The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1911-07-03
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thing else was RELOCATED to a subordi-
nate position. The energies of an en-
tire nation were concentrated on the
effort to extend and perfect this won
der-worker, this annihilator of time
and space. This attitude of the pub
lie mind has continued almost up to
this present time.
Mistakes Made.
But within the past few years there
has come a realization that we have
gone too far in our support of the rail-
roads, to the almost complete ex-
clusion of the highways and water
ways. We have recognized that each
Of these three factors has an impor-
tant part to play in the great work Of
transportation, and in meeting the So
cial and educational needs Of our peo-
pie. AS a result people are thinking
and planning everywhere to extend
the benefits of water transportation,
to renew the almost deserted canal, to
| build new ones, and to make navigable
every stream capable of bearing It's
| part of the burdens. Hand in hand
with that demand has come the even
greater demand that our highways
should be brought out of that condition
of woeful inefficiency into which
neglect has thrown them, and should
be made to serve with efficiency those
needs Of the people which only the
public highways can serve.
1t is interesting to trace, even so
hastily as this, the progress we have
made in the field of transportation. To
the thinking man it shows how greatly
the trend of events is affected by every
new force that comes into action, and
it needs no prophet to foresee a con-
stantly growing usefulness for our
public highways. The prime reason
for the growth and success of the rail-
roads has been the locomotive-the
successful application of mechanical
power to the task of pulling loaded
trains. That very same cause will in
the future aid greatly in forcing the
public highways into the position Of
prominence they justly deserve. In
my opinion the automobile, in its pres
ent form, is but the forerunner of a
series of developments that will abso-
lutely revolutionize rural travel and
transpo. on. At present most of
us look on the automobile only as a
| means OF pleasure and recreation for
the wealthy. But every indication
points to the belief that mechanical
power is to become very important
factor on the country road and on the
farm Just as surely as did the sue
cess of the locomotive insure the great
growth of railroads, so surely will the
practical development and application
of mechanical power to rural problems
bring about the improvement OF oul
roads, and this improvement will II
turn be reflected in the better condi
ton of every phase of country life.
AS matters now stand in many coun
tries, it is positively task to get t.
Il church or make visit to Deighbol
H and as for drive for the pleasure O
y driving, 1t is unthinkable. The cour
II try is entitled to better things tina
II this. and if one may read the signs G
IL the times correctly, it is calling loudl
H for better things. Every census an
II every unofficial count shows that ou
II urban population is increasing gres
N deal more rapidly than our rural POI
II ulation, and there is much regret e,
Il pressed because so many of our brigf
young men are leaving the farm
In eek employment in the city. Why
H it that the people are flocking to tt
city in such numbers? It is becaus
the conditions Of life in the country al
considered dull, unlovely and u
profitable. The country life commi
II sion has made various suggestions loo
ing to the improvement of social co
ditions in the country, but the buildil
of good roads will do more to tu
\ back the tide and make the count
districts popular again than evel
thing else combined.
In discussing our transportation s!
TEN the railroads are often spoken
as the great arteries of CONNER
carrying their tremendous trains
freight and passengers with gre
speed to all parts Of the country. F
lowing out the same analogy, the ma
gable streams might be called
veins in the same great system. CO
ing from the interior, they carry do
, to the sea their great burden &C
posed of the products Of our fert
farms.