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Image provided by: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ
Newspaper Page Text
urn 1XUUM ST. JOHNS AND APACH HERALD E NEWS ST. NVH0NA1 OLD TRAILS ROAD ASSOCIATION. A National, State and County System of Highways A County System of High ways Constructed by Issuing County Bonds. .It is difficult to meet an objec tion of which I have not heard, and equally difficult to imagine that any sane mind in this day and age of the world's progress, can be out of line and out of sympathy with the great move ment to issue bonds for road building, for this will solve the problem of sensible road building in this state. That is to say, by the county-wide system instead of the unsatisfactory 8 mile spec ial road district plan. The coun ty system means a system of roads that begin "somewhere" 1 and go "somewhere," whereas, j the road district plan, as a rule, begins "nowhere" and goes "no where." Besides, the county plan will secure roads at a mini mum cost to the taxpayer. Unlike the old system which laid all the burden of road building on the broad, shoulders of the farmer, the new system taxes everybody alike, with the result that the farmer will, as a rule, pay much less than one-half the road taxes. It is absurd to regard this as. a tax at all, because it is really :the best investment, and -will pay. a greater rate of interest, than any investment possible to make. Suppose for the sake of argu ment, that this was a great trol ley system of; roads, reaching every part of your country, and 'connectingf. e, verfpwn. . and vil lage i..thegountry, ancl connect ed witn a mmfip'lme reaching across the state, and suppose such a system could be built for the sum proposed to be invested in permanent roads, instead of the millions which such a system of roads would in fact cost you, which would be preferable, and the greater benefit to your people and county? . There is not a shadow of doubt that such a proposition, to-wit: t Ive supposed ' trolley system, would meet with instant approval, and yet. if you got it, you would simply have a convenient system, indeed, but one which you would use but rarely, and then pay ex travagantly for the privilege. In Vol. 32. JOHNS, APACHE GO.. ARIZONA, JANUARY 13, other words, you would be issuing bonds in order that you might build a road system over which you would have to pay toll every time you went anywhere, where as, by the permant hard-surfaced road system you would have roads covering the same ground, but over which you could travel a i dozen times to where you would go once on the trolley. And you would be travelling on a free road, all it would cost you would be it maintenance. Do not for i. et, however, that if you had a vast trolley system of roads you ; would have to maintain it, keep j it m repair, ana pay tne interest on the investment, or it would speedily go into the hands of a Receiver. Furthermore, the trol ley system, vast and comprehen sive as I have imagined it, would add but little, if any, to the value I of the farm lands of the county, I especially those not located in the ? immediate vicinity of a station. ! Whereas, theproposed. permanent road system, will enhance the val ue of every acre of land on or near such roads to a very large extent, and every acre of land in the county will, be enhanced in value to some extent. But, some may say the proposed road or roads do not affect me, be cause I have no land fronting the same, lnis is a mistake, because you cannot add ten or twenty mil lion dollars .of value to the prop erty in your' . county without af fecting jbh'e interests of every man and woman in the county. Of course", like all public improve ments, the land immediately fronting on the road is very large ly benefited beyond that more re motely located. This inequality is. inherent in all questions of public improvements, but, if the proposed bond issues will not cov er' all the roads in the county at this time, long before the bonds shall have matured, values will be so enhanced, the people will liave realized tne benefits of good roads to such an extent, that there will be no difficulty in building other lines, and thus placing you upon an equality with your neigh bor. In other words the only chance you will ever have to en joy the benefits of a good road by your house will not come about by opposition to your neighbors, but by joining and cooperating with them, and when your time comes your neighbor will reciprocate and join you in securing a like benefit. Do not forget that by the time your county system is complete we shall undoubtedly have a sys tem of National Highways, built and maintained by the National Government, and a system of State highways, built and main tained by the State, with which your county system will connect and become a part of, and then, indeed, you will have roads that "go somewhere". Nothing is more surely written in the book of fate than that we are coming to this blessed consumation. I adjure the people everywhere and especially of .every county through which the National Old Trails Road runs, to build such county systems, and thereby se cure the benefit of 73,974 miles of permanent highways, for that is just what it means. By build ing, say one hundred and fifty miles of road in your county you secure all the benefit of 73,974 miles of road, and thus secure the travel and traffic of a Continent through your county. Joseph M. Lowe, - President NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD ASSOCIATION. By courtsey of Gustav Becker, Springerville, Arizona. ARIZONA SEED FOR ARIZONA PLANTERS: Send for our 1916 Seed Annual; It contains valua able information for the Farmer, Gardener, and Poultryman, You can't afford to be without it. Send Post Card today. ARIZONA SEED COMPANY. 137 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona. See Smith Bros', new ad in this issue of the Herald. Note the reduction of the price on the "Overland" automobile. C. E. Wiltbank of Eagar came in Monday, remaining forseveral days. ' 'Ted' ' says the .wind .bl w some at Eagar Monday. "Jeff" Sladeof Ramah, N. M. passed through our city Sunday. He had been spending a few days at Eagar. He was called' to the bedside of his father, Benjamin Slade, who had been ill for a long time and passed away ten days ago. Announcement has been made that the Department of the Inter ior has completed, . on the rim of the Grand Canyon, in Arizona, a memorial to Maj. John Wesley Powell, the interprid pioneer and celebrated scientist who first ex plored the Grand Canyon. 1916 No. 2 0 LOCAL DRIFT Mr. Schofield, a forest ranger, spent Saturday in our beautiful city. M. L. Powell, representing the Chamberlain Medicine Company, was in town Saturday. County Attorney Gilbert E;-. Greer has gone to Phoenix, leav ing last Saturday. The Spanish people enjoyed a gran baile at the Peralta hall last Saturday night. FOR RENT A two room house and a lot. See J. A. Mineer, St. Johns, Arizona. Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie were over from Concho Saturday, for a brief visit with relatives. They returned Sunday. Henry L. Butler and B. . B. Crosby, two prominent sheepmen were doing business here the lat- ter part of the week. Last Friday night School dis trict No. 11 entertained with a dance at which refreshment of ice cream and cake were served. Samuel Love, county assessor was in town Saturday lining up things for assessing the taxpay ers of Apache county for 1916. Mr. and. Mrs. Lyman Overson were made to rejoice last Sunday morning, when a sweet little Miss arrived at their home. They now have a boy and a girl. Congratu lation. " The bakery and lunch counter, owned and controlled by Antonio Chavez is now located in the building formerly occupied by the Herald-News on the corner of Commercial and Water streets. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Palmer are receiving congratulations from theit many friends- and relatives because"of- the' arrival of a big bpy,at.,their home Sunday morn ing. Mrs. Adolf Goesling came in town last Friday with her three year old daughter, who was suf fering from a growth on her side. Dr. Bouldin examined the child and advised that she be taken to some city where surgical works made a specialty, and acting up on this advice, Mrs. Goesling de parted for Albuquerque with the little girl. Mr. Goesling is seri ously ill at their ranch and ar rangements were made with Mrs. Chas Jarvis to take charge of him for the present, and she left Saturday morning for the ranch.