New roads and road laws in the United States

LIBRARY

OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
Deceived /7' 1*3/7^ ,

<

Accessions No. (3. CLns No.

NEW
ROADS AND ROAD LAWS

IN THE

UNITED STATES

ROY STONE

/ *

VICE-PRESIDENT NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR GOOD ROADS, AND IT. S. SPECIAL AGENT
AND ENGINEER FOR ROAD INQUIRY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

NEW YORK

D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY

23 MURRAY AND 27 WARREN STREETS

1894

COPYRIGIIT, 1894,
BY D. VAN NOSTEAND COMPANY,

TYPOGRAPHY BY ]. S. GUSHING & Co., BOSTON.

PREFACE.

THE greater portion of the material for this work was
gathered before the establishment of the Government In-
quiry into " Systems of Eoad Management in the United
States," and when the writer took charge of that inquiry,
it was thought best, iiVview of the urgent demand for a
publication of this character and the delay involved in
organizing the inquiry and making a proper digest of its
results for publication, to carry out the original intention,
and publish, in a private form, the information already at
hand, and such additional matter as might come in through
the inquiry or otherwise during the preparation of the
volume for the press. In addition to supplying a present
need, it is hoped that this book may still further stimulate
public interest in the subject, and thus promote the success
of the official inquiry.

The demand for information on this subject generally
relates —

First, To the new legislation for road improvement and
the working of that legislation ;

Second, To the cost and methods of road construction;

Third, To the effects of road improvement where it
has been accomplished.

iii

IV PREFACE.

Until the organization of the National League for Good
Roads, no serious attempt appears to have been made to
gather this information in the United States.

By means of the Consular Reports a knowledge of for-
eign road-making has been widely spread, but the densest
ignorance still prevails in respect to our home efforts and
their results.

This work attempts only to give a condensed account
of recent progress in American road-making, with details
of the examples which have been most conspicuously
successful, together with some suggestions for legislation
and for road construction.

New developments succeed each other rapidly in this
field : since the body of this book was in type, committees
of the New York State Legislature and Boards of Super-
visors have visited the State Aid Road Districts of New
Jersey, and on their return have passed a State Aid law
through the lower house by a vote of four to one.

This visit and its result have been widely discussed, and
another winter will see a movement for State Aid in many
States ; for the visitors have spread far and wide the news
of farming communities actually getting rich in these hard
times, and attributing their prosperity entirely to their

good roads.

ROY STONE.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 4, 1894.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Recent Progress in Road Improvement 1

II. The Government Road Inquiry 19

III. The New Roads of Canandaigua, N.Y 35

IV. Modern Kentucky Road-Building 43

V. Connecticut Roads 40

VI. Cheap Stone Roads in Virginia, Michigan, New Jersey,

and Maryland 50

VII. Ineffective County Road Laws. — Local Option Law of

New Jersey 55

VIII. Proposed Amendments to the New Jersey Road Law . 59

IX. Further Modification of the Same Law suggested ... 62

X. State Aid, and the Method of giving it 69

XI. Another Form of State Aid. — Convict Labor .... 74

XII. What the Railroads will do for the Highways .... 81

XIII. Road Materials in the United States ....... 87

XIV. The Best Road for a Farming District 91

XV. The Best Construction for a Narrow Hard Road. — Some

Farm Roads in Illinois 94

XVI. Treatment of Sandy Roads 97

XVII. Treatment of Dirt Roads 101

XVIII. Wide Tires 103

XIX. The Report of the Ohio Road Commission 109

XX. Farmers and the Roads 114

XXI. The Wheelmen's Campaign for Roads 118

XXII. The Attitude of Commercial Organizations 120

XXIII. Road-Building and the Revival of Business . 123

VI CONTENTS.

APPENDIX.

PAGE

Abstracts of New Koad Laws in Sixteen States 139

Proposed Law for State Aid in New York . ...... 147

Proposed State Aid in Pennsylvania . . 151

State Highway Commission. Law of Massachusetts, 1893 . . . 154
State Engineer Department. Law proposed by the Maryland

Road League 161

Free Road Materials by Convict Labor.

1. Laws of Delaware, Chap. 670, 1893 . . 163

2. Proposed Law in Iowa . 166

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Stone Road, Canandaigua, N.Y. . 35

Canandaigua Roads . 40

Mud Road at End of Stone Road, Canandaigua, N. Y 43

Country Road, Alexandria County, Va ... 50

Washington and Alexandria Turnpike, March, 1894 . 54

Church Road, Camden County, N.J .62

Transverse Sections of New Jersey Telf ord Roads ... .66

Church Road, Camden County, N. J., before Macadamizing . . 68

Road-Building in North Carolina, Blowing up Stumps .... 80

Cross-Sections of Narrow Stone Roads 96

Judge Caton's Farm Roads in Illinois ... 97

Church Road, One Mile East of Merchantville 114

Farm Teams on their Way to Market .... ..... 117

Road-Building in North Carolina 123

vii

CHAPTER I.

RECENT PROGRESS IN ROAD IMPROVEMENT.

THE task of transforming a million miles, or more,
of bad roads into good ones, a task which involved the
disruption of century old systems, the development of
new lines of legislation in all the States of our Union,
and, in many, even the changing of their constitutions,
and which has threatened to require an expenditure
running into billions, has commonly been deemed so
vast and difficult as to be utterly hopeless ; but it sud-
denly appears that the few good citizens who have had
the courage to attempt it, here and there, have reason
to be astonished at their own success. Not only have
the ways and means been found without oppression to
the taxpayer, but the actual cost of good road-making
has been brought far below the early estimates. Sixteen
States have passed new road laws, more or less radical
in their nature, and one has amended its constitution
to permit the adoption of such laws. Many hundreds
of miles of good roads have already been built, in local-
ities widely separated, under varying conditions and
through various methods of administration, finance, and
construction.

Z NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

It is therefore no longer necessary to go abroad for
instruction in this reform, but, on the other hand,
highly necessary to learn what is being done at home ;
the country is so vast, that what is done and well done
in one section is often unknown or misunderstood in
another, and each community has, so' far as regards
the experience of others, wrought mostly in the dark.
Some recent developments of the road movement tend,
however, to\vard a thorough investigation of the subject,
and a wide diffusion of the knowledge so gained.

In Chicago a year ago last October, in the midst of
the universal excitement and enthusiasm which attended
the opening ceremonies of the Great Fair, and the dedi-
cation of the White City, a representative body of men
coming from all parts of the land, and from every walk
in life, drew aside from the contemplation of the tri-
umphs of American civilization to counsel together on
one great reproach to that civilization, — the condition
of the common roads of the country. In this gathering
there were delegates from all the existing State organi-
zations for road improvement, from many Boards of
Trade and Agriculture, from Agricultural Colleges and
Universities, and from Farmers' Clubs and Wheelmen's
Leagues, besides many individual leaders in the general
movement. No more harmonious assemblage ever dis-
cussed a public question. Each speaker presented only
a varied phase of the same picture of the country's need
and its opportunity.

One said : " Columbus discovered America in vain if,
after four hundred years, we are still behind the ancient

PROGRESS IN ROAD IMPROVEMENT, 3

Peruvians in one of the elements of civilization, and are
not ashamed of it; a people not yet emerged from bar-
barism, with no written language, and no means of
record or communication better than a knotted string,
yet possessing a system of roads which astonished their
Spanish conquerors more than all the other marvels of
that marvellous land."

" A Spanish writer of the day pictured the Great Road
from Quito to Cuzco in this lofty language : 4 1 believe
that in all the history of man there has been no account
of such grandeur as is to be seen in this road, which
passes over deep valleys and lofty mountains, by snowy
heights, over falls of water, through live rocks, and
along the edges of furious torrents ; in all places level
and paved; along mountain slopes terraced; through the
living rock cut; along the river banks supported by
walls ; in the snowy heights with steps and resting-
places ; in all parts ten paces wide, clean swept, clear of
stones, and, at intervals, post-houses and storehouses
and temples of the Sun.' "

Another speaker said : " A strange apathy has fallen
upon the country, and a strange paralysis upon the gov-
ernment, since the time when the Fathers of the Republic
declared it the duty of Congress to bind the Republic
together with roads and canals"

A well-known Western editor said : " The building
of the needed highways of the land is of no less
consequence to America in the development of its
resources than the building of its 200,000 miles of
railroad. Fortunately for all interests involved,

4 NEW ROADS AND EGAD LAWS.

magnitude of the undertaking does not appall any one,
but the whole country, without excepting the smallest
fragment, favors the good work. There is not an insti-
tution of learning, from the highest university to the
primary school, but teachers and pupils favor good
roads. If money talks, every dollar in the land is»
speaking a good word for better roads. It is an object
which permeates all society, without room for an un-
friendly thought. It concerns every phase of religious
belief, but steers clear of sectarianism. It takes com-
plete possession of all politics, but avoids all parties.
In a word, the continent is solid for good roads."

" How shall they be built? To answer this, the most
important question which can come before the Ameri-
can people in the next century is the scope, object,
and purpose of the National Road League which this
National Convention is assembled to organize."

The Secretary of the Iowa Road Improvement Asso-
ciation, after describing the waste- and losses due to bad
roads, said: *' Build permanent country roads, passable
during twelve months in the year, and these adverse
conditions disappear. The farmer sells his grain or
stock when prices tempt him; he delivers when his
other duties permit without sacrifice of time ; he buys his
supplies on rainy days, emancipated from the spasmodic
and uncertain market ; he reforms his methods and the
character of his farming, raising a greater variety of
crops, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products, many of
them perishable with uncertain and bad roads, but
profitable with good roads open every day in the year.

PROGRESS IN ROAD IMPROVEMENT. 5

His lands, as a result of this diversity in farming,
increase in fertility and in value, and he becomes a
prosperous social being.

"The merchant can then engage in business with less
capital and can carry smaller stocks of goods. He
ceases to become an enforced money-lender to the
farmer, as he is when he sells on credit, and in turn he
meets his own obligations promptly and in cash. The
manufacturer and jobber distribute throughout the year
instead of in seasons, thereby releasing much of their
capital for other enterprises. The railroad company
cuts down its investment in useless rolling-stock, if
freed from the congestion of spasmodic transportation,
and performs its duties toward its patrons without fric-
tion, promptly and efficiently, and with the resultant
good-will of the entire public."

The President of the American Bankers' Association
said: "The distressingly improvident and wasteful
condition of the common roads of the United States,
that are quagmires half of the year and beds of dust the
other half, and the great necessity for their improve-
ment, are becoming universally recognized. The people
are at last beginning to realize that bad roads annually
entail losses that in magnitude are beyond computation,
and that their permanent improvement would yearly
affect the saving of untold millions to the nation.

" There is no man, woman, or child in the land that
has not a personal interest in the question of better
roads. There is no article produced, imported, or
exported, the cost of which is not in some degree

6 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

affected by the character of the common roads over
which it is transported from the field, the mine, the
mill, or the ship, to the user or consumer; and the
worse the roads over which it is transported, the less it
yields the producer, and the more it costs the user or
consumer; and the loss thus borne year after year by
the entire people of the nation is so enormous that it
cannot even be reasonably approximated.

"While the vast improvement and extensions of rail-
ways, and the increase in number, size, and means of
propulsion of vessels have reduced the cost of transpor-
tation by rail and water to a minimum, the cost of
transportation over our common roads means practically
the same at near the close of the world's greatest cen-
tury of progress in other means of transportation as it
was at its beginning. It costs less to transport com-
modities across the continent by rail, or from continent
to continent by water, than it does over a single mile
of some of our common roads during nearly half the
year."

The outcome of this notable gathering was the incep-
tion of the NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR GOOD ROADS, and
that organization was so well established by the follow-
ing winter that it Avas able to hold a convention in
Washington, with more than half the States of the
Union represented.

The Press of the country was constant and earnest in
its aid of the movement, its columns containing many
such articles as the following: —

" The National League for Good Roads is wasting no

PROGRESS IN ROAD IMPROVEMENT. 1

time nor letting any circumstance delay its work.
Amid the tumult of the Columbian celebration at
Chicago it brought together a large and interested body
of practical men for formal organization; and to-day,
amid the culminating excitement of the presidential
campaign, its executive committee meets in this capital
to perfect plans for extending its work immediately into
every school district of the United States. The object
of the League should enlist the sympathy and co-opera-
tion, as its personal composition commands the confi-
dence, of all public -spirited citizens; without which,
indeed, its success will not be easily attained. To
provide the nation with good roads is a stupendous
undertaking; but, in the way the League indicates, it
can be accomplished, and it should be and must be
accomplished." — N. Y. Tribune.

"It is a remarkable evidence of the hold which the
good roads reform has upon the American people, that
in the midst of the absorbing festivities of Columbus
week it was possible to hold a large and enthusiastic
meeting at Chicago in its interests. The gathering at
Central Music Hall contained prominent representatives
of many States and many industries from East and
West, North and South. To the promoters of the good
roads movement is due the honor of inaugurating a
reform which is bound before long to enlist the best and
most powerful elements of our population." — Chicago
Post.

" Good roads mean blessings of untold value

sections where bad roads are at present the rale. The

8 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

improvement of the public highways will tend to largely
augment the benefit of railway communication, will
bring the farmers and merchants into closer relations,
will shorten the distance to markets, will save an
immense amount of wear and tear to vehicles and stock,
will help trade, help commerce, help education, help
investments, help everything that conduces to the ma-
terial welfare of the people. All honor and success,
therefore, to the proposed national organization."
Washington Post.

The Washington Convention aroused the strongest
interest and sympathy in all departments of the gov-
ernment; and many senators, members of Congress,
and executive officials attended and took part in the
deliberations.

Senator Manderson, President of the National League,
said: "It would be waste of time for any one in this
presence to speak of the necessity for the work that we
are engaged in. I know of, no subject more important
than the bettering of the roads of the United States.
No detailed statement of the deplorable existing condi-
tion is necessary. We know the fact that we must get
out of the present methods and mend our ways xthe
country over. We can congratulate ourselves that
there is such widespread interest on the subject of
educating the people for their own good. The IICAVS-
papers all over have taken up the matter and have
created such interest that in some localities better roads
have already resulted. It was a source of very great
pleasure to me that in the county of Douglas, in which

PROGRESS IN ROAD IMPROVEMENT. 9

I live, in the State of Nebraska, largely as the result of
the agitation of this- question by the newspapers, the
people have already started to build better roads, and
have in that county voted $150,000, to be issued in
bonds, the proceeds to be expended for that purpose.
This experience has been repeated all over the land."

Among the remarks made by other speakers were the
following: —

By Senator Chandler: " Mr. Chairman and gentlemen
of the National League for Good Roads : I am glad to
say a few words on this important subject. It is one
that deeply interests my own State. I am here at the
request of Governor John B. Smith, who has just been
inaugurated* and of Ex- Governors David H. Goodell
(vice-president of your League for the State of New
Hampshire) and Hiram A. Tuttle, all of whom take a
warm interest in this subject.

" The question of good roads in New Hampshire has
connected itself with that of forestry, because, in order
to keep New Hampshire prominent, as we know it now
is, among the summer resorts of the United States, it is
necessary for us not only to have good highways and
good roads, giving easy access to our natural scenery,
but we must preserve our forests and our watercourses.

" Now, the first thing that we have thought of has been
to abolish working out the taxes, because the towns do
not get full advantage of the money that is voted under
the existing system. .We expect to be instructed by
the National League for Good Roads as to other meas-
ures for improving the roads of our State."

10 NEW EOADS AND ROAD LAWS.

Regarding action by Congress, the Senator said:
"Therefore, gentlemen, state what you want Congress
to do. Either a national commission should be ap-
pointed, or the Secretary of Agriculture should be
authorized to make investigation and ascertain the
needs of the country and the best methods of improving
our roads, and the aid of the National Government
should be in other ways invoked to arouse our people
to the necessities which are upon the country in con-
nection with improving roads. Beyond that, as to what
should be asked of Congress, I desire to be instructed.
I know I express the sentiment, not only of myself, but
of the chairman, Senator Manderson, and of General
P. S. Post, whom I see here, and of many other senators
and representatives, when I say that if you will state
in what way you think the aid of Congress ought to
be invoked in this work, assuming the request to be
reasonable, we will do all we can to assist in accom-
plishing your wishes."

By the Secretary of Agriculture, Hon. J. M. Rusk:
"The U. S. Department of Agriculture is in full
sympathy with this movement. It ought to be, as ^ the
national representative of the agricultural interest. A
clollar saved in transportation is a dollar added to net
production. What shall the farmer do with his surplus
product, and why raise this surplus, if his way to the
outside world is barred by impassable highways, or
obstructed by obstacles which increase threefold the
expense of realizing the fruits of his industry? Can
we enlighten him by showing him a better way of

PROGRESS IN ROAD IMPROVEMENT. 11

expending the taxes levied upon him for the improve-
ment of his roads ? Can we show him such a system,
well driven home with clear persuasion and positive
assurances, as will induce him to take hold of the sub-
ject with energy? I believe that the time is ripe to
submit this matter to the intelligence of the American
public. There should be a unity of interest between
the city and the country. The city is almost as much
interested in getting good roads as the country itself.
To the country it means enhanced net value to country
products ; to the city it means a greater variety and no
essential increase in cost to the consumer.

" No one man can improve the highways of a neighbor-
hood. All must act together in behalf of their common
interest, and people in yielding something to the com-
mon interest will in the end, by intelligent co-operation
and systematic methods, be the recipients of benefits far
beyond any possible results arising from discordant and
uncompromising individual demands. Every person
must be brought to see this and be induced to yield his
individual interest to a wider range of road improve-
ment, and to a single system wider than the horizon as
seen from his own doorstep."

By Major Sanger, U.S.A.: "I am not a delegate to
this convention, but the representative, by proxy, of a
relative, who is a delegate from the State of New York.
I have taken advantage, however, of my temporary
connection with the convention to bring the objects of
the Road League to the notice of the military authori-
ties in Washington, and it affords me much pleasure to

12 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

say that both the Secretary of War and the Major-
General Commanding the Army are in full sympathy
with this movement in behalf of good country roads,
not only because of their great value to military opera-
tions, should they ever be necessary, but because of
their effect generally, in facilitating intercourse in
those sections where railroads and telegraphs are not
relied on, as yet, for communication. I have been
requested by the Secretary and by General Schoneld to
assure the convention of their wish to co-operate with
all the means at their disposal, and to request the con-
vention to point out to them in what way this can be
done so as to best promote the objects of the League.
General Schoneld has given the subject of roads much
consideration, more especially those along our Canadian
border, on both sides of the line, and fully appreciates
their importance, no matter in what part of the country
they may be situated. As you are doubtless aware, the
army has been for years the pioneer of Western emigra-
tion in this country, and by its marches and the posts
it has built has been largely instrumental in determin-
ing the sites of our Western cities and the main lines of
communication between them. It is my belief that the
intelligence and experience of the army can be made a
valuable auxiliary in the establishment of good roads,
and I am quite sure, from what the military authorities
have said, that they would be glad to use them for that
purpose."

