Community Civics and Rural Life Part 34

and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the a.s.sistance of counsel for his defense" (Amendment VI). "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted" (Amendment VIII).

Investigate and report on:

How are property rights guaranteed in your state const.i.tution? in the national Const.i.tution?

Read the charges made in the Declaration of Independence against the King of England with respect to the violation of property rights.

"Due process of law."

The violation of property rights by Germany as a cause for war.

Are property rights as sacred in time of war as in time of peace?

What property rights has an American in Mexico?

What property rights has a Mexican in the United States?

What became of German property in the United States during the war?

The purpose of the courts.

What courts exist in your community?

The rights of a person accused of crime.

READINGS

In the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture:

1910, pp. 413-424, Fire prevention and control on the national forests.

1913, pp. 75-92, Bringing applied entomology to the farmer.

1915, pp. 159-172, Animal disease and our food supply.

1915, pp. 263-272, Recent gra.s.shopper outbreaks and methods of control.

1916, pp. 217-226, Suppression of gypsy and brown-tailed moths.

1916, pp. 267-272, Cooperative work for eradicating citrus canker.

1916, pp. 381-398, Destroying rodent pests on the farm.

1918, pp. 303-316, Federal protection of migratory birds.

Farmers' mutual fire insurance, U.S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 530; also, Year Book, 1916, pp. 421-434.

The Weather Bureau (a pamphlet), Government Printing Office, Was.h.i.+ngton. Send to the Weather Bureau for list of publications.

How the Weather Bureau forecasts storms, frosts, and floods, Office of Information, U.S. Department of Agriculture; reprinted in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT, March 14, 1914.

Forecasting storms: the Weather Bureau's helpfulness, SUNSET MAGAZINE, vol. 25, pp. 529-532 (Nov., 1910).

The Farmer and the Weather Bureau, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Feb. 18, 1911.

Doing business by the weather map, WORLD'S WORK, June, 1914.

Flood control:

Water Supply Paper 234, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, 1919. Write for other publications on this subject.

Also, the Office of the Chief of Engineers, War Department.

There has been much magazine literature on this subject.

War and Navy Departments, in the Federal Executive Departments, Bulletin, 1919, No. 74, U.S. Bureau of Education.

Dunn, THE COMMUNITY AND THE CITIZEN, chap. X.

Hart, ACTUAL GOVERNMENT, pp. 573-582.

CHAPTER XVII

ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION

STUDIES OF THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS

During the years 1910-1915 the Office of Public Roads of the United States Department of Agriculture made a continuous study, year by year, of the methods and results of road improvement in eight selected counties of the United States. [Footnote: Spotsylvania, Dinwiddie, Lee, and Wise counties in Virginia; Franklyn County in New York; Dallas County in Alabama; Lauderdale County in Mississippi; and Manatee County in Florida.] The results of the investigation are described in Bulletin No. 393 (1916) of the Department of Agriculture, which is worth sending for and studying by any school that is interested in the improvement of the community.

SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, VA

One of these counties was Spotsylvania County, Virginia, a map of which is shown on the opposite page. Since the Civil War the farmland in this county had gradually declined from its prosperous condition before the war until it was little better than a wilderness of second-growth timber, valued at from $5 to $15 an acre. For many months of the year the roads were well-nigh impa.s.sable. There was much wealth in timber, but it could not be marketed to advantage. The soil was very little cultivated. More farm products were s.h.i.+pped into Fredericksburg, the only city in the county, by rail from outside than were s.h.i.+pped out from the farms of the county.

MOVEMENT FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENT

Nearly one third of the population of the county lived in Fredericksburg; but under the law of the state of Virginia the people of the city could not be taxed for county purposes outside of the city. Moreover, two of the four districts of the county at first took little interest in the matter of road improvement, although they had to use the roads in going to market at Fredericksburg. Courtland and Chancellor districts, however, were determined to have better roads, and voted to raise the necessary money by selling bonds to the amount of $100,000. Three years later the other two districts, inspired by the success of Courtland and Chancellor districts, also voted bonds for road improvement to the amount of $73,000. This debt would of course have to be paid off by levying taxes upon the people of the districts. With a tax rate of $1.70 on every hundred dollars'

worth of property, a farmer with a farm a.s.sessed at $3000 would pay a total tax of $51, of which $19.48 would be for the roads.

COST MUST BE JUSTIFIED

It is not always easy to convince the people of a community that it is worth while to spend so much money on their roads. They have to be shown that the expenditure will in due time pay for itself, as well as add to the convenience and pleasure of the community.

Too much money spent in costly improvements on roads that are little used, or in construction that does not stand the traffic and soon wears out, is of course a bad investment. But the results in Spotsylvania County, as well as in the seven other counties studied by the Office of Public Roads, justified the cost.

STATE AND LOCAL COOPERATION