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Show Hardly a Matter of Sentiment. Editor Boyden of the Mantl Messenger, Mes-senger, usually displaying good sense and judgment in the columns of his paper, certainly seems to have Jumped wide of the mark, to say the least, in last week's Messenger when he undertook under-took to question the advisability of continuing the construction of the Orangeville-Ephraim federal road, arguing ar-guing the necessity of "insuring a living liv-ing for the people In preference to throwing $60,000 into a mountain road, with Its chief value in sentiment only." Have you noticed your Uncle Sam doing anything for "sentiment only'' these war-clouded days? We hardly think so, and Bro. Boyden knows as well as we that the federal authorities authori-ties are working most strenuously to get this road finished at the earliest possible time, even planning on doing two years' work in one to hasten its completion. What their idea may be we can only surmise, but you can be sure it isn't sentiment even though Bro. Boyden so presumes. Again, does the privilege of hauling your own coal with only a comparatively compara-tively short trip to make sound like sentiment? Certainly not, and we feel sure that a good number of the humbler hum-bler taxpayers of Sanpete county will not hand Bro. Boyden any vote of thanks for trying to champion them out of this privilege which will mean thousands of dollars saved every year now that the mine in the head of Huntington canyon has been closed. The alternative, which would force the people to pay tribute to the railroads rail-roads in the way of enormous freight rates, and lay them liable to a coal famine such as was experienced last winter in some sections, should be argument ar-gument enough to convince anyone of the wisdom of completing the road. Our brother goes further and suggests sug-gests that the road can wait but they must have food. Now we have found it to be a fact that a bit of the coin of the realm will help very materially in keeping the larder full and we venture the thought that the 26,250 which the government and state stand ready and anxious to spend if the county will appropriate one-third more, would go a long way toward helping out many a Sanpeter and make him glad that this money did not get away to some other part of the country where he would never see a cent of it. And one of the best features of the whole proposition is the fact that the work, which will be undertaken in mid-summer, need not interfere whatsoever with the planting or harvesting of crops. Better put up your hammer, Boyden. Boy-den. The project means as much to Manti as to any other town in either county, and your own people will be among the first to benefit upon the completion of the road. A good-siEed donation to the road and a few helpful words now and then would much better bet-ter become you and then, if you need food, we will be glad to haul you a few thousand bushels of Emery county coun-ty wheat. |