By Judge Thayer, President of Iowa State Road
Association: "This great uprising is not local. It is

PROGRESS IN ROAD IMPROVEMENT. 13

as broad as the continent and foreshadows the grandest
moral and physical revolution that ever aroused a
civilized people. It means a nation stirred up from
centre to circumference.

" It may be that a higher education in road-making is
essential to a proper comprehension of the movement
which is covering the land. But I cannot believe that
is the case. Never since the foundation stone of yonder
Capitol was laid has there been any long-continued
period but object lessons in bad road-making were as
familiar to the person who walked or drove a team as is
the plough to the husbandman. Those object lessons
exist to-day all over this broad land, in front of every
farmer's dooryard, and they keep him company on every
journey he makes to the village or to the church ; they
stare at him with a ghostly glare when he takes his
dead to the burying-ground, and his little children
trudge homeward from the schoolhouse with those
lessons the most impressive of all they learn.

" I believe the education is complete. Every man has
his fill. He has drank deep at the fountain of that
kind of knowledge. Now he is prepared for reform,
and if he is ready to get out of the rut as well as the
mud, this earthquake which is waking people up will
keep them awake until the good roads become object
lessons that put the finest paintings in the shade, and
the bad roads become forever obsolete.

" The education complete, then comes practical road-
making. What is it? How is it done? ,^'irh confi-
dent that to carry on road-making on an e£iensive scale

: , •*-! ^' ^

,« V <?„•-

' > T-?

C-

14 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

as would be wise or prudent will not require an increase
of taxation. The average taxpayer has a greater horror
of adding more taxes to his burdens than he has of
adding to his roads more mud. He will be an enthusi-
ast in favor of better roads; he will take a front seat
at road meetings and applaud every reference to road
reform, but when it comes to suggesting more taxes he
feels like rising up, taking his hat, and hunting a little
fresh air. He is no longer in it. He wants to be
counted out. Nor do I blame him. Not that taxes are
unreasonably high, considering the blessings and advan-
tages the people derive from the institutions of the
land, which must flourish to a certain extent by means
of taxation, but in this matter of good road taxes he has
gotten into a rut, and nothing so nicely fits the wheel
as the rut; and unless there is something just as good,
without additional time, trouble, or expense to reach
it, he prefers to jog along in the old groove to the end
of the chapter or the road. But fortunately the tax-
payer can throw up both hands for road improvements
and enter the arena of road reform with his coat off and
his heart and hands earnestly in the work, and be satis-
fied without a scruple of doubt that the better roads the
whole country is advocating may come with taxation
reduced rather than increased.

"Not only must there be a radical change in the
manner of paying road taxes, but the money thus paid
must be expended in a different way. The local method
of building roads must in a great measure be aban-
doned. The next generation must be asked to help

PROGRESS IN ROAD IMPROVEMENT. 15

bear the expense of building the roads which the next
generation will enjoy. To do this, the road taxes need
not be increased, but use the taxes to pay the interest
on loans for money advanced to build good roads
economically and on an extensive scale.

" Construct roads on the same plan whereby the great
enterprises of this land have been built up. If it is
thought the best policy to limit road-building to a
county, and not make the State the chief factor, provide
that all the road taxes shall be paid into the treasury,
and, instead of being used in the repairing of the roads
already built, devote the larger portion to building
permanent roads and the rest to repairs. If there
should be a prejudice in any county against borrowing
money on long-time bonds at a' low rate of interest and
spending the money as rapidly as it can be done to
advantage, and using the taxes to pay the interest and
creating a sinking fund to pay the principal when due,
then adopt a plan for building, with the annual taxes, a
certain number of miles of good road every year. Dif-
ferent communities will have different views as to
which policy it is best to pursue. But it is well
enough to bear in mind that the larger number of the
great improvements in this country have been brought
about on borrowed money. One man never undertakes
to build a railroad. For one man, or even one com-
munity, to undertake to build so much of a railroad as
runs through his or its school district would be a slow
method of building trunk lines of railroads. It might
be done that way in time, but railroads have not been

16 NEW ROADS A$D ROAD LAWS.

constructed in that way. The vast railroad system of
this country is the work of the ablest financial geniuses,
the best skilled engineers, the most successful business
men the century has produced, and I believe that
to-day, without loans on bonds, there would be less
than 20,000 miles of road where there are 200,000
miles. Other great industries conducted on a colossal
scale, and which are the pride and boast of the nation,
owe their success to a combination of purses advancing
money to be repaid in the future.

"So it is no unexplored field I take the public into
when I ask it to enter upon a system of road-making
that shall equal any undertaking in which the country
has ever engaged, not excepting the building of nearly
200,000 miles of railroad.

"With the work undertaken on a large scale, the
railroads will become an important factor in road-
inaking, as it would be to their interest to haul the
material at the cost of the service. The prison labor
could be utilized, because it would pay the State to put
the prisoners at work at such places where stone quarries
were extensive, or at points where stone in the rough
could be delivered at nominal cost, and make them
central points from which the railroads would distribute
the broken stone into sections of the State where there
are no such quarries.

" Western cities are engaged in a general system of
paving streets. They would not do this in any other
way than the issuing of improvement bonds to run
several years. The burden falls lightly on the shoul-

PROGRESS IN ROAD IMPROVEMENT. 17

ders of each property-owner, and the cities have the use
of the paved streets years in advance of the all-cash-
down system.

"But the cities are as much interested as the countrv

J

in good roads, and they are willing to bear a share of
such improvements. In order that they should have an
opportunity to help on the work, the State should all
the more contribute a certain amount for each mile of
standard road built to be paid out of the general fund."
The Committee on Agriculture of the House of
Representatives, being invited to meet the convention,
sent the following reply : —

"COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,

" HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, U.S.

" Washington, D.C., January 18, 1893.

"GEN. ROY STONE,

" General Vice-President and Secretary :
" SIR : Replying to your kind invitation to attend your
conference at 11 A.M. of this date, the Committee on
Agriculture are compelled to decline on account of lack
of time. At some future time we hope to be able to
attend; and at to-morrow's session at 11 o'clock the
committee by unanimous vote extend an invitation to
representatives of the National League for Good Roads
to be present, and present the matter in any way they
may deem proper.

" Very respectfully,

"W. H. HATCH,
" Chairman Committee on Agriculture."

18 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

Agreeably to this invitation, a large delegation waited
upon the Committee ; the subject of national aid to the
movement was fully discussed, and, as a result, the
Committee inserted in their appropriation bill the
following item : -

"To enable the Secretary of Agriculture to make
inquiries in regard to the systems of road management
throughout the United States, to make investigations
in regard to the best method of road-making, to prepare
publications on this subject suitable for distribution,
and to enable him to assist the agricultural colleges and
experiment stations in disseminating information on
this subject, ten thousand dollars ($ 10, 000)."

This appropriation becoming available at the begin-
ning of the present fiscal year, the Secretary of Agricul-
ture on the 3d-of October, 1893, instituted the office of
Road Inquiry, by the appointment of a special agent
and engineer to carry out the wishes of Congress in the
matter.

CHAPTER II.

THE GOVERNMENT ROAD INQUIRY.

UPON his appointment, the officer in charge of the
Road Inquiry received the following instructions : —

" SIR: You have been this day appointed to supervise
and carry out the investigation pursuant to the Statute
approved March 3, 1893, which has four branches: —

"First: To make inquiries in regard to the systems
of road management throughout the United States.

"Second: To make investigations in regard to the
best method of road-making.

" Third : To prepare didactic publications on this
subject, suitable for publication.

"Fourth: To assist the agricultural colleges and ex-
periment stations in disseminating information on this
subject.

"It will not be profitable to enter upon all of these
points at first. The work under the appropriation will
need to be of gradual growth, conducted at all times
economically. Therefore it is not expected that there
will be any considerable force of clerical help, and,
aside from your salary, no considerable expenditure for

the present. It is understood that you have at your

19

20 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LA 1VS.

command, the data for a compilation of the laws of
several of the States, upon which their road systems are
based. It should be your first duty, therefore, to make
such collection complete, and prepare a bulletin on that
subject.

"Incidentally, Avhile preparing this bulletin, you
should charge yourself with collecting data relating to
different methods of road-making, which, in the first
instance, should be generic in their character; includ-
ing, -

" First : The best method of constructing a common
highway, without gravel or stone.

" Second : Gravel highways.

" Third : Macadam, and other stone roads.

" Fourth : Data upon which to base suggestions for
the transportation of material within reasonable access,
for the proper surfacing of the road-bed. These data
should form the foundation for the second bulletin, or
second series of bulletins.

"There are certain restrictions I wish specifically to
bring to your attention. It must be borne in mind
that the actual expense in the construction of these
highways is to be borne by the localities and States in
which they lie. Moreover, it is not the province of
this Department to seek to control or influence said
action, except in so far as advice and wise suggestions
shall contribute toward it. This Department is to
form no part of any plan, scheme, or organization, or
to be a party to it in any way, which has for its object
the concerted effort to secure and furnish labor to

THE GOVERNMENT ROAD INQUIRY. 21

unemployed persons, or to convicts. These are matters
to be carried on by States, localities, or charities. The
Department is to furnish information, not to direct and
formulate any system of organization, however efficient
or desirable it may be. Any such effort on its part
would soon make it subject to hostile criticism. You
will publish this letter in the preface to your first

bulletin.

"Yours truly,

" J. STERLING MORTON,
"Secretary."

Upon receipt of these instructions letters of inquiry
were prepared and sent : —

1. To the Governors of all the States and Territories,
as follows : —

"The Congress of the United States having made
provision" (here follows the appropriation as above),
"I have the honor to request your Excellency's aid and
co-operation in inaugurating this important inquiry.

" The information regarding foreign roads and road-
making gathered by the Department of State through
its consular representatives has proved to be of great
value, and a corresponding home inquiry should be even
more profitable. So many States and communities are
attempting road improvement, and so many others are
considering it, that a definite knowledge of what each
has proposed or accomplished might be invaluable to
many of the others. Such knowledge can be practically
reached and disseminated only through a central agency,

22 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

but that agency will need the assistance of all the State
and local officials concerned, in order to bring its work
within the means allotted by Congress and within a
proper limit of time.

"The officer in charge of the inquiry has therefore
been instructed to communicate with the Secretaries of
State of the several States on the subject, and the
Department would respectfully ask your Excellency, if
it meets with your approval, to give your sanction to
his requests, together with such voluntary aid as it may
be in your power to give or procure, and will be further
indebted to you for any recommendations or suggestions
regarding sources of information or the scope of the
inquiry itself, which is yet somewhat undefined.
" I have the honor to remain, Sir,
" Yours very respectfully,

"(Signed) EDWIN WILLITS,
"Acting Secretary."

2. To the Secretaries of State : —

" SIR : The act of Congress making appropriations for
this Department for the current fiscal year contains the
following provision : —

"To enable" (etc., as before).

" The scope of this inquiry corresponds closely with
that of the one successfully made by the State Depart-
ment, through its consular representatives, into the road
laws and methods of road construction in foreign
countries.

"The success and value of a home inquiry will

THE GOVERNMENT ROAD INQUIRY. 23

depend much upon the aid given it by the various State
and local officials who have been concerned in road
improvement. I have the honor, therefore, to request
your co-operation in this important work, to the extent
at least of furnishing the names of all such officials,
and of any individuals who may in your judgment be
able to give valuable information or suggestions per-
taining to the subject.

" I take leave also to ask for copies of all recent laws
or compilations of laws bearing upon roads and high-
ways.

"As the inquiry progresses, the Department will fur-
nish you with copies of all published results."

3. To Members of Congress : —

"DEAR Sm: In pursuing the inquiry into 'systems
of road management ' and 4 methods of road-making, '
authorized by the Fifty-second Congress, the Depart-
ment of Agriculture desires to communicate on the
subject with the best- informed authorities and private
individuals throughout the United States, and, to ex-
pedite the matter, I have the honor to request your aid
in procuring the names of all counties or townships in
your district which have made a systematic attempt at
modern road improvement, and also the names and
addresses of the officials and of some of the individuals
most actively concerned in such improvement, whether
in respect to legislation or road construction.

"If you are personally interested in the subject, I

24 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

shall be glad to receive any further information or sug-
gestions from you pertaining to the inquiry."

4. To the State Geologists : —

"DEAR SIR: The U. S. Department of Agriculture
has been assured of the general and hearty co-operation
of the State Governments in the inquiry authorized bv
Congress 'into the systems of road management and the
best methods of road construction throughout the United
States ' ; and as one of the most important branches of
the inquiry relates to road materials, and thereby comes
within your province, I take leave to ask for such infor-
mation on that head as you may be able to give —
having in view the supply not only of your own, but of
adjacent States — if you have material of superior
quality. The general use of the highest class of mate-
rials involves the cost of railway transportation for most
of them, but the Department is already assured by
many of the railway companies of their disposition to
accord extremely low rates on such traffic, for the
encouragement of road-building; and if this action be-
comes general, a haul of one hundred, or even two hun-
dred miles, may not be prohibitory, so that the very best
roads may be built in regions which have no local
supply of material.

"I send, herewith, the general circular of inquirjT,
and shall be glad to receive any information you may
be able to give or obtain on other branches of the
subject."

THE GOVERNMENT HOAD INQUIRY. 25

5. To Railroad Presidents : —

"Srn: The Department of Agriculture has been au-
thorized by Congress to make inquiry into the systems
of road management throughout the United States, and
the best methods of road-making, and to collect and
distribute information regarding the same.

"The interest uniformly shown by railway managers
in the improvement of highways warrants the Depart-
ment, which has been charged with this inquiry, in
asking their assistance. The -undersigned, therefore,
respectfully requests : (1) Such information as can be
gained through your engineering department regarding
the supply of good road materials along or near your
lines — their location, character, accessibility, and the
cost of preparation and loading on cars; (2) Your
schedule rates for transportation of the same ; (3) A
statement of any reduced rates or free transportation
that may have been granted or offered in special cases
to encourage road-building; (4) Any information,
recommendations, or suggestions from yourself, or any
of your staff, that may promote the success of this
inquiry or the general interest of road improve-

6. General circular of inquiry: —

"The Department of Agriculture, being charged by
Congress with an inquiry into the systems of road
management and the best methods of road construction

26 NEW ROADS AND MOAD LAWS.

•throughout the United States, desires information upon
the following points : —

"1. The practical working of the recent road laws
of the various States, \vherever the same have been
tested; the difficulties found in their application, and
suggestions for their amendment.

" 2. The character and cost of the roads built under
these laws, the materials used, and the present condition
and prospective durability of such roads.

" 3. The location and character of any superior stone
for roads which is accessible by railway or water, the
cost of quarrying, preparing, and loading the same, the
mileage rates of transportation, and any instances of
reduced or free transportation given by railways for the
encouragement of road-building.

"4. The same information, so far as applicable,
regarding materials naturally prepared, such as the
Paducah and Tishomingo gravels, the Hamilton sand-
stones, and the Chickamauga flints.

"5. The results of any experiments in the construc-
tion of narrow and cheap hard roads, or of roads having
one track of earth and one of stone or gravel, with full
particulars as to cost and method of construction.

" 6. The result of any practical experience in the use
of burnt clay for roads.

" 7. The cost and benefits of tile drainage of roads,
as shown by practice.

" 8. The best method of constructing a common
highway without gravel or stone, and with or without
under-drainage.

THE GOVERNMENT ROAD

"9. Definite facts as to the enhancement of property
values through road improvement.

"10. The results of any experiments in the employ-
ment of convict labor on roads or the preparation of
road materials.

"11. The detail > of all bond issues for road improve-
ment, and how, \\here, and at what cost the bonds were
marketed.

"12. The rates allowed in each State for men and
teams in working out road taxes, and the actual value
of such work as compared with labor paid for in cash.

"All communications should be addressed to 'Office
of Road Inquiry, U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Washington, D.C.'"

A brief summary of the operations of the Office of
Road Inquiry for the first two months, prepared in
December for the Annual Report of the Department,
shows encouraging results from these inquiries.

" The responses of the Governors and Secretaries of
State have been most hearty and cordial, giving evidence
of the warmest interest in the work and promises of all
the assistance in their power.

" Many members of Congress have responded in like
manner. The State geologists are beginning to supply
the information asked for of them. Fifty railroads
have already sent in reports of their engineers or other
officers, many of them very complete and satisfactory.
This information is being tabulated, and wj^js^ffi^^
all received, with that of the geologist^;! "}%ljj3l bo* '

/**& &*£•> '" \y'J

fe^y

28 NEIV ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

enabled to make a map showing the location and cost
of the best road materials throughout the United States.

"In this work the office of the United States Geo-
logical Survey .is rendering valuable assistance, and it
could be of the greatest service in the general inquiry
if its means permitted.

"Nearly all of the Railroad Companies show a will-
ingness to promote the improvement of highways by
cheap transportation of materials ; and since in any
general system of improvement railway transportation
will be almost universally required, if the best materials
are to be used, this is one of the most encouraging
features of the situation.

"Recent State Higliivay Legislation.

" The first bulletin of this office is now in the hands of
the printer, and is composed of a brief of the new road
laws of fourteen States, Avith full extracts of the essen-
tial portions of the same, and some recommendations
made by influential public bodies but not yet carried
into legislation.

"The advance in road legislation proceeds on several
distinct lines : —

"1. In the direction of more rigid provisions for
carrying out the old systems without radical change in
the systems themselves.

"2. More liberal tax levies.

"3. Substitution of money for labor taxes.

" 4. Local assessment, according to benefits, for con-
struction of new roads.

THE GOVERNMENT EGAD INQUIRY. 29

"5. Construction by townships, with power to issue
bonds.

"6. Construction by counties.

" 7. State highway commissions.

" 8. Provision for working convicts.

" 9. Direct State aid to road-building.

"10. Building of State roads.

