Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-04-30

!dividualS combined and it was not 6
good year for farmers at that.
This should be encouraged for if ali
farmers owned automobiles the GOOD
Road" problem would practically be
solved Another encouraging feature
of the good roads agitation is the fact
that over 5000 miles of Iowa roads
have been laid out from river to river
and from north to south by good roads
and automobile associations within
the past year.
| Some of these roads are known as
the River to River road the Blue Grass
Road the Trans Continental road the
Corn Belt road the Wahausia Trail, the
White Pole road, the Hawkeye highway
and others that are not yet named
and besides number of cross state
roads from north to south which as
yet have no names.
Now for instance take the Blue
Grass road which passes through our
own town. This road was organized
one year ago last October. Forty
thousand dollars in work or cash was
donated or subscribed along this road
last season. The matter Of better
roads is now receiving attention from
! our national congress. Senator Sim
mons, at the last session Of congress,
introduced a bill for experimental i'm
provement on rural delivery high
ways appropriating s1.O0O.OOO for same.
Senator Swanson also introduced a
bill appropriating $20,O00,0O0 annually
for five years to aid states in the con-
struction of Good Roads"
To illustrate the wonderful benefits
which are to be derived from such
agitation wish to give you few facts
which have been secured by the agri-
cultural department, by expert engin-
GERS and the various highway commits
sioners. It costs more than twice as
much per mile per ton to haul farm
products over our highways than 1t
does in France and England. Bad
roads cost the United States last year
on the same basis over one million dol
lars a day for this loss. The govern
ment could have built over $4,000
miles of permanent highway or placed
in good condition million miles of
dirt road. 1t cost Iowa last year to
haul her eleven million ton crop to
market over twenty-four million dol
lars or over 81 ton. France would
have saved on this transportation over
thirteen million dollars. Iowa is
spending three million dollars on good
roads and loosing thirteen million.
Iowa has 10000 miles Of dirt roads.
We have $4,000 so called main travelled
including rural routes. We could pave
or macadamfze this $4,000 miles OF
main travelled roads at $4,000 per mile
or a total of $250,000,000 which rep
resents less than our loss would be IN
twenty years at the present ratio. The
road question is becoming q real live
issue and whether or not it should be
the province Of the national govern
ment to aid in road building the vari.
GUS bills being introduced In the last
and the present session of congress
show that the question is becoming
gradually Of national importance.
But it remains for us as voters
whether we shall have Good Roads"
or bad We must insist that the trus-
tees elect a superintendent of drag
ging as the new road drag law de-
mands or In the first place We must
elect good trustees, good supervisors,
good township clerks, good county
auditors and good county attorneys.
All of these men are in such position
officially that the success of the good
roads movement is up to them. II we
stand for bad roads we are to blame
for we have the state back Of US that
every main travelled road and every
rural route in the state be dragged as
often as necessary to keep them IN
first class condition.
The women at their first opening OF
Good Roads" meeting In Illinois said
the roads of the United States were q
national evil. Here are some evils OF
bad roads say suffrage speakers: the
farmers wife can. not go to church,
| the village maiden cannot reach her
beau, the doctor cannot reach his pa
TENT, the produce Of the farm cannot
be taken to market, the farmers chill
dren cannot go to school, the food
prices of the world are enhanced be-
cause of "bad roads"
The road question is fast becoming
real live issue and the various bills
being mentioned in the last and pres
ent session of congress show that the
questions is becoming gradually OF
national importance. The new law to.
day provides one mill shall be levied
and used only for dragging in every
township in the state. This money
cannot lawfully be used for any other
purpose not even to build culvert.
take it for granted that our supervisors
trustees. auditor and county attorney
are o. X and in favor of good roads
but if we find them otherwise it be-
comes our duty, this coming season to
put up for election men who are right.
If there are two classes of officers
where politics should be forgotten it
is the above named officers. l trust
that the good roads question is one
that will become great national ques-
ton and that Iowa will be one of the
! most leading states for good roads
which will be permanent and ever
lasting.
| ALBA.