SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VHI. 819 



Trade seeks the line of least resistance. A community must offer it- 

 self. A county may be gridironed with railroads, but if the rations 

 on them are hard to reach from the dwellings of the farmers neither 

 the merchants, nor those stations nor the farmers themselves, will be 

 greatly benefited. 



If all the roads into Waverly were made so good that big loads could be 



hauled over them easily, for 365 days each year, it would do more good 



than all the breweries and saloons you can crowd into the town. Good 



. roads will attract people our way. The profit coming from good roads 



will exceed the cost of making them. 



The Waverly Industrial Association could not do a better thing than 

 to take hold of this problem and secure practical men to devise the best 

 plan for carrying out a systematic and practical campaign for good 

 roads to the business center of ithe city. 



The more the work is concentrated under one man and this man held 

 responsible for the proper ependiture of the fund, the more economical 

 will be the administration, provided the proper man is selected in the 

 first place. 



Take one of the most important roads and develop it: make it as 

 good as possible with the means at hand. Do as much as you can this 

 year, and again next. The road north over the Stockwell bridge in 

 Waverly ought to be improved. It ought to be rounded up, covered with 

 clay, or soil without sand. Then put crushed rock or gravel on the drive- 

 way. It is practical. Gravel and crushed rock are near. The City can 

 afford to do this; in fact she can not afford to not do it. Improve a 

 hundred rods or mere in this way and several hundred farmers in La- 

 Fayette, Warren, Polk and Douglas townships will say to you : "Well 

 done, good and faithful servants". This can be done with the city's share 

 of the one mill County Road Fund. 



Commence in the city and make a good road to the city limits. Then 

 from that point, build each year, as many rods as the fund will stand, 

 and continue on that line to show what can be done by systematic efforts. 



Roads that are always in good condition have such a vital bearing on 

 the industrial, and general phases of life, that they have an important 

 influence on the welfare of all our people. Good roads are worth while. 



The business of improving the roads should be put on a business basis. 



Every good citizen should feel that he has responsibility in this matter, 

 and guard against the incompetence of oflScers selected to perform these 



duties. 



Every citizen should realize that the office of township trustee is an 

 important oflace. The best men in the township are none too good for 

 the office of township trustee. They appoint or let to the lowest respon- 

 ible bidder to work the roads in their district. The trustees are the 

 masters of the situation so far as the road superintendent is concerned. 

 The trustees can discharge him if he does not cornply with the contract. 

 It is the trustees' duty to see that the road superintendent performs his 

 work according to law and contract. Remember that trustees cannot 



