The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1869-11-30
ROADS.


EDITOR OF THE SpIRIT-iSir: By youl
permission, / wish to introduce, through
kyow columns, the subject Of 'Roads an6
Highways" with the intention of prepa
ring several articles for your paper on
this allin1p0rtant subject.
80 "Thc roads Of country are accurate
and certain tests of the degree of its
civilization,and their improvement keeps
pace with the advance of q nation in
numbers, wealth, industry and science,
Of all Which it is at once an element and
an evidence"
! But roads belong to that mapprecia
ted class Of blessings of which the value
and Importance are not fully felt, Because
Of the very greatness Of their advanta
ges, which are so manifold and indispen,
sable, as to have rendered their extent
almost universal and their origin forgot
ten.
BY the Improvement of our roads
every branch of our agricultural, com
mcrcial, and manufacturing industry,
would be materially benefited. Agri-
culture is directly, and likewise Indirect
ly, dependent in great degree upon
good roads for its success and rewards.
Directly, as these roads carry the pro
ductions of the fields to the markets, and
bring to them in return their bulky aid
weighty materials of fertilization and
improvement at a cost Of labor which
grows less and less as the roads become
better. Indirectly, the cities and towns,
whose dense population and manufactu-
ring industry make them the best mar
kets for farming produce, are enabled to
grow and to extend themselves indef-
nitelv by roads alone, which supply the
place. of rivers, to the banks of which
they would otherwise be necessarily con
fined. f..-.-..,.f.~ ..r-
"Among the most remarkable conse-
quences of the Improvement of roads, is
the rapidly Increasing proportions which
their benefits extend and radiate in every
direction as2impartiaHy and benignantly
as the similarly diverging rays of the
SUM- q 81 r IL Z ..s- {
Our primitive roads we're located with
a view to the straghtness of direction
and saving of labor, thus clambering
over hills, up and down steep points, al
most at mere random, leaving the steep
ness of their grade such as cannot be
used with any degree of safety or econ
omy; while at the same time they could
have gone round those hills and made
the road comparatively level.
The passion for straightness and loca-
ting the roads upon the toughest places
is the great fault of most roads in our
county, which too often reminds us how
.The King of France, with forty thousand men,
Marched up hill, and then-marched down
again"
Before sufficient attention was paid to
the subject, the lands on either side of
the road had been fenced off and appro-
priated by individuals, leaving the roads
entirely: too narrow-in7 many places
baEely wide enough for ore team or We
hicle, while by law established at from
forty to sixty feet wide for public high
ways. The evil is still perpetuated by
the unwillingness of land owners to al
low road to run through their farms
in any direction, or even to open the
present roads to their legal width. They
attach more importance to the present
shape of their fields, than to the improve
ment Of the lines Of their roads-not
being aware how much more labor is
wasted by them in travelling Over these
steep and bad roads, whereas the same
quantity of land appropriated in a Better
location would make much easier grade
and far better road, and thereby enhance
the value of their farms.
The Legislature of Ohio has made
ample provisions for the improvement
of roads our neighboring counties are
using these means by making first class
roads IN all directions, while we in Mon
roe are standing still, and cannot boast
of single first class road in the county
.s--. ENTERPRISE.