PEEFAOE. 



In liis Inaugural Address to the legislature of 1869, His Ex- 

 cellency Governor Claflin used the following words : — 



" Closely connected with our agriculture and other prominent in- 

 terests is the system of public highways. Few things are of greater 

 importance to a community, or a surer test of civilization, than 

 good roads. Those of our citizens who have visited Europe are 

 unanimous in the opinion that our public roads are far inferior to 

 those of other countries, where the means of easy and safe com- 

 munication are better appreciated. The science of road-making is, 

 apparently, not well understood ; or, if it is, the present modes of 

 superintending the construction and repair of roads are so defective, 

 that the public suffers to an extent of which few of us are aware. 

 It may be found, upon investigating the cause of our miserably 

 poor and ill-constructed roads, that the laws relating to this subject 

 need revision, so as to give more uniformity in the construction and 

 the rej^air of our highways. It is evident, also, that the science of 

 road-making should have a prominent jilace in the course of applied 

 mathematics at the Massachusetts Agricultural College." 



This suggestion was embodied by the legislature in the form 

 of a Resolve, offering prizes for an Essay or Essays upon Roads, 

 in the following words : — 



Resolve concerning the construction and repair of roads. 



Hesolvedy That there be allowed and paid out of the treasury of 



the Commonwealth the sum of four hundred dollars, to be expended 



under the direction of the board of agriculture, in the payment of 



