The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1883-05-23
OUR COUNTRY ROADS.
Nashville American.


An observant economist remarks
that country bodybuilding in this
country cannot be said 10 have kept
pace with either commercial adj
vancement or the rapid develop
ment of material prosperity. The
country at large is rich in navigable
streams, and, to these, human enter
prise has added canals, and along
these commercial arteries, before
the era of railroads, trade and pop
ulation naturally chung.
Before the railroad era, too, there
was some attention paid to road
building, and in regions not travers-
ed by rivers the turnpike stage route
was an important highway, and
thriving towns and villages cluster
ed along them and farms were i'm
proved and enhanced in value. The
old Louisville & Nashville turnpike
road was a familiar illustration of
this, with stages and ten mile relays
of fast teams.
The advent of the railroad and
the steam carriage worked mark
ed revolution in the commercial
world. and by steaM's humiliation
of distance the remote communities
of vast country were brought into
close communication. The interior
progress of the country within the
past quarter of a century has been
largely due to the extraordinary ex-
pansion of our railroad system, until
now the two oceans that embrace
the continent are connected and we
shall soon witness express trains be-
tween New York and Mexico.
But the country roads the i'm
portant feeders of these steam high
ways-have not kept pace with the
progress of transportation facilities
furnished TO travel and commerce,
nor with the actual requirements of
the public. In this State, before
the railway era, considerable pro-
gress had been made in the building
of turnpikes, especially in the mid
die division of the State, the State
capital being the hub of a radiation
of splendid macadamized highways,
which still remain as monuments to
the enterprising spirit of a genera
ton that has passed away. Middle
and East Tennessee had many nat
ural advantages in this respect over
the Western counties, in the posses
sion of abundant material for the
construction of McAdam roads. But
in no part of the State has there
teen that popular appreciation of
the advantages of good roads that
should characterize commercial in
telligence and enterprise. The press
has long urged the Importance of a
better road system and occasional
efforts have been made through the
Legislature 10 perfect a good sys-
tenn. Except near the cities and
large towns the situation is to-day
not much better than it was a quar-
ter of century ago. In many Sec
tons of the cOuntry-nOt only in
Tennessee but in more densely pop
ulated States north of the Ohio-a
wet season is an effectual blockade
against the movement of produce to
the railroads, and this seriously af-
fects the general trade. 1t is amaz-
ing that farming communities do
not realize the disadvantages to their
business of poor road ways. Even
the common country dirt roads
might be graded, drained and solidi-
fed in snch a way that teams, in
less time, could carry double what
they do now, and save much to the
producer as well as quicken the cur
rent of commercial circulation.
But there is another phase of it
of no small Importance. A better
road system would not only benefit
the railroads and commerce, but
would largely enhance the value of
lands and homes just as railroads
have appreciated the market value
of the lands through which they
pass. Roads we'll built and kept in
repair make an attractive country
and add enormously to its produc-
tive capacity and all the comforts of
prosperity follow in its train. A
general road building revival in
Tennessee would be a blessing TO
every ole of its inhabitants, and
make a good many people richer
than they now are, and make the
struggle for existence not half so
haoyu and WEARING oc ~ 10