The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1920-11-04
OUR PUBLIC ROADS

gering blow within the past ~ or IS
It is estimated that in some
sections of the United States only
10 per cent. Of the roads that were
laid out for construction to the stand |
ard given by the federal government
have been completed during the year
1920. Some assign the chief reason
for this delay to the failure on the
part of the railroad companies to-
furnish open top cars for transport
ing hard surface material. The ter
ritory surrounding Memphis is pecul-
lar in the fact that there are no rock
quarries nor good self-concreting
gravel pits within a radius of l25
miles, which places the bodybuilding
industry at the mercy Of our trans
portation companies. Other sections
that have rocks near so near that 1t
could be hauled by wagons or trucks
have not felt the blow so keenly be-
cause they have been independent of
railroad transportation facilities.
What contracts that have been let in
this section were ,apparently very high
and it is thought that the contractors
would reap harvest from such eX-
orbitant prices, but the failure to get
the hard surface material and the
Reorganization of labor, together
with the high cost Of feed, have re-
suited in a loss to these men engaged
in road construction.
But, for the optimism and constant
boosting efforts Of a few of the
faithful ones, there would be an utter
collapse in the sentiment, as well as
the efforts to lay out and construct
our public highways and the financ-
ing Of same.
The necessity for better roads is
becoming more and more apparent
each day because of the change that
has taken place in the means of
travel and in the excessive tonnage.
The effect is seen powdered into dust,
particularly on our main highways.
The wooden bridges are being de-
stroyed at rapid rate, all of which
bring increased cost to the mainten-
ance of The dirt roads such as we
have in this section.
The funds available in the treasury
Of the different counties for con-
struction and maintenance purposes
are always inadequate and in many
cases the taxes for the year to come
have been anticipated in the expendi-
lures. This presents rather gloomy
outlook to the tax payer who is ask
ing many questions as to whether the
present system is giving an honest
return for the money spent and the
officials in charge are, therefore, re-
ceiving serious criticisms, which
many Of them are not justly entitled
to. The public should ever keep in
mind that there is no such thing as a
good dirt road, speaking from the
standpoint Of the requirements Of the
modern methods of travel. They
| should also remember that the freezes
and the rains are destructive agen-
/ cies with which we must reckon. and
these forces have seemingly been
working over time within the past
two years, bringing about greatly
increased cose in maintenance alone
4 The fact is. most of the taxes col
lected for road purposes within the
last few years have been expended
on repairs and not on constructive
work. The repairing has been made
necessary by heavy floods, which
Fave washed the roads into deep gull
| lies, and by the freezes which have
made them exceedingly soft. All this
makes it appear that our highways
have been woefully neglected, but the
truth is, the officials have not beer
given means nor have they had the
cooperation of those who live along
the highways and those who trave
over them. The travelling public, as
well as the tax payer. must not re-
/ quire the highway officials to per
form the impossible-that is, to main
tain a high class system Of roads
upon the revenue that is placed il
their hands
There is another fact to be borne
in mind and that is that the cost 0.
road building and maintenance have
rbeen from three to five times create
than it was eight or 10 years ago AM
but little. if any more, revenue from
the tax fund with which to do tn
work. Besides this, the increased
travel and the greater tonnage pass
ing over the highways add greatly t,
the destructive agencies.
Will these conditions prevail TO
any length Of time, or is there a bet
ter outlook in the near future? TIL
statement has been published recent,
that because the contractors hay
sustained heavy losses for the pas
two years they will continue to biz
high on all road construction TO
several months to come so as to bal
fanee accounts. This view is not ten
able in the light of history. Man,
men with new equipment will appea
upon the scene whenever road con
struction is to be let and will max
bids based upon the then cost Q
equipment. feed and food. labor an
material. The old guards, as we ma
call them, will either have to con
form to changed conditions in maxim
their bids or else get out Of the gam
altogether.
The near future, in our judgmen
holds a brighter picture for actus
road construction than has been /
the near past. Labor will be cheape
and more dependable; feed and foo
and building material will be CORE
spondingly lower All of these al
now undergoing readjustment, whic
win find before many months thei
natural level. The scarcity of labc
Lin the past three OF four years ha
been due to inefficiency and made
1 ...ntn so,..-;cn rathar than the lack {