SUBURBAN AND COUNTRY ROADS. 55 



properly expended. To every inhabitant is offered the privilege of 

 working out his proportion of taxes at a price stipulated by the town. 

 There would be no serious objection to this system, if all were alike 

 interested in having good roads, but as circumstances are, it is too 

 apt to result in a holida3''s amusement, under the supervision of a 

 man who has been chosen rather for his popularity, than for any 

 knowledge that he may have of building roads. 



"The time the surveyor chooses is generally when he has the most 

 leisure, and whether required or not, he frequently works out his 

 money at once, and gets done with it. The work is often performed 

 in the rudest manner, and the road is coated here and there with 

 thick patches of worthless stuff — better suited for top-dressing for 

 crops than for road material — to be washed into the gutters on the 

 occurrence of the first heavy rain. From want of judgment, or 

 want of interest, the mone^' is wasted, and the people are burdened 

 with the heavier tax of struggling over hard roads, made worse by 

 the money they have paid for improving them. Less frequently a 

 man is chosen who understands better what is needful to be done, 

 and with what means he has, he commences some improvements, 

 which, if followed up in after j^ears, would result in a public 

 benefit ; but his ofHce is onl}' for a 3'ear, and he may be followed 

 b}' a man who will undo what was well begun."* 



An improvement on this system has been adopted by man}^ of 

 our cities and larger towns, and consists in the appointment of a 

 superintendent, with an efficient corps of workmen under him, who 

 has authority to make the purchase of all necessary machinery 

 and paraphernalia, and who has complete supervision of roads and 

 bridges. Even in the smaller towns much might be effected under 

 a modification of the present system. Thus, let laborers be 

 employed, under the supervision of one overseer, appointed by the 

 town, who, in the various districts, shall keep the roads of that 

 district in constant repair, filling up all ruts and holes as soon as 

 formed ; using only the best materials to be obtained, and these in 

 a thorough and workmanlike manner. Let all new roads be con- 

 structed with especial reference to complete under-drainage, and 

 let all culverts, drains, and ditches be kept open ; let the surface of 

 every road be kept smooth and free from loose stones, and in dry 

 weather, wherever practicable, well sprinkled. Such a plan, of 

 course, necessitates constant labor, but it will be found to be the 



* Third Prize Essay, Massachusetts Agricultural Report, 1869-70, p. 304. 



