606 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



vor the county as the unit, in place of the township, with a competent of- 

 ficer as supervisor who should devote all his time to the work. Besides 

 being cheaper I think we could get much better service. We now have a 

 county surveyor, who I understand, is not over-loaded with official busi- 

 ness. Why not add "County Road Supervisor" to his title and give him 

 something to do? 



Again we might profit by the example of large railroad corporations. 



Thousands of miles are in daily operation and new lines constantly be- 

 ing built. But there is one man — only one — at the head of the engineer- 

 ing department — the chief engineer. He directs what is to be done on the 

 whole system. Thus a road supervisor would have under his control all 

 the public highways in the county and would be better able to put sys- 

 tem to the work and do what was most needed better than a whole corps 

 of petty officers who do not pretend to v.ork in harmony or under any 

 definite system, and who generally have their hands full of their own 

 business, or may not comprehend what is needed as well as one who is 

 trained in that line and has made it a special study. But this is probably 

 going beyond the limits of my subject. I simply throw out the thoughts 

 as they enter my mind, and you can take or reject them as you please. 



"According to statute" we now have mainly to look to the township 

 trustees for any improvements we might desire in the highways of the 

 township. The trustees on their part feel relieved when they are able to 

 look after the roads in a limited territory, being as the case might be, the 

 whole, one-half or one-fourth of the township. It would only be natural 

 to suppose that those "supervisors" are not always experts in road build- 

 ing. It might also happen that some of them live on side lines and would 

 be apt to overlook the main roads in favor of branches that are of no 

 particular benefit to the public in general. I do not know whether the 

 trustees have authority to command the supervisors what to do, when 

 and where. Am inclined to think no instructions are given. Thus the 

 supervisor is at liberty to work the roads or let it be, as he chooses. Un- 

 der such conditions it is again natural that he attends to his private busi- 

 ness first. When he finds time to look after the roads, they might not be 

 in condition to be worked on account of wet weather or he is unable to se- 

 cure help, or they might be on the point of freezing up in a shape just 

 about impossible for anybody to pass. We have the result. 



Under present condition, in order to get some system to the work, let 

 each township decide to lay the bulk of the work on the main traveled 

 roads and finish a certain piece each year by a good solid layer of gravel 

 on top. There is sufficient revenue raised in each township to complete 

 one or two miles of road each year. How many years would it take, work- 

 ing on that principle, before the main roads of the township would be 

 made good roads? 



Another thing in this connection should not be overlooked. When a 

 road is once properly constructed it requires very little to keep it up. A 

 load of gravel here and there where it begins to cut, and the use of a road 

 scraper or King drag now and then would do the work. Then you have a 



