The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-07-09
1.-THE BANKER and GOOD ROADS,"
Delivered by Mr. D. W. Norris Jr Editor Times RepubIi
IOWA. at the Sxs Hnks'
Gentlemen, Bankers of Iowa:

words Of truth. | did discuss the
road question before Group Six of
this association, and / am here to-
day for the same purpose. In that
respect am very much like the
Irishman in steel mill. He was
such a talkative person that his
foreman did not want to face the
argument when it came time to dis
charge the workman, SO the fore
man did what the banker does when
you wish to mention an overdraft, he
wrote letter. Several days after
ward he happened to notice in the
mill that the Irishman was back on
the job, and the foreman somewhat
angry, inquired of him, "Pat, didn't
you get my letter." "Yis, sor,
said Pat. Didn't you read it? Didn't
you know you were discharged?
cried the foreman. did sor,' said
Pat, Il read it inside and outside. On
the inside it said / was fired and on
the outside it said, Return in five
days to the Cambria Iron Works,
and here am sor."
And here am to discuss with you
a problem of greater economic i'm
3orIance to the prosperity and well
serve association. 1t is the problem
of financing the people transporta-
ton system. Every banker is a
booster for good roads. He knows
that when roads can be travelled ev-
cry day in the year farms are moved
closer to the towns, mothers closer
to the doctor and children closer to
the schools He has heard that 1t
costs more to move freight from the
railroad than it does to move
grain from New York to Liverpool;
that it costs three times as much per
ton mile on the best dirt road in
Iowa as on a stone road in France, or
ten times as much during the six
months of winter of the year The
banker knows these things but he
does nor know that the road problem
in Iowa is banking problem today
I'm here to tell you, gentlemen, that
the road problem in this state is up
to the bankers of this state. 1t has
gotten past the engineers, past the
boosters and the good roads clubs
and is nothing but a problem in
finarce 1t is up to the men to whom
all men must go whenever any great
enterprise is projected.
The state of Iowa is spending ten
millions of dollars per annum upon
her roads and bridges and she can
scarcely show a mile of hard surfac-
ed road within her borders, while the
state of Ohio on no larger expendi-
ture of tax money has practically ev-
cry main travelled country road paw
ed or surfaced with stone and gravel.
More than half the states in the
union have more miles of improved
road than our own state, and some
Of them have ten times as many
Third in total mileage we stand 9th
in miles of improved road. OF the
ten states spending about the same
amount of money upon their roads as
we do the average amount of improv-
ed roads is four times what we have
to show for our money. l ask you
gentlemen, what is the matter with
Iowa?
Every civilization which has gone
before us has improved it's roads. 60
with me back east among an older
people, and l will show you their
roads getting better and better the
farther we go toward the source OF
our own civilization. The State
Bankers Association of Illinois two
years ago wrote a new road law for
their state and Illinois is paving her
roads today. Indiana and Ohio have
been doing it for years. The one
county surrounding Cleveland now
has 400 miles of paved country
roads. Allegheny county, out OF
Pittsburgh now has 4s7 miles OF
asphalt paved roads on it's rural
highways. Starting at Buffalo you
can now travel entirely across the
state of New York on one of half
dozen routes and never get off from
a paved road. It is the same in New
Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut and
Massachusetts. In the county sur
rounding Rochester, N. Y, three
fourths of all the roads in the coun-
ty are paved, macademized, or grav-
eled. Out in California the state has
voted s1S,OOO,OOO of state bonds for
.nayed roads, and Los Angeles cOun-
ty has added 100000 of her own
bonds to the state money, with other
counties issuing from 100000 to
100000 each.
You bankers now ship your autos
and YOUR families to California to en-
1OY n6r mag AOou0 "AAN y
morning when you open your mail at
the bank at home, some chicago
broker offers you good road bond
from California, Texas or Tennessee.
The savings banks of Iowa are
paving the roads for California and
half a dozen other states.
In Florida they are paving their
county roads with brick. Out of De-
troit. in California, in Texas and IN
Arkansas they are paving their coun-
tv roads with concrete, while in the
New England states thousands OF
miles of county roads have been paw
ed with asphalt In Tennessee TWEEN
ty-three counties have issued their
bonds for a stone road from Memphis
to Bristol, 602 miles entirely across
the state, and the United States gov
eminent has loaned three OF its best
engineers to the building OF a stone
and paved road, $50 miles long
through four states from Washing
ton to Atlanta. ,,, -,
might spend day telling you
IT the roads other folks have. out
that would not build them In Iowa.