Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 October 1893 — Good Roads Congress. [ARTICLE]

Good Roads Congress.

A good roads congress is now in session at Chicago, and among the recommendations and comments offered upon the subject is the following from Col. Pope, head and front of the good roads movement in this country: “Aside from questions of material gain, which is perhaps the lowest standpoint to consider the good that comes from easy means of communication, there is to be‘ borne in mind that good roads are the great highways for the advancement of social life, education and Christianity. The visit of friends, the attendance of children at school and the gathering at church, are all governed to agreateror less extent by the condition of the roads; and the abandonment of farms and the crowding together of people in the cities is due largely to the isolation caused by bad means of communication to and from the farm. But the problem to be solved is to provide money to build good roads. Many farmers are opposed to the goodroad movement because it means to them increased taxation, and il some sections of the country agricultural interests are so depressed that they do not feel able to bear greater financial burdens. It has been estimated that the state of Illinois loses every year $100,000,000 because of bad roads.

“Now I am going to urge a plan which I believe to be the least burdensome and the most effectual and equitable for providing good roads. Let each state establish a graduated succession tax, that is, a tax on property passing by succession, by inheritance or by legacy. Such a tax might be arranged as follows: On all estates valued at SIO,OOO up to SIOO, 000, 1 per cent; on estates of over SIOO,OOO up to $500,000,1 per cent on the first SIOO,OOO and 2 per cent, on tne remainder, and so on, gradually increasing the amount as the inheritance increased. The succession tax will not fall on the poor. Those whose estates amount to SIO,OOO can well afford to give SIOO to the state in return for all the protection of its laws, which has enabled wealth to be accumulated and enjoyed. Good roads, when rightly constructed, can be maintained at comparatively small cost, and as the wealth of the states increase the succession tax would furnish sufficient revenue to meet all expenses of the state after paying for the maintenance of the roads.”