The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1913-03-22
GODD ROADS.

Some of the Advantages of In
proved Highways-Every Class (
Citizens Would Share In Benefit
Bad Roads a Burden on Com
nnunity.
s Every class OF citizens would shar
n the benefits OF good roads in Ia
4 fayette.
The farmer would benefit not onl
by the increased value of his land
enabling him to secure a profitabl
price should he desire to dispose o
MS farm, but by the raising of goot
paying crops he does not now pro
dHe because of the difficulty ant
/ expense Of getting them to market
which eats up the profits. The los,
OF q large amount of revenue from
this direction is the heavy penalty
the farmers and merchants of the en-
tire country now pay for bad roads
Good roads greatly reduce the cos
OF wagon transportation, and thou
sands of dollars saved in this way
would go into the pockets of the
/ H~ASA = 1~14A 1lAO Ehb4lS DIT
To say the merchants and all other
classes Of citizens in the towns
would be large beneficiaries Of a
system 3of good roads in Lafayette
parish, is to state what everybody
knows to be true. It can not posi-
bly, be otherwise.
The population Of the towns creates
an eVer-lncreasing demand for every
thing the farmer can produce. The
increased production of the farms
flowing into the towns, and to mar
ket through the local channels of
commerce, spells increasing pros
perlty for the merchant, the lawyer,
the doctor, the laborer and other
Inhabitants, whatever their calling.
Any merchant who gives the least
amount Of serious study to the good
roads problem at once sees he has a
large direct and personal interest in
the problem.
In proportion as the farmer would
benefit by the good roads in La
fayette parish, every other business
interest would also benefit. Re
. The railroad would reap its share
IN the resulting Increased y 81 u ssI1e 8 oI
traffic Empty cars pay no freight.
but when filled with farm products
for distant markets these empty cars
are turned into loaded cars, and thus
net loss is converted into a net
profit
It is because of his personal knoWI-
edge of the extensive benefits of I'M.
proved highways to the farming in
terests of a country, that Supt. sheri-.
dan of the Southern Pacific lines in
Louisiana has declared himself hearth
" in favor of a special tax for good
roads in Lafayette parish.
In a word, good roads touch in
timately all the relations of our
everyday life, and they are well
worth the price they cost.-Lafayette
One is struck with the brief and
Forceful way the advantages of good
roads are summarized in one para
graph of a set of resolutions adopt
I'd by the Illinois Good Roads Asso-
citation, which says:
Improved roads: mean better
schools and larger attendance, bet
.er health and quicker transporta Gion,
better farms and more cultivated
and, better crops and cheaper trans
1ortation, better economic conditions
Ind more producers, better social
conditions and less isolation, better
,hurch attendance and better citi-
ems, better postal service and closer
riends, better business and more|
consumers, better industries and
more employment, a better state and
better nation
When we take into consideration
he fact that bad roads mean the re-
,erse ofa all these things, we get
ONE idqe of the burden bad roads
re to a aHommunity, to a state and
0 the nation. We hear a great deal.
bout "tfse bad roads tax" if we
ould get this tax down in dollars
nd cents. the good roads movement
rould. receive such an impetus in
his country that mountains would be-
eveled to get material with which to|
uild highWays.-shreveport Times.
We are spending something like
$4,000 every year on roads and there.
sn't a decent road in the parish to-
ay, and under the present system
here never will be- On ae-
cunt of these miserable roads it is
lmost impossible to market anything
t a profit, while on up-to-date roads
he cost Of transportation would be
7ss than half, and in bad weather
he farmer and his family is cut off.
OF only from town, but often from
choo1 and church, and the whole
ountry is largely in a state of stag
alton. .-Leesville Toiler
Heavy rains during the early part
{ this week proved to be good argu-
lent for public road improvement,
nd also for the s-milI tax to bell
oted on the 25th inst. When the
Dads are impossible, on account of
eavy rains, men who need them
ave an object lesson that is more
nv tr,.