" The new Road Law of Tennessee (1891) is an
admirable example of the first of these classes. By
giving to the County Courts full power and direct
control over the whole subject of roads, it should elim-
inate at once the evil influences of local politics and the
easy-going methods that generally prevail. The Court
classifies the roads, establishes the districts, and appoints
the commissioners ; each commissioner divides his dis-
trict into sections and appoints the overseers. The com-
missioners have full control of the roads and bridges,
and can remove the overseers at pleasure. The Court
assesses the road tax, within a limit of eight days' work
for each male inhabitant between eighteen and forty-
five 3rears of age, and of 25 cents per $100 of
property. The overseers may dismiss any man \vhose
work is unsatisfactory and proceed against him by
suit, as in case of refusal to work or failure to pay
the property tax. Damages in such cases are collectible
out of any property, except the homestead, or out of
wages.

" The overseer on his part is liable to be sued by any
citizen for neglect of duty, and to be fined $20
therefor, and commissioners for the same offence are

30 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

liable to be indicted and fined 850. Such fines to go
to the Road Fund.

"In the direction of increased tax levies, Vermont,
New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Oregon are conspic-
uous, the last-named State allowing the County Courts
to levy a special tax of 50 cents on the $100, and $2 per
head, for a County Road Fund.

"The abolition of labor taxes is absolute in New
Jersey, also in Wisconsin, excepting those towns which
specifically vote to retain it, and absolute in those
counties of New York whose Boards of Supervisors
adopt the County System ; and it is optional with all
the towns in New York by affirmative vote at town
meeting, many having already availed of this privilege.

" Construction on the local assessment plan, extend-
ing to a limit of three miles on each side of the line of
road, obtains to some extent in Oregon, Indiana, and by
special acts, in Ohio. In Oregon the county may
assume 50 per cent of the cost, and in Ohio a larger
share is usually placed on the county list by the act.

" Construction by townships has been quite extensive,
and in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, township bonds
have been largely and successfully used.

" The County System, however, is the especial feature
of recent legislation, many of the new States having
started out with it in some form, and many of the older
ones having adopted or seriously considered it. The
issue of county bonds is provided for in New York,
New Jersey, Indiana, Michigan, and Washington, but in
the last two a popular vote is requisite to authorize the

THE GOVERNMENT ROAD INQUIRY. 31

iosue, and in Indiana the term of payment is limited to
five years.

"State highway commissions have been constituted
in Massachusetts, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michi-
gan, and possibly in other States; these are generally
temporary bodies, charged only to inquire and recom-
mend, but in Massachusetts the commission is perma-
nent and has important duties connected with actual
road improvement.

"In the working of convicts on roads, New York is
making an experiment near Clinton Prison, with State
prisoners, and Tennessee makes all persons confined
in county jails or work-houses available for highway
labor.

" New Jersey is probably the only State giving direct
aid to road-building. Such aid is limited to one-third
of the cost of roads built by the counties, and to the
sum of 175,000 per annum.

" The Highway Commission of Pennsylvania has re-
ported a bill for State aid to the amount of $1,000,000
per annum, to be distributed among the townships in
proportion to the road tax paid by them, on condition
that they set aside 25 per cent of their tax for making
permanent highways.

"Building of State roads has been practised in some
Western States, and Washington is now building a road
through the Cascade Mountains, under charge of a
special commission.

"The Massachusetts Highway Commission JiJ
thority to adopt any road as a State hi)

Ktf

V A A - f^u »*2r

32 XEllr ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

constructed and maintained as such if the Legislature
make appropriation therefor.

" Co-operative road-building, as provided for in New
Jersey, has been very successful, abutting land-owners
paying one-tenth of the cost, the State one-third, and
the county the remainder. Under this law ten miles
of road were built in 1892, twenty-five in 1893, and
sixty-four are applied for by land-owners for 1894.

" New Ho ad Construction. — Reduced Cost.

"Information on this head is meagre as yet, but
enough has been gained to show that new construction
is proceeding in many parts of the countr}r, and that, as
might be expected, increased knowledge and skill,
improved machinery and methods, and extended practi-
cal experience, are rapidly lessening the cost of good
roads. Mr. E. G. Harrison, C.E., of Asbury Park,
N.J., under whose supervision permanent roads
have been constructed in that State, says: 'Three or
four years ago the cost of road-building was $10,000
per mile. Last year I built roads for $3500 per mile;
the stone was brought by rail at a cost of 81 per ton
for transportation.' Major M. H. Crump, of Bowling
Green, Ky., who has built many miles of the excel-
lent highways in that State, says a good Telford road
can be built for $2000 per mile, including grading.
J. B. Hunnicutt, Professor of Agriculture in the Uni-
versity of Georgia, states the cost of good hard roads
recently built in that State, giving one track of stone
and one of earth, at $1200 per mile. H. G. Chapin,

THE GOVERNMENT ROAD INQUIRY. 33

Supervisor of East Bloomfield, Ontario County, N.Y.,
reports the building in the town of Canaiidaigua,
N.Y., of ten miles of single-track stone road, with an
earth track 011 each side, for $900 per mile, the crushed
stone being laid one foot deep and eight feet wide. In
this case the township owns a movable crusher and
prepares its own material, the neighboring farmers
delivering field stones at the crusher for 20 cents per
load.

" Benefits of Road Improvement.

"Information in this regard is more abundant; I
select a few well-authenticated cases.

" Hon. Edward Burrough, President of the State
Board of Agriculture of New Jersey, says that on the
new stone road from Merchantville to Camden, his'
teams haul eighty-five to one hundred baskets of pota-j
toes where they formerly hauled only twenty-five. Mr.
Burrough says further that 'one of our counties has
issued $450,000 of 4 per cent bonds and put down sixty
miles of stone roads, averaging sixteen feet wide, and
though they pay the taxes to meet the interest on these
bonds, their tax rate is now lower than it was before
the roads were built.'

"Mr. Chapin, heretofore quoted, says of the Canan-
daigua roads, that the}^ are as good in March as in
July, that they have increased the value of the adjoin-
ing farms many times the cost of the roads, and that the
cost of keeping them in good repair is much less than
that of keeping poor roads in poor repair. Mr. Gar-

34 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

field, speaking at the Michigan Engineers' Convention
in 1893, says that in his township, while farms have
generally been declining in value, the building of a
gravel road four miles in length has increased the value
of those adjoining it 25 to 40 per cent, and this is not
a free, but a toll road.

"The owner of a large tobacco plantation, some
miles from Henderson, Ky., having great difficulty in
moving his product to market in that city, organized a
company and built a toll road. He estimates the
increase in the value of his property at threefold, while
the road has paid annually over 10 per cent in
dividends."

go

s

CHAPTER III.

THE NEW ROADS OF CANANDAIGUA, N.Y.

THE people of Canandaigua "builded better than
they knew," when they resolved that the way to build
roads was to build them, and commenced the construc-
tion of what are becoming famous as the cheapest good
roads in the country. They Builded for all the people
of the United States, and opened wide the door of hope
for better roads everywhere. They did not wait for
legislation nor outside help, but plunged into the work
with energy, zeal, and discretion, and the results are, to
say the least, remarkable. A neighbor of theirs, the
supervisor of an adjoining town, writes regarding the
New York County Road Law, the roads in Canan-
daigua, and the lessons taught b}^ these roads, as
follows : —

" The Question of Good Roads.

"In your issue of November 3d, in an article on
'How to Improve Our Roads,' you say: 'We hope those
who are interested in this reform will abandon the
advocacy of national roads, of town roads, of county
roads, and concentrate their energies in favor of the

35

36 NE\V 110 ADS AND EOAD LA \VS.

State road plan.' There are in Ontario County a great
many friends of the County Road Law, and we regret
very much that a paper so highly esteemed, and so
largely circulated in the county as the Post Express,
should disparage the adoption of that system and advo-
cate another, the adoption of which seems to be impos-
sible. The State Road Bill (or Richardson Bill)
advocated by Governor Hill was defeated in the Legis-
lature within a few years, and the same influence Avhich
defeated it then would, in all probability, defeat it
again.

"The County Road Law has passed the Legislature
and only awaits adoption b}- the boards of supervisors
to become operative in the several counties. Let us see
how it would work in Ontario County ; for what can be
done in this county can be done in any county in the
State.

"Within the last thirty years there have been ex-
pended on the highways in this county over §1200 per
mile, and, with the exception of a few miles in the
town of Canandaigua, they are no better than they Avere
at the beginning of that period; and, should the same
system be continued for the next thirty years, a like
sum would have been expended and the condition of
the highways would be just about the same as it is
now. The few miles referred to in Canandaigua are
crushed stone (or macadam) roads, built at an expense
to the town outside of the regular highway tax. Four
or five years ago the town bought a stone-crusher and
has expended the $2000 per year allowed by law, under

NEW ROADS OF CANANDAIGUA, N.T. 37

the direction of their very efficient highway commis-
sioners, in building macadam roads, consisting of a
crushed stone road-bed about eight feet wide and nearly
a foot deep in the centre of a turnpike some twenty-five
feet to thirty feet wide, sloping enough to shed the
surface water, but not too steep to drive on any part of
it, at an expense of $400 to $700 per mile (the smaller
sum in cases where the stone has been contributed and
drawn into piles by the neighboring farmers without
expense to the town). As a result, they have in that
town ten miles or more of such roads, and so well
pleased are they with the improvement, that they have
had a special act passed by the Legislature, during the
last session, empowering the town to vote upon the
question of expending $2000 per year in addition to
the $2000 already allowed by law, in building such
roads. Those roads are just as good in December or
March as they are in July or September; they have
increased the value of the adjoining farms many times
the cost of the roads, and the subsequent cost of keep-
ing them in good repair will be much less than the cost
(under the ordinary system) of keeping poor roads in
poor repair.

"Now suppose our supervisors should adopt the
County Road Law and select one hundred miles of
highway to be built and maintained by the county,
for which the money is to be raised by the sale of
bonds running not less than twenty years and drawing
not more than 5 per cent interest. These roads must
be selected outside of incorporated villages, and as the

38 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

incorporated villages in this county pay 29 1 per cent of
all county taxes, the farming community will receive
nearly all the benefit and pay only about seven-tenths
of the cost; but the villages do not object, for they
think (and rightly, too) that access to the villages will
be made easier and better.

"But the best feature of the law is that, bv its adop-
tion, the highway taxes become payable in money
instead of labor, thus doing away at once with the
miserable old system under which much of the expendi-
ture has been worse than Avasted, and compelling the
man who has been in the habit of leaning on a hoe and
gossiping with his neighbors, to pay just as good a
dollar as the one who has tried to do an honest day's
work on the road. As soon as the law is adopted, each
town can buy a stone-crusher, and have its commis-
sioners of highways (using the county roads as models,
if they choose) expend the tax, in the same amount that
is now assessed, in building crushed stone roads, and
thus all of the roads in this county can be macadamized
in fifteen years. The cost for the first fifteen years,
including cost of crushers and rollers, and interest on
the bonds, would be about 18 per cent greater than
it is now; bat, once constructed, the cost of maintain-
ing such a system would be much less, so that at the
end of thirty years the county would be money ahead,
the bonds would have been paid, and the total expense
to the county and to the several towns would have been
$1,000,000, while under the present system the cost of
keeping roads (passable for three or four months in each

N.Y. 3D

year, and full of ruts or mire during the balance of the
time) for thirty years, at the present rate of expenditure
would have been 11,200,000. After that time one-
half the sum now expended would maintain the mac-
adam roads in perfect repair. I need not occupy your
space in giving all the computations which have led up
to these results, for any of your readers can take pencil
and paper and make the computations himself.

"Of late years we have heard a great deal of com-
plaint among producers in regard to the excessive cost
of transportation. The produce shipped from this (East
Bloomfield) station is transported by railroad, on an
average of about five hundred miles to the consumers ;
and it is transported by wagon roads on an average of
three miles from the farms to the station. With the
present roads it costs the farmers one-half as much to
haul this produce the three miles as they pay the rail-
roads to haul it five hundred miles. With a system of
macadam roads the cost of this short haul would be
reduced 50 per cent, thus reducing the whole cost of
transportation from the farm to the consumer by one-
sixth, which would be a saving to the farmers of an
amount each year equal to the interest on from $10 to
$30 an acre, according to the crop raised (the larger
sum being the saving on the potato crop, which is one
of the main crops here), and would increase the value
of the land (either to hold or to sell) by a like amount.
These figures may seem startling, but they are none the
less correct. ______

" We agree with youxri^^f aysgjtfeflf State roads,

40 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

under which the cities would pay three-fourths of the
cost of the country roads, is desirable; but, strange as
it may seem, the farmers defeated the Richardson Bill,
and would no doubt do so again should the cities give
them another opportunity; so that there is very little
prospect of ever accomplishing anything by advocating
such a system, while there is a law already enacted (the
County Road Law) which we can adopt, and which is
well suited to accomplish its purpose, the best law, we
think, of the eleven passed by as many different State
Legislatures during the last two or three years, and all
having the same object, — ^the permanent improvement of
the country roads. We hope, then, that you will aban-
don the advocacy of the State road plan, and use the
influence of your valued paper in urging the boards of
supervisors to adopt the County Road Law.

"HAKRY G. CHAPIN.

" East Bloomfield Station, N.Y., Nov. 6, 1893."

The writer of this book, after a visit to the spot and
a careful investigation, is able to confirm all that Super-
visor Chapin says of the Canandaigua roads, except
that a more careful computation of the cost in detail,
including interest and depreciation on machinery, and
full pay for volunteer labor and superintendence, would
bring the total for the best of them up to about $900
per mile. The visit to these roads, being timed in the
midst of a winter thaw, gave an excellent opportunity
to test the merits of their construction ; they were found
so good that farmers were hauling two tons of hay

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NEW ROADS OF CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. 41

Avith two horses over them, when other roads near by
required two horses to a buggy.

The total distance built is about fourteen miles, of
which a part is of sufficient width to allow a dirt track
on each side of the stone, and part has only the stone
track, with a shoulder of earth four or five feet wide on
each side. The difference in cost is not great, being
only in the grading and culverts ; the farmers seem
entirely satisfied with the narrower roads. The follow-
ing are items of cost, etc., given by the Highway Com-
missioner in charge, Mr. Ira P. Cribb: —

" Built in 1891, in the village of Canandaigua, west
part of Bristol Street, 64 rods of road, graded 36 feet
wide, macadamized 9 feet wide in the middle, and 9
inches deep, except in a low wet place 20 rods long,
where it was made 18 inches deep; all broken stone, not
screened nor assorted; 110 roller used; crushing cost 18
cents per cubic yard, not including interest or use of
crusher; average haul from crusher, one mile; three
and sometimes four teams used in hauling; three men
placed the stone; wages $1.50 for men, $3 for team and
man ; average total cost, $2.68 per rod.

" Lake Shore road, one mile cost $447, nearly all the
stone delivered free, and some labor volunteered (about
8100).

" Bristol road, three miles, graded 32 feet wide,
macadamized 9 feet wide at top and 10 feet at bottom ;
100 rods of it is 18 inches deep, balance about 1 foot;
average cost $850 per mile ; other roads about the same,

"In some cases the Commissioners pay 20 cents per

42 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

cubic yard for the stone delivered at the crusher, in
other cases they break up boulders in the fields, at a
cost of 30 cents per cubic yard, and the farmers haul
them free of charge, in order to clear their fields.

" It is the general opinion that these roads have added
820 or more, per acre, to the value of adjoining lands ;
the average loads hauled throughout the year are fully
doubled."

CHAPTER IV.

MODERN KENTUCKY EOAD-BUILDING.

THE State of Kentucky was famous for its fine roads
a generation ago, before many of the Eastern States had
made any serious attempt at the improvement of their
highways. It is fair to presume, therefore, that Ken-
tucky knows what good roads are, and that her recent;
road-building is fully abreast if not ahead of the times,
— and certainly that the standard of excellence in con-
struction has not been lowered. In this view the fol-
lowing details of a portion of the work lately done
there are important and interesting. They show a
thoroughness of design and an economy of execution
which are instructive to road-builders everywhere.

These details are furnished by Major M. H. Crump,
C.E., who has superintended the construction of $200,-
000 worth of Telford and gravel roads in that State in
the last ten years. Major Crump says: "Many miles of
18-foot stone roads have cost less than $2000 per mile,
and many miles of 16-foot road have cost less than
$1600 per mile. They are built of good limestone,
generally found within a mile of the road. These stone

roads were constructed by county aid, $1000 being

43

44 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

allowed on each completed mile, when not less than
three miles were assured. Bonds running thirty years
at 5 per cent were sold at par and all taken by citizens of
the county. Warren County expended $60,000 in this
way, and the county levy has been decreased every year
since the roads were built."

The specifications for construction are as follows : —

" For an 1.8-Foot Roadway.

"Excavation must be 24 feet Avide. Embankment
the same.

"Road-bed is graded carefully with a crown of 4
inches.

"Paving consists of selected stone not more than 6
inches long, 4 inches wide, and 9 inches high, which are
carefully set by hand, large end on ground. The stone
are carefully broken down with long-handled light
hammers to a uniform surface and thickness of 8 inches,
this surface still to retain a rise or crown of 4 inches.
Headers, as the outside courses of stone are called,
must bs set with great care, so as to bind and hold the
pavement together.

"Metal. — O,i this paving an average thickness of 4
inches of metal broken so as to pass through a 2J inch
ring, and so spread as to be 6 inches in the centre and
gradually thin to 2 inches at the headers.

"Clay. — On this metal may be spread one or two
inches of clay, to act as a binding material. This is
essential on country roads, when a roller is not used
and the travel is light.

MODERN KENTUCKY HOAD-BUILDING.

45

"Embankments. — I nail cases there
must be at least 3 feet of earth outside
of the line of headers, which must be
carefully packed so as to retain the
headers in place till they become
firmly set.

"Excavations. — Not less than 3
feet outside of headers, and occasion-
ally more space is required for drain-
age ditches.

"The same specifications apply to
16-foot roadways, which are the prin-
cipal widths used in this section.
The all-important matter is proper
shape to the road-bed, so as to pro-
duce the proper drainage, the careful
setting of headers, and sufficient
backing to retain them in place.

" The crown for 16-foot roadway
may be made 3 inches, but my experi-
ence has always been that 4 inches is
better, since on country roads almost
the entire traffic occurs on the centre.

"Grading and shaping the road-
bed costs from $200 to $500 per mile.
The average cost of an 18-foot road,
including grading, has been $2200
per mile. Some miles have been
constructed for $1800, and some for
$2500 per mile."

