ROADS AND BRIDGES 283 



Pike district, as here used, means the legal co-opera- 

 tive organization of the people owning land along or 

 near to the leading road which they desire to have mate- 

 rially improved. Laws can be framed to facilitate the 

 organization of such districts in a way that the first 

 cost of the improvements to be borne locally can be 

 equally distributed over the adjacent and nearby lands 

 which will be greatly benefited by the improved road. 

 The law should also contemplate drawing upon county 

 funds and even state funds to aid communities that 

 are thus situated, and thus provide a co-operative 

 organization the landowners, the county and the 

 state which will pay the larger portion of the ex- 

 pense of making a superior road. One of the greatest 

 advantages of a state highway fund is that the state 

 government can use it to induce farmers and even cities 

 and villages to unite in co-operative associations to im- 

 prove the roads. One of the greatest functions of gov- 

 ernment is to lead its communities to enter upon larger 

 needed enterprises than they alone would undertake. 

 The opportunity to secure state funds will induce the 

 people of a locality to forget their own differences and 

 unite for the larger objects. 



Cities sometimes aid. In the improvement of roads, 

 state laws should also contemplate requiring aid from 

 cities. In many cases cities pay for part of the roads radi- 

 ating from their centers, as they are thus placed in better 

 communication with the farm communities; and without 

 laws looking to co-operation between city and country, 

 the city must often do without good roads leading to 

 the surrounding country. Private funds are often used 

 for making roads. It would be quite proper for the laws 

 to recognize parties who will invest money in roads by 

 abating part of their road taxes for a series of years in 

 return for their advancing means with which to build a 

 road in which they are especially interested, but by 



