18 
TRANSACTIONS OF THE TEXAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
(3) On dirt roads in good order, the traction needed to move a loaded 
wagon is 70 pounds per ton. 
(4) On soft land the traction needed to move a loaded wagon is 210 
pounds per ton. 
Now, the pull of a horse working all day has been estimated to be 
about 125 pounds. Then a good animal can move on a level, including 
the vehicle— 
On a paved road, about 4 tons. 
On macadam, 3 tons. 
On good dirt road, If tons. 
On soft land, a little over \ ton. 
The last is a case of bogging down in an empty ambulance. 
Let us get these figures into our heads for what they actually mean. 
They show that any horse or mule hauling a load on the roads of any 
country that has a system of highways is doing from two to six times as 
much work as a similar animal is doing for us day by day. This is a 
most unreasonable handicap to put up with. 
The experiments of Morin in France corroborate the above figures 
very exactly, and nothing further than an additional testimony is to be 
gained by quoting them at length. 
Having said this much with a view to insist on the necessity of this 
contemplated reform, let us discuss the question as to how it may be 
brought about in the least time and with the best economy; and by 
economy I mean the best results at the least cost. We have to solve each 
of the following divisions of the problem: 
(1) Legislation. 
(2) Construction. 
(3) Maintenance. 
It may, I think, be granted that the railways have superseded the 
necessity of the National roads which were such a burning question in 
the politics of the first quarter of the centuiy. There remain then the 
State and county to consider. The present law has by common consent 
quite outlived its usefulness. 
Perhaps the keystone of the success of any new general law is the prin¬ 
ciple that henceforth no road tax shall be paid by labor. I believe that 
this is the mature opinion of some of the ablest men in Texas, both in 
public and private life. 
Many years ago I remember being called to “work the roads” in 
Gonzales county. I went prepared in a humble way with a hatchet, 
thinking perhaps that others might bring picks and shovels. There were 
about thirty of us at the rendezvous, and at least a half were provided 
with axes or hatchets. During the day we moved about a half a dozen 
yards of sand into a washout and cut a little brush to protect the place. 