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CHAPTER V.

CONNECTICUT ROADS.

A QUESTION still open to discussion, and one which
interests all localities where field stones or quarry spawls
are abundant, is whether it is important to crush all the
stones that are put into the road.

At the meeting of the Connecticut Board of Agricul-
ture in 1893, Mr. Perry of Worcester said: "From my
standpoint I think it is wholly unnecessary to crush all
the stones. As far as my experience is concerned, and
I have had some experience, two-thirds or three-quarters
of the stones that are put in a macadamized road are
just as good, if not better, before they are crushed as
afterwards, which makes a wonderful difference in the
cost of a road. It costs a great deal to carry stone to
the stone-crusher, crush it, and then carry this stone
back from one to five miles. Supposing you want to
improve a highway and want to macadamize it, I would
say, put that road into shape, open it out. In our
section we have lots of stone. The farmers want to get
rid of the stone. One man has said here to-day that he
put 168 loads of stone directly into the roads where they

were wanted in order to get rid of them. You can

40

CONNECTICUT ROADS. 47

readily see that it costs but very little to build macad-
amized roads if you build them without crushing more
than one-quarter of the material. I do not think, on
the average, it would cost more than one-half as much,
and when you have done it, you have got just as good a
road as if you had crushed all the stone.

"My idea of macadamized road is that it ought not
to cost more than from $1000 to $2000 dollars per mile.
When you put $5000 into a mile of road you have got
too much money there, and too little somewhere else.
On all your farms around here you have got hundreds
of thousands of loads of stone. Some of them you want
to get rid of. When you have a load of stone of any
shape, bring that stone on to the road that you want to
macadamize, let somebody be there to look after and
take care of it, and then when you have got your stone
in in good shape, put a few crushed stone on top ; and if
you put on good gravel, and perhaps a little clay to
make it heavy, I will guarantee that you will have as
good a road as can be made with all crushed stone, and
at not more than half the cost." (Applause.)

Mr. Kirkman said: "I was very glad to hear Mr.
Perry tell us how a good road should be made. I live
in a small town, with a grand list of half a million.
Our tax is about $5000 a year, and we appropriate $3000
of that for our roads. We build from half a mile to a
mile of macadamized road every year, and have done it
for the last fifteen years. We join the city of Hartford,
and our roads are better than the roads in the outskirts
of the city. Our roads have cost less than $1000 a mile.

48 NEW ROADS AND liOAD LAWS.

We have a range of trap rock 300 feet high that is
accessible, and the stones are put at the bottom as large
as they can be thrown into the cart; smaller stones are
put on top, and then gravel on top of those, and \ve
slope the road, if it is 25 feet wide, 2.^ feet on each
side; so that our own roads are made very economi-
cally. Farmers do the work and take the pay."

Mr. Augur. " I would like to ask Mr. Perry the
depth of the crushed stone that he puts on."

Mr. Perry. " I say I should not think it necessary
to have more than three or four inches of crushed stone/'

Mr. Augur. " The distinct difference between a Tel-
ford road and a macadam road is that Macadam's theory
was that the stone should all be crushed to nearly a
uniform size, and for the reason that whjn stones are
put on a road to the thickness of about ten inches, the
larger stones will have a tendency to work up all the
time to the surface, just as, if you shake a pan of
gravel, you will find the larger stones on the top. That
is a tendency we shall have to admit. Telford's theory
was that larger stones could be used for the bottom.
His system was to make a sort of pavement, setting the
stones with some care, and then applying a thinner layer
than Macadam would have recommended, of crushed
stone. Telford argued that the bottom course of cheaper
stone was really the foundation for the road proper,
which was of the crushed stone. I think that Mr.
Perry conveyed the idea that a very thin layer of
crushed stone is necessary. Now, my observation is,
that it is not wise to lay too thin a layer of crushed

CONNECTICUT 1WADS. 49

stone upon the surface of other stone underneath, and
for this reason, that you need to get more than one or
two stones on top of each other. If you are going to
make a permanent surface of crushed stone, put on
enough to pack together; otherwise you will have the
crushed stone working loose constantly, which is a
source of trouble in a road, and your surface will be
gone just at the time it ought to be in its best
condition."

Here we have both sides of the question fairly pre-
sented, and by their ancient champions as well as by
their modern. Fortunately, it would seem now to be
only a question of ascertainable facts, "a condition, not
a theory that confronts us "; for if on these Connecticut
roads, built in this manner and tested for years, the
large stones do not "work up to the surface " under the
stress of that frosty climate, and the thin crushed stone
or gravel surfacing does not "work loose" under the
wheels, then that form of construction may safely be
adopted elsewhere, and will be a great saving in cost in
many localities. The Canandaigua road-builders, for
instance, might by this means save $200, or more, per
mile, on the present low cost of their roads, and put
more stone in them than they do now.

Where roads are constructed with tile or other sub-
drainage, or on a thoroughly porous subsoil, and the
action of frost practically eliminated, it would seem to
be a thoroughly safe method to put a good proportion of
the stones in the bottom without crushing.

CHAPTER VI.

CHEAP STONE ROADS IN VIRGINIA, MICHIGAN, NEW
JERSEY, AND MARYLAND.

THE low-priced hard roads in New York, Connecti-
cut, and Kentucky, heretofore described, are all located
where the material was close at hand, abundant, and
cheap ; but there are some instances of good roads built
at low cost under the opposite conditions.

In Alexandria County, Va., a portion of the old
mail road from the Washington and Ohio Junction
northward, lately rebuilt, was covered with 4 inches of
hand broken stone, 9 feet wide, and overlaid with 6
inches of gravel, at a cost of $1139 per mile. In this
case the stone was gathered with some difficulty, and the
county paid $1.50 per cubic yard for it in place and
broken ; the contractor paid 25 cents per yard for break-
ing it by hand on the road-bed. The road was well
rolled and stands well under a heavy travel.

Alexandria County levies a tax of 50 cents per $100
for road purposes, and this road was built out of the
proceeds of such tax.

The experience of Bay County, Mich., carries some

50

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CHEAP STONE EOADS. 51

valuable lessons. It was related by Mr. H. C. Thomp-
son, at the Engineers' Convention, as follows: —

" Stone Roads in Bay County.

"In 1880, the board of supervisors conceived the idea
that the highways should be improved permanently, and
set themselves at work to formulate a plan for so doing.
A proposition to raise $100,000 on the bonds of the
county was submitted to a vote of the people, and wa ;
carried. Committees were appointed by the board of
supervisors to visit localities where permanent roads
had been constructed, and work was begun on several
of the main thoroughfares.

" There being no suitable material in the county for
constructing the roads, stone was procured in Ohio, and
conveyed by boats to the Saginaw River, where it was
placed on docks and drawn by teams to the respective
roads.

"The Ohio stone not proving satisfactory, — being
too soft, — a better quality was obtained on the shore of
Lake Huron, at Bay Port, where it was loaded on cars
and conveyed by rail to its destination. Considerable
gravel was used in the construction of the roads at dif-
ferent times, and this was procured from gravel beds
near Mason. All the material used had to be imported,
thus making the cost considerable; but the result of
having good roads at all times of the year is shown in
there being a uniform price and market for all faun
products, and never at any time is there a scarcity of
any of the necessaries of life, on account of bad roads.

52 NEW ROADS AND EOAD LAWS.

" The soil is a sandy loam, and the surface practically
level, rising about three feet to a mile from the level
of the bay, which affords sufficient grade to convey
surface water through artificial channels. The first
object to be sought was drainage, and this was accom-
plished by constructing suitable drains on both sides of
the grade. An excavation twelve feet wide and about
one foot deep was then made on one side of the grade to
receive the first layer of stone, which was composed of
the larger stones, laid flat with edges close together.
This foundation would average four inches in thickness.
Upon this layer were placed stones of smaller size, and
in the early part of the work the surface was made
smooth by pounding with hammers, until the stones on
the surface would be about one and a half inches in
diameter. Later, the top dressing was put on entirely
with crushed stone. Gravel was also used as a top
dressing, but this was so easily displaced that the
crushed stone was adopted. There was no roller used
in compacting the stone or the sub-grade. On this
account a great many of the stones would be displaced
by the traffic, and it would require some time before a
uniform surface would be made, and this not until the
ruts made by the wheels had been filled by raking in
the loose material. A road machine or scraper has been
used to do this work, with good results. The first few
years the practice was to make the width of stone twelve
feet, but later nine feet was adopted, with a margin of
two feet of earth on one side and eleven on the opposite,
making a road-bed twenty-two feet wide.

CHEAP STONE ROADS. 53

"This has proven to be of sufficient width for all
purposes. The surface of the road has a crown of one
foot, and the stone work has a crown of four inches
which soon wears down to level, and after about three
years' use, requires a top dressing of fine broken stone,
to fill up uneven places. The depth of material laid
loose was twelve inches, but when compacted would not
be more than eight inches. The stone costs, delivered
on the railroad, about $5.80 per cord, which would lay
about three rods in length. The earth work, hauling,
and laying the stone was let by contract to the lowest
bidders, and varied from $1.60 per rod where the mate-
rial did not have to be hauled more than one -half mile,
to $5.50 per rod where the distance was five miles.

" The act authorizing the issue of bonds also provides
that a sum not exceeding two mills each year could be
spread upon the cities and townships, including the
stone road district, and the money thus raised, about
$30,000 annually, could be used in extending and
repairing the roads, which has been done each year,
until there are at present about fifty miles in good
condition.

" The cities have paid about nine-tenths of the whole
amount expended. The average cost has been about $6
per rod."

Returning to cases where the material is close at
hand, AVC have another cheap road in Hopewell, Mercer
County, N.J.

In this case small field stones were delivered in the
road-bed, and the top ones broken by hand, for 35 cents

54 NEW EOADS AND ROAD LAWS.

per ton; this was covered with screenings from a stone-
crusher and made an excellent road, at a cost for single
track of about 81000 per mile.

Professor Miller, Director of the Maryland Agricul-
tural Experiment Section, at the late meeting of the
State Road League in Baltimore, gave an instance of
the improvement of a bit of very bad road by the
co-operation of the road supervisor and the neighboring
farmers, through whose efforts a half-mile of excellent
stone pike had been built for $200.

CHAPTER VII.

INEFFECTIVE COUNTY ROAD LAWS. — THE LOCAL
OPTION LAW OF NEW JERSEY.

VERY high hopes were entertained by the friends of
road improvement in New York, of immediate good
results to flow from the optional County Road Law,
enacted in that State last winter through the persistent
effort of Governor Flower and others; but these hopes
have faded steadily as board after board of supervisors
has rejected the law, on the ground of its being unsatis-
factory to their several constituencies. In Missouri the
same state of things prevails, and nearly the same in
Michigan, where only two or three counties have
accepted the law, although the constitution of the
State was amended expressly to admit its passage.

All this seems to indicate that legislation in this
direction has gone beyond the education of the mass of
voters, and that a new line of advance must be secured.
Under these circumstances we turn naturally to those
various other methods of improvement which have been
more successfully introduced and are in actual and
effective practice. Among these none is so conspicu-
ous as the New Jersey Local Option and Co-operation

55

56 NEIV ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

Plan briefly described in Chapter II. This plan in
detail is as follows : —

The law provides that " whenever there shall be pre-
sented to the board of chosen freeholders of any county
a petition signed by the owners of at least two-thirds of
the lands and real estate fronting or bordering on any
public road or section of road in such county, not being
less than one mile in length, praying the board to cause
such road or section to be improved under this act, and
setting forth that the}' are willing that the peculiar
benefits conferred on the lands fronting or bordering on
said road or section shall be assessed thereon, in propor-
tion to the benefits conferred, to an amount not exceed-
ing 10 per centum of the entire cost of the improvement,
it shall be the duty of the board to cause such improve-
ments to be made ; provided^ that the estimated cost of
all improvements made under this act in any county in
any one year shall not exceed one-half of 1 per centum of
the ratables of such county for the last preceding year.

" 4. And be it enacted, that one-third of the cost of all
roads constructed in this State under this act shall be
paid for out of the State Treasury; provided, that the
amount so paid shall not in any one year exceed the
sum of ^75,000; if one-third of said cost shall exceed
said sum, the said $75,000 shall be apportioned by the
Governor and the President of the State Board of Agri-
culture amongst the counties of the State in proportion
to the cost of roads constructed therein for such year, as
shown by the statements of costs filed in the office of
the President of the State Board of Agriculture."

INEFFECTIVE COUNTY ROAD LAWS. 57

Under this law, as before stated, 10 miles of road were
built in 1892, 25 miles in 1893, and over 60 miles are
laid out for the current year.

This is a satisfactory rate of increase, and shows that
this system has met the wants of the people of New
Jersey in a remarkable degree.

It has the merit that it offers a local initiative, and
does not require the education of a whole county to
start the Avork ; while the object lessons with which it
is filling the State are fast completing the general
education of the people on the road question.

It gives the opportunity for any community of enter-
prising citizens, or for those having especially bad roads
or especial need of good ones, to help themselves with-
out delay, and to have the help of the county and State
as well.

It "helps those who help themselves," in a practical
fashion; and no locality can be jealous of the help so
given to others, since the same help is offered to all.

The authors of this law are justly proud of its suc-
cess, and proud of the fact that their State is the first to
give direct aid to road-building through any co-operative
plan.

If it shall prove that general county road-building is
in advance of public sentiment, it would seem wise for
other States to avail themselves of the experience of
New Jersey, whereby, instead of awaiting the slow pro-
cess of education alone, they can have education and
road- building going on together, hand in hand, and
with constantly augmented speed and power; for in

58 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

every State, and probably in every county, some neigh-
borhoods will be found with enterprise and courage
enough to take prompt advantage of such an opportu-
nity.

This plan can no longer be regarded as an experiment,
since its success has been so pronounced; still, it may
be entered upon on ever so small a scale and its applica-
tion expanded by degrees, as its merits are shown, in
each State. It requires no costly State organization,
but may be committed at first, as it is in New Jersey,
to the State Board of Agriculture, or to some other
existing organization.

CHAPTER VIII.

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE NEW JERSEY
ROAD LAW.

THE State Aid Law of New Jersey has been so
successful in practice that any suggestions of improve-
ment in that law, made by those concerned in its admin-
istration, are of especial importance.

At the recent meeting of the State Road Association
at Trenton, the President, Hon. Edward Burrough,
who, as Chairman of the State Board of Agriculture,
has charge of the execution of the present law, made
the following recommendations for its amendment: —

"1. Amend Section 1: Making it obligatory for the
engineer to file a copy of the specifications and a diagram
of the road with the President of the State Board of
Agriculture (or the State officer who executes the func-
tions now performed by him).

" 2. Amend Section 2 : (a) Requiring the supervisor
to be selected from among the signers of the petition or
a judicious freeholder residing in the taxing district,
or in one of the townships through which the road runs.

"(5) Reduce the pay of supervisor from $5 to $3 per
day.

59

60 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

"(V) Compel the townships to do the grading, accord-
ing to lines approved by engineer and State officer as
their contribution.

"(tf) Contractor to keep the road in repair for one
year after the acceptance of the same by Board of Free-
holders, and 5 per cent of the cost to be and remain in
county treasury until the expiration of the yearly limit
(this can be provided in the contracts now).

" 3. The duty now performed by the President of the
State Board of Agriculture to be placed on a State officer
known as Commissioner of Roads, who shall have an
office in the State Capitol, and be furnished with office
supplies, maps, etc., and who shall be considered in all
respects a State officer, and supplied with railroad passes,
and have his actual travelling expenses when on duty
for the State paid, and who shall have a stipulated salary
in lieu of all fees or other compensation of any kind.

"4. Increase the annual State appropriation to at
least $150,000, and the percentage of State aid to (say)
50 per cent. Should the State do this, it might be well
to amend Section 7 so as to reduce the amount author-
ized by a county to be spent, to one-third of 1 per cent
of the ratables."

After much discussion, mainly on the subject of
extending the State aid to the construction of gravel
and shell roads as well as of stone roads, the Associa-
tion finally agreed to recommend the following amend-
ments to the Road Law: —

"First. That the amount to be appropriated by the
county in any one year for road-building and repairs

AMENDMENTS TO THE NEW JERSEY ROAD LAW. 61

shall not exceed one-fourth of 1 per cent on the ratables
of said county.

"Second. That the State shall pay 40 per cent, the
townships 25 per cent, the adjacent taxpayers 10 per
cent, and the county the balance.

"Third. That after the word 'stone' in the section
describing the material of the road-bed, be inserted the
words 'oyster shells, gravel, or iron bog ore.'

"Fourth. That the Board of Freeholders shall select
from the roads petitioned for the ones to be built, they
having in mind the most used ones and the distributing
of the benefits to all parts of the county.

"Fifth. That the President of the State Board shall
not approve of more roads in one year than the State
appropriation will pay its 40 per cent of the building,
nor the Board of Freeholders put under contract in any
one year more than the year's appropriation will pay

CHAPTER IX.

FURTHER MODIFICATION OF THE SAME LAW SUG-
GESTED.

THE special feature of this law, aside from the State
aid of one-third, is the giving to the property-holders
along any section of road the right to demand the
improvement of their road upon their agreeing to bear
one-tenth of the cost of the work.

In some of the Western States roads are built by
assessing a part of the cost on a strip of one, two, or
three miles wide on each side of the road, and the part
of the cost so assessed is generally much more than one-
tenth. But neither of these plans is quite just. In
the one case, the property-holders fronting on the road
may be very little more benefited than those behind
them, Avho use it quite as much as the abutters, while
they pay no more than distant citizens of the county ;
in the Western method, a strip of any given width
might take in farms that were not benefited, or leave
out others that were. In fact, the benefits will rarely,
if ever, follow parallel lines. Roads that are important
enough to require systematic reconstruction will gener-
ally bo such as radiate from railway stations or boat

62

FURTHER MODIFICATION OF THE SAME LAW. 63

landings, market towns, county seats, or villages, and
the district benefited by each will widen rapidly as the
distance from the common centre increases. Taking
the case of four main roads diverging from a railway
station, at right angles to each other, these roads at a
distance of five miles will be seven miles apart, and the
benefit district of each will be a triangle with its apex
at the station and a width of seven miles at the base.
The bounds of the district, moreover, will be modified
by many such natural obstacles as streams, swamps, hills,
valleys, etc., which will divert travel to or from a par-
ticular road, or by artificial conditions, like the location
of factories, creameries, grain elevators, schools, or
churches. All these conditions, however, are suscep-
tible of a fairly exact determination, and the benefit
district of a road can be almost as accurately defined as
the drainage area of a stream. When it is so defined,
such a district forms an ideal unit of action for road
improvement; the interests of all its people are identi-
cal though unequal, and the share of expense each ought
to bear can be safely left to the commissioners charged
with its assessment, with an appeal to the courts, as it
is done under the New Jersey law; so that nothing
should prevent the harmonious action of the inhabitants
of the district, and there need be no fear of unequal or
undue burdens being imposed on any one of them, the
only question to settle being whether, as a body, they
can afford to be assessed for their share of the cost of
the road.

