Office of Public Roads Inquiry.
—A very few lines of the Congressional Record serves to introduce the beginning of a great instrumentality for good roads in America. On January 26, 1893, Representative Deborow introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives, “instructing the committee on agriculture to incorporate in the agricultural appropriation the sum of $15,000 to be expended for the purpose of making investigations for a better system of roads.”[134] On the same day Representative Lewis presented a similar resolution “instructing the committee on agriculture to incorporate in the bill making appropriations for the Agricultural Department a clause authorizing the Secretary to make inquiry regarding public roads.”[135] Both resolutions were referred to the committee on agriculture. As a final result a statute carrying an appropriation of $10,000 was approved March 3, 1893. Under this statute the Office of Public Roads Inquiries was instituted, October 3, 1893, with “General Roy Stone, of New York, recognized as a superior civil engineer, and thoroughly identified with the popular movement toward the improvement of the highways in the several states, in charge.”[136]
The Letter of Instructions of the Secretary of Agriculture to General Stone upon his appointment summarizes the statute and defines the object and scope of the inquiry to be made. The last paragraph of the instructions shows that the old theory of “state sovereignty,” still had a place in the mind of the Secretary, and it was not for several years that this office did more than the mere collection of information relative to roads. The letter follows:[137]
U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Office of the Secretary,
Washington, D. C., October 3, 1893.
Sir: You have been this day appointed to supervise and carry out the investigations pursuant to the statute approved March 3, 1893, which has four branches:
(1) To make inquiries in regard to the systems of road management throughout the United States.
(2) To make investigations in regard to the best method of road-making.
(3) To prepare didactic publications on this subject, suitable for distribution.
(4) To assist the agricultural colleges and experiment stations in disseminating information on this subject.
It will not be profitable to enter upon all of these points at first. The work under the appropriation will need to be of gradual growth, conducted at all times economically. Therefore, it is not expected that there will be any considerable force of clerical help, and aside from your salary, no considerable expenditure for the present. It is understood that you have at your command the data for a compilation of the laws of several of the states, upon which their road systems are based. It should be your first duty, therefore, to make such collection complete, and prepare a bulletin on that subject.
Incidentally, while preparing this bulletin, you should charge yourself with collecting data relating to the different methods of road making, which, in the first instance, should be generic in their character; including—
(1) The best method of constructing a common highway, without gravel or stone.
(2) Gravel highways.
(3) Macadam and other stone roads.
(4) Data upon which to base suggestions for the transportation of material within reasonable access, for the proper surfacing of the roadbed. These data should form the foundation for the second bulletin, or second series of bulletins.
There are certain restrictions I wish specifically to bring to your attention. It must be borne in mind that the actual expense in the construction of these highways is to be borne by the localities and states in which they lie. Moreover, it is not the province of this Department to seek to control or influence said action, except in so far as advice and wise suggestion shall contribute toward it. This Department is to form no part of any plan, scheme, or organization, or to be a party to it in any way, which has for its object the concerted effort to secure and furnish labor to the unemployed persons or to convicts. These are matters to be carried on by states, localities, or charities. The Department is to furnish information, not to direct and formulate any system of organization, however efficient or desirable it may be. Any such effort on its part would soon make it subject to hostile criticism. You will publish this letter in the preface to your first bulletin.
Yours truly,
J. Sterling Morton,
Secretary.
Mr. Roy Stone,
Special Agent and Civil Engineer in charge of
Good Roads Investigations.
The Office followed these instructions pretty closely for several years. General Stone and his successor General Dodge encouraged the formation of good roads organizations. In fact General Stone prior to the institution of the Office of Road Inquiries was instrumental in organizing at Chicago in connection with the dedication of the World’s Fair in 1893, the National League for Good Roads. General Stone himself attributed to the influence of this League the organization of the Office of Public Roads and the great work which it has since accomplished.[138]
Other good roads organizations were springing up. The Office of Public Road Inquiries encouraged these to the extent of publishing addresses given at their conventions as bulletins upon the theory that the information relative to road improvements throughout the United States was in line with the object and scope of the Office.
