life in the
country. social or economic, which is
not affected by good roads. There is
direct relation between improved high
wavs and the value of land. the at
tendance of children at school, the
health Of the community and every
thing else that tends to make life in
the country efficient. And this. in turn,
affects the people in the cities who
live on the country products. 1t Is a
task-the maintenance Of good roads
which affects every person in the
country. no matter where he lives or
what his profession.
Need Of Competent Builders.
Road building is an art based upon
a science. In this age Of specialists IL
almost s1rpasses belief that the Amer
ican people. 50 practical in all other
lines Of endeavor. should permit their
golden millions TO be frittered away
bv men who for the most part know
little or nothing about either the
science or the art OF road building.
There are today more than 1000 petty
road officials in the United States.
zach and all receiving compensation
Very few Of these men devote more
han a fraction Of their time 70 road
work because their Interests lie else
where and their compensation II too
mail 20 enable them to devote their