Just what should be the share of those "peculiarly

64 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

benefited," or, in other words, of the "habitual users"
of a certain section of road, is open to much discussion.
At first glance it would seem proper that it should be a
large one; but when we consider that the same people
must ultimately, through their county and State taxes,
help to pay for all the roads in the State, a very moder-
ate share would seem sufficient; and if this plan is to
be relied upon to produce object lessons for the whole
State, it must be made attractive enough to secure its
prompt acceptance by many localities. The benefit
district would include, of course, much more territory
than the abutting farms, and should therefore pay more
than one-tenth, if that is the just share of such farms ;
if it paid one-sixth, and the State one-third, the county
would have to pay only an even half.

The Local Option Law does not supersede the County
Road Law in New Jersey, and should not in any other
State. It fills a gap until the County System can be
established by the acceptance of the people ; it applies
more especially to the distinctly rural regions. Coun-
ties which are largely suburban, or which contain large
cities, can see more direct advantages in the building
of good roads through immediate rise in value of lots
and lands, and will be more ready to incur the necessary
expense or debt than those situated at a distance from
the centres of population and dependent wholly upon
agriculture.

Following the New Jersey law in general plan, a
Benefit District Act would take something of the fol-
lowing form : —

FURTHER MODIFICATION OF THE SAME LA W. 65

1. Whenever there shall be presented to the Board of
Supervisors of any county in the State, a petition signed
by the owners of not less than one-half of the lands front-
ing or bordering on any section of road already estab-
lished, or proposed to be established, in such county,
asking for a survey and estimate of the cost of building
or rebuilding such road in a substantial and permanent
manner, it shall be the duty of said Board to cause such
survey and estimate to be made and suitably published
for the information of the petitioners.

2. Whenever, thereafter, the petitioner shall file with
the Board of Supervisors a map or description of the
lands which will, in their opinion, be peculiarly bene-
fited by the construction or improvement of such road,
together with the written consent and request of the
owners of three-fifths of such lands, that all the lands
so benefited, together with the personal property in the
same district, shall be assessed in proportion to the
benefits conferred, for the cost of such construction or
improvement, to the amount of one-sixth of the total
cost thereof, payable in six annual instalments, it shall
be the duty of the said Board of Supervisors to cause
such road to be constructed or improved in the manner
provided 'by the County Road Law for the construction
of county roads, whether said Board has or has not
adopted the general county system under said law.

3. The said Board of Supervisors shall assess upon
any township in which said road shall lie, one-sixth of
the cost of the portion thereof lying in said township,
and shall pay one-third of the total cost out of the
county treasury. E

66 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

4. The remaining one-third of the cost of all such
roads shall be paid out of the State treasury upon the
certificate of the State Engineer that the road has been
properly constructed and that he has furnished the
specifications therefor, and has properly supervised the
construction thereof; and for this purpose he is author-
ized to appoint an inspector to be paid out of the State
treasury, at the rate of four dollars per day.

5. All roads built under the provisions of this act
shall be held to be county roads, and shall be kept
permanently in repair by the county.

6. The assessment of one-sixth upon the township
shall be spread over a term of — years, or the township
may issue and sell bonds for its prompt payment.

7. The county m.iy issue and sell its bonds for the
purposes of this act, as provided by the County Road
La v for the building of county roads.

Upon the basis suggested, the cost to the inhabitants
of the benefit district would not be onerous compared
with the benefits conferred, nor even when compared
with the customary taxation for road purposes.

Supposing the district to average two miles in width,
there would be an area of two square miles, or 1280 acres
of land, to bear the one-sixth part of the cost of each
mile of road. If we should double the cost of the
Canandaigua roads heretofore mentioned, as a safe esti-
mate for average country roads, we should have $1800
per mile. One-sixth of this would be $300, or 24 cents
per acre; or, if paid in six years, 4 cents per acre
annually. This is supposing the whole amount to be

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FURTHER MODIFICATION OF THE SAME LAW. 67

assessed on farming lands and the usual personal
property of farmers. If there were villages, factories,
mills, or banks, on the line of road, or persons pay-
ing taxes on any considerable amounts of personal
estate, the amount per acre would be lightened accord-
ingly.

The justice of including personal property in this
assessment can hardly be questioned when the same is
done by the county and State in respect to the other
five-sixths of the cost of the road.

The amount paid by the inhabitants of the district in
the period of six years would be trifling compared with
the advantages of the improvement to them during that
time; the future advantages would be clear gain.
Another gain would be in the reduced cost of mainte-
nance of a good road, as compared with a bad one.
The average expenditure on country roads is probably
$30 per mile per year ; the few stone roads in this
country have drawn so much travel from other roads
that the cost of repairs on them is above a proper allow-
ance. In some cases, however, it is given as low as
$10 per mile yearly, and on purely country roads
should not exceed $20 per mile for many years.

The New Jersey law makes all roads built on the
co-operative plan, county roads, and provides that they
are to be maintained at 'the county cost forever. This
arrangement would enable the benefit district to put all
its ordinary road tax on the improvement of branch
roads tributary to the improved road, and gradually
bring these roads up to an equally good condition.

68 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

The average annual road tax is about 10 cents per
acre, and the increase of 4 cents would not be seri-
ously felt, but it might be judicious to exempt the
benefit district from a part of the ordinary road taxes
during the six years period, and place a much higher
share of the improvement tax upon it.

CHAPTER X.

STATE AID AND THE METHOD OF GIVING IT.

ONE chief advantage in giving State aid to road
construction is that the cit}^ population of the State is
thereby enabled to contribute something toward its due
proportion of the needed outlay: we may say enabled
rather than compelled, since a willingness to do this
has been in many cases especially conspicuous.

Inhabitants of cities find their own interests sub-
served by the improvement of country roads, in many
ways; indeed, the tax levied by bad roads is a more
direct money tax upon them than upon the rural popu-
lation. The farmer, in the season of mud, can stay at
home and live on what he has raised, and when he is
driven by necessity or tempted by high prices to drag
some of his produce to market, unless he hires the
hauling done he does not pay the mud tax in hard cash,
and often does not feel it, while the city dweller can-
not live without his daily supplies from the farm, and
must pay daily and in money the larger share of all extra
cost attending their transportation, wherever and how-
soever it may have been incurred.

In Springfield, 111., a few years ago, during a long

69

70 NEW ROADS AND HO AD LAWS.

period of wet weather in the early spring, the price of
hay went up to $30 per ton, and the market was sup-
plied by railroad from outside of the State, while on
farms a few miles from the city, hay was plenty at $10
per ton, but embargoed by mud. In this case the mud
tax could not have been more direct if it had been levied
on every horse and cow in that city, and if so levied,
the rate would probably not have been less than 820 per
head on all such animals. The farmer lost a market,
but the townsman lost money in hand. Instances of this
sort could be multiplied indefinitely. Again, all the
active business of cities, whether commercial or produc-
tive, would clearly be promoted by the improvement of
country roads, through the cheapening of the distribu-
tion of goods and collection of raw materials, while the
yearly increasing sojourn of city residents in country
districts gives them a very direct interest in the condi-
tion of the highways and byways therein.

Taking for granted, then, the willingness of the cities
to contribute their share, and assuming the recent
action of various legislatures as indicating a general
disposition toward State aid in some form, the question
as to what shape such aid should take becomes pertinent
and important.

Massachusetts boldly proposes the building of State
roads wherever its commissioners may approve; New
York has twice nearly passed a law appropriating ten
millions of dollars for a great system of highways
uniting all the county seats in the State, on east a:ul
west, and north and south lines; while Washington

STATE AID, AND THE METHOD OF GIVING IT. 71

and Idaho are both building State roads at this moment.
New Jersey, on the other hand, gives a local contribu-
tion to the pioneers of road-building in any part of the
State, and Pennsylvania proposes to follow this example
on a vastly larger scale.

The Massachusetts law has the prudent proviso, that
while the commission may lay out and establish State
roads ad libitum, such roads are only to be built when
the Legislature makes the required appropriations, and
it remains to be seen whether local jealousies will not
prevent any practical result from this law. In the New
York plan, while local jealousy on a large scale is done
away with by the grandeur of the scheme (a sort of
universal log-rolling), it is probable that when all the
lines were laid out, and it became evident that in some
places stretches of practically useless road were to be
built to carry out a geographical plan, while a large
share of the business centres and actual thoroughfares
in the State were neglected, such an opposition would
speedily arise as would put an end to the whole scheme
and leave the State worse off than before.

The same money spent in building the same length
of road in each county, but so located as to radiate from
shipping points and other business centres, and to con-
nect towns and villages not joined by railroads, would
be of much greater benefit; and how much greater still
if it were used to stimulate local effort and contribu-
tion, and so induced the expenditure of twice or thrice
as much by counties, towns, and neighborhoods, in the
same direction!

72 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

Ten millions of dollars spent by the State, on the NCAV
Jersey basis of one-third State aid, would secure the
expenditure of thirty millions, and, at an average of
$1500 per mile, the building of 20,000 miles of road,
which is about one-fourth of all the roads of the State.

An important branch of State aid, or rather a pre-
liminary to such aid, in States which have not reached
the point of helping in actual road construction, consists
in providing, —

1. A permanent highway commission.

2. A State engineer for roads, with suitable assist-
ance.

3. A careful survey of the State for road materials.
None of these involve any great outlay compared with

the benefits to be expected, nor do they necessarily
commit the State to any further action involving such
outlay.

A model for the first is found in the Massachusetts
law, epitomized in the appendix to this volume, and
for the second, in the report and bill of the Maryland
Road League.

Regarding the need of a survey of road materials, the
Massachusetts commission uses the following language :
" To put the road-masters of the State in possession of
the knowledge required in their difficult tasks, it will
be necessary to make a somewhat careful study of the
bed rocks, from the point of view of their fitness for the
construction of highways, and to delineate the results
on appropriate maps, to be accompanied by the necessary
descriptions. The information thus obtained should be

STATE AID, AND THE METHOD OF GIVING IT. 73

so presented that the supervisors of highways in each
town may know the relative value of all the resources in
the way of construction materials which they can com-
mand. The cost of such an examination and descrip-
tion would probably not exceed the expense now
incurred in constructing ten miles of ordinary good
highway, and the saving which would be effected in
any one year would probably repay many fold the
expense of the inquiry."

In connection with and supplementary to this survey,
the Highway Commission might be charged to negotiate
with all railroad companies in the State, and if need be
in adjoining States, in order to secure the lowest possi-
ble rates of transportation, not only for the best surfac-
ing metal obtainable, but for such inferior materials as
wo aid serve for the substructure of roads, where the
best qualities of stone would be too costly. On many
accounts this service might be the most important the
Commission could render. The railroad companies are
fully alive to their interest in highway improvement,
and many of them are prepared to make great conces-
sions in its aid when approached with the full authority
of the State and the assurance of its earnest effort in
that direction.

CHAPTER XI.

ANOTHER FORM OF STATE AID. CONVICT LABOR.

THERE are three sides to the question of working
convicts on the highways, or rather two sides and a
broad middle ground. The negative side is taken by
the Prison Association of New York, and by penologists
generally, and is defended by the New York society in
this language : —

"Touching the proposed law, entitled 'An act to pro-
vide for the employment of convict labor on the wagon
roads of this State,' the following resolution was
unanimously adopted by the executive committee of the
Prison Association of New York : —

"' Resolved, That this association most emphatically
deems the employment of convicts upon the public roads
as demoralizing alike to the public and the convicts
themselves ; and that the corresponding secretary be
instructed to reply to the communication of the New
York State Board of Trade an expression of the opinion
of this association.'

" There were present at the meeting of the executive
committee, Messrs. Edward B. Merrill, James McKeen,

Lispenard Stewart, Felix Adler, John R. Thomas, Ben-

74

CONVICT LA II OH. 75

jamin Ogden Chisolm, Frederick G. Lee, and the cor-
responding secretary.

" There was a full expression of opinion, and previous
utterances of the association on the subject were brought
before the meeting. The feeling expressed was —

"1. That such employment of convicts would as
seriously interfere with labor outside the prisons as any
other form of convict labor.

" 2. That the State convicts could only be employed
on State roads, unless there was a violation of the law
which prohibits the employment of convicts under con-
tracts. If the counties employed them, they would be
obliged to make a contract with the State for them.

"3. That a very large body of keepers would be
required to prevent escapes; that escapes would fre-
quently occur; and that there would be a constant
necessity for shooting convicts in order to prevent their
getting away. There would soon be a death rate among
our convict population approaching that known to have
existed among the convicts of the South who were
employed on public works.

"4. In many cases the prejudice against convict
1 ibor would require a military force to protect the con-
victs who were at work.

" 5. (a) It has been found a hardening and demoraliz-
ing process to the convicts themselves to employ them
in public places ; (£) and it has been found by penolo-
gists to-be a demoralizing process to the public at large
to see this daily spectacle of shame.

"These are but a part of the reasons advanced for a

K-Stt^

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X ** . ~<¥* ^ xS -it

76 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

protest from the Prison Association of New York upon
the passage of this bill. I am sure that an investiga-
tion will show you that this decision is fully in harmony
with that of the most advanced penologists, not only of
this country, but of the entire world.

" With great respect, I am yours, very sincerely,
"WM. M. F. ROUND,

" Corresponding Secretary.
" FRANK S. GARDNER, ESQ.,

"/Secretary Neiv York State Board of Trade,
55 Liberty Street, Neiv York."

This is a view of the question natural to men whose
minds are fixed on the need to society of the reformation
of criminals; opposed to it is the opinion of many
equally good citizens who seek the public good in other
ways, and especially in the direction of improved means
of communication, and who see, in the multitude sup-
ported in idleness in our jails and prisons as a reward
for crime, or employed in prison manufactures to the
injury of honest artisans, a labor force sufficient to
mend all the roads in the country if it could be so
applied, and which they believe could be so applied
without prejudice to free labor, since it would be
employed on work not now done at all and would
therefore not compete with any class of workingmen.
The advocates of convict road-work insist further that
the outdoor life and exercise afforded by such employ-
ment must benefit the health and morals of the prisoners,
that the public and visible punishment of criminals

CONVICT LABOR. 77

would deter others from the commission of crime, and
that the labor so supplied would accomplish a great good
not attainable by any other means.

They point to the practical working of the system in
many places, for instance, at Cranston, R.I., and at
Charlotte, N.C. : in the latter place, convicts have
built many miles of beautiful roads running out
of the city in all directions, and with such satis-
faction to the people that the special law under
which it was done is now being extended to other
counties.

In other Southern States, where the Convict Lease
System with all its objectionable features still prevails,
it is clear that a transfer of the prisoners from irrespon-
sible and often inhumane private employ to the care
of States or counties would be a saving kindness to
them, while it would wipe out a public disgrace and
benefit the entire community.

Some of the apprehensions of the New York Prison
Association do not appear to have been well founded.

The Legislature passed the bill in spite of their
protest, and an experiment having been made, in the
employment at road-making, of the convicts at Clinton
Prison, the results as reported by Warden Thayer "are
entirely satisfactory." There was no interference with
the convicts by citizens except in two cases where
intoxicated men offered them liquor; no apparent de-
moralizing effects on the prisoners or the public; no
shooting of convicts, and only three men attempted to
escape. The Warden therefore, in his report on the

78 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

subject, concludes as follows : " That a limited number
of convicts can be worked successfully is now an estab-
lished fact."

But, on the other hand, when we examine the
Warden's financial statement, AVC find but little, if any,
economy in the use of convicts, as compared with the
employment of free labor for the same work. The cost of
guards and of the search for escaped convicts was equal
to 91 cents for each day's labor done, which, considering
the comparative efficiency of such labor, is very near its
full value, the day's work being only eight hours.

Again, it may be safely predicted that when road-
making becomes a great business of the country, the
introduction of labor-saving appliances will do away
with a large share of the hand labor now requisite in
laying a stone or gravel road ; the material being gener-
ally transported by railroad, Avill then be transferred to
wagons without shovelling, and from the wagons me-
chanically spread in its place, so that almost nothing
will be left for convicts to do on the line of the road.

These considerations strengthen the position of those
who hold the middle ground of the question, which is
that State prisoners should be employed wholly in the
preparation of road materials, and in places where they
can be guarded and secluded as easily and cheaply as
in the prisons.

The plan proposed for this is in substance as follows :
for the State, 1. To buy some of the territory which
contains the best rock within its limits.

2. To make the necessary railway connections, hav-

CONVICT LABOR. 79

ing first secured the permanent agreement of all its
leading railroad companies to carry road materials at
the cost of hauling, on condition, if required, of the
State furnishing to them a certain amount of track
ballast free of charge, or at cost.

3. Having erected the necessary buildings and walls
or stockades, and provided the best machinery for quarry-
ing and crushing rock, to bring all able-bodied State
Prison convicts and put them at this work.

4. The counties to put their jail prisoners and tramps
at the work of grading, draining, and preparing the
roads for macadamizing.

5. The State to furnish the broken stone free on
board cars, as its contribution to road improvement.

The cost to the State, in addition to the maintenance
and guarding of the convicts, would be only that of fuel
and oil, explosives, and use of machinery, or, according
to the Massachusetts Commission report, 6^ cents per
cubic yard of broken stone, amounting, for the 1200
yards required to lay a mile of single track road 9 feet
wide and 8 inches deep, to $81.60.

The remaining cost would be the railroad freight,
amounting, for an average distance of 100 miles, to not
more than 28 cents per yard,* $336; the wagon haul,
averaging possibly 2-J- miles, 30 cents per yard, $360;
and the rolling, superintendence, and incidentals (not
including engineering, which would be a general county
charge) 10 cents per yard; making the total local cost
68 cents per cubic yard, or $816 per mile.
* See page 86.

