Columtita Wini\itr9litf in tfie Cttp of fSoxk LIBRARY Gift of President Nicholas Murray Butler PUBLISHED UNDER DIRECTION NATIONAL HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATION WASHINGTON, D. C. GeneralColeman du Pont TRUSTEE AND CHAIRMAN BOARD OF NATIONAL COUNCILLORS CHARLES Davis, c. e, TRUSTEE AND PRESIDENT SAN Citi rosn liiii \ ARE OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMP ORTAN CE HIGHWAY AIRPORTS must be established or we can not have aerial navigation located highways le problem of commercial aviation "Y" |— f ^ ^ ^ NATIONAL HIGHWAYS will bring about the establishment of HIGHWAY AIRPORTS Broadwater LEGEND NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROaDJ Principal Tributarj- Roads Other proposed National Highways = Capital Cities Indian Reservations \ National Forests National Parks and Monuments | ON THE MAIN ROUTE Cities of over BOO, 000 population ST. LOUiS 100,000 26,000 6,000 1.000 100 I 100 KANSAS CY E. ST. LOUIS Independence Cambridge City Standardsville New Westville UOS ANG« Motor vehicle RADiATOR Cap Device John C. Mulfofd, Chief Carte rapher. C. 0. f aunce Jl f i. King NATIONAL OLD TRAILS Conceived by George Washingto a |..rior to . . . Financed by Act of Congress admitting Ohio into the Union „_ Established by Act of Congress Established and Ejctended by Congress to Santa Fe, Mexico Constructed and Ejitended by Congr ess to the Mississippi River and Maintain ed until 1837 Its Restoration and Construction advi icated by "The Mo. Old Trails Association" in Convention assembled - 1907 Taken over, Adopted and named "National Old Trails Road." at K ansas City, Mo., in Convention assembled 1912 Became a Department in the National Highways Association 1913 Iowa Fall: 4 0 St. C( arles Iwaukee |l HICAGO Wagon Mound )[ Saltm Sea Tucumcari Lemitar locorro i SanAnto niOT NATIONAL HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATION NATION.AL OLD TRAILS ROAD ASSOCIATION SOUTHERN COLORADO-KANSAS OLD TRAILS ASSOCIATION APPAUCHIAN HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT ARIZONA GOOD ROADS ASSOCIATION ARROWHEAD TRAIL ASSOCIATION ASTORIA TRAIL DEPARTMENT ATLANTIC HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT BANKHEAD NATIONAL HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION BEN HUR HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION BIG FOUR TRAIL ASSOCIATION BOONE TRAIL HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION BRAWLEY MERCHANTS' ASSOCIATION California BUFFALO TRAIL HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION CANNON BALL HIGHWAY DIVISION CANTON AUTOMOBILE CLUB State of Ohio CAPITAL HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATION CATFJIPILLAR TRAIL ASSOCIATION CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Deming, New Mexico CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Montrose, Colorado CHAMBER OF COMMERCE f^ittsburg, Kansas CHICAGO-KANSAS CITY & GULF HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT CITIZENS' CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION Palmerton, Pa. DALLAS-CANADIAN-DENVER HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION [ ISSUED I JNDER JOINT AUSPICES OF THE DANIEL BOONE TRAIL DKPARTMENT DIXIE OVERLAND HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION FEDERATED HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATION OF NORTH MISSOURI DEPARTMEI^rr FEDERATED ROAD DIVISION GOLDEN BELT ROAD ASSOCIATION GREAT LAKES-ATLANTIC HIGHV/AY DEPARTMENT GREAT PLATEAU HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT HANNIBAL & ST. JOSEPH CROSS STAT; tlHIGHWAY ASSOCIATION HEART OF ILLINOIS AUTO ITUILS DIVISION HIGH LINE TRAIL DIVISION HUB HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION ILLINOIS CORN BaT ROUTfi ASSOCIATION INDEPENDENCE & WINFIELD TRANS-CONTINENTAL HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION INDIANA GOOD ROADS ASSOCUTION INDIAN TRAIL DEPARTMENT INTERNATIONAL PAVEDWAV ASSOCIATION JACKSON HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION JEFFERSON DAVIS NATIONAL HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION JEFFERSON HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION JEFFERSON HIGHWAY, BLUE "J ' ROUTE DIVISION KANSAS GOOD ROADS ASSOCIATION KANSAS GOOD ROADS FEDERATION KANSAS WHITE WAY KING OF TRAILS ASSOCIATION LA CROSSE-TAMA-KANSAS CITY TRAIL DIVISION LAKES TO GULF HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION UKES TO SEA HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION LEE-GRANT HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION LONE STAR ROUTE DIVISION LUMBERMAN'S CLUB OF CINCINNATI Ohio "MARK TWAIN" HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION MERCHANTS' ASSOCIATION OF UKIAH California MERCHANTS' PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION Seymour, Indiana MERIDIAN ROAD ASSOCIATION MISSOURI CENTRAL HIGHWAY DIVISION MISSOURI-IOWA STATE FAIR TRAIL DIVISION MONTEREY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE California NATIONAL BRICK MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION Indianapolis, Ind. NATIONAL PARKS HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION NATIONAL PARK-TO-PARK HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION NATIONAL PAVING BRICK MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION Cleveland, Ohio NATIONAL ROOSEVELT MIDLAND TRAIL ASSOCIATION NATIONAL TRAIL DIVISION NEW ME.XICO GOOD ROADS ASSOCIATION NORTH STAR HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION of Colorado, Department OAKLAND BOARD OF TRADE Pittsburgh, Pa. OHIO GOOD ROADS FEDERATION OLD SPANISH TRAIL ASSOCIATION OMAHA & ST. LOUIS HIGHWAY DIVISION OZARK TRAILS ASSOCIATION PACIFIC HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT PACIFIC STATES DEFENSE LEAGUE DEPARTMENT PENNSYLVANIA GOOD ROADS ASSOCIATION PIKES PEAK OCEAN-TO-OCEAN HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION PIONEER WAY DEPARTMENT PUGET SOUND-TO-GIJLF HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT ROTARY CLUB OF EL PASO ROTARY CLUB OF READING Pennsylvania SOUTHWEST HIGHWAYS & MOTOR LEAGUE DEPARTMENT St)UTHWEST TRAIL ASSOCIATION SOUTHERN NATIONAL HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION SUNSHINE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT THE ALBERT PIKE HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION TOLEDO AlTOMOBILE CLUB Toiedo. Ohio TRAIL TO SUNSET DEPARTMENT TRINIDAD-LAS ANIMAS COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Trinidad, Colorado WEST SIDE BUSINESS ASSOCIATION Evansville, Indiana WILKES-BARRE AUTOMOBILE CLUB Wilkes Barre, Pa. WILLIAM PENN HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION WONDERLAND TRAIL ASSOCIATION YELLOWSTONE HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION YELLOWSTONE TRAIL ASSOCIATION To New York wood ,W>tte LENGTH OF THE NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD WASHINGTON TO LOS ANGEL ES 3096 MILES The NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD passes through 3 cities of more than 500,000 population 5 " " ' " 100,000 it " " " " 25.000 20 " " " " 5,000 69 " " " " 1,000 305 •' " less " 1,000 or a total of 411 cities, towns, villages and hamlets, practically all of which are shown on the map. Albany pinevilte A NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD Grand Canyon Romte Open 365 Days in the Year THE NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD TRAVERSES 1 2 STATES 6 EAST AND 6 WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TOUCHING THE U. S. CAPITAL AND 5 STATE CAPITALS TRAVERSES 89 COUNTIES TOUCHING 67 COUNTY SEATS These 89 traversed counties and the District of Columbia have population of 7,048,333. 161 adjoining counties have a popula- tion of 5,467,597 making a total population of 12,515,930 directly served or adjoining on this transcontinental road. WNashvlile -V SPONSORED BY THE Mrs. Anthony Wayne Cook, President General NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD COMMITTEE Mrs, Herbert, Matthew Gault, Vice-Chairman Mrs. John Trigg Moss, Chairman Mrs. William R. Van Tuyl, Vice-Chairman Baltimore, Maryland St. Louis, Missouri Leavenworth, Kansas Mrs. Robert P. Barnes, Vice-Chairman Mrs. George E. George, Vice-Chairman Mrs. Lipscomb Norvell, Vice-Chairman Albuquerque, New Mexico Kansas City, Missouri Beaumont, Texas STATE CHAIRMEN Mrs. ,Ios. R. Estes, Birmingham, Ala Mrs. Fred C. Roberts, Tucson, Ariz.. Mrs. David Wall, Marianna. Ark, Mrs. John Ewing, Denver, Colo, Mrs. Samuel M. Garlick, Bridgeport, Conn,. Mrs. S. Austin McCarthy, Waahington. U. C. Mrs. J. L. Walker, Waycross, Ga, Miss Frances A. Lemmon, Honolulu, Hawaii Mrs, C. F. Chessman, Lewiston, Idaho Miss Louise Hull, Salem, 111. Mrs. Thomas Kackley, Indianapolis, Ind. Miss Clara V. Frances, Topeka, Kans. Mrs. S. C. Bailey, Newport, Ky, Mrs. Ethel Black, .Jennings, La. Mrs. Edward E. Talbot, Machias. Me, Mrs, F. H. Markell, Frederick, Md. Miss Susan B, Willard, Hingham, Mass. Mrs. Charles T. Wilbur, Kalamazoo, Mich. Mrs. Guy E. Maxwell, Winona, Minn. Mrs. Rucks Yerger, Gulfport. Miss. Mrs. George Crissman, Warrensburg, Mo. Mi-s. J. N. McCracken, Livingston, Mont. Mrs. G. C. Chatbum, Lincoln. Nebr. Miss Annie E. Watson, Dover, N. H. Mrs. Lloyd Grover, Princeton, N. J. Mrs. A. B. Renahan, Santa Fe, N, Mex, Mrs, Arthur K, Lansing, Cambridge, N, Y. Mrs. Roella R. V/oodard, Wilson, N. C. Mrs. Isabel Shelden Sinners, Devils Lake, N. Dak, Mrs. Lallah Walker Men-iman, Kenton, Ohio Mrs. B. B. Hendon, Muskogee, Okla. Mrs. H. J. Wilkins, N. Portland, Ore, Miss Sarah A. Reed, Erie, Pa. Miss Edith May Tilly, Boston, Mass. (for R. I.) Mrs. G. A. Wauchope, Columbia, S. C. Mrs. S. X. Way, Watertown, S. Dak. Mrs. C. W. Allen, Greenville, Tenn. Mrs. J. Merrick Davis, So. Paris, Texas Mrs. J. W. Abbott, Ogden, Utah Mrs. W. E Kidd, Northfield, Vt. Mrs. W. B. Livezey, Newport News, Va. Mrs. 0. B. Dagg, N. Seattle, Wash, Mrs. J. Francke Fox, Bluefield, W, Va, Miss Jennie Bonfoey, Milwaukee, Wis. Mrs. Edward Gillette, Sheridan, Wyo. THE BACKBONE OF A SYSTEM OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS SHOWING EVERY CITY, TOWN, VIULAGE AND HAMLET THROUGHOUT ITS ENTIRE LENGTH PROPOSED BY THE NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD ASSOCIATION JUDGE J. M. LOWE, PRESIDENT. KANSAS CITY. MISSOURI HON D, E, Lamb, gen'l vice-president. HERINGTON, KANSAS W, P. Simpson. FIFLD assistant TO THE PRESIDENT. GEORGE L. L. Gann, Secretary. PUEBLO. COLORADO. AS BUILT NATIONAL A TRANSCONTINENTAL HIGHWAY TO BE AND FOREVER MAINTAINED BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND ALSO ADVOCATED BY THE ASSOCIATION V/ASHINGTON, D. C. SCALE OF STATUTE MILES O so COPYRIGHT, I9i:3. BY NATIONAL HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATION. WASHINSTON. D C. ' y " MILES FROM ■» WASHINGTON S MILES FROM LOSANGEtES S-O (ST* 'Mt 111 1 1 JS. „ ^. a * « S S S S 5 E c (c ca u 6 :- I aS6 ,2" Garage data was incomplete at date of issue of this map. Name of garages used in connection m\h these hotels will appear on a later edition. S 2 zS CO -a II S IX 2 S ill i O v5 < I u,' s q s 8-s ax inin « I I t2 UJ I!?: .1: ffl-ol = j ! I i I a— .0.0 u uj^ III I II -5 w ^ T! XfXH u 0 (3 ; Qi Z is ^ N N C i i o Ull^-JJ-E I i OtoHLUOJ&DDOD-^&ia U' I I I ! • I 'J I I i ! -11 M I I VV u,Sa.De > Jso S3.S « I Mil Intermediai- Mileage 3000 FEE' CB o or flO CO «C Raloti Pass A8700 ^ "V FEET «» ^<.s ? * ^ % 2 ^ u ^ I I I I 2-— 14— t 3" L I I I I Mil ! 1 I I I I I 3 >X' 5. a a © B "iS SO!. o « E *.S uau.XSa.> ■a J J 1 S S og teXi&i. I 1 I ^nr^ IS ! i I « la I PROFILE OF THE NATIONAL OLD TRAli ROAD FROM LOS ANGELES TO WASHINGTON SHOWING ELEVATIONS ABOVE SEA LEVEL OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES - THEIR HOTELS AND GARAGES — ALSO MILEAGE I < ■ I I I I I I . ( It I I I I I I 1 I I I I I 111 III 11)11 I ! i I I I I I I I I ^-^ r*< " I I I M I I I = MILESfROM WASHINGTON 'MILES FROM i LOSANGEtES m a: :6.-r -y^. -5: ■ 1 4000 FEET Intermediate Mileage 3000 FEET 2000 FEET The National Old Trails Road THE GREAT HISTORIC HIGHWAY OF AMERICA A Brief Resume of the Principal Events Connected with the Rebuilding of the Old Cumberland — now the National Old Trails Road— from Washington and Balti- more to Los Angeles. JUDGE J. M. LOWE. President Nation ai, Oi,d Traii^s Road Association KANSAS CITY, MO. March 29, 1924 2 National OLb Trails Road THE GREAT HISTORIC NATIONAL HIGHWAY OF AMERICA SPONSORED BY DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Mrs. Anthony Wayne Cooke, President General NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD COMMITTEE Mrs. Herbert Matthew Gaiilf; Vice- Chairman, Baltimore, Maryland. Mrs. Robert P. Barnes, Vice-Chairman, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mrs. John Trigg M'oss, Chairman, St. Louis, Missouri. Mrs. George E. George, Vice-Chairman, Kansas City, Missouri. Mrs. William R. Van Tuyl, Vice-Chairman, Leavenworth, Kansas. Mrs. Lipscomb Norvell, Vice-Chairman, Beaumont, Texas. STATE CHAIRMEN Mrs. Jos. R. Estes, Birmingham, Ala; Mrs. Fred C. Roberts, Tucson, Ariz.; Mrs. David Wall, Marianna, Ark.; Mrs. John Ewing, Denver, Colo.; Mrs. Samuel M. Garlick, Bridgeport, Conn.; Mrs. S. Austin McCarthy, Washington, D. C. ; Mrs. J. L. Walker, Waycross, Ga.; Miss Frances A. Lemmon, Honolulu, Hawaii; Mrs. C. F. Chessman, Lewiston, Idaho; Miss Louise Hull, Salem, 111.; Mrs. Thomas Kackley, Indianapolis, Ind. ; Miss Clara V. Frances, Topeka, Kans.; Mrs. S.. Bailey, Newport, Ky. ;' Mrs. Ethel Black, Jennings, La.; Mrs. Edward E. Talbot, Machias, Me.; Mrs. F. H. Markell, Frederick, M,d. ; Miss Susan B. Willard, Hingham, Mass.; Mrs. Charles T. Wilbur, Kalamazoo, Mich,; Mrs. Guy E. Maxwell, Wi- nona, Minn.; Mrs. Rucks Yerger, Gulfport, Miss.; Mrs. George Crissman, Warrensburg, Mo.; Mrs. J. N. McCracken, Livingston, Mont.; Mrs. G. C Chatburn, Lincoln, Nebr.; Miss Annie E. Watson, Dover, N. H. ; Mrs. Lloyd Grover, Princeton, N. J.; Mrs. A. B. Renahan, Santa Fe, N. Mex. ; M:rs. Arthur K. Lansing, Cambridge, N. J.; Mrs. Roella R. Woodard, Wilson, N. C. ; Mrs. Isabel Shelden Sinners, Devils Lake, N. Dak.; Mrs. Lallah Walker Merriman, Kenton, Ohio; Mrs. B. B. Hendon, Muskogee, Okla.; Mrs. H. J. Wilkins, N. Portland, Ore.; Miss Sarah A. Reed, Erie, Pa.; Miss Edith May Tilly, Boston, Mass. (for R. L) ; Mrs. G- A. Wauchope, Columbia, S. C; Mrs. S. X. Way, Watertown, S. Dak.; Mrs. C. W. Allen, Greenville, Tenn.; Mrs. J. Merrick Davis, So. Paris, Texas; Mrs. J. W. Abbott, Ogden, Utah; Mrs. W. E. Kidd, Northfield, Vt.; Mrs. W. B. Livezey, Newport News, Va.; Mrs. O. B. Dagg, N. Seattle, Wash.; Mrs. J. Francke Fox, Bluefield, W. Va,; 'Miss Jennie Bonfoey, Milwau- kee, Wis.; Mrs. Edward Gillette, Sheridan, Wyo. The Great Historic Highway 3 NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD ASSOCIATION OFFICERS J. M. LOWE, President Kansas City, Mo. D. E. LAMB, General Vice-President Herington, Kan. GEO. L. L. GANN, Secretary Pueblo, Colo. W. P. SIMPSON, Field Assistant to the President. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE E. N. HOPKINS, Chairman Lexington, Mo. E. R. MOSES Great Bend, Kas. L. M. MARKHAM Lamar, Colo. W. G. REA Marshall, Mo. A. C. BLAIR Lyons, Kan. DEPARTMENT NATIONAL HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATION 420 Railway Exchange Building, Kansas City, Missouri. STATE VICE-PRESIDENTS Maryland W. E. G. HITCHINS Frostburg Maryland EMERY L. COBLENTZ Frederick Pennsylvania....;. P. EAGLESON Washington Pennsylvania...,GEO. F. TITLOW Uniontown West Virginia..H. S. SANDS Wheeling Ohio B. A. MATHEWS Columbus Ohio GOV. JAMES M. COX Dayton Indiana DR. I. S. HAROLD ....Indianapolis Indiana CHAS. E. McKEEN. Terra Haute Illinois C. W. SHIM EL Casey Illinois LINCOLN BANCROFT Greenup Missouri R. A. LONG Kansas City Missouri E. W. STEPHENS : Columbia Kansas H. C. STICKER Osage City Kansas C. W. BLACK Council Grove Colorado L, B. SYLVESTER Monte Vista Colorado A. L. BRANSON Trinidad New Mexico....;. S. MACTAVISH Magdalena New Mexico C. E. MANNING Gallup Arizona REV. CYPRIAN VABRE Flagstaff Arizona ANSON H. SMITH -, Kingman California S. L. MITCHELL ,..-.Los Angeles California H. W. KELLER Los. Angeles ■4 Nationau Old Trails Road NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD Conceived by George Washington- v— 1785 Financed by Act of Congress admitting Ohio into the Union 1802 Established l)y . Act of Congress 1806 Established a.nd Extended by Congress to Santa Fe, Mexico 1825 Constructed and Extended by Congress to th6 Mississippi River and Maintained until ! 1837 Its Restoration and Construction advocated by **The Mo. Old Trails Association" in Convention assembled .1907 Taken over, adopted and named "National Old Trails Road" at Kan- sas City, Mo. in cenvention assembled 1912 The section from Santa Fie to Socoro, N. M. (ISO miles), is the oldest road in America 1606 LENGTH OF THE NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD WASHINGTON TO LOS ANGELES, ^,098 MILES The NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD passes through 3 cities of moire than 500,000 population 5 " " " 100,000 9 " " " " 25,000 20 " " " 5,000 69 " . " " 1,000 305 less 1,000 or a total of 411 cities, towns, villages and hamlets, practically all of which are shown on the map. THE NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD Traverses 12 3tate8 — € East and '6 West of the Mississippi River, Touch - ing the U« S. Capital and 5 State Capitals, Traverses 85 Counties — Touching 67 County Seats. These 89 traversed counties and the District of Columbia have a population of 7,048,333. 161 adjoining counties have a population of 5,467,597, making a total population, of 12,515,930 directly served or ad- joining on this transcontinental road. NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD Grand Canyon Route — Open 3^ Days in the Year, Through the Heart of of America to the All -Year -Round Play Ground of America THE BACKBONE OF A SYiSTEM OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS PROPOSED BY THE NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD ASSOCIATION JUDGE J. M. LOWE,, President, Kansas City, Missouri. HON. -D, E. LAMB, Gen'l Vice-President, Herington, Kansas, w: P. SIiyCPSON, Field Assistant to the President. OEO^G-B L. L. GANN, Secretary, Pueblo, Colorado. THE CAPITOL The Natural Milestone From Which All Distances Should Be Measured. 6 National Old Trails Koad DEDICATION To Curtis Hill, the first State Highway Engineer of Mis- souri, whose spirit rose to a full comprehension of the duties and obligations of his high office, and whose intelligence and lofty vision enabled him to grasp with full appreciation the mighty pioneer problems which he alone had to meet and solve, this book is respectfully and affectionately dedicated. J. M. L, The Great Historic Highway 7 The following letter, enclosing this most beautiful appeal by the road needs no apology for its introduction : March 11, 1924. "Hon. J. M. Lowe, Kansas City, Mo. "My Dear Judge Lowe: "Accompanying this please find a copy of the salient points in the recital by Mme. Bartet, a great French actress, before the First Interna- tional Road Congress, Paris. The little poem suffers somewhat in trans- lation, but there is much vim in the prayer, 'prevent the tortures of the past, perfect a work, my masters, that will last.' **Yours sincerely, "AV. T. LAW SON." THE ROAD. Extract from translation of the anonymous poem recited by Mme. Bartet at the Gala Performance given at the Comedie Francaise on O'cto- ber 14, 1908, in honor of the First International Road Congress, Paris. "When I plunge into chasms, sound the deeps, , Climb the plateaux, mount the dizzy steeps ; Or when above the mountains, near the skies, I spread new worlds before man's dazzled eyes, For all the gifts on you I have bestowed, BfLmy good doctor — save, oh save the Road. My case is grave and needs swift remedy; Never has greater peril threatened me — True, as in France, so in all other climes, Much have I suffered, from most ancient times. ****** Must I then die? No. no, for you are here. With you to aid me I have nought to fear. Science and genius are in you allied. In your great wisdom I can well confide. Quitting the beaten paths, you'll seek new ways. Towards the cure for which your suppliant prays. Thresh out fresh doctrines, find the golden mean And, to preserve the route avoid routine. Your patient's at your feet, apply your skill, Probe, sound, investigate me as you will, And, to prevent the tortures of the past. Perfect a work, my masters, that will last. Do this, and grateful ever more will be All travelers — nay, all humanity; For 'tis the road that is the fertile way. Where Life and Progress must forever stray; Where, seeking space and beauty far and wide. The tourist flings unnumbered miles aside. And over hills, and valleys sows the seed Which will bring forth abundance in our need. And when at length you have achieved your aim, Restored my health and strengthened all my frame; When by your work you've made me proof to shock. Fearless, invulnerable, firm as rock; My youth renewed, and more than ever fair, I'll sing your praises here, there and everywhere; Beneath all skies, telling the joyful story, At every cross-roads I'll proclaim your glory. On Touring club sign-posts for all to see. The Surest Road to Immortality." A RARE PICTURE OF WASHINGTON (178S). The Great Historic Highway 9 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER I. Writing the history of the National Old Trails Road is premature. Even if qualified, my strength is scarcely equal to the task of even compiling a small part of the data which has accumulated in this office. Hoping, however, that it may be of some value to those who may hereafter write its history, we have gathered together a few excerpts, but even these are not selected in chronological order and much repe- tition may occur, but such as they are, we have attempted their preservation in this way. There are two excuses for what may impress the reader as too much repetition, and they are, (a) the author was too tired or too lazy to carefully cull out, select and methodically compile the accumulated stuff on hand, and, (b) when, at a tender age on reading and comparing the orations of Demosthenese and Ciscero, preference was given to the first, in spite of his exasperating repetitions of the reasons sustaining and bolstering his position. In other words, De- mosthenese never used **words to conceal thought," but em- ployed words to create and clarify thought. It is to be hoped that if your patience is not exhausted before you have read through, you will at least understand our position on this question. Transportatiori marks the footsteps of time from the beginning of civilization. Historians, Magazines, and Newspapers have b.een chiefly concerned with po- litical events, with the martialing of armies, the prog- ress, change and decay of dyna'sties and political in- stitutions, and when the forerunner of all worth-while move- ments — particularly transportation, is mentioned at all, only th^t by water and rail is considered. We have been slow, indeed, to realize that we have reached the stage in the march of human events when fundamentals in politics,- edu- cation, transportatioh and along all lines of both civic and spiritual life demands a hearing. We have fallen upon a time when the insignificant wagon roads of the country de- mand a place on the stage of progress. Where improved, they carry more passengers, daily, than the railroads and 10 National Old Trails Road steam boats combined, and, if not now, are destined in the near future, to carry the greater percentage of local freight traffic. The wagon road is the fundamental step in this dis- cussion. Strange as it may seem, there will be no rivaling conflict between these different methods of transportation — the one supplements and adds to the benefit of the other. No use now to raise the question as to which should have been first developed, but we started right when we began the construction of the (Cumberland) now the National Old Trails Road, in 1806, by the General Government. We had the correct idea, too, when we started to build trunk lines first) to be followed later by "feeder" roads, the common sense theory afterwards adopted by the railroads. One of the chief purposes in building this road was declared to be "to cement the states and thus save the Union." Following the great Civil War a distinguished Author has said : "It served this purpose admirably." However this may be^ it is a matter of curious contemplation as to what might have been if the later and kindred project of Albert Gallatin and others who favored the construction of a National Highway from the North of Maine to the Gulf Coast of Georgia — through the heart of New England, and through the heart of the South had been carried out. What wisdom and fore- sighted Statesmanship this conception was. Then, we would have had an East and West Road closely paralleling "Mason's and Dixon's line", running into and through the foreordained bread basket of the world, eliminating both the Alleghenies^ the Rockies and the Sierra Mountains ; intersected by a "Dixie Highway", running from the exteme north and through to the extreme south. Railroads do not bring people together except at the terminals, but wagon roads do, where the peo- ple of a common country can meet, become acquainted, and find that after all, they are very much alike, governed by like impulses, speaking the same language and worshipping the same God. "It is a happy old saying that sectional lines are oblit- erated only by the feet that cross them." — Woodrow Wilson. If the people of the bleak and frozen North could have stepped into their carriage and been driven . away to the sunny south in the winter, and the south could have re- turned the call in the hot and sweltering days of the "good old summer time" who will say that history might not have been different? If the states had been thus "cemented" early in their history, and the different' sections thus pro- vided with opportunities essential for commerce, social and political life, is it not fair to assume that early bickerings and misunderstandings, inherited from colonial days, and perpet- uated after the Revolution, so clearly seen and forecasted by The Great Historic Highway 11 Washington and Albert Gallatin, followed so soon by Thomas Jefferson and Henry Clay, would have "saved the Union" without the intervention of Civil War? Washingtons clear intelligence foresaw it, and with the Fairfaxes began the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, to connect the waters of Chesapeake Bay, through the Potomac, before the Revolution, with the Ohio" River at Wheeling. No sooner was the war over than we find him back again on the mountains west of Cumberland, the end of the Canal and with his surveyor's chain was mapping a wagon road from that point to the Ohio River. It was on this occasion that he and Gallatin, whose name is forever associated with road history, first met and formed a lasting friendship. It Was the result of this propitious meeting which led to the estab- lishment of the (Cumberland), now National Old Trails High- way, in 1806, approved by Thomas Jefferson. Gallatin being the most conspicuous member of his cabinet. John Jay and his conferees did not have the power of intellect accorded them for they were working over time trying to trade the Mississippi River to Spain for additional Commercial facili- ties on the Atlantic Seaboard. It was most fortunate that the eagle eye of Washington, backed up by the farseeing and comprehensive statesmanship of Gallatin and Jefferson, which penetrated the future, and realized that if the fruits of the Revolution were to be preserved, then the Mountain barriers between the east and west had to be scaled, and the western settlements along the Ohio and Mississippi, saved. The movement to build this road and the Louisiana Purchase were integral parts of one vast and comprehensive scheme. Only real Statemanship could discern it. I tremble, as Washington said he did, when, after seven weary years, of war, he reafized that the country he had saved, "stood upon a pivot which might be turned by a feather's weight." Imagine, if you can, the result of this ^'feather's weight" if it had landed on the wrong side of the scales. The very moment that Ohio was admitted to the Union (1802) with the emphatic provision for constructing a road binding the east to the west, the pivot began turning toward the "Preservation of the Union", and when President Jefferson signed the Act, establishing this route (1806) this great and patriotic purpose was assured for all time. The Railroads to Paris were put out of commission dur- ing the World War but the improved wagon roads, — the automobile and the truck, "saved Paris.'' Stop here and re- flect one moment on what might have been, if there had been no thru roads (National) and "Inter-Cantonment" Roads, built and maintained by the General Government of France, but if, instead, France had had only our detached "farm to 12 National Old Trails Road market/' **radial roads," reaching out from "Rumpus Ridge" to "Possum Hollow'* — from nowhere to nowhere, that we, to- day, are getting in this country generally, and particularly- in Missouri and Kansas? But back to our subject; The foregoing is but an intro- duction to one certainly important and fascinating feature of this road, but it is unique as well in the romantic and commercial features which follow it in all the twelve states through which it runs. In Maryland, east from Cumberland to Washington and Baltimore, every mile is replete with Washington's activities, as well as with "John Carroll of Carrollton", of the ill-fated Braddock, whose monument stands beside the road, and Frederick, where stands the monument of Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner, and almost in sight, is Gettysburg. And Pennyslvania with her beautiful cities, towns and homesteads. No country on earth surpasses it in scenic beauty or progressive industry, up to and including Wheeling, West Virginia. "Under the tower- ing Washington, or National Cathedral, crowning a hill up which Braddock's red coats marched to fight the French be- fore the birth of the Nation of which he was to become Presi- dent twice, Woodrow Wilson, who approved the Federal Aid Act will sleep." "The St. Peters and St. Paul cathedral, bet- ter known as the Washington Cathedral, is only a little more than a mile from the Wilson home, directly up famous Massachusetts Avenue. It is only about one-tenth com- pleted, but its lofty towers are in plain sight of the windows of the Wilson study, in which the former President sat so many days in his years of semi-invalidism. Both the Presi- dent and *Mrs. Wilson were interested greatly in the com- pletion of the Cathedral, which was projected as the Great Westminster Abbey of America. "The place ^ selected as Mr. Wilson's temporary resting place, possibly his final one, is one of the commanding sites around Washington and is full of historic remembrances. It stands four hundred feet high. In the haze of the east looms up the dome of the Capitol, the congressional library and other such imposing structures. To the southeast is the business section of Washington, then, more to the south, the Washington Monu- ment, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the sparkling waters of the Potomac and the heights of Arlington, with its ampitheater and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. "Liter- ally all the glories of the Nation's Capitol spread in view from Cathedral Hill, the highest spot about Washington, fac- ing the National Old Trails Road, As the Wilson funeral cortege wends it way up Cathedral Hill, Washington falling away behind it, into the elms and oaks of the Cathedral grounds, it will pass a significant token, a tall white stone The GREA.T Historic Highway 13 cross some twenty feet high. It is-the "peace cro^s" of Wash-' mgton, and stands at a point of vantage to overlook the city. It was erected at the close of tlie Spanish-American War' and was dedicated by President McKiMey. The door to Bethlehem Chapel is the "Peace Door/' And "Wasington in Pennsylva;tlia'' — what a beautiful little city it is. All hail the Wonderful State of Ohio. Her ad- mission to the Union made possible ihe construction of the road. The provisions admitting Ohio into the Union of States providing a road fund was written into the Acts admitting Indiana, Illinois and Missouri to the Union. In each of the Acts of Congress establishing and extending the road to the Mississippi, there was reserved from sale a strip cf land sixty-six (66) feet in width from Cumber- land, Maryland, to the Ohio^ at Wheeling, and eighty (80) feet from Wheeling to the Mississippi at or near St. Louis. Ohio got a fine road, Indiana, where, like Ohio it was a dense wilderness of heavy growth, got the 'trees cut on the right-of-way, but not much actual construction, while Illinois got some bridges and culverts. The last work done by the Government was a stone bridge just east of Vandalia, the then Capital of the State. Missouri got only a Government Survey, one on the south side of the Missouri River to Jefferson City, also on the north side, substantially following the survey made by the sons of Daniel Boone when estab- lishing the Boonslick Road (1806), and crossing the Miss- issippi a short distance north of what is now Alton, recom- mending this north survey as- having the better grades, although St. Louis had a population of 8000. This road is paved from Washington to St. Louis, and some carping critics have said they were sorry so much of it is paved with *'gravel." Here are the facts : John N. Mackall, Chairman, State Road Commission, State of Maryland, Baltimore Md., says— "All of this road is hard surfaced, none of it being of gravel." H. E. Hilts, Deputy Engineering Executive, State High- way Department, Harrisburg, Pa., writes as follows — "Con- cerning the N. O. T. Road through Pennsylvania, would say there is^ no gravel construction on that road in this State. The entire length of same in Pennsylvania is hard-surfaced, about two-thirds being surface-treated water-bound macadam and the balance bituminous surface on stone base." Mr. C. P. Fortney, Chairman, The State Road Commission; of West Virginia, Charleston, W. - Va., says— "This road through West ^ Virginia is paved with three different ma-, terials — five miles is surfaced with concrete pavement, seven miles with bituminous pavement and the remainder with. 14 National Old Trails Road brick on concrete, totalling in all approximately fifteen miles." Mr. Harry E. Neal, Traffic Engineer of the Department of Highways and Public Works, State of Ohio, Columbus, Ohio, says — "Your letter of recent date, regarding the char- acter of material which has gone into the reconstruction of the National Old Trails Road across Ohio, has been referred to me for reply. Permit me to advise that this road as re- built in Ohio, is all of first class construction and consists of either brick, concrete, macadam, or asphalt." Mr. C. Gray, Chief Engineer of the Indiana State High- way Commission, Indianapolis, Indiana, says — "All the pave- ment built by the Indiana Commission on the National Old Trails Road, has been concrete, except six miles West of Indianapolis, about half way between Indianapolis and Terre Haute, which is of bituminous filled brick construction on a five inch concrete base, and a few miles immediately out of the City of Richmond in each direction, which is of bitumi- nous macadam construction, penetration method." Mr. Clifford Older, Chief Highway Engineer, Department of Public Works and Buildings, Division of Highways, Spring- field, 111., writes as follows — "The National Trail is known as Bond Issue Route 11 and is so shown upon the enclosed map. It is approximately 160 miles in length. Of the 160 miles on this route, approximately 130 miles is concrete, 3 miles of brick and the remaining 27 miles is made up of cities with a population of 2500 or over, and the bridges along the route. The only gravel on Route 11 is one or two short stretches where a viaduct or subway is to be built. The total length of gravel will not exceed one mile." Note : Just here a word, as the Lawyers would say, "dehors the record." The good road of the future will be so resilient, and so tough and strong as to receive and absorb the impact and blow of the heaviest traffic without jar or damage to either vehicle or road. There are just as valid reasons for resilient roads as there are for rubber-tired vehicles. Eliminating just two elements from the earth road — mud and dust — and it is the best road ever devised. As the automobile of the future will make those of today look like ox carts, so future roads will compare with the roads of today — 'both in quality and cost of construction. Then came James Buchanan in the House of Repre- sentatives in 1836, with a resolution to turn the road back to the states through which it ran, hoping the states would maintain it better than the Government had done. This was so tenaciously opposed, that a clause was added re- serving the right of Congress to resume authority and supervision over it whenever it saw fit to do so. The Great Historic Highway 15 In 1824-5 Thomas H. Benton of Missouri brought forward a bill extending- the road on to Santa Fe, into and through a foreign country. This was the so-called Santa Fe Trail, dis- cus'sed at the celebrated Christmas Dinner (1824) at the home of Mr. Jefferson, hereinafter alluded to. In the presidential cam- paign of the same year the clean cut issue of a system of National Highways to be built and forever maintained by the Government was made, and upon that issue John Quincy Adams was elected. Thereupon the expiring Congress "run- ning to cover" as often happens, brought forward a measure for that purpose, passed it, and Pres. Monroe reversing himself on his former attitude, approved it. A commission to select and lay out such system was appointed. At the en- suing session this committee brought in its report, but, in- stead of reporting a National system of highways, reported a detached, insignificant system of roads, beginning and end- ing nowhere, just as the so-called "Shackleford Bill" of (1913) of unhappy memory, provided for— in brief, just such a system, if system it may be called, as the Missouri Legisla- ture directed should be built out of the $60,000,000 road bonds — a county instead of a state system. The amended Federal Aid Act provided that any state desiring to share in Federal Aid should establish a State Higfhway Commission Vvhose duty it would be to co-operate with the National Agricultural Department. It provided that the State should be the unit through which such Agricultural Department should deal, and it provided, also, that the State Highway Boards (or the Legislatures), in laying out such roads should do it in such a way that would meet and connect at the state lines with similar through roads, thus bringing about a National or "Interstate System of Roads". Section 6 of the Federal Aid Act reads as follows — "That in approv- ing projects to receive Federal aid under the provisions of this Act the Secretary of Agriculture shall give preference to such projects as will expedite the completion of an ade- quate and connected system of highways, interstate in char- acter. Before any projects are approved in any State, such State, through its State highway department, shall select or designate a System of highways not to exceed 7 per centum of the total highway mileage of such State as shown by the records of the State highway department at the time of the passage of this Act. Upon this system all Federal-aid appor- tionments shall be expended. Highways which may receive Federal aid shall be divided into two classes, one of which shall be known as primary or interstate highways, and shall not exceed three-sevenths of the total mileage which may receive Federal aid, and the other which shall connect or cor- relate therewith and be known as secondary or intercounty 16 National Old Trails Eoad highways, and shall consist of the remainder of the mileage which may receive Federal aid. The Secretary of Agriculture shall have authority to ap- prove in whole or in part the systems as designated or to require modifications or revisions thereof. Provided, "That the States shall submit to the Secretary of Agriculture for his approval any proposed revisions of the designated systems oi highways above provided for." How has this worked out in practice? I know of few states where any real effort has been made to carry into effect an "Interstate System" of toads. I know it has not been done in Missouri and the surrounding states. A road — any road — is of value just in proportion as it goes somewhere. This is the supreme test to which any road should be put. In Missouri we have at this time scattered about one-half of the $60,000,000 bond issue on short detached, disconnected pieces of road, giving each county "A smell" of the Pork, and that will be about all they will get when this fund is exhausted. How much different is the Missouri System, after all, in practice, from that of Kansas or Arkansas, where they refused to comply or co-operate with the Government under the Fed- eral Aid Act, and have no State Aid Fund? Kansas refused to raise a state fund, and therefore had- no use for a State Highway Board, and very logically talked of abolishing the Board, when it occurred to some smart fellpw that the Board might be an useful agency through which the County Com- missioners could reach "Uncle Sam's" pocket book. There it is in a nutshell. Paternalism gone mad on the one hand, and the people acting as mendicants, or worse, on the other. The "Pork Barrel" idea has reached the point both in and out of Congress where it is well nigh universal to regard the Government as "a rich uncle" to be plundered and robbed by any means whatsoever. Do not construe this as an attack upon the Federal Aid Act. On the contrary, it is a plea for its maintenance. May I turn, aside here for one brief moment to pay my respects to the grand old men who gathered as a guard of honor, around the Cradle of Liberty where reposed the Con- stitution of the United States still wrapped in its swaddling clothes? But I want to recall the memory of the glorious old "Hero of the Hermitage", who said in vetoing the Act establishing "A National Highway" from Maysville to Lex- ington, Ky., that the public funds can only be appropriated to public, not private, uses, to National, not local, purposes, to roads National in character, and not to those of State or local interests only. Jackson was right in this instance, tho Clay was generally right on the broader grounds of internal Improvements, generally, as ably defended by Mr. Lincoln The Great Historic Highway 17 hereinafter to be presented. Much blatne may be laid at the door of those who belittle that instrument, arid try to rob it of its sacred character. Jackson and Monroe held that the public funds could be appropriated only to public purposes. The Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly confirmed it. Then it fol- lows as night the day that National (Interstate) Roads only can be built^ in whole or in part, with the National funds ; hence, all roads, National or Interstate in character, should be built and maintained by the General Government. All roads of state interest, only, should be built and main- tained by the State, and all county and local roads by the counties ; all connecting and creating a great system of "Good Roads everywhere. This is the system we thought we were getting when the amended Federal Aid bill was passed. If its spirit and intent had been carried into execu- tion we would have gotten Interstate (National) Roads esti- mated by Congress at 180,000 miles. These would have served as state and county roads in the states and counties through which they passed. State roads, say an average of 5000 miles in each of the forty-eight states, make a total mileage of 420,000 miles. If bond issues payable out of the Automo- bile funds had been adopted these roads would not have cost the taxpayer, whether he owned an automobile or not, one single penny. This money then would have gone into roads where it belonged, and not into politics, where it does not belong. Statistics show that we "improved'* about 12,000 miles of roads in 1923, in the whole of these United States, most of them in small, disconnected systems. And "improved" means from plain dirt roads up. At this rate it will take us thirty- five years to improve the present system, whereas, if the three-fold system above outlined were in effect it coulld be constructed easily in ten years, and when it is done it will be possible not only for you to start at Washington, pass through Cuniberland, Wheeling, Columbus, Indianapolis, Van- dalia, St. Louis and Kansas City, Santa Fe to Los Angeles over a completed highway within the next two years, but what is of infinitely greater importance you will be able to start at any county seat in any county in any State in the Union, and go to any county seat in any county in any other State in the Union, on a splendidly improved Highway, and this great accomplishment can be had in no other way than by carrying out the Fedbral Aid Act in its spirit and intent. It may seem that we are giving too much prominence to Missouri, but if so, it is because the movement to establish a great system of Interstate, (National) Highways, with the 18 National. Old Trails Road National Old Trails Road as the great central feature of such system originated in this state and because, too, it is here that we have met with the fiercest and subtlest oppo- sition. It is in . this state and in Kansas where the plain letter of the Federal Aid Act is openly and defiantly perverted, re- versed, and will be destroyed, if the present Fork Barrel method of scattering both the Federal and State Aid is to be continued. We are far from claiming all the credit for the advanced position of the road question, but we may reasonably claim that but for the attitude of this Association that monstrous Act known as the Shackleford Bill would have passed the Senate as it did the House. But for the Activi- ties of this Association, in a large measure, the Federal Aid Act as it now exists, never would have been passed. The State Legislatures have the right to adopt any sys- tem of roads, large or small, that they may see fit, and to direct the application and method of distributing state funds ; but Congress alone has the power to direct and supervise the distribution and application of the Federal money. This i-s clearly manifest in the Federal Aid Act. But this supreme law has been openly and defiantly repudiated, disregarded and practically '"nullified" in road construction, not only in Mis- souri but in many other states as well. It is estimated by the Highway Board that it will cost $108,000,000 to construct the secondary system of roads in this state. Then, at the lowest possible estimate, placing it at $35,000 per mile, the Interstate System will cost $54,075,*"600. This would make a grand total of $162,075,000, saying nothing about the new roads which have been legislated into existence by the Highway Board. The Automobile Manufacturer, dealer or owner, does not object to a reasonable single and just tax to be placed upon the automobile, and they unanimously favor setting aside this tax for road construction. This alone will raise a tremendous fund in all the States for road purposes and should be adopted No one but a fool would "kill the goose that lays the golden egg," but it may be well to caution those who would lay the entire burden of road taxes upon the automobiles, that they are in danger of committing just such a foolish thing. In the great Road Convention held by the A. A. A. in Washington City in March, 1913, it was the writer's great privilege to offer a resolution calling upon Congress to levy a very slight tax upon tobacco for the purpose of raising a National Road fund. It was adopted overwhelmingly, but our friend, Judge Shackelford, called for a division, stating "that if we would leave the whole question to Congress to apply this fund in any way it might see fit, that he would with- JUDGE J. M. LOWE 20 National Old Trails Road draw his objection to it, but we refused to "accept his apoN ogy." A standing vote was taken, and Shackelford, and a lost soul from Tennessee, by the name of "Ice," were the sole votes against it. During the Civil War, in seeking opportunities to levy taxes, an enormous tax was placed upon whiskey, and strange as it may seem, this tax, if it had any moral effect, increased the manufacture and sale of liquor, until the tax amounted to an enormous sum, and it was claimed "that whiskey helped to win the war." So it would be if an insignificant tax were placed upon tobacco. This tax, together' with the automobile licenses will solve the entire problem of road construction; provided, always, that we begin right, by building through "trunk" roads ; roads that begin and go somewhere, and refuse to scatter the funds about on little insignificant stretches of road which are not of any general public use. Article 6 of the Constitution of the United States says: "This Constitution and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all ^treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall be the Supreme Law of the land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitu- tion or Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding." This Association suggested on the 1st day of May, 1912, the capitalizing of the Automobile tax as a basis for a State Bond issue. Governor Vic Donahey of Ohio, in a speech recently made in Cleveland, says : "We have 10,000 miles in our State road system, and have improved about 5,000. We have spent about $110,000,000 and half of our system is still in the mud. "We have built many main arteries in Ohio, but there is a lot to be done. The 5,000 miles yet to be built in our State will be a long time being completed, if we give each county only two or three miles of highway each year. "I believe we must come to a primary system of handling our inter-county roads. By grading and bridging, then either stoning or graveling, we can keep people out of the mud temporarily, and later on a hard surface may be added. I believe we must come to that plan in Ohio." There you have it. Ohio had to spend $110,000,000 to leariji that they were pursuing a wasteful and foolish policy. New York wasted $100,000,000; Pennsylvania, $50,000,000; Michigan, the greatest sinner of them all ten years ago, re- formed her plan and is building a fine system. Wisconsin, however, took the alarm in time and now justly boasts of one of the best roaded States in the Union. People are slow to learn from the experience of others, but it seems they have to The Great Histobig Highway 21 try it out themselves, and then they have all eternity in which to repent. And finally, is it too much to claim that but for all these facts the Missouri River which has "rolled unvexed to the sea" ever since the "Stars sang together at creation's birth", is now being spanned by four magnificent bridges along side the N. O. T. Road between Boonville and Kansas City, thus tying together, not only the Interstate roads, but the entire road system of the state? This is being done at a cost of about $3,000,000, not one dollar of which comes from the $60,000,000 Road Bond Fund, nor from the state, but is about equally paid from the Federal Aid fund, and by Bridge Bond funds carried by the National Old Trails towns and counties through which it runs. This Association and the whole people of the State should hold in everlasting memory Theodore Gary, Chair- man of the State Highway Commission, whose trained busi- ness instincts suggested the plan of financing these bridges. I'hey will stand forever as monuments to his genius as well as to the broad-minded, public-spirited people, who, by their votes made them possible. THE ROAD IN MISSOURI. 22 National Old Trails Road CHAPTER 11. MISSOURI STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, Columbia, Missouri. Judge Joseph M. Lowe, Midland Building, Kansas City, Missouri. My dear Judge : — You may have thought that we were seeking or rather neglecting to furnish you the information that you asked for in the latter portion of the year 1915. Enclosed is a copy of the letter from City Engineer Curtis Hill, and attached thereto you will find information that we have finally located in our records and have transcribed same for your information. Sincerely, JEWELL MAYES, Secy. May 11, 1916. BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS Kansas City, Missouri, Department of Engineering. December 16, 1915. Mr. Jewell Mayes, Secretary, State Board of Agriculture, Jefferson City, Missouri. Dear Mr. Mayes : I am in receipt of your letters relative to records of the first selection of the first cross state highway by the Board of Agriculture, which document you will find attached hereto. In reply I wish to refer you to Road Bulletin No. 12 en- titled *The Cross State Highway", issued by myself when State Highway Engineer, in September 1911. This is Volume 9, No. 9, of the Board of Agriculture Bulletin, copies of which were all on file in the office of the Board when I left there in 1913. The Great E&storic Highway 23 In referring to this Bulletin on page 3 you will find a citation of the State Engineer Act from which the Board of Agriculture received authority for action upon road matters. Page 5 records the beginning of the idea for cross state highway and in connection with this beginning, I beg to say that when I was appointed State Highway Engineer at a meeting of the Board of Agriculture at the Southern Hotel at St. Louis, on July 6, 1907, Governor Folk being present instructed me to immediately make an investigation and tO' report upon the possibility of a cross state highway from St. Louis to Kansas City, it therefore, having been the first work ci the State Highway Engineer of this state. Page 6, the Board of Agriculture met with Governor Folk in Jefferson City on August 5, and after receiving my report designated, instead of one, three cross state high- ways. Page 8, Records of the first steps taken by Governor Hadley towards this project by appointment of a committee from the Board of Agriculture on June 27, to co-operate with the State Engineer for the purpose of investigation and des- ignation of the cross state highways between the two cities. Page 9, on July 24, the entire Board was called upon by Governor Hadley to act instead of the Committee of the Board. Rules for the selection of a route were announced and a meeting of the Board called at Jefferson City on Aug- ust 2nd, which reference you will find on page 17 of the above mentioned bulletin. The route was partially designated by the Board on August 3, the session having extended over from August 2, which reference see on Page 41 of the Bulletin. I refer you to page 41 of the Bulletin for the final meet- ing of the Board of Agriculture on the subject at the Madi- son Hotel, Jefferson City, August 17, 1911. Here minutes of the former meetings were read, the engineer's report read and accepted and the route designated by the adoption of a set of resolutions. These were all special meetings of the Board of Agri- culture, called for the special purpose of consideration of a. cross state highway between St. Louis and Kansas City. The meetings were presided over by the President of the Board or else by the Governor himself and the minutes were kept by the Secretary, and which, together with all rules for the selection and all rules for making the selection were- handled as a regular order of business and should have been spread upon the records of the State Board of Agriculture. Yours truly,' CURTIS HILL, City Engineer 24 National Old Trails Road Volume 9, Number 9, Pa^e 3. "The office of State Highway Engineer was created by an act of the Missouri Legislature .of 1907. The Engineer is appointed by and is under the general supervision of the State Board of Agriculture. The State Highway Engineer shall conform to any rules adopted by the State Board of Agriculture not inconsistent with the laws of the State. This act makes the Board of Agriculture in this state conform in road affairs to that of the U. S. Department of Agriculture m the United States where the U. S. Office of Public Roads is an office under the U. S. Department of Agriculture. It is by this general act of the Missouri Legislature of 1907 that the Missouri State Board of Agriculture receives author- ity for its work upon road affairs in general and the cross- state highways in particular. "The Board of Agriculture being, therefore, by law the State Highway Commission, has, by the Governor's instruc- tions, undertaken to put the question of good roads squarely before the people by endeavoring to get a continuous high- way, suitable for service the year around, built between our two large cities on the Eastern and Western borders, St. Louis and Kansas City. The situation is ideal for such an enterprise. Two of the largest cities of the country are located just within the boundaries and with 300 miles of rich prosperous Missouri agricultural country between them. A great highway through ten counties with one-half million people and one billion dollars worth of property will become the *great white way' of America." Volume 9y Number 9^ Page 6. During this period of road meetings and troubles with organizing road districts, the Highway Department of the State Board of Agriculture was busy surveying a practical route across the state. The result of this work was the sug- gestion of three feasible routes. These were generally re- ferred to as the Northern route which would pass through St. Charles, Louisiana, Bowling Green, Mexico, and Moberly. thence to Liberty and into Kansas City; the Central route which would lead from St. Louis to Columbia and would cross the river at Arrow Rock, thence into Kansas City; the Southern route going by Jefferson City, Sedalia, and into Kansas City by the \?jay of Pleasant Hill. These three pro- posed routes reported by the engineer were practically the same proposed routes upon which the State Board of Agriculture had to decide this summer. The Great Historic Highway 25 Volume 9y Number 9, Page 6. "The State Board met Monday, August 5, 1907, with Governor Joseph W. Folk for the purpose of designating a highway, an official route, through Missouri from St. Louis to Kansas City. The result of this meeting of the State Board of Agriculture was that the three routes were desig- nated as cross-state highways. This, in a way, was an agita- tion for the real cross-state highway which was to come later. Along these routes a great deal of road work was done, a result in itself of benefit to every county and even to the . entire state. This designation of three routes as state high- ways kept up .a spirit of rivalry between the citizens along each line. Competition in itself is good for progressiveness. It was the same for good roads and was an important factor in keeping alive the movement for a cross-state highway. It kept the supporters of one route across the state con- tinually hammering on the one route idea. At times interest and agitation would lag only to be aroused by some enthusi- astic citizen. All the time the idea was nursed by the various supporters who would enlist others in their cause. It was during this time that a misunderstanding in regard to an appropriation for roads injured th*e cross-state highway movement. In 1907 the Legislature had appropriated half a million dollars to be used for permanent . road work and which was to have been disbursed to the several counties in proportion to their assessed valuation, no county being al- lowed to draw more than five percent of the total amount. As this appropriation came at the time the cross-state high- way movement was being advocated by Governor Folk, and as^ the money had been appropriated for the purpose of building good roads, many people jumped at the conclusion that it was especially for the purpose of constructing cross- state highways. The widespread impression to this effect not only brought out opposition against the state route, but it also aroused opposition to the highway department, thought by some to have been created solely for the purpose of putting through the proposed state highway. Then when the visible effects of spending this money on roads were not evident— all because the shortness of the state revenue pre- vented the drawing of one cent of the appropriation there was considerable comment and some complaints^ Volume 9, Number 9, Pa^e 7. "During the period which intervened between the agita- tion this summer, 1911, and that of Governor Folk in 1907, the cross-state highway idea slumbered. Various newspapers gave space in helping keep alive the movement. The Kansas City Star and Kansas City Post especially are to be com- 26 National Old Trails Eoad mended for the stand taken and for being consistent **boost- ers" for a cross-state highway. During this time the lovers of history and admirers of romance joined in the fight. This was on account of the historic route, over which Daniel Boone and pioneers of the West blazed their way and around which linger many pleasing tales of pioneer times, being one of the practical routes for a state highway. This brought the Santa Fe Trail and Boone's Lick Road Association, the Kansas City Historical Society, the Missouri Historical Society, and the Daughters of American Revolution into the fight. The work of the latter was directed, however, more towards the placing of markers along the historical trail. .Later selection of the Central Route as the cross-state highway was taken up." Volume 9, Number 9, Page 10. "The Committee suggests that the advocates of the dif- ferent routes be prepared to submit at the meeting held the 2nd of August at Jefferson City a showing upon the following points : "First : Assurance from local officials, municipalities and citizens that the road will be made available for travel at the time designated, viz : about the middle of October, and a permanently improved highway will, in a reasonable time, be constructed along the route selected. "The Committee suggests that such assurance should come from the commissioners of special road districts or- ganized along said route, Judges of county courts, indicating a willingness to use public funds for the purpose of building a road and similar assurances from municipalities and citizens as to the grading and final building of a permanent road available for use all the year around. "Second: The amount of roads now improved and of roads not now improved and the condition of the same, in- cluding statement as to the condition of bridges across 5>treams or rivers, or means for crossing the same, and cul- verts along proposed routes. Also maximum grades and mileage of proposed routes and availability of material for road building. "Third : Points of interest along proposed route, including State institutions, educational institutions, places and buildings of historic interest, historic associations, and the_ general char- acter of the country through which the road is located. "Fourth: General availability of the proposed route, in- cluding connection with public highways in Qther states and the proposed transcontinental highway. "Written or oral arguments may be submitted by differ- ent organizations or citizens interested in favor of any one The Great Historic Highway 27 of the proposed routes at the meeting to be held August 2nd at Jefferson City. "In making the final decision for the selection of a State Highway, the above named factors, among others, will be taken into special consideration. "The right will be reserved by the State Board of Agri- culture to select any one of the proposed routes, or to select a State Highway to consist of parts of the different proposed routes in combination, or to vary from all of the proposed routes when it might seem advisable to do so. "The right will also be reserved to meet and change the selection of the State Highway if assurances as to the im- provement and construction of the same are not kept in a satisfactory manner. For legal authority see Revised Statutes, Article 10, Sec- tion 10662 or Page 407, Section 6, Laws of 1907. MISSOURI CROSS-STATE HIGHWAY. INTRODUCTORY. The office of State Highway Engineer was created by an act of the Missouri Legislature of 1907. The Engineer is appointed by and is under the general supervision of the State Board of Agriculture. The State Highway Engineer shall conform to any rules adopted by the State Board of Agri- culture not inconsistent with the laws of the State. This act makes the Board of Agriculture in this State conform in road affairs to that of the U. S. Department of Agriculture in the United States where the U. S. Office of Public Roads is an office under the U. S. Department of Agriculture. It is by this general act of the Missouri Legislature of 1907 that the Missouri State Board of Agriculture receives authority for its work upon road affairs in general and the cross-state high- ways in particular. The Board of Agriculture being, therefore, by law the State Highway Commission, has, by the Governor's instruc- tions, undertaken to put the question of good roads squarely before the people by endeavoring to get a continuous highway, suitable for service the year around, built between our two large cities on the Eastern and Western borders, St. Louis and Kansas City. The situation is ideal for such an enter- prise. Two of the largest cities of the country are located just within the boundaries and with 300 miles of rich pros- perous Missouri agricultural country between them. A great highway through ten counties with one-half million people and one billion dollars worth of property and a city on each end 28 National Old Trails Hoad with a like amount of people and property will become the "great white way" of America. The . idea is a co-operative plan whereby each community is asked to co-operate with that community on either side in the 'Mprovenlent of its own local road in such a manner as to connect into one great and continuous road. It must, therefore, be located over a road of local use and be of local as well as through service. In asking the citizens of a com- munity to improve its section of the road they are asked to do more than what they should do anyway — improve one of the main traveled' local roads. In doing so the community is not only making a much needed local improvement biit is placing itself upon a main thoroughfare. A thoroughfare which gives promise of becoming one of the greatest and most traveled in the country, and which, with the fast in- creasing use of motor driven vehicles, may, during some sea- sons, within ten years, have more people* passing across the state over it than passes upon any one railroad between the two big cities. Not only this, but this highway will exploit and help de- velop Missouri. It will bring us the class of visitors we like to welcome — men of means and of affairs. There is no ques- tion but that the tide of East and West travel across the coun- try has long been more or less deflected around Missouri. And so the great transcontinental highway, begun by Presi- dent Jefferson with the Old Cumberland Turnpike, and now being extended eastward to Washington and built to the west of us, will most certainly be deflected out of its true course and around the State unless the people of Missouri wake up and do something. This transcontinental highway is destined to soon become a reality and it means more than mere words to have it pass through the very heart of Missouri. Then let us make this road to this State what the great Appian Way was to the Roman Empire. Not only will this one road be of value to the State be- cause it will be a road built but because it will mean more good roads. Better than one road or a few road districts will be the universal interest and enthusiasm aroused for good roads. Bad roads prevail because there is not sufficient pub- lic interest to build good ones. There must be built up a pub- lic interest before the roads can be built. The Board of Agri- culture cannot perform a better work for Missouri than to arouse the good roads interest into action by making this great highway across the State. The idea of a Missouri Cross-State Highway, now crys- tallized into form is not new. It dates back to 1849. Gov- ernor Joseph W. Folkj half a century later, advocated it. Governor Herbert S. Hadley, reviving what seemed destined The Great Historic Highway 29 to remain for years at least a lost cause, giving- to it intelli- gent direction and gaining for it enthusiastic support, is now to see the actual road work under way during his administra- tion. In the summer of 1907 after the state legislature had distributed $475,000 of the federal government's repayment of a war loan, Governor Folk published a statement support- ing the idea of having a state highway across Missouri. Gov- ernor-. Folk expressed his. wish tha^t each county use its re- spective share of this money in building good roads and that -a macadam highway from Kansas City to St. Louis be con- structed before his term of office expired. The citizens now began to show real interest in the pro- posed state highway, and at meetings in various counties en- thusiam, which had been smouldering for the previous ten years, became manifest. But interest and enthusiasm without a material backing do not build roads and this interest waned when there was trouble in organizing the road districts under the special benefit law. Many people were enthusiastic over the proposed route as long as they thought that the state would assist in the expense of building. When it came to the point where one land owner should vote to tax his prop- erty for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a main Toad, possibly a mile from his home, interest in the road question lagged. During this period of road meetings and troubles with or- ganizing road districts, the Highway Department of the State Board of Agriculture was busy surveying a practical route across the state. The result of this work was the suggestion of three feasible routes. These were generally referred to as the Northern route which would pass through St. Charles, Louisiana, Bowling Green, Mexico, and Moberly, thence to Liberty and into Kansas City; the Central route which would lead from St. Louis to Columbia and would cross the river at Arrow Rock, thence into Kansas City; the Southern route go- ing by Jefferson City, Sedalia, and into Kansas City by the way of Pleasant Hill. These three proposed routes reported by the engineer were practically the same proposed routes upon which the State Board of Agriculture had to decide this summer. The State Board met Monday, August 5, 1907, with Gov- ernor Joseph W. Folk for the purpose of designating a high- way, an official route, through Missouri from St. Louis to Kansas City. The result of this meeting of the State Board of Agriculture was that the three routes were designated as cross-state highways. This, in a way, was an agitation for the real cross-state highway which was to come later. Along these routes a great deal of road work was done, a result in itself of benefit to every county and even to the entire state. National Old Trails Road '^hij designation of three routes as state highways kept up a spirit of rivalry between the citizens along each line. Compe- tition in itself is good for progressiveness. It was the same for good roads and was an important factor in keeping alive the movement for a cross-state highway. It k«pt the sup- porters of one route across the state continually hammering on the one route idea. At times interest and agitation would lag only to be aroused by some enthusiastic citizen. All the time the idea was nursed by the various supporters who would enlist others in their cause. It was during this time that a misunderstanding in regard to an appropriation for roads in- jured the cross-state highway movement. In 1907 the Legis- lature had appropriated half a million dollars to be used for permanent rOad work and which was to have been disbursed to the several counties in proportion to their assessed valua- tion, no county being allowed to draAv more than five per cent of the total amount. As this appropriation came at the time the cross-state highway movement was being advocated by Governor Folk, and as the money had been appropriated for the purpose of building good roads, many people jumped at the conclusion that it was especially for the purpose of con- structing cross-state highways. The widespread impression to this