86 CONFERENCE OF GOVERNORS. 



aside from its purely local uses, was to bring the products of the 

 field or the mill to the nearest point on the railroad. No matter 

 how poor the road was, because of the short hauls and by the use of 

 additional horses, at a seemingly small cost, the roads could be 

 traversed. So they were neglected and allowed to deteriorate, and 

 their relative value to the community was lost sight of. 



ISTow it is plain that of all these different factors in modem 

 life each fills its important place, and the evolution of modern 

 civilization has gradually brought them to their true relation to 

 each other. The feeling that better methods shall be used in 

 building and maintaining roads has become universal throughout 

 the whole of this country, because the people themselves, having 

 adjusted the relative values of different conditions of transporta- 

 tion, have determined that the highway, as the first step in the 

 movement of all things, shall not only be as perfect in its construc- 

 tion as its importance merits, but that the money of the people 

 shall be expended wisely and intelligently. 



The OfiBce of Public Eoads of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture in a recent bulletin states that there are approxi- 

 mately 3,151,570 miles of public roads in the United States; that 

 of these 7 per cent, only are improved, leaving 93 per cent, of 

 them in bad condition. The investigation of that ofiice shows 

 further that the average cost of moving a ton of heavy material is 

 about 25 cents; that on stone roads in good condition the cost of 

 moving a ton is 8 cents; on ordinary stone roads, 13 cents; on 

 earth roads, rutted and in the condition of the ordinary country 

 road, in the bad season, 39 cents; on wet, sandy roads, 33 cents; 

 and on dry, sandy roads, 64 cents. The same ofiice asserts that 

 a reduction per ton of from 35 to 13 cents would mean an annual ' 

 saving in the United States of over $350,000,000. 



It is needless to say that such a consummation can never be 

 reached in this country; but it is well to consider how serious a 

 matter the transportation problem is, and what savings in cost 

 can be made by even slight improvements in the roads, and to 

 remember that in the end the consumer always has to pay the tax. 



The Office of Public Eoads has also collected some statistical 

 information concerning the relation of roads to the development 

 of the people. They classify, for purposes of illustration, the 

 States of Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi and North Carolina as 

 having " bad roads," and the States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, 

 New Jersey and Ehode Island as having " good roads ; " and the 

 following table is interesting : — 