80 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

The wagon haul is estimated on the basis of the
country price of $3 per day for team and driver, and of
hauling (over the hard road as it is made) two yards at
a load, and an average travel for a team of 25 miles a
day.

This plan brings the expense of road improvement so
low that no elaborate scheme of taxation, bonding, or
borrowing would be necessary, and all its benefits could
be speedily and universally realized. The best plan for
carrying it out would perhaps be to let the "benefit
district," as heretofore defined, pay one-third of the
cost, by instalments, and the township one-third; the
county to pay the remainder, and to advance the amount
for the district, with a rebate or discount to all individ-
uals who preferred to pay in cash, so that no one would
be put in debt against his will.

The cost to the district on this basis of division would
be $272 per mile. Taking the average width benefited,
as in Chapter VII., at 2 miles, or 1280 acres for each
mile of road, the total charge per acre would be 21 cents,
or 3 cents per acre annually, if spread over seven years.

CHAPTER XII.

WHAT THE HAILKOADS WILL DO FOE THE HIGHWAYS.

THE deep concern of the railroads of the country in
the condition of its highways is universally recognized ;
it was particularly well expressed at the Michigan
Engineers' Convention by Mr. E. W. Muenscher, Chief
Engineer of the M. & G. R. Railway, who said: "No
interest in the State of Michigan would be more bene-
fited by good roads than the railroads. During a large
part of the year much of their rolling-stock is lying idle
because farmers cannot bring their produce to the station.
At other times they cannot get cars enough to haul away
this produce, and the sidings, elevators, and warehouses
are gorged to overflowing; extra train forces must be
employed; men in other lines of traffic who need cars
are denied, and general disturbance of business, delay,
and loss follow. Good roads would distribute this busi-
ness more uniformly over the year, to the mutual advan-
tage of the companies and their patrons, to say nothing
of the increase of population, and production and pros-
perity which would follow."

The same speaker made these excellent practical

suggestions. "There is one way in which the railroads

81 F

82 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

might greatly help on and hasten the good work without
cost to themselves. If we are ever to have anything
better than dirt roads in Michigan, we have got to
depend almost entirely on gravel. This material is
found in vast quantities in the drift which covers the
entire lower peninsula, but the deposits are local, and
there are large sections in which a stone as large as a
hazel nut would be a curiosity. The cost of hauling
gravel by wagon to such localities is so great as to
forbid its use. It is here that the railroads could do
good work. Most of them pass through or near large
gravel beds. If, at times when many of their flat cars
are lying idle, they would load them with gravel and
deliver it at each station along their lines at bare cost,
to be used in building gravel roads each way from those
stations, they would greatly diminish this most serious
obstacle. Some of them also OAvn their OAVII steam
shovels, which at times could be used in loading the
cars, Avith a further saving in cost; and other roads
might Avell afford to purchase these excavators for this
purpose."

The disposition of the railway companies themselves
to aid in road improvement may be judged by the folloAv-
ing extracts from a portion of the letters received by the
Road Inquiry office on this subject, from which, and the
fact that while some of the other roads are noncommittal,
none of them are opposed to giving such aid, it would
seem that the companies generall}^ Avill be ready to do
their full share, wlienever the opportunity offers to pro-
mote road-building on any extended scale.

WHAT THE RAILROADS WILL DO. 83

BIRMINGHAM & ATLANTIC RY. — " We shall be pleased to offer
special inducements in freight rates for the betterment of our
public roads."

ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE RY. — It has been the custom to
make the rates on road materials very low, in order to encour-
age the building of good roads tributary to our line. Each
case is handled on its merits as the question arises, and rates
arranged in accordance with the circumstances of the case.

LOUISVILLE & NASHVILLE RY. — Have made reduced rates in so
many cases to encourage road-building that it would be im-
practicable to recapitulate them.

WEST VA. CENTRAL & PITTSBURG RY. — Is anxious to do its ut-
most to encourage the construction of good public roads.

WABASH RY. — Have hauled material free, the local officials un-
loading the same.

WABASH, CHESTER & WESTERN RY. — Would make rates at bare
cost of hauling or less.

WILMINGTON, NEWBERN & NORFOLK RY. — Would give half rates.

ILLINOIS CENTRAL RY. — Have reduced rates to encourage road-
building and advanced the payment of our taxes for two years
to assist localities.

It has always been

HANNIBAL & ST. JOE RY.

ST. Louis & KEOKUK RY.

KANSAS CITY & COUNCIL BLUFFS RY.

CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & KANSAS CITY RY.

the policy of these
roads to make
liberal conces-
sions on material

to improve roads.
ORANGE BELT RY. — Has furnished material free and reduced

rates on transportation.
PITTSBURG, AKRON & WESTERN RY. — Would offer reduced rates

or free transportation to encourage good road movement.
SAVANNAH, AMERICUS & MONTGOMERY RY. — Rates are very low.
ST. Louis, ALTON & TERRE HAUTE RY. — Would be glad to give

reduced rates to encourage road improvements.
STUTTGART & ARKANSAS RY. — Would make very low rates if any

movement was made toward road improvement.

84 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

f" It is the policy of these roads to

encourage road-building by
TOLEDO & OHIO CENTRAL RY.

0 ,r \ very low rates of freight and

KANAWHA & MICHIGAN RY.

furnishing facilities for han-

v dling road material.
CHICAGO & EASTERN ILLINOIS RY. — Will do 'all in their power to

promote the construction of good roads. Will make very low

rates.

ELMIRA, CORTLAND & XORTHERN RY. — Very low rates.
FALL BROOK RY. OF PENN. & X.Y. — Would offer reduced rates

or free transportation if good material was offered for road-
making.
INDIANA, ILLINOIS & IOWA RY. — Have offered to haul stone free

to improve roads to depots, and always ready to co-operate in

road improvement.

JACKSONVILLE, ST. AUGUSTINE & INDIAN RIVER RY. — Have al-
ways given one-half rates for road material. Will gladly assist

in any way possible.
LAKE ERIE & WESTERN RY. — Take pleasure in making the rates

as near actual cost as possible.
LOUISVILLE, NEW ALBANY & CHICAGO RY. — Would reduce rates

one-half as an inducement to improve roads.

MIDDLETOWN & CINCINNATI RY. — Will assist all in their power.
NEW YORK, ONTARIO & WESTERN RY. — Have made half rates to

induce road improvement and frequently subscribed money

for improving roads.
NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA & NORFOLK RY. — Always transport

at reduced rates to improve roads leading to stations.
CHARLESTON, SUMTER & NOUTIIKRN RY. — Have donated and

delivered free the material for building a road at Su inter, S.C.
WILMINGTON, COLUMBIA & AUGUSTA UY. — Have donated and

delivered free the material used for road improvements.
UNION PACIFIC RY. — " We are of course interested in the improve-
- ment of .highways throughout the territory readied by our

lines, but systematic effort in this direction is of recent growth.

No reduced rates or free transportation has yet been asked for."

WHAT THE RAILROADS WILL DO. 85

CENTRAL PENN. & WESTERN UY. — "We have never been called
upon to make special rates for the transportation of road-
making materials, but would do so to encourage road-building."

PENN. LINES WEST OF PITTSBURG. — This company is favorably
disposed to encourage the building of good public roads, anrl
will render what aid it consistently can.

These various companies, located in all parts of the
country, have thus made, or offered to make, concessions
in aid of road construction ranging all the way from
"reduced rates " or "half rates " down to "bare cost of
hauling or less," and even to "free transportation" and
"free materials."

A fair average of these concessions would perhaps be
the hauling at bare cost, and it would seem that if the
companies could be brought to a united consideration of
the matter, and with the prospect that their favorable
action would result in a decisive movement for road
improvement throughout the country, they might decide
to make the " cost basis " universal. Precisely what this
means or would amount to is of course uncertain ; one
president of a transcontinental road puts it at "one mill
per ton per mile on straight and level roads," but it
would be safer to double that rate, which would bring
it nearly up to the present actual cost of moving coal.
At this rate a yard of broken stone weighing 2800 pounds
would be carried 100 miles for 28 cents, or for the cost
of moving it one mile on our average roads by wagon.
Such a rate of transport presupposes, of course, a very
large movement and the best arrangements
quick loading and unloading.

86 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

Several of the railroad companies give the cost of
crushed stone put on board their cars at 30 to 80 cents
per cubic yard, and of gravel at 10 to 25 cents per cubic
yard. Taking the former to average 50 cents, and the
latter 15 cents, and the rates of hauling as above, it
appears that road material can be delivered at any dis-
tance up to 200 miles at a total cost of $1.06 per cubic
yard for stone, and 71 cents for gravel.

CHAPTER XIII.

ROAD MATERIALS IN THE UNITED STATES.

TAKING for granted the desire of the railroad com-
panies to aid in the general improvement of highways,
and their ultimate general consent to the establishment
of such low rates for transport as will permit the move-
ment of the small amounts of superior material needed
for surfacing roads to distances reaching 200 miles, and
of the inferior sort suitable for substructure, to a dis-
tance of 100 miles, it may safely be said that no consid-
erable part of the United States will lack a ready and
full supply of road material.

Glancing over the country somewhat in detail, and
beginning in the far northeast, the State of Maine
could surface all her roads with the chips from her
granite quarries, and underlay them with the surplus
stone from her fields ; a large part of the remainder of
New England needs only to run a portion of its stone
fences through rock-crushers to have an endless supply
of good material, and wherever the local supply fails, a
very short railroad haul will permit making a selection
from almost all the good kinds of rock.

In New York the entire canal region, not otherwise

87

88 NEW KOADS AND ROAD LAWS.

provided for, can be supplied with its choice of trap,
granite, limestone, or iron ore, from the Hudson River,
carried at a minimum cost by the fleet of grain boats
returning empty from the city, whenever there is demand
enough to warrant making the necessary arrangements
for the quick and economical loading and unloading of
broken rock ; the northern projection of the State has its
own granite hills and boulders ; the southern tier coun-
ties have abundant good gravel and rock, while at the
point where "three States meet," New York, NCAV Jer-
sey, and Pennsylvania, is found a remarkable deposit of
debris from the Hamilton sandstone cliffs, lying massed
against the mountain on the west bank of the Delaware
for a stretch of thirty miles, already "broken to sizes,"
and waiting only for the railroad and steam shovel, to
furnish all the good road material that could ever be used
in the three States, at the cost of loading and hauling.
New Jersey has the best of road metal in the trap rock
of the Palisades and other dikes further west; Penn-
sylvania has rock in abundance, though much of it is
unfit for use, and in many districts railroad transporta-
tion will be demanded. Maryland and Virginia have
shells on the coast, and rock further inland. The Caro-
linas have clay enough to mend their sandy roads in the
lowlands, and good stone in their upland regions.
Georgia and Alabama have the same, and Florida has
its coquiiia and clay. Mississippi has the Tishomingo
gravel, an excellent material; Tennessee, the Chatta-
nooga flints ; and Kentucky, the famous Paducah gravel,
which cements itself when laid. Ohio has limestone in

HO AD MATERIALS IN THE UNITED STATES. 8 9

abundance, and Indiana excellent gravel. Michigan
has abundant good gravel in the southern half of the
State, with some rock and boulders further north.
Illinois has gravel and limestone in the north end of
the State, and quarries of quartz in the south; while
the great drainage canal, which is intended to turn a
river out of Lake Michigan into the Mississippi, is
already throwing up a mountain range of broken stones
for a length of twenty-five miles, sufficient, with some-
thing better for surfacing material, to macadamize all
the roads within a hundred miles. Wisconsin has srran-

o

ite, gravel, and coarser glacial drift. Minnesota has
excellent quartzite in the southwest portion of the State,
also granite and glacial drift in other parts. Iowa has
some gravel and limestone, but neither is of the best
quality except in the northern portion, and in limited
areas elsewhere. Missouri has plenty of good road
material, though it is not well distributed. The cherts
or flints of Arkansas are excellent for roads, and will
help to supply the near-by sections of Louisiana, Texas,
Kansas, and Oklahoma. Southern Louisiana is pro-
vided with the Rosetta gravel; Texas has occasional
beds of good rock, gravel, and shells ; Eastern Kansas,
some fair limestone ; Nebraska has a very limited supply
of good materials, but South Dakota, on the north, has
plenty to spare and of the very best, the hard and dur-
able jasper of the Sioux Valley. North Dakota has no
good rock, but some drift deposits. The mountain
States are well provided with rock, but, owing to their
favorable conditions of soil and climate, have less need

90 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

of it than the prairie States. The Pacific Slope is
abundantly supplied, especially the States of Oregon
and Washington. The Union Pacific R. R. Company
reports of this region, "that along the Columbia River,
from Portland to Wallula, along the Snake and Umatilla
rivers, and most streams of any size, there are high
basaltic bluffs, under which there are slopes containing
vast quantities of broken basaltic rock of excellent
quality for macadam. Much of this broken rock is
small enough for use, and the remainder can be readily
broken up into sizes required for road-making. In many
cases these rock slopes extend down to our track, and
the rock could be loaded on cars by steam shovel for ten
or fifteen cents per cubic yard."

CHAPTER XIV.

THE BEST ROAD FOB A FARMING DISTRICT.

THERE is little difficulty in determining from experi-
ence what kind of road should be built between large
towns, in village streets, or in city suburbs ; and there
is no great difficulty in getting the right kind of a road
built in such localities ; but in this country, so few good
roads have been made in purely agricultural districts
that experience avails but little in determining what
will best serve the needs and suit the means of the
farmer. In the first place, the road must not be too
costly, or it will not get built; in the second place, it
must be as good as the best for its purposes, when it is
built, for the farmer should be able to do his heavy
hauling over it when his fields are too wet to be worked
and his teams are free.

The roads which have been built by counties have not
always satisfied the farmers who had to use them. An
enthusiastic Western worker for hard roads lost heart
entirely and dropped out of the work, upon visiting a
portion of Ohio and finding the country people travel-
ling in the ditches to save the bare feet of their horses

from the macadam roads. He did not stop to think that

91

92 NEW ROADS AND HO AD LAWS.

when wet weather came the same people would get their
horses shod and thankfully travel over the hardest road
they could find.

The road that seems to fill the farmer's eye, having in
view all these considerations, is a solid, well-bedded
stone road, but so narrow as to be only a single track,
and having an earth track on one side. A visitor at the
Road League headquarters in the World's Fair left this
memorandum: "Forty years' experience on roads has
given me this idea, that there should be a dirt road
next to the gravelled road, as in the summer months the
dirt road would be used in preference. Where a dirt
road has been made alongside, the life of a gravelled
road has been found to be five years longer. Dirt roads
will keep the snow in winter while no snow will stay
on the pike."

This recommendation was discussed by many subse-
quent visitors and very generally agreed to, and the speci-
men of very narrow stone road (eight feet wide) with
the earth track alongside, exhibited by the League, was
usually pronounced much the best for country roads ; in
fact, some farmers declared they would oppose the build-
ing of stone roads unless a dirt track was provided. It
is quite true that a fine, dry, smooth dirt track is the
perfection of roads: it is easy on the horses' feet and
legs, easy on vehicles, and free from noise and jar. It
is equally true that it holds snow better than stone or
gravel, and requires less snow to make sleighing; and,
where such a track has a stone road alongside to take
the wear in wet weather, it will hardly suffer any

THE BEST ROAD FOR A FARMING DISTRICT. 93

appreciable wear. The stone road, on the other hand,
wears by the grinding of the wheels and the chipping
of the horses' calks in dry weather as well as wet; if it
can be saved this wear for an average of six months in
each year, so much will be clear gain.

The questions raised regarding this method of con-
struction are, whether the junction of the earth and
stone sections of the road can be kept even, so as not to
have a jog in passing from one to the other, and how
the meeting and passing of loaded teams is provided
for. But practical experience has already been sufficient
to settle both these points. The Canandaigua roads,
some of which have been in use two or three years, show
no sign of the division between the earth and the stone,
and those who use them say that no difficulty is found
in passing teams; it is only necessary for one of the
wagons to run one wheel off the macadam ; and since the
earth portion of the road is never used when wet, it is
always firm and smooth enough to permit doing this
with ease.

On the whole, this appears to be a case in which
"half a loaf" is not only "better than no bread," but
better than a whole loaf. The purposes of a wide, hard
road are better served by a narrow one, and all the
objections to it removed, while the cost is cut down to
a moiety, and the charges for repair lessened in even
greater proportion.

CHAPTER XV.

THE BEST CONSTRUCTION FOR A NARROW, HARD
ROAD. — SOME FARM ROADS IN ILLINOIS.

THE cross-sections of the Canandaigua roads shown
in Chapter III. give the simplest forms for narrow, hard
roads ; both these forms are symmetrical, having the stone
road in the middle: one of them has a dirt track on
each side; the other has none at all, only a shoulder of
earth to keep the macadam in place. While the users
of these roads are so pleased with the novelty of their
hard roads that they do not seem to care for the dirt
track, they will doubtless in future find their advantage
in having at least one such track in all cases.

Where roads are already graded wide enough, it is
better perhaps to have the three tracks, but tAvo will
serve all purposes of use quite as well. Two tracks
will require a road-bed about 21 feet wide. In all wet
soils or springy places there should be an underdrain
beneath the stone track, as shown in Fig. 1, with side
outlets at places where the necessary fall can be had.
The space above the drain tile up to within six inches of
the surface can be filled with any cheap, coarse material,
first covering the tile Avith straAv to prevent the earth
Avashing into the joints. Field stone, common gravel,

94

A NARROW HARD ROAD. 95

sand, or the burnt clay ballast used on some prairie rail-
roads, will serve equally well for such filling. This
should be well rolled and the road finished with a layer
of the best broken stone or gravel obtainable, also well
rolled, or, better still, with two layers of three inches
each, rolled separate^.

Where the underlying soil is naturally porous and the
underdrain is not needed, the simple construction in
Fig. 2 is all that is required, but the ground under the
macadam should be well rolled and compacted, and all
soft places excavated and filled with good material. If
the ground is not porous, yet is not wet enough to
warrant the expense of subdrainage, it is well to provide
a drainage for the macadam bed in the form shown in
Fig. 3; for, without entering into the controverted
question whether the macadam is properly a "roof " or a
"sieve," or disputing that the former is a "consumma-
tion devoutly to be wished," it is wise to be on the safe
side and take away the water if it does get through; it
certainly is wise to do this if it can be done at a slight cost.

