The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1896-04-24
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49, c.SYesS & !; 81
MGEAPg s9HD
IMPROVEMENT:
PLEA FOR BETTER ROADS.

onces long and patiently endured is al
WAYS the present, l propose in this
rticle once more TO stir the pool by
again bringing up the already much ag-
;tated question of public highway i'm
provement.
Il is not my province in this paper to
tell how roads shall be built, or APP
nropriations made for the purpose
thereof, so much as to try and show
the urgent necessity that something be
done and that Immediately, for the bet
terment of our present condition. 1t
Is fact, and much to be deplored, that
too many of our country roads have
more the appearance of dried-up water
courses than good, inteligently-con-
structed highways, and this, in the
face of all the taxable wealth that is
annually poured out for the purpose of
making them betetr.
Such a condition of things is not, to
say the least. creditable to the intelli-
gence of the people in any community
where such evils exist.
| hold that the first two requisites for
peoples welfare, and without which
good government is only a name, are
4 good schools and good highways.
As good schools lay the foundation in
mental discipline on which to build in
after years the higher, nobler life, SO
good highways are the first essentials
for the development of our agricult-
tural interests on which so much de-
pend the development and prosperity
in all commercial affairs.
To facilitate traffic in the worlds in
creasing products, the rock-ribbed bar.
riers of the continents are subdued and
daily respond to the whistle of the To-
connective. For the diffusion of knowl-
edge in agricultural pursuits and to
kolve the ever recurring mysteries per-
canning thereto, experiment stations
hnd observation-disclosures, equipped with
the finest talent and all the later appli-
Ances for Investigation, at an enormous
outlay of capital, dot our land. Yet, at
bhe very root whence spring these adj
5antages, there still remains one of the
worst evils with which the producer
has to contend, and that is the Amer
can road system, the management of
which remains practically the same
sin colonial times; roads that, through.
Die agencies of frost, flood and foolish
less, are annually rendered impossible
Or weeks-often months-at time,
md at a season, too, when market prices
fpr much the producer has to sell rule
Dc highest
Is it any wonder, then, that shippers
ave at last discovered, and even in the
<lstern states have long complained,
Dat it costs more to lay down their
fOducts at tide water than to land
'em in Liverpool and Glasgow. 1900
Niles away?
Ii this be the result of poor roads
ID expensive haulage, when applied to
ne loose, porous soil of the East At
Antic states, what must be the condi-
ION OF that numerous class dwelling
alpng the vast stretches of undrained
e1pntry in the valley region of the Mis-
#$sippi and the Missouri, and subject
lie to poorly managed roads, chaos
4f mud and merciless monopoly of
fte steam car?
Here is land. here is state destined
p ough her mighty resources to some
~ become great and a leader; her vast
wneral deposits alone, once fairly de-
#|pped, would constitute q nations
de and a nations glory. Her sunlit
Nr tiower-gemmed prairies, fertile and
ltful as the Indian isles, wrought up
their fullest capacity of productive
Is, would feed for an indefinite time
hungry millions of an empire. A
'sH 4. in short. literally flowing with
ia and honey, and blest of heaven
oyerarching skies, mild and love
hs Italy's.
his land of promise, this Eden in
pm, once fairly in apparition, under
fate drainage law similar to that Sc
Ed by the state of Illinois, with road
underdrained, properly graded
crowned, would not only give us
pnce infinitely better highways,
nout mourning the expense of
le rod of met&lled surface, but
ID also enhance the land value more
two fold
pr is this all. Intelligent labor
then come to work these fields,
tal soon will follow, institutions of
ping and the varied industries, less
&c to ownership and greater pro-
ION, more 0nd better home markets
ready and ever-increasing de-
for the soils products, more thor
ness in detail with greater incen-
70 e1fort--will spring up along the
Pl march OF its teeming millions to
and to comfort all who live and
Tor the good time coming.
IN all our boastfulness of what we
accomplished as a nation, up to
the close of this nineteenth cen
closer acquaintance with the
~ OF the dead past would often
10 US the blush of shame. In the
OF Pompeii and in Herculaneum.
OF line art, curios, painting,
'ure in bronze and marble, and
cravings in ivory by the immortal
rs 10 the golden grasshopper,
alike by maid and matron as en-
OF the shortness of human life,
10 us. after the sleep of ages,
ness OF touch, of finish, strength
purpose. that challenge our adj
On And notable among these
ruins, and wherever their war
"Sies once held sway, last, but
means least, are the Roman high
men after lapse of more than
tdIS Stand fn-flor