The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1916-06-15

tear On his horses, wagons, harness,
team and the wear and tear on the
wagon, harness, ETC., is worth 80
cents per load per mile-and the
United States Government says it is
he would save approximately 10
cents per load per mile. Estimate the
number of loads you take to town, the
loads you bring home of coal, lumber,
etc. Multiply this by 10 cents per
load saved on one mile, multiply this
by the miles you live from town and
figure for yourself what the better
road means to you in actual dollars
and cents. 1t is easily demonstrated
that in actual dollars and cents so
far as your own time is concerned,
and the wear and tear on your team,
wagon and harness, you are many
dollars ahead. Suppose it is $4,000
per farm, and it is all of this With
100000 farmers in Iowa, this would
look like saving of ten million dol
lars per year, in actual cash, to say
nothing of the advantages Of this
road over which you may travel every
day in the year to church, public meet
iEgs, county fairs, for the doctor. etc,
all of which is thrown in as extra. You
men who own automobiles, and there
are more cars in the country than in
the cities, stop and consider what the
wear and tear on your car and tires
&C. 1,,y,,
compared with the smooth graveled
road, to say nothing of the gasoline
used-and gasoline costs money now
adays. How many of you have burn
ed out a clutch or wrenched your car
trying to get out of mud hole?
Market Crops When Prices Are High.
est
There is another big item in your
favor. Prices of farm products some
way seem to be highest when you
cannot get to town on account of mud.
This condition is taken into consider
alton by grain SPECTATORS They gam
bic on the assurance that you cannot
haul your crops to town in the spring,
What would it mean to you ii you
could market your crop when you
liked, to catch the higher price?
Many hundred of thousands Of dol
lars to the farmers Of Iowa, and this
loss is just as real as though you had
the extra money in your pocket and
then burned it up.
RI
recognize the times we did not go TO
town with wheat or corn or oats be-
cause the roads were bad. No manu-
facturer would put up with such a
condition in the marketing of his
products if he could help it. He gets
cars when he wants them or finds out
why. Farming is the biggest bust
ness in Iowa and should have proper
facilities.
Do you know it costs more to get
your crops from the farm to the rail-
road station than it does from the
railroad station to market We com
plain about an increase in railroad
freight rates of a small amount, and
possibly justly, and overlook an op
portunity to cut down an already ex'
listing expense in an amount that in
many cases would go long way
towards paying the total railroad
freight rate. was taught early that
1t was not what you got that counted
but what you saved-not what the vol
ume of a business might be that was
all important but what portion of that
volume was net-in other words, that
expenses were as important as in
come. Good roads will actually make
money in the money they save. That
is why am for them-not for joy
riding Let US make them pay and
get the joy riding, the visiting, the
larger community life as extra diyi-
dends.
Residents On Improved Roads Are
Pleased.
Within the last few months, | wrote
large number Of farmers living up
on improved roads, in several states,
asking them how they were pleased,
whether they would take back the
money the roads cost them, and go
back to the old conditions: and |
pledge you my word that without ex-
ception there was 10 man living upon
an improved road who would take his
money back and go back to the old
road (and in many cases they paid
out of their own funds large portion
of the cost of the road without re-
course to general taxation, the bur
den of payment being proportionctely
greater) and every farmer reported
that his land had advanced several
dollars an acre, the average being
$1,000 from the four hundred farmers
heard from.
Now if it is agreed that the better
road with the hills cut down, the road
graded and graveled, with permanent
bridges is really better than our pres
ent dirt roads, which are at many
times of the year practically impass-
able, the next proposition is how to
get this better road without costing
any extra money or without the in
crease of one dollar in taxes.