The Ottawa free trader., 1882-04-01

but III nc uuu u gOou iHhCduhullLcu TOdu lchu
ing into town he might trot the distance II
an hour or SO and get back home again by
reasonable bedtime without being iatigued b.
the Journey and with itile loss Of time iron
his ordinary work But he Is doomed To sta,
AT home the greater part of the water an,
1--we IN hopes ot good time coming"
But there Is II peculiarly about the towi
that seems to pul the country to diaadyau,
aye IN IA social and ;rstheticai sensc, and alst
In commercial pOlut OF view. | shall tOucl
upon 1t rs tendcrly as | can. BY virtue o
their incorporation coanty.towns and cities il
one respect are several centuries behind tht
times They are like the walled towns o
ancien, aud feudal ages, with tnls eXcep
ton, that instead OF u real wall they are sur
rounded by an imaginary line called the city
limits within which is all the world withont
"the rest OF mankind" The citizens taht
great pains TO beautliy and adorn their town
their streets and sidewalks, their parks ant
public enclosures and their private residences
This is rs it should be, aad the uncnviou!
farmer takes pleasure IN witnessing these dis
plays Of refinement and culture. The citizens
also take pride in contemplating u magniti
cent and splendid court house, adorned viii
all the embellishments Of architectural beauty
and taste and fitted up with all the Conven
ness. They look upon it rs u thing of beauty
rs built expressly "a an ornament TO the town
adding immeasurably 10 It's glory and rcnown
The farmer also looks upon II with certain
degree of admiration, for he knows that ht
has contributed largely TO It's construction by
way OF taxation. He looks with similar de
light upon other public structures that have
been built by appropriations from the public
treasury, some Oi which might be OF doubtful
public utility, bat add 10 the beauty and
grandeur Of tue town. He takes III with
pleasure those memorial monuments and col
umns to the erection OF which he has contrib
uted literally under the inspiration of patriot
ism, yet he makes no complaint, he grumb.eS
not at the taxation imposed upon him for
these appropriations and never thinks to ask
himself whether an appropriation tor the ben
eft Of the road that he travels would ever be
granted. When asked the question about the
condition OF the road, the farmer answers in
the same spirit as though he had been asked
IN regard to the condition OF his crops or his
stock rs though 1t was matter that concerned
himself personally, and that no one outside
the farming community had anything to do
with, and the answer is received IN the same
spirit in which It Is given, or, in other words,
it is a conceded thing and taken for granted
pected to give and keep in repair the the pub
lie streets ior highways outside the limits Of
the city. The newspapers, acting upon this
Idea, sometimes lectures the farmer about the
badness of his roads, anu even agricultural
papers take up the refrain and hold him alone,
though mud bound, responsible for it all.
humbly submit that this is all wrong, that
our education has been sadly neg lected on this
point from our youth up, that the farmer has
handed down this idea from generation to
generation without stopping to think of the
great injustice that has been done him, or
rather the great injustice he has done himself
Our Legislators have never been instructed
properly upon the subject; have never risen
to its importance, They have legisated upon
railroads nd infnstum with the prospect OF
free passes, and have been manipulated IN va
rous ways by the lobbyists, but have never
seemed to appreciate the higher importance,
both to the state and the county, of our com.
mon roads They have been regarded only of
secondary consideration. We need more OF
the civil law engratted upon our common
and statute law. We need In our legislature
some of the haru common sense and forseeing
policy of the Roman senate. Rome was "a
walled city It's true, and lad her own muni-
cipal regulations, but her city limits 80 far as
her roads were concerned, were commensurate
with the limits OF the empire Itself: She did
not seclude herself within her walls and tax
the people far and near to build her public
temples and monuments her baths and porti-
COS. She did not require the owners of the
soil alone to build and keep IN repair the
principal roads leading into the city. But
she contributed her proportion of the expense
)ut Of the common treasury for the common
/ IN ha "a "a
If La Sale county she must look beyond her
;ity limits; she must assist the farmer in
opening up their communications.
l see no reason why the farmers living along
. principal road connecting two important
owns dong business with each other, or
ather connecting the county town with the
villas and farms that gravitate towards 1t as
/ commercial center in business and social
)oint of view should be required to keep 1t
n repair at all seasons of the year. There is
10 justice In it whatever. the common and
mmemorial practice has been wrong and un.
ust and has been regarded by all parties rs a
natter of the greatest indifference. 1t should
Jc regarded as Il matter of the greatest i'm
1ortancc. 1t should be remembered too, that
he more u road is Travelled the worse it he
,Omes. There are those that would testify
hat certain roads that needed but little repair
Years. ago, now that they have become general
are almost impossible, and that
nearly all the tax OF the district besides, is ex
pended upon them. Hence there Is a neces.
,ity for more and better work upon our prln.
sipal roads, and it Is neither fair nor just that
he farmer should be obliged, 80 to speak, ITO
iouble up teams for the public good. sub
nit, then that THIS mode of assessment Is all
wrong, aud that our state county and munl-
,ipa legislatures should take the matter into
serious consideration.
There is an association in Ottawa, | believe,
called the Business Mems Association" the
principal object of which should judge from
he papers was to look after and entertain
Capitalists as they are called, mil
ionaires, and others from the east and induce
hem to settle among them and invest their
capital in various manufacturing interests.
They are shown the town IN the best "lIvery
rig" that can be obtained and are boarded at
the expense Of the association or the town at
the Chiffon Hotel The "libprty Of the clty ~