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which can come from the most improved methods must be secured aUke 

 to our farmers, to the producers of the country and to the consumers 

 of the country. Your organization can assist in the solution of this prob- 

 lem, as in the solution of other problems, but when our farms have been 

 fertilized, when they have been wisely tilled, when the farmer has been 

 provided with credit upon reasonable terms, and, then, there is still one 

 other service which the general government, in conjunction with the state 

 government, can render to the farmer of this country. I allude now to 

 the construction and maintenance of a system of improved highways. 

 It is difficult for us to excuse ourselves — in fact, we cannot excuse ourselves 

 for neglecting this important subject for most a century. We are two 

 thousand years behind the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire. 



With respect to public highways, we have no system, no national 

 system, and we have no system in a majority of the states. Only twenty- 

 two states have made even an effort ui the direction of the development 

 of the highways, and in the direction of devoting scientific thought to the 

 construction and maintenance of a system of public roads. 



Congress expends from $20,000,000 to $50,000,000 a year on rivers, 

 few of which are navigated. We spend from $15,000,000 to $25,000,000 

 for public buildings, few of which are indispensable to the efficiency of the 

 public service. With respect to highways we have heretofore made no 

 expenditures, excepting a mere trifle, to stimulate interest. 



Now, the purpose of this expenditure is legitimate, the stimulation 

 of interest is the principal object which the general government ought 

 to have in view. The average haul amongst the farmers is nine miles. 

 These roads ought to be constructed, in the main, by the people of the 

 locality which they penetrate. The taxation ought to be a local taxation, 

 so that the people can know whence it comes and whither it goes. Most 

 of the people can have little direct concern in rural routes from the eastern 

 to the western sea. These are not matters of indifference. I hope to see 

 the Lincoln Highway constructed from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Indeed, 

 I have become a subscriber to the fund. I hope to see the road constructed 

 from Winnipeg to the Gulf, because that will stimulate interest and inspire 

 imitation. 



My friends, it is estimated by experts that every time the sun sets, 

 the farmers of the United States have lost a million dollars between the 

 rising and setting of the sun, on account of our neglected public highways, 

 the waste of time, waste of energy and wear and tear on team and 

 vehicle — one million dollars a day, aggregating during the year more 

 than three hundred millions. It is hard to estimate the necessaries and 

 comforts which this three hundred million dollars would supply if this 

 waste were eliminated and if this amount were applied to the purchase of 

 comforts and of necessaries. 



I say stimulation of interest is the principal purpose which ought to 

 animate the general government. Sufficient money is expended now for 



