I L LINOI S UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Brittle Books Project, 2012. COPYRIGHT NOTIFICATION In Public Domain. Published prior to 1923. This digital copy was made from the printed version held by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was made in compliance with copyright law. Prepared for the Brittle Books Project, Main Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by Northern Micrographics Brookhaven Bindery La Crosse, Wisconsin 2012 -* ROADS CTheir Influence Upon Economic and Social Conditions .. 1 r XO, THE public road is more generally used than any other means of intercommunication. It is free and open to all of the people. It is of benefit to one class more than another only to the extent one class uses it more than another. For the Cause of Good Roads THE GARFORD MOTOR TRUCK CO. LIMA, OHIO THE PUBLIC is gradually awakening to the importance of permanent road construction, but with only _tg per cent. of the public roads in the United States improved, and many States with less than five per cent. of improved roads, we are still in the Land of Mud. Many sections of the country are opposing road improvement, because of a lack of understanding of its value to their own communities. There was a time when towns were satisfied with board walks and stepping stones for street crossings. Paved streets were rot considered, but today competition between cities and tcwns demands paved streets and walks. In rural communities, one day in the week was set aside from farm duties for going to town. The farmer was satisfied to drive through the mud and over the rough roads. Unfortunately, in many sections, they continue to be satisfied with such road conditions, but in other sections, the farmer knows better. He is demanding the same advantages enjoyed by his competitors in other sections, and due to the building of good roads. The urban population complain of the high cost of produce. The farmer complains of the high cost of marketing the products, all due to bad road conditions, but what is accopmplished, or even attempted, to remedy the trouble? Those in towns and cities say, "We should not be required to build roads for the farmer," and the farmer continues to be satisfied with the hardships of the bad roads, causing a very low efficiency in the earning ability and a rapid depreciation of his teams. In such communities, both the urban and rural populations are paying many times the cost of road improvements without securing them. ROADS: THEIR INFLUENCE UPON ~m~m1 AND SOCIAL CONDITIONi6 ECONOMIC ~ ~ mlillullig"mm r "mu m 1r 1rm1 "rm'm 1rm~r 1Hm Tm~mm~m~u1 1mmqr mu " L~q~uruu~ 1ru 1 m w 11 am1 eum1mm~m1rlmnmnIIII~mnlIIIIrIIIII~mm mm mIIII~m In one county of Tennessee, before road improvement began, one bale of cotton was an average load for a two-horse team. There are now Through Mud and Water ROADS: THEIR 11inImI mmI niI m IIIIIIIIi INFLUENCE UPON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS n lIIIIllnIIIIFIImIIIIIImmIS nIIInl nnnnnlrtin i ninmn m lli lmlmmm lIIIImm i rInft nim IIII I uninn tn i nntm iumm n n I llnnnnnnn" m"1 mm14Innu mm"Jmm innIIIIIll mm" mm iIr IIImIIII I 1 "ni Limit of Two-Horse Team Over Bad Road-Two Bales of Cotton one hundred miles of improved roads in that county, and twelve bales is not an uncommon load, thereby increasing the earning ability of the team for the farmer twelve times. Some time ago, the farmers were notified by telephone of a sudden rise of four dollars per bale in the price of cotton. To the farmer living upon the bad road, who could only haul one bale, the rise in price only meant a profit of four dollars per load, but to the farmer Improved Road and Twelve Bales to Load ROADS: I l mulllina1 lllnnnU utillul THEIR INFLUENCE UPON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS i iuli11 innnllulll mllllllll numulmlnim nnnlli llm t llinulll in i arrnnnll nrm in mmun inullu ina1nm u lnnnnn IIIIIII IIIIIIq ln um mllu nnnmulunt n im IIII mumnniminnni i nin mll m lum llumnn Before Improvement living upon the good road, it meant a profit of forty-eight dollars per load, and he was able to haul the twelve bales the same distance in less time and with less abuse to his team and wagon. In another county of Tennessee, the cost of delivering wheat from After Improvement farm to railroad, a distance of ten miles, was reduced from fifteen to four cents per bushel after their roads were improved. Careful investigation and comparison in the showing of the farmers and other teams