Graham guardian., 1915-11-05
COUNTRY HIGHWAYS.
Good Roads, Town and
Country, Are Helpful
for Everybody


Harrison, President of the Southern
Railway Company, which was de-
livered at the American Road Con-
gress, November, 1914, is not only
very interesting, but contains much
that will prove instructive to the
people of Graham county, in view
of the agitation for good roads in
this county.
The address is as follows:
A good country highway is help
full. directly or indirectly, to all
those who live in town as well as
those who live in the country, but it
is primarily beneficial to the farmer.
1t is his highway to market. He
and his family must use it in all of
the social intercourse of the neigh
borhood and in church and school
attendance. 1t is over the country
road that the rural mail carrier
brings to the farmer his letters and
the newspapers which keep him in
touch with the events of the world.
While it is not generally appreciated.
because few farmers keep books in
which they take account of their
own time and that of their teams.
as well as of their hired men, stat
istics, prepared by the United States
Department Of Agriculture, show
that the cost Of hauling farm pro-
ducts to shipping station is very
large percentage of the total cost
of their carriage to their final mar
kets and it is out of all proportion
to the charges made for their trans
portation bv rail or water. An i'm
proved road reduces this cost and
has the effect of bringing outlying
farms nearer to the shipping point
by reducing the time required for
hauling, and it tends to advance the
value of each farm that it passes.
While a system of market roads
will benefit the farmer primarily. it
will also be helpful to the town. In
an agricultural community, without
substantial manufacturing enter
prises, the town is practically sup
ported by the trade of the farmers
of the surrounding country. A good
road, to the degree that it may en-
able a farmer to market to better
advantage, increases his purchasing
power to the benefit of the merchants
in the town where he may trade.
Improved highways radiating from
town widen the area from within
which the. farmer may profitabIy
market his products and buy his
supplies in town. Good roads in
any community are also an important
factor in attracting farm settlers,
who will bring increased trade to
the town.
Even in the largest city, certain
element of the population is con-
cerned, directly or indirectly, in the
trade of the surrounding country
and every RI sident is almost as much
interested in building up nearby
sources of cheap and fresh supplies
for his produce market as he is in
the maintenance Of good schools.
With bad roads that are almost i'm
passable during certain seasons of
the year, the area within which
milk and perishable articles general
ly, can be successfully produced for
the city market, is restricted. With
improved roads this area is greatly
extended. A system Of good roads
out of city may mean, for large
part of the population, the difference
between fresh food and the cold
storage warehouse.
| may emphasize the point | am
endeavoring to make by citing the
concrete example of MeckIenberg
County, North Carolina. That
county was one of the first in the
state systematically to take up the
matter of road improvement. The
United States census reports show
that in the twenty years from 1890
TO 1910, the population of Mecklen-
tsarn CErptv inrspavra sr roe cent ~ j,