The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-10-25
GOOD ROADS MEAN
CHEAPER HAULING
AMERICAN ROAD CONGRESS AT AT
LANTA MAY SOLVE
PRORLEMS.
LAND VALUES INCREASE
COUNTY AND CITY POSSIBILITIES
FOR LARGER BUSINESS ARE
OPENED by BETTER
HIGHWAYS.

Baltimore. Nd. Oct 2&.--In view OF
the approaching meeting OF the Amer
lean Road Congress in Atlanta-the
In the southland the indication that
IT will be the most important meeting
ever held In this or any other country
in behalf Of good roads and good
streets, the Manufacturers' Record has
turned this weeks issue into . special
good roads publication with . cover
piece carrying the statement:
Good roads mean progress and lifs-
bad roads mean poverty and death"
Every phase OF the road question II
discussed and broadly covered. d.
tails of expenditures that are being
made By the sixteen Southern States
show that the South IL now annually
putting ont over s6e.Soo.eoo In this
building and maintenance OF roads
without counting Its expenditure on
street improvements In towns and
cities. The work that 10 being done
In every State IL covered by letters
from the Governors. or from tho High
way Commissioners. or other authori-
ties who are handling the road Ques-
ton in the various States. Experts dis
cuss various road building materials.
including sand-clay. brick. cement.
macadam and all other phases OF road
work.
In the opening editorial outlining It's
reasons for the work which Il has been
doing for years in behalf Of good roads
the Manufacturers Record says:
Cause For Retoaeing.
pANAart Ara n YnAA NnRfYfH0f.
a road builder. road supervisor. or
are you a county or town oncial.
charged with responsibilities Of road
and street building or maintenance.
Are you a maker or = seller Of road
machinery or road building equipment,
or are you. A. q taxpayer. encouraging
the building Of good roadsf
II to any one Of these questions ycu
can answer. am. then rejoice that
work 10 more than material in tn
scope. Perchance you think only Of
the material side Of II. n 50. look
to the higher side ana idealige your
work as part OF . great campaign for
human Advancement: campaign for
extending the highest benefits Of cfvffi-
zation. and the moral. religious and
educational life Of n nation. Yours
IL more than a business. It 10 Q voca-
ton. a calling That should In its wide
scope include in your Thought the
idealism Of the work ~ well as the
routine Of the business.
It IL difncult to measure the good
accomplished by the building Of good
roads or TO catalogue their Advantages.
It In equally dimcu1t to enumsrats the
Disadvantages which necessarily In
sure to bad roads. The good road
opens TO the country and 20 tho city
possibilities for larger business and
for larger profits on the business done.
II increases the value Of all adjacent
land. but II does this by Increasing
the net profits Of farming or Of busi-
ness carried on on these adjacent lands
The farmer who lives on a mud road
In hampsred In summer and In winter.
The burden Of hauling to ana from the
farm costs him many times more than
all the freight rate that he pays the
railroads. II one-tenth Of the energy
that has been expended IN the last
ten years in trying to regulate rail-
roads and reduce freight rates had been
given to the betterment OF the high
ways Of the country. infinitely larger
results would have been achieved Tor
the good Of everybody.
The railroad freight rate 10 . small
item to tho farmer ~ compared with
that heavy burden he bears when he
hauls tho product Of his farm over Z
mud road, or brings back 10 the farm
the various thinEs-whether they Be
dry goods. or groceries. or lumber
that he buvs In the neighborfng town
or city. Not only II his ability TO DC
business 80 prcflt 1essened by bad roads
and breadened by good roads. but In
the former case his family II shut NJ
for much Of the year ana deprived
OF the advantages Of social and edvoa-
, tional, life: while tho man who lives on
n good road gives TO his family the
advantages Of religious and educa-
tional and social facilities not possible
to those who live where wheels ara
mired to the hub IN winter time. or
where intolerabls dust exists IN sum-
NOR.