effect not only brought out opposition against the state route, but it also aroused opposition to the highway depart- ment, thought by some to have been created solely for the purpose of putting through the proposed state highway. Then when the visible effects of spending this money on roads were not evident — all because the shortness of the state revenue prevented the drawing of one cent of the appropria- tion there was considerable comment and some complaints. During the period which intervened between the agita- tion this summer, 1911, and that of Governor Folk in 1907, the cross-state highway idea slumbered. Various newspapers gave space in helping keep alive the movement. The Kansas City Star and Kansas City Post especially are to be com- mended for the stand taken and for being consistent "boo'sters" for a cross-state highway. During this time the lovers of history and admirers of romance joined in the fight. This was on account of the historic route, over which Daniel Boone and pioneers of the West blazed their way and around which linger many pleasing tales of pioneer times, being one of the practical routes for a state highway. This brought the Santa Fe Trail and Boone's Lick Road Association, the Kansas City Historical Society, the Missouri Historical Society, and the Daughters of American Revolution into the fight. The work of the latter was directed, however, more towards the placing of markers along the historic trail. Later, selection of the Central Route as the cross-'State highway was taken up. The Great Historic Highway 31 During the present year (1911) Governor Herbert S. Hadley turned his attention to a cross-state highway for Mis- souri. He began by holding several conferences with the State Board of Agriculture at which the business and talk was of state highways and good roads. Finally plans for reviving the interest in a state route were completed. The Governor appointed a committee of seven from the State Board of Agriculture to inquire into the availability of the three routes already mentioned as having been suggested by the State Highway Engineer. This committee was composed of N. H. Gentry, Sedalia ; Fred T. Munson, Osceola ; E. E. Swink, Farmington ; W. A. Dallmeyer, Jefferson City ; George H. Sly, Rockport ; Charles Householder, Thompson ; and Allen H. Thompson, Nashua. The appointment of this committee, an- nounced June 27, was for the purpose of bringing about an official designation of a State Highway across Missouri from east to west. The three routes to be investigated were known as the Southern, the Central, and the Northern routes. They had been gone over by the State Highway Engineer who had prepared maps and who had available information at hand in regard to the difficulties and advantages of constructing a cross-state road over them. It was June 28 when the committee of seven announced that an inspection tour would be made over the three routes. The inspection was to be made by the committee and the State Highway Engineer in order that the men upon whose shoulders rested the responsibility of making a decision as to which sh®uld be the Highway might better render such service. The tour of inspection was set for July 17. Follow- ing the trip, the State Board of Agriculture was to meet in Jefferson City for the purpose of selecting the route. Missourians now became alive to the situation. Every- where interest was keen. Road drags were put into action ; rough places along the various proposed routes were smoothed over ; approaches to culverts were improved ; everything that could be done upon short notice to improve the roads along these three routes was done, counties contending with each other in making the best showing to this party of road in- spectors. Now the cross-state highway movement became one of the questions of the day. Interest was intensified. The automobile clubs of both St. Louis and Kansas City had been instrumental in putting the movement into action. They asked that the tour be postponed until more machines could be placed at the disposal of the inspection party. The cit- izens along the lines wanted, a little more time for preliminary road work. By this time the movement had spread to such an extent that it seemed too much to ask of the committee 32 National Old Trails Road of seven that they inspect the routes and take the responsi- bihty of designating one as the Cross-State Highway. The inspection tour was then put off until July 24, just a week later than the first set date. The Governor called for the entire State Board of Agriculture to join the party. Members of the Kansas City and the St. Louis Automobile Clubs, au- tomobile dealers and manufacturers, Commercial Clubs and other men interested in the movement were invited. Now began the greatest two weeks for road improvement that Missouri has ever seen. All along the lines forces were at work under high pressure to get these roads in shape for the inspection party. More work was done on Missouri roads during these two weeks than ever before in any period of ten times that length of time. Elaborate preparations for the re- ception of the inspection party were made at every stopping place. This trip would likely mean the selection of the best route and the citizens prepared to give Missourians real Mis- souri hospitality and to leave undone nothing that might im- press the inspectors as to the advantages afforded for travel. The Committee had previously announced the inspection tour and at the same time the following announcement was made with it in regard to the selection of the State highway: "On the 2nd of August, a meeting will be held by the State Board of Agriculture at Jefferson City, at which the advocates of the different routes will be given an opportunity to appear in person and present facts and arguments in favor of the different routes. The official designation of the Cross- State Highway will then be announced, with the idea that during the last week in September the route selected will be so improved as to be available for travel and at which time the official opening of the Cross-State Highway will be had with appropriate ceremonies. The Committee suggests that the advocates of the dif- ferent routes be prepared to submit at the meeting held the 2nd of August at Jefferson City a showing upon the follow- ing points : "First: Assurances from local officials, municipalities and citizens that the road will be made available for travel at the time designated, viz. : about the middle of October, and a permanently improved highway will, in a reasonable time, be constructed along the route selected. "The Committee suggests that such assurances should come from the commissioners of special road districts or- ganized along said route, judges of county courts, indicating a willingness to use public funds for the purpose of building a road and similar assurances from municipalities and citizens as to the grading and final building of a permanent road available for use all the year around. The Great Historic Highway 33 "Second : The amount of roads now improved and of roads not now improved and the condition of the same, in- cluding statement as to the condition of bridges across streams or rivers, or means for crossing the same, and culverts along proposed routes. Also, maximum grades and mileage of pro- posed routes and availability of material for road building. "Third : Points of interest along proposed route, including State institutions, educational institutions, places and buildings of historic interest, historic associations, and the general char- acter of the country through which the road is located. "Fourth : General availability of the proposed route, in- cluding connection with public highways in other states and the proposed trans-continental highway. "Written or oral arguments may be submitted by differ- ent organizations or citizens interested in favor of any one of the proposed routes at the meeting to be held August 2 at Jefferson City. "In making the final decision for the selection of a State Highway, the above named factors, among others, w411 be taken into special consideration. "The right will be reserved by the State Board of Agri- culture to select any one of the proposed routes, or to select a State Highway to consist of parts of the different proposed routes in combination, or to vary from all of the proposed routes when it might seem advisable to do so. "The right will also be reserved to meet and change the selection of the State Highway if assurances as to the im- provement and construction of the 'same are not kept in a satisfactory * manner. THE INSPECTION TOUR. It was a great day for goods . roads in Missouri when thirteen official automobiles lined up at the Planter's Hotel in St. Louis, and at the same moment thirteen official cars were waiting at the Midland building in Kansas City for the four days' inspection tour of the three proposed cross-state routes, of which one was to be selected as the State High- way. It meant that if the route was selected and put through, that not only would portions of the state be visited by many people and that this would be a link in the some-time Ocean to Ocean Route, but it mean the stimulation of a sentiment for good roads in Missouri that in the course of a few more years would bring about a great upheaval in this state which would mean the building of highways that would con- nect with this route. Thus the state as a whole would be greatly benefited. It meant not only pleasure to the motor- ing tourists from the hustling cities, but it meant the con- struction of roads that would improve the value of property 34 National Old Trails Road and would afford the farmer such conveniences in the market- ing of his produce that it would mean money in his pocket. In these two parties were Missourians interested in the welfare of the state. They were ready to begin the trip of mspection. The Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor, the mem- bers of the State Board of Agriculture and the others who took the trip climbed into the cars. The trip of state-wide mterest began. The party left St. Louis. At the same mo- ment acress the state of Missouri another string of touring cars sped through the crowded, bustling streets of Kansas City. In these cars were men interested in road building, and Daughters of the American Revolution who were also interested in good roads. To go into the detail of this eventful trip, which lasted from July 24 to July 28, would tax the reader as much as it did the inspection party to partake of the liberality of the hospitable people along the route. It is impossible to bring in all of the roads lined with bunting, the gate posts decorated with flags, garlands of flowers and farm produce; the crowds of people gathered at the country schoolhouses that had not been open since the closing of the sessions; of the barrels almost bursting with ice-cold lemonade; the tables "groaning'' with fried chicken, Missouri ham, cake and ice cream, and dainties known only to Missouri housewives. As one mem- ber of the party expressed the trip, they "literally ate their way through fried chicken and ham." At every stopping point the citizens seemed intent upon offering better hospitality than their neighboring towns and public gathering places. Commercial clubs gave luncheons and dinners in honor of the visitors. A pilot was furnished in every county through which the parties passed and in many places along the routes the way was designated by markers. The roads were in the best possible shape in which they could be gotten in the short time between the announcement and the beginning of the tour. The St. Louis division headed for St. Charles, the third oldest town of the state and from which Walter Williams began the tracing of the Boon's Lick Road. It was this town that for several years rivaled St. Louis in population, although it was the younger town. Here the tourists saw the first State Capitol of Missouri and the Executive Mansion, once occupied by the first Governor, Alexander McNair. From there they went to St. Peters where the inspection party divided. One section went north over the Salt River Road along the Northern Route to Troy for dinner; thence through Louisiana and Bowling Green and reached Mexico' in time for supper. The other party traveled west along the "THE SCOUT" On the National Old Trails Road in Penn Valley Park, Kansas City, Mo. Designed by Cyrus Dallin. 36 National Old Trails Road Central Route to Warrenton for dinner. This is the town whose main street is Boon's Lick Road. Thence the travelers motored over the Montgomery cutoff to Mexico for supper. At thj?, coi^»ty seat of Audrian the tourists joined again and the ne'xt morning, July 25, started their cars over the North- ern Route to Moberly, where they took their noonday meal with the inspection party from Kansas City. During the inspection tour of the St. Louis party, the Kansas City division was being greeted by enthusiastic citi- zens with loaded tables of Missouri food. They began their trip by way of the Central Route ; passed through Indepen- dence, which was the outfitting point for travelers going West in early days ; and reached Lexington, another place of historic interest on the Santa Fe Trail, and whose main street is the old trail, in time for dinner. In this town the tourists caught a glimpse of the Lafayette county court house, yet showing the marks of the cannon in the decisive battle of Lexington. Then the cars were started once more upon the Santa Fe Trail and the toothsome fried chicken was as well liked by the modern visitors along this route as it was by Washington Irving eighty years ago. By supper they reached Marshall. The Kansas City division was now in the portion of the country that was the richest along the Santa Fe Trail in tra- dition and history. The Central Route, however, does not ex- actly follow the trail. From here the visitors took the road for Glasgow, the next morning, thence over the Northern Route to Moberly to join the St. Louis division for dinner. The combined divisions then returned over the Northern Route to Glasgow, thence over the Central Route through Fayette to Columbia for supper and the night. It was at Columbia under the roof of a girls' college, sup- ported by the Baptists, that the banquet was held. In this institution of learning, Stephens College, the State Board of Agriculture met after the supper and adopted the rules and order of business for the meeting to be held in Jefferson City August 2, for the purpose of selecting the Cross-State Highway. The combined divisions left Columbia on the morning of the 26th and went by the way of Fulton over the Jefferson City-Fulton cutoff. They reached Jefferson City for dinner. Here the party was again divided. The first section of the St. Louis division went back over the same route that they had come from Fulton, and then went to New Florence for the night. They left New Florence the next morning and by 1 o'clock had reached their starting point, St. Louis. The second section went from" Jefferson City over the Southern The Great Historic Highway 37 lR.oute to Union for supper. The next morning they began the last lap of their journey towards St. Louis. They reached their destination at noon, July 27. The Kansas City party did not divide on the final stretch. The combined division left Jefferson City and motored to- wards Kansas City over the Southern Route, lunched at Cali- fornia and took supper at Sedalia, where they remained over night. They lunched at Warrensburg and at Pleasant Hill and reached Kansas City about 5 o'clock on July 27. This ended the inspection tour with the exception of an inspection party that covered a part of the Northern Route which had not been gone over. Thus when the cars, full of dusty, sun-tanned people, once more entered their places of destination, one of the greatest tours in the history of the state ended. Not because of the trip itself, which demonstrated that it was possible for automobiles to travel three hundred miles over Missouri roads without a mishap of any consequence, nor was it the greatest tour merely because it showed the generous hospitality of Missourians that remained in this day of bustle and business; but this tour was the greatest because it awakened in Miss- ourians the spirit for good roads which will not be satisfied until ever county, every community, is connected by a series of good roads to the Cross-State Highway. The result of this inspection tour will eventually be a network of excellent roads and improved highways running north and south, east and west through the state and which will be wealth to the farmer, convenience to the business man, and an attraction to the tourist. RULES OF THE CONTEST. The fight for the route now became a fight between the sections to get their respective routes selected as the Missouri Cross-State Highway. The announcement of the rules and order of business which had been adopted by the State Board of Agriculture at the meeting in Stephens College, Columbia, had previously been announced by the Governor. These were : "1st. The advocates of the Northern, the Southern and the Central Routes will each be allowed two speakers, who shall consume not to exceed one hour. The time may be di- vided by agreement between the two speakers advocating each route, "2nd. Advocates of the modifications of the three pro- ppsed routes, namely: The Moberly to Glasgow cut-off, com- bining the western half of the northern and the eastern half of the Central Route ; and the Jefferson City to Fulton cut-off, combining the eastern half of the Central Route with the 38 National Old Trails Road v/estern half of the Southern Route and the Montgomery cut- off, will be allowed one speaker each who shall not speak to exceed thirty minutes. "3rd. Statements from county courts, commissioners of special road districts, municipalities, associations of citizens and citizens showing road work in progress, contracted for or proposed, should be submitted in writing any time during August 2nd. "4th. The representative of the Daughters of the Ameri^ can Revolution will be allowed thirtv minutes in advocacv of the Central Route, and any state-wide organization advocat- ing the adoption of either of the other routes will be allowed a similar length of time. "5th. Recommendations from the Kansas City and St. Louis Automobile Clubs, the Kansas City Commercial Club, and the St. Louis Business Men's League may be submitted either in writing or orally. "The meeting will convene at 10 o'clock a. m., August 2, at the Jefferson Theatre, Jefferson City. • "No limit will be placed upon the presence of the advo- cates of the various routes, all of whom are invited to be present and for Avhom adequate seating capacity will be pro- vided. "Advocates of the various routes must organize and se- lect a chairman, who will be expected to announce those who will speak in behalf of the different routes. THE FIRST MEETING. The meeting convened at the appointed date in the Jeff- erson Theatre, Jefferson City. The members of the State Board of Agriculture, acting in the capacity of jurors to de- cide upon the important question as to which route offered the best advantages and as to which would be the better for the welfare of the state if designated as the official route, were: Governor Herbert S. Hadley ; W. P. Evans, State Superintendent of Public Schools; F. B. Mumford, Dean of the College of Agriculture; the members representing the six- teen Congressional Districts; First, E. L. Newman, Lewiston ; Second, John H Brayton, Paris; Third, Allan M. Thompson, Nashua; Fourth, George H. Sly, Rockport ; Fifth, Thomas J, Hedrick, Buckner ; Sixth, Fred T. Munson, Osceola; Seventh, N. H. Gentry, Sedalia ; Eighth, W. A. Dallmeyer, Jefferson City; Ninth Charles Householder, Thompson; Tenth, P. P. Lewis, Crescent; Eleventh, Norman J. Coleman, St. Louis; The Great Historic Highway 39 Twelfth, Judge W. R. Wilkinson, St. Louis; Thirteenth, E. E. Swink, Farmington; Fourteenth, R. A. Young, Alton; Fif- teenth, S. McSmith, Reeds ; Sixteenth, A. T. Nelson, Lebanon. Upon the suggestion of the Governor, the advocates of the respective routes appointed a committee, composed of Judge David H. Harris, Callaway; Frank W. Buffum, Lin- coln; Newland Conkling, Carroll; James J. Gill, Montgomery; N. H. Gentry, Pettis; John R. Hairston, Howard; A. H. Bolte, Franklin; and J. W. Hunter of Lafayette, to draft resolutions expressive of the sentiment of the convention. The reso- lutions as follow.s were unanimously adopted : We, your Committee on Resolutions, beg leave to sub- mit the following report : We, the representatives of the proposed routes for a highway across the State of Missouri, and other citizens of the State interested in the improvement of the public roads of this State, in convention assembled, . endorse the action of the State Board of Agriculture in its efforts to foster and en- courage the sentiment for better roads in this state, realizing that money spent in the permanent improvement of our roads is a wise and profitable investment and not a luxury or a burdensome expense, and we pledge ourselves to aid in this good work by all lawful and proper means within our power. In viev^ of the fact that our National Government has given aid in the construction of railroads in a sum not less than 14 billions of dollars and that in the distribution of the mails over Star and rural routes is- now using 241,000 miles of country road, constructed and maintained entirely by the counties and communities, through which they run and with- out one cent of National aid, we believe that in the exercise of its power to aid in internal improvements the National Government could not expend money more wisely or bene- ficially than by an appropriation to be expended upon the roads of the several states under such proper and wise restrictions and condiitions as may be imposed by the Na- tional Government. We further believe that, if the policy of the State to abol- ish the contract labor system in the state penitentiary as in^ dicated by the action of our last Legislature becomes fixed, that then the propriety and advisability of using a portion, at least, of the convicts in building state highways and in making permanent improvements upon the roads of the state should receive the serious consideration of our law makers. • We endorse the policy of state aid in the building of roads, and believe our laws should be so amended as to make this 40 National Old Trails Road aid more liberal and beneficial to such localities, or counties as will co-operate in the permanent improvement of their roads. Respectfully submitted, David H. Harris, Frank W. Buffum, Newland Conklin, James W. Gill, N. T. Gentry, Jno. R. Hairston, A. H. Bolte, J. W. Hunter, Committee on Resolutions. The g^athering at Jefferson City was like a big state po- litical convention. Delegates poured into the city on every train; wedged in the theatre were 1,600. Banners were flying and bands accompanied parties of boomers as they paraded the streets. Few sought rest, and fewer found it. For seven hours oratory, Missouri oratory of spellbinding calibre, pre- vailed at this assemblage. The Southern Route was spoken for by John H. Bothwell and M. V. Carroll of Sedalia. The claim of the people along the Northern Route was pressed by John F. Morton of Richmond and Judge George Robertson of Mexico. Two women appeared before this assembly of good road enthusiasts and made a plea for the selection of the route which would closely follow the historical route by taking in Boon's Lick Road and the Santa Fe Trail. These two women, who represented the Daughters of the American Revolution, were Mrs. John Van Brunt and Miss Elizabeth Gentry of Kansas City. U. S. Hall of Glasgow and Walter Williams were the orators who represented the Central Route. The Montgomery City ,line was urged by Mr. Upti- grove, while Mr. N. R, Holcomb presented the advantages of the Higginsville-Oak Grove Route. Address of Governor Hadley before the Good Roads Meeting, Jefferson City, August 2, 1911. "Gentlemen of the State Board of Agriculture, Ladies and Gentlemen : I think I can fairly say, without the danger of successful contradiction, that this is a great day for Missouri. It means not only an awakening on the part of the people as to the necessity of advancement, but also a determination to secure it. It means that the people of Missouri are not longer un- v/illing to pay for those things which they want and need; that the old prejudices against taxes for necessary public im- GOVERNOR HERBERT S. HADLEY. 42 I National Old Trails Road provements no longer exists, and that the period in which we glorified a low tax rate simply because it was not high has come to an end. That such is the present spirit and determination of the people of Missouri was made manifest on yesterday when, by a majority of over five to one, they declared in favor of a new Capitol building commensurate with the size, the dignity and the importance of Missouri. And when today this con- vention of representative men and women assembled here, inspired by the common purpose of improving our public highways, the fact that Missouri intended to move forward no longer remained open to discussion. And in these ex- pressions of an active public interest and enthusiasm for those things which tend to progress and development, there is also manifest an aroused State ' consciousness and State pride which means much for the prosperity, the happiness and the welfare of the people of Missouri. The enthusiasm and interest aroused by the recent inves- tigation of the State Board of Agriculture of the proposed State Highway and this splendid meeting here today shows that the people of Missouri recognize both the importance and the necessity of good roads. In no other department of pub- lic activity and achievement have we been so derelict as in the building and maintaining of good public highways. Of the 110,000 miles of public roads in this State, but little over 5,000 miles have been so improved as to be available for the pur- pose of travel all the year around. The self imposed tax which the people have borne for years by having bad roads, v/hen they could have good ones, has exceeded the amount of all our taxes for the support of state and local governmentj^ and our public schools. And the construction of good roads would not only relieve the people of this State from this bur- den of taxation but they would yield a splendid return upon the money thus expended. For money spent in the building of good roads is not a tax or an expense upon the people, but an investment which will yield returns, not only in dollars and cents, but will yield returns in an improved and better social life among the people. It means better schools and better churches; less of prejudice and misunderstanding; a better feeling among the people and a better ability to con- sider and decide questions of public importance. The concrete question to be considered and decided today by the State Board of Agriculture is which one of the pro- posed three State Highways is most available for that pur- pose. This question, I am certain, you will all agree is a difficult question to decide. I am confident that when the State Board of Agriculture learns of the advantages of the Northern Route, the fact that it connects most conveniently The Great Historic Highway 43 with the proposed Trans-Continental Highway; that it em- braces the splendidly improved pikes of Pike County; that it carries the traveler through that beautiful and well developed section of the State ; through the splendid farming region of Audrian, Randolph and Chariton, Carroll, Ray and Clay; that it has behind it much of history and before it much of fur- ther development, I am certain that when the State Board of Agriculture considers all these things it will be impressed with the availability of this route for the proposed Cross- State Highway. Again, when it considers the advantages of the Southern Route ; how that route carries the traveler through the beau- tiful farming sections of Jackson and Cass and Johnson and Pettis, past the State Fair and the State Capitol, to say noth- ing of the State Penitentiary, then on through the Alps of Missouri, the beautiful Ozark hills of Osage, Franklin and Gasconade, with scenery rivaling, if it does not surpass, the scenery of the Catskills and the Adirondacks, then I am cer- tain that the Board will feel no mistake could be made in selecting this route as the Cross-State Highway. And, again, when this Board shall hear of the arguments and the advantages to be offered by the Central Route ; of how- it too will carry the traveler through a splendid agricultural section of the State — Jackson, Lafayette and Saline; in St. Charles, Warren and Montgomery ; how it will enable one to visit practically all the educational and public institutions of the State, to say nothing of some half dozen other State and public institutions and how rich with the traditions and the history of the past, it will inspire one with the pioneer spirit of those early hunters and explorers and traders who blazed the pathway of commerce and conquest and travel from the Mississippi ; then I am certain the Board will feel that in the selection of this route no mistake could be made. In fact, I imagine that these gentlemen will feel that they could be well satisfied with either "were t*other dear charmer away.*' I am confident that you all recognize the fact that where a decision is to be made upon a question such as this, the de- cision must be in favor of some and against others, and 1 am also confident that those who have so ably and so diligently advocated the advantages of these different routes will shjw by their action after the decision is made that they are as good losers as they are road builders. And I am confident that they are such good road builders that they will prove that the State Board of Agriculture made a great mistake by not selecting their route by so improving it that it will be superior as a Cross-State Highway to the one that was selected. For what we are all interested in securing is not only a Cross- 44 National Old Trails Road State Highway, but many cross-state highways; not only many cross-state highways, but a splendid system of improved public roads reaching into every section of Missouri. And I believe this work wilt so continue that in the next five years Missouri can boast of the best system of public roads of any State in the Mississippi Valley." Extracts from argument of Hon. John F. Morton, of Richmond, in behalf of the western end of the Northern Route. Mr. Chairman, Members of the Board of Agriculture, Ladies and Gentlemen: — . "Mr. Chairman, I am always glad to listen to that dis- tinguished Missouri citizen, Mr. U. S. Hall, who not only represented the old Second Congressional District in the National Halls of Congress with great honor to that district, but to the State and to his national party. I can remembei; listening to him during those campaigns telling the people that the counties of Randolph, Chariton and Carroll were the best counties that the sun ever shown upon. At the same time as a master of statistics he has that happy faculty, as all bright men have, of juggling with figures so that they can prove that the Ten Commandments were not handed down as reported and recorded in Holy Scripture. Another thing, as to the distinguished citizen who shall close for the Central Route. I say to you, my friend Williams, remember the people from these other sections of the State who are here asking for recognition, acknowledge your abil- ity, and if you will be fair to them, you will draw just as beautiful historic pictures, full of as much sentiment, and pay just as glowing tributes to such men as Doniphan and Price and General David R. Atchison, for one day President of the United States and that class of men who lived upon this route that we propose as you can to the memory of Daniel Boone, or any of the distinguished citizens who lived upon the Central Route. And we would be glad to take that back with us in happy recollection of this great meeting, which means that there will be roads through the State of Mis- souri. Gentlemen of the Board, I want to assure you that our part of the route has no opposition or war to wage upon any other portion of this State that asks that a road be estab- lished. We extend to you our hand and say that we are willing to go with you and to follow the traditions and poli- cies of our fathers who laid well and deep and broad the foundation of this Commonwealth. Nature itself divides our State, the great Missouri river entering upon the northwest and coming on down through the center until it empties into The Great Historic Highway 45 the Father of Waters, furnishing^ transportation from the north, and the great Mississippi washing the banks of our northeast and going on down to the southeast, furnishing a natural means of transportation by water to the people of this great Commonwealth. Not only that, before State roads were laid out in this State, the founders, the men who managed and controlled the affairs of this State went upon the north and the south of this river. The government built its roads upon the north and sent its produce and its supplies over the road; and gentlemen of this Board, this meeting, if carried to fruition, will be the second important meeting as to transportation of the products of this country that we have ever had in the State of Missouri. Just prior' to the war, in 1856-7-8, when river transportation was not sufficient to move the crops of this State, and could hot supply the de- mand for transportation, such men as Wells H. Blodgett and* James S. Rollins, that class of men, and your father, Mr. Gen- try, and that class of citizens who laid this foundation broad and deep for this State, said we must have steam railways in this State. They were only confined by the borders of our whole State. They were big enough to stand and look and see this mighty empire of ours and say we will extend the credit of the State of Missouri and issue bonds upon that credit for every other mile that is constructed. And how did they do it? They ran one line, the Old North Missouri, through the prairies to the Missouri river. They took what is now the great Burlington System, starting in the northwest ; then- the 'Missouri Pacific Railroad that runs by our Capitol, and they even went further looking down to the great south- west and to the southeast extending the Iron Mountain in the southeastern portion of the State and the Frisco Railway in the southwest. Now if that policy is followed up, I respectfully invite the attention of the membership of this committee to the coun- ties through which we ask this route to go. Randolph County — Moberly, the county seat, a town of eight or ten thousand inhabitants; a railroad center, situated in the center of as fine a country from every standpoint as you will find in our state ; underlaid with coal, her mines at work almost ' every day in the year bringing from the bowels of the earth wealth that goes to make our people prosperous and the . State prosperous. Her agricultural resources are great. Pass- ing on to the old County of Chariton, the home of one of Missouri's distinguished citizens, recognized at the last ses- sion of the Legislature, I believe. Governor, by the erection of a monument — General .Sterling Price — being one of the men who laid the foundation of his State, gentlemen. And when Mr, Hall was drawing his comparison as to wheat and 46 National Old Trails Road corn between these counties that lie upon the north of the river, he should have told why Chariton County does not pro- duce as much corn and wheat as these other counties. It is a fact, as the members of this Committee know, that we have devoted a large acreage in that county to the production of tobacco, and to the credit of the State of Missouri, Chari- ton County last year raised more pounds of tobacco than any other county in the United States. That is one reason v/hy her corn and wheat crop does not show up. She has three large, prosperous towns ; the great Wabash railroad runs through that county, with her branches as far as Omaha. Passing from there into the County of Carroll, the reputation of one of the products of which is not confined to the State of Missouri. Apropos of this question of building a new cap- itol, why do you know that the State of Iowa came to Car- roll County and bought the stone that is in the Capitol build- ing of Iowa and they got it from along this route which we propose. In the town of CarroUton, we have poultry yards from which the returns show that last year nearly a million dollars worth of poultry, chickens and eggs was shipped out of that one point. Her live stock interests will compare with any county ; she has her schools ; she has an electric line, she has every one of her streets paved; she has a fire department as good as any that can be found in the State. Passing over into my own county of Ray, there we have our coal. We mine it to a depth of 340 feet where we take it from the earth from a vein 34 inches thick — that splendid coal that you can take in your hand and rub, almost an anthracite, leaves no cinders, and that coal territory along this route is being de- veloped. We have a school there, conducted by the M. E. church; it is a splendid school; we raise blue grass there in that county and that may be one of the reasons why we do not produce as much corn and wheat as is produced in the counties referred to by my friend, Mr. Hall. There is no use to tell a member of this Board that fortunate is the county that can produce good blue grass, because it means fine cattle and lots of them. Passing over into the County of Clay that lies across the river from the city that we are all are proud of, the wonder of the West, Kansas City. En- tering the beautiful city of Excelsior Springs, a miniature city that has every street paved, a park, with magnificent pleasure drives leading around in all that beautiful country, in which the famous landscape artist, Mr. Kessler of Kansas City, has laid out pleasure drives and golf links for a pleasure resort that will be equal to that of any State west of the AUeghenies — enterprise in every direction; already arranged to build, or about to build, a rock road leading towards Kansas City. Go cn then to Liberty, the city of homes, schools and churches; The Great Historic Highway 47 great business center, nevertheless. There is the well known William Jewell College, with an endowment of over a million dollars, and today erecting buildings worth about $300,000. And I should not leave Excelsior Springs without referring to the fact that last year they had a $200,000 hotel fire, and now the contract has been let for a greater hotel costing nearly $300,000. Go on from Liberty across those blue grass hills, and the members of the Committee that made the trip can verify what I say; they found that we ship horses, cattle and mules and all those things that go to make wealth and industry in abundance there. That is one reason Clay County has not produced as much corn and wheat as these favored counties referred to by Mr. Hall. And right this side of Kansas City across the Missouri, the great Armour-Swift- Burlington interests have put up a levee and are construct- ing a bridge over the Missouri river, spending millions of dollars for the purpose of developing that portion of the State. This will be a double decked bridge, the railroads using the lower, the wagons and the automobiles and the foot passen- gers using the top ; and when the steamers that our new navi- gation company, organized by the progress and enterprise of the people of Kansas City, begin to traverse this stream of ours carrying our wealth and our goods, our merchandise and our crops, they raise the center of it by electricity and allow the steamers to pass through without interfering with the other traffic. Now, we think that we should be recognized if the policy that was pursued in lending the credit of this State in the ouilding of railways and the locating of State institutions; if we carry out that doctrine that seems to be, or ought to be, so well grounded that it would be the common law in this matter, that this part of the State that has always been overlooked should receive the consideration that we ask. And all we ask is that when we point to Kansas City and say we have bridged every stream from Kansas City to St. Louis; that over the Grand river that runs through Chariton County, by private enterprise and subscription, we built one of the longest free bridges in the State, costing $17,800; that >ou can run not only your automobiles across our bridge, but you can take the great threshing machines and traction en- gmes oyer the bridges of. any of our streams along this route without danger or damage; all we ask, gentlemen, is the privilege of being put in the position to, at least, compete with other portions of this State. Now, gentlemen, I hope what I have said has been re- ceived in the spirit in which it has been uttered. Missouri cannot afford to grow small in this day and age. She has been broad enough to recognize the north and south of this 48 National Old Trails Road river up to the present time. Is it possible that she can be- come small and not do that? In the name of the history and the traditions of this State and in the memory of those who looked into the future and builded for this and future genera- tions, I ask, and I sincerely hope, that this Committee in all justice will recognize the route north of the river." Argument of Judge George Robertson, of Mexico, repre- senting the Northern Route. "Mr. Chairman, Gentlemen of the Board of Agriculture, Ladies and Gentlemen : . I am almost alone here today. We have not come to at- tend this meeting with great numbers to overwhelm the good judgment of this Board by numbers, by influence or by music, but we have come here on this occasion to participate in this great uprising of the people of Missouri in favor of good roads and try to present to this Board some reasons why the Northern Route should be adopted instead of any other. You understand that I represent the eastern half of the Northern Route. We, stand alongwith the Central Route to New Florence, Missouri, with the exception of another pro- posed Northern Route which is to be considered by the State Board of Agriculture which is generally known as the Louisiana Route. I have not come here with statistics as to the number of bushels of wheat that is raised in Audrian County, Montgom- ery, Lincoln and Pike, because we present an argument more directly upon the subject than that. Audrian County excels any county that you have named, unlesa it be Lafayette, Sa- line or Boone in point of taxable wealth. Audrain County stands, of all the counties surrounding it, at the head of the taxable wealth, although it is the youngest county in that part of the State. We are populated largely from Callaway and from Boone County, and I want to say that we have that kindly feeling for you that we have shown in the past. We have contributed from our taxes constantly to the support of the State institutions in Callaway and in Boone County; we -h-ave done our part toward upbuilding these two counties ; we have done our part toward supporting these counties, as they depend, more or less, upon the v taxable wealth and upon the State institutions located in those counties. You talk of your college route, but compare your college route with this route and call it the College Route, and you v/ill have almost as many colleges upon the Northern Route as you have upon the Central Route, and every one of them upon that route has been supported by the people directly from taxes and not by State aid in any way, shape or form. The Great Historic Highway 49 I am not surprised at the gentlemen in the audience who asked Mr. Hall whether he was making a speech for the Northern or for the Central Route, because it is utterly im- possible for a man to make a speech in favor of the Central Route, without necessarily including a better route immediately north of the Central Route. I have not come here with pledges, save and except some which have already been filed with the Board of Agriculture, as to what we propose to do, because St. Charles has already done its work; Lincoln is now engaged in doing its work and has several miles of rock road, and more in process of construction.; Pike County needs nothing in the way of prom- ises, because it has one of the best gravel roads from Eolia to Louisiana, thence from Louisiana to Bowling Green, that can be found in the State of Missouri. Then the prairie road from Bowling Green to Mexico, since it has been announced that this Board of Agriculture would select a State Highway, has been put in such fine condition that it is almost like driving over one of your paved streets in Jefferson City, or any other city. It is really better. Now, we come down to the practical point where we di- vide from the Central Route at New Florence, Missouri, then to Glasgow, Missouri, and I want to give this Board the reasons why this route should be accepted, especially by the Montgomery cut-off, following the Wabash Railroad, instead of any other route which could be mentioned in connection with this road meeting. Now what about it? Mr. Hall told you that the Central Route was on the great automobile high- way from New York to San Francisco. Mr. Hall did not speak exactly accurately in that regard. It is on the Central Route from Glasgow west that the National Automobile Highway coincides with the Central Route, but it does not co- incide with it from New Florence to Glasgow. The Northern Route, by the Montgomery cut-off, from New Florence to Glasgow, Missouri, with the exception of this deviation north so as to bring in Moberly, gives the automobile route which leaves the Wabash Railroad at Renick, south of Moberly and goes across to Glasgow, making several miles shorter than according to the official route on the official map. So then, we diverge from the Central Route from Glasgow eastward to New Florence. Now, what sort of a road is it westward from Huntsville to Glasgow by the Northern Route and the Montgomery cut-off. That is the only question which I pro- pose to ask you and to present to these gentlemen, and it is no use, ladies and gentlemen, to present an argunient to these gentlemen, because they have been over both roads and they know just as well as we do which is the better road. Now, you know very well when the Automobile Association was 50 National Old Trails Road attempting to locate a road for travel across the* State of Missouri it didn't select rough places; it didn't select high grades; it didn't select unbridged streams, but it selected what it naturally could select in the absence of an}^ assistance along that line, the most feasible route between St. Louis and Kansas City. And what did they select? Now going directly across Callaway County, I ask you, gentlemen, and you who have passed over from Fulton to New Florence what kind cf a road have you got? I will ask you how many automo- biles you have counted in the city of Fulton passing over that road on the way westward? I will ask you people in Boone County how many you have counted passing over that route through Boone County to look at the State University, which is ours as much as it is yours. How many have you counted going eastward or westward from that direction? Go to New Florence, Wellsville, Montgomery City, Mexico ; go to Centralia, go to Sturgeon and then to Renick and then across to Glasgow, and I will ask you if it is not almost a daily occurrence, yes, an hourly occurrence, to see automo- biles passing over that route of natural selection. Now, what is the purpose of a road. The purpose of a road, gentlemen, gives you all leave to ride in automobiles — we don't talk about riding any more except in automobiles — ■ is to go somewhere. You want to go to see your neighbor ; you want to go to town occasionally ; you want to go to the next town or the next county and you sometimes want to go to Kansas City, sometimes to St. Louis, or other places to the west, the north or south, so, then, what is the purpose of having a good road? The purpose of having a good road is so that you can go out on it with your team and haul your wheat to market and haul your corn to market, or go visiting in the automobile or the buggy. Now, I Avant to ask you how many people will be accommodated on this Central Route between Fulton and New Florence. The next town on the Northern Route is Montgomery City of about twenty-five hundred inhabitants. The next town is Wellsville, five or six . miles away, with fifteen or sixteen hundred inhabitants ; the next town is Martinsburgh, in Audrain County, with about seven or eight hundred inhabitants ; and I want to tell you there is in every town along the line of this proposed road on the Northern Route more people who will use it than in all these towns between Fulton and New Florence. Why, there are more people in any one of these hamlets than all along there. This Central Route appeals to the people of Missouri as being the historic route. You have absolutely within the last few weeks, extended the Santa Fe Trail down the Old Boon's Lick Road until one would believe the Santa Fe Trail begun The Great Historic Highway 51 jit St. Louis and followed this Central Route across the river at Glasgow and went on to Independence. There is the Old Boon's Lick Road, where our ancestors, our great traders — Daniel Boone worked out that road, and parts of it, or parts of the road rather that he worked out are still there. And you propose to come in and say Daniel Boone selected that route. Why he absolutely cut his name on a rock in Callaway once in 1790. I am reliably informed that he was still shoot- ing deer down in East Tennessee at that time. I think by reference to history, you will find that Daniel Boone was not in Boone County, Callaway County, or on any Central Route z>x that time ; he was far on his way west to the Mississippi. But what of that? Now, this is all sentimentalism ; it is nothing else. Everybody with common intelligence who has read any of the early history of the State of Missouri knows why Daniel Boone followed that trail. He was hunting for water. He was hunting for salt ; he was hunting for the immediate necessities of life which was the occasion for moving along west as near to the Missouri river as he pos- sibly could. It is an absolute fact and it has been written into S. M. Edward's History of America that Daniel Boone did on one occasion go deer hunting in that county. And there are other things of interest that have occurred in that county. Why, do you remember way back in 1861, the armistice that was entered into between Col. Jones of Callaway and Colonel John B. Henderson of Pike, They each had a regiment, and they entered into an agreement that in order to carry on this great Civil War that Colonel Jones would take his regi- ment and go back into Callaway and wouldn't go out of it, and Col. Henderson would take his regiment and go back into Pike County and stay there and wouldn't go out of it, thereby giving an example to the people of the United States that they could have war without fighting or bloodshed. Now, the reason that I speak of this is that it actually occurred on the line of this route between Martinsburg and Benton City. Daughters of the Revolution, advocates of the Central Route, we have been able to link ourselves up with Daniel Boone and with history of much more importance than locating a salt lick or mineral spring. Now, gentlemen of the Board, I thank you seriously for the attention you have given me. I have not addressed my- self to you immediately because I have been trying to talk to these Callaway County people and show them really where they stand. Take from it the historic interest of Daniel Boone and Ihe Boon's Lick Road, what have you left, and anybody knows that is not an argument for a road. Somebody has introduced a bill in the Federal Congress appropriating money for the purpose of aiding highways. 52 National Old Trails Road Now, I am afraid sometimes that it will be the only way we will ever get them, but if we can hold this sort of a road m.eeting- in every community, we will never have to call on the Federal Government for assistance, and will conclude we are just as able to take care of it as anybody else. In behalf of the Southern Route Hon. John H. Bothwell, of Sedalia, spoke in part as follows : To you, Governor Hadley, as ex-officio member of the State Board of Agriculture, as chairman of this meeting, and as our progressive Governor who called and inspired this great meeting, I want to extend my heartiest congratulations. I think that when you appointed your sub-committee of seven from the State Board of Agriculture, issued your modest statement on the subject of a cross state highway, that you little anticipated, however much you may have desired, the growing and continually increasing sentiment that would be aroused in favor of the progress and development on the subject of road building in Missouri. I think your adminis- tration, and your State, and this beautiful city — ^this Capitol City of our great State — may well be proud of the enthusiasm, and character, and patriotism of the assembled Missourians who have come here together, unitedly, in the best of spirits, and with the greatest enthusiasm, to advocate the cause of better highways in Missouri. I dare say, without disparaging our people or our institutions, that we are more behind as a State in the matter of the permanent improvement of high- ways within our state than almost any other great State interest. In agriculture, in finance, in commerce, in education, in .morals, in patriotism, and in every other way, we have progressed until we are far beyond in the progress of those interests and those important things than we are on the subject of permanent highways. I am glad to see and to know that now, within six years after defeating two Consti- tutional amendments that were submitted by the General Assembly to provide a general tax for the State Road fund, we are here in this great meeting advocating the building of state highways. I hope that the interest manifested here to- day which has been aroused within a few weeks is one that will continue. Upon you, gentlemen of the State Board of Agriculture, largely rests the responsibility in this matter. I will tell you why. If you conceive it to be your duty today, or within a week or ten days, to decide which of a few counties in Missouri have the deepest soil or the loveliest surface, or can the most quickly with scrapers and road drags put a temporary crown on one or two hundred miles of road, if you conceive that to be your duty and your function, you The Great Historic Highway 53 will be doing the greatest possible harm to the. cause of permanent highway building in Missouri. If you, Governor Hadley, and gentlemen of the Board, spend your hours, or a few days, trying to learn the trails that the moccasins of Daniel Boone traveled more than a hundred years ago in his quest for the deer or the saline springs of Missouri, if that is your purpose here, I have nothing to do with it and need not speak to you. If you are here to undertake to find the diverging and moccasin trails that were followed by Mis- sourians and others who were going westward to Westport and Fort Leavenworth to get on the Santa Fe Trail, you are not here to help, build a highway worthy of the designation of the Missouri Cross-State Road. Of our resources, I need not to talk. Mr, Carroll and others have covered that. You as members of the State Board of Agriculture know what our resources are, because I believe about three-fourths of you live south of the Missouri river. You of the Central Route talk as though we south of the Missouri River lived in some far away region, and that the Central Route was the only true route for a cross state highway. Gentlemen, the two greatest cities in the State of Missouri and the Mississippi Valley lie south of the Missouri river ; and two-thirds of the people of Missouri live south of the Missouri River. And what would a cross state highway be to which we would invite the citizens of New England and the Atlantic Coast, of the Central and Middle West, and of the Great Lakes region, who come as tourists, on commer- cial enterprises, or on pleasure bent in automobiles, what would a state highway be that took them through the corn fields of St. Charles or Pike, or led them through the com and wheat fields of these regions where the soil is so rich and the corn grows so high,- and the hedges are so thick, that as they speed through they would now and then get a glimpse of a farm house ; now and then could see the spire of some little college or state institution in some sequestered village or little city that had been selected by the state or church authorities as a coming-home for a school where the youth of the state would not be endangered by the excite- ment and dissipation of the world. Why gentlemen, Mr. Hall, our great statesman and orator, and an honor to Mis- souri and the little city in which he is president- of a college, has even named this the ^'College Route." I believe of some ten institutions of learning there is not one, except the State Normal School at Warrensburg, on the Southern Route. We plead guilty, but we pay our taxes and send our boys and girls away from the excitement of this great State Capitol, and our great commercial city, Sedalia, and other places of that kind on the Southern Route, over to the quietude of 54 National Old Trails Road these little cities and villages. But Mr. Chairman, and gen- tlemen of the Board, the cross state highway ought to lead through the State and through those portions of the State that we want our people and the people of other states to visit, and what state highway would be worthy of that name that forgot the route that would lead them through the beautiful city of Jefferson City that will presently be praised and the Missouri people be praised when they see the most beautiful State Capitol in the United States ; that would lead them through the great commercial, business and moral center of Missouri — the city of Sedalia? Jefferson City and Sedalia alone have more population than any half dozen cities on either of the other routes. But, gentlemen, when the citizens of St. Louis who usually go for pleasure or business eastward, and seldom come westward, except when they want to go to Kansas City to learn some new enterprising method of doing or catching business ; when the citizens of the eastern states enter our State at S.t. Louis and have already traveled four or five hundred miles through the corn fields and hedge rows, and orchards of Illinois and Indiana, where they did not get a view of anything — do you think they want nothing but corn fields, and hedge rows, and orchards, when they come to Missouri? No, when they leave the City of St. Louis, why they leave behind them some of the greatest industries of Missouri — the Busch and Lemp and other breweries — and do you propose to send them through by that route that does not have another brewery until they get to Kansas City. As you go from the city of St. Louis to Franklin County there is nearly 40 miles of beautiful rock road known as the Manchester Road on a beautiful ridge, the dividing line be- tween the classic Missouri and the beautiful Meramec. And on that ridge some of the most beautiful homes and most beautiful scenery and distant vistas and views that would tempt an artist from Switzerland or the Blue Danube. Com- ing into the. County of Franklin a hundred beautiful springs of clear running water, and in a little over forty miles of as beautiful scenery as the sun ever shone upon — now little known to Missourians— he would come to the beautiful, unrivaled County of Gasconade and the beautiful blue Gasconade river, and he would find himself presently among the beautiful shad- ows of the Osage river where excellent fishing streams abound ; and on the banks of the Missouri and Osage where are to be found the most beautiful vineyards and greatest wine cellars in America, I believe. And these people hunting for pleasure, hunting for diversion, hunting for rest from the dissipation of city life could stop at these sequestered places along these beautiful streams and fish and hunt and drink innocuous wines The Great Historic Highway 55- and which would presently tempt them to leave the New England and the Middle States and come on to Missouri where they can buy land down in those counties at from $15.00 to $30.00 per acre. You may laugh in derision at Missouri lands at $15.00 per acre. I can take them down- to St. Louis County and show them land within 35 miles of the City of St. Louis — a thousand acres — that T can buy for $15.00 per acre. And with a proper State Highway through these counties and with the world brought there and made acquainted with their resources they would be worth fifteen hundred dollars an acre before your rich alluvial lands would have advanced 15 per cent an acre. An Omnipotent Provi- dence gave to this great alluvial deposit of the Missouri river an unrivaled soil and it has been there for thousands of years, and Missouri has been a State for ninety years. And some of these counties that have soil a thousand feet deep have never built a mile of rock road. Franklin County has over two hundred miles — nearly three hundred miles of rock and gravel roads ; Gasconade County some two hundred miles, and we have all along this Southern Route the people, the money and the patriotic courage to build a system of rock roads — not for ourselves we are building them, but we offer to you, if you will, and so give us the designation of the Cross-State Highway, to build for you, in half the time the other route can, a cross-state rock road that will rivel the rock roads of England, France or Switzerland. We want a cross-state road, that the roads of the southeast, or the south-central and. of the southwest parts of this State, populated by an enter- prising people with unlimited wealth which is just beginning to be developed, will be able to build to. Why, the gentlemen got up a controversy among themselves about the relative merits of bridges, and that sometimes ferries were better than a bridge, but, my dear friends, the cost of a bridge over the Missouri river well built will build forty miles of permanent rock roads, and there will be no toll to pay. The gentlemen brought up reso- lutions about the maintenance of a good ferry at Glasgow or Arrow Rock, or some other place, but he did not state what the toll rates would be on that ferry boat. Go across the Missouri river in order to traverse a region such as we know it to be ! Everybody knows of that region — in order to- cross back again into that great south and southwest country — why go over there at all hunting for a Cross-State High- way ? My friend Hon. Sam B. Cook has said: "Do what you will, nature has laid out the route for the Cross-State High- way." We have more miles of available roads and more tons of available material ready now. By your action, gentlemen,. 56 National Old Trails Road you may say to us, "you are unworthy;*' you may select the moccasin prints of ^Daniel Boone or decide in favor of those seeking the Santa Fe Trail and thereby hinder and delay the building of the road. I make a challenge here, Governor Hadley, and gentlemen of the Board, tell the people of Mis- souri that you have found three highways that are fitted for a cross-state highway if properly improved; tell us, all of us, that the first route that has a good practical system or line of rock roads from St. Louis to Kansas City shall be the Cross-State Highway. Announce that decision, put us all on our mettle and our merit. Do not trust to resolutions. Why, gentlemen, I have heard of unmentionable regions that were paved with good resolutions, but you don't dare ride over them in automobiles — there would likely be an explosion from the gasoline. It ought to be with you, Governor Haa- ley, and you gentlemen of the Board, a question of a perma- nent, comparatively easy rock road that can be traveled as Mr. Cook says — not only when there is a drought and the road grader has just gone on ahead of vou, but one that can be traveled day or night, 365. days in the year, and every year through the centuries to come. That means the South- ern Route. Now, gentlemen, I don't know, there has been so much confusion, and so few of you have been able to hear what I had to say — rather what I wanted to say — I have no idea how long I have been on the floor. I have no disposition to bore you. But before I quit, I want to say that I have no thought or work to the disparagement of any community or any citizen of the Northern Route. God bless them ! They are all Missourians, and there is nothing too good in the bounty of heaven to be given to them. Only don't take away from us our part in the up-building of Missouri and in the glory of Missouri that is yet to come. Within a few years we will celebrate the Centennial Anniversary of Missouri into the Union. Gentlemen, if the Southern Route is adopted, or if you leave it open to the one that is the most patriotic, the most sacrificing, the most ready with their money, their brains and their labor to build a road across the State, when that celebration is held it ought to be held at Sedalia on the State Fair Grounds. There will not only be a cross-state highway worthy of the name from St. Louis through all these southern counties, but there will be an interlacing system, by which you people of these northern and central counties and the people of the south and west can then come on to the State Highway and come here and view the Capitol and see our State officials that you so seldom see unless they go away from home, and see the great State Fair, and the Cen- tennial Anniversary of Missouri at Sedalia. Now, gentlemen, The Great Historic Highway 57 Mr. Hall has said that the State Fair did not mean much to Missouri, that it is held through only one week, while these colleges are open ten months in the year. That is true, but we do more for the great agricultural interests of Missouri in that one week than all these colleges in the sequestered vil- lages do in ten months in the year. They educate a few thousand girls and boys ; we educate every year one hundred thousand men and women, who are the bone and sinew and sDul of Missouri. I want to tell you briefly that since this State Fair was established, since this State Fair began busi- ness for Missouri, there has been an evident influence and increase, for the increase in the value of horses in that period of eleven years has been 16 per cent; the increase in the value of mules in that eleven years 17 per cent ; the increase in swine in that period 135 per cent, and the increase in sheep 180 per cent, and so on. Now, a word about the gentlemen who have preceded me ; they are the noblest products of Missouri. These noble men have the most beautiful wives and daughters. I don*t know that my friend (referring to Mr. Williams) has either wife or daughter — if he has, I have forgotten — but he has one of the most gifted tongues and pens of any man in Missouri. He will give you such a beautiful speech here about his route as will put a halo upon every tree and corn stalk along his route. But, gentlemen, don't forget that he is Missouri's greatest artist in depicting with his tongue and pen senti- ments, reminiscences and fiction. And whatever he may say about the route don't forget that if he were only living back on this side of the river where he was born and raised that he would say so much in favor of the Southern Route that you would forget that there was any other route to be talked about." Argument of Hon. Walter Williams of Columbia on be- half of the Central Route. It is a high privilege. Governor Hadley," and gentlemen of the Board of Agriculture, ladies and gentlemen, to speak on this high day in Missouri. This day means much, it seems to me, for the Commonwealth. I am grateful to my good friends who have chosen me as their spokesman. I am grateful to you, Governor Hadley, as a Missourian, for the mtelligent, the constant and persistent interest that you have manifested in those things that make for better living in the Commonwealth of Missouri. And may I not, without trespassing upon the proprieties of the occasion, let my lips do that which my heart prompts when I include in my grat- itude to the Governor of Missouri my gratitude also to the .58 National Old Trails Road gracious lady who presides in the Executive Mansion of this State. More than to any other person in Missouri, not even ex- cepting your honored self and the gentlemen of the Board of Agriculture, there is due need of praise for the awakening of interest in behalf of the Cross-State Highway to the women ' of Missouri, and I am not ashamed to stand here, sentiment though it may be called, to speak in praise of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I have no word of criticism of any other route that may be proposed. But as for me and mine — I have three Missouri children in my home and a good wife — but as for me and mine, we are for the Boon's Lick Road and the Santa Fe Trail. May I add that we are not polygamists either. We do not want to tie up the affections of Missouri to three Cross-State Highways. Nor have we any affinity business. We want no cut-offs in ours. I am for the Boon's Lick Road and Santa Fe Trail, the Old Trails Route, because it seems to me it serves the purpose which this Board of Agriculture and yourself, Governor, have in view, namely, that it shall serve Missourians and show Missouri. It will serve Missouri- ans because it is the shortest route. You use less gasoline and get more sentiment on that route. It will serve Missouri because it weaves in with every honk, honk, of the automobile. It will show Missouri because it will enable Missouri to toot her own horn while it provides a place where the motorist may toot his own horn. It serves the most populous region. It serves the richest region. No land at $15.00 an acre! It serves the richest region. I am not sure we have the most money in banks — I am sure I have not more money in banks than my friend Carroll has in his bank — but I am sure we have taken more money out of banks to build roads than has been done by any other route. Because forty years ago. Governor, be- fore the City of Sedalia was other than a moccasin track upon the Pettis prairies, the people of the historic county of Boone went down in their own pockets and contributed the money which built forty miles of gravel and rock roads. And eighty years ago the people of this same county con- tributed out of their means the sum of $117,000, a gift, con- sidering the time and circumstances, more princely than the gift of Carnegie or Rockefeller, in order to pay for the lo- cation and building the buildings, at their own expense, Vv^hich constituted for half a century the University of Mis- souri, I am for and my people are for the Boon's Lick and Santa Fe Route because it is the route that best serves Missouri. And because also it is the route that best shows Missouri. We are proud of our wheat and corn ; we are proud of our The Great Historic Highway 59 live stock — we get most of our hogs from Mr. Gentry on the southern route — but they come to their best development on the Central Route. Because this will be a link in the Trans- Continental Highway that shall go across this country from the National Capitol to the Golden Gate. What have other states done? Have they selected their highways along by Busch's Brewery? If that, ladies and gentlemen, is to be the test of a State Highway, count me and mine out. Where have the other states constructed their State Highways? California has voted eighteen millions of dollars to build a highway 1,100 miles long from the northern border to Lower California. Maine is just completing plans for the construc- tion of one from Bar Harbor to the State line. And east of us is the Cumberland Road, the old historic road of the east, dating back to the days of great presidents. And west of us, Kansas, New Mexico, and Colorado have constructed a new Santa Fe Trail down to the capital of the Territory soon to be the State Capital of New Mexico, and constructed it in part, Governor, as could so well be done in Missouri, through Colorado, at least, under Governor Shaffroth's direction, who is a Missourian, by the way, by convict labor. And we in Missouri see nothing in history? Shall we say that only breweries and wheat and corn and a State Fair, where the town wakes up for one week in the year, are the only things to be proud of? Macauley said that a people, — hear me for what I say if you hear me not for my cause — Macauley said that a people which do not honor and reverence the deeds of their remote ancestors would do nothing in their genera- tion for which they would receive honor and reverence from iheir remote descendants. I am for this Boon's Lick-Santa Fe Route, the Old Trails Route, because it is the college route, if you please. I am proud of Missouri's schools wherever they are, state aided or church supported. I recall them across this route. From the beginning in St. Louis, the great University founded under the auspices and supported by that great Catholic church which sent first in Missouri Pierre Marquette, whose noble missionary zeal aided in giving this state to civilization; westward to Lindenwood, the Saint Charles College, and then into Warrenton, the German Methodist School and Christian Orphans' Home; and then still further west into Fulton where is Westminster College and Synodical College and the Presbyterian Church — a pretty good church; and, then, into Fayette, the Methodist Schools of Howard, Payne and Cen^ tral, and then at Glasgow, Pritchett Institute, over which my friend Hall so ably and acceptably presides; and still further west at Marshall, the Missouri Valley, over which Dr. Black 60 National Old Trails Road so ably presides; and then at Lexington, Wentworth and the old Central there, and then into Independence. Six out of ten of the Missouri College Union Colleges are on this route. Seven-tenths of all the schools of college grade are on this route. More than that, they are not merely state aided schools, they are church aided schools and indi- vidually supported schools. You v^^ill please the Baptists who are powerful in this state; the Christians, the running water Campbellites, who are powerful and the Methodists in this state; and the Presbyterians, who though peaceful folk and small in number have some influence; and, also, the Cumberlands and the German Methodists and the Catholics with schools along this route. And if you want to, you can go to Independence and claim the support for this route of the Latter Day Saints as well. But it is the historic route. It breathes history into Mis- souri. It is the trail, not of the moccasin, Governor, of Dan- iel Boone merely, but the trail of the Missouri governors as well. Out of the thirty-three governors, there have been nineteen who came from counties along this Old Trails Route, and there may be others yet to come from this route. They come from the first Governor of the State, Alexander McNair, in St. Charles. He would have been an automobilist if he lived now, I am sure, because in 1820 he gave in for taxation in Saint Louis one of the four carriages for pleasure that were listed on the tax list in Saint Louis. From the first governor of Missouri, then, the trail of governors goes across the State to Jackson County which, among other claims to greatness, has given us our present governor. I do not want to write down in the history of Missouri — I do not want it to be written down in the history of Missouri — that we have forgotten the governors of yesterday any more than I want to write down in the history of Missouri — than I want it to be written down in the history of Missouri, that under the admin- istration of the present governor Missouri awoke to the neces- sity of a new Capitol building in the state of Missouri. There are other eminent men. There was a vote taken some years ago and fifteen great Missourians were selected. The fifteen men, dead, of course — that lets us out — who had done the most for the state, and of these fifteen, ten, think of it — ten lived along the line of the Old Trails Route from Saint Charles to Independence, and one other, and I do him honor, thanks to Senator Morton's bringing his name into this connection, I take pleasure in saying that one of the other five not on this route was that great citizen of North Missouri, Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan, who formed his regiment of Missourians who lived along the Old Trails The Great Historic Highway 61 WASHINGTON MONUMENT, WASHINGTON PLACE, NORTH CHARLES STREET AND MT. VERNON PLACE, BALTIMORE. Usually considered the touring center of that city. Peabody Institute on the right; across the street, also on the right, the Mt. Vernon Church. View looking up North Charles Street. 