The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1903-04-03
GOOD ROADS REFoRMAT1oNs.
Present and Past Views of Judge E.
III. Thayer, of Iowa, Are Worthy
of COnsideration-


of Confederation.
It has been said that progressive
movement in any direction is like in
vention in this that when the
thought of it is running in one mind
| it is also running in many minds;
and all the signs of the times tell us
that the time is coming for a gen.
| eral forward movement for good
roads throughout the union. For ten
years the most progressive citizens
| in all sections of the country have
been devising ways and means for
| the permanent improvement of the
| public highways, and it seems that
| all good roads reformers are of the
same opinion with reference to a
| general system of cooperation be-
| tween the government, the states
and the counties. Among the present
| leaders in the good roads reformation
| is Representative Brownlow, of Ten
nessee, who recently introduced
bill in congress providing for ma
tIonal cooperation in road improve
ment.
Judge E. H. Thayer, Clinton, Ia,
has just written letter to Col.
| Brownlow in which he unhesita tingly
| approves all the provisions of the
| bill, and says that he was the pre-
siding officer of the first national
| good roads convention ever held in
this country, Chicago. Ill, 1892. Judge
Thayer made a speech at that con-
| vention in which he presented
proposition that is practically identi-
cal with that running through the
Brownlow bill. Among other things
he said:
"The constitution provides that
Congress shall have the power to es
tablish post offices and post roads,
1t has appropriated millions of dol
lars from the public treasury for es-
tablishing post offices, but in the last
half of the century it has appro-
priated comparatively nothing for
establishing post roads. There is not
an inhabitant of Iowa but is entitled
to have his mail brought to his
home no matter whether he lives in
the country or in the city. 1t is graf
flying to know that the free delivery
system is being extended to the
small towns, although the postmas-
ter general writes that 'enlarging
free delivery or anything like univer-
sal free delivery will have to be
postponed until there are better ia
cilities of communication through
the rural and sparsely settled dis
tricts.' Just so. But must the state
and the county and the township be
required to make those better facil-
tiles by the expenditure of vast sums
of money, and then invite the gov
eminent to put mail carriers on
them? That cannot be the meaning
of the constitution. To establish
post roads must mean something
more than merely using the roads
for postal service after somebody
else has built them.
up to the first day of July, 1892.
there has been paid into the federal
treasury from the sale of Iowa lands
the sum of $13,O31 ,9OO17. More than
half of this amount was for lands
sold in 1875. There has been do
mated to railroads 4,91O,937 acres of
land. Now then, in the present state
of the public mind on the necessity
of building good roads, with popular
opinion favoring government aid,
would it not be n reasonable, proper
and legitimate thing for congress to
return to Iowa at least an amount
equal to one-half of the proceeds de-
rived from the sale of Iowa lands, to
be used in establishing post roads in
this state? This would give as gov
eminent aid, in round figures, $780,
600.
THE older states contributed no
lands to the common national fund.-
but Iowa lands were sold to make up
portion of government expenses
which all the states alike ought to
have contributed to. When the west,
with pardonable enthusiasm, runs
wild after railroads, and congress
donated almost 5000, 900 acres of the
best land the sun ever shown upon
to help build those roads in this
state. had there been the same inter-
est taken by our people in good
roads that there is now, and had the
state then asked for a similar
amount of lands for road purposes,
no doubt congress would have COM
piled with the request. For precisely
the same object, but more directly
in the interest of the state, let Iowa
appeal to congress for an appropria-
ton equivalent to the donation
made to the railroads."