The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1915-01-29


Number of days worked 12s
Cost Of graded road per
mile s4145
Signed: JOSEPH F. SLEEPER.
County Auditor.
A few weeks ago n county In
South Dakota had s35,OO0.OO to spend
for road work. II this money had
been expended by the county COM
missioners, they could have built 500
miles of first-class earth roads in
that county. Every farmer could
have had good road over which to
market his crops and every town
could have had n good road to it's
neighboring town. However. the s35,.
0C0 was divided among the various
townships to he spent as hest they
can. Nearly all of IL will he wasted
In getting crews of farmers together
to do something they are not accus-
toned TO do and have no suitable
tools to do with. They will pillow a
few burrows on the side of the road
and little slush scrapers attempt TO
move the dirt to the middle, of the
road or to low places. BY this method
a dollar does not move half enough
dirt, and in nine cases out OF ten
The road is left I'm a worse condition
than before II was touched.
One might as we'll use spoon
TO load a wagon with sand as to
build roads with the implements the
au In. t,,a r,l, hn
hand-one would be about as econ.
omical as the other.
In few months the above men.
toned s35,OoO.O0 viii all have been
spent. but there will he no notice
able Improvement In the roads In
that particular county. The same
conditions prevail in hundreds of
other counties i'm North Dakota,
South Dakota, Minnesota and many
other states. Millions upon millions
OF dollars have been spent on the
roads In years gone by. Still We
have but few good roads. Why?
First: Our roads begin nowhere
and end nowhere. =.
Second: We lost too much time
In getting men and teams to the
places where the work is to be
done.
Third: We have no suitable tools
to work with. ..s..
Fourth: The men and teams used
are not accustomed to road build.
ing.
Fifth: We use too many men and
horses--not enough machinery.
In other words, our system Is
wrong. A dollar does not do the
work Il shuld. II we want good roads
for little money we must have the
county as the road building unit.
The Declaration of Independence
says that mankind is more disposed
to suffer while evils are siderable
than to right themselves by abolish
ing the wrongs TO which they are
accustomed. II Is our duty to abolish
this antiquated method to which we
have become accustomed, to stop the
enormous waste of money, and get
system of road building that Is
in keeping with the age in which
we live.
I trust that ere long the campaign
for good roads will gain such n
victory that we will have abolished
most OF the wrong method In road
building, to which we have become
accustomed, and that poor roads
will be insufferable. ...-.
The township system may have
been good enough a few generations
ago when gasoline tractors and blade
graders were unknown. II may have
been good enough i'm the days when
men had but little produce to market
In the days when turkeys and hogs
were driven to market on foot; In
the days when journeys and even
wedding trips were made on horse
back. In this age. when the farmer
has modern machinery with which
to till his, fields and harvest his
GRIPS, and automobiles in which to
go to town; in this age Of telephones
and wireless telegraphy: In this age
when men are talking Of the United
nations of the World. the township
cuotnu, 40 anttrafxr tnaAann.t.