The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-10-05
Member of the Associated Press.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5. 1915.
ROADS AND DEFENSE.

One formerly high in the councils of
the nation has recently proposed the
construction of number of interstate
highways to facilitate the defense of
the country in case of invasion. The
scheme has served to suggest the ad-
visibility of a certain amount of road
Improvement in connection with other
preparations for the defense of the
coasts and boundaries Of the country
1t has an added interest IN the passage
by the Pan-American Road congress of
a resolution recommending to congress
the advisability of looking into the mat
ter of constructing roads for military
purposes.
The European war has shown the val
ne Of good roads in the conduct of mil
itary operations, for the presence of an
adequate system of highways in the
territory where much of the fighting
has taken place has, in a large meas
ure, made possible a very extensive use
of motor-driven vehicles. In this coun-
try, however, the conditions are vastly
different from those in France or Ger
many in the opinion of the Good Roads
magazine. Those countries are compare
lively small area and in none of them
do we find the enormous distances COM
mon III the United States. For in
stance, the distance from Paris to Ber-
lin is considerably less than that from
New York to Chicago, and the distances
between points ON the battle line in
the western theater of war are short
as Americans are accustomed to think
of distances.
In the event of an attack directed
against any part Of this country, it is
certain that the railroads would have
to be depended upon to move most of
the troops and practically all of the
equipment and supplies, where any con
siderable distance was involved in the
operations. In war, as in peace, the
highways would have their greatest use
as auxiliaries of rail and water trans
| portation, and it is very likely that the
condition of certain roads, which now
may or may not need improvement for
commercial purposes, would then be a
| large factor in the success or failure of
our forces. just what roads should be
| improved is a question for those engi-
neers of the army who are familiar
with the whole problem of defense and
to whom such measures as are taken
viii be intrusted.
At present, the federal government
! has jurisdiction over roads along the
| coast or along the borders only in
some special cases, and before actual
work could be commenced certain legis
| lation, both federal and state. would
have to be enacted. Whether the i'm
I provements could best be made by the
/ states or counties, working under gov
eminent supervision, or by the govern
ment itself is matter that would re
| quire some study. In either case, the
federal government might reasonably
| be expected to bear a portion of the
cost, and at the present time this
seems to be the most logical channe
into which to divert any national funds
that may be available for road work.
The whole subject is one which ha,
received little if any attention and is
one of the phases of the problem OF
national defense which should be inves
tigated when that matter is seriously
taken up.