The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1919-07-18
PROGRESSIVE STEP,

Up voting to accept the liberal offer
Y, of the state. and federal highway de.
III partmepts for the construction of per-
~ manent highways in Maury county the
a. Justices of the county court reflected
A public sentiment, that iss they voted
z as the best sentiment of the largest;
,sstaxpayerss Of the county would have,
ssdictated:. They voted as prudent bus
ssTiness men, They accepted an 'offer
III that mo- good business man about to-
-, make an improvement, would have re-
N.,jected i Y l. ss IN LAY Il !.
y 1t wotnd have, been. .sittle less thar.
via pubic calamity had THE courtN reg
n fused the offer Of two-thrds of the
~ money necessary to defray the cost
ss'ofl constructing fsrtitthnees3 miles on
permanent highways. AS the mem
bers or the commission plainly stated
" these highways must be maintained
ana the travel over the1h' is going to
constantly increase,o " was simply IL
aa'dasstfoh after ali Of whether The Teodh-'
'ty would undertake the burden alone
2sbr meet the offer which win solve the
Asqtestion Of future maintenance. :,
's'snOf course there has been and still'
'i'4s considerable opposition to voting
money for building good roads. There
was opposition to the purchase Of the
pikesf There was opposition to ade-
quate provision for the criminals of
the county. There was much oppOsi.
tion TO the location of the Middle
Tennessee Experiment station here.
There are some who are constitution
ally opposed to progress. There are
others who are ultra conservative
and who havesa horror for debt and
taxes. But 1T Is asself evident prop
Osition that with the radical change
sthatehas taken place in recent years in
i the character of travel and modes of
conveyance old methods ofAfoad con-
u struction. are wholly and utterly mad.
'.eequate., People insist upon having
modern conveyances that cost them
ssrrofl ten to twenty times what their
lAbnggies cost them ten q years ago.
raThese new conveyances wear out the
h!foads ten times as fast as the horse
and buggy Roads to meet the chang
led conditions are going to cost ten
,~fin6es rAy much as they formerly
"a tax levy Of dime ten years ago
for roads Is wholly insufficient at this
time f'@tit "f2>t.1 H@s<:s 's-f,g
a Twelve thousand dollars mile for
l5tIfe construction of roads is seeming
asAy satstupendous sum, but it, is no.
asimore under changed conditions, than
"a thousand or two dollars few years,
ago. Millions are now invested In,
this county in automobiles and trucks
where a few years ago thousands were
Invested in wagons and 7buggies. One,
expense inevitably calls for another.
The Herald could get along fairly well
under the old methods of travel, but
the folks insist on more rapid and
more expensive mode of getting about
and they should not object to paying
the cost at
The action of the court on this ques-
tion Monday is good start. Ultimate
ly every mile of the main highways
b from the county seat must be recon,
~ structed Nothing will contribute
more to the pleasure and comfort of
- living than good roads. They are go
y ing to cost a pile of money but after
all no one can take his wealth to the
Il grave. Somen of 1t might as we'll be
siexpended in life for the comforts and
s-conyeniences and inethei list of these.
surely good roads come first. :,<pr 8.