Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1909-05-07

can be bought up, or fail In their DUTY, |
then, standing on the
LAW OF SELF PRESERVATION,
the people will rise up and down both |
party and government, and sweep them,
with the menace, out of existence. An
automobile acquaintance says, ''Give us
perfected flying machines and the class
now running autos will quit wheels and
take to wings" Perhaps it would be as
well for them to take to controlling the
'wheels they have in their heads" ere
they undertake to leave realms tsrres-
trial for those more aerial. The auto
mobilists much resemble the ostrich
which hides its head in the sand, think
ing to evade an approaching danger.
The people can see the auto and are max
ing up their minds that if the roads can
not be made as comfortable and safe as
they were before its advent, the machine
must and shall be driven into innocuous
desuetude. On the contrary, these Os-
triches of the Road are so blinded by the
dust of their own conceited ignorance
that they have organized Ito fight in
the courts all complaints for alleged
over-speeding," when it is doubtful if
single actually illegal arrest has ever
been made, though the law may have
been stretched pretty taut to the letter
in few instances.
We have been told about trap being
set ION piece of road three-quarters of
mile long, straight as an arrow, wide
enough for three vehicles abreast, with
no intersecting roads, with shrubbery
fifteen feet high, not house on either
side and no vehicles or pedestrians us
ing the road" and we should like to
know where in Massachusetts that mir
acle of road engineering is situated? As
the language justifies the inference that
it is unjust to arrest automobiles on
such piece of road regardless of the
speed that they were driving their ma
Chimes and as three large, powerful cars
must require not less than ten feet each
to run safely abreast, we are still more
interested in locating that marvellous
road which is $50 feet wide for three.
quarters of mile, and straight as an
arrow.
But the actual point at issue is that
the maximum speed allowed by law is
twenty miles an hour, and while much
is said about the Esprit" and "letter'
of the law, to an unprejudiced mind the
spirit of the law is what it is intended
to guard against, and the letter what
must be done to prevent the danger In
this case the spirit of the law is the
safety of other people, and the letter is
that speed above fifteen miles an hour on
country roads inconsistent with that
safety.
The fact is that automobiles are satu-
rated with the law-defying, anarchstic
spirit, which is threatening the stability
of our nation. If automobilists repres-
ent, as they should, the better financial
class of the community, and the posses
sion of money means responsibility, they
should also be representative law abid-
ing class. That being the case, as to
money and social position, why is it that
we have the peculiar phenomenon that
as automobilists they evidently have nc
idea of respecting the law, and are SC
: Jealous in trying to find means of beat
ing it when arrested for over speeding
If they do not intend to break the law
why are they so anxious to purchase
machines with all the speed power theil
means will allow? From personal exper
fence in riding with automoblists anC
observations on the road, know that the
r average speed of automobiles on country
roads is from % to 45 miles an hour, auC
sometimes even more than that. Mach
ines for road use are being advertised
with speed possibilities of 60 miles al
hour, and reputable agent tells me tina
= the demand for larger machines anC
more speed is greater this year than eve
before. If this is the spirit animatnl
I automobilists-an it certainly isis i
not time that the Legislature and authori
4 ties took it into serious consideration
| 1t is evident that automobiles have II,
e idea of respecting the speed law unles
t some drastic method is found of forcinl
A them to do so. Laws that are not eX
= ecuted breed anarchists through disres
S pect for the law and the authorities s.
is believed to be the general desire 0
+ Automobiles to lift the lid entirely from
= the speed law, but insane as they may be
r the legislature is not mad enough to Civ
+ them the privilege of running at rat
v of from 40 to 60 more miles on any road
e or any part of a highway, unless tina
z road is reserved for the sole use of auto
mobilists.
Except where used for strict business
: purposes, and considering the dangerou
nature of automobiles on public ways
there is not AN iota of evidence that tn