Connecticut western news., 1900-01-18
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
CANAAN, January 16. 1900

On coming down the hill from the Town Hall after our last town mestiac I overheard this remark: "Wsll, I be- iove in the town doing as it agreed to do; if the town agreed to give the old road to Mrs Abbe they ought to do it. Let the town do what it promises to do. :" That sounded we'll; it seemed like a knock down argument. The writer of this article was almost convinced. Then the thought came to him: But suppose the town in their joy over the prospect of getting rid of very dangerous cross- ing had agreed to do what, if it was done, would be a positive injury to other parties who had been overlooked in this matter. Is the rule, that towns, individuals, or governments, should al- ways stand by their agreements, sound? This is assuming thlt human nature is infallible, that DO mistakes in the matter of agr ,ements can be made. We all know this is false theory. Let me give an illustration.
 Back in the 'fifties Congress passed what was called the Fugitive Slave law. Now, every citizen when he was made voter took his oath to obey the laws of the state in which he lived and the laws of the United States. This law required that every citizen when called upon should assist in returning back to slavery human bein2s who were fleeing from the terrible horrors of slavery. The most conscientious men ever knew deliberately violated their agreement to obey this law and instead of obeying the law assisted the slaves in obtaining their freedom. Later on the govern ment repudiated the law and not only assisted the slaves in fleeing from their masters, but violated their agreement with the South, and gave freedom to all the slaves. The strongest ethical side seemed to be on the side of the individ- uals and government who repudisted their agreement. I have used this illus tratIon to show that the old saying is true: "A bad promise is better broken than kept" and that a moral and possi- ply legal obligation may overbalance an agreement, and that there are really two sides to the road question before the town.
 Now, I am not going to call in aues- ton the good faith or intentions of the agents of the town or their counsel in this matter, aud am willing to say that in my opinion many of the voters of the town did think they instructed their agents to do just what they have done. My own personal acquaintance and busi- ness relations with the agents and coun- sel of the town have been of such & nature that I cannot call in question their motives. The writer of this arti- cls did not start out with the idea of ar- guing the road question, but simply to show that there are two sides to the question and that it may be possible for towns. or individuals to agree to do something which they find later on they have no moral or legal right to do Whatever may be the final settlement of this matter, we can all rejoice that the terrible death trap at the Bennett Hill crossing is eliminated and that we have such very pleassnt and satisfactory roadway in its place. Hoping that all the difficulties pertaining to this road question may be satisfactorily settled, I will. as requested by the editor, sign my name. D. l.. PIERCE.