The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1903-03-07

1stN 81 IEos 81 soAE ina
& - com 81 ! !. ~ zxekn IT, COUNTY.
talA - naxisn eon bined. III TIE
biII iar national I'D makes khsz
proposition Mcrthy u some notice,
and with yo8f indulgence wiIl
briefly considef esch II them. CIV
ing something III each and leaving
vou to indisiduaI preference.
IN the matter of national aid 10
road building, there viii be q wide
varae.y of opinion, but those favor
ing such . measure have the cas-
lest side Of the argument, 50 far IS
argument goes. For outside the
general welfare" clause that has
been made to cover so many things
the constitution gives Us direct au-
thority to'sestabiish postoffices and
post roads" and the general adj
vances OF free rural mail delivery in
the postofice has very naturally
brought up the other item.
Then it may have been forgotten
by some OF us that our general gov
eminent did in its early years APP
propriates7, 900, 900 to build road
from the capital to St. LOUIS,
distance of about 100 miles. | see
men before me who will remember
that pair of sentences in Webster's
old spelling book: liking David
rode upon mule. The Cumber-
land road leads from Baltimore to
Wheeling" This does not refer to
the Cumberland mountain, as |
thought when ! first read it, but to
its starting place on the Potomac,
and this is none other than the old
national road which was building
when Webster wrote.
This road has always been re-
garded with peculiar interest by
those who have kept up with the
progress OF our government, and /.
IS said that There were sometimes
twenty gaily painted four-horse
coaches each way daily. The cat
tie and sheep are never out OF
signt. The canvas covered wagons
were drawn by six or twelve horses.
Within a mile OF the road the coun-
tty was a wilderness, but on the
highway the traffic was as dense as
in the main streets oil large town.
Ten miles an hour is SAID TO have
been the usual speed for coaches,
bu, between Hageistown and Fred
erick they made twenty-six miles IN
two hours. There are also through
freight wagons from Baltimore to
Wheeling, which carried ten tons,
They were drawn by twelve horses,
and their rear wheels were ten feet
high"
The government long ago ceased
Its work OF road building, though
II has never repudiated the princi-
Pile, only directing its aid along
other channels and IN much larger
quantities. In order to develop
the great West it gave literally of
its public lands for the construc-
ton OF railroads, and in all has
gwen nearly half billion of dol
lars for the improvement OF rivers
and haTbors. Only last year il gave
to thls one item alone ten times as
much as was required TO construct
the old national road, or, 10 state
il m another form, we have suffered
ourselves TO be taxed IN one year
10 the amount of one dollar to ey-
erv man, woman and child in our
government, mainly tor the devel.
opment and Improvement of our
centers Of commerce. This tax has
been largely paid by men who
have struggled through mud and
over roads that were barely pass
able. Perhaps If we would go INTO
fair and full consideration Of the
lquestion why we are doing so much
for our cities and nothing for our
rural communities IN this way, or
so little that You can't tell it, we
might find ourselves more inclined
10 ask for our share in the distribu-
uon. Then again, IN helping TO
build up the large centers we are
offering attractions that are all the
while drawing good citizens out OF
the country and INTO the town,
making the country all the while
less able to do the work of i'm
provement Let US check and re-
verse this process as much as ~
lean.
| Then the government has lately
given 81, 200. 600 for roads inPortc
| Rico, 81, 900, 900 for roads in the
| Philippines, and has now a project
for s., 900. 900 for general develop.
ment and relief in the latter. much
of which IS to 60 II road building,
History informs that when the
| Spanards planted their missions
Iagain at Nacogdoches and at Sar
| Antonio they named this country
the "New Philippines, and il WI