62 National Old Trails Road Route and led them over the Santa Fe Trail on the most marvelous military expedition that this world has ever known. There is history all along the route. I am not of those who would say we should not weave sentiment into our story of the state. You do not go to see wheat and corn, but you go to see what has made Missouri great. Along this line lived Abraham J. Williams, the Governor who held the shortest term in Missouri, a wooden legged shoemaker of Columbia, and John Miller, the Governor who held the longest term in Missouri — -John Miller — who because the Missourians of his day forgot to write history, leaving it to the people of New England who had not moved out into the United States, leaving them to write of John Miller, who said on the battle-field of 1812, "I will try, sir," and another John Miller who wasn't in the battle at all is given the credit in the United States history for this remark upon the battle-field. I am in favor of building our State Highway so that it writes history in the building of it. Take Saint Charles, begin there, with the first Capitol and the Governor's Mansion still standing; and west of there Warrenton, with the Old Trails Route running through the main street of the town; Pauldingyille, where Rodney Kenner, prince of fiddlers, kept tavern ; and Jonesburg, where in 1829, a tavern was- built w^hich still stands there, and further west, Mineola, and T want to say something about Mineola. The great Missouri- an, in 1830, Thomas H. Benton, in the United States Senate referred to Mineola as the Bethesda of the West, and he said, among other things, there are topographical engineers older that the schools and more unerring than mathemati- cians ; they are the deer, the buffalo and the elk. Their in- stinct teaches them to find the lowest passes through the mountains and the* shallowest places over the streams. Eighty years ago in the Senate of the United States, the great Mis- sourian made this plea for the central highway. At Mineola is the most picturesque spring in all the section of the county; springs for the healing of the people. And I am sur- prised that my friend Judge Robertson offers calumny to^ Min- eola when there is more water to the square inch in Mineola than in any other section of the State. And there stands Van Bibber's Tavern, built by a son of Daniel Boone; still there in all its original strength and attractiveness by the side of the road, the Van Bibber Tavern, where for the love of a girl with a blue scarf that swung in the breeze as he rode up the old blazed trail, he turned the road about a quarter of a mile out of the real direction that while he worked upon the road he might see the blue scarf waving in the breeze. Can we build a road at Mineola? I have here a statement from the chief engineer of an electric line that The Great Historic Highway 63 IS to be built across Missouri who has made the grade and the survey across the State, and he says, in substance, this with reference to Mineola : "The most difficult can be over- come with a maximum grade of two per cent which takes advantage of the adjacent depression and widens the pass to ten miles, instead of three." . I offer this, the testimony of an engineer of a railroad, against lawyers who never use a railroad engineer except where they try to twist what he had to say in behalf of their side of the case. West of Min- eola, we come into the Kingdom of Callaway, to the Deaf and Dumb Institution, where some of you perhaps wish I was, the D. and D., as they call it in Fulton, and the Hospital for the Insane, where you, gentlemen of the Board of Agri- culture, may possibly find rest from this speech-making, and then those colleges of which I spoke; and then, in my own county of Boone, where we have the State University, which has done so much for Missouri, and the Agricultural College, your home, gentlemen. > You will make us glad if you build a road — let us build a road— the first State Highway, to Missouri's Agricultural College. You will make us glad if you will let us do it, but you will make us mad if you don't, and we will build it any how. I have no patience with your three roads. They send us away and make us ridiculous after coming here. I would rather you would have taken the northern route, or the southern route, or any other route, and give it to Missouri tis the first cross-state Highway than to give three, or none ?.t all. But I say to you, build to the campus of the State University and the Agricultural College. No, I would hardly say that for, thanks to the administration of Missouri, the campus of the University and the Agricultural College is as wide as the Commonwealth, and it reaches in its influence to the boundaries of the State, everywhere. But the central building is at Columbia and to build to that— let us build to •that. Westward, the Van Horn Tavern, and in Howard County the Colleges of Fayette; the old Franklin Academy, strange to say, the only building that survived the flood when all else was buried beneath the yellow waters of the Missouri ; and at Glasgow; and in Saline county, the home of General George Bingham, the home of the great Missouri artist. Some say there wasn't any Santa Fe Trail. I could show them the Santa Fe Trail, Governor, far east of Kansas City. It began first at St. Louis, and later it began at Old Frank- lin ; a little later it started at Fayette; it passed the historic site of Ft. Orleans, the oldest settlement in all this western country, where a temporary garrison occupied the site where the first capitol of Lillard county stood, afterwards Lafav- ette, past the Ex-Confederate Home, where Missouri opens 64 National Old Trails Road wide its arms for the veterans of the Civil War who wore the gray; and in Lexington, the old court-house, on one corner of which may still be seen the mark made by a can- non ball in the Battle of Lexington when Mulligan and Price contended for supremacy in that interesting and picturesque, now progressive, city. Still west of that, the most historic names in all Missouri — ^Napoleon and Wellington, and then we cross by Warder's Ford, or some other place, into Jack- son County, by Levasy, Buckner, and Independence and to the Kansas line, where all good Missouri trails stop. And at Warder's Ford, if it be any comfort or any con- solation to the gentlemen from the State Fair, I might re- call the fact that at Warder's Ford, in western Lafayette, an old Baptist preacher — I can talk about the old Baptist be- cause my mother-in-law is Baptist — an old Baptist preacher built a whiskey still on one side of the Old Trail Route, and a Baptist Church on the other side of the Old Trail Route, and he kept the church open on Sunday and the whiskey still open on the other days of the Aveek and if brother Both- well goes that way he may get spiritual refreshment on any day in the week. I would rather have you build the road. Governor Had- ley, or let us build the road, rather, finally, because it will serve Missourians most of any of the routes, and it will show Missouri most that of which you are the proudest. It is the road of yesterday, today and tomorrow. It is the road which is a tribute to the Missouri of the past and to the Missourian a pledge and a promise of the Missouri of the fu- ture. I would build it, if for no other reason — I cannot imderstand how any man with red blood in his veins and pride of ancestry and hope of posterity may turn aside for the first cross-State Highway and for these nameless roads, this historic highway, I present to you a road with a pur- pose and a pedigree. It has all the advantages of heredity and environment. It is well bred. I appeal to you, then, to name as your first cross-State Highway the Boon's Lick, Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Trails Route, as a tribute to the old Missouri, a tribute to the pioneers of the State. In doing so, we will recall for the benefit of the new Missouri lessons from the old. ^ We will recall lessons for a fine insistence upon personal honor ; of independence and patriotism. I would have you give this road your preference for these reasons ; but more because it is a pledge and prophesy of the new Missouri. That Missouri, Governor Hadley and gentlemen, under your successful lead- ership, is to come best from the old Missouri. A new Mis- souri in which not one, but many, many roads will come. First, the Old Trails Route, and after it lateral roads and The ©reaT' Historic ; Highway 65' parallel roads, many, many-roads ^ which Will, uplift the- cGilhtty' school and save- the country churcji ^ , which will make harde'r the highway for the traveler, but\ will make gentler thid '^liviiigf of the stay-at-home'; that ■ will lift the burden of taxati6*n. which bad roads places upon the farmers' products, ^hd which will lift the burden of isolation which bad roads place upon the farmer's wife. And which, finally, in the Missouri of which we are all so proud and wherein we are all'brdthfefs and sisters, there will be a good road everywhere in the Conimonwealth, ,so that first the Old Trails Route, and then, whether we live on that or elsewhere, each one of us loyal Missourians, Governor Hadiey^ may build his house by the side of the road^ — a good road — and be a friend to man. ■ ^ To His Excellency, Governor Herbert S. Hadley, Hon Curtis. Hill, State Highway Engineer, The Honorable State Board of Agriculture : A land without memories is a land without history;'; a land without recognized history is as a land blank of imem^ ories. A land with an overlay of rich experiences > whose people neglect to record lastingly for the pride and uplift of posterity does an irreparable .injustice to the race of , men, America is as old as Asia, Africa or Europe ; Missouri is as old as Palestine. The markings left her by her i^ricient peoples, the mound-builders, are beginning to be valued and. protected from the hand of the despoiler, and are now jcher-^: ished as volumes in the great library of Time. So, too, iwith the history and racial life ' of , the American Indian. And this; because wherever any human has left its traces on the bosom: of mother earth there is left, also an ineradicable, jinterest and charm for all who come [ after. There is indestructible, magnetism in the favored spots of ground where has been- lived the lives of adventurous, .people where effort and achieve- ment have had play, whqre , success has heightened endeavor, and where the tragedy of failure has brought out tears and patience to the tire^,' biit never despair. Such a magnetism as this resides now in the Old Santa Fe Trail. It cannot be ousted in. favor of any , later experi- ences, it is the soul of which' the Trail is the body. The trail has' been bs^ptized with the tears of wome'n, christened with the hopes and longings of" men, and apotheosized by' great aspirations, dauntless endeavor, and the . fadeless glory- of achievement. No history of the State would be history with the events of ' the Trail left out. The footprihts' oi Boone, Kit Carson, Lewis, Clark and Fremont Assisted 't^o' mark it out of the wilderness.: Over it went the ambitious',! the resolute,' the daring. "Romance can find no ' richer / fieM^ th^n this marvelous old Trailj : It has no couriterpart i in all 66 National Old Trails Road history, has never had and can never have." There has been and can never be again anything on the planet like it. Why not petpetuate it, its history, its romance, its sanctity? At intervals along the length of it are rude rock hearthstones v/hich mark the last resting-places of those who fell by the way, and must needs, be left so to the earths ancient solitudes. In the Santa Fe Trail is the key to all later explorations and development of the West. "It was the cradle of daring, of enterprise, and of liberty. Up that way came of necessity the advancing army of immigration. The presence of pioneer women, the prattle of children, the pretty babble of infants, all under guard of the stalwart, determined man with a gun on his shoulder and plows in a wagon behind him, began to broaden and fix the trail into a permanent highway, a way worthy of immortal perpetuation. This is a day of returning to the use of roads, and it is more than likely that other States owning the trail in part will modernize and perpetuate those sections, and shall Mis- souri be a gap in the old stretch of pioneer history? If so, the traveler for sentiment or information must be met at a section of the road by a signboard bearing the inscription : "All wanting the Santa Fe Trail route can take it up again in Kansas." Other States know the importance of not only preserving their points of interest but of heightening them by the turn- ing of sentiment to advantage. Certain it is, that should the Santa Fe Trail be made the State Highway, that interest in Missouri will be heightened, and this will prove an interest bearing investment, financially. Make the Trail the State Road, and as the Appian Way led all roads into Rome, so, will the Old Santa Fe Road lead the world's tourists into Mis- souri. Respectfully, ANN QUARLES AULL, Lafeyette-Lexington Chapter D. A. R. (Mrs. Wm. Aull). Route Selected to New Florence. It was the next day at noon, August 3, that the State Board of Agriculture announced its decision. This decision was that only one route should be designated as the Cross- State Highway instead of selecting the three proposed routes as such. It was decided that the Central Route from St, Louis to New Florence should be designated as a portion of the Cross-State Highway and that the Board should convene two weeks later, at which time a complete repoft, after the three proposed routes had been thoroughly inspected by the The Great Historic Highway 67 State Highway Engineer from New Florence, should be ren- dered by him setting forth the physical advantages of each route. The inspection of the routes began at once. Positive as- surance from the citizens along the lines that they would construct rock roads or make other necessary improvements were called for by the engineer. The result of this inspec- tion and the call for assurances in writing and backed by work in the right direction can best be seen in the report of the Highway Engineer made before the Board August 17. FINAL MEETING AUGUST 17. Minutes of called meeting of the State Board of Agri- culture at Jefferson City, Mo., August 17th 1911. The meeting called to order by President Lewis to fur- ther consider the designation of a Cross-State Highway, met in the parlor of the Madison Hotel at 2:30 p. m., August 17, 1911. On call of roll all the members were present except Mr. Dallmeyer, Mr. Nelson and Mr. Wilkinson. Governor Hadley stated the object of the meeting and gave in detail the conditions as they were on the various routes, and made it quite clear that a further delay in the decision of the Board would result in great harm to the Good Roads movement and urged that some definite action be taken at once. Mr. Hill read the replies that had been received to a list of questions that had been sent out to the advocates of the various routes. After this he gave a full account of the present conditions on all the proposed routes. On motion of Governor Hadley it was ordered that one representative of each of the proposed routes be given five minutes time to present any additional claims they might have. Hon. U. S. Hall, Capt. Ravenel, Hon, R. M. White, Senator Morton, Judge Harris, M. V. Carroll, Mr. Berry and Mr. Blackwell presented their claims. The report of Mr. Hill, State Highway Engineer, was then made as follows : OFFICE OF STATE HIGHWAY ENGINEER. Columbia, Mo., Aug. 17, 1911. To the Honorable Board of Agriculture. Gentlemen : From observation and contact with citizens on the sev- eral proposed cross-state roads between St. Louis and Kan- sas City, I find it is the almost universal opinion that the Board should definitely determine upon some one of the routes at this session. The distance between the objective points over either of the three routes is not great, but the selection should be upon as direct a line as practical, and 68 National Old Trails Road those places located at a short distance to either side should be left to build to the main line. The cross-state road should be considered in the nature of a trunk line road. The leaders and the men most interested in the contest are serious and in earnest and any further delay will leave the impression that the Board is not carrying out its original declaration or else it is fooling with them, either of which will be detrimental to the cause. Furthermore, the route selected should be given some title along with that of the Cross-State Highway and that the other two routes should also be given separate titles. This selection should be made conditionally. The route determined upon should be given an opening dedication, at a time to be fixed upon, if possible, at the present session, for the' purpose of attracting attention and travel to that' route — this dedication to be contingent upon the present or natural roadbed being put into good condition and where already in good condition to be kept that way. The communities must also take necessary steps for financing and building a perma- nent . road within reasonable length of time. Each district or county must, upon consultation with the State Highway Engineer, adopt a plan of construction suitable to that local- ity and work for the definite completion of the adopted plans. The State Highway Engineer shall make monthly progress reports to the Board and if at any time, in the opinion of the Board, the route is not making satisfactory progress and up- on examination one of the other routes is found to be mak- ing satisfactory progress, then the name of the Cross-State Highway shall be withdrawn and dedicated to the other route. Owing to recent developments I recommend that the se- lection be on a general route, (the determination of details and disputes between short sections of two roads be left to the localities and the state engineer) and that the following be the three general routes. The Southern Route from Kansas City along the general line of the Missouri Pacific R. R. to Jefferson City, thence across Osage and Gasconade Counties and the general line of the Rock Island into St. Louis County, the route being en- tirely south of the Missouri River. It is proposed to drop south from Linn to the Rock Island in order to get the ad- vantage of a bridge over the Gasconade at Owensville. The Central Route from Kansas City over the general route of the Santa Fe Trail through Independence, Lexing- ton and Malta Bend to Marshall ; thence by way of. Glasgow and Faiyette, or by way of Arrow Rock and Boonville to the iold Boon's Lick Road Route and qver it into St. Charles and The Great Historic Highway 69 on into St. Louis. One other dev-iation is that by way of Higginsville, Odessa and Oak Grove from Marshall to Kan- sas City. The Northern Route is to follow the line of the Wabash from Kansas City to St. Charles and thence into St. Louis, the route beings entirely north of the Missouri River from Kansas City to St. Charles. The Montgomery-Mexico contin- gency of the Northern Route have a proposed deviation or combination of the east end of the Northern with the west end of the Central Route by going from New Florence to Mexico, thence to Fulton and west over the Central. I will take these routes up in the order named and give them brief discussion upon the following points : First. The condition of the road ; the grades ; availability cf road building material; the condition of bridges and cul- verts or other means of crossing streams, and the cost of construction, both bridges and roads. Southern Route. The whole eastern half of the. Southern Route is rough and contains many steep grades, the maxi- mum being twenty-eight per cent. The roads here are rough and in a poor condition. Some rough sections exist with twelve to fifteen per cent grades west of Jefferson City towards Centerton. In fact, it is over a rough broken coun- try, of which the roads more or less partake, from Pettis to St. Louis Counties, a distance of 170 miles. The rest of this route on the west half is in places unkept, as it exists at present, but has no heavy grades and most of these can be re- duced easily. Some of the made roads of this route are not in a very good condition, especially in Franklin County, where conditions would be simplified if the old rock road did not exist at all. The culverts and bridges on this route are as a whole not in first class condition. Besides the Osage and Gasconade Rivers there are other unbridged streams and branches in the eastern half which are impassable for auto- mobiles during wet seasons. The Osage and Gasconade are crossed on small ferry boats if the Old State Road is fol- lowed but the Gasconade is bridged by way of . the Owensville variation. Central Route. On the Central Route with the exception of Mineola where two long ten per cent grades exist and a maximum of eight or ten per cent in St. Charles County and ten per cent at Auxva sse Creek in eastern Callaway there are no heavy grades and' the worst of these can be remedied easily. The old rock road in Callaway County is in bad ■shape. The gravel roads in Boone County are better but they are in bad repair. The earth roads are in medium good condition as a rule and are excellent in places. The bridges 70 National Old Trails Roah and culverts are poor. This route crosses the Missouri River at St. Charles on a bridge but no bridge exists at the second crossing at Glasgow. The crossing at Glasgow at present is on a small inadequate ferry, although ample assurance is given for a first-class ferry and good approaches. Northern Route. The Northern Route is undoubtedly the route of easy grades with the exception of the grades in St. Charles County which is in common with the Central Route, No grades over six or eight per cent will be encountered. The earth roads are well kept and good. The bridge and culvert condition in the east one-third is not very good, in the central section very poor, but fairly good in the western. This route also excels either of the others for good bridges over the large streams. When the Kansas City bridge which IS now under construction is completed, all the large streams can be crossed on good bridges. The availability of building material prevails upon the Southern Route to a greater extent than upon either of the other routes. No Route can compare in abundance of build- ing material with the eastern half of the Southern, but in St. Charles, Warren, Callaway, and Boone Counties on the Central Route there exists as much good building material as in Cass, Pettis, Cooper and Moniteau on the Southern. There is no material to speak of on the line either of these routes in Johnson, or in Saline and Lafayette. Road building ma- terial is scarce and must be shipped or hauled several miles,, on an average, along the whole Northern Route except in the two eastern counties. The cost of construction, considering only the proximity ' of material and averaging the whole route, would therefore be the greatest on the Northern and the least on the South- ern Route. Building the unimproved section (not makeshifts), including culverts and bridges, will cost the Northern Route about $1,250,000, the Central $1,000,000, and the Southern $750,000. This cost is conditioned upon a greater maximum grade upon the Southern than upon the Central and greater upon the Central than the Northern. With the high grades which must prevail under this condition upon the Southern Route the cost for maintenance would be far in excess of either of the others. If all three were required to get down to a maximum grade of six per cent, there would be little difference in the cost of each route. Second. Points of interest, including state institutions, educational institutions, historic interests and associations, and the general character of the country. The Southern Route is the scenic one. It has one after another of the most magnificent views and crosses some of the most beautiful streams in the State. The beauty of the The Great Historic Highway 71 Northern Route consists not in scenery but in well tilled farms. The gently rolling, wooded country and the well improved, iiolid looking country homes through Callaway, Boone, How- ard and Lafayette Counties of the Central Route are equal to any blue grass region of Kentucky, a condition which also prevails on some portions of the Northern Route and to a less extent on the Southern. Mineola is a pretty, restful place but there is not much of it. In northwestern Saline one comes out upon the Grand Pass on the Santa Fe Trail, a narrow pass between Salt Fork Creek and Missouri River, to a broad view for miles of the richest agricultural sections of Missouri. For mineral watering places and rest, the Southern Route has Pertle Springs ; the Central, Mineola Springs ; the Northern, Randolph and Excelsior Springs. The Central Route excels in state educational . institu- tions. This route passes through towns wherein are lo- -cated no less than five state and nineteen private educational institutions, namely: Missouri School for Deaf and Dumb, and the State Hospital for Insane at Fulton; State Colony for Feeble-Minded at Marshall; University of Missouri and Mis- souri Agricultural College at Columbia ; Lindenwood College, St. Charles Military Academy and Sacred Heart Convent at St. Charles ; Central Wesleyan College and Orphans Home at Warrenton; Westminster College, Synodical College and William Woods College at Fulton; Stephens College, Christian College and Welsh Military Academy at Columbia ; Central College and Howard Payne College at Fayette ; Pritchett In- stitute and Morrison Observatory at Glasgow ; Wentworth Military Academy, Central Female College, and Lexington College at Lexington. The deviation by way of Boonville would exclude those institutions at Glasgow, but it would in- clude those of Boonville. The Southern Route is second in state institutions since it has the Capitol City, the State Fair City, and the largest State Normal School. The Northern Route is second to the Central in private in- stitutions of learning, nine of which are on this route, name- ly: Lindenwood College, St. Charles Military Academy, and Sacred Heart Convent at St. Charles; Central Wesleyan Col- lege, and Orphans' Home at Warrenton; Mexico Military Academy, and Hardin College at Mexico ; William Jewell Col- lege, and the Liberty Ladies' College at Liberty. Without 'going into details with the facts I do not believe any doubt remains about which route is the richest in historic institutions and associations. While there are history making •epochs upon both the Northern and Southern Routes, as much liistory and sentiment cluster along the Boon's Lick Road 72 National Old Tkaiis Koad and Santa- Fe Trail-, the general line of the Central Route across, the state, as along both the other routes put to- gether. ^ While upon this question of association in order to bring out the prevailing conditions and pressure behind the interest upon any route to help build it, I desire to make mention of one item which I have not heard used. The Southern Route follov^s largely along railroad lines. The communities are connected by rail transportation and communication. This prevails to a much greater extent along the Northen. Route. From Nev^ Florence westward over the Central Route, we find exactly the opposite. From New Florence through Mont- gomery, Callaway, Boone, Howard and Saline Counties the old trails were the ties in communication and transportation between them until the railroads cut into it and caused the eld roads to be abandoned. These counties and county seats are not now directly connected by rail transportation and a good highway along this route would be of greater value than where the communities are connected by rail. Also, v/hile many are disposed to scoff at the historic sentiment back of the Central Route, and while we realize that senti- ment alone will not make material things like a road, we must admit , that it is a strong factor behind any movement. If one will go out upon those routes, and mingle with the people, individually and collectively, he will admit that it is the most powerful force behind the Central Route, and taking each factor alone and to itself, it will come nearer keeping alive- the interest' and finally building the Central Route than either money or commercial interests alone. The general character and topography of the country through which each of these routes pass is impressed upon one from what has been said and that which will follow in this report. But taking the routes as a whole, the counties througla which each passes, including St. Louis and Kansas City in the population and valuation (which is necessary and fair to all three), the general productiveness per mile of road is not far apart upon the three. Populatioii Assessed Valua- Corn 1909 Wheat 1909 ' Route 1910 tion 1906 bushels bushels per per mile ' per mile per mile mile Southern 3955 $2,352,000.00 72,000 18,000 Central 4085 2,459,000.00 90,000 , 18.900 Northern' ., 3905 , 2,337,000.00 92,000 13,000 Oats 1909 Forage 1909 LiveStock 1909 Route bushels tons yalue per mile per mile per mile Southern ! 6,000 1,550 $30,000 Cehtral 7,300 1,620 30,000 ' Northern 7,100 1,870 31,000 The Great Historic Highway 73 One dollar per head of population or an assessment of 20 cents on the $100 va,luation would about build either of th^ roads. It also may be of interest in this connection to not^ that, including the two cities and those counties in whole, which are passed through that along these three combined routes, is nearly one-third of the population and one-half of the taxable wealth of the state, a situation which is ideal for such an enterprise. With two of the largest cities in the country upon each boundary and a great highway 300 miles long through the very center and heart of the state is a situa- tion which should have received attention long ago, and in a measure has received attention for a long time. The perma- nent construction, of a great highway across the state from St. Louis to the western border of the state was agitated as early as 1849. It has flamed up at intervals ever since, getting closer and closer to a reality every time, and some day will become a real road, one of the greatest in the world and to be to Missouri what the great Appian Way was to the Roman Empire. Third. General availability of the routes, including junc- tions with other highways in this or other states, and with the proposed transcontinental route. The junction of other roads in this state and thereby the territory served by them is as great a possibility upon one as upon another of the proposed routes. The possibilities for connection with roads of other states are about equal, with a slight advantage in favor of the Northern Route over either of the others. This advantage is in the Kansas City-Chicago road from Moberly by way of Hannibal or from Mexico by way of Hannibal or Louisiana. It is but 36 miles farther from Moberly to Gla sgow for the same kind of a junction with the Central Route. The trans-continental route which would cross Missouri is the proposed extension from Washington to San Francisco of the Old Cumberland Turnpike and the route is termed the Ocean to Ocean Highway. The Old Cumberland Turnpike was originally surveyed to St. Louis, which is the logical place for it, and either of our proposed cross-state roads would be available. This Ocean to Ocean Highway, however, is now routed by the U. S. Office of Public Roads over the Old Boon's Lick Road or our Central Route. As far as ability to build is concerned, any one of the three are able; for those section, as a rule, which are low in valuation are well supplied with building material, and sections not supplied with the material have the productive. 74 National. Old Trails Road quality of soil and the wealth to supply the material. It resolves itself into a question of which route is ready to build and will give the best assurance to that end. Respectfully submitted, CURTIS HILL, State Highway Engineer. After the report had been adopted the Central Route was designated as the Cross-State Highway. The selection of the route, however, was subject to certain conditions, best seen in the minutes of the meeting of the Board of that date, wherein appears the following resolutions which were unani- mously adopted: Whereas, the State Board of Agriculture on the 28th day of June, 1911, announced that it would on compliance with certain conditions then made public, designate an official Cross-State Highway after a personal tour of inspection of the three proposed routes for such highway; and Whereas, the conditions upon which it was announced that said selection was to be made have, in the opinion of the State Highway Engineer, been more fully complied with on the Central Route than upon either of the others; therefore "Be it Resolved, that the Central Route be selected as The Cross-State Hi^rhway^ subject to the formation of special road districts, the orders of the county courts, subscription of private funds and the construction of said highway from the eastern to western border of the State. The general course of said highway shall be as follows: from St. Louis through St. Charles, Cottleville, Dardenne, Wentzville, Foristel, Wright City, Warrenton, Jonesburgh, High Hill, New Florence, Danville, Mineola, Williamsburg, Calwood, Fulton, Millersburg, Harg, Columbia, Midway, Rocheport, Fayette, Glasgow, Gilliam, Slater, Marshall, Malta Bend, Grand Pass, Waverly, Dover, Lexington, Wellington, Levasy, Buckner, Independence and in to Kansas City. But the State Highway Engineer is herby authorized, subject to the approval of the State Board of Agriculture, to make such changes in the location of said highway through any county, and between Rocheport and Marshall, as may secure a more prompt and satisfactory costruction of said highway through said county.'* Be it Further Resolved that if the work of constructing and improving said Central Route as the Cross-State High- way proceeds to the satisfaction and approval of the State Highway Engineer, the State Board of Agriculture will on r,r about the 15th day of October, 1911, proceed to formally The Gbeat Historic Highway 75 ON THE NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD NEAR ARROW ROCK, MO., 1825. 76 National Old Trails Road open and dedicate said route as the Cross-State Highway with appropriate public ceremonies. But if the assurances as to the work of constructing and improving such route as the Cross-State Highway are not kept or if said work is not prosecuted to the satisfaction of the State Highway Engineer, the State Board of Agriculture reserves the right to meet and make another selection or designation of one of the other proposed routes or a combination of the two or more of said proposed routes as the official Cross-State Highway. Be it Further Resolved, that whereas many of the con- ditions announced by the State Board of Agriculture as the basis of the selection of a cross-state highway have been satisfactorily complied with on the Southern Route; and Whereas, said route offers m^ny advantages and attrac- tions to travel across the State, and, in the opinion of the Board, should be made available for travel from the eastern to the western border of the State; therefore, Be it Resolved, that said route, when the improvement of the same shall have so far progressed as, in the opinion of the State Highway Engineer, to give assurance that the same v/ill be constructed and improved for travel from the eastern to the western border of the state, that the same be formally opened and dedicated by the State Board of Agriculture and designated as the Missouri Capital State Road. Be it Further Resolved, that in case the work of improv- ing the said Southern Route as a Cross-State Highway be, in the opinion of the State Highway Engineer, further ad- vanced by the first of October than the work of constructing and improving the Central Route as the Cross-State High- v/ay, so that, in the opinion of the State Highway Engineer, said Southern Route will be first constructed and improved as a continuous and connected route from the eastern to the western border of the State, then the dedication and desig- nation of said Southern Route as the Missouri Capital State Road shall take place in the month of October, 1911, and the dedication of the said Central Route as the Cross-State High- way shall be postponed until the week of constructing and improving said route shall be prosecuted to the satisfaction of the State Highway Engineer. Be it Further Resolved, that whereas many of the con- ditions announced by the State Board of Agriculture for the selection of a Cross-State Highway have been satisfactorily complied with by the Northern Route ; and Whereas, said Highway offers many advantages and at- tractions for travel across the State and should, in the opin- ion of the Board be improved and made available for travel from the eastern to the western borders of the state ; there- fore The GrEat IIistoric Highway 77 Be it Resolved, that when the' work of constructing ain^ improving said route has progressed so as to give assurances, in the opinion of the State Highway Engineer, that the same will be improved for travel from the eastern to the western border of the State, and the same shall be formally dedicated and opened with appropriate public ceremonies by the State Board of Agriculture and designated as The North Missouri Cross-State Highway. If the work of constructing and im- proving said route as a Cross-State Highway be, in the opinion of the State Highway Engineer, further advanced by the first of October than upon the Central Route or the Southern Route, then the dedication and designation of the said Central Route and the Southern Route as Cross-State Highways, under their appropriate designations, shall be post- poned until the work of constructing and improving said routes shall be prosecuted to the satisfaction of the State Highway Engineer and the State Board of Agriculture. Be it Further Resolved, that the State Highway Engineer be and he is hereby directed to render all possible assistance to those living along each of the three proposed routes for a Cross-State Highway in the improvement and the construction of the same. Be it Further Resolved, that when the construction of all or any of said routes has been completed so as to constitute a continuous completed highway from the eastern to the western border of the State, the State Board of Agriculture will recommend to the State Legislature that a definite por- tion of said road fund be set aside each biennial period for the maintenance of said highways. Be it Further Resolved, that the State Board of Agricul- ture encourage in every way possible the construction of connecting roads so as to make possible the use of parts of ?11 these cross-state highways and the assistance of the State Highway Engineer be given to that end." Note : This is the road the present Highway Board and State Administration has done so much to divert at different points, so as to leave out such important community centers as Fulton, Marshall, Lexington, Independence, Warrensburg; and have tried to take away even the name of the road, al- though they Had adopted two-thirds of its original line and the Legislature had adopted it in its entirety. The changes made added more than 100 miles to the road system, and cost more than $1,000,000. Why? Better not attempt to answer this question. Of course, one of the excuses for making these changes of location is that they avoid going through populous towns where the people would be subject to much inconvenience on 78 National Old Trails Road account of the reckless manner of operating automobiles. That this is an untenable position is illustrated by the fact that in the City of Indianapolis, Washington Street, the principal street of the city, is, and always has been, the line of the N. O. T. Road. The same thing is true all through Illinois and all the towns such as iTerre Haute and Richmond, in Indi- ana, through Dayton, Springfield and Columbus, in Ohio, and many of the other large towns in that State;- through Wheel- ing, W. Va., Washington, Fa,, a town of 30,000 population, Cumberland, a town of 60,000, Fredericksburg, etc. It was supposed that roads were to be built where the people live, where transportation is required, both for passenger and freight service. In changing the route in Missouri, between the two largest cities, they establish a brand new line, par- alleling closely the N. O. T. Road as established by the State Legislature, across the counties of Callaway and Boone, and again parallels an old established road which is a part of the State System clear across LaFayette, Slaine and a part of Cooper and Jackson, without any reasonable excuse — ^building a brand new road where the right-of-way had to be obtained through a district where difficult grades occur and along lines where no road ever existed before or is likely ever to exist — and all of which, it is repeated, adds to, instead of diminishing the general road mileage of the State System. In Kansas City the N. O. T. comes to the heart of the business district, while the new line, called No. 2, and "St. Louis-Kan- sas City" road, stops outside the city limits about fifteen miles away from the business center, and makes no connection with any road leading West or in any other direction. The same thing has occurred on the Jefferson Highway, a part of the Interstate System, and the Surveyors are now in the field running lines all along the roads in various directions, and resulting in a tremendous additional cost for construction. The Great Historic Highway 79 CHAPTER HI. PROPOSED NATIONAL HIGHWAY. Address Delivered by J. M. Lowe at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1897, at the Southwestern Commercial Congress. I love the South. To me it is a land of sweet and sad memories. Nowhere else does the sun shine so brightly, nor the birds sing so sweetly, nor the women seem so lovely as in the beautiful Southland. And I never miss a chance to come to Atlanta. I love to read her history and study her achievements. I want to catch some of the inspiration of your progressive spirit and carry it back to my own beautiful city. Your city is full of sacred mementos. While here I want to go to the home of Henry L. Grady, and there with head uncovered, bow humbly and pay my tribute of respect to the loftiest genius and purest patriot of all Georgia's noblest sons. I want to go to the old home of "Uncle Remus" and sit on his vine-clad ver- anda, and listen in spirit to his homely stories of a people and a civilization which has passed into the realm of poetry and song. I want to go out to Crawfordsville and sit in the shadow of Liberty Hall, and commune with that lofty and in- spired spirit of the old South, to the "greatest Roman of them all," the illustrious and immortal Alexander H. Stephens. And I want to visit a still more sacred spot to me, out here at Chicamaugua, where a little mound marks the last resting place of a best loved brother who laid down his young life trying to protect Atlanta from the ruthless tread of a hostile army. But while we love to indulge in these sad and sacred memories, yet we meet in a most intensely practical period to discuss most intensely practical questions. We loved the "old South," but we love the "new South" better. When the incubus of slavery, fastened upon an unwilling people by King George III, was unwittingly removed as the inevitable result of war directed by the overruling hand of Providence, and over the protest of both North and South, she sprang forward like a young athlete, and has never slack- ened her pace. Her people no longer meet in political con- NATiO]f^AL Old Trails Road ventions so much as they do in industrial gatherings like this, where schemes for material and civic betterments are de- vised and discussed. I, too, have been entranced by the elo- quence of Yancy, of Toombs, and of Breckenridge, but now they would have to discuss something besides Governmental theories in order to get a hearing. And who will say it is not better so? Bill Arp fairly illustrated both old and new politics when asked how he was going to vote and said, "I don't know until I ax Colonel Johnson, and I don't reckon he can tell me until he sees Judge Uncierwood ; and maybe Under- wood won't know until he hears from Aleck Stephens; but ,\yho in the dickens tells little Aleck how to vote Til be dog-g-ed if I know." * I propose to discuss briefly a subject which has enlisted the thought and energies of the greatest intellects through- out civilization. One which lies at the very foundation of all material, social and commercial progress and development. Since the first suit of clothes was made out of fig leaves and the original sweat shop was established just outside the Garden, the question of transportation has figured in all man's achievements. The best use to which the armies of Caesar and Napoleon were ever put was when they were employed m building roads. The first thing to engage Washington's attention within less than twelve months after he resigned from the army, and before he was called to preside as Chair- man of the Constitutional Convention, was a road across the Allegheny mountains. As early as 1784 — 3 years before the adoption of the Constitution — ^Albert Gallatin, Jefferson's greatest Secretary of Treasury, at the suggestion of Patrick Henry, was looking at a large tract of land on the line of the road afterwards established when he came to a log cabin in the wilderness and found Washington, whom he had never met, seated at a rude table making notes of a possible road across Laurel Hill. Growing impatient at Washington's slow, methodical manner, he rudely interfered, and, pointing with his cane to a crude profile, exclaimed; "There is the only way!" Washington removed his glasses, and, giving him a severe look of condemnation, slowly replaced them and went oh with his investigation. Learning who Gallatin was he sent cut for him, and on Gallatin re-entering the room, he said, **Sir, you were right", — and this route became a part of the old historic Cumberland road estabhshed by Jefferson in 1806, and the subsequent history of which figured largely in the election of two Presidents of the United States. This old road was sometimes called the National, and sometimes Clay's road, be- cause of the steadfast support this great constructive States- man gave it for more than a quarter of a century. The Great Historic Highway 81 Republics are not always ungrateful, for just outside of Wheeling, "on the old Pike", there now stands a splendid monument erected to Henry Clay. And at Boonsboro, near Gettysburg battlefield, stands the first monument erected as .i meinorial to George Washington whom Richard Henry Lee, the ancestor of Robert E. Lee, declared to be "First in War, first in Peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen/' Gallatin also planned a National Highway from Maine to Georgia. During the first quarter of a century of National exist- ence the building of roads was regarded as one of the prime duties of the General Government. Mr. Jefferson laid out the first great National highway, extending from Cumber- land, Maryland, to Wheeling, now West Virginia. The author- ity to appropriate the revenues to such purpose was early and persistently challenged by that pestilential brood of small lawyers and politicians who hovers around the base of all great undertakings. These destructionists attacked and exerted every ingenuity to prevent the Louisiana purchase, and to this day you may hear half-baked politicians, with owl- like wisdom, call in question this great act of Constructive Statecraft. The general power of the Congress to appro- priate the revenues to building roads was uniformly sus- tained by Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Adams; and by Clay, Calhoun and Benton; by Chancellor Kent and by Chief Justice Story and Judge Cooley. As early as 1815 Madison, who was called "the father of the Constitution", in his annual message, said,— "Among the means of advancing the public in- terest this occasion is a proper one for recalling the atten- tion of Congress to the great importance of establishing throughout our country the roads and canals which can best be executed under the National authority. No objects within the circle of political economy so richly repay the exoense be- stowed on them; there are none the utility of which is more universally ascertained and acknowledged; none that do more honor to the governments whose wise and enlarged pa- triotism duly appreciate them. Nor is there any country which presents a field where nature, invites more the art of man to complete her own work for his accommodation and benefit. Whilst the States individually, with a laudable en^ terprise and emulation, avail themselves of the local advan- tages by new roads, by navigable canals, and by improving the streams susceptible to navigation, the General Govern- ment is the more urged to similar undertakings, requiring a National jurisdiction and National means, by the prospect of thus systematically completing so estimable a work.'* 82 National. Old Trails Road James Monroe succeeded Madison and carried on the great work inaugurated by Jefferson and sustained by Madi- son. In 1824 this subject was a campaign issue, and on this issue John Quincy Adams was elected, and, under his Admin- istration the Cumberland road was established from Zanes- ville, through the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and to the seat of Government at Jefferson City, Missouri. Had he have been re-elected his purpose was to carry it on across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. Webster, in his "reply to Hayne" immortalized himself as the great "expounder of the Constitution''; but the student of political history will find that Calhoun's "reply to Webster'' is the clearest, the most logical, and the profoundest exposition ever made of that great document. We have gotten far enough away from the heat and rancour engendered by the early discussions aroused by our experiment of a dual government to be able to look at these questions dispassionately, and to recognize ability and patriotism wherever we may find it. Calhoun's reputation has suffered much by those who never read him and whose only knowledge was derived from the persistent assaults of a brood of literary and political "penny-a-liners" who had not the capacity to understand him, or the honesty to do him justice even if they had. In discussing the Constitutional phase of Government aid in building roads, he said : '*Let it not be said that internal improvements may be wholly left to the enterprise of the States and of individuals. I know that much may be justly expected to be done by them ; but, in a country so new and so extensive as ours, there is room enough for all the General and State Governments, and individuals, in which to exert their resources. But many of the improvements contemplated are on too great a scale for the resources of the States or individuals; and many of such a nature as the rival jealousy of the States, if left alone, would prevent. They require the resources and the general superintendence of this Govern- ment to effect and complete them." And then he speaks of the rapid growth, and says, "Let it not, however, be forgot- ten; let it be forever kept in mind, that our growth exposes us to the protest of all calamities — next to the loss of lib- erty — and ev'jn to that in its consequence — disunion. We are great, and rapidly, (I was about to say fearfully) growing. This is our pride and our danger; our weakness and our strength. Little does he deserve to be entrusted with the liberties of this people, who does not raise his mind to these truths! We are under the most imperious obhgation to counteract every tendency to disunion. Whatever impedes the intercourse of the extremes with this, the center of the The Great Historic Highway 83 republic, weakens the union. Let us, then, bind the repub- lic together with a perfect system of roads. Let us conquer space." And he said further, "It is mainly urged that the Congress can only apply the public money in extension of the enumerated powers. I am no advocate for refined arguments on the Constitution. The instrument was not intended as a thesis for the logician to exercise his ingenuity on. It ought to be construed with plain, good sense ; and what can be more express than the Constitution on this very point? The Constitution gives to Congress the power to establish post- offices and post Roads. But suppose the Constitution to be silent — why should we be confined in the application of moneys to the enumerated powers? There is nothing in the reason of the thing why it should be so restricted. * * * If we are restricted in the use of our money to the enumer- ated powers, on what principal can the purchase of Louisi- ana be justified? To pass over many instances, the identi- cal power, now under discussion, has, in several instances, been exercised. To look no further back — at the last session a considerable sum was granted to complete the Cumberland road." And then he concluded, — "Uninfluenced by any other considerations than love of country and duty, let us add this to the many useful measures already adopted. The money cannot be appropriated to a more exalted use^." Calhoun's scheme coincided with that of Gallatin, Clay and others, to build a trunk line road from Maine to Georgia, and several trunk lines from the Atlantic sea board to the West. Suppose this had been done. It might have even prevented the Civil War. This was followed up until 1836 when the era of railroad building crowded it out, and then the sticklers for Constitutional Construction found no difficulty in lending Federal support to the railroads. Since 1850 we have given more than 110,000,000 acres of the public lands to the railroads — an area larger than the combined acreage of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. Not only have we given this great empire of land to the railroads, but the Government has guaranteed their bonds in the sum of more than $63,000,000.00. About the time we entered upon the policy of giving extrava- gant aid to railroad Companies, one of the great political parties nominated General Lewis Cass upon a platform de- claring it unconstitutional to give aid to internal improve- ments. Thereupon the people proceeded to elect Zacariah Taylor, President. Upon that issue Abraham Lincoln made speech in Congress which had much influence in the elec- tion, and is a fit companion to that of John C. Calhoun, al- ready quoted. In discussing both the platform and a message of President Polk vetoing a road bill, Mr. Lincoln said: 84 National Old Trails Road "Those general positions are, that internal improvements ought not to be made by the General Government. First, be- cause they would overwhelm the treasury. Second, because, while their burdens would be general, their benefits would be local and partial, involving an obnoxious inequality; and, third, because they would be unconstitutional. Fourth, be- cause the states may do enough by levy and collection of tonnage duties; or, if not, fifth, that the Constitution may be amended." "Do nothing at all, lest you do something wrong'*, is the sum of these positions — is the sum of this message! And this, with the exception of what is said about constitu- tionality, applying as forcibly to what is said about making improvements by State authority as by the National authority; so that we must abandon the improvements of the country altogether, by any and every authority, or we must resist and repudiate the doctrines of this message. Let us attempt the latter. The first position is, that a system of internal im- provements would "overwhelm the treasury.'' That in such a system there is a tendency to undue expansion, is not to be denied. Such tendency is found in the nature of the sub- ject. A member of Congress will prefer voting for a bill which contains an appropriation for his district to voting for one which does ,not ; and when a bill shall be expanded until every district shall be provided for, that it will be too greatly expanded is obvious. But is this any more true in Congress than in a State Legislature? If a member of Congress must have an appropriation for his district, so a member of a Legislature must have one for his county. And if one will overwhelm the National treasury, so the other will over- whelm the State treasury. Go where we will, the difficulty is the same. Allow it to drive us from the halls of Con- gress, and it will, just as easily, drive us from the State Leg- islature. Let us then grapple with it, and test its strength. Let us, judging of the future by the past, ascertain whether there may not be, in the discretion of Congress, a sufficient power to limit and restrain this expansive tendency within reasonable and proper bounds." And then he quotes the S200,000,000.00 which Polk says had been asked' for dur- ing our past history, shows it had not been appropriated, and less than two millions appropriated during the four years of Mr. Adams' administration to roads, rivers and harbors. Nothing very "alarming" about that. Then he meets the objection that the burdens would be general while the benefits would be largely local, by showing that this is always true, and cites naval appropriations to il- lusttate it by showing that no pirate ship is ever driven from the sea but that some individual merchant is especially bene- The Great Historic Highway 8S HENRY CLAY 86 National Old Trails Road fited. And then he goes on to show that no improvement is so local as not to be of some general benefit; that there are few things wholly evil or wholly good. As to its being per- fectly constitutional, he conclusively quotes both Chancellor Kent and Judge Story. He turns the president's attempt to quote Jefferson as against such appropriations, against the President's position; because Jefferson was, practically the author of these measures, and says this effort of the Presi- dent's was like "McFingal's gun— bears wide and kicks the owner over." Then he sums up as follows : "That the subject is a difficult one cannot be denied. Still, it is no more difficult in Congress than in the State Legislatures, in the counties or in the smallest municipal dis- tricts which anywhere exist. All can recur to instances of this difficulty in the case of county roads, bridges and the like. One man is offended because a road passes over his land, and another is offended because it does not pass over his ; one is dissatisfied because the bridge for which he is taxed crosses the river on a different road from that which leads from his house to town; another cannot bear that the county should be got in debt for those same roads and bridges ; while not a few struggle hard to have roads located over their lands, and then stoutly refuse to let them be opened until they are first paid the damages. Even between the different wards and streets of towns and cities we find this same wrangling and difficulty. Now, these are no other than the very difficulties against which, and out of which, the Presi- dent constructs his objections of "inequality", "speculation", and "crushing the treasury." There is but a single alter- native about them; they are sufficient or they are not. If sufficient, they are sufficient out of Congress as well as in it, and there is the end. We must reject them as insufficient, or lie down and do nothing by any authority. Then, difficulty though there be, let us meet and encounter it. "Attempt the end and never stand to doubt; nothing so hard but search will find it out." Determine that the thing can and shall be done and then we shall find the way. Now, we have determined, at last, "that the thing can and shall be done." Let us begin where we left off when the "bogy man" of doubtful authority made his appearance, take up the old Cumberland road, or any other road, carry it forward and in- tersect the Santa Fe trail and stretch one great National highway across the Continent. When this is done, "the way" discovered will seem so simple and so easy that we will only marvel at our sloth, and go forward in the only rational, feas- ible, equitable way of road building. The Great Historic Highway 87 I have referred to the old, historic Cumberland road for its historic value, but chiefly as illustrating the practical solution of the road question. Instead of lessening effort by the State and local authority it ought to be and will be an incentive to greater effort on the part of everyone. Let us no longer quibble over hair-splitting theories of governmental power. Either the General Government has authority to ap- propriate National revenues to road building, or it has not. If it has not, then there is an end to the proposed National conservation of natural resources; great irrigation projects must cease ; the rivers and harbors must be permitted to dis- integrate ; the Panama Canal must be abandoned; the title to millions of acres of the public domain given to the railroads is invalidated; every postoffice and custom house must be sold and the proceeds returned to the treasury, from which it has been illegally taken. There is as much authority, yes, more, for appropriating the public revenues to building roads than for any other purposes, for the Constitution expressly empowers Congress to "establish postoffices and post roads.'* Jf "establish" means to "build" postoffices, then it means to build roads as w ell. Chancellor Kent and Joseph Story say the authority ex- ists in the General Government. The difficulties and ob- jections are enumerated and answered by Abraham Lincoln and John C. Calhoun. No work upon which the Government can enter — no use to which the revenues can be applied — will be of such vast and permanent value to all the people. Senator Aldrich says $300,000,000.00 of the revenues are wasted annually. Let's stop this waste by applying the reve- nues to the roads. This does not mean that the States are to be relieved of any of the responsibilities and burdens of road building. . By no means. The work is vast and vastly growing. New York has issued $50,000,000.00 in road bonds and is talking of $40,000,000.00 more. Any state in the class of Missouri and Georgia can well afford to do as much. We must cease regarding road building as a tax,' and look upon it as an in- vestment. No better can be made. The old idea of en- mity between the State and Nation is well nigh obsolete. Each supplements the other. The revenues belong to the peo- ple and they demand their proper and judicious investment. Every time that the people see waste, inefficiency and extrav- agance in appropriating the revenues they feel a hand actually reaching into their pockets and taking away from them money which is their very own. The expenditures of the Gov- ernment ars huge. More than $300,000,000.00 have been in- vested in postoffice buildings alone — the necessity for which did not exist. This item alone would build ten great macadam 88 National Old Trails Road roads from ocean to ocean, and ten from the Lakes to the Gulf. And now, when we demand a mere bagatelle of what is our very own, they cry out "Paternalism." Be it so; but we shall not halt. We fear this charge even less than we did the equally foolish cry of "unconstitu- tionality." We are beginning to know our rights, and. know- ing them we dare maintain them. This question has figured largely in the election of two Presidents, and it may be of equal potency in the election of a third. This is our money; and we shall not stop until a portion of it is appropriated to the development and enrichment of the country, furnishing employment to thousands of idle hands, and adding millions in value to the wealth and prosperity of the country. CHESTNUT RIDGE, MARYLAND. The Great THistoric Highway 89 A NATIONAL HIGHWAY. SPEECH OF THE PRESIDENT. In the National House of Representatives, January 30, 1911. The House being in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and having- under consideration the bill (H. R. 31856) making appropriations for the District of Columbia and for other purposes — ■Mr. BORLAND said: Mr. CHAIRMAN: I submit an address by J. M. Lowe, of Kansas City, Mo., delivered at the National Good Roads Convention in Oklahoma City, October 5, 1910: The amount of energy employed on the subject of good roads is out 'of proportion to the results obtained. This may be accounted for, to some* e^otent, at least, because v^e have constantly presented the question, a difficult one from any standpoint, from the wrong side. vNow, this is a national convention, and I propose discussing this question frorn a na- tional point of view. In doing so, I propose, as an object les- son and for illustration, to tax your patience with historical reference to a great national highway which ought never to have been permitted to fall into decay, and Ivhich should now be revived and made the nucleus for a system of national, State, and county cooperation in the building and maintenance of good' roads. There is no reason, as I hope to be able to show you why some portion of the national revenues should not b'e appropriated to the construction of the common high- ways' of the country as they were for more than a Quarter of a century, in the early history of this country. In the use t6 which I propose to apply the Cumberland Road, in this discussion, there is the additionaL advantage of concentrating our efforts to some definite and conspicuous line of action, not that this' road is entitled 'to greater consideration than others, but chiefly because it stands out in history as the one great national highway upon which the Nation's thought was cen^ tered for a quarter of a' century, and with which many of the most ■ illustrious names of America's greatest statesmen are - forever associated. 