Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1911-02-17
GOOD ROADS ARE
A BLESSING

countries III Tue construction ard
maintenance of improved highways.
This is particularly surprising, as The
United States in advance of Euro
pean coutries in almost all endeavors
which tend toward success along
commercial lines.
The lessened cost of transportation
affects every branch of business and
while this country has been making
wonderful strides, and has left other
countries far behind in the construc-
tin of steam railroads it has failed
entirely to come up to their standard
in the matter of highway improve
ment. This fact has been explained
by reason of the European countries
having constructed their highways
before the advent of the steam rail-
road, when the mains lines of tians-
poraton were the highway.
Five billions of dollars have been
expended in the construction of 900, =
600 miles of highways throughout
European countries, and one hundred
and fifty million dollars are expended
annually in maintenance. In the coun-
try of France alone over Il billion dol
lars have been expended on good
roads and this improvement, more
than any other accounts for the pros
perity of the French peasants, and
has made France the richest nation in
the world. 1t is interesting to note
that the per capita tax for road i'm
provements in the United States is
about one dollar, that is about 500, :
600, 600 for 10000, 900 people and
for 1000, 600 miles of road. In En-
gland the road tax is SID per capita
for $50, 600 miles of road.
In the early part of the nineteenth
century the United States adopted Il
good roads policy and projected a ma
tonal road from the Potomac River
ut Cumberland, Md, to the Mississ-
ippi River at st. Louis, but after
great opposition the Government
dropped the policy of national road
building. 1t was thought, that the
steam lines would furnish sufficient
internal development. 1t has since
been demonstrated that highway inn
provement is necessary to SUPPLE
ment the steam railroad lines and wa
ter ways; also, in connection with
motor trucks, it furnished desirable
and effective competition on short
lengths of hauls.
Motor trucks for country use will
be generally used, and highway i'm
provement will soon add to the many
other advantages, prompt, rapid,
safe and pleasant motor vehicle pas
senger and freight service, which
will create values in the country town
to an even greater extent than has
been done by steam and trollly lines.
However. it is scracely necessary
to go into an extended argument to
prove that good roads are necessary
and desirabe-that fact will be al
most universally conceded. The ques-
tion that remains is how to provide
the money necessary to make these
improvements under whose supervis-
ion and by what method it can be
done. The method in vogue FOL one
hundred years was that the entire ex-
penses of highway improvement
should be borne by the townships in
which the roads were situated, and it
uac customary to coro fo, +bo ,ooJ,
under the Anticipated statute labor
system. The condition of the roads,
after century of work in this man
ner fully demonstrated that the sys-
tenn was wrong and not produce good
result, except in isolated instances.
While it was possible for pave
ments and improved roads to be built
inside of cities by abutting property
onwners taxes, still in the country,
by reason of the greater frontage, it
was found to be entirely impractical
BILE and unfair to the abutting own
ers. Inasmuch as the benefits result
ing from good roads are general, and
inasmuch as the cities of the country
benefit largely from their construc-
ton. it is no more fair that the
cities should pay large percentage
of the cost of construction and main
tenance.
The Federal Bureau of Public
Roads has made statement, that pro-
perly constructed system of high
way in the United States would mean
direct saving of $3.50, 600, 900 an
hually in marketing farm produce; a
saving of $40, 600, 900, in marketing
the wheat crop alone, $12, 600, 600 in
marketing the corn crop, and S.
600, 600 in marketing the cotton
crop, With such system of high
ways every city would be surrounded
by profitable and productive garden
truck farms, which would mean @
saving to the city in the cost of but.