The Value Of Good Roads

The Illinois división of the League of American Wheelmen has been collecting statistics regarding the roads of the Sucker State. It is found that thirty of the more thau one lïundred counties have hard roads, built of gravel or macadam. In all the other counties the farmers must depend upou the ordinary dirt roads. In the entire state, outside of Chicago and other cities, there are but 995 miles of whatare called good roads. It lias also been discovered that in good road counties the road t:ix during the past ten years has amounted to $8.86 per inhabitant, or about eighty-niue cents per year. In the dirt rond counties the tax for the same period has been $G.74 per inhabitaut. Furthermore in the good road counties it is found that the tax per acre amounts'to eight and four-tenths cents per ypar, and the report shows that the gol roads have added at least ten dollars an acre to the value of theland. In the dirt road counties the tax amounts to only four and six cents per acre a year. The average tax each year is flve and one-half cents an acre. If it were increased to ten cents, the report urges, the revenue during the next ten years would unount to $34,000,000. Estimating the costof good roads at tvvothousand dollars a mile that ainount of money would build seventeen thousand miles. When the increase in the value of land, as a resultof the hnprovement of the highways is taken iuto account, the wheelmen argue that it would be a good investment tor the farmers to bond theuoselves for the amóunt named, payingthe bonds in ten years with an annual tax of ten cents an acre, and build the roads at once. Itis said that a bilí will be iutroduced in the Illinois Legislature granting permission for the beginning of the improvement contemplated, and if the wheelmen succeed in their enterprise they will certainly be entitled to a great deal of credit for the part they have taken in the effort to show to the farmers the value of good roads.