The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1913-02-28

mile Of good road breeds another
mile. Put a state wide, good road !
down anywhere in this country and |
in ten years there viii be dozens Of
good roads reaching It from all parts
Of the state. Put down a system Of
national highways, built and maintain
ed by the national government and
the various state legislatures and
county officials would soon see the
advantages Of connecting all parts of
the states with those national roads.
There are two million miles Of roads
in the United States. The fifty thou
sand miles Of highway shown on the
map Is but a fraction over two per
cent Of this mileage Gut improve
these fifty thousand miles into good
roads, and keep them good roads by
proper maintenance, and fifty thou
saad miles more would grow almost
owes night and then another fifty
thousand and another and another,
until our great country with It's huge
territory. would be crossed and re-
crossed with good roads, as France is
today.
National Highways Abroad.
France has national highways
These are immense trunk line roads,
great arteries Of commerce, and from
these the smaller roads are built by
the provinces Of France, just as the
state and counties in our states will
built feeders and connections to ma
tional system OF highways.
II France about the size Of Texas
needs national highways, how much
more do we. with our huge territory
require them2
Many idealists and dreamers have
proposed national road systems foi
this country Usually the system has
been worked out with map, a ruler
a pencil. and sghlime faith. Noun
\ tains. lakes. rivers and forests form
no Obstacles 70 such visionary foad
systems. The national highways sys
tenn, as shown on this map is the pro
duce OF no such dream. The highways
indicated are either the best present
roads from point TO point. or what are
In the Judgment Of trained and eX
perienced corps Of road engineers. the
best possible and practicable roadi
from point to point.
But these engineers, who worked
months on hundreds Of large seal
maps. and with the aid Of a nation
wide correspondence Of more than fiji
teen thousand personal letters askinI
information and advice know this sys
tenn is only tentative. It IS but sus
gestion. It Is not intended TO be ans
thing else. There must be a begin
ming to everything, and little head
way can be made without some sue
careful plan from which to start
Building the System.
TO build such system complet
| viii take a mans lifetime and hug
amount OF money. If the wealth
| the world were ready to build this sy
| tenn tomorrow. it would still take man
| years, because there are availab
neither engineers nor knowledg
| enough to do It quickly
| When this, or a similar system
| national highways IS built-and bul
| it surely will be some day-it viii
by national highway commissio
which first locates and then build
one or more roads at a time learnil
as It builds Whom this huge amou
OF money is spent--as spent it
beund to be it VIII be gradually a
through All annual appropriation.
II Now York state can afford Il
million a year for road building, Is
unreasonable to suppose the Unit
States government can afford
times ais much or fifty millions
year?
The system as outlined is only a
ginning suggestion. But IL II