Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1912-06-08
REDUCED TAXES SHOW
GOOD ROADS BENEFIT
improved Roads Yield Greater Income
and Lesson Cost OF
Hauling.

road We spend about 100000, 900
a year on our roads, end they are
costing us in addition bad roads tax
of at least s250.OoO.000 annually. Ii
actually costs the average farmer as
much to haul a bushel of wheat from
his farm TO the railroad as it does
to ship it from New York to Liver
pool, distance of 300 miles.
Aside from the restrictive effect of
bad roads on our schools, cur churches
and our social development: aside
from their influence upon the alarm
ing movement of our rural population
TO the cities. in fact eliminating all
questions save that of collars and
cents. il is easily capable of proof that
the loss to the people OF the United
States annually on account of bad
roads would more than pay for their
general and widespread Improvement
The burden of bad roads bears heay-
lily upon the shoulders of the entire
American people. They diminish the
profits of the farmer because he must
haul smaller loads, make more trips,
and market his products when the
roads are passable and not when
prices are best. They are a burden
which compels the consumer in the
city to pay heavily not to swell the
farmers earnings, but to help the
farmer to pay the money value of the
erty due to bad roads.
There would be an immediate and
tangible saving by road improvement
in reducing the cost of hauling. How
much this saving would amount to in
dollars and cents would depend upon
the character and extent of the i'm
provement, and the amount of traffic
passing over the road.
In 1908 the railroads of the United
States handled about e00,000,00 tons
of freight originating ON the respec-
tive railroad. OF this amount, about
265,000,000 tons represented agricul-
tural, forest and miscellaneous prod
utcs, all of which moved over the
county roads at initial or terminal
points, or both.
The average haul from farms to
shipping points in the United States
is about "a miles. The average cost
of hauling on the country roads is
total cost of hauling 265.000000 tons
would therefore be about $2.16 per
ton. or total of $572, 100000
The possibilities of saving by the
Improvement of the roads may be I'M
derstood when we compare the cost of
hauling in Germany, France and Eng
land with the cost of hauling in this
country. The average in these three
countries is about 10 cents per ton per
mile and in many cases it is as low
as cents. If we cut the rate in the
United States exactly in half by the
improvement of our main roads, we
would still be IL cents over the aver
age for the three European countries
named. If we could do this, it fol-
lows that our annual saving would be
in the neighborhood of $3.50, 100000 on
hauling alone.
The wear and tear on horses and
vehicles due to bad roads may seem
a trivial matter until we take into
consideration the fact that there are
about $4,000 900 horses and mules in
the United States valued at $2,770,000,-
600 and about 100000 carriages, bug
gies and wagons valued at about $685.
100000. How much longer the wa
CONS, carriages and buggies would
last, and how much smaller the bill
% Iar mi
for repairs were saved. the resultant
improvement of the roads, the We
hicles would last one year longer, and
If one-tenth of the amount paid out
for repairs were saved, the resultant
sum would run far into the millions.
Property is much more valuable on
an improved road than on an unim-
roved road. This increase in the
value of the land adjacent to the i'm
proved road has been sufficient in
many cases to pay for the improve
ment An effort has been made to
estimate the general increase in land
value due to improved roads, and the
average has been placed at some
where between 80 and 80 per acre
There are positively thousands of ex-
amples where farms have been sold at
an increase of from $50 to 5000 per
acre over their value before road i'm
provement.
An investigation recently made in
the State of Ohio shows that there are
Is agricultural counties in the State
that have less than 10 per cent of the
roads improved, while there are As
agricultural counties that have more
than 10 per cent improved. The aver
age price of farm lands in the 16
counties, according to The report of
the United States Census, was $4S,50
per acre, while the average price of
land in the As counties was $65.79
per acre. In other words, the average
price of farm lands in the good road
counties was $17.29 or 35 per cent