Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1919-04-23
N. |. HERTGES
ON GOOD ROADS
Winneshie;l Farmer of Route One
Gives Some of His Views on the
Good Roads Question Now
Before the People.
$ HE WILL
DO HIS SHARE
Ofe. to Put Up Money and VIII
Haul Twenty-Five Loads OF Ma
teriai. Fayors Good Roads
Built Right
Decorah, Iowa, April, 90, 1919

Decorah, Iowa, April, 90, 1919
Public Opinion.
To the Editor:-Well I would like
to write a few words too in regard
to our coming good roads and at the
same time answer some Of the
questions raised by Mr.. Flaskerud,
of Calmar the county engineer and
that terrible progressive farmer at
Frankville
Well, Mr.. Flaskerud, I second you
in some of your questions, especial
| ly about that court house stunt,
which you very ably showed in plain
figures, and the cost of those 5000
miles to be hard surfaced This is the
only way to come right out before
| the people and show them what they
are going to have and what it is
going to cost and thus eliminate
court house stunts. And so far as
making these roads at first from
county seat to county seat, believe
like Mr. Flaskerud that would make
speedways for those foxy fellows
and nothing else.
Now let us take up the matter
! with that progressive farmer Of
! Frankvile. First I wish to say that
will not use any partiality because
, don't know either Flaskerud or
Tillotson, but judging from their
writings I am inclined to believe
that Flaskerud has forgotten more
than Tillotson ever knew. Say Mr..
Tillotson you say that every farmer
should be glad to pay from $40 to
$50 an acre, providing such road
would go past his farm or within
mile. If you are so flush with money
: say you got three or four thounsand
dollars ready for that purpose, and
thus inviting your neighbors to fol-
low suit, that would be the right way
to start the great drive right. Are
you actually practicing what you
preach? I believe if someone would
come along and make you pay $50
an acre tax on even quarter sec
tion only, you too, would be like the
marooned sailor on a desert island.
And now will turn loose my own
bill about good roads, someone
calls them permanent roads. wish
to say right here there is no such a
thing as a permanent road. After
they are hard surfaced they need
constant fixing. 1 was born and
raised where they haven't got any
thing but hard surfaced roads and
here are two reasons why they have
them. They got the best stone and
the cheapest labor in the world.
There is no man in all our great
land in more for good roads than
I am. The only weak spot I have is
the distributing part of the financial
end, as our county engineer very
rightly points out in finishing his
last article on the subject. But to
show you that l have some courage,
| live five miles from town and as
soon as that stretch is to be made a
good road I will have 500 ready
for the first drive, and furthermore.
promise to haul 25 loads, as I i'm
agine that most of our material will
have to come by railroad, and this
is not going to be such small mat
ter either. Now right here | will
ask you a great question. Why are
we farmers to pay the extra 25 per
cent for abutting land, and supposing
we got land on both sides Of the
road it would be so per cent. Is the
farmers property the only thing that
is going up in price on account OF
such roads, or are we farmers the
only ones that are using them? How
about the town property and the
town people, won't their property
raise in proportion just the same as
ours will? Why then make us pay
the extra'per cent.
Last year we used to say this war
is everybody's war and everybody
must finance it. Very good and l say
these roads are everybody's roads
and everybody must finance them
the banker, the farmer, the mer-
chant the preacher, the dentist, etc.
number of these gentlemen only
go on the roads for joy riding, rails
ing hob with our roads, and why
shouldn't they pay the extra per
cent? This bulldozing the farmer too
much will have to come to end some
time. / believe good deal as the
Cnntinued ON last nage