of liberty
for which our nation stands, to permit a system of highways on this
continent which will make it a place where now in the twentieth century
foreigners, only, can be happy. The sociological side of the road
question is of more moment today in this country, so far as the health
of our body politic in the future is concerned, than nine-tenths of the
questions most prominent in the two political platforms that come
annually before the people.

William Jennings Bryan, when addressing the Good Roads Convention at St.
Louis in 1903, said:

"It is a well-known fact, or a fact easily ascertained, that the people
in the country, while paying their full share of county, state, and
federal taxes, receive as a rule only the general benefits of
government, while the people in the cities have, in addition to the
protection afforded by the Government, the advantage arising from the
expenditure of public moneys in their midst. The county seat of a
county, as a rule, enjoys the refreshing influence of an expenditure of
county money out of proportion to its population. The capital of a state
and the city where the state institutions are located, likewise receive
the benefit of an expenditure of public money out of proportion to their
population. When we come to consider the distribution of the moneys
collected by the Federal Government, we find that the cities, even in a
larger measure, monopolize the incidental benefits that arise from the
expenditure of public moneys.

"The appropriations of the last session of Congress amounted to
$753,484,018, divided as follows:

Agriculture $ 5,978,160
Army 78,138,752
Diplomatic and consular service 1,968,250
District of Columbia 8,647,497
Fortifications 7,188,416
Indians 8,512,950
Legislative, executive, and judicial departments 27,595,958
Military Academy 563,248
Navy 81,877,291
Pensions $ 139,847,600
Post Office Department 153,401,409
Sundry Civil 82,722,955
Deficiencies 21,561,572
Permanent annual