All that is required for this is to give a slight out-
ward slope to the bottom of the bed, roll the ground
thoroughly, and provide an occasional drain through the
earth shoulder into the ditch. These side drains should
be provided in all low places in the road, and at intervals
on all long slopes. They may be of tile, or better per-
haps of wood, either tarred or charred to prevent decay.

The three-track road, Fig. 4, requires a road-bed about
27 feet wide; its construction corresponds to that of the
two-track.

THH

96 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

Another form of narrow, hard road is one used by
Judge Caton of Chicago, on his Illinois farms.1 While
these roads are made for farm use, they would serve
equally well for the lesser public roads of a neighbor-
hood, and are worth a careful study with that vieAV.
The road is made by ploughing two furrows 16 inches
wide and about 12 inches deep, under what are to be
the wheel tracks, turning the earth inward, and two
more for ditches, also turned inward, which results in
a slight raising of the road-bed, then filling the inner
furrows with field stones or coarse gravel and finishing
with a light coating of fine gravel. Figures 1 and 2,
respectively, show the road-bed prepared and finished.
This plan gives a very solid bed of material under the
wheels and a sufficiency elsewhere, and if occasional
side outlets are provided, the furrows are quite efficient
as blind drains. Occasional passing-places would need
to be provided on public roads, for the meeting of loaded
wagons; elsewhere, the width shown, 11 feet between
ditches, would be sufficient for ordinary light travel.
Such a road will use the minimum of material with the
maximum of efficiency, and, having a great depth of
stone just where it is needed, should bear the heaviest
loads without injury, and require only an occasional
resurfacing to last indefinitely. The amount of material
required is less than 800 cubic yards per mile.

1 Judge Caton has been for sixty years a prominent figure in the
active public work of the Great West, not less distinguished in agri-
culture than in law, science, and business affairs ; and he takes as
great pride in his good roads as in the greatness of his crops,

QJ

CHAPTER XVI.

TREATMENT OF SANDY ROADS.

THE usual way of mending sandy roads is to cover
the surface with clay, or to mix clay with the surface
sand.

The Massachusetts Highway Commission says it is
"questionable whether this method of treatment is in
the long run economical." The Commission estimates
the average cost of doing this at 15 cents per square
yard with renewal in about five years, or 3 cents a square
yard annually, and says, " A good macadam road can be
constructed for 60 cents a square yard; taking into con-
sideration the 'Ismail amount of travel, and that the road
is estimated to last twenty years Avith hardly any
repairs, the annual cost will be 3 cents per square yard,
or the same in each case."

Other materials have been used for the more or less
temporary hardening of sand roads, and some of them
with marked success. For this purpose, any strong
fibrous substance, and especially one which holds mois-
ture, such as the refuse of sugarcane or sorghum, and
even common straw, flax, or swamp grass, will be use-
ful; spent tan is of some service, and wood fibre in any

97 G

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98 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

form is excellent. The best is the fibrous sawdust
made in sawing shingles by those machines which cut
into the side of the block. This has been used to some
extent in portions of Wisconsin, and its results are
described in the following letter : —

"XECEDAH, JUXEAU COUXTY, WlS.

" December 1, 1893.

"MR. ROY STONE, WASHINGTON, D.C.,—

" DEAR SIR : Yours of the 28th ult. is at hand, inquir-
ing in relation to sawdust roads. The officers of this
town, Necedah, have for several years past used shingle
sawdust on the principal travelled roads in the town.
The land is very sandy.

"Sawdust is first spread on the road from 8 to 10
inches deep; this is covered with sand to protect the
road against fire lighted from pipes or cigars carelessly
thrown or emptied on the road-bed. The sand also
keeps the sawdust damp. The dust and sand will
shortly become hard and packed; the wheels of the
heaviest wagons make no impression upon it; it appears
to be almost as solid as a plank road, but much easier
for the teams.

" The road prepared in the above manner will remain
good for four or five years and will then require renew-
ing in some parts.

"How lumber sawdust would answer I don't know.
" Very respectfully,

"J. T. KINGSTON, P.M."

The ordinary lumber sawdust would of course not be

TREATMENT <VF SANDY ROADS. 90

so good, but if mixed .with planer shavings it might
serve fairly well.

Another letter from an adjoining county confirms Mr.
Kingston's statement, and details some experience with
other methods, as follows : —

"FRIENDSHIP, ADAMS COUNTY, Wis.

"December 21, 1893.

" ROY STONE, ESQ., WASHINGTON, D.C.,-

"DEAR SIR: Your inquiry as to the use of sawdust
on sandy roads received; we have sandy roads in this
county, but never use any sawdust on them ; we use clay
and marsh muck; clay we think makes the best road,
when put on as it should be. After the introduction of
wide-tire wagons (four-inch tires), we find little trouble
with sandy roads. Very heavy loads are being hauled
over the sandiest roads with no difficulty on four-inch-
tired wagons, and I consider the use of wide tire on
wagon and buggy of far more importance than any road
filling that could be possibly done in this county with
the means we have at our disposal for the work.

" In Juneau County some very fine roads have been
made with sawdust; from Necedah to the Wisconsin
River, a distance of about three miles, it is the boule-
vard of that county, and it is a pleasure to ride over
that road in the nice summer day, but they have the
sawdust handy by, and can fill the road cheap.

" In this county, where roads have been well graded
and trenches about 18 inches wide and 10 inches deep
filled with clay, and about 2 inches of sand on top just

100 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

where the wheels run, it lias made the best lasting roads
for all kinds of use, and it is the very cheapest way we
can make them.

" Various plans have been proposed, but none so good
for the money as the above.

"Buckwheat, rye, and sorghum straw have been used
with good results.

"Yours truly,

"C. M. SIMONS,

"County Clerk."

CHAPTER XVII.

TREATMENT OF DIRT ROADS.

WHAT has been said in the foregoing chapters clearly
demonstrates that all the important roads of the country
can be, and probably will be, macadamized or well
gravelled in the not distant future, and this expectation
should govern the present treatment of roads every-
where ; no labor or expense should therefore be put upon
them, more than is necessary to keep them usable,
except such as, while it will secure their present better-
ment, will count also toward their ultimate improvement
as hard roads.

For the latter purpose they will require attention,
first, to their location; second, to grading; and, third,
to drainage. If a road goes over a hill which it might
go round, the labor put upon it is wasted, and the
sooner it is changed, the better ; if on the level it is not
already well rounded up and surface drained, it should
be, not only for present use but as a preliminary to
macadamizing; and if it is not underdrained in all wet
spots, that should be the first work done. Nothing,
indeed, will pay better for present use than putting in

good tile or stone drains, and they will count for all

101

102 NEW ROADS AND EOAT> LAWS.

they cost in the future road-building; they should be
put in wherever the subsoil is of a nature to hold water.

Hon. W. L. Webber, the Chairman of the Michigan
Highway Commission, gives this instance of the benefit
of drainage in Saginaw: "In this city, a few years ago,
the Common Council placed the drainage of streets
under the control of the Board of Public Works, by
resolution; whereupon, the Board of Public Works at
once let contracts for several miles of tile drains, upon
which the Council promptly revoked the authority which
had been given to the Board, the tile drains being
regarded as an improvident use of the public money;
but the contracts made were carried out, and after one
year's experience the Council was so thoroughly satis-
fied of the advantage of the tile drainage in streets that,
since that time, no street has been ordered improved
without ordering tile drains in."

Mr. Webber further says: "Road-beds should be
drained in all places where the subsoil is clay or packed,
so that the surface of the road will have no standing
water under it to a depth of at least three feet, and there
is no one word which should be so thoroughly impressed
into the minds of all connected ^ ith the making of
roads, as the word ''drainage, ' thorough drainage, deep
drainage."

CHAPTER XVIII.

WIDE TIRES.

THE Massachusetts Highway Commission, after a
thorough study of this subject, reached this conclusion:
" From our own observation, and from testimony in the
different parts of the State, the wider tires offer many
advantages which should commend their use to teamsters
in general. There can be no question but that on the
ordinary roads larger loads can be hauled with less strain
upon the horses and less outlay for repairs on the equip-
ments."

The Commission, however, recommended no State
legislation on the subject, mainly on account of the cost
of changing the 50,000 wagons in the State at $20 each,
amounting to a million dollars, "a sum sufficient to
construct about 200 miles of road of the kind which
would not be likely to suffer from any width of tires
used upon them," and they are of the opinion that as
our roads are brought into a proper state the tire ques-
tion will become unimportant. Apparently the legisla-
ture thought differently; for the Highway Manual of
the State of New York, issued subsequently, says:

" Massachusetts has recently passed a law making man-

103

104 NEW ROADS AND KG AD LAWK.

datory the use of four-inch tire upon wagons for heavy
traffic." The same authority further says : "In Penn-
sylvania, team wagons are required by law to have tire
at least four inches in width, and the rear axles are
eight inches longer than the forward, so that the wheels
can never track each other. In England, the roads are
kept free from ruts by the use of wagons with axles of
indiscriminate length, so that the wheels of one wagon
will not track those of another, and the rear wheels are
universally wider apart than the fore wheels. The New
York Legislature of 1893 passed a law providing for a
rebate of road tax equal to one-half the full amount, not
exceeding four days, for the use of three-inch tires upon
wagons drawn by two or more horses. This was a move
in the right direction, but the width of tire should have
been four instead of three inches. The great injury
done by narrow-tired wagons to our roads, however
expensively and durably constructed, would have war-
ranted our legislature in compelling the use of wide
tires upon all wagons designed to carry heavy loads.
The wide-tired wheels, with the axles of unequal length
so that the wheels will not track, under heavy loads, act
as rollers and keep the road hard and well packed and
always free from grooves and ruts."

The preponderance of testimony appears to be strongly
in favor of wide tires and unequal axles, not only as
economical of power in hauling, but as tending to
improve the roadway and maintain its improvement.

The tendency, as roads are improved, to increase the
loads moved over them up to the full hauling capacity

WIDE TIEES. 105

of the teams used, puts the new roads to a severe test,
and often before they are fully consolidated. On a new
stone road in Camden County, N.J., the writer lately
saw loads of 7500 pounds of manure, or an equal weight
of farm produce, on wagons weighing themselves over
a ton and having the ordinary narrow tires. These
wagons were cutting ruts in the road of one to two
inches' depth, and constant care was required to prevent
worse injury.

This road had been built by contract, with a per-
centage reserved, and the contractors were still caring
for it, filling the ruts and rolling it, and its condition
showed the wisdom of this arrangement; for if it had
been accepted and paid for when it was apparently fin-
ished, and left without special care through this open
winter, it would have been sadly cut to pieces before
spring ; whereas, if the rutting could have been avoided
by the use of wide tires and unequal axles, the travel
would have benefited the road. It was claimed, how-
ever, by those who had watched the construction of this
road, that the rutting was due to insufficient rolling of
the lower courses of stone, and that this was proved by
the fact that wherever the travel had been forced on
to the road during construction and the material thor-
oughly compacted thereby, as it was laid, no rutting had
occurred. The reason given for using narrow tires in
that vicinity is that the wagons must track with the
horse cars, in Camden and Philadelphia, or be at a
serious disadvantage.

Very careful experiments with wagons of varying

106 NEW EOADS AND ROAD LAWS.

width of tires have been made by the Studebaker
Brothers, and the results are detailed in the Good Roads
Magazine for March, 1893. These experiments prove
that across fields a three-inch tire has an advantage over
a one and a half inch, of one-eighth in starting a load,
and one-seventh in pulling it after starting. This
advantage, together with the lessened liability to cut
through and kill the grass of newly seeded fields, must
gradually lead to the introduction of wide tires for farm
wagons, and when used on farms they will be used on
roads. The tests also showed an advantage in starting
a load on a hard road, of one-sixth in favor of the three-
inch tire over the one and a half inch, and a small
advantage in favor of a four-inch over a one and a half
inch in starting and hauling over sandy and gravelly
roads, but a slight disadvantage in the wide tires on
muddy roads and block pavement.

The most thorough practical test, however, of the
merits of wide tires with varying gauges, considered as
road makers and menders as well as load-carriers, is in
the experience of the Solvay Process Company, near
Syracuse, N. Y., given in Good Roads for January, 1894.
This company was persuaded by Mr. William A. Sweet,
President of the New York State Road Improvement
Association, to try the use of wide tires and un-
equal axles in hauling stone from the quarry to their
works, a distance of four and a half miles, over what had
been a very bad clay road. They improved the road by
putting on "rough quarry refuse, and for a part of the
distance field stones (from stone Avails) were used, all

WIDE TIRES. 107

hand broken to two-inch and three-inch sizes. These
were covered with fine unsifted quarry chips, and a
crown was given to the roadway with an elevation of
about six inches in a width of 16 feet."

Three three-horse wagons were built, with four and
six inch tires of varying gauges, and the rear wheels
tracking outside of the front ones. The result is told
by Mr. Power, one of the Board of Supervisors of
Onondaga County : " The constant use of three of these
wagons during the last three years has produced a
smooth, compact, and regular surface between the quarry
and our works, and the substantial crowning of the road
has kept the surface well drained, and, therefore, dry
and free from ruts. These wide tires and varying
gauges excited a good deal of attention at the outset,
and conflicting opinions were expressed regarding their
utility. The result is eminently in their favor, and the
general sentiment has grown constantly in favor of the
use of these wagons for heavy loads. We haul loads
continually, varying in weight from 8000 to 16,000
pounds, with no perceptible wear, weakness, or break-
down, either to the wagons or to the roads. The carts
used at our works are varied in gauge, and all have
given excellent satisfaction in keeping the roadway
smooth. When these wagons were first put into use,
the road was rough and rutty and the work of hauling
was severe on the horses, but soon the broad tires began
to roll and pack the road surface, and it is now difficult
to exaggerate the great benefit these tires have produced
in keeping the road smooth and hard, and the amount of

108 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

labor they have saved in the work of hauling and
repairs."

Mr. Power further says: "These Avagons were all
'poled ' for three horses, and the use of three horses
tended to combine with the wide tires and varying
gauges of front and rear axles to smooth down even the
slightest ruts caused by wagons of narrow tires and
ordinary gauge, of which there were and are very many
in use on this road."

Confirmation of the foregoing views can be had from
many quarters and on good authority. The Committee
on Roads, of the Virginia Association of Engineers,
says : " In relation to this subject, we would also suggest
that legislative steps be taken in regard to the width of
wagon tire. 'Brond tires are road-makers, while narrow
tires are simply road-destroyers.' The State of Michi-
gan set the example of a new era in road-making by
enacting a law regulating the width of wagon tires.
As an inducement, the law provides for refunding one-
half of the annual road tax to every farmer who supplies
his wagon with broad tires. We earnestly urge the
Association to bring these matters before the next
Legislature."

WI7EE

CHAPTER XIX.

THE REPORT OF THE OHIO ROAD COMMISSION.

IF the late report of the Ohio Commission is, as some
friends of good roads think it, a distinctly retrograde
step in the march of road improvement, it is the only
one taken by any State authority.

The Commission recommends to the Legislature to
pass no new road laws, but to adopt a plan of masterly
inactivity in the matter, mainly upon the ground that
the extension of electric railways will greatly restrict
the use of wagon roads and curtail the extent to which
they need be built.

The Engineering News of 'New York takes the opposite
view of this subject, saying: " We do believe, however,
that, especially in the neighborhood of larg-e towns and
cities, the present' rapid extension of suburban electric
railways will in itself hasten the general improvement
of all roads affected by them. These suburban lines,
by connecting chains of villages and towns and increas-
ing the facilities for travel, tend to enhance the value
of country property as a place of residence, and as a
consequence create a demand for better roads and make

it easier to meet the cost of improvement."

109

110 NEW ROADS AND EOAD LAWS.

This Commission, appointed by Governor McKinley
under joint resolution of the Senate and House, was
directed by the Legislature to " thoroughly investigate
the whole subject of road construction and the cost of
transportation over the various kinds of roads, including
those operated by steam power and electric power as
well as those operated by horse power; and to report to
the Governor what the average cost per ton per mile
now is by horse power, and what the approximate cost
would be if artificial power should be substituted for
horse power; and especially whether it is possible and
advisable to construct country roads so that both cars
and wagons can pass over the same road, propelled by
either horse power or artificial power ; also, the estimated
cost of such combination roads as compared with the
cost of roads established for horse power only, together
with whatever recommendation they have to make as to
the road laws of Ohio, or as to the enactment of any
new laws by the Legislature of the State."

The Commission estimates the common roads of the
State at 80,000 miles, and the cost of "suitable im-
provement " at $5000 per mile, an amount which the
Engineering Neivs says is "altogether too high," and
which is in fact four or five times as high as the cost of
some excellent hard roads in various parts of the United
States. Moreover, 10,000 miles of these roads are
already improved, and probably 30,000 more are not of
such importance as to demand much improvement. So
that 150,000,000 judiciously expended ought to give
the State a good system of highways.

THE REPORT OF THE OHIO ROAD COMMISSION. Ill

The Commission says that in some parts of the State
the people do not "appreciate nor desire good roads."
They say : " There are, undoubtedly, some places in tlm
State where material for road-making is sufficiently
abundant and cheap, but where the character of the
population is such that they prefer the discomforts and
loss occasioned by defective highways to the trouble and
expense required to improve the roads. It is manifest
that no legislation can or should alter such a state of
affairs. It is not the province of legislation to change
human nature, and where a community deliberately
prefers to adopt a course of action that is opposed to its
best interests, it should be left to its own devices."

This is a novel exposition of the relations of a State
to its citizens. It is generally considered that to pro-
mote education is one of the primary duties of the State,
and if any part of its people are so benighted as this, on
a subject of such importance to their welfare, it would
seem that duty, self-interest, and State pride would all
conspire to urge the better-informed sections of the
State to work a speedy reformation among them ; and,
since no lessons are so useful as object lessons, the most
effective and persuasive teaching would be to help build
some bits of good road in each of these districts. There
cannot be a county in the State in which some neigh-
borhood would not jump at the chance to have its
market road improved on the New Jersey plan. That
State, with an appropriation of only $20,000 for the first
year, and only $75,000 subsequently, lias done such a
work of education in three years as will speedily result

112 NEW ROADS AND EOAD LAWS.

in lifting its rural population many degrees in the scale
of comfort and prosperity.

