The Press., 1892-02-04

ABOUT GOOD ROADS. {.


N & li1ae tss ----s..sa y o9agq
NewsJersey has been the leading state
in the road reform movement that fs now
leavening the country, and that we trust
viii aoverspfsadss 0onnectieut. We are
proud that b Son off, TolIand. County II
lChanncey B.s1sfpley--a native Of Coven-
try, b prominent New York lawyer, but .
resident OF and consid dSrable sfeal estate
owner In WestfeId, N. r., is q recognised
leader III the awakening iii that state.
'We publish below an aidress recently
delivered by him, byy. ysii iaiyitatfon, before|
the New Jersey state road Convention.
held under Ike auspices 81 the N. j. Board
81 acricu1ture. at the state house In Tren1
ton, on tie e1st ult.: a'4 s@9is 9aaa
ea New Jersey has first place IN the cause
|of improved roads. Much meaning It,
taclles to this deciaratiou, for the interest
Iii read drefoSnln has teanchsta sersry staee IN
|the union ouls II 21the pioneer state.
The legislature III New Jersey Nas the
|first to pass On act for the general Inn
|prroyenent of pubic roads. The govern
|or promptiy approved the bill, and, In
1883, our state entered upon d new era.
Union county, the first to avail herself OIL
the provisions 81 this excellent act, has
BEEN put forward. fifty years on the dial Of
progress and, prosperity. There Is real
estate boon In every city. and township Of
the county, and land Is worth, and is SELL
ing for. nom ten to fifty per cent. more
than ii. had sold for in the two previous
decades. It goes without saying, that
the improved roads In Union county have
paid for themselves already.
All along the line Of these county roads
new and costly improvements are in pro-
gress, and in an hours ride through the
county Of Union over the Central railroad
d hundred new houses may be seen from
the car windows. I stake my reputation,
as q prophet, that Westfeld, the place of
my residence, will, In three years, double
its population, and that the price OF lands
viii be a hundred per cent. greater than
before the passage OF the road act In 1883.
Liberty and Prosperity is the motto
of the state of New Jersey. It is high
| time, fellow citizens, that these sonoI ous
words take on new Significance that a
state lying between the two great cities Of
the continent, New York and Philadel-
phia, available In either direction for
suburban residences to its very center,
being the great ,e highway by the shortest
routes to the canital Of the nat,on. to the
great cities Of IN. west west and 70 the shores
Of the Pacific ocean. the road bed Of near.
~ every oreat tr,nk line o{ ra,,xays Lead.
ing vast from New yorI ocitv, |. sttstbs,I tt.tb,I
ii, 4, ~ ss,t,lify 81 VA s,,I n &c.,
~ rt.,.. .fr,.nd ana ana picturesoue Il her
{1orf Sxn noxnety aliks wlth I'LL cotfa ~ ~
{1inod oo6sn shore, becoming more md
j more 5popnlar. every year las sllzoInar H.
sorts. 1T Is high time. il say. that such. i
Imotto, liberty and prosperity, OF such q
state as ours, should be amplified, and
verified. The closing wears of the nine
lteeenth century should develop the pro-
gress and prosperity OF our state in a
manner worthy the energies and experi-
ence of hundred years. The year 1899
| is good year to bestir ourselves, and the
month Of. January is none too early to
turn on the lights, subject ourselves and
the centurys work to searching exams
nation, in order that we may determine
what we have to show for it all, and
where we and our institutions really stand
relatively to the men and institutions of
the past. Wherein have we distinguished
ourselvesa =. ... !, ,'35. =, /. a&
/ To be sure, Jersey lightning, Princeton
Presbyterianism, and Jersey Justice are
lproyerbial; and they have been, from q
tperiod way back, beyond the memory Of
man extendeth not. No one has ever