THE CULTIVATOR. 
5 
of which are legitimate sources of wealth, confers the power of 
mul'iplying our individual comforts, of acquiring knowledge, a 
source of high intellectual enjoyment, and of dispensing happiness 
to others;—and that wealth can be acquired by all who practice in¬ 
dustry and frugality—who are temperate in their habits, and dis¬ 
creet in their expenditures. That ill-gotten, disproportioned 
wealth, obtained by unfair dealing, by fraud, by oppression, by mo¬ 
nopoly, generally contains the elements of its own destruction— 
and is most abused, by being employed for sensuality, pomp, pa¬ 
rade, and splendid outside,; and that this “ne more fills the mind 
with happiness, than husks and ashes, if eaten, would give strength 
to the body, 7 ’ In short, its object is to make our people industri¬ 
ous, virtuous and wealthy—to show them the true use of wealth, 
in promoting substantial improvement, civilization, refinement, and 
the happiness of the human family—and that when it is abused, in 
its expenditure, it tends powerfully to defeat these noble purposes. 
We intend, hereafter, so far to trespass upon the rights of the 
publisher, as to make some extracts from the work, for our Young 
Men’s Department. In the mean time we make two quotations, as 
specimens of the author’s style, and of th j happy and perspicuous 
manner in which he illustrates and enforces his propositions. 
“Public economy teaches, that alt the wealth of the nation is divided into one 
great heap, which is the public wealth, and many smaller heaps, which is the 
private wealth. The public heap is that which belongs to the nation; as in 
the United States, the public lands, the public stores, the money, and every 
other kind of public properly. This is for the support of the army, the navy, 
tlie officers of the government, and all the public institutions. The private 
heaps are those which belong to private individuals exclusively, as a man’s 
farm, cattle, &.c. Public economy teaches, that in the public stock all are 
partners, rich and poor, and that no m in has a right to take a farthing without 
the public consent obtained. That all the wealth of a nation, public and pri¬ 
vate, may be supposed to be gathered into one great store-house, which is di¬ 
vided into public and private apartments^ that the common stock is stored in 
the public rooms; that every industrious man has a private apartment, under 
the same roof, which is under his own lock and key. Thai as the public 
apartments are filled from the private, the better supplied the latter, the better 
will be the stores of the nation. That if a man set fire to, or in any way de¬ 
stroy those parts of the building, where the public property is stored, he is a 
loser of course, because he is a partner in it, though the flames do not reach 
his own apartment; and if, through heedlessness, spite or malice, he kindles a 
blaze in one of the private apartments, he then destroys one of those 
heaps, out of which the great public store-house is furnished. 
“ From this we see, that in all true economy, property, belong to whom it 
may, to the nation or to individuals, to rich or poor, is sacred, on account of 
the good it does—that it is very base and stupid for men to waste, burn or de¬ 
stroy any property, which is little better than a man’s breaking the windows 
of Ins own house, or patting fire to a city where he is the owner ot stores and 
houses. It is the characteristic of a brute to waste and defile the food which 
he will need to-morrow. Property, then, is the life of the people, and it is 
suicide wantonly to destroy it.”—p. 30. 
“And what are intellectual pleasures? In presenting an answer to this 
question, we see the true value of property, and the leanness and meanness 
of poverty. Intellectual pleasure is that of the mind and soul, or of the heart; 
it is that which we enjoy other than as that of mere animals. The social plea¬ 
sures, those which we possess in the society of friends and neighbors, make a 
large portion of these pleasures of the mind and soul. Intellectual pleasure is 
found in the grace and beauty of life, in charity, in hospitality, in the luxury 
of spending our money so as to do the greatest good with it. It is in a good, 
comfortable, well furnished house, a well ordered farm, in the flower, the gar¬ 
den; in observing neatness and order prevail in our abodes, and in seeing our 
children neatly and fitly clad. It is, or would be every where, if men would 
buy it with the money which they can and do earn. So simple, and cheaply 
purchased is much of this kind of pleasure, that those w ho are not rich can 
have it as well as the opulent; and when the people come to care for, and to 
work in earnest mainly for these things, there will be an end of mobs and riots 
to avenge their wrongs, real or supposed, by the destruction of property. They 
will then see how mean and stupid it is to waste that wealth which is the 
source of their greatest blessings, how like children to destroy the hen that 
lays the golden egg.”—p. 102. 
COMMON ROADS. 