The organization known as the National Good Roads Association, with W. H. Moore of St. Louis, Missouri, as president, and R. W. Richardson, of Omaha, Nebraska, as secretary, seems to have been especially active. Colonel Moore was a man of impressive manner, suave and affable, and was able to interest and associate with him many very influential people. He was a born “good roads booster.” He always worked with the men in power. Directors Stone and Dodge not only had prominent places on his convention programmes, but recommended to the Secretary of Agriculture that the proceedings be printed as Departmental Bulletins. This was for a time helpful to the cause of good roads, for the conventions were addressed by able and influential men. Director Dodge in his letter of transmittal of the proceedings of the convention held at St. Louis, Missouri, April 27 to 29, 1903, to Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, says:[139]
Among the distinguished speakers who delivered addresses were Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States; Hon. William J. Bryan, of Nebraska; General Miles, of the United States Army; Governor Dockery, of Missouri; Governor Cummins, of Iowa; Hon. A. C. Latimer, United States Senator from South Carolina; Hon. W. D. Vandiver, member of Congress from Missouri; Hon. D. R. Frances, president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Committee; Hon. J. H. Brigham, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture; General Roy Stone, of New York; and Mr. Samuel Hill, of Washington. Addresses were also delivered by prominent men engaged in agriculture, railway transportation, commercial pursuits, and newspaper work.
This organization, like many state good-roads organizations, had no permanent membership list. Any city that would “finance” a convention could get one. Invitations were sent to governors, mayors, county officers, city officers, commercial clubs urging them to appoint delegates to the conventions. As a result large conventions were promoted and held at Chicago, St. Louis, Buffalo, Portland, and elsewhere, usually in connection with some exposition or fair.
There being no permanent membership the only way to finance such undertakings was by popular subscriptions and donations from social, commercial and political bodies. Colonel Moore[140] went to New York and talked to the president of the Illinois Central railroad, Mr. Stuyvesant Fish, and asked for a special “train of fifteen cars to carry modern road machinery.” “How much will this project cost?” asked Mr. Fish. Moore replied, “As near as we can figure it out, to furnish and operate this train for three months will cost you $40,000 to $50,000.” President Fish replied, “That is a large amount to throw in the mud, but we will consider it.” The train was granted. In the language of Colonel Moore, the “railroad company shouldered the burden.” The government through the Office of Public Roads furnished two expert engineers, other engineers and necessary employees were hired. This train made the trip from Chicago to New Orleans. Advance-agents were sent along the way to secure the coöperation of the various communities. They were asked to raise a sufficient amount of money to defray the local expenses. Moore states, “we did not visit a single city in the South where we laid the matter before the mayor, the city council, and the supervisors that they did not promptly respond in the affirmative.” Road machinery carried on the train was explained by men frequently sent along for this purpose by the manufacturers who had donated its use or by engineers and others in charge. Short sections of road were graded and stoned—“object lesson roads were built.” Similar trains were run over the Lake Shore Road, and later over the Southern Railway. The latter at a cost of about $80,000; the road equipped the train, fed the men and furnished Pullman cars for sleeping accommodations. The last such train was over the Northern Pacific. This particular organization (there were others) and its work has been thus fully mentioned to show how thoroughly the propaganda was carried on which resulted later in the greatest road-building campaign in the history of the world. The National Good Roads Association came to grief at the Portland Exposition in 1905, where strenuous opposition developed to the financing methods of Mr. Moore and an unsuccessful effort was made to oust him from the presidency of the association. James W. Abbott, Pacific Coast Agent for the Office of Public Roads in a newspaper interview among other things said:[141]
“We feel that the wild, reckless and impossible things which Colonel Moore promises to do for communities must later produce a reaction positively disastrous. He has already promised that the construction train of the National Good Roads Association will do an amount of work gratuitously for communities, which, allowing for unavoidable delays, climatic and otherwise, would take more than ten years. The three good roads trains which have heretofore done object-lesson road work have been under the direct operation and executive management of Colonel Richardson. They were wonderfully well-equipped trains, but they demonstrated that the building of suitable object-lesson roads efficiently and economically was not and could not be made a circus proposition.”
In addition to good roads associations, the agitation for better roads was taken up by governors who devoted a not inconsiderable portion of their messages to the legislatures to a discussion of the subject. Even presidents of the United States paid it attention in their messages to Congress. With the coming of the automobile the need of better highways and hard pavements was greatly emphasized. With lots of money for propaganda, with nearly everyone becoming a disciple of good roads, is it any wonder that Congress finally voted for federal aid?
Participation in road conventions and coöperation with more or less spurious organizations was greatly curtailed when Logan Walter Page was promoted to the Directorship of the office. Still, speakers and experts were freely sent to address meetings for the purpose of educating the citizenry to the need of better roads, and how they should go about to obtain them and what such roads will cost. Speakers were, therefore, supposed to give definite and specific information on which local committees might act intelligently. Propaganda for the purpose of influencing legislation in any state or city was tabooed and bulletins took on a more scientific nature relating more to quality, availability, and cost of materials; methods and costs of construction; and efficiency of types of roads.
Road associations have continued to increase and many have and are doing praiseworthy work for the cause of better roads. The Good Roads Year Book, 1914, published by the American Highway Association, of which Director Page was president, listed, giving the names of the principal officers, 1 international, 38 national and 617 state and county associations.