1902.] GOOD ROADS. 35 



isolated districts to improve the highways of those districts. 

 Men had been paying their taxes year after year only 

 to find that the principal part of the money was used near 

 to, or at the large voting centers. I find that this criticism 

 has beeft in many cases just, and perhaps one of the reasons 

 why the law has been so drawn under which I now work as 

 commissioner; so that the decision rests with the State upon 

 what section of' the main highway State money shall be used. 

 It has been found that it is not a difficult matter for any man 

 who is at all popular, either in a city or town, to gather around 

 himself a few kindred spirits and arrange for certain things to 

 be done in town meeting or caucus whereby the public may 

 be saved the trouble and annoyance of arranging those things, 

 so that when the public comes together in those meetings 

 they have nothing to do, practically, only to confirm what 

 has been arranged for them beforehand. 



With the decision resting with the State we find that the 

 advantage accrues to the people in the introduction of, and in 

 the providing for, our continuous system of highways in a 

 better way than leaving the matter to the decision of the 

 town meeting. 



A great many people have offered a criticism that it is 

 not wise to lay a section of highway in any town independent 

 of other sections. I do not agree with them. In my ex- 

 perience I have found that it is manifestly wise to so do; so 

 long as the town has the right to take the initiative and ex- 

 press its desire for State aid I certainly beHeve that with the 

 State contributing the ^rge share of money used in the 

 making of an improvement in any town that the State should 

 ahvays have the right to say where that money should be 

 expended. I am certain that if the general plan of making 

 these improvements in different districts in the town had 

 not been a practice on the part of the State we would not 

 have 162 towns out of a total of i68 in this movement. We 

 have placed this money into different districts, and it has cer- 

 tainly been shown to be popular and of great benefit to 

 the towns in which there have been improvements. You 

 must make a beginning somewhere. I do not think it wise 

 to use force or to be arbitrary in any way, but I do think it 

 for the best interests of the people to assume the control 

 outside of local influences in the disbursement of State money 



