Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-07-10
ess than 50 per day for the entir.

less than 50 per day Tor the ehtirs
party.
But Harvey is going to see some
roads
In Illinois ne will find many roads
torn up in process Of Improvement, for
counties are voting bonds and the state
legislature appropriates a million n
year for hard roads.
In Indiana most Of the roads. are OF
gravel. Think of it! One mile grav-
eled out of every two in the state OF
Indiana and only one mile graveled IN
175 in Iowa. 1t has been done by the
township bonds. Indiana does not even
have state highway commission to
quarrel about. Her people devote all
their energy to building roads.
In Ohio Harvey will find many roads
of macadam and of brick, but the vas;
majority of the surfaced roads will be
of gravel. Ohio has one mile in three
surfaced while Iowa has only one in
115 and Iowa's road taxes are higher
each year than the road taxes in Ohio.
The brick roads will be narrow, not
more than nine or ten feet wide with
dirt track alongside for dry wealth
err use but the paved roads will be
mostly near the large cities.
AT Buffalo Harvey and his family
will meet the famous state roads of
New York. There the people voted
s50,00o,000 of state bonds for roaus
which bonds are to run for fifty years
After few roads had been paved an
other bond issue for $50,000,0O0 was
voted by a majority of about to and
New York is putting s100,o0O,000 into
paved roads, but it has not been alto
gether success New York Is cursed
upon it's farms and so much money
proved tempting. Roads We're improved
where the politicians wanted them and
the state road plan did not prove az
meritorious as the county unit system
or the state aid to counties method
But Harvey will motor for 400 miles
across the state OF New York and never
leave a paved road for single mile
except inside the villages thru which
he passes.
Then he will turn northward thru the
lake and mountain region of Vermont
and New Hampshire. Here popula-
ton becomes sparse and the roads will
be Of gravel but they will please Har-
vey for he is a booster for graveled
roads. He and his party will make
their $50 miles per day rain or shine
over gravel roads maintained by pa
trolls who constantly repair the, roads
at less cost than we pay for keeping up
roads that are impossible with mud
to motor vehicles one third of the days
in the year.
When he comes back thru Massa-
,chusetts and Pennsylvania he will find
the paved road again, mostly asphalt.
Those New England states have had
their macadam roads for generations.
Since the advent of the motor vehicls
the wear and tear on ordinary stone
macadam has become so severe that
the cost Of maintenance has exceeded
the fixed annual charge for principal,
interest and maintenance Of paved
roads so the old macadam has been
surfaced with asphalt to keep 1t from
raveling. 1t is this prohibitive cost Of
maintaining old macadam under auto
traffic which the knockers quote in
Iowa to discourage hard roads in this
state.
When Harvey returns he will be
more enthusiastic for good roads and
for gravel than ever, but he will be no
are too many people in this state who
have never seen hard road to want
one and too few who are willing to in
vestigate their tax records and see how
much more we could obtain IN this
state for the same taxes which we are
paying now. We grow indignant at
any reference to 100000 900 for roads
in state as popuIous as New York
and then we put $5,000,000 last year
into temporary work on our dirt roads
which means s1oo.ooo,OOo wasted in
twenty years while New York will take
fifty years to pay her bonds and has
four times as many people to pay the
taxes.