Our road act has been so often amended, or rather mended, that, 
like an old garment, or an old kettle, it has in a measure become 
useless, failing to subserve the good purposes desired; and it is the 
general belief, that it is better to make an entire new one, than to 
attempt to patch up the old thing. The first step towards remedy¬ 
ing an evil is to ascertain its cause. The defects of our road sys¬ 
tem seem to be 
1. The short tenure of office, the circumscribed jurisdiction, and 
the consequent lack of system, and of knowledge in what concerns 
the general and permanent good, in the officers who are appointed 
to lay out the roads. 
2. The want of competent knowledge, both in theory and prac¬ 
tice, and the desire to subserve local or personal interests, too com¬ 
mon in those who are appointed to superintend their construction 
and repair. 
S. The indolent, inefficient mode in which tire laborers pet form 
their share of the duty. 
Our roads should be laid out with reference to the public accom¬ 
modation—with a view to afford tire best and shortest routes for 
the great body of people to reach market, and perform their ordi¬ 
nary btt iness: they should be constructed upon principles which 
will render them most perfect, most permanent, and most economi¬ 
cal in the long run ; and the labor should be directed by a compe¬ 
tent engineer, and faithfully and honestly performed. Road-mak¬ 
ing is as much an art as shoemaking, and practice can alone make 
perfect in either; and it is as much a science as civil engineer¬ 
ing upon our canals and rail-roads. The soil and substratum, 
drainage, inclination and materials, are all matters of the first mo¬ 
ment in constructing roads; and in these matters our road officers 
are generally ignorant or reckless. What farmer would think of 
employing himself and hands in constructing his buildings, or in 
making his shoes or harness, when he could have them Clone much 
cheaper, and much better, by professional mechanics ? Road-mak¬ 
ing is considered in Britain a more scientific and intricate business 
than the common mechanic arts, and employs higher talents. At 
present the path-master seeks to improve the road which he most 
travels, and the laborer merely to get rid of the exactions of the 
law; and both concur generally in making the days of highway la¬ 
bor at least half-holidays. We put it to any man who is acquaint¬ 
ed with the mode of performing highway work, if one half of the 
time is not virtually wasted—if six men, experienced in road-mak¬ 
ing, under a competent engineer, will not do more good upon a 
road in a day, than eighteen men do now as ordinarily employed.— 
f If so, the farmer might better pay for one day, than work or lose 
three days, from his farm. 
As no one should find fault without suggesting a remedy, we 
proceed to suggest our plan of reform. 
1. Substitute county for town commissioners, appoint them for 
a term of three or four years. Let them be appointed by the judges 
and supervisors, who will select good men. Pay them liberally. 
Require them to make a semi-annual circuit through the county, if 
business oflers, to lay out and alter roads. Let all applications for 
new roads, or alterations, be presented to them previous to these 
tours of duty. Their jurisdiction will be enlarged, their responsi¬ 
bility increased, and they will be enabled to digest a system of ge¬ 
neral improvement, and to carry it into effect. The expense of 
these duties will be sensibly lessened. 
2. Appoint, in the manner, and for the time above indicated, a 
competent engineer, as superintendent of roads, whose duty it 
shall be to attend the commissioners in their semi-annual tours, to 
advise with them, and to superintend and direct the construction of 
all roads in the county, with power to appoint one or more assis¬ 
tants, and to employ competent laborers to perform the work. Let 
these charges be paid from the county treasury, after being duly au¬ 
dited. 
3. Let the highway tax be paid in money, with the county taxes. 
Professional road makers would then be employed, labor would 
not be misapplied, more work Would be done, and better done; most 
of the money would again return to the pockets of the farmers, for 
team-hire, provisions, materials, Sz.c., and our roads would be pro¬ 
gressively improving, with half the expense that is now bestowed 
upon them—our bridges would be more permanently and economi¬ 
cally constructed, and system and order would grow out of confu¬ 
sion. 
ON INVESTMENTS IN MENTAL STOCK. 
When men grow rich by their business, be it professional, me¬ 
chanical or agricultural, it becomes deservedly a matter of calcula¬ 
tion, how they shall best employ their surplus profits, with the view 
of promoting their own happiness, and subserving the interests of 
their children. Our farmers who farm well, and attend to their bu¬ 
siness, are doing well, better perhaps than at any former period of 
our history, and are laying up annually snug sums of money. To 
render these profits truly a blessing, and to enhance their value, they 
must take care to implant early habits, that will enable children to 
'appreciate, and to preserve, the patrimony which is thus annually 
