El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-10-24

Heated wherever roads have been i'm
proved
Horse Out of Date.
From an economic viewpoint. the
+ value Of the improved highway is of
] paramount importance not only TO
: the farmer, but to 100. coo. 600 people
. in the United States whom he feeds.
! In the transportation OF food products
7 TO market the horse il no longer q
D profitable investment It has been
estimated that the cost OF his feed
/ alone increased over 1853 per cent
! from 1908 TO 1913, and the area given
: TO the production OF what he eats
/ would more than equal that Of I'LL
I nois, Iowa, Ohio and Indiana combined.
Assuming that one acre of land
ficient food to sustain three persons.
the horse feed farms of the United
states would support 374. 0O0. 900 people.
The farmer who is compelled TO
use draft horses to haul his products
/ TO market on account Of roads which
Z make the use OF motor trucks i'm
possible or impracticable suffers Ii
nancially for the reason that his ra-
Z dius Of action is confined to those
markets or shipping points lying with
in the little circle which he can prof
ltably reach. The consumer suffers
because the farmer viii not haul to
4 market products which he finds he
can make no profit from on account
mcr on account OF proper hauling IA
cilities must barter his products with
the nearest middlemau who in turn
makes profit which might otherwisc
be eliminated.
High Cost OF HauIn=e.
T. is frequently the high cost OF haul
age which prevents the farmer from
entering more distant and profitable
markets and causes him to dispose Of
his produce TO others for marketing
and distributi1I- With the advent Of
motor trucks has come a far wider
radius OF action. greater carrying
capacity and much greater speed in
reaching more distant markets Thus.
the farmer may. much oftener than in
the past dispose OF his produce direct
10 the consumer with far greater
profit to himself and less cost to the
latter. The full benefit of this use
Of the motor truck. however. viii not
be realized either by the farmer %
the consumer, until the good roads
movement has educated the people TO
an appreciation OF these important
facts.
"E1travnEnnce.~
In many parts Of New Mexico you
will find an Unexpectedly large num-
Der Of taxpayers who look upon our
OUTLAWS for the Improvement OF the
public highways as an eNuravaga
cOmmlnEled with some benefits. per
haps, but still the paramount thought
Is that much more money is being
spent than the state and local gov
eminent can afford. or than is neccs-
Sary for the DEVELOPMENT Of the state
To overcome that feeling or antaEon-
ism TO the movement for better roads.
active educational work will be nee
essary il We are TO have the develop
meut which everyone knows the i'm
pOrIant bearing that good roads will
have on our future progress must
desire TO witness / have assembled
% few figures which may be Of inter
est 10 the meeting in this connection.
on October 4. 1915. we had in New
Mexico. 1879 motor vehicles. repre-
sentinE an investment OF approximate
y SS.sS6.559. or an average cost per
car Of SN4l0l- The state license paid
the secretary Of state by automobile
owners TO be turned over by him to
the state highway fund amounted to
S22,f57.65 during the current year.
State Gets Much Income.
In addition to this tax. owners Of
motor vehicles viii pay for the present
year state and local taxes on an as
for the privilege Of owning and oper-
atinE them in New Mexico. The rev.
euue derived from licenses alone viii
more than pay the interest on the
bond issue OF 100000 recently sold
by the state. and if the number Of
cars increases at the rate OF 100 an
nually, which is most conservative. the
amount derived from the license tax
will not only pay the interest upon
the bond issue. but If the surplus is
deposited on interest as a sinking
fund viii retire the issue in fifteen
years The Improvement in the roads
Of the state which will result from
the judicial expenditure Of the $500. geo
referred TO will undoubtedly cause a
large Increase in the number of mo-
tor vehicles used both commercially
and for pleasure, so that the benefits
viii be manifold accruing both TO the
owners of automobiles and to the state.
Furthermore. as 1 have hitherto en-
deavored to indicate. wherever roads
have been improved so that automobiles
can pass over them with ease and
comfort lands lying along the route
invariably increase in value so that
the owner is directly benefited and
the states revenue derived from tax
alton viii be augmented.
Tourist Motor Travel.
In addition to what has been hither-
to pointed out. We must not lose sight
of the tremendous influx Of the tour
list motor travel into and across the
state which We may expect as the re- /
suit Of better highways. Large sec
tons Of New Mexico have great. and
probably to many OF us, Unexpected
possibilities as summer resorts. The
state abOunds in hot springs some Of
Whlcn are Famous Tor the curative
qualities OF their waters. but are lit
tie used because they are remote from
the railroads. or the condition OF the
roads leading 10 them is so bad that
travel over them is well
nigh impossible.
Given few main arteries OF spIen-
did highways through the state and
your touring motorist will soon dis
cover such places and make il worth
while for private capital to open good /
roads TO them Thus the unusual re-
sources of the state for pleasure pur- /
poses VIII bring us enormous sums
annually at once. which the slow pro-
sress OF railroad building would de- !
fer for many years That these pos (
may become actualities with /
in the next few years. we could well /
afford to spend not $500. 600 but s. !
100000 in the coming five years in !
state aid for the Improvement of our
m IL E.--E------- - /