Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-09-27
SANITY IN

. mere. Is d ulIeIcHCe between spending money
and squandering it. Money is wasted when it is
used for an unworthy and unproductive purpose.
1t may be wasted by being used for purposes them
selves excellent, but untinely or beyond the powers
of the spenders to bring to profitable realization.
The essential thing i'll the handling Of funds, public
or private, is the preservation of a sane balance,
The state of Minnesota is building 1000 miles
Of state roads. That work represents a very large
expenditure. The program may or may not have
been laid out on a scale too elaborate. The time
proposed for it's completion may or may not be too
early. But the fact that the state is spending sew
eral million dollars on it's roads is not at all an evil
dcnce OF extravaganza.
~. 1t costs money to build a house, or a barn. to
drain a field or buy a piece of machinery. Money
may be wasted on any of these things, but the work
is not IN itself a waste or an extravaganza. The
test to be applied is whether or not the returns from
the expenditure may be expected to be sufficient
to warrant the undertaking Of the work, and
whether or not the financial condition of the owner
is such that the expenditure as proposed will be
likely to embarrass him in other directions.
This year a lot Of potatoes, grown at a distance
ct several miles from market, will remain in the
ground undug because the cost of digging, hand
ling and hauling will be more than the potatoes
Will bring at the shipping point. In some cases the
cost will just about balance the receipts. In those
cases if smooth. hard roads could be substituted for
the dirt roads in existence, and the risk of bad roads
conditions due to wet weather could be eliminated,
there would still be a little profit in handling the
crop. Grain must be hauled, and it is not always
possible to wait for the weather conditions which
make possible good dirt roads. 1t makes a differ
ence whether a farmer can haul a big load or a
small one, whether his teams can average two miles
an hour or four. A very considerable part of the
farmers work is that of hauling. Hauling costs
money. If money can be saved by the improvement
of the roads, and the saving is greater than the
cost, road building, though it calls for investment,
is a direct and important economy. @
Roads are used today more by automobiles
than by wagons not for pleasure riding, but as a
matter OF business. Every person who drives a
car can tell by the feel Of the gas throttle some.
thing OF the additional power required to propeI
a Car over a rough, heavyroad, as compared with a
smooth, hard one. The car that travels 5000 miles
IN a season will use somewhere around 800 gallons
OF gasoline. Gas consumption is easily increased OF
diminished one-third by the condition of the roads
Lessened consumption due to well built and well
maintained roads would alone amount to more thar
the tax levied on a car for road purposes, and this
saving is probably small! compared with the saving
in depreciation on the car itself. 1t is not an ex.
travagance for the Individual to spend $50 for bette,
roads If by doing SO he can save. 500 in the direct
cost to him of using the roads. Fl
What is true Of road building is true of every
other form Of expenditure. It's wisdom is to b.
Judged by its results.
50 n Ws1 - ri