The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1890-01-04

to Rome" but they were good roads.
Ottawa needs to pay more attention To
her arteries to the country: for a wet
season may come again. If it finds
the roads bad, as generally in their
present condition they will be, OF
tawa will suffer the loss. 1t Is not
grain elevators Ottawa wants a half
a dozen that once stood here have been
destroyed in the past 20 to p years,
and their loss has not been felt in the
slightest degree, but she does want
better roads; and Ottawa and her Dor
dering towns must elect the right sort
! of highway commissioners to build
them and keep them in repair. And,
| further, all toll-roadS, the last veStige
of pioneer poverty still left in La
Sale county, must be abolished, just
as Chicago will soon abolish the Shell
toll-road which still exist within the
limits Of that great city.
Then Ottawa needs some PLAN for
the systematic development Of heC
| internal resources. No SyStematir
plan of operations has ever been pro-
posed for the consideration Of Ottawa
business men, so far as we have ever
heard Business Mems Associations
have been repeatedly organized and re-
organized meetings have been held
at irregular intervals, and some work
has been accomplished ; but never at
any time has any of these associations
worked from definite plan, no i'm
mediate object for accomplishment
being in sight, When the Organ Fac
tory came, the Association, having
accomplished that work, seems to
have died for want of such stimulus
as definite plan Of action, to rule and
govern the Association at all times,
would have given.
1t has been-and now iS-the prac-
tice Of many towns to hire man at a
stated salary whose business it shall
be to hunt up desirable works and per-
sonally present the claims of their
towns. Many southern towns use the
trade papers to bring their claims,
through displayed advertisements,
before men Of capital who are looking
for places for the investment of cap
ital. Other towns have organized
land companies, which give away sites
to parties, making profits and building
towns at the same time by the sale of
lots. Birmingham, Ala, has been in
IA years built up in this way from a
corn field to city of 10000 people,
while the land company, after giving
away half their lands, has declared
dividends of about 1000 per cent and
has property enough left to pay nearly
or quite as much more. But those
gentlemen worked from definite plan
OF action. Nothing was left to chance.
Opportunities were forced as well as
taken advantage of when they offered
themselves of their own motion. OF
tawa should adopt some plan of action
and stick to it, whether the results
are immediate or not.
Clay and glass sand are familiar
terms now in Ottawa, yet how feebly
have they been developed. AS mere
suggestion, in this connection, why
would it not be a good idea to take
hold of the Peltier Opalescent Glass
Works and supply the capital it now
needs to become large plant? Why
would it not be good idea to find out
if a man cannot be found who can tell
Ottawa whether or not sewer pipe can
be made here and if so, why not find
the man or men to make it? Covel
Creek is walled with limestone which
makes an excellent quality of building
and glass lime. Would it pay to burn
it for the market? If so, where is the
man to do it? Can he be found and
put to work? If one were to put
his thinking cap on, he could suggest
many other things that could be made
or done here that are not but which a
definite plan Of action on tn" part of
the business men would develop.
But the work must be gone at intel
ligently-by intelligent men. Such
stuff as saying to clay men that "our
hills are underlaid with deW of the
purest quality makes even the house
dogs howl with laughter. And yet
the man who writes for the public gull
let such amazing nonsense is sup
posed to DE secretary Of an organization
created to "boom" Ottawa Ameri-
cans are greater people than the
Romans, no doubt; and possibly they
are more perfect men Of the world
but Ottawa should not disclose the
fact by setting up for worship the only
god the Romans omitted from their
pantheon-the great god Stupidity.
" Against stupidity" said the wise
and forceful Schiller, "the gods them
selves are powerless."
Ott1Wa'S hest men mist come tn the