90 National Old Trails Road The Cumberland — or National — Road is as full of his- toric interest as the old wilderness road. It was inaugurated by the great constructive statesman, Albert Gallatin, during the administration of Thomas Jefferson, in 1806, at a time when we were just enteririg upon our novel dual system of government. The powers and authority between the National and State Governments were illy defined, and have led to much controversy. When the Cumberland Road was suggested as a national highway, leading from Cumberland, Md., to St. Louis, to be constructed by the General Government, Jefferson doubted the authority of the Government to enter upon such a system of internal improvement, and said it could only be done with the consent, at least, of the States. Thereupon Virginia, Mary- Innd, and Pennsylvania enacted laws authorizing the General Government to construct such highway through their States, to be taken up (as originally planned) at Cincinnati, which was then on the edge of the Indian country, and carried on from that point to St. Louis. As built, it was located consid- erably north of this line and through Zanesville, Columbus, Indianapolis, etc. Congress passed the necessary act, com- missioners were appointed to survey and locate the road, and Mr. Jefferson approved it. At that time McAdam had not impressed his name upon road building, and the road was constructed in places of dirt, plank, split poles (corduroy), etc., and in a little while became absolutely impassable through- out much of its length. Its improvement afterwards became so necessary that it was a campaign issue in 1824 — the "para- mount'' issue of that campaign. Mr. Adams, Henry Clay (to whom a monument was erected on the line of the road), and John C. Calhoun advocated the rebuilding of the road, one of the few questions on which they ever agreed. Jackson and Crawford advocated it half-heartedly; so strong was public sentiment in its favor that they hesitated to oppose it, and when Congress convened the act passed the House of Repre- sentatives by a large majority and almost unanimously in the Senate, there being but seven votes recorded against it. Monroe, who was then President, vetoed the bill. This dis- astrous veto left the road in a hopelessly ruinous condition. Monroe's veto message regarded at that time as a great state paper, particularly by Benton, was afterwards reversed by himself. In 1836 the road was abandoned and turned back to the States. Afterward what was known as the Marysville (Ky.) Road was established by act of Congress, and Jackson vetoed the measure, as he also did of the canal around the Ohio Falls at Louisville. This put a final quietus upon the question of internal improvements, especially as to roads, but as to canals, The Great Historic Highway 91 waterways, etc., as well. At the time this question was being agitated the State governments were almost supreme and the General Government was not so much thought of. Since then the General Government has become supreme and the State governments not so much in evidence ; and we have found a way to give millions upon millions to aid railroads, etc., but not one dollar as yet to aid public highways, a baga- telle of which would have gridironed the country with maca- dam roads. In Missouri each alternate section in a strip 30 miles wide across the State was given the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad alone. Why not the General Government take up, with the con- sent, if necessary, of the States through which the line runs, in obtaining the right of way, the old Cumberland — or na- tional — Road, much of which is now macadamized, widen and improve it wherever necessary from Washington to St. Louis ; and thence via the Boonslick Road to New Franklin, in Howard County, Mo., and there connect with the old and equally historic Santa Fe trail, and follow that line to its ter- minus in New Mexico ; or the Oregon trail, and thence to the Pacific? The probable expense of such an undertaking would be perhaps, not to exceed $10,000,000. A slight scaling down of a few items in each annual recurring congressional appro- priation would construct a great trunk-line macadam road from ocean to ocean. Other trunk lines might follow, either east and west or north and south ; but it might be well, for a while at least, to limit such national improvements as this to trunk-line roads. Instead of diminishing State, county, and individual effort at road building, this it would seem to me, would lend an added impetus to a vast system of internal de- velopment, the idea being to classify the roads into national, State, and county roads. Next to the improvement of the navigable waters of the country ought to be a well-defined system of road building, both State and national. Individual effort can be concentrated and lateral roads built by county and State cooperation, connecting with the trunk lines. The national Republican convention of 1908 recommended that roads be built and maintained by the General Govern- ment. The national Democratic platform of 1908 had a simi- lar plank — ^so that we seem to have gotten away from the old idea that the General Government had no power, under the constitution, to build roads, canals, or other waterways, and have reached a conclusion that, after all, the General Government, out of the general revenue derived by the Gov- ernment, is particularly qualified for this great work. The States have appropriated moneys to build monuments and markers along the route of the old Santa Fe and Oregon trails. Why not build the best monument possible to erect 92 National Old Trails Eoad to the pioneers by macadamizing- and rendering these his- toric roads of permanent value to the people? Ezra Meeker's ox team has been relegated by steam, electricity, and gasoline, but the road is the same he traveled 50 years ago. The farmers ought not to be required to build all the roads of the country. This idea is being abandoned in all civilized countries. The master of the national grange says: ^*Statistics of the exports from the United States for the 10 years ending 1906 show that nearly 60 per cent of the exports during that period were products of the farm. Yet, for the benefit of the industry producing these enormous values, there was expended during the same period less than 1 per cent of the total Federal expenditures." Since Congress has invaded what used to be considered the exclusive right of the State, to levy taxes upon corporations, incomes, inheritances, etc., there is added force in appropriating a part of the revenues thus derived to the building and maintenance of good roads. William C. Cornwell says : The six main agricultural products — cotton, corn, and hay, wheat, oats and tobacco — whose value as farm products was in 1909 $4,388,196,198, furn- ished a total export value (including their manufactured products and those of cattle and hogs) of $926,397,890, or over 56 per cent of the total exports of $1,638,355,593. They paid, through their products, internal-revenue taxes of $161,252,250, or about 65 per cent of the entire internal-revenue collections, and in the manufacture of their directly related products gave employment in 1905 to 1,144,705 persons, receiving wages of $467,395,645, and covered a capital investment of $2,561,090,- 051. If a Government wagon train of the old pioneer type should start from the California cost heavily guarded and loaded with nine thousand millions in gold, to be distributed on the way in the slow passage to the Atlantic coast, the event would create a storm of excitement throughout the country and over the world. That, in ultimate effect and in a quiet way, is really what is being done by the harvest this year. This distribution is now going on. The first to recive his reward has been the farm laborer, but there it no premium with his. To the successful farmer, whose crop has dodged too much rain and too much heat throughout this spotted season, the dollars are piled up and paid over. As the move- ment progresses transportation of all kinds gets its shire. Then the factory and its laborers, the countingroom, thfe bank. The golden stream flows in all directions, and for a year or more will impart new cheer practically to all inter- ests." The large bulk of this stream of gold is hauled over mud roads. The Government has taken no steps to facilitate its transportation. ' The Great Historic Highway 93 Caesar and Napoleon were great builders of roads, but it seems never to have occurred to them to levy all the burden of their construction upon a single class — upon the farmers of the country. In mentioning the historical names associated w^ith this subject, among such progressive statesmen as Jefferson, Mad- ison, Adams, and Calhoun, mention should be made of the great Secretary of the Treasury in Jefferson's cabinet, Albert Gallatin, whose great foresight planned the Cumberland Road as early as 1796, and who planned a road from Maine to Geor- gia. In 1784, at Patrick Henry's suggestion, he was looking at a large tract of land on the line of the road as subsequently established, when he came upon a log cabin in the forest and found Washington, who was there on a similar errand. He was sitting at a rude table, pen in hand, taking down, in his slow, methodical way, the answ^ers of the hunters and squat- ters as to the best route across the Alleghenies for a road. They had never met before, and Gallatin, growing impatient with Washington's deliberation, finally blurted out : "There's the only practicable route," pointing out the way. Thereupon Washington laid down his pen, removed his glasses, and, giving Gallatin a stern look of disapprobation, replaced his glasses, took up his pen, and proceeded with his investigation. Finally, when satisfied, he again removed his glasses, laid down his pen, and said, "Sir, you are right"; and this location was subsequently adopted by the surveyors and commissioners who located the road. After Gallatin had left the room, Washington on learning who he was, sent for him and offered to make him his land agent, which he declined. The people who are fond of real estate investments have illustrious ex- amples. Mount Vernon consisted of more than 8,000 acres. Clay, in a -speech at a Wheeling banquet, tendered him. on ac- count of his lifelong support of this road, thus describes the piece of road the location of which was suggested by Galla- tin : Before it was built, he said, he and his family had ex- pended a whole day of toilsome and fatiguing travel to pass the distance of about 9 miles from Uniontown to Freeman's, on the summit of. Laurel Hill; adding that 80 miles over that and other mountains were now made in the public stage in one day. He said further: "We have had to beg, entreat, supplicate Congress, session after session, to grant the neces- sary appropriations to complete and repair the road." He was opposed to turning it back to the States, because, he said, it would be neglected and go to decay and ruin. His biographer says: "The country has not been wholly un- mindful of Mr. Clay's preeminent services in behalf of this beneficent measure. On the Cumberland Road stands a 94 National Old Trails Road monument of stone, surmounted by the genius of liberty and bearing as an inscription the name of Henry Clay." If any shall stagger at the expense to be incurred if the Government should enter upon such system of internal im- provement, it may be well to recall what someone has said, that "Government is a device for the collecting and spending of a people's money, and it is the history of them all, past and present, that their expenditures are ever and always on an ascending scale." That "The genius of government is not, as is too generally believed, the organizing and putting armies in the field, or launching of great battleships, but in the discovering of new sources of revenue to pay for them." What a^ statesman he must have been who discovered windows and doors as proper sources of taxation, as they do in some European countries. However all this may be, it must be apparent that no expenditure of a government's revenues can be more wisely and prudently invested than in the internal development and improvement of the country. One Dreadnought will build a macadam road from ocean to ocean. The Cumberland Road as established was 80 feet wide, and to preserve the full width Jefferson recommended grading one-half the width at once, which was done. Appropriations were made by Congress from time to time until 1836. Its most active friends were Albert Gallatin, Thomas Jefferson, John C. Calhoun, John Quincy Adams, and Henry Clay, and its lukewarm friends were James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, and Thomas H. Benton. Benton was a prince in dealing with the Territories. Favored a national highway 200 feet wide from Kansas City to the Pacific, but thought Monroe's veto, based on State's rights, unanswerable. A feature of this veto is that its arguments and logic are absolutely conclusive against the conclusion arrived at. Nowhere can be found stronger reasons in favor of the road. It was dated May 4, 1822, and aroused such a storm of pro- test that he hastened on the following 3d of December to re- verse himself in his annual message, as follows : "It is understood that the Cumberland Road, which was constructed at a great expense, has already suffered from the want of that regular superintendence and of those repairs which are indispensable to the preservation of such a work. This road is of incalculable advantage in facilitating the intercourse be- tween the Western and the Atlantic States. Through it the whole country from the northern extremity of Lake Erie to the Mississippi, and from all the waters which empty into each, finds an easy and direct communication to the seat of government, and thence to the Atlantic. The facility which it affords to all military and commercial operations, and also The Great Historic Highway 95 to those of the Post Office Department, can not be estimated too highly. This great work is likewise an ornament and an honor to the Nation. Believing that a competent power to adopt and execute a system of internal improvement had not been granted to Congress, but that such a power, confined to great national purposes and with proper limitations, would be productive of eminent advantage to our Union, I have thought it advisable that an amendment of the Constitution to that effect should be recommended to the several States." Then, after stating that he had felt compelled to veto a bill ap- propriating funds for the repair of the road, he concludes as follows : "Should Congress, however, deem it improper to , recommend such an amendment, they have, according to my judgment, the right to keep the road in repair by providing for the superintendence of it and appropriating the money necessary for repairs. Surely if they had the right to appro- priate money to make the road, they have a right to appro- priate it to preserve the road from ruin/' The Congress passed the bill, and Monroe approved it ; and yet Jackson went back cf this annual message and made the veto message of May, 1822, his authority for vetoing a similar appropriation for a different road in 1830, and this led to the final abandonment of the road in 1836. Adams succeeded Monroe, and had the road surveyed through to Jefferson City in 1827, and had he been re-elected in 1828, the road would have been extended to its ultimate goal — the Pacific. At heart Jackson favored the road and urged a constitu- tional amendment, as also did Jefferson and Monroe, but he could not rise above his jealousy and opposition to strike Clay whenever opportunity offered, hence his veto of the Mays- yille and Lexington Road. But it ought to be said that un- like Monroe's veto, the rugged old "war horse of the hermi- tage" had some cause for his action in the fact that Clay's Maysville Road was a local road of little national value and of even limited State value. In his veto message, Jackson wrote: "In the administra- tion of Mr. Jefferson we have two examples of the exercise of the right of appropriation, which, in the considerations that led to their adoption and in their effects upon the public mind, have had a greater agency in marking the character of the power (to appropriate public money) than any subsequent events. I allude to the payment of $15,000,000 for the pur- chase of Louisiana, and to the original appropriation for the construction of the Cumberland Road, the latter act deriving much weight from the acquiescence and approbation of three of the most powerful of the original members of the Confed- eracy, expressed through their respective legislatures. Al- 96 National Old Trails Road though the circumstances of the latter case may be such as to deprive so much of it as relates to the actual construction of the road of the force of an obligatory exposition of the Const'itution, it must nevertheless be admitted that so far as the mere appropriation of money is concerned they represent the principle in its most imposing aspect. No less than 23 different laws have been passed through all the forms of the Constitution, appropriating upward of $2,500,000 out of the National Treasury in support of that improvement, with the approbation of every President of the United States, including my predecessor, since its commencement.*' My, what an indictment ! All wrong but Jackson. Anoth- er case of 11 contrary jurors. The same strict construction would have prevented the Louisiana Purchase, and that terri- tory would, after the Battle of Waterloo, have fallen into the hands of England, and all the work of the Revolution would have been undone. For not even Jackson could have whipped her under such conditions. And therein again appears the marvelous genius of Jefferson. Had England have had his equal, she would to-day be ruler *of the North American Con- tinent. He also saw with clearest vision the same danger lurking in the "Northwest Territory," when, as governor of Virginia, he sent Rogers Clarke to take Vincennes and De- troit. And yet I know of no monument in all the "North- west Territory" erected to the memory of Rogers Clarke or Thomas Jefferson. Doubtless Jackson was right in holding that the public revenues should be appropriated to public purposes only, but no road is of such local benefit as to be of no general advan- tage. And this was the point which Congress constantly hag- gled over. In 1824 Congress appropriated $30,000 for the sur- • vey of such roads as the President should deem of national importance. This, it would seem, ought to have settled the f(uestion without having to resort to a constitutional amend- ment. The same rule was applied in locating the Panama Canal. Congress had no such scruples when it appropriated millions of acres of the public domain to railroads, which, at best, were only quasi public corporations. If it had power to appropriate public property to such uses, then undoubtedly it had power to appropriate public funds to uses which are wholly public and which the Constitution expressly authorizes Congress to establish. If it had no such power, then the title to millions of acres of land did not pass out of the Gov- ernment, but still constitute part of the public domain. But it may be said this would be to open wide the "pork barrell" — every congressional district would want a road. It may be replied that',, as it is now most congressional districts have a creek or bayou which needs dredging, riprapping, or The Great Historic Highway 9f '^snagg'ing," and if road building was added, it would give the average Congressman something to do, and he could always report to his constituents how earnestly he had tried and what he could do next time. Sufficient revenues have been squandered on unnavigable streams to gridiron the United States with macadam roads. It hasn't been long since ' a Government boat, dredging one of these streams, turned up the river over which it had just traveled and stuck on a sand bar. This bar had formed in the rear of the boat, where' the dredging had just been done. It is not unusual for some of these "navigable streams" to fill up overnight all that was dredged out the day previous. The total appropriations for the Cumberland Ro9.d from 1806 to 1836 were $6,832,945.05. Expenditures for the period, $6,759,257.30; returned to 'the Treasury, $73,687.75. This fbr what Clay pronounced the "finest carriage road in America, over which the mail coaches travel 80 miles in a day.". In 30 years less than $7,000,000 appropriated for this great work. With this let us compare the appropriations for rivers and harbors for the last 20 years, which, according to statement, from the Treasury Department, is here given : "The appropriation made for rivers and harbors during the sessions of Congress from 1891 to 1911 were as follows: 1891 $25,136,295.00 1892 2,951,200.00 1893 22,968,218.00 1894 14,166,153.00 1895 20,043,180.00 1896 ; 11,452,115.00 1897 15,944,147.00 1898 19,26^,412.91 1899 14,492,459,56 1900 25400,038.94 1901 16,175,605.75 1902. 7,046,623.00 1903 32,540,199.59 1904 20,228,150.99 1905 10,872,200,00 1906 26,561,281.75 1907............ 17,254,050.04 1908 43,310,813.00 1909 18,09.2,945.00 1910 29,196>i64,00 1911 .49,381,144.^0 "A total for 20 years of $441,273,493.94." ' / i),;- One hundred and fifty millions to rivers and harbors Stit- ing the hst four years. Enough to build 10 great 'trunk line 98 National Old Trails Road macadam roads, five from the Atlantic to the Pacific and five from the Lakes to the Gulf. This expenditure (for roads) would develop and enrich the country, furnish employ- ment to thousands, and add millions in value to wealth and the general revenues. Instead of everybody "touring" Europe, Europe would be "touring" America. "The balance of trade," so largely affected by American travel abroad, would be speedily turned in our favor. People living east of the Alleghenies would learn that there is a people and a country on the west side thereof ; that there is a Pacific, a Yosemite, a Yellowstone Park worth seeing. President James K. Polk, in a pocket veto, in 1847, said: "The policy of embarking the Federal Government in a gen- eral system of internal improvements had its origin but little more than 20 years ago. In a very few years the applications to Congress for appropriations in furtherance of such objects exceeded $200,000,000," In the last 20 years we have appro- priated to rivers and harbors more than $441,000,000. "In this alarming crisis," says Polk, "President Jackson refused to approve and sign the Maysville road bill, the Wabash River bill, and other bills of a similar character," etc. And then he says, "although the bill under consideration proposes no appropriation for a road or a canal, it is not easy to per- ceive the difference in principle or mischievous tendency be- tween appropriations for making roads and digging canals and appropriations to deepen rivers and improve harbors," etc. He was undoubtedly right ; there is no difference. Mr. Lincoln, then a Member of Congress, so fully an- swered all the objections raised in this veto message, and all that can be reasonably urged against the policy of internal improvements generally, that the Congress shortly thereafter reversed the policy hitherto pursued and has been exceedingly liberal as to rivers and harbors, but very neglectful as to Yoads and highways, notwihtstanding their immense importance in any scheme of transportation and general development. He began by quoting the anti-internal improvement plank in the Baltimpre platform of 1848, upon which Gen. Cass was de- feated by "Rough and Ready" Taylor upon a well-defined issue of internal improvements, and then goes on to enumer- ate thf President's objections as follows : "Those general positions are, that internal improve- ments ought not to be made by the General Government. First, because they would overwhelm the Treasury. Second, because, while their burdens would be general, their benefits would be local and partial, involving an obnoxious inequality; and, third, because they would be unconstitutional. Fourth, because the States may do enough by the levy and collection of tonnage duties; or, if not, fifth, that the Constitution may The Great Historic Highway 99 be amended.'* "Do nothing at all, lest you do something wrong," is the sum of these positions — is the sum of this message. And this, with the exception of what is said about constitutionahty, applying as forcibly to what is said about making improvements by State authority as by the national authority; so that we must abandon the improvements of the country altogether, by any and every authority, or we must resist and repudiate the doctrines of this message. Let us attempt the latter. The first position is that a system of internal improve- ments would "overwhelm the Treasury." That in such a sys- tem there is a tendency to undue expansion, is not to be de- nied. Such tendency is found in the nature of the subject. A Member of Congress will prefer voting for a bill which contains an appropriation for his district to voting for one which does not; and when a bill shall be expanded till every district shall be provided for, that it will be too greatly ex- panded is obvious. But is this any more true of Congress than in a State legislature? If a Member of Congress must have an appropriation for his district, so a member of a legis- lature must have one for his county. And if one will over- whelm the National Treasury, so the other will overwhelm the State treasury. Go where we will, the difficulty is the same. Allow it to drive us from the halls of Congress, and it will just as easily drive us from the State legislatures. Let us then grapple with it and test its strength. Let us, judging of the future by the past, ascertain whether there may not be, in the discretion of Congress, a sufficient power to limit and restrain this expansive tendency within reasonable and proper bounds." And then he quotes the $200,000,000 which Polk says had been asked for during our past history, shows it had not been appropriated, and less than two millions appropriated during the four years of Mr. Adams's administration to roads, rivers, and harbors. Noth- ing very "alarming" about that. Then he meets the objection that the burdens would be general while the benefits would be largely local, by showing that this is always true, and cites naval appropriations to illustrate it by showing that no pirate ship is ever driven from the sea but that some individual merchant is especially bene- fitted. And then he goes on to show that no improvement is so local as not to be of some general benefit; that there are few things wholly evil or wholly good. As to its being per- fectly constitutional, he conclusively quotes both Chancellor Kent and Judge Story. He turns the President's attempt to quote Jefferson as against such appropriations, against the President's position, because Jefferson was practically the 100 National Old Trails Road author;: of these measures, and says this effort of the Presi- dent's. :was like ■''McFingars gun — bears wide and kicks the owner oyer/' Then he sums up as follows: • '"That" the subject is a difficult one can not be denied. Still it is no more difficult, in Congress than in the State legislatures, in the counties, or in the smallest municipal dis- tricts which anywhere exist. AH can recur to instances of this difficulty in the case of county roads, bridges, and the like. One man is offended because a road passes over his land, and another is offended because it does not pass over his; one is dissatisfied because the bridge for which he is taxed crosses the river on a different road from that which leads from his house to town; another can not bear that the county should be got in debt i for those same roads and bridges; while not a few struggle hard to have roads located over their lands, and then stoutly refuse to let them be opened until they are first paid the damages. Even between the dif- ferent wards and streets of towns and cities we find the same wrangling and difficulty. Now these are no other than the very difficulties against wliich, and out of which, the President constructs his objections of 'inequality,' 'specula- tion/ and 'crushing the Treasury/ There is but a single al- ternative about them ; they are sufficient or they are not. If sufficient, they are sufficient out of Congress as well as in it, and there is the end. We must reject them as insuffi- cient or lie down and do nothing by any authority. Then, difficulty though there be, let us meet and encounter it. 'At- tempt the end and never stand to doubt; nothing so hard but search will find it out.' Determine that the thing can and shall be done and then we shall find the way/' Now, we have determined, at last, "that the thing can and shall be done/' The National Republican convention of 1908 resolved that : "We recognize the social and economic advantages of good country roads maintained more and more largely at the public expense and less and less at the expense of the abutting property owner." : The Democratic national convention of 1908 resolved that, "We favor Federal aid to State local authorities in the construction and maintenance of post roads." Both parties having decided "that the thing can and shall be done," it only remains' t6 search and "find the way." This is easy. Begin v/here:;we left off when the "bogy man" of doubtful authority made his - appearance, take up the old Cumberland Road, car- ry it forward and intersect the Santa Fe trail and the Oregon trail, and stretch one great national highway across the coa- tinent.: When this is done, "the way" discovered will seem The Great Historic Highway 101 ;bo simple and so easy that we will only marvel at our sloth and go forward in the only rational, feasible, equitable way •of road building. I have used the old, historic Cumberland Road for its his- toric value, but chiefly as illustrating the practical solution of the road question. Instead of lessening effort by the State and local authority it ought to be and will be an incentive to greater effort on the part of everyone. Let us no longer quibble over hair-splitting theories of governmental power. Either the General Government has authority to appropriate national revenues to road building, or it has not. If it has not, then there is an end to the proposed national conservation of natural resources; great irrigation projects must cease; the rivers and harbors must be permitted to disintegrate ; the Panama Canal must be abandoned; the title to millions of acres of the public domain given to the railroads is invalidated ; every post office and customhouse must be sold and the pro- ceeds returned to the Treasury from which it has been illegally taken. There is as much authority, yes, more, for ap- propriating the public revenues to building roads than for any of these purposes, for the Constitution expressly empowers Congress to "establish post offices and post roads." If "es- tablish'* means to "build" post offices, then it means to build roads as well. Chancellor Kent and Joseph Story say the authority ex- ists in the General Government. The difficulties and objec- tions are enumerated and answered by Abraham Lincoln. No work upon which the Government can enter — no use to which the revenues can be applied — -will be of such vast and permanent value to all the people. If the piratical mode of appropriating the public revenues is to continue, then let it be done in a way to be of general benefit to the whole country. Senator Aldrich says $300,000,- "000 of the revenues are wasted annually. Let's stop this waste by applying the revenues to the roads. Let's stop dissipating the revenues to purposes of doubt- ful utility, thus creating deficits for which new schemes of taxation must be devised after each congressional appropria- tion bill is passed. Others have contributed of their experience and wisdom to this great and growing subject of the roads of the country, of their economic value and how their construction is to be consummated, all of which is of great value. I have now made mine, which may be of no value, but such as it is I leave it to your thoughtful, earnest, and serious consideration, l:)elieving as I do that this is, if not the only solution, at least the fair, reasonable, and equitable solution of this great ques- tion. It involves no question of State's rights. It does not 102 National. Old Trails Road impair or conflict with the right and the duty of the State and of local authoritiesto appropriate their revenues also to this great purpose. There is work enough for all. I do not believe the State or the county should appeal to the Govern- ment to do work which can be better done by local authority. What I do insist upon is, that if the policy of internal im- provements, which has become the settled policy of the Gov- ernment, is to continue, then the highways of the country shall share in that system as constituting a vital part thereof, and as such entitled to a square deal. As public highways they constitute a vital place in transportation, and, belonging to the public, they should be constructed and maintained by the public. OLD COVERED BRIDGE, OHIO. The Great Historic Highway 103 FEDERAL AID GOOD ROADS CONVENTION. American Automobile Association. Address of Judge J. M, Lowe, of Missouri, President Na- tional Old Trails Road, Washington, D. C, March 6-7, 1913. Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the Convention : — I shall not detain you very long. It is not very clear in my mind just what I ought to talk about. I have no prepared speech. I have, in fact, prepared a dozen speeches in my own mind since I have been in this convention; I had half a dozen on tap all day yesterday, particularly while my good friend. Judge Shackleford of Missouri was before you, and I am mighty sorry that the Judge is not here this morning. I shall not say much about him because he is not here. He is one of the best men on earth and one of the worst-advised men on earth on the road question. (Laughter and applause.) It is a fact, and a fact that will apply to this convention, that this is a subject upon which more men differ than per- haps any question that ever comes before the people. I have been here now for four weeks witnessing the dying agonies of the last session of Congress. I have felt particularly in- terested in some of the bills. I sincerely hoped they might not pass, and they did not. That was real progress — to keep them from passing— because some of them would have turned the hands on the clock of progress back a hundred years if they had. passed. I found that in Congress, as out of Con- gress, scarcely any two men were agreed upon this subject, Mr. Lincoln, in 1848, in his place in Congress, made the best road, speech that I have ever read. I have had more than 10,000 copies of that speech printed and distributed all along the line of the Old Trails Road. In that speech, in meeting this very question, Mr. Lincoln said: ''Of course, every Member of Congress would prefer to vote for a road which would improve his district; but," he said, ''the difficulty in Congress was no different from what it was in the State Legislatures or before the county courts. One man will oppose a road because it does not come by his farm; another will oppose it because it does come by his 104 National Old Trails Road tarm; and another will favor the road until it becomes an established fact and then refuse to permit it to be opened until his damages are paid." Such are the twists and quirks of human nature, and we have to meet this question in a practical way, I have entertained for months and then abandoned abso- lutely a great many theories with reference to this question^ and one of them — and I want to meet it right in the begin- ning now — is that I have absolutely cut out of the literature of the Old Trails Road the words "National aid." We do not now believe in National aid, and I certainly hope that the resolutions to be adopted by this convention will leave those words out.. They are a misnomer. They are misleading, and have misled public sentiment all along in the discussion of this question. We do not stand for National aid. The States do not need National aid. We are not pauper States. We are not coming before your next session of Congress on bended knee and begging you for the alms of the Government. The National revenues belong to the people. It us our money, and you are but our agents in its distribution; and what we ask, v/hat we demand, is that the Government shall build National roads and maintain them. (Applause.) One gentleman said this morning, and it was repeated over and over again yesterday, that he thought the Government should furnish dollar for dollar to the States. In other words^ that the States should be required to put up one dollar to match the Government's dollar before it should receive any aid from the Government. In other words, for the money raised from the people by taxation, before you shall have the benefit of one dollar of that money you shall be required to retax yourselves to the same amount and raise an equal amount of money. They did not make any such demand as that when they appropriated money for the rivers and har- bors of the country. They make no such requirement as that when they appropriate the revenues for the great irri- gation projects, for the Roosevelt dam, and other great irri- gation works. They have made no such requirements when they have appropriated more than 200,000,000 acres of the pub- lic lands, which James Monroe in his veto message . said was not different from giving away the public moneys. They at no time have made any such requirement as that in any of these appropriations ; and we say that it is illogical, unfair and un- leasonable to require the people, before they shall have the benefit of the money for which they are directly taxed, ta consent to retax themselves, to raise this money. But how are you going to do it? One distinguished Sena- tor said — and this is some of the demagogy that we run; across — that his people would never consent to tax them- The Great Historic Highway 105 THE WHITE HOUSE JEFFERSON 106 National Old Trails Road selves to build an automobile road. Why, the proposition, as T understand it, is not to retax the people to build an auto- mobile road or any other kind of a road. One of my pet theories — and I carried that along for quite a while in speak- ing on this subject — was that the Government should appro- priate the funds necessary to build, and build at least one transcontinental road each year. It was a modest request. It would perhaps not cost to exceed $40,000,000 or $50,000,- 000. The Government appropriated $41,000,000 this year, this last Congress, for rivers and harbors improvements; $31,- 000,000 in 1911 (we were on our good behavior then, a nation- al campaign on hand) and $29,000,000 in 1910; and alto- gether since 1875 over $600,000,000 have been appropriated for that purpose. I am not attacking those appropriations. Neither do I attack the action of the Government in giving away 200,000,- 000 acres of land, an acreage of land greater than the com- bined territories of the great States of Missouri and Kansas, to the railroads ; I do not say that even that was unwise. In 1863, just after the battle of Chickamauga, or one of the other great battles of the war, I think it was Chicka- mauga, a bill was passed in Congress appropriating $53,000,- 000 and 20,000,000 acres of land — I am speaking from memory and I may not have the figures exactly correct — for the car- rying of the Union Pacific Railroad to the Pacific Ocean; and Mr. Lincoln, that man of profound vision and imagina- tion, the man who could see the end further away than any other man who has lived in American history, signed that bill at a time when it was not sure that we had a govern- ment, even. If we could do that in 1863, when the very life of the nation was at stake, why shall we hesitate now to build one pitiful little wagon road, not an automobile road, but a wagon road, for the benefit of all the people, from .ocean to ocean? The great trouble with Congress, and the great trouble with many of us who are not in Congress, and do not want to be there, is that we have never risen to the occasion of comprehending what it is to build roads. We have got to get out of this narrow provincialism that so many men think about so seriously. I am impressed with that when I hear men, so-called statesmen, talking about automobile roads and the interest of "Rube," and to give **Rube" a chance, as Judge Shackelford calls him. Great Heavens! *'Rube" has always had a chance. He has always had the best chance. Let me tell you something about him. I am one of them myself. There are no classes in this country. The speech The Great Historic Highway 107 of the gentleman from Virginia yesterday (Mr. Anderson) con- tained words of silver in a plate of gold. It was magnificent and so clear, so convincing and so well, balanced throughout. But has Rube had a chance? In Jackson County, Missouri, where we have built a good many good roads, Kansas City, under an act of the Legislature pays 95 per cent of the road taxes of that county, and yet you may go out in the country and undertake to build a road, and frequently you will meet the opposition of Rube. Rube does not think it is located just to suit him. But he gets* the benefit of the 95 per cent, of all our taxes paid in that county for road purposes. We submitted an amendment to the constitution to the people of the State, to tax the people, permitting the county courts — and therein was its weakness — ^permitting instead of commanding the county courts to levy a tax of not to ex- ceed 25 cents on the $100 of valuation for road purposes. It v/as carried by an overwhelming majority by the votes of Saint Louis and Kansas City. Rube voted against it. The county courts, because it left it to their discretion, have rarely made the levy. In Jackson County they made it, with the result that Kansas City pays 95 per cent, of those taxes and Saint Louis pays her part. The State of New York where they have done such mag- nificent work, where they are so unprovincial that they have outgrown all these narrow prejudices, with the assistance of the city of New York, carried the proposition of voting $50,- 000,000 of bonds for roads; and when they found out that was not enough added $50,000,000 to it, and now the city of New York pays 80 per cent, of all the road taxes of the State of New York. Am I right? Mr. Goulden:— You are right. And the same thing might be said about the canal improvements, costing $107,000,000. Mr. Lowe: — Has Rube had a chance? Does Rube get a chance? And yet men come in here and tell you not to honk him out of the roads. I have been a farmer all my life. I only differ with Judge Shackleford in this, that he farms the farmer, and I run the farm. (Laughter.) You have always got to take in a man's environments. Mr. Shackleford's district is a sort of a shoestring there. I wish I could point it out to you on the map, and I wish I had time to tell you about the people there. They are all good people, splendid people, but I can say about a good many of them that when they move, and they move freauently, that a good many in the lower end of his district when they move -imply have to call the dogs and put out the fire. (Laugh- ter.) ] would like to tell you another thing in that connec- 108 National Old Trails Road tion — -and if I am talking too long I will ask the Chairman to call me down. Chairman Diehl : — ^Go ahead ; we are glad to hear you. Mr. Lowe : — When I was out in New Mexico I came up on El Camino Real. If there is anything on earth to which the New Mexican is attached, it is the old El Camino Real, the King's Highway. I said to them, "Does it occur to you that you are working now in the interest of the State of Missouri?*' I saw a look on the faces of some of the men that made me think they might possibly, throw down their picks^ and shovels and quit, because they were trying to work for themselves. But when I detected that expression, showing their feelings about the matter, I said, "Did you know that away down yonder in the State of Missouri, the people living along the line of this old road have volutarily voted bonds and taxed themselves to build this road for you?" And that is what they did. They did that in Shack's district ; and one road district in his district, a purely farming community, car- ried the bond proposition by a unanimous vote. (Applause.) Mr. Shackleford speaks of the people that are in favor of such a proposition as "highbrows." I do not care any- thing about how high their brows are, but I see that some of them are educated up to the point where they believe in building roads, because they voluntarily taxed themselves, not to build roads generally but to build this particular road. And that was in his district. When I told them about 'that in New Mexico a smile spread all over their faces. I said,. "Do you not see that this is a community of interest, that it is no longer a selfish, local affair, this question of building roads, but is a community of interest, and a road is only val- ^lable as it goes somewhere?" (Applause.) A road extending across a township of course has some value; it has an increased value when it goes across a county; it has very considerably increased value when it extends across a State; but it is of infinite more value when it extends from State to State across the continent. And, after all, and this was an education to myself as well, when I traveled over that old road from ocean to ocean, as I have done, it gradually dawned upon me that after all the people in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland, and all the other States, were the same people that I had always known and associated with, that they were not different from the people of Kentucky, where I was born and raised, nor different from the people of my adopted State, Missouri; that they were the same people, the same nation- r-lity, with the same environments, the same aspirations, the same hopes and the same God. The Great Historic Highway 109 Now, why confine their efforts and narrow them ;do>vn? Why, as Mr. Shackleford says, should we. make the railrqad the center and let the little roads radiate out frorn each ship- ping point on the railroads? Does Mr. Shackleford know ^h^t with one exception every harbor in the United States : is owned or controlled by the railroads of the country? I will say every one except two ; or more properly speaking, every one ex- cept one and a half. New Orleans owns her harbor, after a long fight with the railroads, .fought out through the Supreme Court of the United States, with the aid of Daniel' Webster ; and New York owns one-half of hers — her water front. Now are you beginning to see where the trouble comes? I see it. I have seen it for years, in the rivers and harbors bills. The gentleman who just preceded me says that they have now got the rivers and harbors improvements out of the old pork barrel proposition, and they are congratulating them- selves upon it. I have seen the last river and harbor bill, and I must admit there is some truth in that statement. It is no doubt a much better bill than any such bill that has gone before; but there are some places mentioned in that bill that I cannot find on the map; it takes a better geographer than I am to know where some of the places are. But no mat- ter. These things I have mentioned are some of the things that I have learned in the discussion of this subject. According to the program I see that you expect rhe to talk about the Old Trails Road. Chairman Diehl You are not confined to that. You can submit a typewritten statement in regard to that and we will put it in the record. Mr. Lowe: — Well, I have not prepared anything particular on that line; but I will say this much: I suspect that the Old Trails Road organization is the only one in the United States which is organized in every village and hamlet along the line of the road between the two oceans. We are thor- oughly organized. But we do not stand for that road to the exclusion of any other road. Further, if there is any other line of road which ought to receive consideration first; which ought to be built first ; which has greater claims and more of them than our old road has, as historic as it is; then we are ready to get behind that road and stand for that road ju^t as strongly as we are ready to stand for the National Old Trails Road. (Applause.) Now let us get together. My ideas or yours, especially on the road question, cannot always prevail; because the roads question is a subject on which we have a right to differ and on which we do. differ. But let us stand for something af^ f irmative. As Mr. Shackleford said yesterday, you cannot fmd a corporal's guard of men who are not now in. favor qf 110 National Old Trails Road good roads. Everybody now is in favor of good roads. But let us g-et something concrete. Let us get a start, some- where, somehow, and follow that up. I say cut out that word "aid." Ask the Government to build the National roads, roads that are National in character. Let us stand be- hind that idea and stick to it. If we do that we are as sure to win as that the world goes round. (Applause.) I know the average Congressman, I have had lots of dealings with him. I know that no man keeps his ear nearer the ground than he does ; and this mighty swell that is lifting itself and being felt over the country he is watching; but just as long as we are divided and different in opinion and purpose, just that long he will sit back and take notice. But whenever we go to Congress with a concrete proposition and say, "This is what we stand for, and this is what we are going to have," then he is going to do more than simply stand back and listen. As I have said, let us adopt some system to work on, stand for it and push it to the best of our ability. If I had my way about it I would build a great National system of roads leading from our National capital to the capital of every State in the Union. I would stay behind that proposition until it went out through the country as the system we are in favor of. In doing so I would take over these magnifi- cent roads of New York and Massachusetts and pay those States back dollar for dollar, every dollar that those roads are worth. I would do that so as to make it absolutely equal, absolutely fair to all the States in every respect. Some say that that would bankrupt the Government. Have you ever stopped to think what it would cost? Prob- ably 18,000 miles of road will build a trunk line right through every capital of every State in the Union — 18,000 miles. Now, put it at the highest possible figure to build the best road that modern engineering has devised. The French en- gineer to whom we listened yesterday, a magnificent gentle- man, said to us, that their best roads are costing them, as I understood him, about $12,000 a mile. Put it at that. Make that the average. The western half of these roads will cost a whole lot less than the eastern half. That is another fact that ought to be known. You ought to find out another thing, too. You want to get to the mountains to find good road country. In the sections of the country where you find mountain scenery you also find that it is easier to build roads than it is on the plains, and cheaper. Eighteen thousand miles multiplied by $12,000 makes what? $216,000,000. We have already given over $600,000,000, that card up there, says $900,- 000,000 (indicating a map on the wall). The Great Historic Highway 111 A Voice: — That is correct, it is nearer $900,000,000 than $600,000,000. Mr. Lowe :— All right. $400,000,000 for the Panama Canal. It was a magnificent work and we did it and scarcely knew it. We fought the Spanish War, and would not have known that there was a war going on if it had not been for the news- papers. (Laughter.) When Mr. Warburton comes before you I want you to listen to him. He has a map and I helped him prepare it, and that map shows a system of roads leading to every capi- tal and every town of 20,0CX) population in the United States, He calculates that about 18,000 miles will cover that. Then he is going to show you something that will be of infinite interest, how to get the money to build those roads. I will tell you a scheme. Talking of schemes, I am re- minded of the story of the country school teacher who ap- plied for a position. It was in the days when the school di- rectors conducted their own examinations. One of the school board asked the applicant for a position as teacher, "How do you teach geography, do you teach that the world is round or flat?" The applicant replied, **to tell you the truth, I usually consult the wishes of the majority of the parents whose children I am going to teach, and I am prepared to teach it either way." (Laughter.) I am a good deal like he was. I am prepared to teach this lesson either way, I will follow in with Mr. Warburton or with the American Automobile Association, or anybody's else proposition that will get somewhere. Let us cut out so many of these conventions, where we listen to splendid ora- tory and pass long resolutions and think we have accom- plished something, whereas we have not accomplished any- thing because we have not taken a positive, affirmative posi- tion on this question. Let us take such a position today. Mr. Warburton is going to tell you how to get the money, and he says by reinstating the war tax on tobacco we had during the Spanish War, we will be able to raise enough money to build the entire system of national roads; that we will be able to build them in five years, and we will be able to pay off the bonds, one-half of them at the expiration of five years; and the only convenience we will experience by reason of the tax will be that we will have to cut out one cigar in 30, that we can only smoke 29 cigars for the price that we now buy 30 cigars. Well, I will go the full 30 and smoke with him on that proposition. I have not figured his plan out very fully, but if it works out as he says it does that will supply the money and that will build the system of roads. 112 National Old Trails Road Now, I am not getting old, and I rarely think of my age, but there is one thing that does begin to haunt me a little bit, and that is that I would like to see some fruition of the hopes I have had during my time on earth. As I heard Col- onel Potter say one day, I would rather ride one mile on a good road while I am alive than a thousand miles after I am dead. (Laughter.) So let us get together on this proposition. The National Old Trails Road. I speak of it as an illustration at this point. More than one half of it is graded, and a third of it is built. That road can be finished without any question by the time of the great Panama Exposition in Sari Francisco in 1913. If the next Congress will take that up and appropriate the money, that road, at least, can be completed by that time. Maybe others can be completed too. It is altogether likely that others can be built also. We have learned how to do tilings and do them rapidly when we once get at it. It does not take a lifetime to occomplish a big thing nowadays. Within five years this whole country ought to be gridironed with National roads. After carrying out our plan of these National highways, let the counties and the States build and maintain their own roads connecting with the National high road system, and then we will have roads that are worth v/hile, and there will be no confHct of authority anywhere. What would you think if we applied this idea of divided control and management to the improvement of the rivers and harbors of the country? Imag-ine a river divided up, letting each State through which it passes, maintain it and regulating and controlling its navigation. Do you not know that such a thought is utterly inconsistent and illogical? It is just as practical, though, to manage the navigable waters of the country in that way as it is to manage the National roads by divided authority. Let the authority over the National roads remain where of right it belongs, in the National Government, under the supervision and control of National authority. (Applause.) And let the States and counties manage their own affairs in their own way. Now, let us get behind a single project. If it be not my project let it be yours, and if we decide on taking up some other proposition other than mine, I will back it with all the power I have. But let us get behind something definite, and stand for it, not only in this Convention, but when this con- vention adjourns and we go honie let us stand for it ; and talk for it; and if we do that before the Ides of next November you will see the Congress of the United States obeying our will and giving us the project we have been hoping for during all these long years. We will then come in and carry out a The Great Historic Highway 113 project that will do more for the up-building- of the country ; do more for the progressive ideas of the country; do more for the school system of the country; do more for the churches of the country ; do more for the patriotism and manhood and womanhood of the country than any project ever conceived in the mind of man. (Applause.) Chairman Diehl : — One moment before adjournment. The Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions states he wishes to make a personal report and ask the adoption of that re- port before adjournment. I recognize L. R. Speare, Chair- man of the Committee on Resolutions. Mr. Speare : — Your Committee will take only a very little of your time. I will now read the resolutions we present and move their adoption. "WHEREAS, In the development of our country's trans- porting appliances for man and goods from place to place, it has become the universal will of the people of the United States for better roads ; therefore, be it "RESOLVED, That we recommend our Federal Govern- ment to build and maintain an interstate system of highways connecting the capitals of the various States, and with the National Capital. RESOLVED, That we advocate the creation, wherever they do not now exist, of effective State Departments of Highways, in the various States, and that copy of this reso- lution be sent to the Governor of each State." The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. The Chairman of the Resolutions Committee read as fol- lows : "WHEREAS, In the development of our country's trans- porting appliances for man and goods from place to place, it has become almost the universal will of the people of the United States for better roads; therefore, be it,* "RESOLVED, That we reoonunend our Federal Gov- ernment to b^ild and maintain an inter-state system of high- ways connecting the capitals of the various States, and with the National Capital. "RESOLVED, That we advocate the creation, wherever they do not now exist, of effective State Departments of Highways, in the various States, and that a copy of this reso- lution be sent to the Governor of each State/' Chairman Diehl (continuing) : — I would say in addition to that that the Chairman of the Committee gave quite a lengthy explanation of the fact that this was all boiled down into a few resolutions. Mr. Tomlinson: — I thank you very much. 114 National Old Trails Koad Chairman Diehl : — Is there anything- further we can dis- cuss with reference to the report of the Committee on Reso- hitions ? Mr. Lowe: I move that the following resolution be adopted : "RESOLVED, That the taxes, approximately, that were in existence in 1879 on tobacco be restored and used for the purpose of building a National system of highways." I want to cover the suggestion made by Mr. Warburton m his speech. Chairman Diehl: — ^According to our rules that resolution would be referred without debate to the Committee on Reso- lutions, unless there is unanimous consent to its immediate consideration. Is there any objection to adopting that resolu- tion in the Convention now? If not, I will declare the motion in order. Mr. Shackleford : — I do not rise to oppose it, but to offer an amendment, and that is that the money raised by this taxa- tion be set apart as the fund to be applied to the construc- tion or maintenance, or both, of such roads as Congress shall adopt. The gentleman from Kansas City moved that this be set apart in aid of a system of National roads. I move to* amend this by saying it shall be set apart as a sacred fund to be used in the construction and maintenance of such roads as Congress shall determine to give aid to by Congressional legislation. The question was taken on the adoption of the amend- ment, and the Chair announced that the amendment was re- jected. Mr. Shackleford : — I ask for a division on that. A division was taken and the Chair announced that the amendment was lost. Chairman Diehl : — The motion recurs on the original mo- tion of Judge Lowe. The question was taken, and the Chair announced that the motion was apparently agreed to. Mr. Shackleford : — I ask for a division. A division was taken, and the vote resulted, yeas, 46; nays 2. So the resolution was agreed to. The Great Historic Highway 115 ALBERT GALLATIN. 116 National Old Trails Road ADDRESS OF HENRY W. ANDERSON Of Richmond, Virginia, one of the Foremost Lawyers of America. Mr. Chairman: I have listened with great interest to Mr. Shacklefords address, and while I cannot agree with all his suggestions I want to state, in differing from him, that I recognize the value of difference of opinion; and it is only through the exchange of views of men interested in the subject that we can accomplish anything in the way of results. Of course, like other things, road improvement has its stages of growth. We have passed through the first ten years, perhaps, in convincing the people of the United States of the value of good roads, and that good roads will be economical. We come down to the next stage, of the ways and means of accomplishing what we have in view, and it to that branch of the subject I will direct your particular attention in the few minutes that I will occupy. I conceive that we all agree on the fundamental proposi- tion that the ways and means, that is the raising of the money and the application of the money, should be in direct propor- tion to the benefit to be derived from the roads when they are improved. To make clear what I mean, I conceive that it is elemen- tary, as a theoretical principal of taxation, although it can- not always be applied practically, that taxation be levied upon the people to be paid in direct proportion to the interest which they have in the tax. That is the general taxes, for instance, for the preservation of order in a community are paid in pro- portion to the property owned by different individuals. The larger property owner pays more taxes than the small prop- erty owner, because he has more property to be protected by the police power. So when we come to this road question, we should under- take as far as it possibly can be done, as a sound economical principle of taxation, to levy the taxes for the improvement of the highways in proportion to the interests of the users of the highways, as far as it can be done. To begin with, we come to consider what is the nature of the highway, and what is the interest of the citizen in the highway? I am dealing with the general principle, because I conceive it to be true that while we may think of the farmer, or while we may thing of the laborer or manufac- turer or merchant, there are no classes of people in America, The Great Historic Highway 117 they are all interested in the advancement of the country,', and all contribute to that advancement. It is obvious that so long as a road is an institution of mere local interest and traveled for merely local purposes that the irnprovement of that highway is a matter of mere local interest. It is of indirect interest to the people of the whole country, however, because the advancement of any section of the country means the advancement of the country;, but the direct or commercial interest which would justify the levying of a tax is only local so long as the highway is local. If you extend that principle and go a step further and make the highway a State affair — that is, if it becomes a means of communication between people of all sections of the State or between the different sections of the State, like a highway from one portion of the State to the Capital, then it becomes a matter of interest to all the people of the State that that highway should be improved. Therefore the inter- est is broadened into another phase ; and that is, a State sys- tem as distinguished from a purely local system. Now go a step further: We have been accustomed to think of these highways as purely local institutions because Ihey were for a long time local institutions; but since through means of transportation and communication have de- veloped, the highway has developed, and it is today a matter of national and even subject to international interest that the highway should be improved, for the highway is not for the benefit of merely one man or one class of men, it is for the benefit of all classes of men who may use it or profit by its improvement. If I go to Europe and I travel over the roads of France and Germany and Belgium and Switzerland and Italy, all in a few days perhaps, I realize that ' that' is an interstate system of highways; and so in the present use of the highways of America — not by the wealthy man, not by the large merchant, not by the railroad king, but by the farmers themselves, who are the owners of automobiles, and other means of com- munication — it is a fact that the road has become an im- portant means of interstate and even international communi- cation, not only in the United States but elsewhere. If that be true, aside from the reduction of the cost of living, in the reduction of the cost of transportation to the farmers, the importance of the highway has become a mat- ter of National or international interest to the people of the United States, because it has become a part of their National or interstate Hf e ; and when it becomes a part of their Nation- al or interstate life then the time has come when the Nation itself can take some part in its improvement. (Applause.) Whether the Nation does this as a post road, or treats it 118 National Old Trails Road as a military road as a means of military protection; or whether it does it because the subject has come within the general domain of interstate commerce, is a matter of no consequence. The subject matter has come within the gen- eral domain of the people and the interest of the" people of the country. That is all I mean. Now, so far as the power of the United States Government is concerned, I do not think that is any longer open to debate. We mus-t recognize the fact, a fact which is not always rec- ognized, that the Federal Government — and I speak not only as a man born upon the farm but as a lawyer as well — that the Federal Government is not confined in its activities to some few peculiar subject matters. While it is a govern- ment of delegated powers, those powers relate to all subjects which come within the domain of its administration. What I mean by that is this : That so long as a road is a mere local road, of local interest, it is a matter not within the scope of the powers of the Federal Government, because the local powers and affairs are left to the State. But if that road, in the natural development of the transportation sys- tem of the country, becomes a part of the means of communi- cation for National and interstate and international traffic, then the subject matter has grown into the domain of Fed- eral jurisdiction and Federal interest. Take an illustration of what I mean. I am a citizen of the State of Virginia. So long as I remain within the State of Virginia it is a matter of no interest to the Federal Gov- ernment how the State of Virginia treats me. If it treats me with injustice, unless it violates the fourteenth amend- ment to the Federal Constitution, I am not within the juris- diction of the Federal Government at all. But let me start from Virginia to go to- New York, and I immediately be- come a subject matter of interstate commerce, entitled to all the rights and privileges of citizens of one State in another State, under the Constitution. I have stepped within the do- main of the Federal Government, and the Federal Govern- ment thereby operates upon me, not in the enjoyment of its powers, but because I have stepped from a local position into an interstate or National position. Let me go further. When I go into Canada, or across the ocean, then I become the sub- ject matter of international law and the protecting power of the Federal Government extends to me not as a citizen of the commonwealth of Virginia but as a citizen of the United States. It is the same way in this road matter. Take the rail- roads of this country. With the exception of one railroad, all the railroads of the country are chartered by the States. So long as they build their lines purely within the boundaries The Great Historic Highway 119 of a State they are purely of local interest; but when those railroads became a part of the great system . of interstate commerce, the great system of communication from one ocean to the other ocean, and from State to State, then they came at once into the jurisdiction of the Federal Government. We had in 1887 the first step of the Federal Government in their control, through the establishment of the Interstate Commerce Commission and today it is generally recognized that the growth and development of the transportation sys- tem of America is due to the fact that the Federal Govern- ment exercises practically exclusive control over the railroads of America. What I wish to illustrate is this : That in applying to the improvement of the highways the power and resources of the Federal Government you are not extending the opera- tions of the Federal Government into an illegitimate interfer- ence with the operations of the States; but, to the contrary, the road which we have been accustomed to think of as merely a local institution has grown into the domain of the Federal Government. It has ceased to be a local institution ; it has become an agency of the State; it has become an agent •f National and interstate communication; and therefore it must operate on the Federal Government, and the Federal Government must operate on it, as it has done in the case of the railroads and as is done in the case of myself when I change my location. Therefore we come again to the propo- sition of the exercise of these various powers of Government; that is the National, the State and the local or county and district powers, in proportion to their interest in and their operation upon the road, as a subject matter to be improved. Obviously the people of the United States are not in- terested in the improvement of the roads in my district in Virginia or Mr. Shackleford's district in Missouri, as a whole people. They are interested in an indirect way, but not in a direct way. Mr. Shackleford : — May I ask you a question? Mr, Anderson : — iCertainly. Mr. Shackleford: — Is it your notion that those local roads of yours down there will be used by the Federal Government? Mr. Anderson: — I say they may be indirectly. Mr. Shackleford: — If those roads were made good would it not cheapen the cost of transportation, and would it not cheapen the cost of carrying the mail, which has grown in D mount so rapidly since the Parcels Post was established? Mr. Anderson: — I do not mean to say for a moment that if the contribution of the Federal Government should go to the local roads that those roads should be limited to those carrying the mails or to those used for military pi/rposes ; I 120 National Old Trails Road am dealing with the subject on broad principles. What I mean to say is that the people of New York and Boston and Philadelphia, for instance, are not directly interested as a human nature proposition, as an ethical proposition, in the improvement of a mere county road somewhere in the United States. Mr, Owen: — Has the Federal Government any authority whatever to say what one district or what one county or one State shall say about the valuation placed on your railroads? Mr. Anderson : — ^None whatever. Mr. Owen: — The National Government, then, should give aid, as the gentleman has suggested, to the different States generally, to distribute as they need? Mr. Anderson: — What I mean is that when the railroad comes within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government the Federal Government operates exclusively, and to the extent that the railroad is engaged in interstate commerce, the Fed- eral Government is in complete control of the. subject mat- ter. So I say that to the extent that a highway is an instru- ment, or a part, of the interstate transportation system, the Federal Government can operate on that highway from an interstate standpoint, as well as from the standpoint of its jurisdiction over military roads or post roads. Mr. Owen : — 'The Federal Government has no power over a State or county district, has it? Mr. Anderson : — None. About what valuations the State or county or district should put on a railroad that passes through such district, county or State? They have their rights separate and apart from the Government? Mr. Anderson : — It depends entirely upon the subject mat- ter or the reason of the valuation. If the purpose of the valu- ation is one of local taxation, of course the Federal Govern- ment is not interested. If the purpose of valuation is as a basis, or as one of the basis for fixing interstate rates, then the Federal Government is interested, because it is within the domain of the Federal Government. (Applause.) I turn, however, to another point. I therefore draw from the general principles this conclusion : I want to emphasize that I am not here arguing for one class or another class of citizens. I was born on a farm and spent some time working for a railroad, and now am practicing law ; and I am not here arguing for the farmer, except as. he may be interested in the improvement of the highway. But what I wish to argue is this, stick to our thesis : That the interests of the various de- partments of our government should be invoked only to the extent of their respective jurisdictions, and the extent of their respective interests; that in the case of a local highway The Great Historic Highway 121 the State Government should have no local control, that it should be improved at the expense of local interests, and the extent of the improvement should be a question of local gov-- ernment. When it comes to an improvement of a road of general interest in the State, that is a part of the State means of transportation running from one important section of the State to another, it grows into a broader field and becornes a matter of interest to the people of the entire State; and that that road should be improved because of the wider use of that road; that it should be improved by the State and to the extent that the State is interested, the State should extend Its jurisdiction and exercise its administrative powers. I am dealing with general principles, the application of local principles to general conditions of the country, because there are 48 States and over 3,000 counties. Now, when you come to the next proposition I say re- gardless of the class of citizens, because all citizens are equally entitled to the benefit of governmental assistance, when a road becomes a part of the interstate system of trnsportation ; v/hen by means of developed* agencies of transportation, whether the automobile or the wagon or any other agency ; when the roadway becomes a part of the means of communi- cation between New York and Chicago, or Richmond and Baltimore or Atlanta and Saint Louis ; when it becomes a means of regular transportation between those centers, then it is a part of the interstate or National system, in which the National government is at once affected, and to which the National powers can logically and legally be applied, (ap- plause), and for which the National taxation can be logically invoked. ^= Now, what I conceive to be the logical system for the development of the highways is, briefly, this — drawn out of those principles: That insofar as the State road is a part of the National or interstate system or international system of transportation and communication it is a legitimate subject for Federal action; and if it be the legitimate subject for Federal action it is an axiom of government that the divis- ion of powers among various instrumentalities of government means that one negatives the other and does not affect it. There is no better illustration of this than the constantly conflicting forces of the State and Federal Governments in mterstate commerce. I say that the principal highways, extending from center to center of population in this country, are directly taxed for the purposes of their improvement, and ought to be and are naturally and logically and legally the subject matter of Federal action and Federal control, and to secure the best re- sults, not only the cost of construction of those highways 122 National Old Trails Road but the administration of the highways and their maintenance and improvement should rest in the hands of the Federal Gov- ernment to the exclusion of all other powers. When you come to the next system, that is the State roads, roads which are of general State interest, then the State sys- teni of taxation should be applied for the construction and maintenance of those roads, and the exclusive control of those highways should be vested in the State. In other words, if it be to the interest of the State that a road should be built from Alexandria to Richmond, a road which I am trying to have built now, you would have to wait for the action of seven counties to construct that road, and you are not going to get it by that method. Even if you got it constructed you would not be able to get it maintained, because each of the seven counties will have a different sys- tem of maintenance, or one will provide and another will not provide. One may take the initiative for the construction of the road, and the others may not, and while the construction of that road is a matter of general State interest, we are waiting for the local boards of supervisors to act upon a matter which should be acted upon by the State. (Applause.) The same thing applies to the Federal Government. Take the case of a road from Washington to New York. You ought not to have to wait for the District of Columbia, Mary- land, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York to act, because it is a matter of National interest that that road should be constructed and maintained. As to the country road, it is not a matter of National in- terest, and therefore the local self-government principle should apply and the people should be left to determine for them- selves to what extent and in what manner they should im- prove the road which is within the county and for local use so far as general transportation is concerned. Mr. Owen: — I brought up this morning the subject of the control of a road from New York to Chicago, or from New York to Richmond, and in that connection the question of transportation across the river presents itself. That is a pretty serious proposition. My theory is that the National Government, assuming the control of the railways, should also assume control of the transportation across the river, A Voice: — The maintenance, you mean? * Mr. Owen : — Yes, the maintenance. And I want to em- phasize that very particularly, because it is a thing that is coming up very seriously in our section of the country. That is, the communication between New York and the rest of the United States. Today we are dependent upon the ferry trans- portation. The States of New York and New Jersey have combined to have a tunnel or bridge communication under or The Great Historic Highway 123 over the river. Now, will the United States, in assuming control of highway transportation assume also control over the rivers, where it is necessary to cross a river in the ex- tension of a highway? Mr. Anderson : — I should think so, undoubtedly, because applying the principle that I undertook to enunciate a while ago, that whenever a subject matter arises within the scope of the Federal Government, the Federal Government or the National government, more properly speaking, should exer- cise its control, and it is essential to the development of this country along the national lines that the country is devel- oping. A Delegate : — I do not think there is any difference be- tween us as to the importance of improving the roads of the country, but the question is what can best be accomplished under the present state of affairs? The Baltimore Conven- tion had the Post Road idea, and the vote at the last Con- gress showed that the Congress was overwhelmingly in favor of the Post Road's theory. In every State, of CQurse, there are certain roads that are Post Roads, and many believe that those roads shoulds be controlled and improved by the Federal Gov- ernment. Mr. Anderson: — have no question, in my own mind that the two ideas can be worked out together. In the first place, practically all interstate roads are Post Roads. I had that very question to come up and investigated to some extent, and I find that substantially all of these roads are Post Roads throughout and all of them have the rural free delivery. Therefore you are working to the same end and along the same lines. The only question of possible difference between the advocates of Mr. Shackleford's idea, as expressed a while ago, and the idea I undertake to express is this ; he would car- ry the Federal aid into the local roads to the full extent that free delivery is carried, and I would not, because I do not think that the improvement of all those roads, although they are used by the Postoffice Department, is of national interest. Yet, looking at it from the point of taxation, I do not be- lieve that the less important roads, that are not used by the public at large, and do not come into contact with the inter- state or National life, are properly the subject of national tax- ation. The Same Delegate : — I want to make this suggestion : Would the broader subject of national legislation come under Article III of the Constitution, giving Congress the power to build Post Roads? Mr. Anderson : — -Congress would probably have the pow- er if it thought fit to do so. There is no question about its constitutional power. 