CYCLES AND ROADS.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10095, 22 July 1898, Page 2

CYCLES AND ROADS.

TO THS EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sir,—Mi- T. G. Russell, President of the Christchurch Cycling Association, in his recent letter to you, threw some light on the origin of the Cycle Tax Jtfill, miscalled Cycle Traffic Bill, for tax is its main ingredient, there being merely a suspicion of traffic in it. However, Mi* Russell is .perfectly frank over the matter of its origin, and the statement that the Association was actuated by purely unselfish motives, and was simply j desirous of reducing the risks cyclists run whue wheeling along public thoroughfares oy confining them to special tracks sounds good. The fact seems to have been over- { I looked that even with tracks accidents I would still happen, for tracks or no tracks, careless riders and careless drivers will always ba with us, consequently records of j accidents of a more or less serious nature. I A member of the Association has been pleased to dub those who nave signed the petition against the Bill fools, because, I suppose, they choose to disagree with him, and decline to be saddled with an annual tax which common sense—apart altogether from other reasons—rtells them is quite unnecessary and uncalled _or. —»is same member ha,, also expressed surprise at the part I have played in objecting to tax, stating that he hud regarded mc as a supporter of progressive movements. I trust 1 shall always be on the side of progress; but I certainly cannot regard the proposal to lay down cycle paths, especially at the expense of wheelmen-, as anything approaching progress. " What is required are good roads, not cycle paths. The construction of cycle pa*__s would be but to retard progress; it j Wbuld enable local bodies to continue to! shirk their responsibilities. Therefore I maintain that the advocate of good roods', is the progressive man, not the advocate of cycle paths. Good roads, while giving wheelmen the level running they desired, would be of inestimable service to the community at large—a national benefit, whereas cycle paths are practically useless weregjood roads in evidence, would benefit a comparatively small section of the community, and oa used by comparatively few of that comparatively small section. Local bodies, have too long shirked their I duties. Many "bodies, outside the city and [ suburban boundaries, and even inside for tliat matter, seem to imagine that road improvement'consist*, of sending out dray loads of metal in charge of men, armed with longhandle shovels, whose sole object appeal's to be to scatter that metal over the stipulated area in a promiscuous and perfunctory manner. Time and i_lon-t.red vehicle- are expected to-'effeotthe improvement. The BUI before the House is about as badly i constructed as a Bill witb. its alleged objects very well can be. Many of its iiaws have already been.-alluded to by myself-und others, including yo__* v co-respondent Mr J, W. Hunter.; therefore there iB no necessity to further allude to ,t_i_m. It, is, however, instructive to see what~ ? writers think of cycle" taxes* and good roads, i America,! might state,'is the home of the cycle path/ which has- ioriginated from several cause-. - American-roads are motor* iously bad, and the cycle'path has come into j existence because that local bodies find it is cheaper to construct them than to provide good roads. Thus while neglecting their duties to the conununity at large they save j themselves a deal of worry by silencing the outcry from wheelmen. The League of American Wheelmen, an organisation num* j bering o-ver 100,000 dc-©- not advocate cycle paths; it has been agitating fori several years for good roads. Good roads is the Uexb of its sermon, and it was.only recently that, with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture at Washington, it had distributed a million pamphlets setting forth the advantages of good roads. In some centres, where the low state of th* treasury will not permit of even clay and grit cycle tracks, cyclists have petitioned to be taxed so as to get a fairly decent surface to ride on; in other centres local bodies have sought to impose a tax, which has been vigorously resisted by wheelmen, who have invariably scored when a test case has been put in hand, these test cases generally being Drought about by officers of the League of American Wheelmen, thus showing that that body is prepared to resist the taxation of cyclists unless such taxation is requested by tne wheelmen themselves. The following is an extract from an article opposing the proposal of a local body to tax cycles:—"Roads are maintained out of -ihe general rates for the general good, so are footpaths, and so, to be consisteht, ought cycle paths to be similarly paid for. Cyclists are no more a special class than carriageusers or pedestrians; and, as they bear a, share of the cost, as ratepayers, of the upkeep of-the highways for non-cyclists, it would be fairer to make the non-cyclist also share the cost of cycle paths." Another American paper speaking in favour of good roads says:—"There is no one other issue of equal importance to the nation. Upon it hinges the entire future of economic transportation as well as the large public recreative convenience. It has been estimated by competent authorities that the saving effected by good roads would in less than a decade out-balance the entire cost of initial construction and pay besides for twenty years* extra maintenance of tham. Yet not one single movement of any importance in this connection has been made by Congress in the past ten years. In addition to the many other advantages generally recognised as inseparable from good highways and which need no enumeration here, the increased facilities fo~ quick and cheap communication, the added convenience to users of .bicycles, motor cars and electrically driven conveyances and machinery alone would justify their extended construction. The day is close at hand when electricity wu» be the commonly adopted motive power throughout the world, and if America does not anticipate its employment by providing a feasible road system for its requirements we will be behind the times instead of ahead of them as we are wont to boaatingly declare. On the Continent, whose excellent road conditions 83» a, comparative reproach to us, electrical and other motor vehicles are extensively in use already and becoming more popiilw. evsry day. In

Germany even farm produce is being largely transported on electrical waggons." We don't hear of any cycle tax proposals in England or on the Continent for the purpose of constructing cycle paths, for tha simple reason that they have good roads. Taken all round tho roads in and about Christchurch are excellent for cycling, and the wheelman who howle for cycle paths because there happens to be bad stretches here and there would be far better employed were he to direct his efforts to stirring up an agitation to have those bad bits ot road placed in good order and kept so. Good roads should be the cry of wheelmen and vehicle owners who have a right to call for them. Those wheelmen who prefer specially constructed paths to well-kept roads should be prepared to pay for them, and not seek to have a tax imposed on the general body of cyclists. iv the foregoing I have abstained fror dealing with several -aide issues referred to by your several correspondents, simply confining myself to one pnaee of the matter,-— Yours, &c. WALTER G, ATACK.