io History of Inland Transport 



lines such as no succeeding administration attempted either 

 to follow or to direct. 



Thus the great Roman roads, connecting the rising city on 

 the Thames and the commercial centre of Britain with every 

 part of the island, were remarkable, not only because they 

 represented an art which was to disappear with the conquerors 

 themselves, but, also, because they had been directly created, 

 and were directly controlled, by a central authority as the 

 outcome of a State road policy itself fated in turn to dis- 

 appear no less effectually. The almost invariable practice in 

 this country since the departure of the Romans has been for 

 the State, instead of following the Roman example, and 

 regarding as an obligation devolving upon itself the provision 

 of adequate means of intercommunication between different 

 parts of the country, to leave the burden and responsibility 

 of making such provision to individual citizens, to philan- 

 thropic effort, to private enterprise, or to local authorities. 

 The result has been that not only, for successive generations, 

 were both the material progress and the social advancement 

 of the English people greatly impeded, but the actual develop- 

 ment of such intercommunication was to show, far too often 

 (i) a lamentable want of intelligence and skill in meeting 

 requirements ; and (2) a deficiency of system, direction and 

 co-ordination as regards the many different agencies or 

 authorities concerned in the results actually secured. 



