Arizona republican., 1922-04-27

while in the United States the same
/ year, our cost of hauling produce
from farm to market was over sc
cents per ton mile haul This great
difference my friends. was due al
| most entirely to the difference in
road conditions, and bringing our
! history right down to date we find
! that during the recent war the ex-
| cellent roa system of France made
| it possible to rush men and supplies
to the front so rapidly that they were
able to keep the Huns from reaching
Paris.
Now let u. look on the other side
of this problem. Take for example
our American Indian. Did you ever
stop to think that he never had a
wheel. a vehicle or cart of any kind
| whatsoever? Did you ever stop to
think that because he had no ve-
hicles he builded no roads. and be-
cause he failed to work out his trans
portation problems he made a failure
of his national and economic life?
Let us take another example. The
native Mexican. Did you ever stop to
think that Mexico has the fewest
and poorest railroads of any of the
so-called civilized nations? Did you
ever stop to think that her poor
transportation facilities have been
one of the causes which has held back
her progress and helped to make the
land of "manana"?
Let us take one more example. Rus
sia, starving, misguided Russia. upon
which the eyes of the world are now
focused. those trackless wastes where
no roads have been built and large
provinces Where lie vast undeveloped
resources awaiting the coming of the
iron monster and the motor truck.
Now, how do We build good road?
We build it with the least grade pos
sible to get away from the force OF
gravity. Secondly, we build it with
a hard smooth surface to avoid the
force of friction. / sometimes think
friction is the greater OF the two
forces because your car will climb
a 25 per cent grade on hard smooth
road but will not run on the level
on a soft, rough road.
Again, great cities have developed
where natural conditions have made
lines of transportation. Omaha, Ne
braska, was built on the Missouri
river near the mouth of the Platte,
because they could run lines of trans
portation north ana south along the
Missouri and westward along the
Platte river on q water grade. Kan
sas City was built on the Missouri
river near the mouth of the Kaw
river for the same reason. st. Louis
was built on the Mississippi river
near the mouth of the Missouri and
Ohio because they could run lines
of transportation in four directions
on a water grade. New York City
was located near the mouth Of the
Hudson and East rivers, not alone
because she had harbors for incom-
ing ships but because she could run
lines of transportation northWard up
the Hudson river and westward,
through the Susquehanna valley into
Pennsylvania on water grade.
Future OF West
Now, let us come closer to home.
What of the future for Arizona, and
our entire Rocky Mountain region?
What bearing does transportation
have upon that future? My friends.
say that it has such tremendous
bearing that it will largely determine
the progress of this state and of this
nation-in the next ten years. A
while ago, / told you how we build
good roads, now let us consider why
we build good ads-fundamentally
for the purpose of reducing the unit
of cost per ton mile haul and per ton
foot lift between the producer and
the consumer; between the farmer
and stock raiser and his market.
Here you have fertile valleys: your
soil adapted to raising alfalfa. cotton,
sugar beets, vegetables and fruits,
your pastures adapted to grazing
great herds Of livestock-hut your
consumers are yonder in Denver,
Kansas City and the East, many hun
dreds of miles away, or in Los
Angeles and the Orient, great dis
tances from you. Your problem is
to reach them-to transport what you
have to sell-at the lowest unit cost.
The first step-build better roads to
our nearest railroad stations.
Now, my friends, Europe is almost
bankrupt-her rate OF exchange is
very low: she cannot buy much of
our tonnage and produce during the
next decade. But--the money of
China and Japan is almost on a par
with our American money. So when
this great tonnage from the Missis-
sippi valley is turned westward to.
ward the centers of increasing popii-
lation on the Pacific coast and across
into the awakening Orient a small
part of it will be stopped at some
half way point in our Rocky Noun
tain region to manufacture and refine
1t for the use of man.
But seriously, my friends. we have
barely begun to develop the resources
of this great region. No farsighted
man will challenge the assertion that
we have barely scratched the surface
IF our possibilities-either in produc-