MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



ROAD BUILDERS WANTED. 



Many different localities throughout Michi- 

 gan are writing the State Highway Depart- 

 ment, asking for names and addresses of con- 

 tractors and practical road builders who can 

 and will enter into a contract, or will take 

 charge of and superintend the building of 

 state roads. All persons who desire to make 

 contracts, or wish to be employed as super- 

 intendents, should send their names and au- 

 dresses to the State Highway Department, 

 Lansing, Mich. 



NATIONAL AID FOR 



STATE GOOD ROADS 



In speaking upon the question of national 

 aid as a supplement to state aid in road build- 

 Howard H. Gross, secretary of the Farm- 

 rs" Good Roads League of Illinois, says: 



"The need for good roads is universal. It 

 is the une thing needed above all others for 

 the- social and economic advancement of Amer- 

 ica to fulfill its high destiny. No part of 

 the earth is so richly endowed with all the 

 material blessings as our land. Here civiliza- 

 tion must work out its greatest problems, and 

 here it should reach its highest and most 

 perfect development Wheresoever the Ameri- 

 can may travel, he is always proud of his 

 country and his flag; his humiliation comes 

 when he is forced to admit that of all coun- 

 tries of the world our public roads are the 

 \vnrst, while we are the best able of any 

 country to build roads. 



Good roads are found practically everywhere 

 in Great Britain, continental Europe, and even 

 in far-off Australia and New Zeeland the road 

 builder has done his work well. Even in 

 Brazil, Argentine and other South American 

 countries are to be found many highly im- 

 proved and well cared for highways. 



The query arises, why is this so, and why 

 an the people most noted for both enterprise 

 and extravagance so far behind the rest of 

 the world? As an advertiser says, "There is 

 a reason." It lies in certain misconceptions 

 that have obtained in this country from the 

 fir-t. Among these we may mention the fol- 

 lowing: 



The public roads were regarded as a purely 

 local matter, a subject relegated by law and 

 common consent to the small unit of the town- 

 ship or the smaller one of the road district. 

 That the condition of the highways in any 

 locality affected only the local territory and 

 was no concern of the great mass of people 

 the country over. In the earlier days, be- 

 fore the advent of railroads, this conception 

 was largely true: there was little or no com- 

 merce between the states; there was no great, 

 broad market report flashed daily from one 

 end of the country to the other; each locality 

 :it and sold upon its needs. 



The conditions have changed, and this 

 change necessitates a new conception as to 

 the importance of the highways. Now food 

 products arc shipped thousands of miles from 

 where they are produced, and proper distri- 

 bution is one of the great questions of the 

 So perfect and widespread has become 

 'hi' system of distribution that prices rise and 

 fall upon conditions covering not only the 

 entire country, but in fact the entire world. 

 As matters now stand, the cost and facility 

 of transportation over country roads are of 

 prime importance. Thus the local question 

 has become a national one. 



Roads Are Public Property. 



Another misconception was that the coun- 

 try roads belonged to the farmer it was his 

 duty to build and maintain them. After pre- 

 vailing for 150 years, this idea has now given 

 way. The new and true conception is that 



the roads are public property and it is the 

 duty of the whole public to look after its 

 own. This has crystallized in what is known 

 as state aid in road building. 



Another misconception that has been re- 

 sponsible for the waste of untold millions 

 upon the highways was that anybody could 

 build roads, while the fact is that anybody 

 cannot do it. By reason of this millions of 

 money were squandered by misdirected effort 

 with no substantial benefit for the outlay. It 

 should be hardly necessary to say that it re- 

 quires engineering skill, plus experience, plus 

 equipment, if good results are to be had in 

 road building. 



The apostles of good roads, in securing the 

 adoption of state aid in sixteen states within 

 the last few years, have made great progress. 

 State aid is good; it is a great and necessary 

 forward step, but it is not enough. The time 

 has come to treat the subject upon its broad- 

 est lines- It is not only a state but a national 

 question. 



The reasons for national aid in road build- 

 ing may be briefly stated. 



The federal government has authority to 

 do so under the Constitution. It was so held 

 in the earlier years of our national life; it 

 has acted upon this authority and thus estab- 

 lished a precedent. The plan of national road 

 building is world-wide and a successful plan. 

 It is the only one that has ever solved the 

 question, as all European and other countries 

 will testify. Here we have a world precedent 

 as well as a local one. 



