FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART I. 57 



ADDRESS BY SENATOR BROOKS. 



When I consented to give up my place on the program to President 

 Lyons, I had no doubt as to the wisdom of my doing so, and before I 

 have been on the floor very many minutes you will be equally sure thai 

 I have done a wise thing. The fact is, I think the best part of my 

 speech was my consenting not to make it. However, if you are willing 

 to stay a few minutes, I will simply talk a little on the good roads 

 •question; a question that comes closer to the farmers of Iowa than any 

 other class of men. Primarily, they are the people who are interested 

 mostly in the public roads and wagon roads of this country. 



A great deal is being said in these days to attract public atten- 

 tion to the condition of our roads, and nothing that I have heard said, 

 or I know nothing that has been said from the rostrum tonight in 3ny 

 judgment, which overstates the tremendous losses our country sustains 

 T>ecause of inadequate roads. I prefer to come close down to the thing 

 itself in the few moments allotted me, and I have no quarrel with those 

 who advocate National and State aid. That thing may be all right; I 

 simply don't know about it. Then the question is a large one for me. 

 I find in these large aggregations of men, I do not seem to count for 

 much. I find, in some way, that I am a larger proportion of one hun- 

 dred men than one hundred thousand. I have the same feeling whon 

 I approach these figures in regard to the cost of making good roads. 

 It may be true that here in Iowa we can spend one thousand, two thous- 

 and, or even five thousand dollars per mile in macadamizing our roads; 

 it seems a very large sum of money. I am not prepared to dispute the 

 wisdom of the matter; I simplj^ know nothing about it. 



With us, here in Iowa, of course, it is a very serious problem, be- 

 cause of the absence of road-making material. The combination of ele- 

 ments that have made us the first agricultural State of the Union, has 

 also combined to leave us practically destitute of roacVmaking ma- 

 terial: gravel pits are not with us to any appreciable extent. It 

 has seemed to me that in our present condition the expense 

 necessary to be incurred we are unable to meet. I may be 

 mistaken, but it has seemed to me and does now. that here 

 in Iowa we are fortunately not dependent on these high-priced roads. 

 I do not remember of having examined a public highway, however ex- 

 pensively built, that for general purposes was superior to the ordinary 

 road. I am not unmindful of the figures President Lyons quotes us; 

 what one horse can haul, and, my friends, we are not in the condition. I 

 apprehend, of the people who haul these large dray-loads over our city 

 ■streets, or over the suburbs of our European cities. We have wider 

 stretches; we come with lighter rigs and with more speed and more 

 pleasure than it is possible to get over these harsh, unyielding surfaces. 

 For me it is a matter of regret to ride over these paved streets in Des 

 Moines, and it is certainly not a pleasant thing for our country folks to 

 ride and drive over them. 



