The Monte Vista journal., 1916-12-09
Financing the Concrete Rond


No extensive road Improvement in
any community can be carried on
without more money than can usual
ly be raised by direct taxation ex-
tending through a short term. 1t is
unjust to expect the taxpayers of to-
day to assume the total cost of an
improvement which is to last into
the next generation, so bonds are
usually issued to finance the build
my of roads that will permanently
cut uown maintenance expense and
reduce hauling costs. These bonds
are sold and thus converted into
money. Interest on the bonds is
paid and the bonds retired by funds
obtained from current road taxes.
When the bonds have been paid the
community still has its concrete
roads in excellent condition.
No community can afford to spend
It's money with less caution than a
private individual would display.
The community should do likewise.
When you are asked to vote for a
bond issue to build concrete roads
you are not raising public money to
spend it, but to invest it. AS con-
crete road mileage in a community
is increased, the burden of road
maintenance decreases and the saw
ing thus resulting will not only pay
interest on the bonds but provide
funds to retire them as they fall
due. In this way borrowing is made
profitable.
How Concrete Road Benefits the
MOtOrist
Touring possibilities at all sea-
sons of the year and every day in
the year go hand in hand with the
concrete road Safety First is re-
allied as the result of the non-skid
surface. Concrete boulevards thru
the open country make riding pleas
ureable by doing away with the jar,
dust in dry weather and mud in wet
weather. A smooth surface makes
steering easy, reduces tire cost, les
sens fuel consumption. These are
some of the ways in which a con-
crete road benefits the motorist.
Reduced to simple terms, con-
crete road helps the farmer haul two
loads at one trip instead of one load
at two trips; or, it doubles the size
of the load and cuts in two the trac-
tive power necessary to transport
farm produce. With less capital
tied up in horses there is more cash
to put into equipment to produce
more cash. The concrete road re-
duces the strain on horses and
lengthens their lives. 1t reduces
wear on wagons and harness. Where
motor trucks are used it lessons tire
and fuel expense. 1t puts the farmer
IN a state of preparedness to reach
markets quickly when prices are
best, and he can take his profits and
get home with more cash than he
could by slow hauling on a bad
road. 1t adds to the acreage value
of a farm because it increases
its earning possibilities. A con-
crete road makes all of these ad-
vantages permanent, bringing its
toll of profit to the farmer daily in
the form of time, money and effort
saved.
How Concrete Roads Benefit Com
munity
Concrete roads are country boule-
wards. They benefit community in
making travel quick, safe, easy,
clean and comfortable. They ex-
tend neighborhood limits, bring
more people into personal touch
with each other, increase social op-
portunities and thereby remove the
monotony of isolation; bring greater
content to the youth on the farm,
make city and country near neigh
bors, and increase school attend
ance, thus cultivating a desire for d
broader knowledge and higher
STANDARDS OF living.
Concrete roads make daily rural
mail delivery fact, every home unit
in the community is put on the news
wire with the political, financial, in
dustrial and trading centers of the
earth. The best thought of the
world in every line of human effort
and human achievement is transmit