124 National Oli> Trails Road I will hurry to a conclusion of what I have to say. I liave dwelt on this subject of taxation. I cannot too strongly urge that taxation should be left as a matter to be adjusted according to the benefit derived. There is to some extent a natural antagonism between the cities and the country, throughout the United States. We want to have as just a system of taxation as possible and we do not want people of the cities- to have to bear an undue portion of the taxation, or the people in the country to bear an undue proportion of taxation. It is for the interest of all that we work this out practically, so that the burden shall fall upon the people in proportion to their interest in the sub- ject matter and benefit derived. Dealing with that principle, you can apply it to local roads and State roads and National roads. Now, dealing with the subject of the administration, I wish to say one word. Concentration of power which does riOt interfere with the National liberties of the people always promotes effi.ciency. Therefore, in the construction and maintenance of these roads the instrumentality of the Fed- eral Government is peculiarly adapted to dealing with the great question of interstate and National roads ; the powers of the State are peculiarly adapted, through its commission- ers and engineers, to the construction of a system of State roads, not through one county and then skipping over a county to another county, but a systematic construction from the center, and from the railroad stations, as suggested, out into the territory as needed. That is State work. The con- struction of great links of communications between great centers of population is Federal work. The construction of local roads means nothing like the same expenditure of money or the same engineering difficulties, and therefore is properly the subject matter of local jurisdiction. I have dealt with these matters in a dilatory way, but I have undertaken to impress these general principles, because at last, if you get the principles straight the application of those principles is reasonably easy; and I see no reason for conflict between the advocates of different ideas. At last, almost every important piece of legislation is a compromise. I agree with Mr. Shackleford thoroughly that we should get together as near as we can in the enforcement of these prin- ciples, in their application to the improvement of roads as they exist. Of course the improvement of these highways is abso- lutely necessary, not only with respect to the commercial aS' pect of the case, but in respect to the educational and moral development of the people of the United States. We have to approach this subject, not for the benefit of the farmer, not The Geeat Historic Highway 125 :or the benefit of the railroad man, not for the benefit of the mercliant, but for the benefit of the people as a whole, for the benefit of the whole nation. And looking to their progress and to their development with the same courage that in- spired our forefathers to cross this continent, that a Nation might be developed on this continent with a power that would be exercised for the good of the human race, which hope and expectation the American people are now demonstrating. (Applause.) IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 126 National Old Trails Road LA BAJADA (PRONOUNCED BA HODDAH) NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD IN NEW MEXICO. A Section of the Oldest Road in North America, Established in 1606. Labajada (pronounced Bahoddah), a section of the National OM Trails Road in New Mexico between Santa Fe and Socorro about one hundred and fifty miles in length. The oldest established road on the North American Continent. The picture makes the walls look like granite and experience has shown that they are really about as substantial. I doubt if this piece of road was ever graded except by the traffic that passed over it. But the Highway Board of that State is now engaged in widening and grading this pass. It may be of interest to quote, in this connection, briefly, from a very interesting book entitled, "The Heart of a Continent," virritten by the great Explorer, Col. Francis Edward Younghusband of England. He met with a similar formation and a strikingly similar road where for thousands of years the traffic through that vast country had passed through and over similar formations as this in New Mexico. In speak- ing of it, he says : The Great Historic Highway 127 "We used, too, to have very cold wind blowing from the northward — irom the direction of the high plateau of Mongolia. (He is here describ- ing a road near the Gobi Desert of Mongolia). These blew with great force, and clouds of gritty, sandy, dust from the Desert and from the bare hill ranges which border it were carried along with them. ''This well accounts for the dull, hazy atmosphere so common at Peking which is seen also in Chinese Turkistan. It was this wind which had produced the loess formation which is met with in many parts of Northern China. It carries down all the dust of the Desert and deposits it layer upon layer, until in some places it reaches a thickness of several hundred feet upon the plains of China. Counter winds meet the Desert winds, and from that and other causes it is brought to a standstill, ,and down fall the particles of dust it has been hurrying along with it onto the ground below. In this way large tracts of China to the South of the Desert are covered with the loess formation. It makes a light, very friable kind of soil, which crumbles away on the least pressure being put on it, and has a tendency to cleave vertically. In consequence of this, the roads through a loess formation present a very remarkable appear- ance. A cart passes over the loess. The soil breaks away, the wind blows off the dust thus formed and a deep track is the result. Other carts follow, more loess is broken up, more dust blown away, the track ^ets deeper and deeper until in the course of a century a road is made which is 200 feet below the level of the surrounding country; and this Toad is bounded on each side by perpendicular cliffs, having, as men- tioned above, the loess as a verticle cleaverage. *Tn the valley of the Yang-ho, which we are now ascending, we passed along a road of this description. They are only wide enough for the passage of one cart, and consequently, before entering the defile, ive had to send on a man to shout and stop any cart coming- from the opposite direction." He also mentions the fact that these passes were exceedingly dan- gerous because that whole country was inhabited by robbers and a very few men could hold up an entire caravan of merchant wagons attempting to pass through. Modern Scientists have called in question the exact natural cause for the production of this particular kind of formation. But we do know that whatever the producing cause, that right here along the Missouri River there is the same kind of loess formation, and a cut, no matter how deep, will stand up vertically and firm for ages. 128 National Old Trails Road CONVENTION OF NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD ASSOCIATION. Kansas City, Mo., September 15, 1921. Judge J. M. Lowe spoke in part as follows : Balzac has said, "There exists in all human sentiments a primitive flower, engendered by a noble enthusiasm which grows constantly weaker and weaker, until happiness ceases to be more than a memory and glory more than a lie." This may be true upon the large scale, because human life has been so perverted, so contaminated, and overwhelmed by the baser elements which are inherent in -all life, and are slovenly and freely permitted to dominate and control human activities to the degree that the "primitive flower which engenders a noble enthusiasm" losers its power and purpose, and thus in- deed becomes only a memory. But, the movement in which we have participated has been more than justified if we shall have added a little to the betterment of human life, if we have contributed to the culture of that "primitive" flower, adding strength, beauty and immortality, which perpetuates and ennobles memory, and makes glory more than an ephemeral lie. Civilization ha's advanced only in proportion as the world has been made more habitable, aild more endurable. The Creator intended that this "priniitive flower of a noble enthusiasm" should grow stronger and stronger, rather than weaker and weaker, and that happiness shall be more than a memory, and glory the crowning result of worthy achieve- ment, or else man would not have been created at all. On that memorable April day in 1912 when this Asso- ciation was organized, few, if any of us, had the faintest con- ception of the mighty wheels of progress we were setting in motion. Unconsciously, it may be, we cultivated and gave such impetus to this primitive flower of the soul, so that in a few short years it has ripened into a great harvest of splen- did achievements. In less than one month from that date, to-wit: on the 1st day of May, 1912, we announced the prin- ciple of "capitalizing" or setting apart the automobile tax for building state systems of highways. This was soon adopted in many of the -states, Missouri being the last to adopt this method. Within two months from the date of our organization we prepared a bill and had it introduced in The Great Historic Highway 129 Congress, establishing, mapping and defining a National sys- tem of roads, connecting every state capital with the national capital, and covering some thrity-two thousand miles of roads. 1 hold in my hand a copy of that bill, ornamented as our pro- gram is, in the National colors. Today we see in the amend- ed Federal Aid Bill, a compromise measure which had passed the Senate and will pass the House, as it has been unani- mously approved by the joint committee of each chamber and is now in the hands of a committee of conference, the fuU fruition of all our dreams. This bill is a compromise measure, it is true, retaining some of the best featured of the Townsend, Dowell and Phipps bills. It is true, that out of regard for the sensitive nerves of such men as Tom Watson of Georgia, and others, many of them from the Western states, including many State High- vvay Boards, so-called "practical men*' who have sought ex- cuses for delay, and reasons against all forms of internal im- provements, and who spring the old ghost of "state rights" on every possible occasion, and who saw, or thought they saw, a subtle purpose to blot out state lines, opposed it so bitterly it was decided to eliminate the obnoxious words "Na- tional Roads," and substitute "Interstate Highways." Well, "a rose will smell as sweet by any other name." The bill provides for the concentration of all Federal funds on seven per cent of the total mileage of highways in each state. Three-sevenths (3/7) of this percentage to consist of primary highways of interstate importance, of which "not more than" 60% of funds must be concentrated. Seven per cent of the two million five hundred thousand miles of roads in the United States is one hundred and seventy-five thous- and miles, three-sevenths (3/7) of these constitute the "Inter- state" system, to-wit : seventy-five thousand miles, upon which "not more than" 60% of all appropriations shall be ap- plied, and then the forty per cent shall be applied on the re- maining one hundred thousand miles. The bill, sponsored by Senator Phipps of Colorado, as passed by the House, con- tained the words "not less than sixty per cent shall be ap- plied to the interstate roads, until completed," but the Senate changed it to read "not more" than sixty per cent shall be thus applied, and this change of wording forced the bill into conference. Now we stand for reinstating the language of the bill as introduced by Senator Phipps, and as passed by the House. We went far enough in the compromise meas- ure when we gave up the commission, and the change of name, etc. The Bureau of Roads has been rather liberal in permitting some of the states to scatter these funds some- what promiscuously. Now, let's hold them to the purpose of 130 National Old Trails Road the Phipps bill as passed by the House. It is true that the bill as 4)assed by the Senate provides that any State Highway Department, together with the Secretary of Agriculture *'may" approve the expenditure of more than sixty per cent of the Federal aid upon the Interstate highways, but this leaves the initiative of this matter just where it ought not to be left— in the discretion of the State Highway Boards; and some of these boards are more given to scattering, than to concentration of roads. Now, one hundred and fifty thousand miles of national roads were the most our friend Charles Henry Davis of Cambridge, Mass., has suggested, and they ^iaiighed him out of court.** It is his turn to laugh and rejoice at the great triumph which has come, if not in name, substantially in fact. But bringing the matter closer home, the latest figures I have, gives Missouri 102,700 miles of roads. Seven per cent of these will be 7,189 miles, and three-sevenths of these or 3,081 miles, are primary or ^^interstate roads," upon which sixty per cent of Missouri's share of the appropriations must be applied, and the remaining forty per cent shall then be ap- plied to the other 4,108 miles. And yet some of our friends were thrown into fits when we stood for 6,000 miles of state roads. Now the general government pledges us one-half the cost of 7,189 miles of Federal Aid roads. Kansas has 112,000 miles of roads and three-sevenths of seven per cent of these will give her 3,360 miles of "inter- state" highways, upon which sixty per cent of all appropria- tions may be applied, and the forty per cent shall be applied to the remaining 4,480 miles (7,840 miles of Federal aid roads), PROVIDED Kansas elects a sensible, progressive leg- islature. The state is the sole unit with which the Govern- ment will deal. It also provides at least twenty feet of all interstate highways must be hard surfaced. Fine ! Do the figures I have been using seem large. Consider them one moment : We will save more than this on dis- armament alone, provided that disarmament is real, and not a shabby pretense. The greatest kindness ever done to Germany was when the Allied Governments disarmed her and told her to go to work. These are some of the things this Association has always favored. It is certainly permis- sible, on occasions like this, to repeat that this Association first suggested the application of the automobile taxes to the building of a connected state system in all the states, but, v/hen the state bonds of Missouri carried, other large and, no doubt, well meaning road organizations immediately appealed to the legislature in favor of an insignificant mileage of high priced, largely experimental roads, to be built out of this bond issue, while we declared in favor of keeping absolute The Great -Historic Highway 131 faith with the people, and provide for the largest possible road mileage. The legislature' of Missouri, after much- ill- natured criticism and abuse, has written into the statutes the finest road law in the United States, bar none. We most sincerely rejoice with this epoch-making legislature on the splendid results of its action. If this were a proposition to scatter the State and Fed- eral funds promiscuously "in spots about," or upon some ill- considered and wasteful project, w,e might hesitate. But all this has been well considered and provided against in both the State and Federal Acts. Note : How the speaker was misled by the subsequent action of the Highway Boards. Will it pay? This is always the first question to be considered. The best authorities put the savings in trans- portation alone on a good road, over a bad road, at twenty cents per ton mile. On the National Old Trails Road, a traf- fic census was taken by the State Highway Board of Colorado in 1919, from the Kansas State line to Pueblo, 162 miles, and the state engineer wrote that a saving of twenty cents per ton miles would pay the cost of construction in one year, at $25,000.00 per mile; and it parallels the Santa Fe Railroad from end to end. Will it pay? President Harding says it will. Congress says it will. The Missouri Legislature, except two votes^ says it will. When? NOW. Henry Ford, the greatest constructive genius in the world, says the solution of the railroad question is to "keep the wheels moving." And this is the key which will unlock the fields of all human endeavor. "Keep the wheels moving." There are six million idle men in the United States! Arid 35,000 in Kansas City are crying for work. Herbert Hoover, the greatest all-round practical intellect in public life says: "The building of a great system of roads will solve the labor and financial ills of this country," Oh, that it had come sooner! And it would, had it not been for a few backward- looking, so-called "financial" experts, "practical" men, "with th eir feet always on the ground." It is not necessary to approve all that Arthur Brisbane says to endorse the truth of the following excerpt: "The farmer does not 'drain his treasury' when he improves his farm. Rockefeller does not 'drain his treasury' when, as recently, he sends men digging for oil inside the Arctic re- gions. He lays the foundation of a fuller treasury. If our treasury can stand a drain of $500,000,000 to oblige with divi- 132 National, Old Trails Road dends a few thousand influential railroad owners, it might produce several times that amount to supply work for 5,000,- 000 men that are idle. The men, money and credit are there. Is intelligence there, and can the thing be done on a non- profiteering basis?'' Can these idle men be so employed as to increase in- stead of drain the National treasury. Undoubtedly they can. These backward looking men, or their descendants, when the Arch-Angel Gabriel shall stand with one foot upon the sea, and one upon the land, and shall declare that time shall be no more, will declare that "this is entirely too sudden, the country is not prepared," and demand a postponement to a better and more opportune time. But they shall be swept away into that oblivion to which they are so- well entitled. And why not? This brood of spineless charlitans who have ever posed as "practical" and not idealists, have always sought to block the march of Christian civilization from the beginning. They are the blood clot on humanities' brain. May I repeat here substantially what I said to the Highway Industries Congress at their Chicago convention, December 12, 1918, when paying my respects to the slackers, laggards and drones ever hanging on the outskirts of the march of civil- ization? These men have never won a victory on any of life's great battlefields. They never gave birth to a great purpose, nor added anything worth while to the general good. They never offered cool water to parched lips, nor planted hope in the heart of the dying. They never cut the brambles and thorns nor smoothed the rough places in life's pathway. They have neither inventive genius nor construc- tive imagination. They never inspired a line worth remem- bering, nor added anything of value to the world's literature. If the principles which directs them had been the only element to escape Pandora's box, if optimism, hope, faith, imagina- tion had not opposed them from the beginning, the world would have indeed, and in fact, been nothing but a mad-house. All the joys of life, all the hopes of the future, would have been destroyed. Man, now, "but little lower than the angels," would then have been but little higher than the brute. Let him go "with his head in the clouds," hugging to his heart the "primitive flower engendered by a noble ambition," if you will ; it is infinitely better than burrowing in the earth. I would, had I the power, drive it out of all hearts and back to its native hell, its congenial habitat. Keep your eyes toward the sunrise, and your "wagon hitched to a star" is the only safe and sane rule of life. A man without ideals is dead. He bad as well never have lived. Victor Hugo's hero of the French Revolution, in his The Great Historic Highway 133 dungeon cell, the night before his execution, exclaimed : "My motto is : Always forward ! If God had wished man to go backward, he would have put an eye in the back of his head. Let us always look toward the sunrise, development, birth." It is the sunrise of Hope which has no night. All hail the coming morn! I see it now, "Standing tiptoe on the misty mountain top." The great achievements along all lines of human endeav- or are but the results of the fruition of the primitive flower jjlanted in the human soul, and but dimly seen by Balzac, and more gloriously glimpsed by Hugo, Shakespeare and Milton, and by all the great seers and prophets of the world. But we stand upon the threshold of mighty achievements of the near future. Winter nor indifference, will not freeze or de- stroy it, for so it is written in the doom book of God. Happy are we to have been humble workers in the ranks of this great army which has contributed to these great and immortal achievements. NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD IN INDIANA. 134 National Old Tkaiis Hr^An Great Speech of Abraham Lincoki in Favor of Internal Improvements. Delivered in the United States House of Representatives, June 20, 1848. Issued First in 1912, by the National Old Trails Road Association. In Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union, on the Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation Bill: MR. CHAIRMAN: I wish at all times in no wav to practice any fraud upon the House or the Committee, and I also desire to do nothing which may be very disagreeable to any of the members. I therefore state in advance that my object in taking the floor is to make a speech on the general subject of internal improvements; and if I am out of order in doing so, I give the chair an opportunity of so deciding, and I will take my seat. The Chair : I will not undertake to anticipate what the gentleman may say on the subject of internal improvements. He will, therefore, proceed in his remarks, and if any ques- tion of order shall be made, the chair will then decide it. Mr. Lincoln: At an early day of this session the Presi- dent sent us what may properly be called an internal im- provement veto message. The late Democratic convention, which sat at Baltimore, and which nominated General Cass for! the presidency, adopted a set of resolutions, now called the^ Democratic platform, among which is one in these words: "That the Constitution does not confer upon the Getieral Government the power to commence and carry on a, general system of internal improvements." General Cass, in his letter accepting the nomination, holds this language: "I have carefully read the resolutions of the Democratic National Convention, laying down the platform of our politi- cal faith, and I adhere to them as firmly as I approve them cordially. These things, taken together, show that the question of internal improvements is now more distinctly made — has be- come more intense— than at any former period. The veto The Geeat Historic Highway 135 A RARE LIKENESS OF LINCOLN. 136 National Old Tkaiip Road message and the Baltimore resolution I understand to be, in substance, the same thing; the latter being the more general statement, of which the former is the amplification— the bill of particulars. While I know there are many Democrats on this floor and elsewhere, who disapprove that message, I un- derstand that all who shall vote for General Cass will there- after be counted as having approved it — as having indorsed aU Its doctrmes. I suppose all, or nearl}^ all, the Democrats will vote for him. Many of them will do so not because they like his position on this question, but because they preter him, be- ing wrong on this, to another whom they consider farther wrong on other questions. In this way the internal improve- ment Democrats are to be, by a sort of forced consent, carried over and arrayed against themselves on this measure of pol- icy. General Cass, once elected., will not trouble himself to make a Constitution • argument, or perhaps any argument at all, when he shall veto a river or harbor bill; he will consider it a sufficient answer to all Democratic murmurs to point to Mr, Polk's message, and to the "Democratic Platform.'* This being the case, the question of improvements is verging to a final crisis ; and the friends of this policy must now battle, and battle manfully, or surrender all. In this view, humble as 1 am, I wish to review, and contest as well as I may, the general positions of this veto message. When I say g'eneral positions, I mean to exclude from consideration so much as relates to the present embarrassed state of the treasury in consequence of the Mexican War. Those general po'sitions are that internal improvements ought not to. be made by the General Government. First — Be- cause they would overwhelm the treasury. Second — Because, while their burdens would be general, their benefits would be local and partial, involving an obnoxious inequality. Third — Because they would be unconstitutional. Fourth — Because the States may do enough by the levy and collection of tonnage duties; or if not. Fifth — That the Constitution may be amended. "Do nothing at all, lest you do something wrong," is the sum of these positions — is the sum of this message. And this, with the exception of what is said about constitution- ality, applying as forcibly to what is said about making im- provement's by State authority as by the national authority; so thai we must abandon the improvements of the country al- together, by any and every authority, or we must resist and repudiate the doctrines of this message. Let us attempt the latter. The first position is, that a system of internal improve- ments would overwhelm the treasury. That in such a system there is a tendency to undue expansion, is not to be denied. Such tendency is founded in the nature of the 'subject. A The Great Historic Highway 137 member of Congress will prefer voting- for a bill which con- tains an appropriation for his district, to voting for one which does not; and when a bill shall be expanded till every district shall be provided for, that it will be too greatly expanded is obvious. But is this any more true in Congress than in a State legislature? If a member of Congress must have an appropria- tion for his district, so a member of a legislature must have one for his county. And if one will overwhelm the national treas- ury, so the other will overwhelm the State treasury. Go where we will, the difficulty is the same. Allow it to drive us from the halls of Congres's, and it will, just as easily, drive us from the State legislatures. Let us, then, grapple with it, and test its strength. Let us, judging of the future by the past, ascer- tain whether there may not be, in the discretion, of Congress, a sufficient power to limit and restrain this expansive ten- dency within reasonable and proper bounds. The President himself values the evidence of the past. He tells us that at a certain point of our history more than two hundred millions of dollars had been applied for to make improvements; and this he does to prove that the treasury would be overwhelmed by such a system. Why did he not tell us how much was granted? Would not that have been better evidence? Let us turn to it, and -see what it proves. In the message the Presi- dent tells us that "during the four succeeding years embraced by the administration of President Adams, the power not only to appropriate money, but to apply it, under the direction and authority of the General Government, as well to the construc- tion of roads as to the improvement of harbors and rivers, wa§ fully asserted and exercised." This, then, was the period of greatest enormity. These, if any, must have been the days of. the two hundred millions. And how much do you 'suppose was really expended for im- provements during that four years? Two hundred millions? One hundred? Fifty? Ten? Five? No, sir; less than two mil- lions. As shown by authentic documents, the expenditures on improvements during 1825, 1826, 1827, and 1828 amounted to one million eight hundred and seventy-nine thousand six hun- dred and twenty-seven dollars one cent. These four years were the period of Mr. Adams' administration, nearly and sub- stantially. This fact shows that when the power to make im- provements "was fully asserted and exercised,'' the Congress did keep within reasonable limits ; and what has been done, it seems to me, can be done again. (Note. Adams was elected on a platform pledging aid to the Cumberland Road, and had it surveyed to the capital of Missouri.) ^ u^^' for the second portion of this message— namely, that the burdens of improvements would be general, while their 138 National Old Trails Road benefits would be local and partial, involving an obnoxious in- equality. That there is -some degree of truth in this position, I shall not deny. No commercial object of government patron- age can be so exclusively general as to not be of some peculiar local advantage. The navy, as I understand it, was established and is maintained at a great annual expense, partly to be ready for war when war shall come, and partly also, and perhaps chiefly for the protection of our commerce on the high seas. This latter object is, for all I can see, in principle the same as internal improvements. The driving a pirate from the track of commerce on the broad ocean, and the removing a snag from its more narrow path in the Mississippi River, cannot, I think, be distinguished in principle. Each is done to save life and property, and for nothing el'se. The navy, then, is the most general in its benefits of all this class of objects; and yet even the navy is of some peculiar advantage to Charlestown, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, beyond what it is to the interior towns of Illinois. The next most general object I can think of would be improve- ments on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. They touch thirteen of our States — Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa. Now I 'suppose it will not be denied that these thirteen States are a little more interested in improvements on that great river than are the remaining seventeen. These instances of the navy and the Mississippi River show clearly that there is something of local advantage in the mo'st general objects. But the converse is also true. 'Nothing is so local as to not be of some general benefit. Take, for instance, the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Considered apart from its effects, it is perfectly local. Every inch of it is within the State of Illinois. That Canal was first opened for business last April. In a very few days we were all gratified to learn, among other things, that sugar had been carried from New Orleans through this canal to Buffalo in New York. This sugar took this route, doubtless, because it was cheaper than the old route. Supposing benefit of the reduction in the cost of carriage to be shared between seller and buyer, the result is that the New Orleans merchant sold his sugar a little dearer, and the people of Buffalo sweetened their coffee a little cheaper than before — a benefit resulting from the canal, not to Illinois, where the canal is, but to Louisiana and New York,, where it is not. In other transactions Illinois will, of course, have her share, and perhaps the large share, too, of the bene- fits of the canal ; but this instance of the 'sugar clearly shows that the benefits of an improvement are by no means confined to the particular locality of the improvement itself. Tm^ Great Historic Highway 139 The just conclusion^, from all this is that if the nation re- fuse to make improvements of the more general kind because their benefits may be somewhat local, a State may for the same reason refuse to make an improvement of a local kind because its benefits may be somewhat . general. A State may well say to the nation, "If you will do nothing for me, I will do nothing for you." Thus it is seen that if this argument of ^^inequality" is sufficient anywhere, it is sufficient everywhere, and puts an end to improvements altogether. I hope and be- lieve that if both the nation and the States would, in good faith, in their respective spheres do what they could in the w^ay of improvements, what of inequality might be produced in one place might be compensated in another, and the sum of the whole work might not be very unequal. But suppose after all, there should be some degree of in- equality. Inequality is certainly never to be embraced for its own sake ; but is every good thing to be discarded which may be inseparably connected with some degree of it? If so, we must discard all government. This capital is built at the pub- lic expense, for the public benefit ; but does anyone dout)t that it is of some peculiar local advantage to the property-holders and business people of Washington? Shall we remove it for this reason? And if so, where shall we iset it down, and be free from the difficulty? To make sure of our object, shall we locate it nowhere, and have Congress hereafter to hold" its sessions, as the loafer lodged, "in spots about?" I make no allusion to the present President when I say there are few stronger cases in this world of "burden to the many and bene- fit to the few," of "inequality," than the presidency itself is by some thought to be. An honest laborer digs coal at about seventy cents a day, while the President digs abstractions at about seventy dollars a day. The coal is clearly worth more than the abstractions, and yet what a monstrous inequality in the prices ! Does the President, for this reason, propose to abol- ish the presidency? He does not, and he ought not. The true rule in determining to embrace or reject anything, is not whether it have any evil in it, but whether it have more of evil than of good. There are few things wholly evil or wholly good. Almost everything, especially of government policy, is an inseparable compound of the two ; so that our best judgment of the preponderance between them is continually demanded. On this principle the President, his friends, and the world gen- erally act on most subjects. Why not apply it, then, upon this question? Why, as to improvements, magnify the evil, and ■stoutly refuse to see any good in them? Mr. Chairman, on the third position of the message — the constitutional question — I have not much to say. Being the man I am, and speaking where I do, I feel that in any attempt 140 National Old Trails Road at an original constitutional argument, I should not be, and ought not to be, listened to patiently. The ablest and the best of men have gone over the whole ground long ago. I shall attempt but little more than a brief notice of what some of them have said. In relation to Mr. Jefferson's views, I read from Mr. Polk's veto message : "President Jefferson, in his message to Congress in 1806^ recommended an amendment of the Constitution, with a view to apply an anticipated surplus in the Treasury, *to the great purpose of the public education, roads, rivers, canals, and such other objects of public improvements as it may be thought proper to add to the constitutional enumeration of the federal powers' ; and he adds : *I suppose an amendment to the Con- stitution, by consent of the States, necessary, because the ob- jects now recommended are not among those enumerated in the Constitution, and to which it permits the public moneys to be applied/ In 1825, he repeated in his pubHshed letters the opinion that no such power has been conferred upon Con- gress." (Note. It is now conceded on all sides that amendment of the Constitution is not necessary, and Mr. Jefferson signed the Bill Nationalizing the Cumberland Road in 1806.) I introduce this not to controvert just now the constitu- tional opinion, but to show that, on the question of expediency,. Mr. Jefferson's opinion was against the present President — that this opinion of Mr. Jefferson, in one branch at least, is in the hands of Mr. Polk like McFingal's gun — "bears wide and kicks the owner over." But to the constitutional question. In 1826 Chancellor Kent first published his "Commentaries" on American law. He devoted a portion of one of the lectures to the question of the authority of Congress to appropriate public moneys for internal improvements. He mentions that the subject had never been brought under judicial consideration, and proceeds to give a brief 'summary of the discussion it had undergone between the legislative and executive branches of the gov- ernment. He shows that the legislative branch had usually been for, and the executive against, the power,, till the period of Mr. J. Q. Adams' administration, at which point he con- siders the executive influence as withdrawn from opposition, and added to the support of the power. In 1844 the chancellor published a new edition of his "Commentaries," in which he add's some notes of what had transpired on the question since 1826. I have not time to read the original text on the notes; but the whole may be found on page 267, and the two or three following pages, of the first volume of the edition of 1844. As to what Chancellor Kent seems to consider the sum of the whole, I read from one of the notes : The Great Historic Highway 141 "Mr. Justice Story, in his commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, Vol. II, pp. 429-440, and again pp. 519- 538, has stated at large the argume^its for and against the proposition that Congress have a constitutional authority to lay taxes, and to apply the power to regulate commerce as a means directly to encourage and protect domestic manufac- tures ; and without giving any opinion of his own on the con- tested doctrine, he has left the reader to draw his own con- clusions. I should think, however, from the arguments stated, that every mind which has taken no part in the discussion, and felt no prejudice or territorial bias on either side of the ques- tion, would deem the arguments in favor of the Congressional power vastly superior." (Note. Judge Cooly affirms the power. So has the Su- preme Court of the United States.) It will be seen that in this extract the power to make im- provements is not directly mentioned; but by examining the context, both of Kent and Story, it will be seen that the power mentioned in the extract, and the power to make improve- ments, are regarded as identical. It is not to be denied that many great and good men have been against the power; but it is insisted that quite as many, as great and as good, have been for it ; and it is shown that, on a full survey of the whole. Chancellor Kent was of the opinion that the arguments of the latter were vastly superior. This is but the opinion of a man; but who was that' man? He was one of the ablest and most learned lawyers of his age, or of any age. It is no disparage- ment to Mr. Polk, nor indeed to anyone who devotes much time to politics, to be placed far beyond Chancellor Kent as a law- yer. His attitude was most favorable to correct conclusions;. He wrote coolly, and in retirement. He was struggling to rear a durable monument of fame ; and he well knew that truth and thoroughly sound reasoning were the only sure foundations. Can the party opinion of a party President on a law question, as this purely is, be at all compared or set in opposition to that of such a man, in such an attitude, as Chancellor Kent? This constitutional question will probably never be better settled than it is, until it shall pass under judicial consideration; but I do think no man who is clear on the questions of expediency need feel his conscience much pricked upon this. Mr. Chairman, the President seems to think that enough may be done, in the way of improvements, by means of tonnage duties under State authority, with the consent of the General Government. Now I suppose this matter of tonnage duties is well enough in its own sphere. I suppose it may be efficient, and perhaps sufficient, to make slight improvements and re- pairs in harbors already in use and not much out of repair. But if I have any correct general idea of it, it must be wholly 142 National Old Trails Road inefficient for any general beneficent purposes of government. I know very little, or rather nothing at all, of the practical mat- ter of levying and collecting tonnage duties; but I suppose one of its principles must be to lay a duty for the improvement of any particular harbor upon the tonnage coming into that har- bor; to do otherwise — to collect money in one harbor to be expended on improvements in another — would be an extremely aggravated form of that inequality which the President so much deprecates. If I be right in this, how could we make any en- tirely new improvement by means of tonnage duties? How make a road, a canal, or clear a greatly obstructed river? The idea that we could involves the same absurdity as the Irish bull about the' new boots. "I shall niver get 'em on,'' says Patrick, "till I wear them a day or two, and stretch 'em a lit- tle." We shall never make a canal by tonnage duties until it shall already have been made awhile, so the tonnage can get into it. After all the President concludes that possibly there may be some great objects of improvement which cannot be ef- fected by tonnage duties, and which it therefore may be ex- pedient for the General Government to take in hand. Accord- ingly he suggests in case any such is discovered, the propriety of amending the Constitution. Amend it for what? If, like Mr. Jefferson, the President, thought improvements expedient, but not constitutional, it would be natural enough for him to recommend such an amendment. But hear what he says in this very message : "In view of these portentious consequences, I cannot but think that this course of legislation should be arrested, even were there nothing to forbid it in the fundamental laws of our Union." For what, then, would he have the Constitution amended? With him it is a proposition to remove one impediment merely to be met by others, which, in his opinion, cannot be removed — to enable Congress to do what, in his opinion, they ought not to do if they could. (Here Mr. Meade of Virginia inquired if Mr. Lincoln un- derstood the President to be opposed, on grounds of expedi- ency, to any and every improvement.) Mr. Lincoln answered: "In the very part of his message of which I am speaking, I understand him as giving some vague expression in favor of some possible objects of improve- ment; but in doing so I understand him to be directly on the teeth of his own arguments in other parts of it. Neither the President nor any one can possibly specify an improvement which shall not be clearly liable to one or another of the ob- jections he has urged on the score of expediency. I have shown, and might show again, that no work — no object — can The Great Historic Highway 143 be so general as to dispense its benefits with precise equality; and this inequality is chief among the "portentious conse- quences" for which he declares that improvements should be arrested. No, sir. When the President intimates that some- thing in the way of improvements may properly be done by the General Government, he is shrinking from the conclusions to which his own arguments would force him. He feels that the improvements of this broad and goodly land are a mighty in- terest ; and he is unwilling to confess to the people, or perhaps to himself, that he built an argument which, when pressed to its conclusions, entirely annihilates his interest. I have already- said that no one who is satisfied of the ex- pediency of making, improvements needs be much uneasy in his 'conscience about its constitutionality. I wish now to sub- mit a few remarks on the general proposition of amending the Constitution. As a general rule, I think we would much better let it alone. No slight occasion should tempt us to touch it. Better not take the first step, which may lead to a habit of altering it. Better, rather, habituate ourselves to think of it as unalterable. It can scarcely be made better than it is. New provisions would introduce new difficulties, and thus create an increased appetite for further change. No, sir; let it stand as it is. New hands have never touched it. The men who made it have done their work, and have passed away. Who shall improve on what they did? Note: How wise he was. Mr. Chairman, for the purpo'se of reviewing this message in the least possible time, as well as for the sake of directness, 1 have analyzed its arguments as well as I could, and reduced them to the propositions I have stated. I have now examined them in detail.^ I wish to detain the committee only a little while longer with some general remarks upon the subject of: improvements. That the subject is a difficult one cannot be denied. Still it is no more difficult in Congress than in the State legislatures, in the counties, or in the smallest municipal districts which anywhere exist. All can recur to instances of this difficulty in the case of country roads, bridges, and the like. One man is offended because a road passes over his land, and another is offended because it does not pass over hrs; one is dissatisfied because the bridge for which he is taxed crosses the river on a different road from that which leads from his house to town; another cannot bear that the county should be got injto debt for these same roads and bridges; while not a few struggle hard to have roads located over their lands, and then stoutly refuse to let them be opened until they are first paid the damages. Even between the dif- ferent wards and streets of town and cities we find this same wrangling and difficulty. Now these ^re no other than the very difficulties against which, and out of which, the Fresi- 144 National Old Trails Road dent constructs his objections of "inequality," "speculation," and "crushing the treasury." There is but a single alternative about them; they are sufficient, or they are not. If sufficient, they are sufficient out of Congress as well as in it, and there is the end. We must reject them as insufficient, or lie down and do nothing by any authority. Then, difficulty though there be, let us meet and encounter it. "Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt; nothing 'so hard, but search will find it out." Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way. The tendency to undue expansion is un- questionably the chief difficulty. How to do something, and still not do too much, is the desideratum. Let each contribute his mite in the way of sug- gestion. The late Silas Wright, in a letter to the Chicago con- vention, contributed his, which was worth something; and I now contribute mine, which may be worth nothing. At all events, it will mislead nobody, and therefore will do no harm. I would not borrow money. I am against an overwhelming, crushing system. Suppose that, at each session. Congress shall first determine how much money can, for that year, be spared for improvements; then apportion that sum to the most im- portant objects. So far all i's easy; but how shall we deter- mine which are the most important? On this question comes the collision of interests. I shall be slow to acknowledge that youf harbor or your river is more important than mine, arid vice versa. To clear this difficulty, let us have that same statistical information which the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Vinton) -suggested at the beginning of this session. In that information we shall have a stern, unbending basis of facts — a basis in no wise subject to whim, caprice, or local interest. The pre-limited amount of means will save us from doing too much, and the statistics will save us from doing what we do in wrong places. Adopt and adhere to this course, and, it seems to me, the difficulty is cleared. One of the gentlemen from South Carolina (Mr. Rhett) very much deprecates these statistics. He particularly ob- jects, as I understand him, to counting all the pigs and chick- ens in the land. I do not perceive much force in the objection. It is true that if everything be enumerated, a portion of such statistics may not be very useful to this object. Such prod- ucts of the country as are to be consumed where they are pro- duced need no roads or rivers, no means of transportation, and have no very proper connection with thi-s subject. The sur-. plus — that which is produced in one place to be consujned in another; the capacity of eacK locality for producing a greater surplus; the natural means of transportation, and their sus- ceptibility of improvement; the hindrances, delays, and losses of life and property during transportation and the causes of The Great Historic Highway 145 'each, would be among the most valuable statistics in this con- nection. From these it would readily appear where a given amount of expenditure would do the most good. These statis- tics might be equally accessible, as they would be equally use- ful, to both the nation and the States. In this way, and b> these means, let the nation take hold of the larger works, and the States the smaller ones ; and thus, working in a meeting direction, discreetly, but steadily and firmly, what is made unequal in one place may be equalized in another, extravagance avoided and the whole country put on that career of prosperity which shall correspond with its extent of territory, its natural resources, and the intelligence and enterprise of its people. (Note. The Democrats were divided, Mr. Lincoln said in another speech, about equally, on internal improvements, and Cass was defeated. The Democratic platform of 1844, 1908 and 1912 declares in favor of National Roads.) Long years after this celebrated speech was delivered, the Supreme Court of 'the United States rendering an opinion in Stockton Baltimore, etc., R. R. (32 Fed. Rep. 9) said: **Nor have we any doubt that under the same power the means of commercial communication by land as well as water may be opened up by Congress between different States when- ever it shall see fit to do so, either on the failure of the States to provide such communication, or whenever, in the opinion of Congress, increased facilities of communication ought to exist. Hitherto it is true the means of commercial communi- cation have been supplied either by nature in the navigable waters of the country or by the States in the construction of roads, canals, and railroads, so that the functions of Congress have not been largely called into exercise under this branch of its jurisdiction and power, except in the improvement of rivers and harbors, and the licensing of bridges across naviga- ble streams. But this is no proof that its power does not ex- tend to the whole subject in all possible requirements. Indeed it has been put forth in several notable instances, which stand as strong arguments of practical construction given to the Constitution by the legislative department of the Government. The Cumberland or National Road is one instance of a grand thoroughfare protected by Congress, extending from the Po- tomac to the Mississippi." 146 National Old Trails Road THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. SPEECH OF HON. ANDREW STEWART OF PENNSYLVANIA In Congress, January^ 27, 1829, in Reply to James Buchanan, Afterwards President of the United States. On the 27th of January, 1829, the Hon. Andrew Stewart, of Pennsylvania, in a vigorous speech on the floor of Congress, repelled the proposition that the general government was lacking in power and authority to make and preserve the Cum- berland road, from which the following extracts are taken: "Mr. Stewart expressed hi's regret that gentlemen had deemed this a fit occasion to draw into discussion all the topics connected with the general power over the subject of internal improvements. If repeated decisions and the uniform practice of the government could settle any question, this, he .thought, ought to be regarded as settled. The foundation of this road (the National or Cumberland) was laid by a report made by Mr. Giles, the present Governor of Virginia, in 1802, and was sanctioned the next session by a similar report, made by an- other distinguished Virginian (Mr. Randolph) now a member of this House — it was the offspring of Virginia, and he hoped she would not now abandon it as illegitimate. Commenced under the administration of Mr. Jefferson, it had been sanc- tioned and prosecuted by every president, and by almost every Congress, for more than a quarter of a century, * * *" Note : The following is too good to lose, hence printed here : WILLING TO COMPLY. "It is said that Chief Justice Marshall used to narrate with great glee the following correspondence on a point of honor between Governor Giles of Virginia and Patrick Henry : "Sir,'' wrote the governor, "I understand that you have called me a bobtail politician. I wish to know if it is true, and, if true, your meaning. — W. R. Giles." "Patrick Henry's reply came promptly: "Sir, I do not recall calling you a bobtail politician at any time, but I think it probable that I have. I can't say what I did mean; but if you will tell me what you think I meant, I will tell whether you are correct or not." The Great Historic Highway 147 Cumberland Gap, No. 1, where three states, to-wit: Kentucky, Vir- ginia and Tennessee, corner. This is on the old Wilderness road, blazed and established by Daniel Boone (1775). Cumberland Gap, No. 2, is on the N. O. T. Road near Wheeling, W. Va. The figure on horseback (No. 1) reminds me of a seventeen year old boy, a Confederate soldier, who in November, 1862, when the Confederates held the Gap, rode down the road coming North and was warned by the guard stationed at the house on the right and again by the pickets a few yards further on that they were expecting the battle to begin any minute, in which event the boy would be caught between the fire of both armies — ^but this is another story. 148 National Old Trails Road This was leaving it to Giles with a vengeance, but as there was no further correspondence the governor of Virginia must have read somewhere between the lines the meaning of Henry's brilliantly equivocal reply. "With roads and -canal's, of what avail was it to the people of the West to possess a country, abounding with all the es- sential elements of wealth and prosperity — of what avail was it to have a country abounding with inexhaustible mines of coal and ore ; to possess a fruitful soil and abundant harvests, with- out the means of transporting them to the places where they were required for consumption? Without a market, the peo- ple of the West were left without a motive for industry. By denying to this portion of the Union the advantages of inter- nal improvements, you not only deprive them of all the bene^ fits of governmental expednitures, but you also deprive them of the advantages which nature's God intended for them. Pos- sessing the power, how, he asked, could any representative of the interior or western portions of this Union vote against a policy so essential to the prosperity of the people who sent him here to guard their rights, and advance their inter- ests ? * * * ^QiQ . (g^^ ^Yity did when they voted to sub- stitute the Federal Aid Act for the Townsend Bill.) "The right of this government to construct such roads and canals as were necessary to carry into effect its mail, mil- itary, and comniercial powers, was as clear and undoubted as the right to build a postof fice, construct a fort, or erect a lighthouse. In every point of view the cases were precisely similar, and were sustained and justified by the same power. * * "The power,*' said Mr. Stewart, " *to establish postoffices and post roads' involves the power and duty of transporting the mail, and of employing all the means necessary for this purpose. The simple (question, then, was this : Are roads nec- essary to carry the mail? If they were, Congress had ex- pressly the right to make them, and there was an end to the question." "Roads were," he contended, "not only necessary to carry into effect this power, but they were absolutely and indispensably necessary; you cannot get along without them, and yet we are gravely told that Congress has no right to make a mail road or repair it when made I That to do so would ruin the States and produce consolidation — ruin the States by constructing good roads for their use and benefit ; produce consolidation by connecting the distant parts of the Union by cheap and rapid modes of inter-communication. If consolidation meant to confirm and perpetuate the Union, he would admit its application, but not otherwise. But we are told that the States will make roads to carry the mails. This was begging the question. If the States would make all the roads re- The Great Historic Highway 149 quired to carry into effect our powers, very well ; but, if they did not, then we may undoubtedly make them ourselves. But it was never designed by the framers of the Constitution that this government should be dependent on the States for the means of executing its power. *Its means were adequate to its ends.' This principle was distinctly and unanimously laid down by the Supreme Court in the case already referred to : *No trace,' says the Chief Justice, *is to be found in the Con- stitution of an intention to create a dependence of the gov- ernment of the Union on the States for the execution of the powers assigned to it — its means are adequate to its ends. To impose on it the necessity of resorting to means it cannot control, which another government may furnish or withhold^ would render its course precarious, the result of its measures uncertain, and create a dependence on other governments, which might disappoint the most important designs, and is in- compatible with the language of the Constitution. And this was in perfect harmony with the constant and uniform prac- tice of the government." * * * Mr, Stewart begged gentlemen to turn their attention for a moment to the statute book, and see what the practice of the government had been; what had been already done by Congress in virtue of this power of "establishing postoffices and post roads." "In 1825 an act had been passed, without a word of objection, which went infinitely further than the bill under consideration. His colleague (Mr. Buchanan) was then a member of this House, and, no doubt, voted for it. His elo- quence was then mute — we heard nothing about States rights spectres and sedition laws. This bill, regulating the postoffice establishment, not only created some thirty or forty highly penal offenses, extending not only over the Cumberland Road, but over every other road in the United States, punishing with severest sanctions, even to the taking away the liberty and the hves of the citizens of the States, and requiring the State courts to take cognizance of these offenses and inflict these punishments. This was not all; this act not only extended over all the mail roads, but all other roads running parallel with them, on which all persons are prohibited, under a penalty of fifty dollars, from carrying letters in stages or other vehicles performing regular trips, and authorizing, too, the seizure and sale of any property found in them for the payment of the fines. The same regulations applied to boats and vessels pass- ing from one town to another. Compare that bill with the one under debate. This bill had two or three trifling penalties of ten dollars, and was confined to one road of about one hundred and fifty miles in extent, made by the United States, while the other act, with all its fines and forfeitures, pains and penalties, extended not only to all the mail roads in the United 150 National Old Trails Eoad States, but also to all parallel roads; yet no complaint was then heard about the constitutionality of this law, or the dreadful consequences of carrying the citizens hundreds of miles to be tried. Under it no difficulties had ever been expe- rienced and no complaint had ever been heard. There had been no occasions for appointing United States Justices and creat- ing federal courts to carry this law into effect, about which there was so much declamation on this occasion ; this was truly choking at gnats and swallowing camels. To take away life by virtue of the postoffice power for robbing the mail, is nothing; but to impose a fine of ten dollars for wilfully de- stroying a road which has cost the government a million of dollars, is a dreadful violation of State Rights! An unheard-of usurpation, worse than the sedition law ; and went further to- wards a di'ssolution of the Union than any other act of the government. Such were the declarations of his colleague ; he hoped he would be able to give some reason for thus denounc- ing this bill, after voting for the act of 1825, which carried this same power a hundred times further than this bill, both as re- gards the theatre of its operations, and the extent of its pun- ishments.'' * * * Having thus established, and, as he thought, conclusively, the right to construct roads and canals for mail and military purposes, he came next to say a few words on the subject of those which appertained to the expres-s power of "regulating commerce with foreign nations and among the several States.'' "This power carried with it, as a necessary incident, the right to construct commercial roads and canals. From this grant Congress derived exactly the same power to make roads and canal's that it did sea-walls, lighthouses, buoys, beacons, etc., along the seaboard. If the power existed over the one it ex- isted over the other in every point of view; the cases were precisely parallel ; it was impossible to draw a distinction be- tween them. This power was essential to every government — there was no government under the sun without it. All writers on national law and political economy considered the right to construct roads and canals as belonging to the commercial power of all governments. * * * "There were great arteries of communication between dis- tant divisions of this extensive empire, passing through many States or bordering upon them, which the States never could and never would make. These works were emphatically na- tional, and ought to be" accomplished by national means." He instanced the road now under consideration — it passed through Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, yet neither of these States would give a dollar to make it. It passed mostly through mountainous and uninhabited regions. He adverted to the Potomac, Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Important as The Great Historic Highway 151 they were to all the States, yet they were the internal con- cerns of none — they were mere boundaries to which the States would give nothing^ while they had so many objects exclu- sively internal requiring all their, means. For these reasons he was utterly opposed to the project of dividingr the surphis reve- nue of the general government among the several States; this would be to surrender the national means which the people had confided to this purpo'se to mere local and sectional objects, while those truly national would remain forever unprovided for. He did not claim for this government the power to make roads and canals for all purposes. The powers of this govern- ment and of the States were distinct and well defined. To the national government belonged, under the Constitution, the power of making national roads and canals for national pur- poses. To the States belonged the power of providing for state and local objects. The roads and canals projected and executed by the States and private companies were often highly important in a national point of view; and to such, in his opinion, this government ought always to afford aid in a proportion corresponding with the interest the nation had in their accomplishment. "When individuals were willing to go before and invest millions of their private funds in works strictly and truly national, connecti|ig the remote sections of the Union together (of which we had two di'stinct examples, one in the district, and the other in a neighboring city, Bal- timore), could this government, charged with the care and guardianship of all the great interests of the nation, look on with cold indifference? Was it not our duty to lend a helping hand to encourage, to cheer, and to sustain them in their noble and patriotic efforts?" * * * Mr. Stewart said he would now proceed to answer, as briefly as possible, some leading arguments urged by gentle- men in oppo'sition to the bill under consideration. His col- league (Mr. Buchanan) had said that this bill proposed a greater stretch of power than the sedition law. This was an argument "ad capitandum vulgus." He would not do his col- league the injustice to suppose that he was so ignorant of the Constitution of his country as seriously to address such an argument to the understanding of this House. The bill under consideration was necessary to carry into effect the express power of transporting the mail. What power of this govern- ment was the sedition law intended to carry into effect? None. It was, therefore, not only clearly uncon'stitutional on this ground, but it went directly to abridge the freedom of the press, and, of course, was a plain and palpable violation of that provision in the Constitution, which declared that "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press." Now, if. his colleague could show any provision in the- 152 National Old Trails Road Constitution in the slightest degree impugning the right of Congress to pass this bill, then he might have some excuse for offering such an argument, otherwise, he had none. "The gen- tleman had, in a very labored effort, endeavored to prove that this governnient had no kind of jurisdiction or control what- ever over this road. Yet his own amendment recognized the existence of the very power which he denies. By this amend- ment he proposes what? That this government shall cede the roads to the States, with the power to erect gates and collect as much toll as was necessary to keep it in repair. But his whole argument went to prove that Congress did not possess the very power which his amendment assumed, and proposed to the States. The gentleman's amendment, and his speech, therefore, were at open war with each other, and would perhaps both perish in the conflict. Certainly, both could not survive — one or the other must fall. The gentleman, proceeding in his argument, had assumed premises which nobody would admit, and then, with an air of great triumph, he drew conclusions which even his own prem- ises would not support. He takes for granted that this gov- ernment, with ail its mail, military, and commercial powers, has no more right to make a road to carry these powers into effect, through a State, than any individual possessing none of these powers would have. Thus, having assumed what was utterly inadmissible, he triumphantly inquires whether an in- dividual, having obtained leave to make a road through an- other's land, could put up gates and exact toll? The gentle- man says, surely not. But he said, surely yes, unless expressly prohibited by the contract. "Suppose, by permission, I build a mill," said Mr. Stewart, "upon that gentleman's estate, and construct a bridge and turnpike road to get to it, have not I as much right to demand toll at the bridge as at the mill? Most undoubtedly; so that the gentleman's premises and his conclu- sions were alike fallacious and unsound. This position had been taken by both the gentlemen from Virginia (Mr. Bar- bour and Mr. Archer) to whom he would make the same re- ply. A most extraordinary argument had been advanced against military roads ; the public enemy may get possession of them in war ! Was it possible that an American statesman could, at this time of day, urge such an argument? It might be addressed to a set of timid savages, secure in the midst of the wilderness. The enemy get possession of our roads, and, therefore, not make them! Such cowardly arguments would deprive us of every possible means of defense. The enemy, it might be said with equal propriety, may get our ships, our forts, our cannon, our soldiers, and, therefore, we ought not to provide them. What would the brave freemen of this country say to the men who would deny them roads to travel on, lest The Great Historic Highway 153 JAMES BUCHANAN. Presented Resolution to Turn the Old National Road Back to the States. President 1856-60. 