The Waco daily examiner. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 187?-1888, 1884-04-25
Roads

When the republicans had pose.
-iUn oi The State government, and We
had legislature composed largely
oi strangers and OF negroc-. many
obuOA lou. laws were passed. Some
Of those, however, were objectionable
ouly because unsuiied to the clndi-
tiOn of the country then, or because
they were new, or frequently simply
because passed by radical legi-a
ture. Whiic in the twelfth and thir.
teenth legislatures we had "A number
OF negroes, who were I'LL up uai
ter, and counting nothing 40 far ~
shaping legislation WAS concerned.
yet when it come to the " hite mem
bers they were probably the brainic-j
set that have assembled in Austin
since the war. There were un.crupu
lous men, but all were sharp aud
shrcwd. There were mrn ignorant
of the condition aud wants of the
state, but having sound and advanced
views Of state.craft, there were
fanatics, but their fanaiiciem wa
backed 10y brains. There were such
men as Jo and Billy saycra, Ire
Evans, Jack Evans, Flanagan, Taylor.
NewComb. Neither democrat OF
republicans could afford to send any
bu, hralny men; morality, virtue
moderation, and the interest ot the
S-paycr were Mt n discount, .hrcw IT.
ncss, brains and sclti-hucss at n prem
inn But it would have been wonder
iul If 30 much talent could mo- htv,
brought iOr,h many Wholesome laws.
! bagger had too much sway; he must
I transplant the laws of the state from
4 whence he came, wise and salutHr'
| there perhaps, but ruinOns to astat'
in the condition Of Texas. NorihcrI
/ ideas was on boom, and the laws o
small populous northern states mus
/ be initiated. a learned judge woul'
administer ohio law from n 1exa
bench. A son of little Rhode Island
law, most magniiicently adapted I,
that stslc, or that would be even yci
tair III the Texas OF to-day
but in tho great wlldcrncs'
OF Texas that then stretched
from the Rio Grandc to the : sblnc
it was OF about rs much setyicc as
birck bark canoe ia mid ocean. |
was merely that many of the law
then passed were not suited To tn
want, of the country hat made thom
UNPOPULAR Lava that would now
he heartily approved were then oh
jcclionable. One of the most notable
OF these was the road law. The car
pet bngg rot that dag went far in AL
vance OF our state and people, and
placed upon the statute books law
that WAS the result OF the Cnpelicuc,
and wisdom Of our older and most ad-
vauccd sister states. law " hlch
W oliIi lb-llbN W A' h''N ''''''' O.
loss cost, and throw the burden Of
building them whore II bclon.s upon
those most benefited by the rOado.
Our slate il now ready for such u
road law, and with n tree, hb ra' pco-
pie, like those of Texas, sufficient
time has elapsed to wipe ou' any
pr,judices, which its former adoption
and maladministralion by the radicals
may have cugendered.
In new and sparccll settled
country, our present system of road
work has always been popular, ana
deservcdly So; every state in the
Union, W bile on the frontier has iol
lowed II, but ss population and
wealth We increased, "a farm, hpvr
b, cn inc.nscd aud tuWu grown up, "a
more cnlcien, aud Just system sur
planted nr, hod oi road working only
suited toa frontier country. T,Nus II
no LONGER in that hacl,w Gods condition,
her trade. her commerce, her town.
and her farms, all demand good high-
ways, and more ius', tconom ed
and efficient system OF improving
them than the present road law