THE COACHING AGE. 



supervision and control of both boards, including the 

 forms to be used by them, the mode of keeping their 

 accounts, and the audit of them, is vested in the 

 Local Government Board. 



It is obvious that some well-organized system for 

 the general management of the highways throughout 

 the kingdom was absolutely necessary, looking to the 

 fact that roads are annually being disturnpiked, and 

 consequently falling on the highway authorities, 

 whether parochial or district, for their maintenance 

 and management ; so that the work of highway 

 boards, it may be fairly assumed, will very consider- 

 ably increase — the length of highways, both in districts 

 and parishes, in England and Wales being with the 

 main roads 115,773 miles; and, as in a very few 

 years all roads will probably have been disturnpiked, 

 their length will be added to this already large 

 number. 



To go more into details of figures might not 

 probably be very interesting, but I may mention that 

 the average cost per mile of maintaining the roads in 

 highway districts in 1880 was £12 9s., and of the 

 main roads in such districts for the same period 

 £35 lis. 



Before the institution of highway boards, in order 

 to keep down the rates as far as possible, and avoid 

 sending old and decrepit men (against their will, 