before and after road improvement, disclose some remarkable results. In one case, an increase of three hundred and eighty, and another, of two hundred and thirty-three per cent. Compare and consider this profit for the farmer with his small proportion of the road improvement cost. AIllllIl llllUlllllllilllllllll lllllllllilllllll lllllllllii I ll ll m l HIII UI llllII lllllllllilllllll llllllllll l lllIIIII IIIIIII IIIIIIII iiutllll Illllllllllllllllllllllll llllltilllll IIIIIIIll IIIIII llllllll IIIIIIIItlllllll Illllll IIlllllllllllllllll ROADS: THEIR illllIlll illllllI IlllllllllUl lIllllIIIIIIIN lllllll IIIIUlllllllllllllldllllllH IIIIIIllll lllllgllim lllllm llll INFLUENCE UPON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS Showing the influence of road improvement upon the volume of production and traffic, one county in the South spent $100,000 in five years in building permanent roads, and within two years after the road improvement began, the annual tonnage over the roads in agricultural and forest products increased about 45 per cent. "The dairy and poultry products showed an increase of practically 140 per cent. Careful investigation showed that the increased tonnage and decreased cost of hauling over the improved roads showed a yearly profit of $41,000, or more than 41 per cent. of the entire cost of the road improvement. Upon one road alone, a distance of twelve miles, the expenditure for road improvement was $28,000 and the saving in the cost of hauling was estimated to be fully $14,000 per year, or 50 per cent. of the total expenditure. Farm to Railroad, Before Road Improvement It is a well established fact that market prices vary considerably throughout the year. With the unreliable road conditions in many sections of the United States, farmers are forced to move their crops, not when the market prices are most favorable, but when the roads will permit. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that the farmers of the United States are losing annually $250,000,000 on account of the inaccessibility of their products at certain times of the year, due to bad road conditions. Investigation showsthatthere Sare many counties rich inagricultural products, but burdened with bad roads, where ,the annual in- coming shipments greatly exceed the out- With going. improved roads such counties could not only H I Ul ll ~Im111mIIIIRU lMnI IIU Ull uiollmWili Om ifIllllillIlllllll lll IIIIIIIIIIIIll mlll llmmlll llllllllllll u lol lllll lllllllllllI IIl IlIlUlll llllll l l IIli lllll llllll ROADS: THEIR INFLUENCE i WIIIIIImUlll$ IIIIII YIWnlll ll Iall uIllll ull u nIIII I I IIIIIII IIIIIu IIIIIIIIWIIIl III i 111 Jll llll llllllll IIIllllllll llllllimlllull AilaIg i llllllllllllllllll ll lil fullll lm UPON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS uW1111 I m I, IlllI ll llI lll IIIIIll llla llll IIIII i i aIII lll IIIII IIIIIIIIIIWl II uIIIIII liluIII II lldl l ll IIII J IIIII IIIIIIII lllu illllI ll milli ll n gl be self-supporting, but could ship products to other markets. Several years ago, the price of potatoes in a certain town went as high as $1.40 per bushel. The farmers in surrounding territory had quantities of potatoes on hand, but could not get them to market on account of bad roads. While the roads continued in such condition, as many as ten carloads of produce, including potatoes, wheat and other supplies, were shipped in to feed the town. Farm To Railroad, After Road Improvement It is a matter of common observation that where any community passes from a condition dominated by bad roads, to one characterized by good roads, land values in that community advance. Prior to any road improvement in one county of Alabama, the average price of land was from $6.00 to $15.00 per acre. After 24 per cent. of their roads were improved the value of the land increased to $15.00 and $25.00 per acre. The United States Department of Public roads refers to a farm in Virginia of one hundred acres which was offered for sale at $1,800.00 Later the road upon which the farm was located was improved, and although the farmer fought the road improvement, he has since refused $3,000.00 for the farm. Another tract of one hundred and eighty acres along the same road was supposed to have been sold for $6,000.00. The purchaser refused the contract, but later, after the road improvement and without any improvement upon the land, he paid $9,000.00 for the same tract. It is true that road improvement will not improve the fertility or quality of the