Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-08
GOOD ROADS.
IA National Problem.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

life is of greater social and economic
Importance TO the people of this country
than is that of good roads. The factor
O., .i.dH,Uun might he given priority.
Eut granting the contention, production
falls flat if it be deprived of the aid of
adequate transportation. Small benefit is
it to the farmers to produce bountiful
crops, if impossible roads prevent them
from getting the yield of their laboriously
titled acres to the right markets at the
right time. This is but one phase of our
national life dependent upon good roads
There is the social side. wherein the
farmer and his family have adequate or
inadequate facilities for ncighborly COM
rnunication and necessary schools, ac-
cording to the condition of the high
ways. Good roads mean increased
church attendance, Improvement of
rural free delivery service, more and bet
ter schools. happier social intercourse,
and higher moral tone generally
throughout the countryside. These de-
Sirahlc conditions also react favorably
on the business side by causing divers!
fed farming enhancement of rural prop
erty and an increase of tourist travel.
K =
Official United States government
age of this coun-
Total Road Mileage try is a,24a,sas
in United States. a1ter anu tventv
years of hard work by the federal office
of public roads. and a steady growth of
popular sentiment throughout the sew
eral states the total improved mileage is
a mere IA 1874 miles. or about 10 per
50
roads remain more or less unimproved.
When the nation stops to remember
that a total of S164 49,. 365 was spent on
road Improvement and maintenance in
1872 it realizes what a Tremendous task
lies ahead. The nation may well be pleas
ed over the fact that this expenditure
by its several states. counties. townships
and highway associations doubled in eight
years. for in 1904 the outlay was $4,000
ma in round numbers. The various APP
preparations for 1913 We're larger than
those of 1912, although all the figures
not yet available, and 1914 promises
10 again swell the annual total with the
strong possibility that 1915, with the ma
tional Lincoln highway completed to the
doors of San Francisco and the Panama
Pacific international exposition, will
eclipse all records.
The handspring OF most of this i'm
proved highway activity is the federal
office of public roads, and the remarkable
part Of its record is that practically every
bit of its work has been advisory and ex-
hortatory. This bureau grew out of an
abortive attempt in 1892 to establish
national highway commission. In July OF
that year the Senate passed a bill Gre
ating such a body, to be composed of
TWO senator's, five representatives and five
citizens appointed by the President. The
following October the first good roads
citizens organization on a national scale
was formed at Chicago. 1t was the Ma
tional League of Good Roads. The presi-
A. ~.
of the executive committee were Judge
L. H. Thayer, Philip D. Armour, Leland
stanford, Glen Studebaker. Samuel w.
Allerton. Chauncey r. Ripley. Alexander
]. Cassatt, W. Seward Webb. Albert A.
Pope and Charles L. Burdett- The ma
tional commission project did not pass
the House, but in March, 1893. the Office
of road inquiry was created, with an in
under the direction of the Secretary of
Agriculture
The duties of the new Office were to |
make inquiries in regard to systems |
of road manage |
Duty OF Office m ent throughout |
to Investigate tine un.ea ,h ssa n..,
methods of road building, prepare |
publications on this subject and assist |
agricultural colleges and experimental
stations in disseminating information
along the same line. The office strug-
gled along on $4,000 or $4,000 per an |
mum until 1901, when the appropriation |
was increased to $4,000. Congress has
steadily increased the allotments Of
the bureau, which was given it's pres !
ent name of Office of public roads In |
1905. up to this years appropriation of
se1s,s0o. The first director Of the office
vas Gen. Roy Stone. who was succeeded
In 1890 by Martin Dodge. who was fol-
lowed in 1905 by Logan Waller Page the
present incumbent.
Mr.. Page has served longer than either
n his predecessors, and under him the
office has grown by leaps and bounds
Tie Office today does not only perform
the duties for which it was created TWEEN
~ wears ago. Its chemical and physical
laboratory for the free testing of road
Materials. open to every citizen Of the
Mon, have made over 1900 tests and
the methods here adopted are now prac-
tcally standard throughout the country
Valuable research work in concrete has
been going on, and experiments have
been conducted to determine the efficiency
of oils. tars, asphalt and other prepara-
lions used for the purpose of preventing
dust and preserving macadam roads un-
der modern traffic conditions. Expert
Inents in behalf of different sections Of