Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1904-05-19

would instantly disappear 10 The In.
Unite comfort and credit Of the State
on establishing one single channel
pt intercourse aud communication
with other States, for they can owe
their existence 10 the secluded state
alone In which these counties lie
Not having any thoroughfare or
great land channel OF Accommodation
with other States and portions Of
country. and being nccked off to
themselves, they content themselves
with Indifferent. narrow and crooked
roads for that communication which
takes place among themselves, aud
habit renders tolerable the greatest
evils, and 70 those who never saw n
straight road or . road without gates.
these appear the best 10 the world.
But these crooked paths and gates.
the trophies OF sloth and Ignorance.
could not long exist where strangers
would be continually putting them
in mind OF them by their sufferings
aud complaints. Another thing
which would bring home to the re.
Election OF contracted minds the ne
cessity OF improving such a road.
would be the direct and Immediate
profit that would arise from the pas.
sage OF strangers, and when once a
single good road was establihed. Il
would be living example and model
for all other roads and q complete
and total change for the better would
take place over the whole face of the
adjoining country. How profitable,
how useful, how desirable such n
change need not be mentioned. A
country without roads is like a BODY
without veins or a tree without roots.
a torpid mass, and the greater the
number and the longer the veins and
roots, the greater will be their nour.
ishment and strength, and TO carry
on the comparison, IL the veins are
choaked up and the roots are decay
ed, and both are strangely and un-
necessarily crooked and winding, in
an exact proportion will that BODY
or tree be weak and defective.
Roads are the channels of convey
ance for produce and intelligence.
the food OF the body and mind. The
greater the facilities for the convey.
ance of both, the greater will be the
quantities produced. and the greater
will be the Improvement of that coun.
try which possesses the best. The
saving OF time, the saving Of hands,
the saving OF team, the saving Of
food and provender, the saving OF
wear and tear Of vehicles In the
course of years, is beyond all CON-
putation, and the consequent i'm
provement created by these facilities,
given to all the occupations of life,
and particularly to the agriculturist,
who has to transport the greatest
quantity of bulky articles, Is In the
proportion OF figures continually
doubled. But industry is still more
promoted by the information and
knowledge men possess than by the
external advantages OF situation,
soil. climate and population. To
find how true this is, we need only
examine map and history Of the
nations Of the world. Then how In.
tinitely valuable are good roads In
causing q greater and more rapid
circulation OF information, by all the
variety OF means, by neighborly In.
tercourse, by travellers, by books,
by newspapers. Do we want ex-
amples 10 show the melancholy and
sad effects OF q contracted intercourse
and bad roads2 Look ut all the
savage nations of the world, from
the Laplander TO the Hottentots.
Look at Spain aud Portugal and their
colonies, through which q jealous
policy would not suffer stranger 10
pass. They have wretched roads
and wretched accommodations for
travellers. They are sunk in ignor-
ance, sloth and cowardice. Look at
Turkey apd all her vast provinces,
which afford no accommodations to
travellers but four naked walls, with
out a roof. They are wretched and
ignorant TO the last degree. On the
other hand look at those countries
that abound in good roads and canals,
and in spite of despotic governments
and their interminable wars, they
are great, rich and powerful. and
those sciences that are not checked
by the ruthless hand OF power, have
advanced TO a high degree OF perfec-
ton. Among the most prominento OF
these are France, England. Holland
and the Low Countries.