Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-24

factor in the development of good
roads in Wisconsin has that it has
made life more livable for the farm
ers. If you drive through the state in
summer you will notice hundreds OF
~chautauquas carrying on a several days
program, and bringing education AND
ed more than 1900 automobiles owned
by farmers parked around these chau-
tauqua tents. 1t is a common thing to
check 500 automobiles on the streets
Of the small communities Of Wisconsin
on a Saturday night.
THE development of the social life
in this respect has been a great factor
in raising the social level and in keep
ing the boys and girls on the farm.
Beginning of Road Movement
For years the highway was a
negligible factor in America. In Europe
it had been an important factor be-
cause before the development of the
railroad, highways were the only
means Of transportation. In the early
days in America we had the canal
movement. In the eastern states there
were certain main pixies developed. As
the country came to be thickly settled,
the era of railroads came upon US
and absorbed the public attention.
With the development of the motor
vehicle the whole highway problem as
sumed a new aspect.
I'm the early days with horse drawn
traffic the range of journey was limit
ed, and a road was merely a %neighbor-
hood problem in which the urban
population was not interested. Above
that this type Of traffic did not de-
mand a high type of road and did not
have the destructive effect on the
road. Came the development of the
motor vehicle, wiping out county and
state lines and extending the range of
the journey from 10 Or Is miles to
thousands of miles. Its high speed had
4 destructive effect on the old types
of road. 1t demanded new methods and
new types. Traffic is the-great factor
which determines the road problem.
New Jersey was the first state in
The union to pass a state aid law; that
was quickly followed by other eastern
With the tremendous increase
of motor vehicles the movement spread
and began to be felt in the west and
middle west by 1910 Nowhere in
human history can any parallel case
be instanced Of the quick development
of a public problem. The pertinent fact
which l wish to stress is that the motor
vehicle has created the demand for
good roads and the amazing increase in
the demand created has been far
beyond the ability of the American
public TO meet it.
Overload Our Roads
Some figures here are interesting
and convincing. The total number of
motor uahJolnc Eaaa-oj -, . =,
1904 was $4,000: in 1910, sol. 600: in
1913, $780, 00, 900, and this year it
viii run to 10,620, 900. The total ex-
on highway construction in
1904 was $50, 100000: in 1910. $780,
O00, 200; in 1913, S2S6 900, 600. and
1922, $720, OO0, 1000. Note that in the
1910 to 1922 the number of
motor vehicles increased 10,92O per
cent and in the same period the ex-
pendlture on highways lilo per cent.
The load increased over 10000 per
cent and the development Of roads to
the load LOO per cent. This
will visualize the situation. The road
is not keeping pace with the
traffic development and it can only
keep in pace with it in a measurable
degree.
you will see from this the magni-
of the problem, and it is not only
4 question of the motor vehicle, for
1ow comes the motor truck and the
motor bus to add to the strain. These
Tehicles have raised an acute problem.
You can't put a lotion load on a 2-ton
and you cant put a lotion load
IN a 2-ton road. This is what we are
.rying to ~do-overload our roads.
ITO show you the magnitude of this
,rnhJaYn 81 n that -, %la .o..aJ |
If 1S79-1SS3, which marked the highest
period Of railroad building, 10000 miles
# railroads We're built, at a cost of
100000, 600. In the year 1922 there
viii be spent on the rural highways OF
America $792, 100000. Tt has become
he biggest construction problem ever
ackled by the American people. 1t
las developed from the day when road
meant a few loads of gravel
nd a grader, to a great construction
Enterprise demanding the best brains
n America to solve its financial, adj
illustrative and executive problems.
Problem in Wisconsin
THE story of what Wisconsin has
lone in the roal movement will be of
interest to Montana. Let me warn
gu, however. that it would be an error
0 conclude that because a certain plan
worked well in one state it would in
mother. Our population is FIVE times
than yours and your state is
times larger than ours. Half of
ur population is engaged in industrial
and half in agriculture.
1--WE had the problem of agriculture
aulage to care for. Our agricultural
rattle is possibly the heaviest in Amer
"a. Wisconsin is a great farm factory
18th $500 creameries, cheese factories
nd e~ondensaries. This means a daily
aulage of milk and cream to. the fac
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