The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1912-10-16
TALKS ON GOOD ROADS
WHAT THEY MEAN TO THE FAR
MERs OF THE COUNTRY.
Question Of Transportation Analysed
by President w. W. Finley of the
Southern Railway.

President Finley Of the Southern
Railway Company, who was one OF
the principal speakers at the annual
convention of the Alabama Good
Roads Association at Birmingham,
Ala, on Tuesday, spoke on 1.-THE In
terest of the Farmers in Highway
Imp oyement," treating his subject
in a broad way as covering the en-
tire transportation system of the
United States and embracing water
ways and railways as we'll as the
country highways. He said II part:
THE value of any commodity is
dependent in large measure upon
the facility with which it may be de-
voted to human uses. A bale
Of cotton would be absolutely With
out value to farmer If grown IN
field from which it would be a prac-
tical impossibility to remove it. 1t
has value because Of the fact that
means are available for carrying it to
cotton mill and for carrying the
products of the cotton mill to their
final consumers.
II know OF no commodity that bet
ter serves to illustrate the importance
of transportation than cotton. 1t Is
in demand wherever clothes are worn
and by far the greater part of the
worlds supply is produced in our
Southeastern states. The price OF
cotton on the farm is fixed by the
relation Of the total supply to the
world demand and the effectiveness
OF the demand is dependent upon
ability to carry the raw cotton and
to carry the cotton mill products
irto every inhabited locality in the
world.
IAN Alabama cotton grower is,
therefore, interested in transporta-
ton, not only in his own county and
in his own state, but throughout the
United States, across the ocean, and
in all countries. On the other hand,
every family in Alabama uses to some
extent commodities gathere from dis
tant localities in the United States
and from foreign counties. Thus we
are all interested in the efficiency OF
worldwide transportation.
More directly we are interested
il, the transportation system. OF the
United States, which embraces three
kinds of highways waterways,
he railway, and the wagon road,
each having an important function to
erform and each supplementing the
hers. With respect to each OF these
highways every citizen in a land OF
opular government has an lndlVldu-
y responsibility.
Mr. Finley pointed out that, as the
country highway is the road over
| which commodities from other local.
tiles must be distributed through an
agricultural region and over which
all farm products must be moved in
the first stage Of transportation to
market, if any agricultural region Is
to attain the highest degree OF pros
perity it is essential that 1t shall be
provided with system OF improved
wagon roads.
He cited illustrations Uf the ad-
vantage Of road improvement in spe-
cifc Southern localities and quoted
rom a farmers bulletin issued by the
United States Agricultural Depart
meut an estimate that such improve
ment of the wagon roads in the cot
ton belt as would reudce the cost Of
hauling 5 per cent. would mean to
saving of nearly 100000 year to
the cotton grower.
After telling the progress already
made in Alabama, MT. Finley empha-
sized the Importance Of each county
adopting a definite plan for road I'm
provement 80 as to benefit the larg-
est number of road users, pointing
out that this would involve the i'm
provement primarily Of tho roads
radiating from q market town or
shipping station.
He strongly advised the impor-
tance of expert supervision in the
building Of highly improved roads
and in the improvement and mainte-
nance Of the outlying roads that
could not be rebuilt at once and ex-
pressed the opinion that 1t would be
profitable for each county to put all
o. its road work under the direction
Of competent highway engineer.
He suggested that it would general
ly be desirable to provide funds for
road improvement by issuing bonds
and limiting current road taxes to
the amount necessary to provide for
maintenance, for interest charges,
and for a proper sinking fund. Con-
tinuing. he said:
While carrying forward the work
of improving the country highways
and supporting projects for the i'm
provement OF the waterways we
should not overlook the third ele-
ment in our transportation system
the railways. Even though our water
ways and wagon roads should be i'm
proved to the highest state Of eftic-
iency, we would fall far short Of hav-
ing an adequate transportation sys-
tenn without the railways.