THOMAS TJ. TAYLOR-ECONOMY OF GOOD ROADS. 85 
First of all, there should he a county commissioner of roads, a man 
well skilled in the science of road and bridge making. It seems to me 
that this system would he preferable to the law making county commis¬ 
sioners ex officio road commissioners, as in the special road laArs of Fan¬ 
nin (1895) and of Collin, Grayson, etc. (1893). 
However, if the county commissioners are made road commissioners 
also, they certainly should receive more pay than they receive now. The 
office of commissioner is one of the highest importance and should he 
filled by men of intelligence and men of affairs. The per diem is poor 
compensation for a man who is expected to devote a large part of his 
time to studying the interests of his district and county. As it is, he 
gets pay only for the time that court is in session. He can not study the 
needs of his constituents while court is in session, and if he is not paid 
for it, we can not expect him to devote any more time to it. If the over¬ 
seer system is abolished, the commissioners will have to devote more at¬ 
tention to the roads, or employ someone to do so for them. 
