Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1896-02-20
ORR PUBLIC ROADS.
HANCOCK COUNTY MANS VIEWS
on THIS VITAL QUESTION.
STATE OR NATIONAL SUPERVISION St'G-
GESrED BETTER DEFINED LAWS
NEEDED ALSO A GENERAL
SURVEY OF THE STATE.

~
spect to our public ronds. &J,e. -.nge
my recollection has any public question
received so persistent aud long cont n
ued airing. Theorists and practical com.
mon sense men have Wed one with an
other IN presenting heir views, hut yet
our great thoroughiarcs remain without
material Improvement.
In many states some form 81 legislation
looking to better roads has been enacted
but II has usually been Il milk and " alter
sort TINT cvaporate- before soIIdityIug
into real results.
We raise money for the support OF pau
perI-m. but none but our own towns
poor receive a single dollar, we raise
money Tor public schools, but none but
our own cAildron receive free the benefit
it affords we raise money FOR our public
roads aud every body on earth use. them
without permission and without charge;
they constitute the only iree-to-all sys-
tenn that wc hive in this free republic.
Aside from their Indispensable utility,
we ought to pay our respects to them for
their pure, simple democracy. because
they are the peoples highway. The poor
man With q donkey and riekety apoI-
ogy for cart has the same rights here
as The rich man with his four in hand
coach, are they not 80 cosmopolitan III
character that the state or even the ma
tionai government could justly claim
them and spread over them It, protective
jurisdiction?
The State AYERS pre-em.nent domain
over all within her limits aud contcrs
certain rights and obligations upon
towns. She declare. almost with the
force Of mandate, that every citizen VINO
builds hi home shall have open com
municstion win this vast system OF
highways. 70 enforce her authority, the
town, through its municipal officers, the
county, through is cOmnls-ionets, the
state, through it, courts, is called into
requisition. Not the convenience OF an
indis dsi nor the vile, or whtms OF "A
few who are compelled to build and main
tain them, but the voice OF public ne
ce-sity' alone constitutes the valid
ground Tor Their location aud eont.nu-
ance.
The rights OF one individual are as
sacred rs he rights OF a community, and
what would constitute IL common ne
ces>ity i5r the mass would be Il public Ire
ccssity Tor oucoiit. individual mem bcrs.
For convenience the state, reserving her
appellate .urisdlct Ion, has divided this
vast wofk of road- building among her
more thau four hundred municipalities,
with thu hope that with proper restraints
and compulsory measures OF legislation,
they VIII Wisely disc barge the trust.
IMPORTANCE OF ROADS.
All commerce between the people, all
Institutions established for their benefit,
the cohcrcucy and existence OF corporate
bodies, ne very progress OF civilization
Itself under one governmental form or
another, primarily depend upon these
open avenues Ok intercourse, Blot them
from Ire map lot the world and mankind
wound soon degenerate luto struggling
mass Of savage l.fe. The joys OF refined
social ME, which constitute the chIct
charm OF civilization, Would disappear
with the government, thr!n,clyc-, and
our ep.rudrI architecture would be
turned into laadsi CAMS.
That better road. are demanded by the
travelling public, the progress OF our in
dustrie,, and The aspiration, OF great
people, goes without saying. That our
roads have been little improved, except
in certain localities ~ here the increase OF
business and population has actually
lmpelird it, seems to be generally con
coded
II must be ey !deut 10 anyone who has
given the matter thought that we can
never have any revolution III our system
OF road buildin, and maintenance, under
our present Laws and methods, Either
the state viii have to take the matter
OF building aud repairing our roads,
through is commissioners and eng lneer,,
wholly into it, hands, or make laws
more explicit in phra-eology, more direct
in application, more compulsory in en-
torcement.
In the first place, We ought TO know
where our roads are, Just what territory
We can claim for highways, before We at
tempt any great change. To-day | VIII
venture to say that the original bolnda-
ries OF near one-tourth part OF the roads
OF this county cannot be positively ascer-
tanned. Most OF the old landmarks, such
As they We're, have long since erumbled
INTO the dust. An Old resident viii
point you TO a decayed stump, an old
tumbled down fence, that has probably
had its location changed many times
since it Was built, an excavation,
hillock, large rock, that has no dis
tinction in marks among Its fellows,
The man who eats because ne is hungry
Is, thus far, on level with the brutes.
he man who stops eating the moment