The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1911-07-27
GOOD ROADS BETTER COUNTRY
Highways Tell Tale Of Prcft -r LoSa
and Spell Ruin for County Th2t
NcgIects Them,

The plain people Of the laua ere IT,.
millar with the truths Of history.
They know the past They realize
that often difference between good
roads ana bad roads Is the difference
between Profit and loss. Good
roads have a money value far
beyond our ordinary conception.
Bad roads constitute our great.
est drawback to Internal dcyci.
opment and material progress. Good
roads mean prosperous farmers. bad
roads mean abandoned farms sparse
~ settled country districts. gud con
gcsted populated cities, where the
Toor are destined To- become poorer.
Good roads mean more cultivated
farms and cheaper food products FOR
the toIlers in the towns, bad roads
mean poor transportation, lack q!
communication, high prices tDr the
ncccssarics of life, the loss Of untold
millions Of wealth, and idle worlHcG
seeking employment Good road viii
help those who cultivate the soil and
feed the multitude. and Whatever aids
the producers of our CCuutr" VIII III
crease our wealth and our grga,Loas
and benefit all the people. We ca@uo.
destroy our farms without final decay
! They are today tho heart Of Da. ia.
tional life and the chief sourr, q. cug
| material greatness Tear down cveTJ
| Cdifice in DIR cities and labor viii re-
| build them, but abandon the farms
and our cities will disappear forever
IKE an abiding interest in Wis
all.absorbiug question for bette. high
ways by some plan 1t can hc done
! honestly, economically and Coustitu.
| t,oHally. l am not committed to any
| pet scheme. ! have no vanity IN the
| matter. | care not who gets the cory
so long as the people get the results.
| am for the cause and in the fight
| TO stay. Good roads mean progress
! and prosperity, a benefit TO the people
who live in the cities an advantage
to the people who live in the ,uGu-
try and it will help every section Of
| our vast domain. Good road. Ike
/ good streets, make habitaGua along
| them most desirable; they ,uhalcc
the value Of farm lands, ioo.ltot"
transportation, and add untold wealth
to the producers and consumers O.
the country; they are the miIgs;onc5
marking the advance of civilization.
they economize time, give labor lift,
and make millions in money; they
save wear and tear and worry and
waste; they boautity the country
bring 1t in touch with the city; they
aid the social and the religious and
the educational and the industrial
progress of the people, they make
better homes and happier hearth
sides; they are the avenues OF trade;
tho highways OF commerce. and mail
| routes Of information, and the agen-
cies of speedy communication; they
mean the economical transportation
of marketable products-the maxi.
mum burden at the minimum cost;
they are the ligaments that bind the
country together in thrift and indus
try and intelligence and patrlotism;
they promote social intercourse, pre-
vent intellectual stagnatlon and in
Nltdst luc hhDplutSb anu Nut hAbGIt4'
ity of our producing masses; they
contribute to the glory OF the coun,
try, give employment to our idle
workmen. distribute the necessarles
Of life-the products Of the fields and
the forests and the factories-en-
courage energy and husbandry, incul-
cate love for our scenic wonders and
make mankind better and greater and
grander and broader.
Good roads are the arteries OF indus
trial life Of great and powerful peo-
pie. Good roads make a good coun-
try. In a government such as ours
all sorts of men and women are more
or less absolutely dependent upon the
best and speediest means Of commu-
nicatlon and transportation. II you
say that good roads will only help the
farmer, ] deny It, The farmer who
produce the necessarIes OF life are
less dependent than the millions and
millions Of people who live In our cit.
les. The very lives OF the latter de-
pend on the fRrmers--the producers
OF the necessaries OF life. The most
superficial investigation OF this sub
ject will clearly prove that good roads
are more important to the consumers
than they are to the producers OF
the country.
The fathers of the republic wisely
recognized the importance OF this
question Washington and Jefferson
advocated good roads and projected
the construction of O great highway
from the capital to the Mississippi
valley. The far-seeing statesmen of
the early days Of our national exist
ence championed and passed meas
ures to better the means of transpor-
tltion. They knew that OF all human
agencies the one which has done most
for civilization has been the building
Of good roads--the ;5ridgment of dis
tances. the shortening OF time-in the
facility Of communication. They real
lied the necessity OF good roads, how
important they were to the country.
to its growth and Its development;
and to mankind, morally. physically,