The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1892-05-13
GOVERNMENT. AID FOR
ROADS.

a very sensible article on country roads
which fits the State of Maryland as
we'll as the prairie State. lie says:
Here as elsewhere considerable in
terest IS being aroused about the state
of the roads. Farmers are beginning to
realize in hazy way the immense dis
advantages they labor under from the
dreadful state Of the common highways;
this last winter, particularly, the losses
incurred by injury to horses, harness
and wagons have been incalculable; the
roads one day deep in mud, the next
broken into frozen hillocks sufficient
to tear to pieces any thing composed Of
flesh and blood, wood and iron, that
attempted to traverse them. In the
towns stocks of holiday goods remained
unsold, produce brought Chicago prices,
and. without exaggeration, it may be
said the sick remained INTENDED, the
dying unassoiled. Yet it remained
for pleasure seekers, bicycle riders
"the association of United Wheelmen'
to take the initiative in improving
the roads. All that is of any value
and the public prints have been filled
with articles on the suhject-has pro-
ceeded from them. The only public
action that | have heard of so far in
this State has been from a "Permanent
Road Association" which lately held a
session at Spring field, to get State aid
and portion of the over two and a
half million dollars which he Governor
told them was lying idle in the treas
ury, and to which the farmers of the
State are the largest contributors Sec
rotary Howard of the association gave
some figures, showing that there were
LOO townships in tn, State, each with
its three commissioners of highways,
drawing salaries and expanding an
nually an average Of 81 900 each town
for work on roads which. as rule, are
&c better to-day han they were forty
years ago-S1,7CO,00O pitched yearly
into the mud. Farmers have plenty of
politics but no policy-there is no more
cohesion in them than in rope Of
sand; like Jonadab, son of Rechab.
they follow the example of their faith
ers, and it is to be hoped will get their
reward. In the April Century is an
excellent article on reads by Isaac Is.
Potter, in which he speaks of meet
ing of farmers. living almost within the
shadow of twenty million.dollar CAPT
tol at Albany, unable to get before the
legislature GU account of the mud, send
ing telegram protesting against any
action of the legislature calculated to
alter the old road system. And in
your issue of April IA is an article in
favor of the old ruts and sloughs to be
mended by township labor, statute
labor, and signed very naturally by that
relic of barberism "Patbmaster." |
think he must have been chairman of
that very protesting meeting of farmers
spoken of above
1t is not too much to say that the
present deplorable state of cur high
ways is owing to the old system of stat
ute labor,-a sort Of holiday gathering
of farmers after corn planting. with
hoes and plows and scrapers to pillow up
the road, and barrow it as if for a crop
of grain. The common road is public
highway and should be recognized as
such. BY the law of eminent domain
our land is taken from US for road pur-
poses, travelled over by government
troops and government mails, used for
State purposes and by interstate
drovers and peddlers, by the citizen
and farmer alike; why then should the
burden of building and keeping them
in repair fall almost entirely On the
farmer ? The exchange of his products
for foreign goods is the principal source
of revenue to the general government.
Yet millions on millions of dollars are
appropriated every year for internal
improvements of all kinds but not one
dollar for public roads. Millions voted
for railroads lin land), for IKE Sault St.
Marie canal, for the navigation OF
the lakes the St. Louis convention
asks for Sl3, 100000 for the Mississippi
and Missouri rivers the Detroit con-
vention sum estimated to equal $780,
100000 to give the Erie canal a capac.
ity for vessels drawing twenty feet Of
water yet for the humble feeder Of
all these great routes, not penny
The farmer reads of all these millions
of tons of freight going to the seaboard
at cost, over the lakes. of half cent
l. L