260 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



corps. This corps is the best and most thoroughly trained body 

 of civil engineers in the world. Their men are especially trained 

 for the work from boyhood, as are cadets and midshipmen. 

 Their life-work is in the corps. Their instruction covers the 

 engineering, the administrative detail, and the law referring to 

 the subject. The standing of the corps personally and profes- 

 sionally is of the highest. 



Contrast for a moment our conditions. There is no legal 

 standard of qualifications for an engineer, least of all a highway 

 engineer. The job is seldom permanent. There is but little 

 confidence in the ability and but too often in the integrity of 

 highway officials. This is hardly to be wondered at when we 

 recall that we are trying to care for a fast-growing motor traffic, 

 to-day sixteen times that of the French Republic, under the 

 leadership of political appointees holding office for limited terms 

 and working under ?aws that make efficiency impossible. 



To avoid any misunderstanding as to our highway engineers, 

 let me, in this connection, bear witness to the devotion and 

 ability of those with whom I have been thrown in contact. There 

 are, of course, lamentable exceptions, but as a whole they are 

 morally and technically of higher class than one would expect 

 under the conditions. There is, however, little organization, no 

 recognized standard of qualifications, and practically no inter- 

 state cooperation. Road societies there are, but these are or- 

 ganized to " boost" the cause of roads and only incidentally to 

 afford technical training and interchange of data. 



The very evident cure for our present evils and the best pro- 

 vision for the future is such legislation as will establish in each 

 State a highway force that will command respect and confidence 

 in its ability. We must then state our problem, and this, too, 

 will generally require legislation. Even in the smallest and in 

 the sparsely settled States the cost and importance of .the work 

 will warrant thorough preparatory study. But little of this 

 has been done. ~,Ve have tackled the job of improving our roads 

 with an insouciance that would be almost laughable if its results 

 were less ominous. Few, if any, States have any accurate idea 

 of their country-road mileage, much less of its proper and 

 economical development, and, I may add, practically none at all 

 of the ultimate cost nor of the duration of the period of improve- 



