The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1876-03-17
Pixies VS.. MUD.

/
EDS. JEFF: hoped that the answer
of E. Brown on behalf of the defendant
in tie above case, would, like Eng
lands commercial prosperity" cut it
own throat; but as it is weekly (weakly,
insisted OF as defense, let us take q
look at it.
Bro. Brown starts off for his keynote
upon the assumption that all who favor
pixies do SO from motives of self interest
alone. A feeling of interest for the
whole county, the greatest good to the
greatest number, pride in great public
improvements, seems, upon his theory,
to be thing uuknown-no attribute of
the human heart II that is true, have
mistaken the people with whom live
| do not believe that it is true. | there
fore deny it, and insist on the proofs.
But he asks for arguments upon the
other side. Does he want me to agree
that pike is better than mud? Does
man, plodding along in Bro. Browns
client, up to the knees of his horses,
stalIing with an empty wagon, desire an
argument to induce him to gee his team
upon the higher and better road? Why,
sir, the want of pixies, in this county, is
patent. 1t would be like attempting to
prove by argument that the sun shines.
1t is thing that we see and feel and
know. will not stop to argue it. The
only question is. can we now afford it?
Two good rules of domestic economy are:
''Do not buy a thing you do not need
because it is cheap" 'Do not neglect to
buy what you need because it is expen-
sive" That we need pixies is established
as a fact. That we can pay for them is
shown by the history of other counties,
where they are to-day unanimously vo-
ted grand success. Ergo We should at
once buy them. But now it will be said
that favor them from personal interest.
Very well; that is true. l live in Findlay,
and Bro. Brown has admitted that it
Il
have pixies in the county. / am true,
then, to myself. and to the people of the
the town in which live. How are you,
Bro. BROWNE 'If false to yourself, you
cannot be true to any man."
But you are very anxious about the
welfare of the corner townships, whose
interest in this matter is only nominal.
Well, if their interest is not equal to the
tax they would pay, let them vote their
true interest-against the tax. But why
should you be so exercised about it?
Your mind is full of imaginations and
wanderings. You guess at who G. w. P.
is; that he lives right on a main road,
and therefore it is his interest. You even
guess he ''may have materials that could
be conveniently nsed in the construction
Of a stone road" ''Most unkind cut
of ALL" and therefore it is his interest.
Well, now, if you guess him right, he
has his true interest, and he favors it
like true man, as have no doubt he is.
But what shall we say of you, whose
personal interest, and that of your
neighbors, strongly dictate pixies; that
you stand to oppose them? Is it because
you believe the popular current is turn
ing that way that you desert your ship
to ride into popularity upon it2 "How
we apples swim!" Or, is it from pure
love and honest feeling for the good
people of Pleasant, Washington, Orange
and Delaware townships? IL you have
so much of that kind of feeling, you
ought to find n place in your heart to
encourage it in Others who favor the
pixies for the public good But we are
harassed with doubts, and fear that we
have guessed you better than you have
g. w. P.
Now, if there is any better way to get
pixies than by taxation, let us hear of it.
If not, let us get out of the mud at the
expense CT the tax. Findlay township
will favor it, although she will, believe,
pay more tax and build more pike than
any other three townships. There is,
perhaps, no tax, the benefits of which is
divided exactly with all those who pay
it. l assert that tax for pixies would
be more evenly distributed among the
people of the whole county than a tax
for a new Court House or a new Jail,
and certainly much more SO than was
the tax to erect our magnificent iron
bridge across the Blanchard at Findlay.
And yet, what man in the southern part
OF the county would to-day ask to have
his share in that tax refunded to him,
and the bridge torn down, just because
he never has occasion to cross it2 do
not believe there is one.
Now, if there aie honest expressions
which ought to be heard against pixies
by the people of the distant or corner
townships, l should be glad to helr from
them. But think l speak the views of
the people of the central townships, and
certainly of Findlay, when say we do
not desire to hear any farther mud argu-
ments from those whose interests are the
other way. If the question should be
voted OH, hope every man will vote in
exact accordance with his personal inter
est. DUNN.