Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-05-17
COLONEL POPE'S GOOD WORK.

We have long been wishing to say q
good word for the good work, which
Colonel Pope is doing in the way OF
encouraging, coaxing, and tauntinG
our remiss authorities into giving us
the good roads which we have q right
to demand of them. While we are still
thus wishing We have found our ideas
we'll expressed in the following para
graph. which We clip from an rticle in
LippincOtts MOnhty for the current
month.
We would preface the matter by
calling attention TO the fact that in
every State there are prisons full of
convicts, who are living at the expense,
of the honest and hard working part
of the community, who ought to be
compelled to earn their bread by hard
labor on the public roads. This would
be great saving to the State and
boon to every inhabitant, besides Civ
ing the criminal the phys and NOR
al benefit of open air exercise.
''Almost every State IN the Union 10
now moving to secure revised laws and
better roads, and in each may be found
a long list of distinguished and public
spirited men who, at great personal
sacrifice, have given much time to this
these in the East may be mentioned
Colonel Albert A. Pope, of Boston,
Massachusetts, who is indefatigable in
his efforts to secure results in every
possible way and by the most impres-
slve and practical methods, viz,
obiect-lessons. To this end he has not
only endowed a chair at the dassachu-
sets Institute of Technology with
IaI 20 Ill
matters perta ming to roads, but he has
delivered numerous lectures, published
many speeches, distributed C iculars,
petitions and memorials, all bearing
upon the question of the establishment
o. better condition of our public
ways. One of his latest papers Is al
appeal to editors and publishers urging
them to sustain the movement and to
correct t Q rOneous impression which
seems TO re ,ail that it is intended or
desired 10 have the national govern
ment interfere in any way with the
sovereign rights of the several States,
by assuming to build national roads.
Such is not his purpose, which is dis
tnctiy stated to he the establishment
of a bureau of roads for educational
purposes,-to collect statistics and to
disseminate information about roads to
the general public, somewhat In the
/ manner of tie recent cOHsu ar reporti
on Roads and Streets OF foreign coan.
tries, but to have it worked up BY
specialists and put it in such form az
TO be of much greater practical utility.
There Is no more fear that such 6
bureau would trench upon the rights OF
States than that the Bureau of Agricul.
ture would undertake the province OF
farming. Bat We would go even further,
and believe that there should be not
only bureau OF roads, but also 3 de-
partment of public works, to include
within its jurisdiction all the ways OF
communication by land and water,
domestic and foreign. The collection
of statistics concerning our railways
aud water ways, commerce and navigs-
lion, rivers and harbors, and even the
construction of the improvements IN
this latter sphere, might very properly
be assigned to such q civil depart.
ment.
The success of all popular move.
ments Is undoubtedly dependent upon
the amount of interest which the indi.
vidual not only feels, but on the ener-
gy which be is willing to exert upon
those who have been elected to execute
such measures. Hence 1t Is that stress
is laid upon the importance of individ.
ual and personal appeals to Legislators
by petition, by private letter, by inter.
views, and in every other legitimate
way, to impress upon them the great
need and desirsbility of reform or OF
revision in our road laws, that we may
be enabled to secure better results, 3:
it is evident that our present laws dc
not give US good roads, and that nc
improvement can be expected until the
present system of working out the
taxes be abolished for one that will
convert the present narrow-tired road
destroyers into broad-gauge road-pre-
servers.
Colonel Fope's petitions should re-
ceive the immediate aud personal atten.
tion of every one Interested IN good
roads. IL. NJ. HAUPr, in May Ltppfs
coHs.