The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1913-10-09
COLONEL SUCCS
BACK FROM DETROIT
ROAD MOVEMENT is TOUCHING
TIE LIFE OF THE NATION-
SOUTH WELL REPRESENTED.

Col and Mrs. Sidney Suggs re-
turned yesterday afternoon from De-
troit, Mich, where they attended
the annual session of the Ameri
can Roads Congress. Mr.. Suggs was
delegate from Oklahoma and was
made a member of the committee on
resolutions. Resolutions were adopted
asking the federal government to Gre
ate a public improvement commits
sion, which will have charge Of
the national roads and other resolu-
tions were withdrawn which in any
way proposed a suggestion to the
methods used by the commission in
the building of roads. This idea Of
federal aid for roads, Mr.. Suggs
has lahored for since the Trans
Mississippi Commercial Congress met
some twelve years ago in Houston.
There he raised his voice against
asking 50 much for river and har~
hOr Improvement and caught the in
spiration of road building so that
products could be gotten to trans
portaiton points.
Following his speech on the floor
of the convention Mr. Suggs was
invited to visit some half dozen states
to address the people on the road
building question and what was per-
haps the greatest honor that came
to him was a special invitation to
address the International Good Roads
Congress which has been called by
the governors of all the states and
is to be held in February, 1915, at
the Panama Exposition in San Fran
cisco.
Here are some of the facts that
was brought out in that convention:
The south is the natural location for
interstate roads from east to west
on account of climatic conditions,
they can be travelled at all seasons of
the year; the south is spending more
than fifty millions Of dollars a year
in road building and maintenance and
is making a test of all kinds of
material the south is alive as no
other section of the United States |
is; the progress of the south in the |
past quarter of a century arouseS
the patriotism of men in every sec
ton of the union; with a population |
OF almost twenty millions less than
the union had in 1880 the south is
dong more business than the whole
United States did at that time; the
south has almost billion more dol
ars invested in manufacturing than
the United States had in 1880 the
value Of the agricultural products Of
he south amount TO almost a billion
dollars more than the value of the
PRODUCTS of the entire United States
20 1850, the south is mining annu-
lilly fifty millions of tons of coal
more than the whole country mined
,t that time; it is producing three
INES as much petroleum; it has
more Individual deposits in the banks
han the whole country had then;
he United States spent seventy .
ight millions annually for schools
n 1850 and today the south alone |
S spending nearly ninety millions a
ear, these are typical illustrations Of
ne progress of the south which was
ith the direst poverty
t the close of the civil war and
what can be done in
he sunny southland. When Mr.
uESS ueCIdTeu IlldJ OhlduOlud NOulu
uild its laterals to the national
ighway there was wild cheering
-om the other states. The Oklahoma
was pleased with that
reat meeting, he observed the un-
elfish work that is being done by
thousands of men from all sections
f the union and feels that this
altering will have a decided influ- !
nee upon congress in shaping fed =
raj legislation for the road move
lent He is urging executive COM
littees to be created to adopt high
rays for the nation and for the sew
raj states.
Mr.. Suggs will remain here until
he 18th when he will leave for
'ort Smith, Ark, where he will ad-
reSs the people there on Good Roads
lay at the Tri-State Fair and from
here he will so to Bartlesyille where
practical demonstration of road