26 
Rural Roads. 
It is highly probable that if Parliament enacted that the 
management of the main roads should be dealt with by a 
national department, and that the local authorities should be 
bound to contribute to this department not more than the 
amount they now expend on the main roads, the department, 
with the aid of the county surveyors, would before many 
years put the roads into a condition satisfactory to all members 
of the community, and costing less for maintenance than the 
present expenditure. 
Most local authorities would be glad to give up the control 
of the main roads in their district, if they were assured of an 
improvement in their condition and were safeguarded against 
an increased charge on the local rates ; but in any case, as 
was pointed out in 1903 in the Report of the Departmental 
Committee previously referred to, local sentiment should not 
be the governing factor in this important matter. 
Government grants in aid of local taxation are not at 
present altogether satisfactory in their effect upon local adminis- 
tration. They do not stimulate most authorities to a fuller 
and more effective performance of their important duties, but 
are thrown into the general purse, which is too often unduly 
depleted for purposes much less important and of less general 
interest than the improvement of highways. 
An effort should be made to extricate the existing grants, 
so far as they originally referred to roads, from the fund for 
general purposes ; and the amount so retrieved and any new 
grants for a like purpose should be definitely applied towards 
the permanent improvement of main roads and a higher 
standard of maintenance. What is necessary as regards rural 
main roads in England and Wales could be effected by the 
definite application to them, out of the grants now made to 
local authorities, of a portion equal to about 2d. in the pound 
on the total assessable valuation, together with a new State 
grant of approximately equal amount. 
Up to 1888 the State paid half the cost of the maintenance 
of the main roads ; but this definite payment was then dis- 
continued, and certain revenues were assigned to the county 
authorities in lieu thereof. 
New Legislation Required. 
Legislation giving effect to these ideas and enabling land, 
required for new roads or for widening and improving existing 
highways, to be acquired in a simple, speedy, and economical 
way would be welcomed by all classes. 1 At present no 
1 In Scotland the County Councils have no powers to acquire land for these 
purposes. In England and Ireland the powers available are inconvenient and 
costly to put in force. 
