Evening star., 1912-11-17
ARMY NEEDS ROADS
Highways Form important
Part in Modern Warfare.
PIONEERS IN MOVEMENT
Work of Old Roman Engineers Still
Visible in Europe.
OLD CUMBERLAND PIKE
Original Highway Was sol Miles
Long and Cost Nearly
100000.

Spencer Cosby, United States Army. re-
Gently. in speaking Of the work Of the
army in the construction and maintenance
OF roads, but 1t is not so generally recog-
nized by the laymen that the keeping OF
that stomach In a proper condition for
marching-in other words, the keeping up
of the efficiency of the army-is largely
a question of roads. 1t is indeed possi-
BILE for troops to march through a coun-
try without roads, through dense forests,
across bridgeless streams, over painless
mountains, and small bodies of troops
have many times been compelled to over
come just such natural obstacles So
great. however, is the difficulty of sup
ply in such cases that a campaign in a
section without roads Is never undertaken
unless there is no other way Of achieving
the result sought or unless the advan-
tages to be gained are enormous; even
then, If the body of troops to be moved
s. large, or If the results of the campaign
are to be lasting, the building Of roads
Will be one Of Its most important fea-
tures
In the case Of great wars. however,
which are usually carried on in civilized
lands, the roads are one Of the most I'M
portant of all the factors to be considered,
ana no one is more interested than the
soldier In the maintenance OF good roads
throughout the country. In these modern
days the railroads, as the main arteries
of supply and transportation, are the first
roads to be taken into account. but the
country highways and byways In the
actual field of operations have lost none
of their old-time Importance. The leaders
Of the army must have a thorough
knowledge of every one Of them. while
tie engineers of the army must be ready
to open up roads that the passage of the
army or the operat ations of the enemy have
rendered impossible, to maintain the good
roads in good condition. to improve the
bad roads and to build new roads If
necessary.
Soldiers and Road Making.
From the earliest times the soldier has
been intimately associated with the MAX
ing of roads. The schoolboy still strug-
giles with the description of the roads
built by the armies of Xerxes and Han
nibal The famous old paved Roman
roads, remains of which are today found
in many parts Of Europe, some still in
use, were essentially military roads. while
the greatest soldier of modern times Ma
poleon, was also one of the greatest road
builders. He 1t is that France has to
thank for it's system of ma agnificent high
ways. which were built for military pur-
poses and are still kept up by the gov
ernment largely with this end in view.
In our country, however, the army has
been concerned not only with the con-
struction and maintenance Of roads as a
military necessity-and we all know of
it's struggles with the fearful dirt roads
of old Virginia during the civil war-but
| It has had and still has much to do with
the building and upkeep of roads not
strictly military in many parts OF the
United States and it's recently acquired
TAnC ccJ<E
U. S. Engineers Corps.
During the early days of the republic
the graduates of West Point were ex-
| cept for few foreign engineers. prac-
ticaIly the only men in the country
who had a thorough technical training
They not only surveyed and mapped a
large part Of the unexplored west, but
laid out and built most of the first rail-
roads in this country, as well as in
Russia, Cuba and Mexico. It was but
natural that they should be largely en-
ployed in such work of road building
as was engaged in by the general gov
ernment. Most of the members and as
sistants of the board of engineers.
created by act of Congress in 1924. were
army officers One of the chief duties
OF this board was the making of sur
yeys, plans and estimates for such
roads the President might deem of
national Importance in commercial
or military point of view, or necessary
for the transportation of the public
mail The board was placed under
the engineer department of the army.
THE question Of the constitutional
power Of the government to build roads
and of the general policy to be pursued
in this respect was one of the burning
questions of the day between 1906 and
the end of the thirties. It was the SUBJ
ject of many congressional reports, Of at
least three presidential vetoes. of several
pres messages and of important
judicial decisions. Since the last large
appropriation for the Cumberland road
was made in 1888 the government has
practically confined its road building In
the United States proper to military roads
and those built on land under the control
Of the government
The Cumberland Road.
I'm 1906 the government undertook the
construction Of the famous old Ma
tionar or Cumberland road, as it came
to be known: 1t was originally intended
to extend from tidewater on the At
lantic ocean to the Ohio river, but 1t
went much farther; 1t was actually COM
pleted from Cumberland, Md, through
the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania,
yV7ITII