Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-11-04
Advantages of Motor Cars
Seen in Food Conservation
FARMERS HELPED
THRU GOOD ROADS
u. S. Government Will Spend
Ten Million Dollars I'm
proving State Highways.

with a half mide OF road stretching
along side OF II. You, Mr.. Motorist,
want to drive along that road, for
pleasure or In carrying on your busl-
ness. John Smith says IL you want
to ride over that road you should pay
for improving It, You reply that i'm
proving 1t will help John Smith to
got his crops to town, that he can haul
bigger loads and so get his money
from you easier when he sells his PROD
uce. He replies that that only makes
farm products cheaper for him. You
answer that improving tho road I'M
proves the value or his farm, not
your automobile.
The truth OF II Is that everyone Is
helped by good roads today. Not
many years ago no one travelled many
miles by road. Few drove outside
| their neighborhood. 30 1t was suffi-
cent for each community to have the
kind OF road It chose to have. But
| tho automobile and the motor truck
have brought about great change.
John Smith. farmer instead or
ploddins along n few miles to the
nearest railroad station and depend
ing upon steam to carry his produce
to town, now has O motor truck and
speedily drives ten, twenty, thirty or
forty miles direct to his market. He
wants goood roads. The man In the
city who has no motor car cts things
to eat fresher and cheaper WHEN John
Smith does drive In. He needs good
roads, Mr. Motorist wants good roads
so that he may use his motor car to
the fullest extent.
There were over three and hair
million cars-including commercial
cars-in the United States last year.
They served many human need and
! made life broader and better. They
would have served even moro fully
| had the roads been better.
Traffic Development.
The development Of traffic has been
pmazing. 1t has overflowed township.
county and state lines. With one-half
Of our population In cities, the prob
] lem of transporting goods to the city
I and manufactured products to the
country Ii vital. We are increasingly
dependent upon each other. and in
| creasingly interested in roads In all
parts OF the country.
| That is why Uncle Sam has taken
| n hand in the situation. He has two
million four hundred and fifty thou
sand miles OF public roads, and about
IL per cent OF them are improved
with some kind of surfacins. The
modern hard-surfacedi roads. includ-
ing macadam or better, constitute not
over 5 per cent of the total. Uncle
Sam does not plan to Improve all or
these roads nor does he plan to insist
upon the same kind of paving every
where. Not ali road improvements
pay dividends, and Uncle Sam wants
to pa } icipate only in those which do.
A community can pay too much for a
road improvement, Just ~ prospect
| I've farmer can pay too much for
| farm, or business man pay too much
for a business. The farmer may, thru
| Ign porance or carelessness, purchase
farm entirely unsuited to tho kind OF
farming he wishes TO do. When he
gets II he cannot make II pay divl-
dends
Roads Must Yield Returns.
A road Improvement. to be justifi-
able, must give reasonable promise OF
an annual return, in social and eco
nomic benefits, at least equal to tho
tctal of the interest, depreciation and
maintenance charges over and above
those of the old road. Oyer-tnvest-
ment as well as investment, Is
Just as possible in road matters as in
ordinary business undertakings. There
Is a crying need for more efficient ad-
ministration, skilled supervision, and
scientific procedure in all lines Of
road work. Uncle Sam wants to help
| not only in building good roads, but
| In seeing to Il that the right kind OF
good road is built.
The passage of the federal road act
has brought Uncle Sam to the aid OF
the state thru the working out OF
great cooperative policy. Not only
do the states and the federal govern
ment share the cost of road construc-
ton, but they also share the duties
and responsibilities.
Uncle Sam will divide ten million
dollars among the states during the
present fiscal year, which ends June
80, 1918. This has been apportioned
among the states-one-third IN the ra-
ito OF population, and ono-third in
the ratio of mileage OF rural delivery
and star mail routes. Next year Uncle
Sam will raise the amount by five mil
lion. and the year after that by an
other five, and another five for the
fiscal year 1921.
All Of the states have agreed to par
ticipate in this work. They have the
power Of selecting, subject to the ap-
proval of the secretary Of agriculture,
the road which Is to be improved. The
state makes tho surveys, does the act
ual work Of construction and Is
charged with the maintenacne.-The
Automobile and Automobile Supplies,
and written by Lofan Waller Page. d.
rector Of tho office OF public roads OF
the United States department of agri-
culture.
Good Roads for Wyoming.
Az result OF tho recent meeting