Warren sheaf., 1911-04-27

fall voted bond Issue Of $4,000, 900. to
be spent upon the highways of Wayne
county. The state will also help, and
the result will be $50 to 300 miles Of
first class highways, covering the
county with Detroit q . center. BY
spreading the payment over 20 years It
10 found the increase In taxation is SO
small as not to be noticeable. On an
average 80 acre farm 1t will be some
thing like $3.50 year.
Roads well built are permanent.
given moderate amount Of attention
and expense for maintenance.
There is no reason why the present
generation should carry the whole bur-
den, and the future should be relieved
therefrom.
The plan of building small piece Of
road every year by an annual tax, and
extending the road mile or two at .
time is unsatisfactory in results, the
cost is considerable more than it
should be, and it takes a long time to
get the roads. II 20 miles were built
at one time In = township, there would
be strong competition among contract
ors and the tax payers would find they
could get their roads from 10 to Is
per cent. less money, that they would
have better built roads and would have
them to use at once instead of waiting
ten years or more to build them piece.
meal. and have the first mile practi.
cally worn out before the last one was
finished. OF course there would be
interest to pay on the bonds, but If the
use of the roads Is not worth more to
the community than the interest on tho
bonds, 1t would not pay to build the
roads. Money can be borrowed at four
or i've per cent, and those in q posi-.
tion to form good judgment, will say
that first class roads will pay for them.
selves every five years, or in other
words, that their use is worth 20 per
cent. of the cost each year.
One sometimes hears . farmer, whe
Is opposed to the building of hard
roads, say that he can raise no mere
grain or get larger return from the
farm by reason of having good roads.
Such one will attempt to sustain his
position by stating only part of the
whole proposition. OF course it is true
that the road has no influence upea
tho productivity Of the farm along which
it passes, but it does not follow that
the net results are the same, whether
the roads are good or bad.
Only few days ago the writer was
down In the corn belt of Illinois and
saw four horses hauling load of corn
into town. It was all the horses could
do to handle the load, although the
country was comparatively level. The
mud In the road was nearly foot
deep. No fair minded man will say
that 4 crop can be marketed under
such conditions as cheaply Is when the
roads are good, and single team can
handle the same at twice the speed.
The value Of the farm does not do
pend alone upon what the soil will pro
duce. but upon its accessibility ia
market, the environment and whether
the farm 10 In every way desirable a
place to live. We spend money 70,
pleasure and for comfort, and It. /,
right that We should do 70. Probably
as q rule too little is spent fol
this. Whenever good roads have beer
built, In any community, thsrs ha,
been q sharp advance in the price OF
land, because the farms are more 40
cessible. The writer has in mind /,
county In northern Indiana, where
about ten years ago q system Of "a
miles Of hard roads were built. cover
ing the main highways of the town.
ship. About $4,000 were spent upon
the improvements, the payment spread
over ten years. Within year afte,
the roads were built the farmers were
asking and getting SIS to s25 an acre
more for their farms than they could
have gotten before the roads were
built. In some cases the advance was
even more. The Increase In taxation
was hardly felt.
One ct the prominent residents Of
the township, in commenting upon the
Improvement, said that the buildinx Of
the roads exerted a powerful influence
upon the lives Of the people Of the
township everybody began to slick
up, q new picket fence replaced the old
tumble down board fence, the house
was painted. walks laid out, and an air
OF thrift was apparent everywhere.
Also following the good roads, q town.
ship high school was built, and ar.
rangements made to carry the children
to and from school This was = great
relief to the isolation the youna
people were placed under before the
roads were built The new school BE-
came the social center and they found
IN that township that the building OF 4
system Of roads was the best invest,
ment they had ever made. and under
no circumstances could they be in.