Arizona sentinel and Yuma weekly examiner., 1914-07-23

last year on public roads in the United
 States. according to statistics prepar ed by the U. S. Department of Agri-
 culture. In 1904 the total was only
 $79,O0O,OOO In nine years, therefore
 the increase has been over 25O9o.
 This awakening on the part of the
 country to the importance of good
 roads has,. experts say, been due in
 great measure to the principle of state
 aid to counties and other local com
 munities. New Jersey began the big
 movement in 1891 when it passed its
 State Highway Law. Massachusetts
 and Vermont followed a year later.
 but for the most part the other states
 were slow to move. In 1904 only fiji
 teen had state highway departments;
 today there are only six that have
 not. In 1913 the individual states ap-
 propriated a total of $3S,755,0SS to supplement local expenditures.
 ., The value of this state aid is, how ever, not to be measured by the fig
 ures alone, for. the bulk of the money
 comes, and always must come, from
 the townships and counties. Thus, in 1912, the cash outlay by counties. dis
 tricts and townships, was $137, ,493, 1885.
 Complete figures for 1913 are not yet
 flo hln hut ic fn fn to -the sum at approximately $151, ,000.000 TO this must be added some $15, ,000,
 900, to represent the value of the labor contributed instead of cash in districts where this practice prevails. Last therefore, local communities contribut
 ed, in round numbers, one hundred and
 slxty-six millions of dollars, as against appropriations from state treasuries of $3S,755,OSS.
 The true importance of this thirty eight millions lies in the fact that it means expert supervision of the ex penditure of considerable portion of the vast sum of two hundred millions
 When each county built as it chose and when it chose the services of any trained engineers were usually out of the question. There was little oppor- tunity to test innovations, little ad vance in the science of road-building, and there was also difficulty in arous- ing each county individually to do its best to improve conditionsi within its own. limits. State aid has changed all this. The best engineering skill lis now available fo rall works of importance, there is cooperation and a constant stimulus to further improvements. The money contributed by the state does not only build more roads, it makes better those that other money builds
 At the present time there are in the United States 20,741 miles of roads improved either wholly or in part b. State aid. This is nearly the mileage Of the French routes nationales, the system of great national highways which is the, envy of every civilized nation. The Routes Nationales are, of course, only small part of the total mileage of France, where practically every road of any importance is ar Improved road, and France is wastl, smaller country, both in area and in population than the United States, SC that this comparison is not, in itself | very fattering to our progressive | ness: It shows, however, that we have | at least made a beginning. Of. the ?, 226,S42 miles. of roads in the United | States, 22S,774 miles, or approximatel, 1 70 Der cent are classed as improved. :; Fo improve the remaining go pc, cent may well seem a big job. It is In fact, only made possible becausc the work: really pays for itself. From material gathered by the U. s. De partment of Agriculture, it is nov | possible to. prove not only that goof roads. are profitable investment. bur | to determine exactly what dividend. they pay. An investigator assigned to this problem in any given locality first ascertains the extent of the ter ritory that is tributary to any maIr road, much as one might ascertain thr territory tributary to some river. The next step is an accurate estimate O. of the total products of this territory; | so much grain, so much tobacco, SC much garden truck, etc.. etc. Of this quantity certain portion is consum- ed on the farm, the rest is shipped | over the road in question. The whole calculation can then be checked by Investigators at the shipping poinr | to which the road leads. In general 1t has been found that the two methods yield much the same information the total amount of produce hauled over the road. Next, the length of the average haul is calculated the size of the load permitted by the char acter of the road ascertained, and | the cost of teams and drivers figured |