154 National Old Trails Road the enemy might take them from us in war? They would re- ply, with Spartan magnanimity, 'Let them come and take them/ * * ^ "A great deal has been said on the subject of jurisdiction; that, if it existed at all, it must be exclusive ; that it could not attach to soil, and much metaphysical refinement of this sort, which had little to do with the subject. On this point, the only sound and practical rule was, that this government had a right to assume such jurisdiction over the roads as was necessary for their preservation and repair by such means as should be deemed most expedient, leaving everything be- yond that to the States; Thus far the Constitution declared the legislation of Congress to be 'the supreme law of the land, anything in the Constitution and laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding/ This left to the laws of the States the right to punish all offenses, and other acts com- mitted upon the road, in the same manner as though they had occurred in any other part of their territory. Such has been the uniform practice of the government in executing all its powers up to the present time, and no complaint had ever been made or inconvenience experienced. "It has been universally conceded on all hands in this de- bate, that the consent of the States could not confer any jurisdiction or powers on this government beyond what it had derived from the Constitution. This was too clear a proposi- tion to admit of doubt. Yet the names of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Gallatin were introduced and relied on. Did gen- tlemen forget that Mr. Gallatin was the very first man that ever suggested the plan for making the Cumberland road, and that it had been sanctioned, and actually constructed under the administrations _of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe? Their opinions were thus reduced to practice, which was the best evidence in the world — *By their fruits shall ye know them.' " How strikingly similar is this language, delivered by Stew- art in 1829, to the language employed by Justice Brewer when delivering the opinion of the Supreme Court in the case of Stockton vs. Baltimore R. R. Fed. Rep. 9, in 1902, as follows: "Nor have we any doubt that under the same power the means of commercial communication by land as well as water may be opened up by Congress between the different States whenever it shall see fit to do so, either on the failure of the State to provide such communication, or wheiaever, in the opinion of Congress, the increased facilities of communication ought to exist. Hitherto it is true the means of commercial communication have been supplied either by nature in the navigable waters of the country or by the States in the con- struction of roads, canals and railroads. So that the func- The Great Historic Highway 155 tions of Congress have not been largely called into exercise under this branch of its jurisdiction and power, excepting in the improvement of rivers and harbors and the licensing of bridges across navigable streams. But this is no proof that its power does not extend to the whole subject in all possible requirements. Indeed, it has been put forth in several notable instances, which stand as strong arguments of practical con- struction given to the constitution by the legislative depart- ment of the Government. The Cumberland or National Road is one instance of a grand thoroughfare projected by Con- gress, extending from the Potomac to the Mississippi." The Congressional Record of May 2, 1916, when the orig- inal Federal Aid Act of unhappy memory, was pending, Senator Works of California spoke as follows : MR. WORKS. Mr. President, I have occupied all the time I think I ought to consume in the discus'sion of this bill ; but I have here a synopsis of the statement made by Judge J. M. Lowe, who is president of the National Old Trails Road Asso- ciation of Kansas City, Mo., before the Good Roads Committee of the House of Representatives, which was prepared by Judge Lowe himself, and which bears upon this question. I should like to have it read by the Secretary. The , PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the Sec- retary will read as requested. The Secretary read as follows : Synopsis of Statement Made by Judge J. M. Lowe, President of National Old Trails Road Association, of Kansa'S City, Mo., before the Good Roads Committee of the House of Representatives at Washington, D. C. 1914. To the Good Roads Committee of the House of Representa- tives : As you kindly requested me to make a brief resume of my statements made when before you the other day, I hereby respectfully submit the following: - • As "Federal Aid" in some form is being agitated as prefer- able to a system of national highways, permit me to ask why make the States contribute an equal amount or any other amount as a condition precedent to any action by the General Government? • ' Why make the State contribute to a national enterprise at all? If a road is not of national concern, ought the national revenues be appropriated to it? If it is of national concern, ought the State to contribute? But you may 'say that it will be of benefit to the State. 156 National Old Trails Road Granted; but shall the Government refuse to enter upon an internal improvement for fear it will benefit the State? Shall the State be taxed because she is benefited by such improvement? If this is to be the policy, then why not apply it to rivers and harbors ? They, too, are of local benefit.' And to public buildings, and many other public enterprises? "No enterprise is so general as not to be of some local benefit"; but shall all progress cease, all activities end, because some local benefit may result? Inequalities of benefits are never to be courted, and *'equal and exact" benefits should be striven for, but that 'some inequalities will exist in any scheme •possible to devise, goes without saying. Shall we do nothing lest some inequalities may be created? If so, all progress must cease. But "cross-country roads," "touri'sts' roads," "ocean-to- ocean highways" ought not to be built for fear automobile "joy riders" will use them! The roads most in favor by these critics are "the rural roads," the roads in the back districts, in remote sections, where there are no products to market and no people to use them, either for "joy" or necessity — roads that "begin nowhere and end nowhere" — roads of little local value and.no general value ; these are the roads to which it is proposed by some that the general revenue be applied. Moreover, one-half of the States can not participate in any co-operative scheme because of constitutional limitations. The States in which constitutional amendments are nec- essary to permit co-operation or acceptance of "Federal Aid" are : Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. I have been asked if the States thus prohibited by their constitutions from co-operation could not raise their pro rata by a system of general increase of taxes? They propably could, but a legislature.^ would likely hesitate to increase taxes in order that a constitutional provision might be nullified. For instance, Pennsylvania has just voted down a consti- tutional amendment providing for issuing of road bonds. Would her legislature be likely to reverse this action of her people? Possibly a number of these States would amend their constitution, but this would be both slow and doubtful; and if a single State should fail or refuse, any general system of roads would fail. The Great Historic Highway 157 Both Monroe and Jackson held tenaciously to the policy cf appropriating the national revenues to national purposes only. Monroe, in reversing a former conclusion, states that a more thorough study of the whole subject had convinced him that Congress had the right to appropriate the national reve- nues to "national, not State ; general, not local, purposes,'' and that this should be the settled policy of his administration ; and it was. Andrew Jackson, when vetoing a bill appropriating the national revenues to the building of the northern end of the Old Wilderness Road, leading from Lexington, Ky., to Mays- ville, a distance of about 60 miles, quoted the language of President Monroe as sustaining his own veto to-wit : *That Congress could rightly appropriate the national reve- nues to roads of general, not local; national, not State, bene- fit," whereas the part of the road sought to be improved by Mr. Clay's bill was purely local, and not of any general or national benefit. This is undoubtedly the correct principle, and it ought to forever put at rest schemes and subterfuges for appropriating the national revenues to matters of local and State concern only. President Jackson said further, in speaking of Mr. Clay's road: "It has no connection v^ith any established system of improvements; it is exclusively within the limits of a State, starting at a point on the Ohio River and running out 60 miles to an interior town, and, even as far as the State is interested, conferring partial instead of general advantages. * * * "Although many of the States with laudable zeal and under the influence of an enlightened policy, are successfully applying their separate efforts to work of this character, the desire to enlist the aid of the General Government in the con- struction of such as, from their nature, ought to devolve upon It, and to which the individual States are inadequate, is both rational and patriotic; and if that desire is not gratified now, doesn't follow that it never will be. The general intelligence and public spirit of the American people furnish a sure guar- anty that at the proper time this policy will be made to prevail under circumstances more auspicious to this successful prose- cution than those which now exist," He ^stood for a system of national highways, and states in his veto message that if the local Maysville and Lexington Pike had been a link or part of such a system he would havt approved it. On March 3, 1837, the very last day of his last administra- tion, he approved an appropriation to continue the construc- tion of the Old Cumberland (national) Road, a national high- 158 National Old Trails Road way, built and maintained by the Government, and supported by every administration from Jefferson's, in 1806, to 1837. But 'Shall those live States and communities which have already awakened to the importance of good roads and have issued road bonds be permitted to participate in this "aid," or shall it be given as a free bounty or reward only to those back- ward and slothful communities where there are neither products to market nor people to transport? If the former are treated at least equally with the latter, then they 'have already issued $410,000,000 in road bonds and are ready to wipe up any appropriation Congress may make. New York alone is ready to take up $100,000,000 of this "aid." Besides, is it not illogical and impracticable to give, or try to give, joint authority and supervision to the States over a national highway or over any highway? The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that there is no difference between a high- way on the land and on the water. What would be the result if every State through which a navigable stream may run had jurisdiction and control over it? There would be no uni- formity in its upkeep nor in the navigation laws governing its use. Joint control and supervision is impracticable and unwork- able. Either the State or the General Government must be supreme. If each is supreme over its own system, and only ever its own system, there will be no friction, no departure from the uniform practice of the Government, no questions of State rights nor of paternal nor concentrated Federal power, no conflict of authority, no dodging of responsibility. And, after all is said, why tax the State, or the people of the State, before permitting them to have any benefit from taxes already paid? For, twist the whole matter as we may, it all comes back to the ultimate fact that "the people pay the freight/' whether it comes out of the National treasury or a part of it out of the State treasury. J. M. LOWE, National Old Trails Road Association. The Great Historic Highway 159 SENATOR THOS. H. BENTON. 160 National. Old Trails Road THE AMENDED FEDERAL AID ACT. THE CHICAGO COMPROMISE— HAS IT BEEN KEPT? Speech of the President National Old Trails Road Association, Before the Highway Industries Road Congress in Chicago, December 12, 1918. Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention : We meet under most favorable conditions. The night- mare of v^ar is over, and the Dove of Peace is hovering over all the land. Wisely, or otherwise, the Federal Government ignored ttit economic value of highway construction in its plans for win- ning the war, but with the coming of peace, all restrictions have been removed, and we are urged to go forward with our work. We are losing millions because of the inability to market the products of the country. There is high authority for the statement that fifty per cent of our perishable products are wasted through inability to get them to market. One of the great causes for this condition of affairs has been brought about because official Washington has had both eyes and ears closed to its importance, and all our energies have been buried in one of the branches of our government, from which I have always believed it must be rescued, if our country is to retain its place among the civilized nations. Indicating that this is in no sense a late or a captious conclusion, you will pardon me if I quote from a letter written to the Kansas City Star in August, 1911. I was then making an automobile tour across the country, studying the road situation, and wrote a lettei from Decatur, Illinois, in part as follows : "THE DEPART- MENT OF ROADS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF LOGAN WALLER PAGE, HAS DONE MUCH VALUABLE WORK, BUT THERE SHOULD BE A DEPARTMENT OF HIGH- WAYS, JUST AS THERE IS A DEPARTMENT OF AGRI- CULTURE, OF THE INTERIOR, ETC." We have all looked toward this department to lead the way, but the work is so vast, and the duties of the Department so comprehensive, it is evident that if we are to have a vast system of National Highways, we should have a commission, divorced from all other departments, whose supreme business it will be to have charge of the construction and maintenance of such system. The Great Historic Highway 161 Those only who have been engaged in this work the longest can realize the slow, but at the same time the vast, progress we have made. Congress has found no difficulty in appropriating billions of dollars to the railroads. A like appropriation will build, if the average cost be twenty-five thousand dollars per mile, several thousand miles of National Highways. Moreover, the billions of dollars appropriated to the railroads, however necessary it may have been, did not add one dollar to the National wealth, while every dollar invested in roads increases the wealth of the Nation. Any way you may think of it, we shall never accomplish the great work that we should, until we have a large, instead of a small, system of National High- ways, built and maintained out of the National revenues ; sup- plemented by systems of State roads, built and maintained by the State Governments, and supplemented again by systenis of county and township roads. These systems to be under the supervision and control of these different departments ; but if, in addition, a more inefficient idea shall prevail, and the Gen- eral Government shall furnish a part of the cost of a State system as well, leaving the balance of such cost to be raised by the States, then by all means, if the money is to be mixed, the construction and supervision of such State roads ought also to be mixed. This, in my judgment, is unwise, and will lead to conflicts and delays among the various departments, as it has already. Nothing is quite so helpful in material affairs as fixed responsibility. Of course, there are patriots for "Federal Aid,'' provided Uncle Sam will let them have full supervision in spending it, and this fits the "pork barrel poli- tician,'' who wants it applied where it will do the most good — to him. I desire to congratulate you most heartily upon the organ- ization of the Highway Industries Association, under the di- rection of my good friend, Mr. S. M. Williams ; I have known him long and well. This is no aftersight or scheme of his, to make himself a place in this great work. I will state, that as far back as 1914, he and I had repeated conversations on this subject. The thought was then incubating in his mind as to the value of such an organization. He has thrown his whole heart into this work, and you will pardon me for saying, that it is high time the various industries, who shall reap great profits from this enterprise, were taking a more pronounced and effectual stand on this question. Let me emphasize the fact that the farmers and the people of the small towns have gone far ahead of you in this work. Illustrating again, l?y mentioning the National Old Trails Road Association, let me say that at the time of its organiza- 162 National Old Trails Road tion in 1912, not one mile of it was in good, usable condition. We organized the people all along this line, never received one dollar from any manufacturing or material industry, but de- rived all of our support from the people along its line, and we have built and rebuilt the road, or have its building fully fi- nanced, from Washington and Baltimore, to the Mississippi river. And within the next sixty days we shall have it com- pletely financed from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains. If we could do that, under most adverse circumstances, what may we expect when two such great organizations as those as- sembled here today, shall put their shoulders to the wheel and concentrate their mighty energies to this great purpose? I congratulate you further, that so many of the National Asso- ciations have united behind your Association for a national plan, each forgetting for the moment our individual projects, because we now realize, as perhaps never before, that the success of a National plan will necessarily include, sooner or later, any road to which our hearts are devoted, provided it has merit ; if it has not, it ought not to be included. If this war has taught us anything, it is the value of co-operation. In conclusion, I congratulate you above all things that this cruel and unnatural war is over; and that the American Army, under the gallant John J. Pershing, so gloriously turned the tide of battle at Chateau Thierry, and won a victory to rank in history far above Waterloo or Gettysburg. Discredit our country all you can — ^call it but "two per cent of achievement,** if you will, and it still retnains the greatest victory in the an- nals of war. The three most marvelous months in the history of the human race were those from July 15 to October 15, 1918. Of the earlier date, even the stout-hearted British warrior. General Haig, cried out, "Our backs are to the wall," and shells were falling daily in Paris. More than a million inhabitants had fled from Paris; men sat down and looked at each other in sullen gloom and despair. Teutonic dreams of World Empire were well nigh realized. Thus it was in July; but in October came the American Army, and three million of the picked veterans of Germany were in full retreat, and suing for Peace. I congratulate you further that the American President has today arrived in Paris, and will take his place as the pre- siding genius over the greatest convention that has ever as- sembled in the history of all the ages — a convention, assem- bled, in part, for the purpose of translating into practical reality, the inspired vision of Tennyson, when he exclaimed: "For I dipped into the future, far as human eye could see, saw a vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be; till the war-drum throbbed no longer, and the battle-flags were furled in the parliament of man, the federation of the world." The Great Historic Highway 163 . We are living in a brand new world — the most gloriously inspiring epoch of all time. Let's stop talking of military roads, built, by military despots, for military conquests. Any road good enough for Peace is good enough for war. No road 19 good enough for either War or Peace which does not meet the demands of modern traffic. "It would consume too much time to undertake any- thing like a detailed history of the National Old Trails Road, its origin, its accomplishments, its purpo'se. "It was long a mooted question as to who was entitled to the credit for its conception and inauguration. It was finally pretty generally accepted that Albert Gallatin, Secre- tary of the Treasury in Mr. Jefferson's cabinet, was entitled to the greatest credit, and we have generally followed that conclusion; but on a careful investigation we have been in- duced to revise this part of history and to place credit where beyond all kind of doubt it really belongs, and that is, to George Washington. "Woodrow Wilson in his History of the American People, Volume 3, in speaking of Washington and the settlement of what was then known as the Ohio country, says : "When he (meaning Washington) had written his fare- well to the army from his headquarters at Rocky Hill (No- vember 2, 1783,) had embraced his officers and comrades in arms in a last affectionate leave taking at the Fraunce*s Tavern in New York, December 4th, and had delivered up his commission to the Congress sitting at Annapolis, December 23rd, he returned for a little respite to his home at Mt. Vernon to which these long years through his thoughts had reverted with an ever-increasing longing; but the very next year saw him upon the mountains again observing what lands were to be had there and studying once more the best means of communication between the East ■ and West. The pri- mary object of his visit was to procure good lands for him- self and for old comrades who had made him their agent and adviser in that matter ; but this statesman's eye apprised him of the full meaning of the new migration now afoot along all the western border. For one thing, he saw how serious a situation it might prove should this body of settlers, sure to grow greater and more masterful from year to year, continue for long to look back upon almost impenetrable mountains piled between them and the eastern ports and highways. Their natural outlet, when once the mountains were well be- hind them, would be the Mississippi, their natural highway and stream which ran to the Gulf. It was possible that they might see- their chief advantage in a connection with the Spaniards at New Orleans rather than with the well night inaccessible 164 National Old Trails Road eastern settlements on the Atlantic Seaboard— even with the English again by the highway of the lakes and the St. Lawrence." "The western settlers, he declared, stand as it were upon a pivot, the touch of a feather would turn them away." "He returned home to push again with a renewed vigor the project which for now twenty years he had at heart and which had in these new days of independence, as it seemed to him, become a sheer political necessity, — the opening of the upper reaches of the Potomac to navigation. In order that the East might there at any rate be linked with the West by joining the waters of the Potomac with the streams which ran down into the Ohio. This had been one of the plans of the old Ohio company of which the Washingtons and Fairfaxes had been members. The revolution had interrupted its plans ; there was now added reason for renewing them. While the historian does not tell this connection the inci- dent which is well vouched for as happening on the occasion of this trip of Washington to these western mountains, when sitting at a rude table in a dilapidated cabin making a map and studying the topography of the country, Albert Gallatin, v/ho was in that country under the direction of Patrick Henry for the same purpose, came upon Washington, and as he was >uzzling over the altitude of Laurel Hill and seeking the best outlet through the mountains, Gallatin, who had never met Washington, very rudely pointed with his cane to Laurel hill, and stated that there was the only practicable route for a road. This was the beginning of the ultimate definition or. lo- cation of the Old Cumberland (National) Road. It was to begin at Cumberland, the end of Tidewater on the Potomac, and extend in a generally western direction to the Ohio River at or near Wheeling. But about this time John Jay, who then held the office of Secretary of Foreign Affairs, although the government had not yet been really established, as the constitutional con- vention was yet to take place two years later, but the Con- gress had bidden him to negotiate a treaty of commerce with Don Diego Gardoqui, the newly arrived representative of Spain, to surrender the navigation of the whole Mississippi, which he thought was not needed, in exchange for the com- mercial advantages which would redound to the profits of the merchants of the shipping colonies. The instant cry of hot protest that came out of the West M:)prised the eastern politicians of the new world springing into existence in the West, and notified that the new frontier of the nation did not end at the Alleghany Mountains. The proposed treaty was not adopted. Judge Lowe Presenting the ' Van Buren Gavel" to President Wilson at the Centennial Celebration of the N. O. ^ T. R. at Indianapolis, Oct. 12, 1916. Recently, in Grading This Road to Rebuild it One of the Planks «^ Was Dug Up and a Gavel Made From It, Copy Now in the Office of Judge Lowe. This Plank Was Placed in Mudhole in Which Van Bureh's Carriage Was Stuck. National Old Trails Road It was this same John Jay who came very near wrecking- the treaty when considering the Louisiana Purchase, and if Mr. Jefferson had not have sent James Monroe to Paris as a special representative, clothed with special power to that end there is no telling what the results of that treaty might have been. The committee appointed by Mr. Jefferson to lay out and establish the road stated in their report, "That the tendency of this road will be to cement the states and thus preserve the union." So its mission at the beginning had for its pur- pose the great and patriotic one of saving the Union which then was in great danger of dissolution, and which the far- seeing statesman's eye of Washington alone seemed to compre- hend. The act of Congress establishing it as a National highway was signed by Mr. Jefferson in 1806, and shortly thereafter the act of construction began, but the finances for its con- struction had been provided for in the act of Congress admit- ting Ohio into the Union in 1802, whereby a certain percent- age of monies arising from the sale of public lands should be applied to the building of this road. This same provision en- tered into the Acts admitting the states of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, and a road was thus carried through to com- pletion and pronounced, when finished by Henry Clay, as the greatest piece of construction work of this kind in all history, superior in every respect to the famous Appian Way. Then, from time to time, Congress by additional Acts extended the road as nearly on an air line as was practicable westward to the Mississippi "at or near" the city of St. Louis. In the effort to reach as many capitals as possible, the load necessarily bore to the southwest from Indianapolis in order to take in Vandalia, the then capital of Illinois. Had Springfield at that time have been the capital, there is no doubt but the road would have continued, as it had begun, on an air line through Springfield, and ultimately due west from that point. It is a curious coincidence that about that time, to-wit : 1806, when the eastern end of this road was being established, Daniel Boone and his two 'sons, Nathan and Daniel, were busy surveying and cutting a road across Missouri long known as the Boonslick Road. Afterward, in 1824, just after Missouri had been admitted to the Union, her first as well as her greatest senator, Thoma-s H. Benton, brought forward a bill to continue the Old Cumber- land (National) road on west through what was then called the Indian country to end at a foreign country, to-wit: SaJita Fe, New Mexico. This road was surveyed and established under that bill, and thus it came about that the Old Cumber- The Great Historic Highway 167 land (National) Road was established throughout its entire length by Acts of Congress as a NATIONAL HIGHWAY. When the era of railroad building came on this road was abandoned, to-wit : about 1837, and permitted to lapse into ruin and decay. No steps were made for its maintenance or rebuilding until Missouri first made the movement in 1907. This was changed into a National movement in 1912, when the most remarkable convention of the kind, perhaps ever held,' met in this city and declared that these various Acts of Congress resulting in the establishment of this great highway should now be rebuilt from its beginning, or from Washing- ton, west to the Pacific Ocean. After a two days' session of the most enthusiastic char- acter the convention adjourned but, unfortunately, while it had elected a treasurer, not one dollar was left in the treas- ury with which to begin the effort to carry out the great patriotic conception of this great convention. We cannot , dwell further upon the historic features 'sur- rounding it but hasten to a conclusion by saying that today it is completely hard surfaced from the Atlantic Seaboard to the Mississippi at St. Louis. It has now been taken over practically throughout its entire length across this 'state as the first interstate highway to be built under the late Act of the Missouri legislature. This insures its completion in the near future to Kansas City. Very much of the road between Kansas City and Lo's Angeles has already been built, and is in good travelable condition. It is hoped that the road West of the Mississippi will be 24 feet wide, and this road from Kansas City west will be uni- formly paved 24 feet wide. It is already practically all graded and bridged. It is the only road you can take at the Missis'sippi River and reach the Atlantic Seaboard over a hard surfaced road. It is the only National road ever established in the history of this country, and will be the first to be completed. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT HIGHWAY INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION CONGRESS. "Chicago, December 12. — ^The first highway congress to be held in the United States comprising the American As- sociation of State Highway Officials and the Highway In- dustries Association continued in joint session today. *Torty-four states were represented on the floor, nine representatives appeared from Canada. "All during the day— in the lobbies, and on the convention floor— mtense conferences were held, informal and otherwise, on the real issue before the Congress, the indorsement of a 168 National Old Trails Road Federal Highway System and recommending the appropria- tion of $500,000,000 for the construction and maintenance by the Federal government of an interstate road system. THE RESOLUTION AS ADOPTED FOLLOWS: "WHEREAS, the President of the United States in his recent message to the Congress, recognized the value of Im- proved Highways in the general transportation system of the nation and definitely recommended and urged their rapid de- velopment ; and "WHEREAS, this work is necessary to give employment to our returning soldiers and also to furnish worthy projects on which unemployed labor can be engaged during the period of readjustment ; and . "WHEREAS, we recognize the necessity for a well de- fined and connected system of improved highways in order to expedite the distribution of large volumes of food stuffs now wasted on account of the lack of prompt and adequate high- way transportation and to better serve the economic and mil- itary needs of the nation. "THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that a Federal High- ways Commission be created to promote and guide this power- ful economic development of both highways and highways traffic and establish a national highways system. "BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the present ap- propriations for federal aid to the states be continued and increased and the states urged to undertake extensive highway construction so as to keep pace with the development of this country and its transportation needs, and that in carrying out the provisions of the present Federal Aid Act or any amendment thereto that the state highway departments shall cooperate with the Federal Highways Commission. "BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that all governmental activities with respect to highways be administered by the Federal Highways Commission, and also the motions adopted at the second annual convention of the Automobile Association of America, March 6 and 7, 1913, and those adopted by the National Old Trails Association April 16 and 17, 1922, and compared with Sec. 6 of the present Federal Aid Act. "The resolution committee which presented the report in regard to the Federal Highway system was as follows : Paul Sargent, Augusta, Me.; W. T. White, Cleveland, Ohio; George Deihl, Buffalo, N. Y. ; George E. Johnson, Lincoln, Neb. ; W. O. Rutherford, Akron, Ohio; J. M. Lowe, Kansas City, Mo.; W. G. Thompson, Trenton, N, J.; A. N. Johnson, Chicago, 111. ; John Kraft, Montgomerv, Ala. ; William E. Metzger, Detroit, Mich.; A. R. Hirst, Madison, Wis.; W. P. Blair, Cleveland, The Great Histoeic Highway 169 Ohio; J. D. Clarkson, St. Joseph, Mo.; Prof. A. H. Blanchard, New York City, N. Y. ; H. S. Quine, Akron, Ohio; Ira Brown- ing, Salt Lake City, Utah ; A. P. Sandles, Columbus, Ohio ; G. I". Coleman, Richmond, Va. ; S. F. Beatty, Chicago, 111. ; H. O. Cooley, Aberdeen,- S. D. ; C. F. Adams, Chillicothe, Mo. ; C. H. Houston, Chattanooga, Tenn. ; W. A. Alsdorf, Columbus, Ohio." NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD IN OHIO. 170 National Old Trails Road SPEECH OF HON. WM. P. BORLAND, OF MISSOURI In the House of Representatives, March 3, 1914, Washington, D. C. The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union had under consideration the bill (H. R. 13679) making appropriations for the Department of Agri- culture for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1915. Mr. Borland. Mr. Chairman, a few days ago my col- league from Missouri, Judge Shackleford, arose to a question of personal privilege in reference to a certain editorial pub- lished in the Philadelphia Ledger condemning the Shackleford road bill as an example of a legislative pork barrel. In the course of his speech my colleague not only repelled the state- ments of the particular editorial, but charged, in some detail^ that there w^as a malevolent organization or syndicate of or- ganizations opposing his bill which had some evil influence^ by intimidation or otherwise, over certain portions of the press and Members of Congress, or were seeking to establish such an influence. He made specific charges of the collection of money by various organizations in pursuance of this pur- pose. Immediately upon the close of his speech I prepared and introduced a resolution providing for a committee of Con- gress to investigate these charges. The resolution was pre- pared upon my recollection of the speech as I heard it de- livered, but since I have seen it printed in the Congressional Record I find that some of the more positive statements have been omitted. I can not find the word "lobby" anywhere in the printed speech, and there are a great many other por- tions of the ispeech as made on the floor of the House which T do not find in the Record. Some of the most offensive matter has been omitted. Doubtless this is to my colleague's credit, and I sincerely trust that both his natural life and his political Hfe will be long enough for him to regret sincerely the entire speech. The Shackleford road bill was a great disappointment to housands of friends of good roads throughout the country. No wonder my colleague is stung by the criticism it has re- ceived. But I doubt the wisdom or propriety of his attempt to divert public attention from the merits or demerits of his measure by an attach upon the character of private citizens. The Great Historic Highway 171 So far as the citizens of my own district are concerned, I do not intend that it shall be done without a protest from me. These gentlemen have no voice on this floor to reply to such charges and are taken at an unfair disadvantage. The most offensive portions of the speech still remaining in the printed version are as follows : Mr. Speaker, look at these editorials. Here is one headed ^'Another pork barrel." Here is another, which says : *'It is distinctly a bad bill, the effect of which would be first to plunge the good-road movement head over heels into Federal pork barrel-." Here is another : "Think what an entering wedge and scandal that 'pork barrel' road bill would be." Here is another : "Judge Lowe is warning all supporters of the good-road movement throughout the length of the pro- posed old-trails route to help defeat the pork barrel," Here is another, from Kansas City, headed: "J. G. Paxton opposes the national-road pork barrel." Here is another: "That, at least, would stimulate State and local road building and would not be a distribution of pork." The distinctive feature of all these editorials is the words "pork barrel." If one comes across a quadruped and wants to know to what particular species it belongs, there are certain distinctive features which will point him to a correct solution. If a nat- uralist should go afield and discover a little animal under a hedge and he looked at it and was in doubt what it was, he would approach it closely. He would notice that it had a nose ; so had a horse. He would discover that it. had two eyes; so had a cow. He would discover that it had a tail ; so has a dog. He would discover that it had teeth; so has a wolf. Approaching nearer still, he would suddenly discover the air filled with a fog which would penetrate his eyes, his mouth, his noise, his ears. From the distinctive odor of that fog he would instinctively discover the particular family to which the animal belonged. When the big industries desired to erect a tariff board they organized headquarters in Washington, and until yet the tench of Mulhall rises up to high heaven; but the money ex- pended by Mulhall and his coadjutors is as dimes to dollars as compared with the money that is being put into this prop- aganda now for peacock lanes that extend from New York to San Francisco. Now, let us get down to him— this old trails man. What does he do? When he needs money to carry on his editorial canning factory he takes a United States map and a piece of red chalk and marks an old-trails highway across some State ard then goes to the people in the towns along that line and collects dues. 172 National Old Trails Koad The newspapers out in my country, like the Congressmen, are not rich. They have nothing to sell but their space. If this old-trails hero is asking all of these newspapers to put up free hundreds of square feet of space in order to push his propaganda, then all I have got to say for him is that he is a little stingy in his disposition. He has got the money. Why does he not pay these people for the space he uses, if he doeis not? The evil of a pork barrel is that it is cleverly designed to aid in the re-election of the sitting Member by the expendi- ture of public money. The money is distributed in such a way as to produce the largest political effect. It has not even the merit of being a party measure. It helps the sitting Member who had a chance to vote for it as against his op- ponent at the primaries who did not have a chance. The highest duty the press of America can perform is to turn the bght of pitiless publicity upon the expenditures of public money. The humblest citizen in the land has a right to crit- icise public men and measures in his own way, with full re- sponsibility for what he says under the laws relating to libel. If a correct lobby exists, both this House and the courts are clothed with ample power to punish it. As near as I can understand the matter, my colleague has taken great offense at what he calls "peacock boulevards.*' If we disregard the epithet and get down to what he really means, the logic of his position is that he is a'ssailing any form of improved highways which lead from city to city or town to town, or which cross an entire State or run into two or more states. It so happens that the present strength and success of the good-roads movement is very largely due to business men all over the country who are advocating just exactly this type of road. These men by the expenditure of a great deal of time, energy, and their own means have held road meetings in different parts of the country and in dif- ferent portions of the various States, and from this has grown the present strength of the good-roads movement. Very few of these men have anything to gain personally in the matter. For instance, the National Old Trails Road Association, which he denounces and which he compares to the odoriferous quad- ruped, hais the following list of officers : Judge J. M. Lowe, President, Kansas City, Mo. ; Harvey M. Shields, general vice- president, Dawson, N. Mex, ; Walter Williams, advisory vice- president, Columbia, Mo. ; E. S. Ralph, treasurer, Springfield, Ohio ; Frank A. Davis, secretary, Herington, Kans. ; E. J. Mc- Grew, chairman finance committee, Lexington, Mo. ; J. A, Hudson, chairman executive committee, Columbia, Mo, In our own State of Missouri is a -'similar organization, known as the Missouri Old Trails Road Association, with the The Great Historic Highway 173 following officers : Walter Williams, president, Columbia, Mo.; E. N. Hopkins, vice-president, Lexington, Mo.; Howard Ellis, secretary, New Florence, Mo. ; Charles A. Sombart, treas- urer, Booneville, Mo. In addition to these there are in the State of Missouri the following local associations of the same class : Short Line Routes Association : M. H. Hall, president, Tarkio, Mo. ; F. S. Traveis, secretary, Tarkio, Mo. St. Joseph-Des Moines Interstate Trail Association : W. A. Hopkins, president, Lamoni, Iowa; Daniel Anderson, secre- tary, Lamoni, Iowa. Cannon Ball Trail Association: James R. Bowsher, presi- dent, .Leon, Iowa ; Charles D. Davis, secretary, Princeton, Mo. Sedalia-Springfield Highv^ay Association: W. S. Jackson, president, Warsaw, Mo.; M. V. Carroll, secretary, Sedalia, Mo. Capital Route State Highway Association : J. H. Bothwell, president, Sedalia, Mo.; M. V. Carroll, secretary, Sedalia, Mo. North Missouri Cross State Highwa„y Association : George Robertson, president, Mexico, Mo. ; John F. Morton, secre- tary, Richmond, Mo. Capital Trails Association : John W. Bingham, president, Milan, Mo.; A. B. Pratt, secretary, Unionville, Mo. Western Missouri Good Roads Association: Bud M. Rob- inson, president, Joplin, Mo.; J. B. Grigg, secretary, Joplin, Mo. Every State in the Union shows from three to a dozen of these associations designed to encourage the building of improved highways leading either across the State or across two or more States. Most of the members of these associa- tions are business men of the highest type and the mo'st un- selfish patriotism. It may be possible that they are mistaken in their views, but it is not possible that they belong to the tribe of quadrupeds indicated by my colleague, or that they are engaged in any corrupt attempts to influence the pre'ss or Congress. There is scarcely a paper that you can pick up that has not a statement of an effort along that line. Here is one that I picked up which shows a highway of that class ex- tending from Canada to the Mexican line. A meeting was held at Excelsior Springs and presided over by Judge Lowe. Mr. Buffam, the State highway commis'sioner, was present, as was also Col. E. M. Harber, Trenton, Mo., supposed to be the selection of President Wilson for collector of internal revenue. . I find that Mr. Caminetti,, the Commissioner of Immigra- tion, has advocated a road of this kind along the Mexican .border and the Rio Grande River, evidently a peacock boule- vard. There are good-roads associations in every State in the Union, from three to a dozen. In addition to that there are 174 National Old Trails Road a number of national associations. The South Appalachian Good Roads Association, the Southern National Association, the Capital National Association, the Quebec to Miami Associa- tion, and the Intermountain Good Roads Association. Every State has its own local association of the same class. Mr. Wilson of Florida. Will the gentleman yield? Mr. Borland. Briefly. Mr. Wilson of Florida. Does the gentleman mean to imply that the criticism of the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Shackleford) went to these associations or to their methods of propaganda? Did he mean to criticise all the road associa- tions ? Mr. Borland. I understand from the speech that he was criticizing the character of the roads and the methods of the associations. The particular hit of the speech was calling them peacock boulevards, which referred to all improved roads that went farther than the nearest railway station. Evidently from the hostility 'shown by my colleague to this class of roads he has made it impractical in this bill for the Government to aid in their construction. Of course, if it is wrong for the Government to aid in their construction t is equally wrong for the State and certainly wrong for the counties. I have been an earnest advocate of having as good roads in every locality as possible; good dirt roads from the farm to the nearest main road; good main roads to the nearest town, so the farmer can haul any day in the year and can haul bigger loads without overtaxing his team; good through highways to competitive railroads or into the cities. Every class of roads should be improved by the aid of the Federal Government and the States. In this way the taxation of the cities help all the country roads, whether dirt roads or sur- faced, and the good roads thus built for the farmers helps the wage earner in the cities by making cheaper and more abund- ant supplies. But I am opposed to wasting road money on politics, and I am opposed to making campaign matter by denouncing men who are working for any class of good roads. The farmer can not lose if good roads of any class are built, but he can lose if, under the name of good roads, money is spent only in politics. However, I do not intend at this time to reargue a question upon which I have already expressed myself in full in the debates. It seems to me unexplainable that the only Member of Congress, so far as I know, who be- longs to any of these "peacock boulevard" associations is my colleague, the chairman of the Roads Committee. He is a member of the only highway association from ocean to ocean supported by automobile manufacturers, the one which runs through Chicago, Omaha and Denver. The Great Historic Highway 175 CHARLES HENRY DAVIS, C. E. President National Highways Association, No. 4 Channing St., Cambridge, Mass., or Washington, D. C. 176 National Old Trails Road I know of no distinction between this association to which my colleague belongs and the National Old Trails Road As- sociation, except that the old trails route is through Missouri, while the other route is through other States, and the National Old Trails Road Association has not the official backing of the automobile manufacturers, while the association to which my colleague belongs has. If my colleague really believes that these people belong to the class of quadrupeds to which he has referred, I am surprised to find him in their company, un- less he is there purely as a naturalist. The truth is that large numbers of people, some of whom have a selfish and business interest, and many of whom have only a patriotic interest, have worked up in this country a splendid movement in be- half of good roads. When a movement approaches success it is hardly possible to prevent ambitious politicians from jump- ing astride of it and riding it to victory or death, as the case may be; but why the people who furnish the steed must also be kicked in the face is more than I can understand. Many friends of good roads who have studied the bill of my colleague are strongly opposed to it on the ground that it is not an aid but rather a detriment to the cause of good roads, and that it will tend more to the building of political fences than to the building of roads. They have the right to so express themselves, whether their judgment is sound or unsound- This opinion of the bill is growing as the public becomes more familiar with its terms. I am surprised that my colleague should find it necessary in supporting this meas- ure to make attacks upon the character and motives of the people who oppose it. The keynote may be found in his own speech— "Of course we all know the efficacy of an ad hominem attack — an attack not on a measure, but on the character and motives of the man who advocates it.'* I am at a loss to know the occasion for his recent speech unless it be to support a measure in which the public is fast losing confidence. If he really believed that a dangerous and corrupt lobby was at work, in Washington or elsewhere, a very proper course open to him would have been to ask for an investigation of the lobby, I am surprised that he did not take this course. I doubt the propriety or the necessity of as- sailing on the floor of the House the character and motives of private citizens who are utterly unable to defend themselves. As my personal acquaintance with the matter is confined to the three gentlemen who reside in my district, I can speak only for them. Judge J. M. Lowe, president of the National Old Trails Road Association, is a true and tried Democrat who has been prominent in affairs in Missouri for many years. He was The Great Historic Highway 177 prosecuting attorney of Clinton County during his young man- hood, and more recently he was election commissioner of Kansas City by appointment of Governor Folk. I am aston- ished to think that my colleague has intimated that Judge Lowe is engaged in buying or attempting to buy either news- papers or Congressmen, or, in fact, that there are in Missouri either newspapers or Congressmen for sale, but it is hard for me to read any other meaning into his language when he says : "The newspapers in my country, like the Congressmen, are not rich. They have nothing to sell but their space. If this old trails hero is asking all these newspapers to put up free hundreds of square feet of space in order to push his propaganda, then all I have got to say for him is that he is a little stingy in his disposition. He has got the money. Why does he not pay these people for the space he uses if he does not?" I am utterably unable to explain that language upon any hypothesis consonant with the innocence of Judge Lowe or the newspapers. It appears to me as direct a charge in parlia- mentary language of corrupt influence as I can imagine. The fact is that Judge Lowe is a man of very modest means but large public spirit. He has given freely of his time and work and I have no doubt also of his means in devotion to what he believes to be a patriotic duty. His letter referred to by my colleage shows tlaat he is asking friends to assist him in his work and entirely negatives the idea that any pay is offered or expected. Judge J. G. Paxton is another distinguished Missouri Dem- ocrat of tried ability and spotless character. He is a man of strong views and personal force and expresses himself on public matters with great independence and frankness. He has frequently disagreed with me upon public matters in the frankest manner, and I have the utmost confidence in his intellectual honesty. I know of no connection whatever that he has with the road movement except as any other public spirited citizen who has aided in forming public opinion. Mr. H. D. Train is a prominent and successful business man who was at one time active in Republican politics. He was at one time president of the Automobile Club of Kansas City. This fact has not discredited him in the eyes of his business associates nor cast any suspicion upon his integrity. I know personally that he has not a dollar to gain by any form of road improvement, and I am confident that he would not engage in any corrupt practices, and yet my colleague says of him : "Wherever Mr. Train and others like him can do anv- thing to put some of those Members out of commission it 178 National Old Trails Road will be done. They have not many votes in my district, and I do not know to what method they would resort to defeat me at the coming election, as he says they are determined to do, except by putting their hands down into their treasury and fill the papers of my district and my State with canned editorials against me." Again, it is difficult to reconcile this language with any hypothesis of the innocence of Mr. Train or the newspapers of Missouri. The Public Printer tells me that 36,000 copies of this "polecat" speech have been ordered printed by my colleague, to be circulated under the Government frank. And this in the face of the fact that a demand for an investigation is now pending to determine the truth of the charges. Of course, the circulation of these 36,000 copies will prove conclusively that the Shackleford bill is a good bill and in the interest of the farmers ; that the opponents to it are divided into zoological groups of polecats, peacocks, and suckers ; that the peacocks are not only found associating with such strange friends but have taught the polecat and suckers to "strut" like themselves ; that the press of Missouri is poor and has nothing to sell but its space, and that good-roads associations should be put out of business. Well, after all, the 36,000 copies tell the tale without any words of mine. Note : Shackelford was retired to private life at the ensu- ing election which he graces so well ; but why adopt now his defeated methods? EMBLEM NATIONAL HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION. The Great Historic Highway 179 ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT National Old Trails Road Association, at Indianapolis 3rd Annual Convention, May 7, 1914. Assuming that it would be a waste of time lo discuss before this intelligent audience the general history of the Cumberland Road, I will mention only that phase or part of it lying within the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Mis- souri. It is worth mentioning that this road was first con- ceived as a National Highway by Albert Gallatin, Mr. Jeffer- son's great Secretary of the Treasury, and brought forward in a bill as early as 1802. Note : George Washington this should be. Before that the Articles of Confederation had given Congress the power to "establish Post Offices/' but not roads, in all the States, but the Constitution of 1787 went one step farther and expressly gave the power to "establish Post Offices and Post Roads," and to "regulate commerce among the several States." Upon this last clause the Supreme Court of the United States has uniformily based its numerous decisions in sustaining the many land grants to railroad companies, etc., and in deciding every controversy involving inter-state travel and commerce; and yet, political conventions seem to have discovered the "Post Office and Post roads" clause, but have been oblivious to the existence of the more important provision known as "The Commerce Clause." Now, how could there be "commerce among the several States" to be "regulated by Congress" unless there was trans- portation; and how could there be transportation without roads ? . Not until 1802, the birthday of this old road, was there a steamboat in all the world, and not until 1807 did Fulton put his first boat on the Hudson. It was in 1829, during the presidential term of Andrew Jackson that steam was adapted to railroad transportation. The only commerce possible among the States at the time the Constitution vested the supreme power in Congress to regulate it, was commerce made pos- sible by the means of transportation then in existence. It is worth repeating that all the decisions relating to inter-state commerce rest upon the Act establishing the Old National f Cumberland) Road. 180 National Old Trails Egad It has often been stated that this old National Road grew out of the Aaron Burr conspiracy, and there is no doubt that this ambitious statesman, when his term as Vice President ex- pired in 1805, found a condition existing in the public mind west of the Allegheny Mountains which needed but little fan- ning to break into a conflagration. They were completely shut off from the seat of Government and from the markets by mountain ranges on the east and the navigable waters of the south were held by foreign governments. The committee reporting the bill to establish the road defined it as a measure of necessity— "to cement the States and to thus preserve the Union." This was the first step taken by Congress to "preserve the Union,'' and "to regulate Commerce among the States" by providing a means, and the only means then known, of trans- portation to and among the States. This Bill was approved by Mr. Jefferson in 1806. But, confining our remarks to that part of this road lying in the four States mentioned, we have only time to say that by the Enabling Act admitting Ohio to the Union in 1802, the Government solemnly pledged itself to appropriate the net proceeds of the sale of one-twentieth of all the public lands located in the State to a National Road to be built by the Government to and through that State. The same contract sub- stantially, was made on the admission of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. From the date of admission of these four States to the 31st day of March, 1837, when the road was abandoned and turned back to the States, the public land sales of these States amounted to $47,676,206.57, as follows: Ohio, $16,077,251.88; Indiana, $15,026,020.81; Illinois, $10,506,569.55; Missouri, $6,- 066,366.33. Mark you, the public lands located in the original thirteen States were retained by those States and the pro- ceeds of the public lands of these States thus solemnly pledged were appropriated principally to this road in the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, which States did not contribute one dollar. Ohio received considerable benefit as the road was built acro-ss that State ; Indiana, some ; Illinois, but little ; and Missouri, none ; from building this road. And it was never turned back to or accepted by either Indiana, Illinois or Missouri. Indiana made the mistake of bringing a suit against the Government for her part of the money thus ap- propriated instead of insisting upon a specific performance of the agreement, and Justice Gray in delivering the opinion of the Court (in 48 Fed. Rep.) uses the following significant language : The Great Historic Highway 181 "As appears by the definition of the petitioner's position at the beginning of the brief of its counsel, the failure of the United States to build the National Road was not made the foundation of the claim, but was only suggested in argument as a motive, by way of incidental explanation of the Act of March 3, 1857." This Act simply authorized this reserved road fund not already applied to the road to be refunded to the States. That is all, and yet, if you ask the average Congressman about this fund, he will tell you it has been refunded to the States. Of course this was not true, and Indiana made the mistake of bringing suit to recover the money put into the road instead of suing, as we are practically doing, for specific performance of the contract between the State and the General Govern- ment. Now, as to a system of National Highways : The Na- tional Highways promoters claim that if "radial roads, from railroad stations and market towns, to farms" are to be im- proved by national appropriations, there can be no discrim- ination as to locality and if distributed equitably about 85,000 railroad stations will participate in the benefits. The annual average appropriation asked for in the so-called "Federal Aid" bills before Congress is $20,000,000. If there are to be roads radiating from each station, $20,000,000 a year will mean not quite $250 for each station, or $62,50 for each road. This would build out from each station about sixty-five feet of road each year or one mile in an- ordinary lifetime. To build two miles from each station would take 160 years ; th ree miles, 240 years ; four miles, 320 years ; and five miles, 400 years. One mile out from each station would cost $1,- 600,000,000; and five miles, $8,000,000,000. To make such an improvement within a reasonable time, say twenty years, would mean $400,000,000 per annum. This plan is manifestly absurd. It is unthinkable that the. nation should undertake so gigantic a task^ and of such a local character, even supposing, under such circumstances, all the money got into roads. As a mat- ter of fact, history teaches that the bulk of it would get into politics, and* not roads. Radiating market roads under "Fed- eral Aid" plan would give half our people "Roads Beginning Nowhere, and Ending Nowhere,'* while National Highways will give all our people "Roads Beginning Somewhere and Ending Somewhere.'' We claim that a 50,000 mile system of national highways will serve 92 per cent of our population in 2,471 counties out of a total of 2,932 in the nation. Such a system will build main trunk lines passing through every congressional district of the United States. These roads will connect every large city, town and capital of the nation with the farming dis- 182 National Old Trails Road tricts. They not only will be national highways, but likewise. State, County and town highways in the localities through which they pass. Sixty-six per cent of the population of the United States live within 1,277 counties traversed by them; twenty-six per cent in 1,194 adjoining counties; or a total of ninety-two per cent of the entire population of the country, in 2,471 counties, to be served by such a system. Only 461 sparsely settled counties out of a total of 2,932 in the nation would not be either traversed by or adjoining such a system of National Highways. Another great point in their favor is that the National Highways would cost not more than $1,000,- 000,000 at the extreme limit, and probably not over one-half that amount and could be built within a reasonable time, say twenty years, without costing more than $25,000,000 a year. Moreover, they will serve the vast majority of the farming communities and care for much more than half the traffic, although constituting only a little over two per cent of the total road mileage. We claim that if roads are only of local* concern, then the nation has no right to participate, even to the extent of mone- tary gifts, in their construction. Furthermore, gifts of money, such as "Federal Aid'' would be, are unprecedented in the annals of the nation. On the other hand, we deny that Na- tional Roads are only of local concern. We claim that the great trunk roads now have a traffic which, in ever-increasing volume, is inter-state in character, and thus of national con- cern. That as such they should be built and maintained ex- clusively by the National Government, and supplemented by the State highway systems and again by the county and town road systems. Thus the heavy traffic roads would be cared for by the nation. State or county; and the townships thus re- lieved would be free to improve their shorter and lighter roads without serious financial burden. The financing of the entire highway system of the nation, (about 2,300,000 miles) would be equitably distributed; there would be no conflict of au- thority, and the moneys would get into roads and not into politics. Each civil division would have its distinct field, un- hampered by the action of any other division, as might be the case with so-called "Federal Aid." The problem of the ages has been the equal distribution of the burdens of taxation and the equitable dispensation of the benefits of government. Under our dual system of National and State Governments, can any more equitable system be de- vised than this? Under this system, or under any other pos- sible plan some inequalities of the benefits and burdens are inevitable. Any road touching on a farm enhanches the value of that farm above that of a farm not so located. No doubt about. that. But when the asses'sor and the tax collector get The Great Historic Highway 183 through, values have been adjusted and the more fortunately located farm has paid an additional tax because of this en- hanced value and the State and county can apply this tax to building roads to and through less fortunate localities. That all the roads, National, State and local cannot be built at once is evident, and to oppose every system suggested until everybody can be provided for, is to assume the position of the Irishman v^ho declared he could never "get his boots on until he had worn them awhile." Difficult as it may seem, it can never be solved until we try. Every mile of road built by the Government will be within the limits of some State and solves the problem of such State to that extent. Can the wit of man devise a better system than one which accom- modates more than 66 per cent of the entire population and can be built and maintained in from 10 to 20 years without levying one dollar of additional taxation? This Association insists that the National honor shall be preserved, by a faithful observance of its pledges made at a time when the preservation of the Union was at stake, by rebuilding and extending the old National Road as pledged in the Enabling Acts before mentioned. We also insist that a general system of National Highways to be built and main- tained out of the National revenues is the reasonable, equitable and economic solution of the road question, a question of greater moment to the general welfare than any 'other now before the people. And this Association has offered such a bill. All along the Old Trails Road, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, nature has supplied in cheap abundance the best ma- terial yet discovered for road building, to-wit : rock and water ! We are free from any entangling alliance with any special interest of any character whatsoever. No manufacturer of road vehicles, road machinery or road material has contributed one dollar to our support. The delegates to this convention are here at their own expense. The membershio extending across the continent are a patriotic, public-spirited body of men and women seeking by donating their time and money to this cause, to do what they can to further the cause of the material,^ social and spiritual welfare of all the people. For this patriotic and unselfish work, their principal reward thus far has been to be lampooned and maligned upon the floor of the National House of Representatives. But this neither weak- ens our cause nor discourages our efforts. No great cause was ever won in a day, nor without great sacrifice. Undis- mayed and unharmed by the opposition of those who have not the capacity to comprehend our purpose, nor the honesty to treat fairly even if they had, we shall neither abandon the field, nor march under the white flag of a dishonorable sur- 184 National Old Trails Road render. Like the drummer boy at Marengo, we do not know how to retreat. When the great commander thought the bat- tle lost, he ordered the boy to beat a retreat, and the boy re- plied : "Sir, I do not know how ; it was never taught me. But ] can beat a charge, oh, sire, I can beat a charge that will make these stones fight your battles. I beat that charge at Auster- litz, I beat it at the Bridge of Lodi. Oh, sire, may I beat it here?" The order was given, and Marengo was added to the list of Napoleon's victories. During the great Civil War, a soldier in the Southern army to which I belonged, was observed hastening to the rear, when the commanding officer ordered him to "fall in line.*' He re- plied, that there was no good place to "fall in.'