48 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



use. A good road must be smooth, and possess the other qualities that 

 have just been described — be dry, solid, and of easy grade. 



An "ideal road law" must provide for and insure the construction of 

 such roads. It must not leave the formation of the road to the judgment 

 of the individual or locality that has the construction in charge. The 

 law must insist that the road shall be of the character described, and 

 supervisors, or road constructors, must conform to the requirements of 

 the law no matter what their private views as to road improvement may 

 have been. 



The first great requirement in an ideal law for the construction of the 

 ideal road is that it shall provide for the proper ''locating of the road:' 

 An improper location makes it practically impossible by any after meth- 

 ods that may be used to form it into an ideal road. I have already indi- 

 cated in what resjiects location can destroy an otherwise well con- 

 structed highway. Grades too steep for loaded teams, and foundations 

 too soft to bear up the surface ballast. 



The ideal road law must also provide for '^competent supervision." 

 In many States the management of the township roads is in the hands 

 of a board of citizens who are elected from year to year, and are known 

 by the name of road supervisors. Most of these men never had any 

 experience in the construction of public roads other than that which 

 they have gained by observation in the community in which they live. In 

 many instances they are either superannuated or are elected to this 

 position because the small amount of compensation which the office 

 affords will take the place of public charity. There is no serious effort 

 made to select men who will construct roads that will serve ^he public 

 for years to come with comparatively slight repair, but the public funds 

 are entrusted to men of little or no business ability, and are used for im- 

 provements of the most temporary character, generally of such a kind 

 as Avill be utterly destroyed before the beginning of the coming year. 



The boards of supervision under an ideal system should be composed 

 of the most capable citizens that each community contains, business 

 men, professional men,- busy men. The system should make but one 

 requirement upon this board and that is that it should be intelligent, 

 and bring to the mattet of road construction and road improvement the 

 same qualities that are necessary in order to succeed in other kinds of 

 business. Instead of being required to be present personally when roads 

 are being repaired, and thus make it impossible for a business man to 

 serve, the board of supervisors should merely indicate the character of 

 of the construction, and leave the details of carrying into effect their 

 plans, to a subordinate employed for that specific purpose. In other 

 words, they should have a foreman to whom they commit the carrying 

 out of the work that they have planned. Competent supervision is of 

 first importance in any kind of business whether it be railroad manage- 

 ment, the control of a mill, or mine, or manufacturing establishment. 

 Road construction is no exception to this rule, and any system that fails 

 to provide for competent supervision cannot be called ideal. 



An ideal system must also provide "some money" for road construc- 

 tion. The phrase "working out the road tax" by the citizens of the com- 

 munity is a misnomer. Loafing out the tax is nearer the truth, and the 

 system that permits men to loaf out their tax is seriously defective. 

 Road construction should be upon business principles, and men who 



