ROAD MAKING. 257 



a road that will last for years without having another dollar put 

 on it. 



The farmers in my town have come to the conclusion that they can 

 earn more on their farms than they can on the roads, and we have 

 to take what Canadian lumbermen we can find in the village, put 

 them on the roads and make them work, and pay them what they 

 earn. I believe if every town in the State should adopt this sys- 

 tem, both farmers and all other citizens would find it money in their 

 pockets. 



Mr. PuTNAii. I have tried for several years in our town to raise 

 money and put it in the hands of commissioners, instead of having 

 highway surveyors appointed, but I could not get a vote. The 

 traders are as much opposed to it as the poor man who works out 

 his tax. The poor man wants to retain the statute labor, because 

 he goes to the merchant and ofiers to work out his tax. The an- 

 swer is, "Well, you may, if you will do it for sixty or seventy 

 cents on the dollar, and take it in goods out of the store." These 

 poor men cannot do in a whole day what a man ought to do in 

 three hours, yet they want a dollar and a half apiece credited to 

 them for what they call a day's work. So we had to take statute 

 labor in making the road of which I have spoken. I could put on 

 their horses, and I did, and they were satisfied that their horses 

 earned all they got for them. I never made a road so cheap nor so 

 good, and most of it was done by horse labor. They don't want 

 me for surveyor, they say, and I don't believe they do. 



Mr. Lucas. We have suffered in the same way in our town. We 

 were nev.er able to raise money to build a road or repair one ; it 

 always had to be done by statute labor, except perhaps a couple 

 hundred dollars was put in the hands of the selectmen for that pur- 

 pose. Formerly, our rule was, to allow 12| cents an hour, the 

 men boarding themselves and oxen. They would try hard to get 

 in twelve hours a day. About fifteen years ago, being surveyor, I 

 adopted a rule, that I would give them a dollar and a half a day, 

 for men and oxen, and they could come at seven o'clock or half- 

 past seven, or if they did not come till eight, I v/ould allow them 

 for a day's work, if they would do it. They would then work 

 about nine hours, and I found that, under that system, they did as 

 much work in nine hours as they formerly did in twelve. They 

 took hold and worked smart, just as if they were working by the 

 job ; and they wei'e well satisfied to do it. 



Adjourned. 