farm, but it is also true that good roads will improve the site value in its relation to markets, schools and towns. Hard surfaced roads reduce the cost of delivery between farm and market. lUOI IIu ROADS: m im Ilmm ulmiiIiIlll l ullall lflWliillltUullllllmiullm THEIR INFLUENCE UPON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS ll~lll llMIllullO l umil I nimninllnmIIIII i l ll ll iIuIIIIIimunumm ill iulull mnumunlin nlimilimunimm ialillingliluuinilnn iliin lilllinu n in unlmiamnnninnimnnmm Recently a Governor of one of our important States contended that a team of horses would draw more upon a dirt road than upon a hard surfaced road, when in reality a team will draw, upon a good gravel road, five timesmorethan through sand or mud, and ten times more upon good mac- adam. One of the States having only four per cent. of permanent improved or surfaced roads within its borders has one of the best systems of dirt roads in the country, due in part to the favorable soil in portions of the State, and for about threefourths of the year, a favorable climate; also to the interest shown by the farmers in dragging and otherwise keeping up the dirt roads, but notwithstanding these facts, this State Engineering Department estimates it is costing their farmers about eleven million dollars per year to move their surplus product from farm to railroad. They also estimate that ten per cent. of the roads carry fully seventy-five per cent. of the total traffic. If the ten per cent. were improved, and the cost of transportation reduced only one-third, it would mean a saving of three to three and onel 0 Se 7 iOR 10 HORSES ON LOOSE BAND MUD ROAD Comparison Illustrations Showing Effect of Road Surface Upon Tractive Force. i IM iIImllEmllii ROADS: 1® lmI NUl II m I ii THEIR INFLUENCE IIIIIII NI 1I IH i II iIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIII Iu II l I i i lfillSIiII UllllmIIII i aillliUf$IllllluIi lU UPON ECONOMIC AND i 1111 1 IIIllillillull 1 IIIIliA I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII111 IIIIIIIIIIlll 1111111111111111 llll III IIIII lll IIIIId l J11111111111111111111ul ullllli llIi lllIMIlllliIW uUmuWllm SOCIAL CONDITION' I lIIA illumiI talllludillNII lllII I ll921 NDII lIN MI ll u A Quict Place half million dollars-a substantial increase in profits to their farmers, and notwithstanding these facts, their State Legislature has so far stood against the farmers by blocking good road legislation. Three millions of dollars would go a long ways toward paying for the permanent improvement of their heavy-traffic roads. Road improvements increase the possibilities of the markets by increasing the area from which they may draw their supplies. We who live in towns often fail to realize the influence of road conditions upon the social life of rural communities. It is only fair to say that the National Congress of Mothers and Parent Teachers' Associa- tion, with its branches in forty States of the Union, is wielding a powerful in- fluence for good roads. They believe that the wife of the farmer of moderate means, who rises at four to five in the Loneliness ROADS: THEIR INFLUENCE UPON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS morning, does her own cooking, washing, ironing and sewing, should be assisted in finding ways and means for intellectual improvement, in order that she may bring up her family of boys and girls to be useful members of society. A farmer whose wife had recently been committed to an asylum, in discussing the matter with his physician, said: "I do not know what made my wife go insane; she hadnothing to bother her; she has lived in a quiet place. Why, she has not been out of the kitchen hardly for eighteen years. Experts have found Isolation that insanity is a social condition with a distinct relation to good roads. Two States were recently astounded by a report of an investigation made, within their borders, as to the cause of insanity. In both States, the road conditions were miserable and it was found that a large percentage of the insane were the wives and daughters of the farmers where there was little or no opportunity for social intercommunication, but whose lives were of monotony and loneliness, due to isolation on account of miserable road conditions. The building of good roads will relieve the isolation of these rural districts and give the inhabitants opportunity for a larger socialization, which will eventually result in eliminating the unfortunate and pitiable conditions. Poor roads mean illiteracy