CHARLES CORNER-COUNTY ROADS. 
17 
low taxation and the freedom of our institutions, held a commanding 
position in the markets of the world with certain of our staple raw ma¬ 
terials, and the wealth that has come to the whole country in a similar way 
has gridironed the continent with railroads, and in one section, at least, 
established manufacturing industries of the first importance and magni¬ 
tude. I think we have cause to be proud of our progress, and that is one 
reason why it behooves us to meet new conditions with the right front. 
I do not think it can be candidly said that the rural districts have ad¬ 
vanced pari passu with the great cities in the ease and comfort of living; 
on the other hand, it is true that we have not developed like conditions 
of povertju We use improved machineiy in our fields, but it has been 
purchased in other States, and we are not very thrifty in taking care of 
it. We have built court houses of imposing dimensions, and established 
excellent schools which are annually turning out school children some¬ 
what dissatisfied with their surroundings. 
We have also secured a reasonably efficient system of railroads which 
the people have largely subsidized; but roads to market, roads to school, 
roads to church, roads to our neighbors do not exist. 
It has been estimated in the State of Massachusetts that the absence of 
good roads in any neighborhood is a greater money loss to the commu¬ 
nity than the sum of all taxation, local, State and Federal. Another 
authority puts it at $10 per head of population, man, woman and child. 
In any farming district of Texas it may be easily demonstrated that the 
lack of roads is a much more costly burden than the construction of a first 
class system of highways. 
In short, we not only have no roads, but we pay handsomely for the 
evil of doing without them. 
Captain Daugherty in addressing the convention held at Houston last 
February, elaborated figures which went to show that the saving in the 
marketing of our cotton crop alone would pay five per cent interest on 
an expenditure of $54,000,000. I can not quite agree with him as to the 
cost at which really efficient and economical highways can be built, but 
his general conclusions on the matter are of great value. I have gath¬ 
ered many startling statistics on these lines, but it is well to avoid long 
arrays of figures, as they are apt to convey no more definite impression 
to the mind than that of magnitude. A simple inspection of the follow¬ 
ing traction table shows in a moment at what a terrible disadvantage we 
are placing ourselves in the struggle for economical production and de¬ 
velopment: 
(1) On paved roads the traction needed to move a loaded wagon is 
33 pounds per ton. 
(2) On macadam roads the traction needed to move a loaded wagon 
is 42 pounds per ton. 
