The commonwealth., 1912-10-25
THE PUBLIC ROAD QUESTION IN
THE SOUTH.

The road question in the South is to,
day no longer WHY? but HOW? W,
shall endeayor to offer a few practical
suggestions in answer to the question!
Road construction is great business
enterprise involving the highest type
Of financial management. Like all 9TH
er undertakings It's final success is
measured by the real economy exer-
cised. Economy does not mean cheap
ness. 1t means actual value-the
largest return from the investment
made.
Wasteful ways Prevention of waste
Is the foundation of real economy.
Wasteful or needless expenditure in
road construction has been the bane of
American highway administration.
Preventing this waste is the first essen
tial to true economy in road work.
The method Of paying road taxes by
work, once nearly universal, was the
most wssteful of all ways of road build.
ing Happily, this relic of pioneer
days has now nearly disappeared.
Another inexcusable source of waste
in construction is in the method of law
ing out the roads.
The proper and economical laying out
Of roads demands two fundamental
conditions. They must he properly
located and properly drained. These
do not require complicated engineering. |
They require the proper survey of the
route, fixing Of proper grades and pro-
vision for drainage of the road-bed. |
Permanancy Of the road, cheapness of
maintenance and constant cost of haul.
ing depend on this simple preliminary.
Without it there is continual waste in
cost of repairs and unnecessary ex-
pense in hauling,
Road finance The first cost of con-
structing good roads has always been
the chief obstacle in their way. Even
communities convinced of the need of
better highways are often staggered
by the magnitude of the sums involved.
When systematic improved road con-
struction has finally been decided on,
the funds needed have usually been
raised by one of two ways bonds or
direct tax levy.
The former, and more common
method in this country, is subject to
serious objections which seem to de-
mand careful attention. They can be
bestunderstood by considering an actual {
case. For this purpose we reproduce s
some facts recently presented by a
road-engineer contributor to Harper's 9
Weekly relative to the proposed issue
Of road bonds in New York:
The issue of $50, 100000 of fifty. e
year bonds at 81 per cent will result in :
he payment of $S7, 500, 900 interest in
fifty years, and with a sinking fund. a
et apart for the amortization of these n
'onds will make the total cost of the Il
ssue $l0S,S ,S77, 500 at maturity, or more n
han double the amount originally bor- n
owed. The average cost per y
nile will be over 5000 as paid for, a
nut at the time of the redemption of a
he bonds this will be more than doubled, e
making the cost at least $2l, 200 per j
nile. But small proportion of this sl
Expenditure, certainly less than twenty P
We per cent, can, be looked on as an Is
sset-that is to say, the money ex- n
ended in relocating, draining and CON o.
truction Of permanent foundations for
he roads, the benefit of which may be al
xpected to extend through some gener- y
ions.
During the fifty years vast ad- :
itional expenditure will be incurred 4
,r the maintenance of roads and for v
splacing and renewing the surface, at
tervals, which cannot be more than
n to fifteen years apart at the out
de that is to say, at least three times
lring the fifty years further appro-
'iations must be made. II is fair to A.
", therefore, that in the period over y
hich the New York State Highway ri
'nds extend, and before they are paid, Sl
e taxpayers viii have been required ye'
spend, not only the original $4,000 .
cash per mile Of construction derived /