The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1919-07-01
A ROAD BUILDING NATION.


The United States has entered upon the
greatest era of national road building in
the history of the world. The highways,
once the butt of ridicule and the subject of
lust criticism, are destined within few
wears to be the greatest wonder of the
world.
Twenty-Five years ago Congressman W. T.
Brownlow, of Tennessee, created consider
BILE mirth in the lower branch of congress
by introducing a bill for government aid in
the construction of good roads Brownlow
represented the extreme northeastern con-
gresional district Of Tennessee, bordering on
North Carolina 1t was almost without rail-
roads or public roads except trails scarce
ly usable Hundreds of mountain homes
could be reached only on foot, while many
others were accessible at best only over
bride paths 1t was said Congressman
Brownlow wanted good roads so that he
could ride through his district instead OF
being compelled to make the journeys on
foot when going to and returning from the
sessions of congress. This was a fair sample
of the levity which greeted the introduction
of the first general good roads law in con-
gress. But Brownlow, who was newspaper
man, kept at his unpopular job OF getting
good roads arguments into the Congress1on-
al Record He died a few years ago, re-
membered by only few, but the monu-
ment, for the foundations of which he dug
the excavations as an unsung laborer, stands
today as the national good roads law.
Nearly every state is undertaking the con-
struction Of hard roads on elaborate scales
Illinois is working on the construction OF
500 miles of such highways. Michigan has
approved S55 100000 bond issue for road
construction, and during the summer will
ask federal aid in carrying its undertaking
to completion. Texas will vote on $751;
600 900 bond issue. In the east PennsylVa-
MA New York and New Jersey have entered
upon road building schemes which, when com
pleted, will cover these states with net
work of highways reaching into every coun-
ty. In Georgia the people are alive to the
value of better roads and scores of coun-
ties are preparing to spend hundreds Oh
thousands of dollars to improve their high
WAYS. In addition, the general assembly,
which is now in session, is expected to en-
looking to extensive highway Improvement
The old macadam system, which made
possible such public highways as the North
western turnpike and the National road
leading from the eastern side of the Allie
gheny mountains into the Ohio river valley,
was abandoned with the coming of the rail-
roads The methods of building such roads
were little better than those by which the
pyramids were constructed. The wheelbar-
row was the machine by which the dirt
was moved and the mattock and shovel the
tools by which it was eXcavated and loaded
Yet the National road from Cumberford
Md, to the Ohio river has forty-foot road
bed. covered with stone broken by hand to
the size of walnuts. 1t was built century
ago, but today shows little deterioration
The high cost of road construction and the
improvement of such roads over those OF
one hundred years ago make the building OF
modern undertakings child play in effort
and expense in comparison