* Again came the order, sharp and decisive, "fall in anywhere, there is good fighting- all along the line." So it is today. "There is good fighting all along the line." All transcontinental roads will have to be built on the earth — they cannot be built in the air. They will necessarily pass through farming districts. The farmer above all others will be the chief beneficiary, and that too, "without cost and without price," while those who shed crocodile tears for "the one-gallused farmer" are advocating "Federal Aid" which re- taxes the farmer for every dollar given by the Government. The opprobious epithet of "one gallus" no longer applies to the farmers of this country. They now wear two galluses and are living on the fat of the land! Demagogic appeals like this, no longer mislead him. He is capable of doing his own thinking and "fighting his own flies." His standard of living and his habits of life, have kept step with the progress of the age. When they move now, except in a few districts where they still refer to him as "one gallused," he has something more to do than to put out the fire and call the dogs. With his head lifted high and his step as firm as McGregor's on his native heath, he looks the political demagogue straight in the eye, and asks him, "What are you going to do about it?" The demagogical appeal to his old-time prejudice against the automobile and against those who live in town and city, is fast disappearing. He knows that a road good enough for an automobile is none too good for him. He knows now that the new method of building permanent roads taxes those who live in town as well as those who live in the country. He knows that under modern methods Indianapolis, as an illustration, will pay 80 per cent of the road taxes of Marion County. He knows that the interests of town and country are mutual — that the markets will be of little advantage if the roads are such that he can't get to them. He knows that every so-called "Federal Aid" bill thus far introduced, unfairly discriminates The Great Hjstobic Highway 185 between towns and country. He knows that divided responsi- bility and divided supervision means no responsibility and no supervision anywhere. Knowing these things, he stands now on this as on every other question, in favor of "Equal Rights to All and Special Privileges to None." N. O. T. IN ARIZONA. 186 National Old Trails Road ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT Delivered at Zanesville, Ohio, July 21, 1913. At the risk of taxing your patience, I beg your indulgence while I recall, somewhat in detail, some forgotten legislation which may serve to clarify the atmosphere in the discussion of this subject. It is well to keep in mind that this road was neither a military nor a post road as originally established. Its purpose was well expressed by the congressional committee to which the act to establish the Cumberland Road was referred, which, in reporting the bill in 1805, said : "To enlarge upon the high- way important considerations of cementing the Union of our citizens located on the Western waters with those of the At- lantic States, would be an indelicacy offered to the under- standings of the body to whom this report is addressed, as it might seem to distrust them; but from the interesting nature of the subject the committee is induced to ask the indulgence of a single observation : Politicians have generally agreed that rivers unite the interests and promote the friendship of those who inhabit their banks ; while mountains, on the contrary, tend to dis-union and estrangement of those who are separated by their intervention. In the present case, to make the crooked ways straight, and the rough ways smooth, will, in effect, re- move the intervening mountains, and by facilitating the inter- course of our Western brethren with those of the Atlantic, substantially unite them in interest, which, the committee be- lieve, is the most effectual cement of union applicable to the human race." Honorable James Veech, in 1837, in a speech welcoming John Quincy Adams, former President of the United States, to Uniontown, Pennsylvania, said : "It is a monument of a past age ; but like all other monuments it is interesting as well as venerable. It carried thousands of population and millions of wealth into the West ; and more than any other material structure in the land, served to harmonize and strengthen, if not save, the Union." Albert Gallatin, in his report to the Senate, said : "No other single operation within the power of the Government can more effectually tend to strengthen and perpetuate the Union." That expressed exactly the purpose had in view by the The Great Historic Highway 187 men who established the road. There was a great, aggressive, and restless population in the West, absolutely isolated and cut off by the Appalachian chain of mountains from the seat of government at Washington. It was this situation whicn ap- pealed to the restless ambition of Aaron Burr. It was clear to every thinking man that these new States, to be carved out of the new territories, were to become a part of the Union, then the States east of the mountains must be put in closer touch with those west of the Ohio River. John C. Calhoun, the so-called "disunionist," made this the very keynote in his speeches for the establishment of this road, and it served its purpose well. It justly took rank, as expressed by Henry Clay, as superior in every way to the old Appian Way. No sooner was it built than millions of population and wealth streamed across the Ohio, peopled and developed that great State, and also Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and the entire West- ern and Northwestern country, and again contributed to the preservation of the Union. But for this old road, who will say how history would have been written? The thirteen colonies, which constituted the Union at the time of the establishment of this road, had no public lands, the proceeds from which could be appropriated to the use of the General Government. The only means of raising revenue was by taxation. Six other States were afterwards admitted to the Union by direct act of Congress without going through the territorial stage, and those States did not supply any pub- lic lands for the use of the Government. Had we time we would go into a general discussion of the financial affairs of the Government with which the great Albert Gallatin, the author of this old road, was wrestling; but we have time only to say that some means had to be de- vised to meet the expenses of the Government and redeem its obligations, and no better way could be devised than by the sale of public lands. When the Old Cumberland Road was established, by act of Congress, approved by Mr. Jefferson in 1806, the bill es- tablishing the road appropriated $30,000 to be expended in surveying and opening the road from Cumberland, Maryland, on the Potomac River, to the east bank of the Ohio River at, or near. Wheeling, Virginia. In the act admitting Ohio in 1802, five per cent of the net revenues derived by the General Government from the sale of public lands within that State was reserved and declared to be a separate fund for the building of roads, two oer cent of which should be appropriated to roads leading to Ohio, and three per cent on roads within the State. Thus, Ohio became the real foster parent of the Cumberland Road, and in her 188 National Old Trails Road admission to the Union, the plan was devised for the future disposition of the public lands. The appropriation for opening the road, was taken from this reserve fund arising from the sale of lands in Ohio. And this policy of creating a reserve fund of five per cent or more for road purposes was afterwards applied to seven of the so- called "public land" States, Illinois asked that each alternate section be reserved for building roads, and this was endorsed by Mr. Lincoln in a speech in Congress. This Ohio fund was continually used for the building of this road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, Virginia, for thirteen years, up to March 3, 1819, at which time the ap- propriation was made from the reserve fund created upon the admission of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. On May 15, 1820, Congress passed an act extending the road from Wheeling, Virginia, through the States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois to a point on the left bank of the Missis- sippi, east of St. Louis, and established it at fifty feet in width, the road from Cumberland to Wheeling having been established at sixty feet in width. The appropriation to carry this act into effect was to be taken out of the general revenues. March 3, 1825, Congress again passed an act extending the road from the town of Canton, Ohio, opposite Wheeling, Vir- ginia, to Zanesville, Ohio, and ordered the surveys completed for an extension of the same through the permanent seats of government of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois to Jefferson City, Missouri, and the expense therefor was appropriated from the reserve fund created upon the admission of Ohio, Indiana, Illi- nois and Missouri. John Quincy Adams had been elected in 1824, upon a platform favoring the extension of the road. March 2, 1827, practically the same bill was again passed. March 19, 1828, an act appropriated money taken from the reserve fund created upon the admission of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, for establishing and opening this road to be eighty feet wide, "east and west from Indianapolis." Approved by Jackson. March 31, 1830, an act appropriated money from this same fund to pay for grading west of Zanesville through Ohio, and on the road in Indiana, and through Illinois. Approved by President Jackson. March 2, 1831, an act was passed to pay for work already done on the road east of Zanesville and for making a survey to the capital of Missouri, and for grading in the State of Indiana, including a bridge over White River at Indianapolis, and for grading and bridging in Illinois. Appropriation was The Great Historic Highway 189 made from the fund created upon the admission of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Approved by President Jack- son. July 3, 1832, money was appropriated from this same fund for repairs on the road east of the Ohio River, and for con- tinuing the road west from Zanesville through Indiana and Illinois. Approved by Jackson. About this time the question was agitated as to whether the General Government had power under the constitution to establish toll gates along the line of the road in the several States through which it ran. This 'question was finally turned over to be solved by the State legislatures. Pennsylvania and Maryland passed acts of their legislatures agreeing to build gates and , toll houses and collect the tolls, provided, "that Congress would appropriate money and put the road in good repair, and also furnish the money necessary to build the houses and toll gates. These acts were passed in 1831, in 1832, and Ohio and Virginia passed similar acts, ex- cept that they did not require Congress to repair the road — that is ("shell the corn").' July 3, 1832, Congress declared its assent to the above- mentioned laws of Pennsylvania and Maryland in these words : "To which acts the assent of the United States is hereby given to remain in force during the pleasure of Congress." And on March 2, 1833, assented to the acts of the legisla- tures of Virginia and Ohio with a similar limitation. June 24, 1834, Congress passed an act to repair the road as requested by Maryland and Pennsylvania and placed army engineers in control of the road, and in charge of the appro- priation, taken from the reserve fund created by the admission of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Thus these four States supplied the revenues to repair the road and build the toll gates in Maryland and Pennsylvania in order that it might be acceptable to them. April 1, 1835, Congress appropriated money from the gen- eral revenues for continuing the road in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and for the completion of a bridge at Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Thus it appears that long after the conditional acts of the legislatures agreeing to take over the road and build toll gates, etc., and long after Congress had passed an act reserving the power and the right to withdraw from such agreement. Con- gress continued to treat the road the same as if no such acts had ever been passed, and particularly is this true in the act of 1838. It will be observed further that Indiana, Illinois and Missouri never did apply for or agree to take over the road in such States, nor did Congress ever offer to relinquish its pos- 190 National Old Trails Road session and control over the road through those States. So far as legislation goes, the National Pike in a legal entity in those States. It is to be observed that the appropriations for the National Pike were not made from the reserve road fund, created upon the admission of Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas, for the very evident reason that this road did not lead to those States. It will also be observed that out of a little less than $7 ,000,000 appropriated first and last for the building of this road, all of it v^as appropriated from the special road fund re- served to the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, and so far as Missouri w^as concerned the only semblance of a road she ever got was a survey. There were many other acts of Congress appropriating funds from the general revenues to the building and repairing and maintenance of the road, but it is perfectly safe to say that all of the money which went into the construction and repair of the road was taken from the reserved road fund be- longing to the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Of the said four States, the reserve fund mentioned, bore all the expense, while the expensive part of its construction and maintenance lay east of the Ohio. Illinois received but little of its benefits, and Missouri none. It will be further observed that the act of March 3, 1837, five years after the road had been tentatively turned over to the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio, was for the express purpose of continuing the road in Ohio, Indi- ana and Illinois, and the act "provided that the road in Illi- nois shall not be stoned or graveled unless it can be done at a cost not greater than the average cost of stoning and graveling the road in Ohio and Indiana,*' and this appropriation was taken from the reserve road fund of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Mark you, this was as late as 1837. And provided that the amounts therein appropriated were "for continuing the construction of the Cumberland Road in the States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and shall be replaced by said States, respectively, out of the funds reserved to each for laying out and making roads under the direction of Con- gress by the several acts passed for the admission of said States into the Union on an equal footing with the original States." Section 2 provided, "and be it further enacted that the section of an act for the continuation of the Cumberland Road in the States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, approved the 2nd day of July, 1836, shall not be applicable to expenditures here- after to be made on said road." The Great Historic Highway 191 What was section 2 of the act of July 2, 1836, which it was herein declared "shall not be applicable to expenditures hereafter to be made on said road?" Said section 2 of act of July 2, 1836, was as follows : **And be it further enacted, That the moneys hereby appropriated for the construction of said road in the States of Ohio and Indiana be expended in completing- the greatest possible con- tinuous portion of said road in said States, so that such fin- ished parts thereof may be surrendered to the States^ re- spectively." This, the act of 1837, declares shall "not be ap- plicable to expenditures hereafter to be made on said road/' Can language be plainer or stronger? Transportation facilities were such at that time that the read could not be macadamized in Illinois as cheaply as it could be done in Indiana or Ohio, but this is no longer true, and had the same facilities for road building existed then as they do now, there is no doubt but that the road would have been ma- cadamized through the State of Illinois. Moreover, this act of March 3, 1837, contains no hint of the purpose of the gen- eral Government to abandon the road, but on the contrary indicates clearly and unmistakably the purpose to maintain and preserve it as a National highway. It is equally clear that Illinois and Indiana so understood it. The five per cent road fund, reserved for these four States and for Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas, would, if applied to the purpose for which it was solemnly set apart in the acts of Congress admitting such States, go far toward building Na- tional highv^ays to those States. The question might be asked: "To what uses has it been diverted, or applied?" I do not know; but I am perfectly safe in saying that it has not been applied to the building of roads. If this five per cent fund arising from the admission of the four States mentioned, paid the expense of the original construction of the road, it is fair to assume that the same percentage derived from the admission of other Western States would have built the road through to the Pacific. Neither Indiana, Illinois nor Missouri ever did anything indicating a desire to take over the road in such States, nor did Congress manifest any intention of surrendering the road to those States. The road fund, however, of each of these States, and of Ohio as well, was appropriated to the building, repair and maintenance of the road lying east of the Ohio River, and the road fund of Missouri applied wholly to the road east of the Mississippi. Congress, in the act relinquishing the road to Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio, expressly stated that this act should remain in force, ^'during the pleasure of Congress," only. 192 National Old Trails Road Therefore, the only legislation necessary, is for Congress to do exactly what they did do in 1837, appropriate money to rebuild, repair and maintain the road. No act to reinvest the Government with title to or control over the road is necessary. No act declaring it to be a "National Highway" is necessary, for the act of 1806 and acts subsequent thereto, have fixed its character for all time. It not only was the Old National Road, but IT IS NOW THE NATIONAL OLD TRAILS HIGHWAY and the only National highway, and has existed as such since the Government was organized. "The foundation of this road,'' declared Hon. Andrew Stewart, of Pennsylvania, in a speech in Congress in 1829, "was laid by a report made by Mr. Giles, the present governor of Virginia, in 1802, and was sanctioned at the' next session bjr a similar report, made by another distinguished Virginian (Mr' Randolph) now a member of this House — it was the offspring of Virginia, and we hope she will not now abandon it as ille- gitimate. Commenced under the administration of Mr. Jeffer- son, it had been sanctioned and prosecuted by every President, and by almost every Congress for more than a quarter of a century * * * Possessing the power, how, he asked, could any representative of the interior or Western portions of this Union vote against a policy so essential to the prosperity of the peo- ple who sent him here to guard their rights, and advance their interests? The right of this Government to construct such roads and canals as are necessary to carry into effect its mail, military, and commercial powers, was as clear and undoubted as the right to build the postoffice, construct the forts, or erect a lighthouse. In every point of view the cases were precisely similar and were sustained and justified by the same power." How strikingly similar is this language, delivered by Stew^- art in 1829, to the language employed by Justice Brewer when delivering the opinion of the Supreme Court in the case of Stockton vs. Baltimore R. R. 32 Fed. Rep. 9, in 1902, as fol- lows : "Nor have we any doubt that under the same power the means of commercial communication bv land as well as water may be opened up by Congress between the different States whenever it shall see fit to do so, either on the failure of the States to provide such communication, or whenever, in the opinion of Congress, the increased facilities of communication ought to exist. Hitherto it is true the means of commercial communication have been supplied either by nature in the navi- gable waters of the country or by the States in the construction of roads, canals and railroads. So that the functions of Con- gress have not been largely called into exercise under this branch of its jurisdiction and power, excepting in the improve- ment of rivers and harbors and the licensing of bridges across The Great Historic Highway 193 navigable streams. But this is no proof that its power does not extend to* the whole subject in all possible requirements. Indeed it has been put forth in several notable instances which stand as strong arguments of practical construction given to the constitution by the legislative department of the Govern- ment. The Cumberland or National Road is one instance of a grand thoroughfare projected by Congress^ extending from the Potomac to the Mississippi/' Mark you, Mr, Stewart, in his speech, v^as arguing the very question then being agitated by Mr. Buchanan, afterwards President, and others in favor of turning the road back to the States so that toll might be collected. The very point and only point involved was the collection of tolls. Mr. Stewart said further: "I do not claim for this Government the power to make roads and canals for all purposes. The powers of this Government and the States were distinct and well defined. To the National Government belongs, under the Constitution, the power of making national roads and canals for national purposes. To the States belong the power of providing for State and local objects * * * j^jg (Mr. Buchanan's) amend- ment, he proposes what? That this Government shall cede the roads to the States, with the power to erect gates and col- lect as much toll as was necessary to keep it in repair, but his whole argument went to prove that Congress did not possess the very power which his amendment assumes and proposes to the State. The gentleman's amendment, and his speech, therefore, were at open war with each other, and will perhaps both perish in the conflict. Certainly both could not survive — one or the other must fall." The argument of Mr. Buchanan and others was just as sound against national roads as they were against military roads ; "the enemy may get possession of them in time of war !" "Was it possible," exclaimed Mr. Stewart, "that an Ameri- can statesman could, at this time of day, urge such an argu- ment? It might be addressed to a set of timid savages, secure in the midst of the wilderness. The enemy get possession of our roads, and, therefore, not make them! Such cowardly ar- guments would deprive us of every possible means of defense. The enemy, it might be said with equal propriety, may get our ships, our forts, our cannon, our soldiers, and, therefore, we ought not to provide them. What would the brave freemen of this country say to the men who would deny them roads to travel on, lest the enemy might take them from us in war? They would reply, with Spartain magnanimity, 'Let them come and take them' * * * ^^s been universally conceded on all bands of this debate, that the consent of the States could not confer any jurisdiction or powers on this Government beyond 194 National Old Trails Road what it had derived from the Constitution. This was too clear a proposition to admit of doubt! Yet the names of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Gallatin were introduced and relied on. Did gentleman forget that Mr. Gallatin was the very first man who ever suggested the plan for making the Cumberland Road, and that it had been sanctioned and actually constructed under the administrations of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe? Their opinions were thus reduced to practice, which was the best evidence in the world, 'By their 'fruits ye shall know them.'" I have stated that the platform upon which John Quincy Adams was elected in 1824, favored the extension of the road. Adams, like Clay, Calhoun, and others, had been a life-long friend to the road, and upon this issue, distinctly drawn, was elected President. In his inaugural address he spoke as fol- lows : "The roads and aqueducts of Rome have been the ad- miration of all after ages, and have survived thousands of years after all her conquests have been swallowed up in des- potism or become the spoils of barbarians. Some diversity of opinion has prevailed with regard to the powers of Congress for legislation upon subjects of this nature. The most re- spectful deference is due to doubts originally in pure patriotism and sustained by venerated authorities. But nearly twenty years have passed since the construction of the first national road was commenced. The authority for its construction was then unquestioned. To how many thousands of our country- men has it proved a benefit? To what single individual has it ever proved an injury? Repeated, liberal, and candid dis- cussions in the legislature have conciliated the sentiments and approximated the opinions of enlightened minds upon the ques- tion of constitutional power. I cannot but hope that by the same process of friendliness, patience and persevering delibera- tions all. constitutional objections will ultimately be removed. The extent and limitation of the powers of the General Gov- ernment in relation to this transcendently important interest will be settled and acknowledged to the common satisfaction of all, and every speculative scruple will be solved by the prac- tical public blessings." This agitation has gone on, however, but gradually grow- ing less and less, until now the doubt of constitutionality is confined to the thin ranks of small 6x8 "constitutional law- yers," who sometimes still raise that question. The Supreme Court, however, in a series of well considered cases, and par- ticularly and finally, in the case of Stockton vs. Baltimore be- fore cited, pass directly upon this question and concludes in the following language: "The Cumberland or National Road is one instance of a grand thoroughfare projected by Congress extending from the Potomac to the Mississippi." The Great Historic Highway 195 This opinion forever puts at rest any question which can be raised as to the right of Congress to build national high- ways, and it bases the opinion upon the commerce <:lause of the constitution. It is true that President Monroe, in the early stages of his first administration, vetoed a bill appropriating money for this road, but he afterwards, when approving a like bill stated that, "on further reflection and observation" his mind had undergone a change; that his opinion then was, "that Congress has un- limited power to raise money, and that in its appropriation they have a discretionary power restricted only by the duty to appropriate it to purposes of common defense and of general, not local; national, not State benefits and this was allowed to be the governing principle through the residue of his administration. Andrew Jackson, when vetoing a bill appropriating the national revenues to the building of the northern end of the old Wilderness Road, leading from Lexington, Kentucky, to Maysville, a distance of about sixty miles, quoted the lan- guage of President Monroe as sustaining his own veto of said bill, to-wit : "That Congress could rightly appropriate the na- tional revenues to roads of general, not local ; national, not State, benefit," whereas, the part of the road sought to be im- proved by Mr. Clay's bill, was purely local, and not of any gen- eral, or national benefit. This is undoubtedly the correct prin- ciple, and it ought to forever put at rest schemes and subter- fuges for appropriating the national revenues to matters of local and State concern only. President Jackson said further, in speaking of Mr. Clay's road : "It has no connection with any established system of improvements; it is exclusively within the limits of a State, starting at a point on the Ohio River and running out sixty miles to an interior town, and even as far as the State is in- terested, conferring partial instead of general advantages." * * * "Although many of the States, with laudable zeal and under the influence of an enlightened policy, are successfully applying their separate efforts to work of this character, the desire to enlist the aid of the General Government in the con- struction of such as, from their nature, ought to devolve upon it, and to which the means of the individual States are inade- quate, is both rational and patriotic. And if that desire is not gratified now, it does not follow that it never will be. The general intelligence and public spirit of the American people furnish a sure guaranty that at the proper time this policy, will be made to prevail under circumstances more auspicious to its successful prosecution than those which now exist." This veto message of "Old Hickory" has the true ring of the iron blooded statesman that he was, and instead of being 196 National Old Trails Road construed as it often has been, by the shallow reader, as an argument against national roads, it is, when rightly considered, the very strongest argument possible in their favor, and for- ever puts at rest the cheap tawdry, and ill-considered argu- ments presented by Mr. Buchanan and others when, seeking to emasculate and destroy this great work — this national monu- ment, which has come down through the ages, and will- con- tinue to perpetuate and hold in everlasting memory the heroic statesmen who first conceived it, and gave to its construction and maintenance their lives of patriotic devotion, and will com- memorate as well the heroes and heroines who marched over it. foot-sore and weary though they were, away to the great West and Northwest, there to lay down their lives in building and perpetuating a mighty empire, consecrated to liberty and progress. Ohio set the pace. The first "public land State" to be ad- mitted to the Union, she was also the. first to provide in part a national road fund. This she did as early as 1802, and Con- gress appropriated much of it to the Cumberland Road before it touched the border of the State. What I have said in no way reflects upon the grand old States of Virginia, not only the "mother of Presidents," but of constitutional government as well, or of Pennsylvania and Maryland ; only, I could wish that, when Pennsylvania got ready to give us a President, she had given us some such man as that grandest old Roman of them all, Andrew Stewart, instead of the lamentable James Buchanan, who was seldom "right and never strong on any question of national policy. Let Congress make an appropriation to repair, rebuild, and maintain the Old National Road, your road, built chiefly by appropriations from the National road fund of the four States mentioned, and I would like to see the member, particularly from either of these twenty-nine "public land" States, who will vote against it. I do not believe, I will not believe, that we have any such member, but if we have, we will brand him as a degenerate son of a nobler generation and turn him back to oblivion from which he sprang, and consign him sorrowfully tQ everlasting shame and despair. Moreover, the act of April 30, 1802, admitting Ohio to the Union, as also the act of April 19, 1818, admitting Indiana and of April 18, 1818, admitting Illinois, and of March 6, 1820, ad- mitting Missouri, and of 1817 admitting Mississippi, and of 1819, admitting Alabama, and of 1836 admitting Arkansas, was a solemn covenant and agreement by which Congress pledges the Government to administer and appropriate the national road fund created and reserved for that purpose by those acts to the establishment and building of national highways. Con- gress so interpreted the agreement at the time and every ad- The Great Historic Highway 197 ministration for more than a quarter of a century carried this contract into execution. This fund cannot be apprapriated to any other purpose. The act of 1806, appropriated $30,000 out of Ohio's na- tional road fund to open the road to Wheeling, and the subse- quent acts appropriated the national reserve road fund of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri to this road. This compact between the Government and the twenty-nine "public land'' States, could not be cancelled or annulled by either of the high contracting parties, without the consent of the other. The Government has never indicated a disposition to disregard it except in the conditional manner mentioned as to four of the States, and this for the purpose alone of en- abling them to erect toll gates, and this was disregarded almost as soon as made, and in no event did it apply to any of the States except Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. It was at best, a timid, ill-timed, illogical makeshift, vas- cillating, offered in an amendment to an appropriation bill by that prince of reactionaries, James Buchanan, whose greatest claim for political distinction was his ability never to meet an emergency and whose chief reason for emasculating this great highway was, the coward's plea, "that it might fall into the hands of our enemies." Even then Congress amended the amendment by relin- quishing it to the States "during the pleasure of Congress" only. Ohio came into the Union on condition that Congress, not the State, would build roads leading to the State. Was it com- petent for Congress to violate this compact, even though the State legislature might have expressed a willingness to condone such act? No lawyer will contend that Congress derived any power to deal with this question by reason of the action of any of the States. Jurisdiction cannot be thus confirmed. Either it was acquired by the compact of Union or by the Constitution. As the legislature cannot confer power nor jurisdiction on Con- gress, neither can it by any so-called **consent," take it away. This is too plain for argument, and this question stands pre- cisely where it stood before the action of the legislatures of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio. If the legisla- ture was powerless to confer jurisdiction, it was equally power- less to take it away, and the Government had no power to re- fund this money to the States if such is the fact. But Congress never offered to relinquish the road to In- diana, Illinois and Missouri. So far as these three States are concerned, this question stands just as the act^ admitting them to the Union left them. Three others of the twenty-nine public land States, to-wit : 198 National Old Trails Road Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas, having a like reserve road fund, as one of the conditions upon which they entered the Union, occupy the same position. This reserve road fund was guaranteed to aU States ad- mitted to the Union prior to 1837, to be applied by the Gov- ernment to building roads leading to such States, and after that this fund given to the balance of the twenty-nine public land States to be administered by the State legislatures. " Two per cent of this fund was to be used in building roads to such State, from what point? Evidently from the seat of govern- ment. No other idea prevailed at that time, nor was there any thought of limiting government activity to a -single line of road. The committee of the House in reporting the Cumber- land Road bill, mentioned several lines, but reported in favor of only one, for the sole reason that there were only funds suf- ficient to build one. They considered this as only a beginnings and when Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas entered into the compact of Union they came in on exactly the same terms as those given to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, and that was, a national highway connecting their States with the na^ 'idnal capital. When Wisconsin was admitted, Abraham Lincoln, "the sweetest and wisest soul of all days and lands," supported an amendment which had passed the Senate, reserving each alter- nate section of the public lands in Illinois, to be appropriated to building roads in Illinois. The amendment was defeated in the House and the land subsequently given to railroads. Two hundred million acres of these public lands taken from the "public land States" have been given to railroads,, nearly doubles the combined acreage of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri and now, Now ! Now ! ! it is seriously proposed that "National Aid" be applied to building roads as feeders to the railroads. To refund this money to the States is no compliance with this agreement, neither does the ingenious but impracticable- scheme of Senator Bourne called "federal aid," whereby Ohio would be taxed $104,400,000 for the privilege of borrowing $50,200,000 at four per cent. But the "Government cancels the State bonds!" Why shouldn't it, since the State has paid it twice over? God save us from such "aid" as that. Congress may pile dollars heaven high, and turn it over to the States or the Congressional districts, and it would be no compliance. The agreement was to build roads to the States — the States to be carved out of the territory of the great North- west, saved to the Union by that indomitable American soldier, George Rogers Clark, and his intrepid Virginia and Kentucky volunteers at Old Vincennes, and the States to be carved out of the Louisiana Purchase. The Great Historic Highway 199 I am raising no new question of State Rights, and no new principle of law. All we ask is, that the Government shall keep sacred its promises and fulfill the conditions upon which these States came into the Union. Is there a court in all the land that would not enforce it if made between individuals? Is it less binding between the Government and the State? If Congress may repudiate this agreement then it can set at naught any and all covenants for the admission of the States and thus do what four long years of bloody warfare failed to accomplish : Dissolve the Union, and reduce the States to their original territorial condition. The act authorizing these States to qualify for admission to the Union embodied the following clauses : "The following propositions be and the same are hereby •offered to the convention (authorized to adopt a constitution) of said territory, for the free acceptance or rejection, which, if accepted by the convention, shall be obligratory upon the United States./' Then follows various propositions and among them the reserved road fund as already stated. For illustration, Mis- souri in her ordinance of acceptance recites the five propOo* tions submitted by Congress, the third being the provision for a road fund, in the following language : "Now, this conven- tion, for and in behalf of the people do accept the five before recited propositions, offered by the Act of Congress * * * and this convention doth hereby request the Congress of the United States so to modify their third proposition that the whole amount of five per cent on the sale of public lands therein offered may be applied to the construction of roads and canals, and the promotion of education within this State, under the direction of the legislature thereof.'' Congress declined to make any change in the jurisdiction as to the road fund, and continued to apply this fund, includ- ing Missouri's to the Cumberland Road, east of the Mississippi River, for at least sixteen years thereafter. If this proposition, submitted by Congress to the States as an inducement to join the Union, can be set aside and an- nulled by a 'Subsequent Act of Congress, the then every other proposition and provision in the compact may be disregarded. Whether or not it was competent for the legislatures of Vir- ginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, constituting a portion of the original thirteen States, to accept the provisions of the Euchanan amendment, it is clear that the legislature of Ohio and the other public land States had no such power. Ohio had entered the compact of Union by accepting the terms offered "by Congress, and this acceptance was made by the only au- thority competent to make it, and could not be unmade by any body of men having less authority. The ordinance accept- 200 National Old Trails Road ing the terms of Union could not be changed by any subse- quent act emanating from a source having no authority to make or change the terms of this agreement. The State legis- latures had no more authority to change the compact of Union than a school district or a town council would have had. The territories had the right to reject any and all over- tures of Union. The General Government said to them : "These propositions are offered for their free acceptance or re- jection, which, if accepted by the convention (not the legisla- ture), shall be obligatory upon the United States. The political reason for building national roads may not be as acute now as it was in the beginning of our great Govern- mental experiment, but who shall say what dangers await us in the future? Who will deny the prophetic wisdom of the sages w^ho planned this road? Who will deny the cohesive power of cementing the States by a great system of national highways ? And who will lightly value the sacred promises solemnly made by the original thirteen States to induce the new territories to join the Union? Ohio has kept the faith, and for thirteen years her national road fund was appropri- ated beyond the borders of the State. Then she was joined in a similar compact by Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, and unitedly they built and maintained this road out of their ow^n road fund, and thus saved the Union. They, too, "kept the faith.'' Can the Government — can any government long sur- vive which keeps only "Punic Faith" with its own people? The Great Historic Highway 201 CHAPTER IV. In 1913 we proposed and had introduced in Congress the following Bill to construct a system of Interstate (National) Highways : . SYSTEM OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS A Bill to Provide for the Construction, Maintenance and Improvement of a System of National Highways and to Provide Funds for Their Construction and Maintenance. Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Represenatives of the United States of America, in Congress Assembled. That there shall be established a National Highways Com- mission, consisting of the Director of the Bureau of the Office of Public Roads, and four other members to be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the consent of the Senate, one for the term of one year, one for two years, one for three years, and one for four years, and annually there- after one shall be appointed for the term of four years, and said commissioners shall serve until their successors are ap- pointed and qualified. Not more than three" of said Commissioners, including the Director of Roads, shall belong to the same political party as the President. Sec. 2. That said Commissioners so to be appointed, with the Director of the Bureau of the Office of Public Roads, who shall also be a member of the President's Cabinet, as chair- man, shall be known as the National Highways Commission, and each commissioner shall receive a salary of $5,000 per an- num and necessary expenses, payable monthly out of the United States Treasury, but said Director shall receive no salary in addition to that received as Director oi the Bureau of the Office of Public Roads. Any member of the National Highways Commission shall be subject to removal by the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. Sec. 3. That it shall be the duty of said Commission to carry out the provisiotis of this Act, and it shall have au- 202 National Old Trails Road thority to appoint an assistant director in each State, who 'shall discharge such duties and receive such compensation as shall be fixed by said Commission, not to exceed $3,000 per annum ; and it shall employ such engineers, patrolmen and assistants as may be necessary and proper in carrying out the work con- templated by this Act, and the expenses thereof shall be paid out of the funds hereinafter appropriated. Sec. 4. That in the execution of its duty said Commission shall have power and authority to call to its aid and as- sistance competent engineers to make surveys, maps, plats and profiles for its use, and to do all things necessary to the proper prosecution of said work; and it shall have the power to employ all necessary workmen, aid and assistance for the prosecution of said work and to fix their compensation. Sec. 5. That said National Highways Commission shall have supervision of the construction, reconstruction, mainte- nance and repair of said roads, their bridges and their general construction; shall determine the manner thereof and material thereof, the plans and specifications necessary thereto, and the times and manner of letting contracts for the same, and the time and manner of payment therefor. And in the further discharge of its duties said Commis- sion may apply to the Secretary of War for such part of the engineering force not now needed in the completion of the Panama Canal, and for such machinery or material no longer needed in such work and such as may be useful in the con- struction of said highways. Sec. 6. That all of the moneys and income derived by the United States from the internal revenue tax on. cigars, chewing and smoking tobaccos of every description, as pro- vided in this Act, above and in excess of the sum of $70,000,000 annually shall be set aside by the Treasurer of the United States and placed in a separate fund, to be known as the Na- tional Highways Road Fund. The Treasurer of the United States shall, at the end of each month, approximate the amount of revenues derived from said internal revenue tax that will be necessary to retain in order to provide for the $70,000,000, and put the balance of the monthly receipts in said National Highways Road Fund. The said National Highways Commis- sion may draw on the Treasurer of the United States as rapidly as funds accumulate in the said National Highways Road Fund for the purpose of defraying the expenses of said Commission, the salaries of the officers and employees, for defraying the cost of location of said highways, the acquisition of the necessary lands for rights of way, either by purchase, condemnation proceedings or otherwise, and the cost of con- struction, and maintenance of said highways. The moneys paid into the National Highways Road Fund as above pro- The Great Historic Highway 203 ^^ided are hereby appropriated for the purposes above men- tioned. Sec. 7. That section thirty-three hundred and sixty-eight of the Revised Statutes, as amended by section thirty-one of the Act of August fifth, nineteen hundred and nine, entitled ^^An Act to provide revenue, equalize duties, and encourage the industries of the United States, and for other purposes," be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows : "Sec. 3368. Upon tobacco and snuff manufactured and sold, or removed for consumption or use, there shall be levied and collected the following taxes : "On snuff, manufactured of tobacco or any substitute for tobacco, ground, dry, damp, pickled, scented, or otherwise, of all descriptions, when prepared for use, a tax of 24 cents per pound. And snuff flour, when sold or removed for use or con- sumption, shall be taxed as snuff and shall be put up in pack- ages and stamped in the same manner as snuff. "On all chewing and smoking tobacco, fine cut. Cavendish, plug, or twi'St, cut or granulated, of every description; on to- bacco twisted by hand or 'reduced into a condition to be con- sumed, or in any manner other than the ordinary mode of drying and curing, prepared for sale or consumption, even if prepared without the use of any machine or instrument and without being pressed or sweetened; and on all fine-cut shorts and refuse scraps, clippings, cuttings, and sweepings of to- bacco, a tax of 16 cents per pound." "That section thirty-three hundred and ninety-four of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended by the Act of August fifth, nineteen hundred and nine, entitled **An Act to provide revenue, equalize duties, and encourage the industries of the United States, and for other purposes," be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows : "Sec. 3394. Upon cigars and cigarettes which shall be manufactured and sold, or removed for consumption or sale, there shall be assessed and collected the following taxes, to be paid by the manufacturer thereof: On cigars of all de- scriptions made of tobacco or any substitute therefor and weighing more than three pounds per thousand and of a wholesale value or manufactured to be sold at wholesale price of less than $40 per thousand, $4.50 per thousand; on cigars made of tobacco or any substitute therefor and weighing not more than three pounds, $1.50 per thousand; on cigars made of tobacco or any substitute therefor and weighing more than th ree pounds and of the wholesale value or manufactured to be sold at the wholesale price of not less than $40 per thousand and not more than $110 per thousand, there shall be assessed and collected as, taxes $6 per thousand; on cigars of all kinds 204 National Old Trails Road made of tobacco or any substitute therefor and weighing more than three pounds per thousand and of the wholesale value or manufactured to be sold for the wholesale price of not less than $110 per thousand and not more than $160 per thousand, there shall be assessed and collected as taxes $9 per thousand; on cigars made of tobacco or any substitute therefor and weighing more than three pounds and of the wholesale value of or manufactured to be sold for the whole- sale price of more than $160 per thousand, there shall be as- sessed and collected as taxes $12 per thousand; on cigarettes or any substitute therefor weighing more than three pounds per thousand there shall be assessed and collected as taxes $6 per thousand; on cigarettes made of tobacco or any substitute therefor and weighing not more than three pounds per thou- sand, there shall be assessed and collected as taxes $2.50 per thousand: Provided, That all rolls of tobacco or any substi- tute therefor wrapped Avith tobacco shall be classed as cigars^ and all rolls of tobacco or any substitute therefor wrapped in paper or any substance other than tobacco shall be classed as cigarettes. "And the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall provide dies and stamps for cigars such as made necessary by the provis- ions of this Act, and for cigarettes at the rate of the tax im- posed by this section : Provided, That such stamps shall be in denominations such as may be necessary for the carrying into effect the provisions of this Act ; and the laws and regu- lations governing the packing and removal for sale of cigar- ettes and the affixing and canceling of the -stamps on the packages thereof shall apply to cigars weighing not more than three pounds per thousand. "No packages of manufactured tobacco, snuff, cigars, or cigarettes prescribed by law shall be permitted to have packed in or attached to or connected with them nor affixed to,, branded, stamped, marked, written, or printed upon them any paper, certificate, or instrument purporting to be or represent a ticket, chance, share, or interest in or dependent upon the event of a lottery, nor any indecent or immoral picture, rep- lesentation, print, or words; and any violations of the provis- ions of this paragraph shall subject the offender to the penal- ties provided by section thirty-four hundred and fifty-six of the Revised Statutes." Sec. 8. That the said National Highways Commission shall, as soon as funds become available under this Act, lay out and definitely locate, take over, construct and maintain the following National, Commercial and Military Highways and Post Roads to be known as follows: The Great Historic Highway 205 Road No. 1 shall be known as the National Old Trails Road, and shall be located as follows: Beginning at Wash- ington, D. C, and passing- via Frederick, Hagerstown, Cumber- land and Frostburg in Maryland; via Petersburg, Farmington, Uniontown, Brownsville, Centerville, Washington and Alex- ander in Pennsylvania; via Wheeling, W. Va. ; Bridgeport, Saint Clairsville, Cambridge, Zanesvilie, Columbus, Springfield and Dayton in Ohio; via Richmond, Indianapolis and Terre Haute in Indiana; via Casey, Effingham, Vandalia and Troy in Illinois; via Missouri First Cross-State Highway through St. Louis, St. Charles, Fulton, Columbia, Marshall, Lexington and Kansas City in Missouri; via Olathe, Baldwin, Osage City, Council Grove, Herington, Marion, McPherson, Lyons, Great Bend, Larned, Dodge City and Garden City in Kansas; via La Junta and Trinidad in Colorado ; via Raton, Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Gallup in New Mexico; via Hol- brook, Flagstaff, Williams and Kingman in Arizona; via Needles, Barstow, San Bernardino to Los Angeles in Cali- fornia. Road No. 2 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Boston, Mass., thence via Worcester and Springfield, Mass.; via Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo and Niagara Falls in New York; via Erie, Pennsylvania; via Cleveland and Toledo in Ohio; via Detroit, Jackson, Lansing and Grand Rapids in Michigan; via South Bend, Indiana; via Chicago, Illinois; via Milwaukee and Green Bay in Wisconsin; via St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota; via Fargo and Bismarck, North Dakota ; via Billings and Helena, Montana ; via Spokane, Seattle and Olympia in Washington; via Portland, Oregon; via Sacramento, Stockton, San Francisco, Fresno and Bakers- field in California, to connect with road numbered 1, at Barstow. With these connections to Road No. 2: (1) Fall River, Mass., to Boston, Mass. (2) Rockport, Mass., to Boston, Mass. (3) ' Bay City, Mich., to Detroit Mich. (4) Bellingham, Wash., to Seattle, Wash. Road No. 3 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Washington, D. C, and passing via Charlottesville, Lynchburg and Chatham in Virginia ; via Greensboro, Salisbury and Char- lotte in North Carolina; via Yorkville and Abbeville in South Carolina ; via Athens and Atlanta in Georgia ; via Birmingham, Alabama; via Jackson and Vicksburg, Miss.; via Monroe and Shreveport in Louisiana; via Dallas, Fort Worth and Abilene in Texas ; via Roswell and Las Cruces in New Mexico to EI Paso, Tex.; via Deming and Lordsburg, New Mexico; via Douglas, Tucson, Phoenix and Yuma in Arizona ; via El Centra 206 National Old Trails Road and San Diego in California, to Los Angeles on road num- bered 1. With these connections to Road No. 3: (1) From Tallahassee, Fla., through Macon, Ga., to Atlanta, Ga. (2) From Flagstaff, Ariz., on Road No. 1, through Pres- cott, Ariz., to Phoenix, Ariz. Road No. 4 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Bangor, Me., and passing via Augusta and Portland, Me.; via Concord and Manchester, N. H. ; via Boston, Mass. ; via Provi- dence, R. I, ; via New London and New Haven, in Connecticut ; via New York in New York; via Trenton, N. J.; via Philadel- phia, Pa. ; via Wilmington, Del. ; via Baltimore, Md. ; via Washington, D. C. ; via Charlottesville, Richmond, Portsmouth in Virginia; via Raleigh, N. C. ; via Florence, Columbia and Charleston in South Carolina; via Savannah, Ga.; via Jack- sonville, Fla., to Tampa, Fla. With these connections to Road No. 4: (1) Burlington, Vt., through Montpelier, Vt., to Con- cord, N. H. (2) Springfield, Mass., on Road No. 2, through Hartford, Conn., to New" Haven, Conn. (3) Albany, N. Y., on Road No. 2, to New York City. (4) Snow Hill, Md., through Dover, Del., to Wilming- ton, Del. (5) Annapolis, Md., to Washington, D. C. (6) Greensboro, N. C, on Road No. 3, to Raleigh, N. C. (7) Wilmington, N. C, to Raleigh, N. C. (8) Atlanta, Ga., on Road No. 3, to Columbia, S. C. Road No. 5 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Sheboygan, Wis., on Road No. 2, and passing via Madison, Wis. ; via Dubuque, Iowa ; via Rock Island and Springfield, 111. ; via St. Louis and Charleston, Mo. ; via Paducah, Ky. ; via Jackson and Memphis, Tenn. ; via Jackson, Miss. ; via Baton Rouge to New Orleans, La. Road No. 6 shall be located as follows: Beginning at the boundary between Canada and the United States at or near Pembina, North Dakota, and passing via Grand Forks, Fargo and Wahpeton, N. D.; via Watertown, Arlington and Yankton, S. D. ; via Columbus and Geneva, Neb.; via Concordia, Salina, McPherson, Newton and Wichita, Kas.; via El Reno and Law- ton, Okla.; via Wichita Falls, Ft. Worth, Waco, Austin, San Antonio, Laredo, Houston, Galveston and Beaumont in Texas; via Lake Charles and New Iberia, in Louisiana, to Road No. 5 at Baton Rouge, La. With these connections to Road No. 6 : (1) From Bismarck, N. D., on Road No. 2, through Pierre and Huron, S. D., to Arlington, S. D. The Great Historic Highway 207 Road No. 7 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Albany, N. Y., and passing via Binghamton, N. Y. ; via Scran- ton, Wilkesbarre, Harrisburg and Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania; via Frederick, Md. ; via Elkins, Charleston and Huntington, in West Virginia; via Winchester, Lexington, Frankfort and Louisville, Ky. ; via Vincennes, Ind., to Effingham, 111., on Road No. 1. Road No, 8 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Superior, Wis., and passing via Duluth and Minneapolis, Minn. ; via Fort Dodge and Des Moines, Iowa; via Gallatin and Kan- sas City, Mo.; via Olathe, Paola, Pleasanton, Fort Scott and Pittsburg, Kas. ; via Joplin, Mo.; via Rogers, Fort Smith and Texarkana, Ark.; via Shreveport, Alexandria, Baton Rouge, La., to New Orleans, La. Road No, 9 shall be located as follows : Beginning at South Bend, Ind., on Road No. 2, and passing via Rochester and Indianapolis, Ind. ; via Louisville, Ky., to Nashville, Tenn., on Road No. 5, and following the Hne of Road No. 5 via Jack- son and Memphis, Tenn., to Helena, Ark.; thence via Little Rock, Pine Bluff and Texarkana, Ark., to Dallas, Texas, on Road No. 3. Road No. 10 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Chicago, 111., on Road No. 2, and passing via Aurora and Ottawa, 111., via Davenport, Muscatine, Des Moines and Coun- cil Bluffs, Iowa ; via Omaha, Lincoln and McCook, Neb. ; via Denver, Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction, Colo.. ; via Salt Lake and Logan, Utah; via Ely, Reno and Carson City, Nev., to Sacramento, Cal., on Road No. 2. Road No. 11 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Chicago, 111., on Road 2, and passing via Bloomington, Spring- field and Pittsfield, 111. ; via Louisiana, Bowling Green, Fulton, Jefferson City, Springfield and Joplin, Mo.; via Vinita, Mus- kogee and Oklahoma City, Okla., to El Reno, Okla.^ on Road No. 6. Road No. 12 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Portland, Ore., on Road No. 2, and passing via Vancouver and Walla Walla, Wash. ; via Baker City, Ore. ; via Boise and Twin Falls, Idaho; via Logan and Salt Lake City, Utah; via Evans- ton and Cheyenne, Wyo. ; via Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colo., to Trinidad, Colo., on Road No. L With this connection to Road No. 12: (1) From Road No. 2 at the most practical point, through North Yakima to Road No. 12. Road No, 13 shall be located as follows: Beginning at St. Louis, Mo., on Road No. 1, and passing along Road No., 5 via Bonne Terre, Mo., to Charleston,' Mo. ; via Jonesboro, Little Rock and Fort Smith, Ark., to Muskogee and Oklahoma City, to El Reno, Okla., on Road No. 6. 208 National Old Trails Road Road No. 14 shall be located as follows: Beginning at Yankton, S. D., on Road No. 6, and passing via Sioux City and Council Bluffs, Iowa; via Omaha, Neb.; via Atchison, Leaven- worth, Kansas City, Lawrence and Topeka, in Kansas, to con- nect with Road No. 1 at or near Scranton, Kas. Road No. 15 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Memphis, Tenn., on Road No. 5, and passing via Corinth, Miss.; via Florence, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile, Ala.; via Pensacola, Fla. ; via Gulfport, Miss.; via Covington, La., to Baton Rouge, La., on Road No. 5. Road No. 16 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Cleveland, Ohio, on Road No. 2, and passing via Canton, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio; via Covington, Frank- fort, Lexington and Winchester, Ky.; via Knoxville, Tenn.; via Asheville, N. C, to Charlotte, N. C, on Road No. 3. Road No. 17 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Lynchburg, Va., on Road No. 3, and passing via Rockymount, Va. ; via Laurel Springs, N. C. ; via Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tenn.; via Chickamauga, Ga., to Nashville, Tenn., on Road No. 9. Road No. 18 shall be located as follows : Beginning at Philadelphia, Pa., on Road No. 4, and passing via Harrisburg, Johnstown, Pittsburg and Washington, in Pennsylvania, to Wheeling, W. Va., on Road No. L With this connection to Road No. 18 : (1) From Scranton, Pa., on Road No. 7, passing via Easton and Reading, Pa., on Road No. 18, by the most prac- tical route. Sec. 9. That all roads constructed under this Act are hereby declared to be National Roads, and shall be hard sur- faced not less than sixteen feet in width, and shall be of the best material and most approved type of construction, as de- cided by said commissioners. Sec. 10. That said National Highways Commission may locate the roads in this Act provided for along and over any road within any State established by any local authority used as a highway. It is hereby authorized and empowered to enter upon, purchase, take and hold any lands or premises that may be necessary and proper for the construction, change of location, and operation of said roads, to exercise the power of eminent domain on behalf of the United States, and to institute and prosecute actions to condemn such land and property a-s it may deem necessary for the location and con- struction of the roadways herein provided. In the trial of actions to condemn property it shall be permitted to offer evidence showing the benefit that will accrue to the owner of the remaining land by the construction and maintenance of the The Great Historic Highway 209 proposed roadway as an offset to the damages the owner may show he will suffer by the taking of such land necessary for such roadway. After the National Highways Commission has definitely located the proposed roads in any State, it 'shall file with the Governor of such State a map of the definite loca- tion of such roadways. Sec. 11. That the said National Highways Commission shall not construct or improve any road or street within the corporate limits of any city, town or village. Whenever the Commission proposes to locate or construct a roadway, which, when projected, will pass into and through any incorporated city, town or village and such city, town or village has not paved or provided for the pavement of its streets connecting with the proposed roadway at each edge of its corporate limits, then the said Commission shall locate and construct the pro- posed roadway outside of the corporate limits of such city, town or village. Sec. 12. That whenever the National Highways Commis- sion shall locate any part of a roadway over and along a road- way within any State that has been permanently improved by such State or municipality or road district thereof, the said Commission shall ascertain the actual value in money of such improvements, except bridges, will be to the United States in the construction of its roadway. The actual value of such im- provements shall be paid to such State or municipality or road district, not to exceed, however, $5,000 per mile. That the amount that any State or municipality or road district shall be entitled to under the provisions of this 'section shall be de- termined by the Commission, and its determination of the amount shall be conclusive and final upon all parties. The actual value of such improvements in money, as soon as ascer- tained, shall be paid by said Commission to the treasurer of such State, municipality or road district within five years in equal amounts as the Commission may decide. Sec. 13. That the said National Highways Commission shall, maintain and keep in repair every bridge constructed over every large navigable stream within any State at the point or points across which river the Commission may locate any of the proposed highways and the State wherein such bridge is located shall reimburse the Government for such maintenance. In case there is no bridge across any navigable stream within a State at the point said Commission 'shall lo- cate any roadway across such stream, then in that event said State, by proper authority, shall agree to maintain or cause to be maintained at such point a ferry. Sec. 14. That the said National Highways Commission is hereby authorized and directed, that after the roads before 210 National Old Trails Road mentioned are constructed, to construct similar roadways, under the same conditions before mentioned connecting every city of more than twenty thousand population, with one of the main line roadways hereinbefore provided or branch lines m this provided, leaving the main line of such roadway or such branch line of roadway at the most feasible point nearest such city : Provided, That such city can be reached by the con- struction of not more than SO miles of roadway. In case such city cannot be reached by 50 miles of roadway or less from the main line of roadway or from a branch line herein pro- vided, then in that case the said Commission is authorized to locate a proposed roadway connecting such city and enter into an agreement with the State in which such roadway is to be located, or with such municipality, that if it or the State will improve such located roadway, and forever maintain the same in first-class condition from said city to within 50 miles of such main line of roadway or branch line of roadway in ac- cordance with the standard required by this Act, and by said Commission, the United States will construct the connecting 50 miles of road. The State or municipality shall first con- struct its proportion of said road, and when completed then 5aid Commission shall have the option to take over said road- way in the name of the United States of America with the agreement to forever maintain the same : Provided, further, That no such branch line of roadway provided for in this sec- tion shall be constructed, if it be necessary for the United States to build any bridge over a navigable stream. Sec. 15. There 'shall be a maintenance fund appropriated and set aside out of the revenuest to be derived under the pro- visions of this Act of 10 per cent annually of the cost of con- btruction, or so much thereof as shall be necessary, to be ap- plied to the maintenance and repair of the roads to be con- structed under this Act, and the National Highways Commis- sion herein provided for shall have exclusive jurisdiction and supervision of such maintenance and repairs and shall draw all warrants for the cost thereof against the funds thus pro- vided. Note : And a part of this bill included a map of the entire system of roads as above described, designating and specifi- cally locating each road. Public sentiment was not heavy for it and it did not get beyond the committee room. 212 National Old Trails Road ARGUMENT SUBMITTED IN BEHALF OF THIS BILL. NATIONAL ROADS VS. NATIONAL AID. There are those who believe that the general Government should appropriate some of the general revenues to road build- ing — an certain conditions. One class takes the position that there must be some kind of reciprocity or partnership between the Government and the State or the people, and that for every dollar appropriated by the Government, the State or county, etc., must pay an equal or greater sum. They differ as to the share each shall pay. They differ also as to the distribution of the Government's **bounty"; one class believes the State should be the unit with which the Government should co-operate, while another, would extend "aid" to the county, township or road district. As illustrating that all these schemes are utterly impracticable and will result in dissipating the revenues without building roads, the following statements are submitted : As to requiring the State, county or other subdivision to retax themselves before receiving any benefit from the taxes already paid to the general Government, it is sufficient to say that the States, counties and other subdivisions have already issued road bonds in excess of $410,000,000. And this is a bagatelle of what the .people have spent upon the roads. By the time this can be done the people will have raised and ex- pended more than another $410,000,000. Note : Since then 20 of the 48 States have voted bonds for more than one billion dollars. How many have even one cross-state road? WHY? Moreover, the Federal Aid Act required Interstate Roads to connect or correlate with like roads of adjoining States. How many of them do? Those who thus vex their righteous souls lest the Government may do more than "its equitable part" in road building need not worry — just yet. Moreover, distributing the revenues, if the State is made the unit, as has been suggested by men in high places, would result as follows : If $50,000,000 were appropriated annually (about the amount of the annual River and Harbor appropriation) each State would receive, in round numbers, $1,000,000. The Great Historic Highway 213 As illustrating how this would work, Kansas could build one mile of road, Missouri, Virginia and Kentucky could build four-fifths of a mile, Georgia could build seven-tenths of a mile, and Texas, with her 234 counties, could build only two- fifths of a mile in each county. How soon could we get a system of roads, or any roads worth while, if such a foolish plan as this were adopted? And this is the most conservative and probably the wisest unit suggested by those favoring "National Aid/' If the county were made the unit, as favored by some,, the 3,000 counties in the United States would each receive an average of $16,666, and if economically expended each county could build about one and one-half miles of road. If the rail- road depot were made the "hub," as some advocate, from which the roads shall radiate, just one depot in each county would get one and one-half miles of road from each appro- priation of $50,000,000. If either the State or county should be adopted as the unit, and the national appropriations turned over to them, we shall simply be repeating on a larger scale, the ineffectual and criminal waste exemplified in River and Harbor legislation,, with its attendant scandals. As the rivers have not been made navigable, neither will roads be built under any such method. Even were such schemes feasible in other respects, the purpose of dividing responsibility and effecting co-operation between national and State or county officials is no more practicable or possible than it would be to divide and co^ operate in the improvement and navigation of the rivers. As the rivers are but national highways under national supervi- sion, so must the national roads be subject to national juris- diction, just as the State and county road systems must be tmder the supervision of State and county authorities. It would be just as logical to subject the navigable rivers to State and county navigation laws as it would be to turn the national highways over to such control. Then what is the wise and proper thing to do? The answer is for the Government to build, supervise and maintain its own system, whether large or small, of national highways. When it shall have built 30,000 miles of roads, as sug- gested by attached map, it will have built but little over one per cent of the roads of the country. There will remain 99- per cent for the States and counties to build and maintain. A glance at this tentative map will indicate that if the suggested system 'should be adopted, each State would get 214 National Old Trails Road an average of two national highways, one each way across the State, each connecting with and forming a part of a gen- eral system. Would not this be of greater value to the State — of more direct value to a greater number of people — than would the stub-end of a road in each county, even if such stub-ends should be built? This system of 30,000 miles can be built at an average cost of $10,000 per mile, or $300,000,000. This is $110,000,000 less than the States and counties have already issued in road bonds. It is $100,000,000 less than the cost of the Panama Canal. It is only equal to the ANNUAL appropriations for the army and navy. It is about equal to the ANNUAL appropriations for pen- sions and public buildings. It is only one-half the sum already appropriated to rivers and harbors. It is not one-third the sum given to the railroads. Build this, or some similar system, and let the State and county systems connect with it. It will add value to the farm lands many times its cost. It will give employment to an army of idle men. It will furnish a ready market for farm products and manufactured utensils. It will decrease the cost of tansportation, and consequently the cost of living. It will benefit both the producer and the consumer. Like the gentle dews of Heaven, its blessings will fall upon all the people, both in town, city and country. Build it, and an era of prosperity will follow such as the world has not known. It will be of greater direct benefit to a greater number of people than any material project ever conceived in the mind of man. The Great Historic Highway 215 CHAPTER V. THE TOWNSEND BILL. Synopsis of Statement Made by the President, June 18, 1920, Before the Committee of Postoffices and Post Roads of the United States Senate, Concerning the Townsend Bill, Now Pending in the Senate. "The School of Experience ought to teach us much on the subject before us for consideration. National highways, to be built and maintained by the General Government, is far from being a new or startling proposition. It is as old as the Gov- ernment itself. The Constitutional Convention of 1783 had just been adjourned, and the Government organized thereunder was in a. formative condition when this question arose, and a meas- ure was passed and approved by Mr. Jefferson in 1806, estab- lishing the Old National or Cumberland Road, beginning at Cumberland, Maryland, and extending to the Ohio River at Wheeling; and by various acts of Congress, extending west- ward until it reached the Mississippi River opposite St. Louis. This road was built and maintained by the General Govern- ment until 1837. "In 1824 this question became a National issue, and John Quincy Adams was elected President upon this issue. Imme- diately following such election. President Monroe sent a mes- sage to Congress, suggesting the appointment of a Commis- sion of three to select and lay out a system of National High- ways, and to make its report to the next Congress. Mr. Mon- roe was so well pleased with the character of the men who agreed to serve upon that commission that he sent a special message to the Senate, congratulating the country upon the men chosen for that Commission. "Senator Benton from Missouri proposed an amendment to the bill, providing for said Commis'sion, and suggesting that the Congress itself make the selection of such system, because, he said, he feared that the politicians would 'surround' the Commissioners, and influence them to lay out roads favorable to certain local interests rather than to the general interests of the country. "His amendment was defeated, and the Bill was passed, practically unanimously, there being but six votes in the Sen- ate against it. At the following session of Congress, the Com- 216 National Old Trails Road missioners made their report. Mr. Benton, in criticizing the report, showed that *the expected had happened.' "In a speech before the Senate, Mr. Benton said: 'Early in the succeeding administration, a list of some ninety routes were reported to Congress, in which occurred the names of places hardly heard of before, outside of the State or section in which they were found. Saugutuck, Amounisuck, Pasumic, Winnispiseegee, Piscataqua, Titonic Falls, Lake Memphrama- gog, Conneaut Creek, Holmes Hole, Love Joys Narrows, Steeles Ledge, Cowhegan, Androscoggin, Cobbiescont, Con- ceaupecheaux, alias Soapy Joe, were among the objects which figured in the list for National improvements.' In short, it was detached, unconnected pieces of road, forming no system, and calculated to be of no general benefit to the country. This report was so absurd and impractical that it was pigeon-holed by Mr. Adams, although he was a very sincere advocate of a National System, and this was the end of agitation for road building. "In the same year, Mr. Benton brought forward a bill, extending the Old National Road, above mentioned, on West, and ending at Santa Fe, the capital of a foreign state. This bill was opposed because it was claimed that the Government had no power to invade a foreign State and construct a high- way. In this dilemma, Benton visited the Sage of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson, on Christmas Day, 1824, and at the Christ- mas table Benton brought up the subject and asked Mr. Jeffer- son if there was any precedent for the proposed action. Promptly Mr. Jefferson informed him that there was such a precedent, established during his second term, and with the consent of such foreign country, the proposition was entirely feasible. Returning to the Senate, Mr. Benton quoted Jeffer- son as above stated, and the Act was passed and became a law, thus establishing the *Santa Fe Trail.