The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1860-01-12
JRsDAY. JANUARY L. 1861 ss=xsss

to road purposes, and all tn. work provided
by law, would be insufficient to make some
: desired AMI necessary common road passable,
or in proper condition for the trade and
travel ofthe country ?
: It seems to me that it is plain to the an
prehension of any person that such a case is
not only possible but probable. Il could
. readily supppseinstances, but their probable,
not to say actual existence must be palpable
to any man. Let me refer to. one. item, in
our legislation, however, which affords dem
onstraton on this subject. We had swamp
or oyerffowed lands in this State before, as
: well as after, the passage of this section, and
before as well as after the donation of these
lands by Congress to the several States -
, Roads had to be constructed over these lands
for the purpose Of ordinary travel, as well as
over other portions Of the State. Now if our
ordinary highways did not and. do not IN fact
require an extraordinary expenditure under
any circumstances, and if the revenue and
labor devoted to road purposes are sufficient
for putting any and all of them in proper
condition, why should the Legislature, by
express enactment, devote a large portion of
the proceeds of'these oyerfowcd lands to the
i openi ,g of the roads over such lands, and at
the same time, give the roads their equal
portion Of the ordinary revenue and work ?.
I repeat, therefore. that this arrangement
proves too. much, and is not sustained by the
actual position and condition of our highways
either before, at the time. or subsequent to
the adoption of the Code.
But 1t is said that the word ''anv'' extends
to an indefinite number of roads. This NAV
be true, and the inquiry would still remain,
does it extend to any indefinite number in
ksntg BY no means. Bat take the whole
language, "any road or bridg, sohich man
call for an extraordinary expenditure, !" and
parsing it what's its meaning? Manifestiy,.
the word "any" refers to such as may re-
quire the expenditure named, and we stilI
have to ascertain to mlat ronlS such expendi-
ture may be applied. Not only so, but ',any,"
as here used, refers to the roa7. road, any
instance, case oroccasion, in any part of tie
State where the expenditure is regarded as
necessary.
But | am told that sss 5s7- SO of the Code
provides an ample fund for ordinary road
purposes, AMI that this may be increased to
any extent by vote ofthe people In most
casss 1t my be true, that the revenue pro-
vided for in thass sections is sufficient. We
have already seen, however, that this is not
true to the extent claimed But it is said
the amount may be increased by a vote of
the people. BY naat authority and in mint
manner, | ask. The ans,cer Is, 6y this yeyN
section ia, ,ottch zoe are CONSTITUTING. And
thus when it is said that the fund NAV be
increased, by such vote. what becomes of
the argument that such an expenditure was
not contemplated as applying to ou.. ordinary
highways.
Having thus noticed, perhaps at greater
length than necessary, the arguments urged
against the con Instruction for which contend
! proceed to state the grounds which think
. are conclusive in it's favor
AMI first, the Co lie itself has given def
milton Of the word "road' which, in nv
opinion, places the question beyond contro-
versy. BY 26, we have rule for the con-
struction of the statutes Of this State, and
by the 9Th clause it is provided that ''7Ne
oorls hghnay and road. include public
bridges, and may be hel3 equioolent to tie
!. aoortis, county pay,' county road, common
road, ana 'ssote, roaf' In the light of this
r language what becomes Of the argument
!. that the word road means railroa5l II
: 80 truisa, as stated in the case referred to
~ Green s~ora, that the great object in
the canstructlon>fa statute is to discover
3 the true intention Is the Leeislatura-and
giving us the meaning o. the word road,
the Legislature has given us.n infallble key
!; to discover the Intention in the present in
stance.
. Then again the same case states that the
j words of the stAtaea are to have their natural
and ordinary sense or meaning. Granted,
and what is proved Just this, that the
} word "road' according to Webster, applies
. generally to MgtlaaH. street and lane. No,
, only so, but at the time of the passage of the
Code we h,a not mile Of railroad in tho
| state and none commenced.
Then again even now in this State, wher
: we have several lines ofraiway constructed
: no person understands the ordinary meaning
/ Of the word to include railroad Wha
. charter incorporating company for tin
r purpose Of constructing railway, ever spok
of it as road company? What articles o
5 Incorporation ever called or styled the com
7 pany thus? What act of the Legislatu re
giving lands, comforting privileges, or impo
e sing duties upon such Q company can b
r found which designates it as road con.Pa
: ny! | answer pone The truth is, every
Y person, everywhere and under all circumstan
| ces when designing taspeak with any DEGREES
i Of accuracy, in this State at least, if the,
q refer to such a roaf, they use The pref,
it rail. In those States where the most usua
y mode of conveyance and travel is by railway
i in ordinary conversation they may be spoken
e Of as roads, but not so even in such State
$ when anything like legal accuracy, q
e the legal sense, is aimed at. But j