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ine uoiuiiocks metnoa allows us to dox in some answers on population and population density. What is too few people in Rappahannock County? What is too many? What is just right? We ll discuss this in a series of articles, exploring some side issues as well.
We start with too few people. What if there were no people in the county, just plants and wildlife? The answer? There would be no Rappahannock County. Counties were, and are, created to provide certain governmental services to people. If • there were no people, there would be no need for a Rappahannock County. The Virginia General Assembly would simply split Rappahannock County up amongst the neighboring counties.
How about one person? Has one individual ever lived in a very large area all alone? Yes, it has happened, but not in Virginia. It occurred on the island of Lubang in the Philippines, 75 miles southwest of Manila, after World War II. Four Japanese soldiers refused to surrender and took to the mountains on the island. One soon surrendered, two were subsequently killed, but a fourth, Lt. Hiroo Onoda held out, alone in the end, for close to 30 years. He defended an area of about 100 square miles, patrolling it on foot. Read his story, "No Surrender: My ThirtyYear War." It proves that one person can control a large area, even under hazardous conditions.
Could a man or woman live like that in Rappahannock County, constantly running down Route 211, or Route 522, or any of the other roadways leading into the county, always on the alert for intruders? What would the General Assembly in Richmond think of that? Without a doubt, the General Assembly would cause Rappahannock County to become "extinct," which is the word used in Virginia when a county is eliminated. Rappahannock County's land would be split up amongst neighboring counties.
This brings us to our first civic lesson. Counties exist because the state creates them. A county is nothing but a territorial subdivision of the state. Counties exist to administer locally the general powers and policies of the state.
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