* "It is too late now and would consume your time unnec- essarily to discuss the question of the constitutionality of the proposed system of National Highways. That question was thrashed out and settled for all time during the pendency of the measure above indicated. Even John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, the greatest stickler for state rights, and for the strict construction of the Constitution, then living, supported this measure. "In the case of Stockton vs. Baltimore A. T. Z. Railroad, 32 Federal Reporter, Page 9, Justice Brewer, in rendering the decision of the Court, said: 'Nor have we any doubt that under the same power, the means of commercial communica- tion by land as well as water may be opened up by Congress between different States whenever it shall see fit to do so, either on the failure of the States to provide such communica- The Great Historic Highway 217 tion, or whenever, in the opinion of Congress, the increased facilities of communication ought to exist. Hitherto, it is true, the means of commercial communication have been sup- plied either by nature in the navigable waters of the country, or by the States in the construction of roads, canals and rail- roads. So that the functions of Congress have not been largely called into play, under this branch of its jurisdiction and power, excepting in the improvement of rivers and har- bors, and the licensing of bridges across navigable streams ; but this is not proof that its power does not extend to the whole 'subject in all possible requirements. Indeed, it has been put forth in several notable instances which stand as strong arguments of practical construction given to the Constitution by the Legislative Department of the Government. The Cum- berland or National Road is one instance of a grand thorough- fare projected by Congress, extending from the Potomac to the Mississippi.* "I have quoted the above decision because I have recently seen a letter from one high in authority, who readily .quotes the^ Post Roads Clause of the Constitution, but seems to have entirely forgotten or to have overlooked the Commerce Clause of that instrument. "Now, one word as to the practicability of the proposed measure. We have had about five years of experience in at- tempting to build roads under what is called 'the Federal Aid Act,' with the result that only $12,000,000 of the $275,000,000 appropriated, has been actually expended under the provisions of that measure, and this money went into a scattered, de- tached, unconnected system of roads, or rather no system at all, resulting in the building of short sections, so scattered over the country as to be of no general benefit. The longest single section of road built, up to March, 1919, was just nine miles. "This $12,000,000, if it had been applied upon a continuous road, would have at least built one road, if the cost of con- struction should be $30,000 per mile, 400 miles in length, but would not have reached entirely acro'ss many of the States. If it had been supplemented by an equal amount of money raised by the State, County, or smaller legal subdivisions thereof, it would have built 800 miles of road. And this would have been of some general benefit to the country. Under the present method, billions may be spent without any general good being accomplished. Built in scattered sections, wholly un- connected, of different types, much of it dirt, sand clay, water- bound macadam, and other so-called cheap roads, which are practically no roads at all, it is scarcely too much to charge the entire su\n off the ledger, and credit to absolute waste. "Study this question in the light of experience, analyze it any way you may, and there is but one possible conclusion 218 National Old Trails Road that can solve the road problem in a sensible, practical, busi- ness-like way, and that is for the General Government to build a system of National Highways, under the supervision and con- trol of National authority, preferably its execution placed in the hands of some one individual like^ a Goethels or a Hoover, or a Charles Henry Davis, of Mas-sachusetts, with respon- sibility fully fixed, clothed with all needful authority and fully financed by the Government. "This National System can then be supplemented by a State System, under absolute authority and direction of the State, County and other legal subdivisions can then build their own system, all connected with the State and National Sys- tems, and thus ultimately resulting in a splendid system of all the year round roads, reaching every nook and corner of the entire country. "AU attempts to develop roads by first building local roads, 'radial' roads, or roads reaching out from the railroad station and ending on Possum Ridge or in Raccoon Hollow, have failed. Not until trunk lines are built will there be any material advance in road building. These trunk lines will be educational in their effect, and will bring about a desire for building local lines. Otherwise, there will be no desire or reason for the existence of 'such local feeders. Branch rail- road lines were built after the trunk lines were established, otherwise they could not have existed. "While discrimination- as between districts is neither wise nor fair, nevertheless, if any preference should be favored, the farming and rural districts are entitled to first consideration, for the reason that they need roads more than the urban centers do, and, what is more, they need help to build them. In most districts, they can not of themselves furnish the funds necessary with which to build, either by undertaking the job at their own expense, or by matching dollars with the General Government. "A National System of highways, built and maintained by the National Government, will serve National purposes, and likewise be the heavy traffic main trunk lines within the sev- eral States. Such a system will relieve the States of any cost of their construction and maintenance. Thus relieved, the States could build more miles than now of State Highways, thereby reaching more remote farming districts than are now reached. "Such a system of State Highways will likewise be the heavy traffic lines within the several counties. They will be connected with the National System. Such system of National and State roads will thus relieve the counties of any expense for their construction, and such counties can then build more The Great Historic Highway 219 miles of other or secondary roads, thereby still further reach- ing out into the more remote farming districts. "Such system of county roads will likewise be the traffic roads within their respective counties, and, therefore, finally, the township or district can build more miles than now of their lighter traffic roads, and thereby reach those farming districts farthest from the market towns and railroads. "By this four-fold system of roads there will be an im- petus as yet unthought of given to road building throughout the United States. Authority and responsibility will be logically and economically fixed without complications arising. Uni- formity and efficiency will be established. Rivalry in construc- tion and maintenance will exist between the different systems. I'his will give us good roails everywhere, by a well-balanced, connected system of National, State, County and Township highways. The monies thus raised and appropriated will get into roads, where it belongs, and not into politics, where it does not belong. The cost will be equitably distributed upon those communities best able to bear the burden. "By the present system, if system it may be called, we are placed in the anomalous condition that the tourist, starting from the Atlantic, is liable to arrest the moment he crosses a State line, and remains under such embarrassment at every State line he may cross between the Atlantic and the Pacific. He must pay a license tax in every State through which he may travel. As some indication of the enormous expense at- tending such transportation, it may be stated that as early as 1912, there were 35,000 foreign automobiles who took out licenses and toured California, leaving $17,500,000 in that State. It is a safe calculation to multiply that sum now by five or six times. In the same year of 1912, there were 6,000 'foreign' cars in Colorado, leaving $2,700,000 in that State. This, too, may be multiplied five or six times now. "While the average tourist is one of the most liberal spenders of money, without any such charge as the above being made against him, they ought to be encouraged, because they will put into circulation vast volumes of money in every State through which they may travel. "Suppose the navigable rivers of the country were made subject to different navigation laws in every State through which such rivers may flow ; such complications would arise that it would put an effectual embargo on such traffic ; and yet it is just as practicable and sensible to subject the navigable rivers of the country to State and local supervision and con- trol as it is to subject the National roads of the country. "No purpo'se to which the revenues can be applied will ac- complish so much good to so many people, for it will in a few 220 National Old Trails Road short years place this country, in niaterial prosperity, far above any country in the old world. 'This four-fold system is the solution, and the only solu- tion, of the whole vast problem of building a system of de- pendable roads throughout the country, and when it is done, we will only marvel at our long delay, and wonder why we postponed the accomplishment of the greatest purpose ever conceived in the mind of man." NATIONAL OLO "TRAILS ROAP KANSAS CITY ST. LOUIS 302Hi INDCPENDEiMCE BMI. SBlNi 24ni LA JUNTA OL.ATNE: n FAC SIMILE OF SIGN POSTS ON N. O. T. ROAD. The Great Historic Highway 221 ADDRESS BY HON. J. M. LOWE. Delivered at St. Paul, Minn., November 16, 1914. This address contains in part a speech by Senator Benton. This is the first time this speech has appeared in print, at least since 1824. The danger we, who favor Federal activity in road build- ing, have to meet vs the same now as it always has been. But for the threat of what Monroe characterized as "locaP' and neighborhood roads, and, therefore, outside the jurisdiction and power of Congress to legislate in their favor, concurred in by Andrew Jackson and Thomas H. Benton — termed "overexpan- ' sion" by Abraham Lincoln, and now popularly called "log rolling," "Pork Barrel" measures, we would now have a great system of National Highways ramifying every nook and corner anrf reaching every part of the United States. This selfish and narrow principle defeated the great Na- tional system as devised and promulgated by Albert Gallatin and Thomas Jefferson. The friends and supporters of the old Cumberland National road had this element to contend with for more than a quarter of a century. It culminated in the National campaign in 1824, when a general system of Na- tional Highways to be built and maintained out of the Na- tional revenues swept the country. No sooner was the election over than this element rushed a bill before Congress authorizing President Monroe to select and define such system. Thereupon a commi'ssion of en- gineers was appointed to select, survey and report such a sys- tem. Notwithstanding the language of the Act was plain and unequivocal that the roads selected must be National in char- acter, the element referred to, seized the opportunity and did what Benton said they would, and brought in a report in favor of 90 roads — odds and ends of roads, having no semblance of Nationality. Foreseeing this danger the v^ise old Statesman, Thomas H. Benton, one of the wisest and ablest senators this country has ever had, brought forward an amendment which was prac- tically a new bill, specifically defining and describing the roads which should constitute such system of National Highways. In support of this bill Mr. Benton spoke as follows : 222 National Old Trails Road SURVEYS FOR ROADS AND CANALS. 'The bill from the Hou'se of Representatives, *to provide for making surveys for roads and canals/ " was ten taken up for consideration, in Committee of the v^hole. The question was upon an entire new bill, offered as an amendment, by Mr. Benton. Mr. Benton rose and said he would compare the provi- sions of the bill from the House of Representatives with the provisions of the amendment which he had submitted, and he would state the reasons which induced him to .prefer the amendment to the bill. The bill is g-eneral. It places $30,000 in the hands of the President and leaves him at liberty to select such routes for roads and canals as he shall think proper. It contains no details neither as to the construction of the roads, nor as to the depths and width of the canals. It contains no limitation upon the number of persons to be employed in the survey, nor upon the wages to be allowed them. It asks no consent from the States to the execution of the works proposed to be under- taken within their limits. The amendment is specific. It places the 'same thirty thousand dollars in the hands of the President, but specifies the routes to which he shall apply it. It defines the extent and capacity of the intended works. It limits the number of surveyors to be employed and fixes their compensation. It asks the consent of the States to the execution of the works. On this proposition to amend, Mr. Benton did not consider the field to be open for debate on the constitutionality or gen- eral expediency of internal improvements. He considered the debateable ground to lie between the bill and the amendment. Their comparative merits was the object of inquiry. He would limit himself to it, and endeavor to -show : 1. That it is better to adopt the specific than the general provision. 2. That the routes specified are national. 3. That we have the funds to execute them. On the first point. The adoption of the bill with the gen- eral provisions, would subject the President to a labor which ought not to be thrown upon him. He is an executive officer, created for great national purposes, and his duties are defined in the Constitution. I do not deny but that the Congress may add to them, but it ought never to be done, except in a case cf clear necessity, and here is no necessity at all. It is a decep- tion practiced upon itself, for the Congress to suppose that the talent and character of the President is to be embarked in those legislative duties annually a'ssigned him. He has enough under the Constitution. He cannot quit the great concerns The Great Historic Highway 223 of the nation to superintend these subaltern affairs. They are devolved upon some subordinate officer, we know not whom, and the errors and mistakes of the unknown are sanctified by the adoption of his august 'superior. It is wrong to throw upon the President the responsibility of making these selections. They interest the local feelings of every part of the Union and every section will claim its road or canal. If disappointed, it will be discontented, and nine- tenths of the applicants must be disappointed. No human be- ing can decide upon their jarring pretentions, and give a gen- eral satisfaction. We cannot do it ourselves, though drawn from every part of the Union. The moment we begin to touch the internal improvement fund, we take the attitude of lega- tees, dividing the estate of an ancestor. Each goes for him- self. How stands the question at the moment in the Senate? We have one proposition to divide the fund according to the populations^ of the States ; another to divide according to the rule of paying taxes ; a third to divide according to the superfi- cial content of the States; and each State goes for that, by which it would gain most. The amendment which I have sub- mitted adopts a rule of division different from all these ; it pro- poses to apply^ the fund nationally, to make roads and canals where the national interest requires them, without regard to population, direct taxes, or the size of the States. The Congress can agree upon neither, and it throws the responsibility of divi- sion upon the President. What will be the result ? Why, the President will order some routes to be surveyed, and when the surveys are brought in and an appropriation is demanded, all the disappointed may 'stand together, attack his selection, and defeat it. It was wrong to give the President a legislative duty to perform. The selection of these routes is a legislative func- tion. It involves appropriations and local interests, and may give great advantage to one part of the Union over another. Seventeen years ago, it was said by one of our most eminent •statesmen, that 'The National Legislature alone, embracing every local interest, and superior to every local consideration, IS competent to the selection of such national objects."— (Gal- latin on Roads and Canals.) It is wrong to give the executive the vast increase of patronage which the general provisions of this bill will con- fer upon him. It was said in England thirty years ago, that the power of the Crown had increased, was increasing and ought to be diminished. The same may be said of the patron- age of the American Executive ; and shall we, instead of dimin- ishing, add to it some twenty or thirty million more? Shall we refuse to sit here and vote upon these routes in our char- 224 National Old Trails Road acters of Senators, and then rush to our President, and in the supplicant posture of petitioners, humbly sue him for a divi- sion of the spoil? The adoption of the amendment will prevent all these evils, will save the President from a labor to which he ought not to be subjected, from a responsibility to which he ought not to be exposed — from a legislative duty which does not belong to him — from an increase of patronage which may bring the members of the National Legislature in crowds to his feet. Then he proceeds : "The routes specified in the amendment are National. They are : FOR ROADS. 1. From Washington City, south to Florida. 2. From Washington City, north to Maine. 3. From Washington City, southwest . through Virginia and Tennessee. 4. From Washington City, northwest, in completion of the Cumberland road to Missouri. 5. From New Orleans to Columbus, in Ohio." Upon the subject of the , roads which his amendment spe-. cified, Mr. Benton would be brief. Their number and direction had been stated. Issuing from the doors of the Capital, four of them would proceed to the four grand divisions of the Republic. The fifth traversing the valley of the Mississippi, from north to 'south, would pass through the center of the intermediate States, intersecting the great southwest road, in Tennessee, and the great northwest road in the State of Ohio. Each of them combines the characteristics of National high- ways. They follow the direction of traveling, whether for business or pleasure — the direction of the great mails, and the lines upon which troops would be marched for the defense of the country. "Have we the money to execute this great system of in- ternal improvement ? * * * "Here, then, are ample funds for carrying on the great works advocated in the amendment. Admit that they shall require twenty-five to thirty millions, yet they are not to be completed in a year, and the amount will not be required at once. An annual appropriation of two or three millions, dis- tributed in due proportions among the different works, would complete them all in some ten or fifteen years. We should then have all the grand divisions of the Republic united and bound together by great leading roads and canals, made at the National expense. The State government might complete the system, by executing smaller works at their own expense. When completed, the whole would redound to the benefit to The Great Historic Highway 225 WASHINGTON'S FIRST ilONUMEKT. The first monument ever erected to the memory of George Washing- ton stands in a bramble patch on the summit of South Mountain, near Boonsboro, Md., its top knocked off by lightning and its side rent by an alien enemy's dynamite. It was built by Boonsboro citizens who had fought under Washington in the Revolution and was dedicated July 4, 1827. At the instigation of Harvey S. Bromberger, state senator of Maryland, Representative Zihlman, in whose district it stands, will ask congress to restore the pile and make it a public reservation. It over- looks the Antietam and Gettysburg battle fields. Harper's Ferry, the route of General Sheridan's famous ride, and a number of other historic spots. All who go over the National Old Trails Highway east and west, pass the spot. 226 National Old Trails Road all, parts of the country, and of every individual in the com- munity. Roads and canals are objects of universal use and convenience. They belong to that class of benefits which it is the noblest ambition of the statesman to bestow upon his country. The most eminent conquerers have deemed their glory incomplete, unless crowned with the merit of these benefi- cent works. The great Napoleon, when giving the law to Europe, was also engaged in digging canals and opening roads through the interior of France. Caesar, when triumphant over all enemies, gave orders to drain the Pontine marshes, to cut through the isthmus of Corinth, to dig harbors on the coast of Italy, and to open roads across the Appenine mountains. "Our great Washington, in all the situations of his life, when a young man in the Colonial Legislature, when Presi- dent, when again retired to private station, was a constant ad- vocate for internal improvements. To us, who are mere legis- lators, whose peculiar duty it is to apply the public money, I can see no higher object of ambition than that of applying it in a way so universally advantageous to the whole body of the people." A careless reading of "Benton's Thirty Year's View," may mislead the student of history, but the quotation made can be found on Page 534, Annals of Congress, as it was then called, and nowhere eke. Benton's bill was defeated, and the House Bill described before was adopted by a vote of 24 to 18, Benton, himself, voting for the House Bill. Monroe approved it, but as Benton well says, it drew from him one of the greatest messages ever delivered to Congress. In part, it reads as follows : "Good roads will promote many very important National purposes : They will facilitate the operations of war, the movements of troops, the transportation of cannon, of pro- visions and every warlike store, much to our advantage and to the disadvantage of the enemy in time of war. Good roads will facilitate the transportation of mail, and thereby promote the purposes of commerce and political intelligence among the people. They will, by being properly directed to these objects, enhance the value of our vacant lands as treasure of vast re- source to the Nation. To the appropriation of the public money to improvements having these objects in view and carried to a certain extent I do not 'see any well founded constitutional ob- jection. "* * * There is another view in which these improve- ments are still of more vital importance. The effect which they would have on the bond of Union itself affords an in- ducement for them more powerful than any which have been urged or than all of them united. The only danger to which our system is exposed arises from its expansion over a vast The Great Historic Highway 227 territory. Our Union is not held together by standing armies or" by any ties other than the positive interests and powerful attractions of its parts toward each other. Ambitious men may hereafter grow up among us who may promise to them- selves advancement from a change, and by practicing upon the sectional interests, feelings and prejudices endeavor upon various pretexts to promote it. The history of the world is replete with examples of this kind — of military commanders and demagogues becoming usurpers and tyrants, and of their fellow citizens becoming their instruments and slaves. I have little fear of this danger, knowing well how strong the bond which holds us together is and who the people are who are thus held together ; but still, it is proper to look at and to provide against it, and it is not within the compass of human wisdom to make a more effectual provision than would be made by these improvements. With their aid and the inter- course which would grow out of them the parts would soon become so compacted and bound together that nothing could break it." He said further that "a more thorough study of the whole subject had convinced him that Congress has the right to appropriate the National revenues to 'National, not State; General, not Local, purposes,' and that this should be the settled policy of his administration." Lack of time will not permit more than a reference to* the inaugural address, followed by the message of John Quincy Adams, who was elected upon this distinct issue, and during whose term the disastrous report of this Commission was made. Suffice it to say that the purpose of that selfish, sordid, narrow-minded board of pothouse politicians prevailed, and thus the great far-seeing and patriotic purposes of Gallatin, Jefferson, Calhoun, Monroe, Jackson, Clay and Adams was destroyed. But, this part of our history would be incomplete, did we not recall that other great State paper, submitted by Andrew Jackson, who succeeded Quincy Adams. He said: "Although many of the States with laudable zeal and under the influence of an enlightened policy, are successfully apply- ing their separate efforts to work of this character, the desire to enlist the aid of the General Government in the construction of such as, from their nature, ought to devolve upon it, and to which the individual States are inadequate, is both rational and patriotic. And if that desire is not gratified now, it doesn't follovv' that it never will be. The general inteUigence and pub- lic spirit of the American people furnish a sure guaranty that at the proper time this policy will be made to prevail under circumstances more auspicious to this successful prosecution than those which now exist." 228 National Old Trails Road He said further : "That Congress could rightly appropriate the National revenues to roads of general, not local; National^ not State, benefits,'' whereas, the part of the road sought to be improved by Mr. Clay's bill "was purely local, and not of any general, or national benefit, and not a part of a general system." This question again became an issue in the National cam- paign of 1848, and again it won. The same objections had to be met then as now. During that campaign Abraham Lincoln made a great speech on the floor of the House of Representa- tives, which I can quote from very briefly. In part he spoke as follows : "The first position (of the opposition) is, that a system of internal improvements would overwhelm the treasury. That in such a system there is a tendency to undue expansion, is not denied. Such tendency is founded in the nature of the subject. A member of Congress will prefer voting for a bill which contains an appropriation for his district, to voting for one which does not; and when a bill shall be expanded till every district shall be provided for, that it will be too greatly expanded is obvious. But is this any more true in Congress than in the State legislature? If a member of Congress must have an appropriation for his district, so a member of a legisla- ture must have one for his county. And if one will over- whelm the National Treasury, so the other will overwhelm the State Treasury. Go where we will, the difficulty is the same. Allow it to drive us from the hall of Congress, and it will, just as easily, drive us from the State Legislatures. Let us,, then, grapple with it, and test its strength. Now, for the 'second objection — namely, that the burdens of improvements would be general, while their benefits would be local and partial, involving an obnoxious inequality. That there is some degree of truth in this position, I shall not deny. No commercial object of government patronage can be so ex- clusive general as to not be of some peculiar local advantage. "That the subject is a difficult one, cannot be denied. Still it is no more difficult in Congress than in the State Legisla- tures, in the counties, or in the smallest municipal districts which anywhere exist. All can recur to instances of this diffi- culty in the case of country roads, bridges and the like. One man is offended because a road passes over his land, and an- other is offended because it does not pass over his; one is dis- satisfied because the bridge for which he is taxed crosses the river on a different road from that which leads from his house to town ; another cannot bear that the county should be got into debt for these same roads and bridges ; while not a few struggle hard to have roads located over their lands, and then stoutly refuse to let them be opened until they are first paid The Great Historic Highway 229 the damages. Even between the different wards and streets of towns and cities we find this same wrangling and diffi- culty. Now, these are no other than the very difficulties against which, and out of which, the opposition constructs its objections of ^inequality.' ^speculation' and 'crushing the treas- ury.' There is but a single alternative about them ; they are sufficient or they are not. If sufficient they are sufficient out of Congress as well as in it, and there is the end. We must reject them as insufficient, or lie down and do nothing to any authority. Then difficulty though there be, let us meet and encounter it. Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt ; nothing so hard, but search will find it out. Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the Avay. There is now no difficulty 'in finding the way'; cut the pork out of the River and Harbor bill, all army and navy and building biUs and all road bills as well ; let each proposition stand on its own merits, and if it will not bear the acid test of being a National proposition, then the National revenues ought not to be appropriated. Let there be a Budget Com- mittee to which all appropriation bills shall be referred. We have proposed a bill modeled after Senator Benton's bill, pro- viding for a system of 50,000 miles of National Highways, to be built and maintained by the General Government, without levying one dollar of additional taxes. This may seem large, but it is less than 2 per cent of our roads and will serve 66 per cent of our population, and if those living in adjoining counties are included, this system will serve 92 per cent of the people ; 6 per cent of the roads of France are National roads. Can't we build 2 per cent? $25,000,000 appropriated annually for a period of ten years will build the entire system, if the average cost be $5,000 per mile. To what better purpose can it be applied?" 230 National Old Trails Road EXCERPTS FROM NATIONAL OLD TRAILS BULLETIN. Issue of March 15, 1919. Look at the situation today, at the close of this World War ! Europe is prostrate, and the universal cry is for raw material, raw material, raw material. We are ready to fur- nish it. We, the United States, have but 6 per cent of the world's population, and own but 7 per cent of the land, yet we produce 70 per cent of the world*s copper, 66 per cent of the oil, 75 per cent of the corn, 67 per cent of the meat, 60 per cent of the cotton, 52 per cent of the coal, 33 per cent of the silver, 40 per cent of the iron and steel, 25 per cent of the wheat, 20 per cent of the gold, and 40 per cent of the railroads^ totaling one-third or more of the total wealth of the world. At the beginning of the war we owed four billion dollars to loreign nations, and now foreign nations owe us ten billion dollars ! We had no ships. In 1920, we will have twice as many ships as England with which to carry this immense commerce, unless the backward looking, political obstruction- ists, prevent it. Fifty per cent, however, of our perishable products never reach the markets on account of bad roads. We need but one additional factor to complete our feHcity, and one, too, that will not impoverish, but greatly enhance both private and National wealth, to-wit : National highways, sup- plemented by State, County and local roads, all connected^ forming a complete system of good roads everywhere. Our total railroad mileage is 231,177, distributed as- follows : The Eastern District has 59,080 miles. The Southern Dis- trict has 42,752 miles. The Western District has 129,345 miles, capitalized at $22,000,000,000. Less than one-third of this sum will build an equal mileage of dependable, hard-surfaced, wagon- roads. More than two-thirds of our railroad mileage is in the South and West, and more than four-fifths of the raw material- while the nine Eastern States of New York, Pennsylvania, New jersey, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, having only 5 per cent of the area o f the United States, have one-half the national wealthy The GREA.T Historic Highway 231 and will, therefore, pay one-half the cost of building and for- ever after maintaining National Highways in the other thirty- nine States of the Union — therefore: - ' ' The people of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California:, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan^ Min- nesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New- Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ore- gon,. South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming would each pay, each year, for their National Highways, only one dollar and fifty cents for 20 years, and you would never know how nor when you paid it. These thirty-nine States of the West, Middle West and South have 390 Senators and Representatives in Congress— a majority of 124 votes. Therefore, the West, Middle West and South have the power to gain National Highways at one-half their cost, and maintenance forever, by simply waking up. And this is absolutely fair, equitable and just. This pur- pose is not sectionally advocated by the West or South, but because it is fair, just and equitable, is warmly advocated' by the far-seeing, enlightened, progressive and constructive states- manship of many of the Eastern States. No National improve- ment is so general as not to be of some local advantage, and never so local as not to be of some general benefit. J. M. LOWE, President National Old Trails Association. PRELUDE. From February 25, 1920, Bulletin. It matters little who first suggested a system of National Highways, but it matters much whether the prevailing senti- ment shall be translated into such system now, or whether it shall be permitted to fade out by inaction, as it dicj^ after v/inning in a National election in 1824 — and it matters niuch more whether or not this is the true solution of this question. May we not appropriate the following from Henry Ford's page in the DearlDorn Independent, as confirmatory of the propaganda and accomplishments of this Association : "What kills propaganda is the obvious purpose behind it. One little admixture of self-interest and your effort is wasted." That has been the foundation principle upon which this Association has stood from the beginning. It has no axe to grind, no selfish interest to serve, no salaried officers, no one trying to make this a stepping stone to political preferment. 232 National Old Trails Road or to "something better." We make no appeal for support in order that some one may be personally benefited thereby; nor has this Association any selfish interest behind it to sustain it, nor has it received one dollar knowingly, from any selfish source, unless the contributions of those along its line be thus classified; and this can not be truthfully claimed, because our work has always included the general good of the whole country. The man or Association bottomed on a great truth "need not worry about the indifference of the multitude ; let them tie their fortunes to this fact. In due time it will find its place. Agreement does not make facts. But facts make agree- ment. People who don't agree with the truth get bumped by it. It is not our place to do the bumping — the truth takes care of that." The only legitimate propaganda along all lines of material and spiritual endeavor- is the ascertainment and establishment of true principles. A true solution of any worthwhile ques- tion is as permanent as the fixed stars. Winter, nor indiffer- ence, will not freeze it ; Summer, nor heated opposition, will not melt it ; apathetic Pessimism will not destroy it. It may be neglected for ages, and men may abuse and falsify it, in- deed may smother it under mountains of error and miscon- ception, but bye and bye truth, ever working unweariedly, will dig itself out, and rise to the top. No falsehood, however in- significant, did it rise Heaven-high and cover the earth, but truth, sooner or later, will sweep it down, for so it is written in the doombook of God. During the march of the Ages, the ad- vocates of Truth have been immolated, but this did not destroy Truth. If this Association is founded upon true principles it will deserve to live in history. This principle was declared in 1806 when the Cumberland — ^(National Road) now a section of the National Old Trails Road — was established by Act of Con- gress, and was reaffirmed by repeated acts of Congress ex- tending it to St. Louis, and finally, by the adoption of a bill in 1824 extending it to Santa Fe, a capital of a foreign State. Thus the National Old Trails Road is not only National in character, but it is the first and only road in the United States established by Act of Congress as a National Road throughout its length. No need for additional legislation is necesisary to make it so. This can not be said of any other road sought to be promoted in the United States. All that remains to be done is to build the road. We pre- pared a Bill to this effect, and had it introduced in Congress in 1913, but it was refused upon the ground that it applied to a single road, and not to any general tsystem of roads. Where- upon, we drew up a Bill establishing a general system of Na- THE HOME OF "CHARLES CARROLL, OF CARROLLTON," ONE OF THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPEND- ENCE, SITUATED BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, ELLICOTT CITY, MD. 234 National Old Trails Road tional Highways, covering some 32,000 miles. This was the first measure of this character brought forward since 1824, but public sentiment was not yet ready for it. Four years ago Congress adopted what is known as the "Federal Aid Law," the direct result of the agitation for National Roads, and which provides for the co-operation of the Federal Government with the States in building roads. This was recognition of the authority and duty of the General Government to apply Federal funds to road building. Its obvious defects are, that it mixes both money and management, neither of which are defensible. And now we have the pending Townsend Bill, and other bills, recognizing the long estabHshed principle of a General system of National Highways, to be built and maintained by the General Government, and this is the principle to which we have always adhered. It took three generations to devise a plan to build the Panama Canal. We were wise enough finally to adopt it as a National undertaking, and placed the respon- sibility for its construction upon a single individual, and we shall finally come to some such practicable, business-like plan in building roads. Any National system adopted will serve as; and take the place of, State and County roads in all the States through which they run, thus relieving such States, Counties, etc., of the cost of their construction and maintenance; and will leave for construction more than any State or County is likely to build. The National road will serve as an object lesson in all the States ; and the State roads, by a well defined system, can connect with such National System, and the County and Town- ship roads with such State systems, all under separate super- vision, thus establishing a United system of Good Roads Everywhere. By such system we can get "through roads," roads that begin and go somewhere. By such system we will get "State" and "County^ seat roads," and by such system we will get "Main Market roads," "radial roads," "roads from the farm to the market," etc., and we can bring this about in no other way. What kind of a system of Railways would we have if the "feeder roads" had been built before the trunk lines? —J. M. L. P. S. — Since the above was written, this office has* received the following special from Harrisburg, Pa. ; "Only one large Pennsylvania highway is open to automobile traffic through- out its length, the State Highway Department announced today. That road is the National Pike, which passes through Washington Pa., Brownsville and Uniontown." The leading editorial in the Ohio Motorist in last October number said : "Now try to cross Ohio on a continuous hard- surfaced road and see what you will find. There is but one, and that is the Old National .Road." The Great Historic Highway 235 Also from the State Highway Board of lUinoi's : "Entire Old National Road across this State is under contract/' At a cost of about $5,000,000. This alone is more than one-half the amount expended on any other road in the United States dur- ing 1919. The Chicago Herald-Examiner of January 25, after men- tioning all the trans-continent.aL roads, says : "The best all- year route is the National Old Trails Road from Washington, D. C, and continuing westerly through Indianapolis, St. Louis^ Kansas City and Pueblo, penetrating the desert of New Mex- ico and Arizona into Los Angeles. Practically the entire stretch from Terre Haute to St. Louis will be closed, however^ during the summer on account of road, construction." J. M. LOWE, President, National Old Trails Road Association.. WOULD CAPITALIZE TAX FOR HIGHWAYS. A plan by which motor car owners, without increasing their present license taxes, can build great trunk highways in every State in the Union, has been devised by Judge J. M. Lowe, of Kansas City, president of the National Old Trails Road Association. In behalf of the plan, it is urged that the farmer would get much of his road building done for nothing and the motorist would have the satisfaction of seeing his license fees applied to a purpose that would benefit him. "I propose that the amounts collected in license fees on motor cars in each State, shall form the basis of bond issues,"^ said Judge Lowe yesterday. "The long and short of the plan,, which, so far as I have been able to learn, is an entirely new one, is the capitalization of the motor car tax for good roads purpose's. "In Missouri, for instance, the automobile tax amounts to- about $80,000 a year. Within the time that it would require to issue bonds it would amount to $90,0(X) a year, and it would keep on increasing. But $90,000 would pay the interest on $1,500,000 in bonds and would also provide a sinking fund to pay off the issue when due. WOULD START SYSTEM. "Suppose we obtain, as we will, federal aid for building the cro'ss-state Highway. It would require only $500,000 to pay the State's share of the expense. We would have $1,000,- OOO left to apply to other great road projects. Or, if Federal aid should fail, we could spend the necessary $1,000,000 on the St. Louis-Kansas City road, and have $500,000 left for other projects. In the end, that automobile license fund, if made 236 National Old Trails Road the basis of bond issues, would build a comparatively fine net- work of macadam roads all over the State. With this network built, the local connecting links would be bound to come." Judge Lowe yesterday opened Old Trails headquarters at 222 Midland building, and began the preliminaries of a cam- paign in behalf of the Old Trails Ocean-to-Ocean Highway. The campaign will have three general divisions. One thing to be accomplished is to induce every State along the route of the trans-continental highway to apply its motor car license fund to the project. A bill containing Judge Lowe's suggestion will be introduced at the next ses- sion of the Missouri General Assembly, and similar bills prob- ably will be introduced in other States which now license motor cars. TO SEEK FEDERAL AID. ^'Another thing that we will most certainly accomplish is the enrollment of 100,000 members in the Old Trails Road Association," said Judge Lowe. "We are ready to begin the work of recruiting now and we are going to comb the terri- tory along the trails with a fine-tooth comb. "We are also going after Federal aid, and will have a committee before the Underwood Congressional Committee, which is to pass upon the claims of various highways for Federal aid. The Old Trails Road is going to get what it is after. It has not only 170 Congressmen who can be depended upon to help, but it has the endorsement of most of our great constructive statesmen of the past — all the way down from Washington and Jefferson. These men, with Clay, Calhoun, Lincoln, Benton and others, saw a long way into the future, and their dreams of a great trans-continental Highway are just about to come true." — The Kansas City Journal, May 1, 1912. Twenty-four States, including Missouri, have adopted this plan, and they all agree it has solved their difficulties.^ This is not a proposition to levy a tax, but only a proposition to appropriate a tax already levied to road construction. — (Editor.) HISTORY IN THE MAKING. The marking or monumenting of the Santa Fe Trail was first suggested by Mrs. ex-Governor Bradford L. Prince, State Regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution of New Mexico, in 1898, to erect an arch at the end of the Trail in Santa Fe in honor of the home-coming of the soldiers of the Spanish-American War. In the ensuing year, at a congress of the D. A. R. in Washington, she interested the State Regent The Great Historic Highway 237 of Kansas, wife of Governor Stanley, and she entered into the plan of marking the Trail across that State with such enthu- siasm that the Legifslature of 1905 appropriated $1,000 for this purpose, and the school children of the State raised an addi- tional $584.40. Shortly thereafter the Legislature of Colorado appropriated $2,000 for the same purpose. In 1909 the last Territorial Legislature of New Mexico appropriated $600 toward this work, and in 1911 the Legislature of Missouri appropriated $3,000 to this purpose. In the meantime, the question of establishing and adopt- ing a Cross-State Highway had arisen in Missouri, and there was sharp competition by three rival lines, with the result that the State Board of Agriculture adopted the Central, or ''College Route," as the First Cross-State Highway. This route, while substantially following the route of the Boone's Lick and Santa Fe Trail across the State, varies at many points, some times for several miles. In Howard County, for instance, two rival lines were adopted, and there was no thought or pretense of adopting the Santa ¥e Trail in its orig- inal integrity as part of either of these alternative routes. In April, 1912, the National Old Trails Road Association adopted in Missouri the "First Cross-State Highway" from St. Louis to Kansas City (approximating the Boonslick Road, Old Santa Fe Trail). The marking and monumenting as provided for in the Act of the Missouri Legi'slature did not pretend to follow the line of the First Cross-State Highway, now the National Old Trails Road — the road which has been permanently located and sign-posted from Los Angeles to St. Louis, and is being permanently constructed. The Act appropriating the money for marking had reference only to the Santa Fe Trail, and in many places the monuments are miles away from "The Old Trails Road,'' being as much as 15 to 18 miles south of the Western terminus of the N. O. T. in this State. In Kansas the "National Old Trails Road" varies at many places from the Santa Fe Trail, owing to the topography of the country, etc., and the marking or monumenting in that State also follows the "Santa Fe Trail" substantially, but not accurately, regardless of the National Old Trails Road. Now, why not remove these monuments and place them where they would serve some useful purpose? 238 National Old Trails Road CHAPTER VI. BOONSLICK ROAD AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. November 17, 1915. Judge J. M. Lowe, Kansas City. Dear Judge: I have had yours of several days ago on my desk ever since I received it, meaning daily to reply, but you know how procrastination steals a busy man's time without my telling. I feel as you do, that some connected history of the pro- motion of the Old Trails agitation, and who did it, should be recorded for the edification of future generation's. I do not know the date of the first agitation of the Cross- State Highway idea, but Curtis Hill does and can give prob- ably more detail information than any one else. I did not get into the fight until a meeting of the State Board of Agri- culture, the summer of 1907, during Governor Hadley's ad- ministration, at which meeting he was present. My idea was to present the claims of New and Old Franklin and Boonville as being important points in the actual route of the Boonslick Road and the Santa Fe Trail. When I propo'sed it to our people here at New Franklin they were inclined to laugh at me so I went to Jefferson City alone and through the inter- cession and help of Secretary Wilson and my friend Curtis Hill I was given time before the board to tell my story and present the claims of this section. On that day there was a special train on the River Route of the Missouri Pacific, bringing about 800 excursionists armed with spades, shovels and picks bearing large printed signs pasted on them. They marched up to the Madison House and serenaded the Governor and Board and then our fight started. I saw them pointing me out as the lone man from Boonville and I did feel very lonely, but I nevertheless faced the music and plead our case before the Board and with what result you know. I at- tended the next meeting at Jefferson City, the only one from Boonville, but I had the able help of Dr. Morris N. McGuire, Dr. Tom Hall, T. B. Morris and Col. Brockway of Arrow Rock, who, with J. P. Biggs, Watson Diggs and others of that place always rendered valuable help in the good roads cause. After that the principal workers here were C. A. Som- bart, W, F. Johnson, W. M. Williams, John S. Elliott, C. E. The Great Historic Highway 239 Leonard, Albert M. Hall, Speed and A. H. Stephens, A. A. Wallace and others ; and from New Franklin and Howard County in behalf of the Franklin Route, J. A. Maxwell, W. W. Carpenter, Charley Lee, and Robert Weyland. I should have mentioned C. E. Meierhoffer in the Boonville list. Our principal fight here was to establish the claim of New and Old Franklin, Boonville and Arrow Rock to be recognized as points on the Boonslick Road and the Santa Fe Trail. I made an address at the National Old Trails meet- ing at Kansas City on that subject at the request of Walter Williams, at the meeting at which you were elected president. If there are any dates or other data which I can give let me know and I will take trouble to look it up. Command me in any way you need. Still fighting and hoping for the Old Trails Road, I am. Yours very truly, SAMUEL W. RAVENEL. 240 National Old Trails Road APPENDIX. "MOTORING ACROSS THE CONTINENT IS EASY/* BY HON. WESLEY L. JONES, United States Senator from Washington. Twenty years ago the automobile was a curiosity. Ten years later pioneer drivers began to cross the continent. Such trips were deemed very dangerous and when made were thought wonderful achievements. If it had been suggested to me that I would drive to Seattle from Washington and back, I would have ridiculed the idea. Now thousands of people make the trip each year and the number is increasing rapidly. Those who have made the trip may not care for this story, but those who are thinking of making it for the first time may find something in it that will give them confi- dence in themselves and some information that may be helpful. I know nothing of mechanics and have learned nothing of the philosophy of a car. If anything goes wrong short of a flat tire or broken rod, ^ am helpless. I don't know where to look for trouble, and I don't know it when I see it and I don't know what to do when it is pointed out to me. I know how to steer a car, clean a spark plug, change a tire if there is an extra one around, and fill and turn grease cups. With this lack of knowledge, it may have been a reckless thing for me to try to make this trip, and especially to take Mrs. Jones along, but she was game, and, when we landed m Seattle, after driving five thousand two hundred miles, we were ready to drive on the next day if our journey had re- quired it ; and, when we reached Washington from Seattle, at the end of another three-thousand-eight-hundred-mile trip, we picked up a couple of friends, went to dinner, and then took a pleasure ride around the Speedway. If I could drive across the country and back again, anyone who can steer a car can do the same thing. I had all sorts of advice before I started. Much of it was rather discouraging to anyone inclined to look at the dark side of things, or to hunt for trouble. I am somewhat of a Coueist. I keep unpleasant things out of mind as long as possible. They will come soon enough and it does no good to worry over them, and it is not pleasant to live among fore- bodings. Many people seem to delight in suggesting the most harrowing things, instead of anticipating the pleasures that rTLi jLong View / '«,u = ,r Walla Walla Albany^. rAshland y^-^' " Onranw #/Redding|7 n J Twin Falls ^ [QA-L 111 Fo.;|/ SAn vSacramenho FRAN QISCOi stocklo^\ SALT LAI I CITY / l-ort o / -«,:^jdwlins Green piver ^>^:^Jedicine Bow ■■-^""^"^^CheW. LMerced / / \ I LOS ANGELES f 'QRAND CANYON^ ww'/tw eia„r\ ) ^-bmofAnd Canyon • /Holbrook A 1^ II S >> YOSCMITZ \1 NATIONAL. PARK Wawona\ rresno *> \ ■% 'A B^kersfield " DENVER^ -j M E B , Whcelind PA" Ha&rstown';^ r L ©o LaJunha INDIANAPOLIS^ I KANSAS o V DLL, Council (jrove M ^ Purnberland^ rO- V frederich WASHINGTON I Dodge Cify CUFf DIVCLLIA/6S- Ratoni SANTA FE jLas Vegas PCTPinco ^ALBUQUERQUE aqdelcna Socorro J mSHJNGTOT»,D-C2WA$HIN0TC(J« STATE J ANii RETURN- Rour* of Nioe-Thou6an<)-/1ile A\oforTnp roiiowed bj HON .WESLEY L.JONES SENIOR UNITCC STATC) iCNAtOll a o w !> H a s I— I Q w I— I Hi ROUTE FOI.l,OWISD BY THE SENATOR 242 National Old Trails Road may come. Once when I was getting ready to go in an air- plane from Washington to New York, and was about to climb aboard, a friend of mine came up with a long, doleful face and said, "Old man, I want to shake hands with you before you go, as I may never see you again;" and just before start- ing I was handed a blank to fill out asking if I had made my will and where my body should be sent if anything should happen to me. Of course these suggestions had a very sooth- ing effect. So in preparing for my trip, all sorts of joyous suggestions were m?d^ One friend said I might run into a cyclone, and another had me stuck in the mud many miles from help ; one saw me marooned in the desert with a flat tire and no extra one to put on ; another predicted sickness with a doctor many miles away; one saw rain storms making the roads impassable ahead, and another saw highwaymen and wild Indians coming on from behind, and all said I could not stand driving day after day for a month. Thus did good friends help us on our way. Our reply was of course that some things may go wrong. We may have flat tires, but we can replace them ; the roads may be muddy, but we have no set time to get through and will wait until they get good; something may go wrong with the machine, but we will hope not and meet it when it comes ; we don't fear bandits because we will have nothing they will care for, and as for wild Indians we have lived long enough in the West to know there are no such things. We waited impatiently for the day to start. The weather had been rainy. We were determined to leave Washington on a clear, bright day. The car was carefully gone over, fresh oil and grease were put in wherever needed; the brakes were carefully adjusted, the distributing points were cleaned, the carbon was removed, and the valves reground. The tires on the car had already gone thirteen thousand miles, but they did not look much worn. One had only had a puncture and we finally decided to start out with them. We thought we had already had our money's worth, and so we would run them until they gave out and get new ones to replace them. When we landed in Seattle, we had the same old tires on the car and had been troubled with only two or three punctures. We left Washington, D. C, Monday morning, April 9, and stopped 40 miles west of St. Louis Thursday evening about 6 o'clock. This part of the trip was uneventful but very enjoyable. The road was the "National Old Trail" and is paved all the way. I made 314 miles one day with but little effort. It is no trouble to follow the road through the cities,* as it is the main street in all of them and plainly marked. The road through the Alleghany Mountains are cultivated here and there to twelve in number, going down on one side The Great Historic Highway 243 almost to the level where one 3tarts up on the other, in this respect differing very much from the mountains of the West. These mountains are cultivated here and there to the top and the trip through them when everything is green is entrancing. Aside from going into the Yosemite Park, the heaviest grades and hardest pulls going across the country are those through here from about forty miles west of Cumberland to Wheeling, W. Va. Gasoline and repair stations are all along the way every few miles, and camping grounds may be found at fre- quent intervals, some free and some where a small charge is made. Frequent warning signs are seen and if they are heeded there is little danger of accidents. As we rolled along this splendid pavement for almost a thousand miles through villages, towns and cities every few miles, we could not help but remark at the position of ad- vantage which eastern people have in almost every way. They are nearer the big markets of the country and ha^e at their service a network of steam and electric railways, in addition to the network of gravel or hard-surfaced roads. Thursday evening it began to rain about 10 o'clock and rained hard until 4 or 5 o'clock Friday afternoon. The pave- ment was behind us and the dirt roads of Missouri were in front of us. Missouri people do not talk of the roads they have, but of the roads they expect to have when the one hun- dred and twenty-two millions of dollars now available are spent. They expect to have a concrete road completed from St. Louis to Kansas City within twelve or eighteen months; We found about ten miles of this concrete road completed on our return to Washington six months later. When the rai)fi ceased, the sun came out. There was considerable wind and the road dried rapidly. We started on our way Saturday morning, but after going about twenty miles we concluded to stay over for another day, as the roads had been recently worked and were rather slick and rutty and we were told of some very deep holes a little way ahead. We left the next morning about 10 o'clock and soon found the mud-holes. They were not as bad as I expected from what I had been told arid we had no difficulty in getting through in low gear, and 20 rods distance would cover all the really bad road we had to Kansas City. We were often told of the bad roads ahead and it is peculiar how bad they make roads in telling of them. We looked forward many times with considerable anxiety to the roads we had been told about, but we never found any of them as bad as we expected. Service Along the Way in Missouri. From St. Louis to Kansas City there is no lack of garages and gasoline stations along the way, and you will find good 244 National OtD Trails Road places to stop for meals or lodging. Let me suggest that if you find at a little place west of St. Louis where the hotel man- says he has the best ' hotel between St/ Louis and Kansas City, ydu go on to the next place and you will find a nice, clean, homelike hotel with good home cooking and thereby avoid very unattractive quarters and poor meals at high rates. From Kansas City, two or three different routes can be taken to Colorado, one just about as good as the other in the same kind of weather. We had a stretch of about 20 miles of paved roads, the rest being generally a graded, dirt road, well kept and when dry almost as good to drive over as pavement. We had just enough bad road to appreciate what Kansas roads are when wet. Kansas and Missouri at the present time are uncertain States for the autoist. If it rains, the roads are bad, but they soon dry and one will not. be long delayed, unless the rain con- tinues from day to day. The farther west you go in Kansas the less danger of rain. We had little dust during the entire trip, but doubtless there is considerable as the dry weather contiAiies. Cheaper to Motor Than to Stay at Home. - From Dodge City to La Junta, Colo., is 255 miles. We made that easily in a day. Right here I will say something of the cost of living as you motor;- Talk of ^^ofif spring — it ends after you leave Cumberland goin^ west and it begins at Wheeling coming east. Outside of these places as indicated the ' cost of living is cut in two. At Cumberland we paid $7.00 for a room and bath for the two of us. At Zanesville we had u larger room, better beds, a better bath, had a fine supper and breakfast for both and it all cost just $6.50. Garage stor- age dropped from a dollar a night to 50 cents, and at some places it was 35 cents. At La Junta, Colo., for dinner- for the two of us we had two good steaks, corn, rice, potatoes, a fruit salad, Spring onions, two pieces of blackberry pie, a baked apple, glass of milk, biscuits, rye bread and butter and the entire cost was $1.20. We can motor across the country at less expense, and live better, than if we had stayed in Wash- ington. From La Junta we went to Raton, New Mexico, over the Raton Pass. The elevation of this pass is seventy-eight hun- dred feet, but the rise is so gradual that the summit is easily reached in high gear, barring forced stops. The country passed through is dry and barren, but quite interesting to look at with snow-capped mountains in the distance. The road is good, being mostly gravel and barring a very hard rain, must be good most of the year. The Raton Pass is kept open all the year. While towns are very far apart, there are garages The Great Historic Highway 245 and gasoline stations every few miles. The descent from the top of the Pass down to Raton is very abrupt for one thou- sand feet or more, but the road is good and there is no dan- ger if your brakes are all right and one drives carefully. From Raton we went to Santa Fe by way of Las Vagas. We took two days, although we could have made it in one very easily. The road was good with a great deal of detour- ing on account of road construction. About 20 miles out from Santa Fe there were a few miles of rather rough roads which would be really dangerous if wet. This was in Glorieta Can- yon, New Mexico. Evidences of an Earlier Civilization. At Santa Fe there is a long low building known as the Governor's Mansion which was built before Jamestown or Plymouth. Here also are buildings of an age and civilization that take us back to medieval Spain and to a tropical clime. Here the early Spaniards fought ? civilization that antedotes them and saw the evidences of a nation that has left no written record, of any kind, but the traces left show it was here, possibly thousands of years ago. We spent three most interesting days at and about Santa Fe. We visited the Frejioles Canyon Cliff dwellings and saw the rums of a communal house of several hundred rooms. This canyon, they will tell you at Santa Fe, is 30 miles away. It IS 39 by the speedometer. The road is fairly good with one long, steep and rocky grade. There is a good place to stop and nice camping grounds, if one wishes to camp, and one should go prepared to stay over night. We did not do so and this made our day's trip rather hurried in order to get back to Santa Fe. The ridge where you leave your auto, and from which you descend to the valley below, is covered with a forest of large trees. Along the road among the trees are mounds of what appear to be dirt covered, broken rocks which when examined, showed plainly to be the parts of walls of buildings built ages ago. Some of them had been excavated so as to show the walls of these ancienf structures The dreamer, the poet and the archaeologist can revel amon^ the mysteries of this enchanted land and dream and speculate about a people who lived and struggled and fought and died and passed away without leaving a line or word to tell us of themselves." (Copied from the March number of the American Motor- ist the official magazine of the American Automobile Asso- ciation, and wilLbe continued in April number. Shall the effort to complete this highway be stopped, and this traffic of . a continent be diverted, or shall we perpetuate it oerma- 246 National. Old Trails Road INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. National Capitol 5 George Washington g J. M. Lowe 19 The Road in Missouri 21 "The Scout" 35 Governor Herbert S. Hadley 41 Washington Monument, Washington Place, Baltimore, Md 61 Stage Coach 75 On the Old Trail 75 Henry Clay 85 Chestnut Ridge, Maryland 88 Old Covered Bridge, Ohio 102 The White House Jefferson 105 Albert Gallatin 115 In the Alleghanies 125 La Bajada 126 National Old Trails Road in Indiana 133 Abraham Lincoln 135 Cumberland Gap 147 James Buchanan 153 Thomas H. Benton 159 Presenting Van Buren Gavel r- 1^5 National Old Trails Road in Ohio - 169 Charles Henry Davis 175 Emblem, National Highway Association - 178 National Old Trails in Arizona 1^5 Emigrants to the West - 211 Fac Simile of Sign Posts on N. O. T. Road 220 Washington's First Monument 225 Home of Charles Carroll - • 233 Map of N. O. T. Route Followed by Senator Jones of Seattle in Trip From Washington, D. C - 241 Map Showing Route of National Old Trails Road Inside Back Cover The Great Historic Highway 247 INDEX. Page. Appeal of the Road — Poem 7 Introductory 9 Missouri Section of the National Old Trails Road, Established as '*The Cross-State Highway" in 1907 1 22 Argument of Dean Walter Williams, of Columbia, and others, at a Meeting held in Jefferson City, Presided Over by Governor Hadley, at the time the Missouri Section of the N. O. T. Road was Established 57 Appeal of Mrs. Ann Laurels Aull, of Lexington 65 Comparison of Different Routes 68 Resolutions of Adoption 74 Address by J. M. Lowe, Introduced and Made Part of Congressional Record by Hon. Wm. P. Borland 89 Speech of J. M. Lowe, at Atlanta, Ga 100 Second Annual Federal Aid Good Roads Convention by the Amer- ican Automobile Association, March, 1913 103 Resolutions Adopted at the Convention of the A. A. A., March, 1913 113 Address of Hon. Henry W. Anderson, of Richmond, Va 116 The Oldest Road on the North American Continent 126 Proceedings in Part of Convention N. O. T. Association, Septem- ber, 1921 128 Speech of Abraham Lincoln on Internal Improvements, 1848 134 Speech of Andrew Stewart, of Pennsylvania — 1829 146 Speech (in part) of Senator Works, of California, in the Senate of U. S , 155 Speech of the President of the N. O. T. Road Association, in Chi- cago— 1918 '.. 160 Resolutions Adopted at Highway Industries Congress in Chicago.... 167 Speech of Hon. Wm. P. Borland, House of Representatives 170 Address of the President of this Association, at Indianapolis, Ind..„ 179 Address by the President of this Association at Zanesville, 0 186 Bill Establishing National Highways Introduced in Congress 201 Arguments Submitted in Behalf of the Bill 212 The Townsend Bill 215 Address by the President of this Association, at St, Paul, Minn 221 Excerpts From N. O. T. Road Association Bulletins 230 Move to Capitalize Automobile Tax for Road Purposes 235 History in the Making 236 Letter of Capt. S. W. Ravenel 238 Motoring Across the Continent, by Senator Jones, of Seattle 240