New Iberia enterprise and independent observer., 1911-11-25
BUILDING ROADS RIGHT.

"Better Business Methods in
: Good Roads Work" is the slogan
Of the state committee.--Fort
Worth Record.
In every phase Of public i'm
provement we are learning that
it pays to do good work Private
business learned it a long time
ago, but it takes longer for public
affairs to get onto the real econ
omic idea than for private mat
ters. Men have long known that
it isr't economy to build one
story brick building today and
next year tear it down and build
a two-story brick and the third
year remove it and again enlarge
it. They now build permanent
buildings ard If present needs do
not justify a ten or twenty story
building they construct the foun-
dations for the twenty-story
building and build as many stor-
les as are needed ard make the
plans so that the additional stor-
les can be added from time to
time.
For years and years we have
been plodding along with our
road work, spending sums waste
fully and uselessly We have
graded up dirt roads and bull:
weakly bridges Of wood which
broke down the first time heavy
load passed over them. Not only
have we spent great deal Of
money but we have received no
benefit. Grading up dirt roads
without putting a surfacing ma
.terial on top is like building
waste Of money outright Far
mers all over the country have
been in the habit Of giving from
three to five days on the roads
every year and sometimes work
ing teams and hired men. The
five days they worked the road
may easily be valued at $40. Yet
they had no roads and were CON-
PEELED to do the work over again
the next year and still had no
roads.
TO issue bonds and build perm
anent, paved roads will cost the
average farmer vastly less than
$40 per year and in the end he
has a road which will let him get
to town in any kind of weather,
to take advantage of market pri- |
res and to haul heavier loads with
less wear on his team and wagons.
The tax required Of each farmer
to pay for bonds required to give
his county complete system Of
paved roads will rarely exceed the
value Of the work which he has
heretofore spent in patching up
the dirt roads and for that rea- /
'on alone the paved roads pay for
themselves. even if they were nev-
.r used. The value Of having the
paved roads needs no argument.
But in building paved roads we
'an waste money. Building wood
N bridges is a waste Of money.
Building paved roads without
providing proper drainage is
waste of money. Paved reads
'an be too wide or too narrow
md thereby a waste of money.
Every county ought to get the
cry best information on road
T.
The federal good roads exhibit
rhich is coming to the Southeast
'exas Fair represents the very
est ideas in road building and
ny county can save thousands of
ollars and much trouble and
'orry by sending representatives
ere and gaining such informa-
on as this exhibit will furnish.
represents the very best ideas :
road building, in the kind and :
haracter of the material to be
sed for paving, how to lay it and :
III it and how to maintain it. :
very county ought to send a rep !,
sentative to Beaumont during !
le fair next week and get the '
snefit Of thir exhibit. which may : :
,ver come to Texas again ! !
eaumont Enterprise. 8