The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1921-04-29
The Changing Road

called towns, cities, counties and
states, people are -swarming over
their highways and tugging at their
loads in fretful humor.
Something has gone wrong. Con-
sumers have been robbed, pro-
deucers impoverished and fcodstuffs
wasted, until the people have be-
come exasperated.
An economic coupling pin is miss
ing somewhere. That "pin" is the
public highway. How it came to
be missing as an effective unit in
transportation, matters not so much
here as what is being done to place
it where it belongs.
1t IS enough to say that nobody in
particular is to blame. that indus
trially the country has grown like a
pup-first one member and then an
other. out of proportion to other
members of its body and that IN a
perfectly natural way the demand
tor the more flexible and depend
able forms of transportation have
out grown existing facilities for
satisfying those demands.
Realizing this tact, the people de-
, termlned to tnd why their transpor-
tation needs had become so acute.
One of the first things they dis
covered was most glarlng eco
nomlc error.
Here is what they found:
By turning over to private enter
prise the development of rail trans.
portation as the sole means of con
veylng the people and their pro-
ducts from one point to another, the
demand for dividends on stock, in
terest on bonds, salaries for an army
of toll takers IN the gulse of'rail-
way employees has made the cost of
transportation excessive. Both pro-
ducer and consumer are suffering to
the limit Of their power to bear.
The producer barely receives re-
turn of his cost to produce, and the
consumer pays far more than the
product should be worth.
Aroused to these evils, one remedy
after another was applied by the
people. At first they tried doctor
ing" their transportation Ills with
railway commissions to regulate
rates. Then followed farm market
ing plans and farm credit laws.
Despite all effort the ills remain
ed. Public needs continued to leap
ahead of the facilities for economic
distribution, and as these increased,
parasitic middlemen multiplied in
numbers.
Highway improvement was not
keeping pace with highway use.
Upon further examination the
people found another gIaring error.
Failure to surface the road and
put it in condition for continuous
operation of improved vehicles had
already caused losses, amounting to
millions of dullars annually, through
laborious and restricted movement.
They found also that by construct
ing an even and lasting surface on
the road the saving thus gained in
vehicle operation could be applied
to repaying the cost of construc-
tion. By this very simple pro-
cedure the public road would be
changed into paying instead of a
losing property.
With the foregoing facts clear,
the next logical step was road I'M
provement. With ruts out of the
way, and with miry soil replaced
by rigid surface laid upon a sound
subgrade, the problem, 1t was
thought, would soon be solved.
All of this looked very simple.
And vet, it was found that the prob
lem itself was more than two mil
lion miles long, that practically
every foot of the way would have to
be reconstructed IN one form or an.
other to meet public needs.
So, the Federal AID Law was pas.
sed to provide capital for compre.
henslve construction. States which
had no highway departments quick
ly set up governmental machinery
to meet Federal requirements
Other strengthened their existing
departments. and a Nationwide
road movement was Launched. lr
the face of all this planning anC
activity the bald facts now appear
that actual construction is laggini
far behind the blue prlnt. Enpin