St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-01-26

llG SdlIlIIS vi Wis COIlNVItlOil NOl
timely, for our Legislature is i'll session,
and upon the formulation of your plans
and ideas will, no doubt, enact in laws
such measures as Will materially aid you
in this work. The subject is one which
cOmmendS itself to every citizen. and
the members of the legislature will not
hesitate to grant you all reasonable as
SlStance. To railroads we give largely
| OF our lands to stimulate their building;
| to commercial enterprises. a handsome
| bonus. Rest assured that to this meas
| IRE, which will so largely enhance the
value of farm lands and assist in the
establishment Of schools and churches,
| promote social relations and Danish the
| isolation Of farm life and stimulate and
build up the industrial interests of our
| state, the most careful attention and
consideration will be given.
Your labors will be watched with the
greatest interest and the proceedings
of your convention be read and studied
by the people throughout the length
and breadth of our state.
In behalf. then, OF not only the people
of this city, but OF the state. extend to
you cordial greeting. May your SEES
| slOnS prove harmonious aud fruitful OF
much good, and may your stay here be
pleasant and instructive. May all the
roads you plan lead always to st. Paul,
and may You have occasion to travel
this way frequently.
Variety of Sentiment
c. d. Gifilan, of ST. Paul. was asked
to respond. He said substantially:
Il have had some experience in build
ing roads in this state. There is work
| enough done and taxes enough paid to
! have good roads. Sentiment must be
awakened until it is disgrace for a
farmer to allow a mud puddle to stand
before his property. In New England.
before the Yankees were scattered all
over creation, broken plank i'll
| bridge was thought a disgrace. We
cannot rely on the state or general gov
eminent to do these things for us. We
don't want to do this"
Senator La Due, Of Rock county,
| thought that the first duty that de-
| v0lYed upon those engaged in the move
ment was to excite all the enthusiasm
| possible. He urged a united action.
| w. H. Grant IS credited with being one
of the very first to enlist in the cause.
II know good highways are of great
Importance, said he. Il labor under
some embarrassment in coming up here
from my farm. We must be careful
| about tearing down established meth
| DDS"
perhaps we have advanced too rap
idly in this matter" suggested MI.
Johnson, of st. Peter. 81 desire to
thank the acting mayor, Mr.. Ingersoll,
for his words Of welcome. | predict
| that this pioneer convention will in time
make the people Of Minnesota proud OF
| her roads"
After il few pointed structures upon
hf, ha IN
county, MI Brown offered this lndict
] ment: Il was prevented by snow
| bank 800 feet long. in front of the home
Of the supervisor OF Mounds View
township, from getting here as soon as
| / wished. 1t is time some one said
something about the poor roads Of Ram
| Sey county. | rode with Mr.. Hill to MIR.
| Giltillan'S place at one time, and we
nearly GOT stuck in the mud. TO get to
Lake Phalen you must get guide, as
| there are no guide boards. | will close
by saying regret that MIR. Gilfillan did
not continue his speech"
And the discussion ran along at COIL
siderable length i'll this strain. The
| common consensus OF opinion was that
immediate aid positive steps should be
taken to make the movement a perma-
nent institution, and good roads aSSo-
|
Prof. Premdergast's Paper.
The discussion was followed by a
paper by Prof. ". w. Prendergast, of
| The state experiment station. The sub
! ject was Good Roads, Their Influence
on the intellectual. Moral and Social
| Welfare of the State"
Among other things the paper re-
! cited:
From earliest times culture and good
! breeding have centered i'll cities. This
| is a fact which it is futile to deny. The
words we use to express these qualities
prove 1t beyond cavil. Polish, polite,
urbane and civil are derived from the
Greek polls, or city; the Latin urbs. a
| city, aud civlS, resident OF city.
| How shall we account for this? Science
has shown that all differences and
| peculiaritieS among men ale traceable
directly 10 either heredity OF environ
ment. 1t follows, then. that the superior
refinement OF manner Possessed by resi-
| depts of cities is wholly due to their
surroundings, since they and their more
| sturdy country cousins are of the same
| race. This shows that the more men
! rub against each other the less friction
! is caused by such attrItion. Rough cor
| ners are rounded, asperitles softencd.
rudeness checked. Sensible people
soon learn that they are likely
to be paid back in their own
coin, and see to it that their cur
rency has the ring of the true metal.
| While mere smoothness of manners and
an outside show of pOliteness result
from dealing with strangers, it may be
safely said that sturdy integrity and
true culture spring from long
! association and constant business rela-
tons among the same persons.
| Now, every impossible road is an in
Superable barrier TO local advancement.
| cutting off all intercOmmuni0atiOn and
closing all avenues which lead TO social
and intellectual development. By in
| generating every family in the farm
! prison we shut out the leaven of prog
reSs which the spirit of emulation
arOuSes among people who often meet
to discuss matters of mutual interest,
whether material and local, or literary,
scientific. spiritual and general. Such
Chinese wall separates each man from
his fellows, from every spur to i'm
provement, from every incentive to
mental and moral growth.
For the highest good OF the people of
any community it Is quite essential that
facilities be established for communlca
| ton with the outside world, especially
| with the great centerS OF civilization,
literature, traffic and art. This may be
carried on by travel, or through the
medium of the mail service, preferably
by both. but bad roads obstruct both.
A thing is of value in ratio to
the extent 10 which it can be utilized.
A man may have coal mine a few
hundred feet below the surface of his
land and still perish OF cold on account
of its inacceSsibility. So. people may
be we'll educated and yet undergo men
tai starvation for lack of intellectual
paDulum. Men Of literary tastes, COM
PEELED by the wretched roads to forego
the benefits of the daily mail, soon dis
cover that the habit of reading is being
gradually weakened and their minds
becoming inert by disuSe.
The highest intelligence, coupled with
a general knowledge of the current his
tory Of our times, is almost impossible
without access TO the columns of our
enterprising Journals.
Good roads Will metamorphose the
| nreSent unfortunate state of affairs in