Year: 1877

Morristown Gazette-]


As soon as the crops are laid by


the present season, the people all


over Tennessee should turn their at


tention to the public roads of the


country. The last Legislature


failed to pass any law providing for
making good roads, but this failure
should not deter or even discourage
the people who are interested in
this matter and in whose hands the
whole subject rests at last. A gen
eral spirit of enterprise among the
men in every neighborhood and a
willingness to work few days for
the public good, will accomplish u
great deal even without a road law.
Let some energetic, public-spirited
man in each civil district, as
soon as wheat harvest is over
and corn laid by, take the level, go
round among the people, set his day
for work, invite the young men to
join him, designate the roads to be
repaired, take hold with an earnest
determination to accomplish some
thing, and the result will be aston
ishing.


All works of general improvement
must originate among the people
A law upon the statute-book is
dead letter, unless it is sustained
and approved by popular sentiment,
hence the right to get at this matter
of making good roads in our coun-
ty is for the common people to be-
gin with the enterprise, get the
work under way and then call upon
the Legislature to come forward
and perfect or finish the work by a
general law which will force the la
" poor man and the selfish rich
man to each bear his part of the
common burden.


Our county roads, as a general
thing, are in a far worse condition
now than they were quarter of a
century ago. The statement of this
fact is not by any means compli-
ment to the people of tennessee.
Our farms are not in as good a
plight as they were twenty five
years ago. What is the cause of
these things? Nine men out of ten
will reply, oh, the war ruined us
Well, so it did But then a live,
energetic people ought not to stay
ruined. Pluck and vim and deter
mined energy will repair all the dam
ages wrought by the war. What we
need among our people is a deter
mined and cheerful outlook for the
future-a hearty acceptance of pov
erty for the present, with the full
assurance that 1t as only for tie pres
ent, and that in few years we are
determined to live as well off and as
well fixed for living comfortably and |
pleasantly as any people in the
world. God Almighty has placed |
US in a good land. The climate is
delightful, the water pure, the soil
productive. Nothing is now needed |
but faith in the never falling prom
ises of Ethat same God, together
with manly energy and pluck, to
make this mountain region bloom
like a garden.


The first thing for us to do in the
way of improving our country is to
make good roads, and the way to
accomplish this is for us to act to-
gether. Let the rich and the poor,
the old and the young, the farmer,
t.. merchant, the mechanic, the
trader, the professional man, each
and all take an interest in this mat
ter, and let each one do what he
can to help on in this good work.
1t is an immense job to clean out,
smooth over and make all the roads
in this great country pleasant high
ways, but perseverance will accom-
plish. There are people enough
here to do the work. They are
willing to do it too. All that is
necessary is for some organized eff
fort to be made by the right men at
the right time. The common peo-
pie will respond. and the work will
go forward to completion. 1t
would be a good idea to hold pub
lie meetings in every civil district
some time this summer, at which
this question of improving the pub
lie roads could be discussed
and some plan adopted for the
work to be done in that particular
district at as early day as possible.
This plan will bring the matter be
fore the people Immediately. Each
civil district could improve its own
roads. The work would be done
without costing anybody any money,
and thus a start would be made
which would result eventually in
giving the people first rate high
ways over which TO travel. We
hope the people will earnestly
think of this subject and they will
- -. - .b;rL- but 4ha4 ,ba,- r-su