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wheel-way, having occasional communication with underground 

 channels for carrying off water, and a curb which restricts the pas- 

 sage of wheels from a raised way for the travel of persons on foot, 

 the surface of which, to avoid their sinking in the mud, is commonly 

 covered with (lags or I trick. 



This is the system which is almost universally kept in view, not 

 only in the enlargement of our older towns, but in the setting out of 

 new ; such, for instance, as are just being projected along the line of 

 the Pacific Railroad. If modifications are admitted, it is because 

 they are enforced by some special local conditions which are 

 deemed, by those responsible for the arrangement, to be unfor- 

 tunate. The reason for this is probably found chiefly in the fact, 

 that it is a plan which is readily put on paper, easily comprehended, 

 and easily staked out ; it makes the office of an engineer or sur- 

 veyor at the outset almost a sinecure, as far as the exercise of pro- 

 fessional ability is concerned, and facilitates the operations of land 

 speculators. 



Its apparent simplicity on paper is often fallacious, and leads 

 either to unnecessary taxation or to great permanent inconvenience. 

 It is obviously incomplete, and wholly unsuited to the loading and 

 unloading of goods which require storage, but, where it can be well 

 carried out, offers very great advantages for the transportation of 

 merchandise between distant points. It is also well adapted to 

 equalize the advantages of different parts of a town, and thus avoid 

 obstructions to improvement which mercenary jealousies might 

 otherwise interpose. 



In our judgment, advantages such as these have hitherto been 

 pursued far too exclusively, but, as the presumption is always strong 

 against any considerable innovation upon arrangements which have 

 been long associated with the general conditions of prosperity and 

 progress of all civilized icomm unities, we desire, before giving rea- 

 sons for this conviction, first, to remove any reasonable prejudice 

 against the introduction of the entirely new elements into the street 

 plan of Brooklyn, which we shall have to propose, by showing under 

 what conditions of society, and with reference to what very crude 

 public requirements, compared with those which now exist, our pres- 

 ent street arrangements have been devised. 



WHY ORDINARY ARRANGEMENTS ARE INADEQUATE TO 

 PUBLIC REQUIREMENTS. 



At present, large towns grow up because of the facilities they 

 offer mankind for a voluntary exchange of service, in the form of 