or worse. In 1909, the percentage of improved roads in the New England States was 22.2 per cent., and the percentage of illiteracy was only 1.7 per cent. No Loneliness, No Isolation, No Abandoned Farms on This Improved Road. llu I1mmHIII l m lllllmlmllilill lllll mi l ROADS: llllllmllllliiill llmIIIII llm nilllulllu IIIIIIIIII llli lllia IM ill ll lllm ri fllll IM l llmMI i lM THEIR INFLUENCE UPON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS The Land of Mud Children Picking Their Way to School Over a Bad Road it INFLUENCE UPON ECONHnOMIllllC AN ROADS: THEginllmllmllllmImR SOCIAL CONDIIOlllllll D INFLUENCE UPON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ROADS: THEIRllmllmillianill lm l~ mn~~mllmm t~mJm$ m tu~mtl~lmlm~tmtHl~tlmt]m m lm *~mt CONDITIOIJr mw r w ,tm,, ,tm l, nillu~ t ntmmil mm mlmll mlli ilnlum One-Room Rural School In the South Atlantic States, -the percentage of improved roads was only 6.7 per cent. and illiteracy 12 per cent. The excess of illiteracy in rural over urban population, due to a lower percentage of improved roads showed for the South Atlantic States, 400 per cent., and 140 per cent. for the New England States. In both of these District Graded School-Seven School Wagons ROADS: THEIR INFLUENCE UPON ECONOMIC ui numu u uuIImuIm aluluulm llmlumim ulumwllumiulumu III Inu lmunm iunu nimimm nni AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS mmium umSimulmuonlmumllum ummiuim n u uuiinum i ilum School Wagon comparisons, only native whites of native parentage, were considered. The percentage of illiteracy among the urban white population is estimated to be only nine-tenths of one per cent.; rural illiteracy among the same class of inhabitants is 600 per cent. greater, and due to the influence of bad roads upon the school and social lines of the rural population. Bad road conditions inflict hardship upon the one-room district school. Good Farm, Well Kept Fences and Farm Buildings on a Good Road UPON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONSllllll lllllROADS: THEIR INFLUENCE llllllllllllll ROADS: THEIR INFLUENCE UPON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS Before Improvement .. I/ After Improvement ROADS: im lmnmim ulmnl " w THEIR INFLUENCE UPON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS "" l mul lmnu lm n n numlmi innn lninula uim annm uninm numm numm nn mumnulmninn immuniumm ummmm nminmml mm m mu During much of the school term, a considerable part of the two million miles of our public roads is impassable. Consequently, of the thirty million or more children in the United States who should attend school, only eighteen million are attempting to do so. It is common practice to keep the children at home on account of bad roads, and frequently the average small attendance is so greatly reduced that the efficiency of the one-room school ismaterially affected. The question of the relations between road conditions and the rural schools is one that should be carefully studied. Fortunately some rural communities are beginning to awaken to its importance and are apparently more willing to support better schools and to support the building of good roads, so as to permit the consolidation of the one-room schools into a large, graded school, and to permit the carrying of scholars to and from their homes at public expense with the use of the school wagon. The Consolidated School is also becoming the social and intellectual center of communities, the gathering place for public meetings of all kinds; and frequently the school wagons are pressed into service for hauling the farmers to and from the meetings. The maintenance of the Consolidated Schools, with the transfer of the scholars to and from the schools, does not cost any more than the numerous one-room schools, and it does offer greater educational and social opportunities. There is also a marked tendency for property owners to improve the appearance and surroundings of their homes and buildings, as the'roads upon which they are located are improved. You find no abandoned farms upon good roads. An Abandoned Farm Upon a Bad Road This book is a preservation facsimile produced for the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. It is made in compliance with copyright law and produced on acid-free archival 60# book weight paper which meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (permanence of paper). Preservation facsimile printing and binding by Northern Micrographics Brookhaven Bindery La Crosse, Wisconsin 2012