STATE, COUNTY AND TOWN ROADS. 253 



much in little compass, — of these calls for improvement, in this 

 connection, and adding some more as belonging to this subject 

 in the form of an interesting appendix. Says Gov. Claflin in 

 his Inaugural : " 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 communica- 

 tion are better appreciated. The science of road-making is ap- 

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

 superintending the construction and repair of roads are so de- 

 fective 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 

 their construction and the repair of our highways. It is evident, 

 also, that the science of road-making should have a prominent 

 place in the course of applied mathematics at the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College." 



We stand then in this matter of roads at precisely the same 

 point that the good people of London did ten or a dozen years 

 ago in the matter of their drainage, and our remedy is the same. 

 The fault lies in the machinery of government ; originally built 

 up to cater to the wants and needs of a newly settled country, — 

 a colony breaking a path through the wilderness, — it has long 

 since ceased to satisfy the demands of the present State in no 

 matter so essentially as in that of its government and laws relat- 

 ing to common roads and highways. This is a subject requir- 

 ing special knowledge, to be acquired only by long experience or 

 the shorter method of imbibing the experience of others, which 

 on analyzing it, is all that any study amounts to ; formerly 

 it was not so, and most any one sufficed to make improve- 

 ments on Indian paths. We need then an expert government 

 on this point. 



There should be a distinction made between first, second and 

 third class, or between, as they might be called. State, County 

 and Town roads ; the first two should not be left to be dealt with 

 as it is the pleasure of each town. A chain cannot be perfect 

 unless every link in it is so ; no more can a road. The State 

 must attend to the State and County roads and set a proper ex- 



