The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-02-20
Solomon Would E2hort
To Build Good Roads

of $4,000 the mile and the total an
nual outlay of the county on account
of these bonds would be $4,000, a
small amount by comparison with the
money wasted on the roads under the
unscientific and inefficient system
heretofore followed.
The conservative advocates OF BOND
issues for road improvement favor
the Improvement of the main roads by
bond issue and not the Improvement
of the entire road mileage "1t would
be lust as absurd for the county to
build all Of its roads equally as good
as for a city, or for a railroad to
construct and maintain all of Its
branch lines and siding equal to its
main lines" Built for the benefit OF
the whole county the whole county
which would share in its advantages
should be interested in the building
of a system of main roads to the ex-
tent Of paying for it, and this can be
done in no other way so cheaply and
effectively as by issuing bonds to
pay for the work.
Objection has been made to the is
sue of county bonds for road con-
struction on the ground that I'VE
should pay as we go and not burden
posterlty with debts contracted by
use for our own benefit" but this
objection is as full of holes as d
seive. Nearly all the county road
bonds run for twenty years and in
will have matured along with the
maturing and retirement Of the bonds
and il the roads are built in a scien-
tific surfacing upon the durable foun-
dations that have been laid.
Very Poor Argument.
The argument that the poorer peo-
pie cannot stand the added burden
of bond issue for road building will
not stand investigation. Four years
ago, the peasants of France bought
100000, 900 of the bonds of an Amer
lean railroad, notwithstanding the fact
that within less than hundred years
France has spent $613,O00,OOO in build
ing its road system.
Two years ago over forty-one per
cent of the counties in the United
States had issued bonds for highway
construction. The total amount of
such bonds voted by the people was
$2S6,557,O73. The county highway
bonds are regarded as an excellent
investment. The funds to retire the
bonds is accumulated by the payment
of annual installments by the taxpay-
ers which draw interest continuously
and accumulate sufficient amount to
discharge the debt at maturity. Give
per cent highway bonds are common
with the sinking fund calculated to
draw three and one-half per cent an
nually;" so that posterity would not
be greatly troubled by any burden on
this account. "A tax for road i'm
provement is an investment and not a
loss" "The increase in farm values
as the result of road Improvement
is so great that the tax rate is fire.
quently lower than before the issu-
ance of the bonds" Good roads in
crease population. The figures show
that in counties where is per cent
of the roads have been improved the
population has decreased and in coun-
ties where forty per cent Of the roads
have been improved the population
has increased. All experience in this
country has proved that tile improve
ment Of the main travelled roads by
bond issues is the most certain and
feasible means of doing the thing
that would most promote the prosper
ity and happiness of the people and
the development of industrial and
commercial activities. Three hundred
years of criminal neglect has demon
strated that good roads cannot be OBJ
tanned by ignorant management, poll
tical manipulation and ordinary taxa
ton. Solomon would say TO the coun-
ties and states: Vote bonds for high
way construction.