The record. (Greenville, Ky.) 1899-1???, 1913-07-24
UNITED STATES iA6S
Way Behind in Matter OF lm-
proved Highways.
o. 100000 Miles in This Country Less
Than 100000 Are Up to Date
s250.ooo, COO Is the Annual
Loss to People.


cry mail routes and the parcel post
system il there is TO be no improve
ment Of the public roads for tho eco
homie delivery of parcels and mails?
According TO bulletin issued by the
Office OF pibljc roads, there were ia
the United States in 1909 2,l9H,Gi5
miles of public roads. aud the total
mileage of improved public roads was
only 1876. Yet we boast that the
United States is a highly civilized
country and make faces At the Cflcte
countries Of the oil wcrll, in Same
of the most dtcadcut of which. rs We
are accustomed to call them, the
people know where they are going
when they start, and have some idea
OF when they win get there and what
il will cost them TO make the journey.
There is a good deal OF humbug IN tho
claims We make for ourselves. PaTticu.
larry when it comes 10 practical things,
although we are willing to admit with
out argument that we are the most
practical people in the world.
Recently what is called the second
National Coed Roads Federal Aid CON
vcntion was in session in Washing
ton. The place of meeting could not
have been better selected; the time
could not have been more inauspi,
cious Nobody was thinking about
good roads, except the nearest cut TO
the White Hot ., and the Offices wait
Nilli.ih ss..ion. Il WIS announced
in the official program OF the meet.
which was called by the American Au
tomobile association, that the distinct
purpose of this gathering is TO create
concrete plan which shall logically
involve our national government in the
highways progress OF the country"
That Is a fine purpose; but with the
old ones going out in shoals and the
new ones coming In without any spC
cial purpose or any purpose that has
been formulated clearly. this Was hard
ly the time for the association to make
very deep impression upon the leg
islative and dispcsing mind.
For two days the convention dis.
cusscd good roads in most intelli.
| gent way and mass OF valuable in.
formation was obtained from expert,
| testimony, foreign and domestic, that
would lose much OF its force ii it
| using" or the speaking. The main
contention of the association is that
/ 1T is the duty of the federal govern,
ment to supplement state and county
systems with plan of national roads
connecting oil parts of tho country.
That is n most ambitious project,
! but none too ambitious fer a country
so big as this. There are something
like 5000 counties in the United States
/ and 1t Is well within the mark TO say
that In not oue-half Of these counties
is there anything like what could be
called by the utmost stretch of cour,
tesy a road system" The official fig,
ures prove this without argument.
The ratio of good roads TO bad roads
is as 1873 eco is to 2,000. coo, and, as Mr.
Doolcy would say, there we are" But
ii is as certain as taxes that good
roads are coming. The idea is takina
hold of the public imagination and will
soon make its way INTO. the public
pocketbcck. II costs from five 10 ten
cents, according to the classification
TO haul ton of freight By the ruch
abused railroads n hundred miles OF
so; it costs about twenty-three cents
a mile TO haul ton of almost any sort
of freight over most of the public
highways in this country, and these
highways are in the daily use of the
people in their most intimate and nee
essary business. 1t has been estimat
ID that bad roads cost the people o.
the United States not less than $3.50,
10000 n year