78 History of Inland Transport 



statute labour and contributions in lieu thereof were mainly 

 appropriated to the cross roads constituting the parish 

 highways, on which no turnpikes were placed ; though certain 

 proportions of the statute labour or statute labour contribu- 

 tions also became available for turnpike roads which could 

 not otherwise be properly maintained. 



At first there was a pronounced disinclination on the part 

 of the public in various parts of the country to tolerate toll- 

 bars. It might be supposed that, the state of the roads 

 having generally been so deplorable, everyone would have 

 welcomed their amendment under almost any possible con- 

 ditions. Defoe, at least, was enthusiastic over the prospect of 

 better roads that turnpikes foreshadowed. Alluding to them 

 in his " Tour," he says : " And 'tis well worth recording, for 

 the Honour of the present Age, that this Work has been begun, 

 and is in an extraordinary Manner carry'd on, and perhaps 

 may, in a great Measure be compleat within our Memory, as 

 to the worst and most dangerous Roads in the Kingdom. 

 And this is a Work of so much general Good that certainly 

 no publick Edifice, Alms-house, Hospital or Nobleman's 

 Palace, can be of equal Value to the Country with this, nor 

 at the same time more an Honour and Ornament to it." 



But there was another point of view which is thus ex- 

 pressed by Whitaker in " Loidis and Elmete " : "To inter- 

 cept an ancient highway, to distrain upon a man for the 

 purchase of a convenience which he does not desire, and to 

 debar him from the use of his ancient accommodation, bad as 

 it was, because he will not pay for a better, has certainly an 

 arbitrary aspect, at which the rude and undisciplined rabble 

 of the north would naturally revolt." 



Objections to turnpikes had been further fomented by 

 demagogues who went about the country proclaiming that 

 the gates which were being put up were part of a design 

 planned by the Government to enslave the people and deprive 

 them of their liberty. 



Not only did many individuals in various parts of the country 

 refuse to use the turnpike roads, or to pay toll if they did use 

 them, but in some instances the gates were destroyed, by way 

 of making the protests more emphatic. In 1728 it was thought 

 necessary to pass a general Act against "ill-designing and 

 disorderly persons " who had " in various parts of this King- 



