Southern good roads . ailment of the starroute service pa>s a large portion of the exf)euses ofthe Rural Delivery Service. Mr. Simmons: All of it, except $14,000,000. Mr. Gallinger: That is verj interesting. I am gladt( know the fact. 3Ir. Simmons: Yes; and, as the Senator from Vir-ginia (i\Ir. Swanson) suggests to me, the sale of stampswould probably pay that. The average cost per mile traveled is not cpiite 12cents, exclusive or substitutes and of toll and ferriageservice. On nearly one-half of the entire roads of thecountry the Government is now delivering the mails ata cost, say, of 12
Southern good roads . ailment of the starroute service pa>s a large portion of the exf)euses ofthe Rural Delivery Service. Mr. Simmons: All of it, except $14,000,000. Mr. Gallinger: That is verj interesting. I am gladt( know the fact. 3Ir. Simmons: Yes; and, as the Senator from Vir-ginia (i\Ir. Swanson) suggests to me, the sale of stampswould probably pay that. The average cost per mile traveled is not cpiite 12cents, exclusive or substitutes and of toll and ferriageservice. On nearly one-half of the entire roads of thecountry the Government is now delivering the mails ata cost, say, of 12 cents a mile, and it is plain that anyimprovement of these roads would reduce the cost ofthis service. If through road improvement the time recjuired incovering the route could be lessened one-third or one-fourth, it is obvious that there would be a saving inthe cost of the service from $10,000,000 to $15,000, the basis of the present mileage, and without ad-ding a single dollar to the present appropriation, the. Sand Ciay Koad in Moore County, North Carolina, Near Pinehurst service could be extended from 200,000 to 300,000miles, carrying the daily mails to hundreds of thous-ands of farmers who are now denied them. In addition to these reasons growing out of the di-rect pecuniary interest of the Government in betterroads for mail purposes, I submit that the Governmenthas an indirect and general interest, arising from itsduty to promote the public welfare, which invites andjustifies its co-operation in the maintenance and im-l)rovement of the postal highways. The prices of products depend not only upon thecost of production, but also upon the cost of clistribu-tion. Whatever, therefore, adds to the cost of thetransportation necessarily adds to the ultimate costof the product. In recognition of this economic principle there hasbeen much congressional legislation in recent yearslooking toward Government control of railroads, witha view to establishing reasonable transportati
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