The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1922-12-31

DiS lOetuS VI lldA WcIt IL HUI lOI
to market at much lower cost TIL
my calculations must be in Ameri-
can dollars and cents. According to
figures furnished me by the treasury
department at Washington, on the
fifteenth of last May Belgium owed
the United States just about s429.-
100000. 1t is not much, perhaps, In
the total of more than twelve bill
lion dollars which the several for
eign naticas owe US. but it represents
over twenty-one dollars per family
and would be tidy sum to put into
public improvements IL we could
have the spot cash. Four hundred and
twenty nine million dollars would
make 10000 miles of new railways at
$4,000 a mile. i would make more
than twenty eight thousand miles of
first class motor highways at $4,000
a mile, or enough to reach around the
world at the equator and build also
a first class Roosevelt route from
Seattle to Boston.
A System of New Motor Highways
With this money that Belgium
owes US. which we raised by our
Liberty bonds and which is in addi-
ton 10 the many millions we gave
in charity to feed the Belgians dur
ing the war, Uncle Sam could create
system of new motor roads. zig
tagging this way and that, taking in
almost every principal city of the
United States. The road might start
at Boston and go via New York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washing
ton, through Pittsburg, Wheeling,
Cincinnati and on through Louisville,
Nashville, Memphis and Birmingham
less than two thousand miles.
From New Orleans the fine new
highway could be pushed on to Dali
las and FL Paso, and thence over the
mountains to Los Angeles, north to
San Francisco Portland and Seattle,
and still not use up the four thou
sand miles which, for easy figuring,
we will estimate for the next lap.
From Seattle it could run on east
over the Cascades to Spokane. and
thence over the Rockies on to st.
Paul, a distance of less than two
thousand miles, where. turning south,
it might take in Sioux City, Omaha,
Kansas City and st. Louis and again
reach New Orleans with perhaps two
thousand miles more.
The fourth section would be an
ether thousand miles OF the best road
going from New Orleans northward
through the Mississippi valley 20
Chicago. taking in Peoria and per-
haps Indianapolis, and extending
from Chicago cast to Detroit and
along the shore of Lake Erie to To-
ledo, Cleveland and Buffalo, and
thence going on to Albany and Boss
ton, easily covered in an allotment
of fifteen hundred miles more.
: So far we have used up less than
thirteen thousand miles of our new
automobile highway. We might double
its length and, could we bridge the
Atlantic. still have enough money
left for road from Boston to Pam
anna and run two tracks through our
zone along the canal. Or, suppose
we could bridge the Pacific, the extra
fifteen thousand miles would allow
us to motor on our own roadway
from San Francisco via Honolulu to
Manila, with more than eight thou
sand miles over to take in Guam
and Samoa and the Hawaiian Islands
on the way back.
All this might be done with the
money we have loaned to the Bel
gians. which /. for one. hope they
will pay They are supposed to get
it back as a first lien on the Ger
man reparations. and much of wha.
they have already received is now
going into new roads. Would it not
be better from now on, for Uncle
Sam to spend more of his money on
our public roads rather than lend
1t to other countries to use in max
ing their highways about the bess
paved on earth?
Over Belgium by Automobile
AS to the highways of France and
Belgium. I know whereof l speak.
During the past month or so l have
mLtored through q great part Of
France. and within the past fortnight
have been motoring back and forth