Buchanan County bulletin and guardian. (Independence, Iowa) 1866-1869, 1867-09-13
q ROAD

Roads are the arteries and veins Of GU,
business system. In the economy Of nature
we always find m adaptation Of any creation
10 The performance Of its allotted work. For
instance, in the human system il is necessary
I'M, n perfect circulation Of blood should
take pl ce. To facilitate this, veins and ar
'erles leading 10 every portisn Of the body
are arranged in such a way that the blood i,
conveyed in the most direct manner possible,
without turning unnecessary angles or mak>
ing unnecessary journeys around squares.
Nature is never mistaken, and we would do
well to heed her lessons in establishing our
business arteries. The square corner theo.
ry Is very attractive on paper, and does
well to a reasonably limited extent in prac-
tee, but there is a point beyond which it be,
comes one Of the greatest hindrances to pub.
lie progress. Intercommunication, the world
over, facilitates civilization and material pros.
perty. The staghation of Asistic countries
Is mainly owing to their comparative isola>
ton. The rapid progress Of Europe has
been in a great measure owing to its nett
work Of water courses. The bsrbarism OF
Africa is the result of Imprisonment for ages.
The enlightenment Of the United States is
the result Of the constant circulatory activity
of its population. And so on indefinitely.
Highways are schoolmasters. If they are
bad, the education is bad. The more man,
kind jostle one another, the more is intellect
sharpened and material progress enhanced.
But men will not jostle one another if they
cannot reach one another, or if they have to
20 too far around to reach one another. Let
Them see the way direct, and clear, and they
come together with a will. Those who fav.
or the establishment Of all county roads on
right angles will make the application.
The aciual system needed for our county
is direc, roads to the corners and right angle
roads leading into them. This is the true
compromise between the two systems OF
S." angling " and RICH, angle roads. 1t is cas-
lily demonstrated BY the right angle sys-
TEN the habitsnts of the western sections
OF Jefferson township could BY no possibility
the county seat TO pay their taxes or
attend court or sell their produce or trans
act business by any shorter route than 10 90
to Jesup and from Jesup TO the county seat.
Ifanybody doubts it let them figure it out.
section 81 in Jefferson township. 1t
is eleven mi es from Jesup. From lndepen.
by the section lines it 10 nineteen
while in a direct line it 10 . little over
miles. Call it fourteen and you
have in travelling to Independence by the
section lines-or in other words by ,igh,
angle roads-a dead loss Of FIVE miles. Sup
pose the farmer has a thousand bushels OF
to market and hauls forty bushels TO
he load. He makes twenty five rips aud
ten miles TO the trip, or ESQ miles in
all. Where is the economy or common sense
in tina, process ? Bat il is proportionately
ierso township and Madison, FairbAnk and
as well. Luckily the roads are not
right angular. But suppose they were,
IS many shori-sigh,ed persons claim they
to be, can any person deny the i'm
loss Of time. and Of wear and tear
which won q result to a large portion OF our
population We would not claim that all
should be laid out regardless Of right
but tina, the public interest demands
hat practically straight roads should be laid
out TO the corners Of the county from the
county scat, in order that a nearly direct route
may he made available to every inhabitant
Of the county. We claim il as q matter Of
great public interest. You allow raili Dads
run nywhere, az = measure for the public
What are common roads but public
highways Of a similar character, only on q
scale. We ask discussion of this