Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1909-05-28
very thing that makes outos the most

THE GOOD ROAD ARGUMENT
is the most misleading affair. 1t has
been most urgently advocated by manu- (
facturers and dealers of motor vehicles
for business purposes In general, our
country roads are good enough for the |
travel of horse-drawn vehicles. Country
towns cannot afford to build speed-ways
for borsemen or automobiles, neither
can the State. 1t favors too much of
class legislation. The rate of taxation,
including State and County taxes, is now
becoming ruinous to the average country
town. 1t is all they can afford to keep
their roads in fairly good condition. The
legislature needs to 60 slowly in forcing
taxation on country towns. AS gen.
eral thing, while automobilists dispense
over all the roads in the State, the ma
jority of the autos are owned in cities,
and pay nothing to the maintenance
of country roads. If the State Roads
are meant for the use of all the people,
unless they are made their full width of
so feet, it is useless to expect the people
to use them, if they are to be speed
ways for autos. and even at that width,
most horse owners would avoid them
when possible. What, then, is the use
of building more Of them and taxing all
the people for that which is almost ex-
clusively used by class? 1t is not just,
and what is not just is not constitu-
tional If automobiists are barred from
all country roads under even 90 feet
wide, that would confine them, gener-
ally, to the SC. caled main street. In
many cases the road connecting two
country towns is not over 1S feet wide
and the real track single wagon track,
often impossible to turn out from with
any degree of safety at anything beyond
a walking gait for horse. Automobiles
are now everywhere. They came upon
us like thief in the night, or Sc me dread
pest, and before we were aware of it,
have wellnigh overwhelmed us. If we
must have these machines, then some
means must be found to give horse
users a sufficient number of roads to use
with absolute safety to life, limb and
property, so far as autos are concerned
1t would seem as if this should be done
by general statute rather than left to
local authorities, as in the present law,
with the possibility of long and distract
ing fights on the part of automobiles,
who are surely going to fight every i'm
aginary intrusion of their rights with all
the power of money and influence.
They may be very sure that horse
owners and the general pnblic will give
them
HOT RuN FOR THEIR MONEY
by making the question of safety on the
roads a burning political issue. Why is
it not a fair and just issue that the roads
of the State should be as safe for all
other people than automobiles as they
Were for all people before the advent of
the automobile; The real difficulty is
that the automobiles knows that this
cannot he done, as does every cear-head-
ed citizen, except 10y setting aside certain
highways for the exclusive use of auto
mobilists. Public safety of life limb
and property is, as repeatedly empha-
sized, all that men have founded States
or Nations for established governments
and made laws for. No Institution, no
government. no law, Io class Of people,
can long exist as such among an intel
ligent and strong people which is antag-
onistic to the cardinal principle of per-
sonal safety. AS things now are no
intelligent person can assert that the
automobile on the roads of the State is.
or can be made, such "A contribution to
human progress. 1t is useless for the
automobi list to try and play ostrich.
He may hide himself behind the shields
of his machine; the people mot "a few
but all the non-automobilized public
can see both the man and the machine
and are awakening to the dangerous
nature of both. AS before the eruption
, of volcano certain deep-seated, yet
indistinct rumblings are heard, so the
public voice of rebellion against the free
use of the auto on all the highways of
: the State is rising to make itself power
= fully heard as "A political factor in the
: not distant future The disregardful and
, reckless department of too many auto
r mobiists is making the people angry
r Willful and unintelligent opposition will
make them So An angry man is never
2 a sane one, even though his temper be
2 justified The automobile may be looked
1 upon as a blessing by those who use
} them, but by the general public it is
r looked upon as a menace and a curse.
e The only cure for the evil is either to
- Danish the auto from the highway alto
e gether, or to regulate the machines so
that none can be registered capable of
being driven above the maximum speed
e limit, and if any such escape the exami-
! nation Of the authorities, to take away