Again, the federal government uses over 

 forty per cent of these highways for rural 

 mail delivery. So it has both use and need 

 for good roads. The cost of rural mail serv- 

 ice is now about $35,000,000 per year over 

 generally bad. and at times over roads that 

 are nearly impassable. Those in charge and 

 in a position to know estimate that with 

 universally good roads the cost of perform- 

 ing the service would be reduced at least 20 

 per cent, and the quality of the service would 

 be greatly increased. In other words, the 

 bad road conditions cause a waste and un- 

 necessary expense of at least $7,000,000 per 

 year, which is paid by all the people upon the 

 one item of rural delivery. 



Bad Roads Cost Millions. 



The government statisticians estimate that 

 the extra cost, due to bad roads, of moving 

 the three principal crops to market corn, 

 wheat and cotton is over $50,000,000 per year. 

 It is ultra-conservative to say that the money 

 loss by bad roads entails a waste with no 

 compensating benefit of approximately $180,- 

 000,000 per year. Many estimate the amount 

 at several times this enormous sum. We may 

 fairly say that with good roads generally 

 throughout the country, the resulting econ- 

 omy, measured in money alone would be at 

 least $2 per year for every person in the land. 



It may be said that the enormous sum of 

 money required to build good roads would 

 bankrupt the country. That would be an al- 

 most impossible task. True, the amount re- 

 quired is colossal, but it can be very easily 

 produced without any appreciable burden. 

 The economies effected in twenty years will 

 build the roads. No country in the world 



is or ever was so well able to finance the 

 transaction. 



Let us take a glimpse of the national debts 

 and interest charges of a few of the leading 

 nations and compare them with our own 

 country, making the comparison on a per cap- 

 ita basis. Let us see how much of debt stands 

 against each individual in the several coun- 

 tries, and the annual interest they must pay. 



Annual 

 Per Capita. Interest. 



France $144.00 $6.05 



Great Britain 88.83 3.47 



Germany 49.00 2.00 



Italy 82.00 3.69 



Spain 98.00 3.72 



Australia 278.00 10.89 



United States.. ,. 11.11 .29 



The above figures are more eloquent than 

 words. Ten years ago the national debt of 

 the United States was $15.55 per capita and 

 the interest charge 54 cents. This great re- 

 duction is due largely to the increased 

 population. 



Government Should Spend $400,000,000. 



If the government were to issue $400,000,000 

 of two per cent bonds and use the proceeds 

 in aiding road building, it would place the 

 debt per capita almost exactly where it was 

 ten years ago, and would increase the in- 

 terest charge from 29 to 39 cents per person 

 per year. These bonds would be eagerly 

 taken by banks as a basis of circulation, and 

 would give us a much needed increase in the 

 volume of currency. The interest charge to 

 carry the bonds would be $8,000,000 per year. 

 Against this should be set the economy in 

 the rural mail service, which by reason of 

 good roads will be at least $7,000,000 per year, 

 leaving a net charge of $1,000,000 or a frac- 

 tion of over one cent per person per year. 

 As the federal government is now taxing us 

 for all purposes at the rate of $10 per capita, 

 we may assume the added penny would not 

 be felt. A tax of eight cents per person per 

 year would pay the interest and would pro- 

 vide a sinking fund that would retire the bonds 

 at maturity. 



Let us assume the federal government, 

 should be wise enough and progressive enough 

 to authorize an issue of $400,000,000 of bonds 

 as fast as the funds were required. How 

 should the proceeds be used? May I suggest 

 a plan that to me seems fair. and practicable. 



The proceeds of the bond issue to be pro 

 rated among the states as follows: One-half 

 on the basis of population, and one-half on 

 the basis of highway mileage. Thus the 

 thickly populated states would have the ad- 

 vantage in the first distribution, while the 

 more sparsely settled states would gain in the 

 latter. An examination will show the plan 

 is equitable. 



A condition of the issue would be that each 

 of the several states, in order to receive its 

 pro rata, should raise within ten years, say, 

 $3 for every $1 to be drawn from the national 

 treasury. The proceeds of the bond issue to 

 be expended upon the main highways used 

 for rural mail delivery, and in no event to 

 exceed 25 per cent of the cost of the improve- 

 ments. The work to be done under state 

 supervision, according to specifications sub- 

 mitted to and approved by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. The money to be 

 paid out on certificates of the proper state 

 officers, setting forth that the respective im- 

 provements have been completed. 



Surveys have been completed for a new road 

 that is to be built by the Tamarack Mining 

 Company to the Tamarack water works in 

 Houghton county. The work on the highway 

 will not be started until spring, as the season 

 is now too far advanced, but it will be under- 

 taken as soon as possible and the road will 

 be in use early in the summer. The highway 

 will be of great value to the farmers of the 

 district. The present road is one of the worst 

 in the copper country, and is so hilly that 

 only small loads can be taken over it. 



