Semi-Centennial Volume. 207 



is the application of efficiency principles to the farm, and the second is the 

 use of the automobile for recreation. Each will do its own part towards 

 making our roads what they should be. 



Both are beinji' aided in every way by the manufacturers of road build- 

 ing material or machinery. The national government is now doing much 

 to help the efficiency of the farm through the Department of Agriculture 

 and its branch, the Office of Public Roads, and Rural Engineering. 



Perhaps it might be well to give a few reliable estimates concerning 

 how the question of the roads affects the profits of the farm. America 

 has a marvelous railroad system reaching throughout the length and 

 breadth of the land, and yet the average farm is located from eight to 

 ten miles from the nearest station. Also, probably seventy-five per cent of 

 the commerce of this country starts on the wagon roads, since we are 

 essentially a producer of raw materials. We may conservatively esti- 

 mate that at least $700,000,000 is expended annually in getting our pro- 

 duce to the railroad. This cost is exorbitant, and the great problem of 

 the Office of Public Roads is how much of this can be saved by a good 

 system of country roads. It is simply a matter of striking the proper 

 balance between the saving effected by good roads and the expense in- 

 curred in improving and maintaining them. This has been worked out 

 very carefully, and the justifiable expenditure in relation to the tonnage 

 or number of vehicles passing over the road has been determined with 

 sufficient accuracy. It will be seen at once that according to this prin- 

 ciple, a system of public roads should, like a railroad system, consist of 

 a limited number of well-constructed trunk lines with a larger number of 

 feeders of more moderate cost. Any community which does not act on 

 this principle is wasting money, for if all are constructed poorly the 

 saving in hauling is not as large as it should be and also the expense of 

 maintenance is greater, while if all are made of expensive construction 

 the saving in hauling might not justify the large expenditure. 



Poor roads mean, however, not only an economic waste in hauling 

 but they hinder greatly the social and intellectual development of the 

 rural community. Consolidated schools, community centers, and good 

 country churches are only possible where the roads are good, especially in 

 the winter season when the country people have the leisure time for 

 social and intellectual advancement. It seems to have been demonstrated 

 conclusively that where good roads permit of a proper social development 

 the young people are more likely to remain in the country even after 

 taking advanced school work in the higher institutions of learning. 



The merchants are aiding the good-roads movement in every possible 

 way, in some instances building a mile or more of good road to serve as 

 an object lesson to the farmers and enlist their cooperation. The mer- 

 chant realizes that good roads are a valuable asset to his business, and 

 that town which has a network of well-constructed roadways converging 

 to it will enjoy a much larger patronage from the country people and the 

 residents of the smaller communities. 



The problem of road building has in the past been almost wholly left to 

 the small unit, as the township or road district, but during the past decade 

 many states have passed laws making it possible to obtain state and 



