Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1889-11-30
E,nbiic Roads.

, ton of the public highways in England
at the present day-bnt find Ivy refer.
ence to Macaulay'a history of England,
!. Vol. 1, pages 293 to 295, that the
roads of that Kingdom were In IN al
: most impossible condition towards the
: close of theSeventeenth Century, Ma.
caulay says "a coach and six is IN our
: time never seen, except as part OF som nc
pageant, but, people in the time 81
, Charles the Second travelled with SIX
horses, because with q smaller number
there was great danger of sticking fast
J in the mirp. nor were even six horses
always sufficient. Vanubrgh, in the
, succeeding generation, described with
great humnr the way in which l.ewiy
chosen member of Parliament. he
, went up to London. On that occasion
all the exertions of six horses-two of
which had heen taken from the plow-
could not save the family coach from
heing imnedde ! in a snagmire. !" Cone
chief cause of the badness Of the roads
I sceiifss IL llaye bren The defective state
nf tile law.'' .sIhee iit4S;;.!sssa.n lttr wert:
forced to give Their gratuilions labor Of
six days in the year, And this was
supplemented by a l,arocliial tax.
These quotations are all from Mac
anlav-one of the most accurate and
accomplished of El.glisll historians, and
they prove, to my mind, our road laws
were imported from England. and that
as they utterly failed tn yecnre good
roads in the old country where tile
peasantry were forced to give six days
gratniious labor in the year"-they
must ln,vitably fail to secure good
roads here. where the road hands con-.
sldcr il tyranny to I've ordered on the
road more than tw full d Tvs in year..
Like produces like. Bad road laws in
Enclanl produced had. almost imnassi-
Lle roads. The same laws Slightlv7moi-
ifiei ana wcal-rned. have produced like
results here. Tile main feature Of the
nll English INV was gratuilons labor.
anal This feature is mi int and iniqnl-
tnus cmnot he successfully centrnvert-
ed a Moor man with no team or Cart.
is require to rrrfnrm Just as mnch
labor on the rnal as the mill owner whn
has wcnty teams and carts. Will any
right-thinking man law his hard on his
heart. AMI in the face of christian
worl@sav this law is Just and tqn'fa
BIZ? IT is a well known fact that unpaid
road hands work with great reluctance.
that thew are continually framing tx-
cnses for not obeving the summons Of
the surveyors. and sometimes are in al
most open rebellion: and when they are
forced on the roads they perform their
work in the most perfnnctnry manner.
They regard the law as unjust, and try
to evade it. All experience shows :la!
II law which is not supported by pnf'ic
opinion and which is considered unjust
and tyrannical-cannot te successfully
enforced. This old road law-tl,e cor
dinal feature Of which is gratnltols
labor has proved a ke in Englanl and
in Accnmac. an utter an almost ruin
Gus failure Like Patrick Henry II
know of no way jud.ing of the future
except by the past" and judging by the
past. 1 am fully convinced we
sh,ll continue to founder in
the mud and Hire n til RELY. until
we have a better road law. The Eng
llsh chung with tenacityto tl'e old law
and for many years opposed it, repeal.
but Macarlay informs us that after a
long struggle, and "by slow degrees
reason trnmphed over prejudice; and
our island is now crossed in every d,,
rection br near thirty Thousand miles
of turnpike road" Those roads ex-
cite the admiration of American ton-
rists. and DR.. Landrum prononnces
them equal 10 tie hest paved streets
in Richmond or Baltimore" With
this example before us, are we to con-
time this old rnad system. with its In
evitahle results-miserab1e, miry roads
and great pecunlary loss? Surely we
shall gain nothing 10y lying suplnely on
on our hacks and Grumlling about bad
roads. The Legislature will soon meet.
Let US go to work IN earnest and try to
ret new road law that will meet our
wants-a law that arrives atasystem of
permanent well drained, smooth, hard,
well graded highways. They can be
made of dirt at small expense by the
use of proper road machines, and by the
employment of convict labor as far
as practical. and paid labor when nee
essary. The work should be under the
general supervision of a competent
engineer who understands road making
and here let ME suggest, that the great
central highway through the county
should receive special attention at the
beginning. 1t should be Strengthened,
where practical, without unnecessarily
infringing upon private property. wild
ened, graded and raised In the centre
so as tp form a watershed 10 each. side:
and each OF the most important roads
leading to the great shipping points
should receive attention as soon as pos
sible. If our people are not ripe for so
great departure from the old law as ]
lave here outlined. let us Try some 9TH
er scheme. The Henry County law. (al-
though it retains the odious gratuitous
labor feature would, think, with