per cent greater than in states which have not good roads. How long will it take for the consolidated schoolhouse and increased and regular attendance to be worth half a billion dollars to American men and women of the next generation?
This applies with equal pertinency to what I might call the consolidated church; good roads make it possible for a larger proportion of country residents to enjoy the superior advantages of the splendid city churches; in fact good roads have in certain instances been held guilty of destroying the little country church. This could be true within only a small radius of the cities, and the advantages to be gained outweigh, I am sure, the loss occasioned by the closing of small churches within a dozen miles of our large towns and cities—churches which, in many cases, have only occasional services and are a constant financial drain on the city churches. Farther out in the country, good roads will make possible one strong, healthy church where perhaps half a dozen weak organizations are made to lead a precarious existence because bad roads make large