The effect of such lessons is not less marked in some
parts of the State of Ohio. Mr. Samuel Huston, County
Surveyor, of Steubenville, said at the Road League office
in Chicago : " We have a system of county roads, eighty-
five miles in one county (Jefferson); they are built
under State road law, making it optional for county
or township. About twenty townships came in under
this provision, and only two were left out; these two
were glad to come in afterwards, at an extra cost for the
delay, as they saw the advantage of good roads. We
have a single-track road, and a dirt road on the side, but
where hills are steep, we make full-width roads. County
bonds are issued, at 6 per cent, to pay for the roads.
Public sentiment is entirely in favor of good roads
going on. Before we made our roads an object lesson,
nearly every farmer was against the good-roads move-
ment."

The Commission says: "There are counties in Ohio
that have improved their roads at their own expense in
the past; they have borne the burden willingly and are
now enjoying the benefits. To tax these counties again
for the purpose of building roads in localities where the
people, through lack of enterprise or inability, have
failed to secure good highways, is unjust and is dis-
couraging to enterprise. Why should Logan County
or Hardin County or Union County, in which turnpikes
have been built by local assessment, be required to
contribute money for the purpose of building roads in

THE REPORT OF THE OHIO ROAD COMMISSION. 113

Geauga County, where there is not a single mile of
turnpike ? "

To this it might be answered, that an enlightened
self-interest would commend to the wealthy counties
the policy of stimulating improvement in the poorer
ones, to enable the latter to bear in time their proper
share of the burdens of the State ; and, again, there are
many ties of blood, friendship, and business which cross
county lines, and the people who confine their driving
to their own county limits are few indeed. The Com-
mission has done good service in collecting information
regarding the cost of various kinds of transportation,
and though it does not propose any further action or
investigation, but confines itself to negative recommen-
dations, it may be hoped that its report will stimulate
private experiment in the direction of such " combination
roads," and ultimately bring in a new era of rural rapid
transit; meanwhile, it seems a pity to raise up obstacles
to such immediate and substantial improvement of the
ordinary highways as is progressing elsewhere in the
United States, and thus to bring a great State to a
standstill in the path of progress.

CHAPTER XX.

FARMERS AND THE ROADS.

IT has been the fashion among some road-reformers to
throw upon the patient and long-suffering farmer all the
blame for the present evil condition of the highways;
they enlarge upon his ignorance and his blindness to his
own best interests, and fervently exhort him to open his
eyes and mend his ways. He is supposed not to know
a good road when he sees it, nor what he loses by a bad
one, and to be firmly set against any change. This
view is so far from being correct that it is not surprising
if farmers as a class are irritated by it, nor that serious
friction often occurs in public meetings on this subject.
It may be true that a few old mossbacks cling to the
ruts and stones that were "good enough roads for their
fathers," and that farmers of more intelligence have at
times protested against hasty legislation which might
inflict undue burdens upon them ; but no class of men
are more awake to-day to the need of road improvement,
or more anxious to find practical means for its accom-
plishment, than the thinking farmers of the country,
whether within or without the f.irmers' organizations.

In fact, the practical work done in this direction, so far,

114

FAEME11S AND THE BO ADS. 115

both in road construction and in legislation therefor, lias
been mainly wrought through their efforts and good
judgment. The development of the New Jersey law,
which has been so successful as to be considered a model
for other States, has been the work of the active mem-
bers of the State Agricultural Society, and the law has
been administered by the President of that society,
himself a practical farmer. The good roads in Canan-
daigua, N.Y., and many of those in Connecticut and
other States were planned and built wholly by farmers,
while the farmers' organizations have taken strong
ground in favor of the general reform. The National
Grange assembled at Concord, N.H., in 1892, passed
unanimously resolutions supporting the National League
for Good Roads, and the State Grange of New York has
this year taken an advanced position in the matter, and
charged its permanent Committee on Legislation to fol-
low up the work. There is much yet, however, for the
organized farmers to do in this direction.

Every Farmers' Club and every local Grange or
Alliance might have its Committee on Roads, with a
secretary active in gathering information, and especially
in corresponding with those branches of their organiza-
tions which are located where road improvement is going
on and the problem is being solved by actual experi-
ment. With the knowledge thus acquired, the organi-
zations would soon be in position to criticise or dictate
legislation, to exercise wisely the full power due to
their vast numbers, and to shape and direct the move-
ment instead of awaiting with apprehension its results

116 NEW ROADS AND EOAJ) LAWS.

in other hands. When all the farmers in the country
know what a few know now, of the benefits of good
roads, and the ease of getting them, we shall be far on
the way to having them everywhere. Another thing
farmers can do to their great advantage is to accept and
welcome the help that is ready to be given them by
others concerned in the betterment of highways. Many
Boards of Trade and commercial organizations have
taken up the question with earnestness, but have been
repelled and discouraged by the attitude of those most
directly interested in its solution. The wheelmen have
attacked the problem eagerly, in the hope of helping on
the millennium of good roads, but have been charged
with selfishly aiming to oppress the farmers that they
may enjoy the results. Farmers must remember that
to the merchants and the wheelmen is due the willing-
ness of the towns and cities to aid largely in the build-
ing of country roads, and the fact that, in many parts of
the country, city people lead this movement which
the country people are slow even to follow. If the
time comes when all the friends of good roads can work
together in harmony, they can readily command the help
of those who are now indifferent, and will then make
short work of the undertaking; but the farmers, being
the most powerful in numbers and most deeply con-
cerned in interest, must take the leading part in organiz-
ing and harmonizing the forces enlisted in this great
crusade.

The city man wants good roads, for the better supply
of country products and the improvement of trade, and

:s^

I7BR3ITT

FARMERS AND THE ROADS. 117

for the occasional pleasure of driving or riding over
them, but they are not essential to his well-being. To
the farmer and his family they are a vital concern of
daily life, and fortune and happiness wait upon their
coming. Farmers in America have an especial reason
for taking up this crusade. In marketing their prod-
ucts they are forced every year into closer and more
disastrous competition with the cheap labor of other
countries, — and countries whose despotic governments
can and do compel the building of good roads to cheapen
the movement' of products. In this country such com-
pulsion is impossible, and national aid even is hardly
thought acceptable. The farmers are left to their own
devices and must work out their own salvation. They
pay a mud tax, estimated on good authority at $280,-
000,000 a year, and a road tax, almost as useless, of
forty or fifty millions more. Is it surprising that they
are not happy and prosperous ?

USI7BKS1TYI

CHAPTER XXL

THE WHEELMEN'S CAMPAIGN FOR ROADS.

IN the battle for good roads, it would be folly, as well
as injustice, not to recognize the great services of the
army of wheelmen who have sprung to the front within
a few years, and who have often maintained the fight
alone, through many discouragements, though their
interest in it seems trifling and casual in comparison
with that of the mass of road-users.

When we consider, however, that, for his vehicle, the
bicyclist is both driver and horse, and that on bad roads
he suffers in person what we have always inflicted on
poor dumb brutes, and is entitled, therefore, to speak
and fight for them as well as for himself, it is not to be
wondered at that he is found in the vanguard, nor is it

o

surprising that his zeal sometimes outruns his discre-
tion, and impatience prevents his keeping step with the
slow march of his allies.

If the wheelmen are the light troops of the army, they
nevertheless carry heavy guns when it comes to legisla-
tion, and their audacity stops at nothing. When the
writer was urging the passage of a National Highway

Commission Bill, in 1892, the Wheelmen's League.

118

THE WHEELMEN^S CAMPAIGN FOR ROADS. 119

then in session at Washington, took up the affair, and
Avere not content with personal work on the spot, but
stirred up their home people, and instantly telegrams to
members of Congress poured in from all parts of the
country with such a rush as to startle both houses out
of any indifference to the matter, and the bill passed
one house immediately, and only missed it through want
of time in the other.

The wheelmen have kept alive the agitation of this
subject when, one after another, associations formed for
the purpose among other classes of road-users, have
fallen stillborn. Their literature has flooded the coun-
try, and their road committees have worked without ceas-
ing. The Good Roads Magazine, which they support,
has drawn upon the best talent of the country for its
articles, and has reached a circulation approaching a
hundred thousand copies.

Whenever the farmers shall be ready in any State to
propose legislation for road improvement, the wheelmen
will take care that the city members of the Legislature
are not indifferent, and whenever the cities are called
upon to aid in country road-building, they will move
heaven and earth to have that call met. In short, they
will render any service to the cause of good roads that
a quick intelligence can discover and an earnest zeal
can execute, and their aid will be welcomed by every
citizen who takes that cause deeply to heart.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE ATTITUDE OF COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS.

WHILE only a few of the many commercial bodies in
the country have taken definite action in' favor of
improving the highways, those few are among the most
important, and there is no question of the hearty con-
currence of all the others, whenever they see the occa-
sion for their action.

The National Board of Trade and Transportation in
1892 resolved that "we recognize the exceeding poverty
of the country, even amid its riches, in the universally
deplorable condition of its public highways, and favor a
system which will provide for their immediate improve-
ment, under control of the State governments."

The Chamber of Commerce of New York adopted
strong resolutions of the same character, and appointed
the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew and General Horace
Porter to represent the Chamber at the Chicago Conven-
tion for the organization of a National League for road
improvement. Later, the Chamber heartily indorsed
the purposes of the League, and Mr. Camp, of the Com-
mittee on Internal Trade and Improvement, expressed
the general view of the members in saying that "the

120

THE ATTITUDE OF COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS. 121

movement for good roads deeply concerns every com-
mercial and financial interest in the land. We are
handicapped in all the markets of the world by an
enormous waste of labor in the primary transportation
of our products and manufactures, while our home
markets are restricted by difficulties in rural distribu-
tion which not unfrequently block all the channels of
transportation, trade, and finance. This state of things
has heretofore been thought irremediable, under our
system of government; but good roads are not incom-
patible with self-government in France and Switzer-
land, and the National League for Good Roads believes
that education and organization will make them possible
here."

The League itself summarized the varied interests
involved and the manner of their concern, in this lan-
guage: "No person or association in the land can afford
to neglect a movement so vital as this to the country's
progress and prosperity; few, indeed, have not, in addi-
tion to their concern in the general welfare, some special
interest, direct or indirect, in the condition of the
highways.

" Apart from the acknowledged interest in good roads
of the builders of wagons, carriages, bicycles, traction
and farm engines and implements, of coaching and
country clubs, coach and carriage owners, horse-breeders,
etc., and of all merchants and manufacturers, in respect
to the cheap and speedy distribution of goods and better
collection of raw materials and money returns, there are
many great semi-public institutions whose interests are

122 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

deeply involved: railroads, in the equal distribution of
their traffic through the seasons, securing constant
employment of their force and equipment; telegraph
and telephone companies, in the extension of country
service ; neAVSpapers, in the expansion of their circula-
tion through free delivery that will follow good roads;
banks and bankers, in the quicker movement of capital
in country business ; fire insurance companies, in the
ability to reach country fires with town apparatus ; life
insurance companies, in the prompt relief of the sick or
injured, and in a general amelioration of physical and
social conditions tending to prolong life ; labor organ-
izations, in the non-competitive employment of convicts ;
and all philanthropic associations, in the provision of
employment sufficient to abolish Avant and starvation,
for a generation, diminish crime and relieve the conges-
tion in cities, and in the cheapening of food products to
all consumers, and a general promotion of the happiness
and Avelfare of the Avhole people/'

Nothing need be added to this but for the active
commercial friends of road improvement to urge upon
the trade organizations of which they are members the
expediency of taking prompt action in the matter, and
of appointing permanent committees on the subject.
The establishment of the Government Bureau Avill
facilitate the Avork of all such committees in many Avays,
and make the collection of information easy. And
Avhen the 1300 commercial bodies in the United States
are prepared to throAV their united Aveight in favor of
definite measures of road reform, the battle Avill already
be half won.

CHAPTER XXIII.

EOAD-BUILDING AND THE REVIVAL OF BUSINESS.

THE present depression in business of all kinds,
throughout the country, so far from stopping the agita-
tion for good roads, or hindering the work of their
construction, furnishes a new motive for the agitation
and a rare opportunity for the work.

The National League, in September last, issued the
following circular : —

" The earnest attention of members of the League, its
co-workers, and all committees and persons seeking
relief for the unemployed, is respectfully called to the
present favorable conditions for road improvement, both
for its own sake and as a means of giving employment
and stimulating business in general.

" Capital, as well as labor, is idle, and bankers are
expecting an era of cheap money, bringing a quick
demand for such investments as town and county bonds.

" Many county and town boards in various States are
already authorized to begin road-making and to issue
bonds therefor ; others require only the sanction of a

local election.

• 123

124 NEW ROADS AND KOAD LAWS.

"Men enough could be put to work by these bodies,
without waiting for legislation, to give sensible relief
to the labor market, and materially ease the hard times
in their localities, while the roads would be built at a
minimum of cost and of interest charges. Those States
that have not adopted the modern ideas would hasten
their legislation to avail themselves of the same advan-
tages, and the whole country be lifted out of its tem-
porary difficulties, by means certain to promote its
permanent prosperity.

" To enforce these considerations upon the attention
of the boards having power to act, and upon the people
having right to vote such power, is the practical work
of the hour. Those who are willing to join actively in
this work in their localities are earnestly requested to
communicate with the League at these headquarters,
and to give full information regarding local conditions."

The " era of cheap money " has already arrived, and
shows signs of staying indefinitely.

No prophet is bold enough to fix a date for the
revival of business, though some light on the subject
may be drawn from experience in like conditions.
Speaking in 1876, during the great depression which
followed the panic of 1873, in reply to the question,
"When will business revive?" Senator Thurman of
Ohio said: "All that is necessary is for a man to open
his eyes and read the history of his country to knoAV
when it will revive. At intervals of about twenty
years we have one of those things called a panic, fol-
lowed by stagnation in business, the result of over-trad-

BOAD-BUILDING AND REVIVAL OF BUSINESS. 125

ing, over-production, of extravagance of all sorts and
descriptions — extravagance in individuals, extrava-
gance in corporations, extravagance in governments,
large and small — until at last the bubble bursts, and
then comes a season of retrenchment, of economy. And
how long does that last? How long is it before debts
are liquidated and a surplus is accumulated, so that
there begins to be an upward tide in the business of the
country ? Never has it been less than four years in the
United States.

" One of the first things that I can recollect when I
was a very small boy, not higher than this desk, was
the condition of monetary affairs in 1819. How long
did that stagnation last? It lasted until 1823. Then
business began to revive throughout the country, and a
period of great prosperity followed. Then came the
panic and suspension of 1837, and the great stagnation
in business that followed. How long did that last
before business revived and the country began to be
prosperous again? Five years. Then came 1857, at
an interval of twenty years, and business had not
revived when the war broke out and changed the whole
face of affairs. And now comes the stagnation of 1873,
and nothing but time, economy, honesty, and retrench-
ment, will liquidate indebtedness and accumulate a
surplus which will set business in motion again and
make the country prosper once more."

A writer in one of the morning papers brings to-
gether reports of the business situation in this country
in the years immediately following the panic of 1873,

126 NEW ROADS AND 11OAD LAWS.

in order to show the course of business recovery after
that financial disturbance. He sums up the result as
follows : —

" It thus appears that the recovery from the collapse
of 1873 did not fairly begin until the summer of 1877,
or four years afterward, and was not complete until
1879, or six years afterward."

Should then the fifth great panic of the series, that
of 1893, be like in its results to the other four, we may
expect to spend the remaining years of the nineteenth
century in "stagnation, retrenchment, and liquidation."

But history may not always repeat itself, and the
genius of the age is bold enough to undertake any
promising short cut to prosperity, regardless of all the
landmarks of history and precedent. Unfortunately,
the most of these short cuts yet proposed are by the way
of inflation of the currency, which promises nothing but
to drive out foreign capital and alarm home investors.
Thurman himself, who was not always for sound money,
ridiculed the idea that the effect of a panic could be
overcome by inflating the currency.

It is not the lack of money, but the lack of circulation
for it, that makes the hard times at present. The first
effect of the panic was to take the money out of banks
and hide it; the second effect was to take it out of
business ; the former was soon over, and the money has
gone back to the banks for safe keeping, but the latter
goes on. Confidence in the banks has returned, but
confidence in business has not ; the capital withdrawn
from business, which gave employment to labor, is

EO AD-BUILDING AND REVIVAL OF BUSINESS. 127

being added to the mass of bank deposits, and labor is
turned adrift. Money is idle in banks, and workmen
are idle at home. Employment for both is wanted, and
neither can get it without the other; the deadlock i.j
complete; money will not go back into the ordinary
channels of employment, on account of the uncertainties
of the future, and labor cannot employ itself.

To break this deadlock it is only needful to find a
safe and profitable way to use money; and it need not
be so very profitable either, for money is as eager as
labor to be employed, and will accept small returns, if
they are only sure.

Causes quite independent of the money panic have
helped to bring about the present state of things. In
particular, the gradual diminution of railway-building,
in consequence of over-building, has, within a few
years past, thrown out of employment, or forced into
occupations already over-crowded, nearly all the men
who were engaged in it. The number employed
directly in railway construction, or collaterally in the
manufacture of material, equipment, and supplies for
new railroads, was, in 1887, according to the New Yurie
Sun, 800,000.

Of this vast army, all who are idle are a direct charge
upon the public, which cannot let them starve; those
who have found work have probably through their
competition cut down the wages of others more in the
aggregate than all they have themselves earned; this
again, by lessening the purchasing power of still larger
numbers, ha; diminished employment in other fields;

128 NEW EOADS AND ROAD LAWS.

and thus in ever-widening circles, this one disturbance
has spread disaster through all our industries.

Coincident with it, the fall in price of silver, and the
substitution of machinery for hand labor in iron mining,
have thrown thousands of miners out of work; the
customary outlet for all spare labor, the opening of
new farms on the public domain, has been closed by
the almost complete occupation of the arable lands;
the capital dislodged from railroad construction, min-
ing, etc., which would in ordinary times have snatched
the opportunity to avail itself of cheap labor in other
enterprises, has remained locked up.

The effects of all this are seen in lower wages for
common labor than have been known for a generation,
and lower rates of interest for money on call than have
ever prevailed for any length of time in this country.

Sixty and seventy-five cents per day for labor, and
one per cent per annum for money, are rates Ave could
not have dreamed of in America a few years ago.

But this situation, deplorable as it may be, is not
without its especial opportunities. The conditions ,
offer unusual inducements for the inception of perma-
nent works of a public character, and through this
means the general deadlock may measurably be broken.

Quite apart from the philanthropic motive of furnish-
ing relief to the destitute, it is clear that the time to
push public works with profit is when private enterprise
drops out of competition with them.

If it be true that he who invents a new want is a
benefactor of mankind, through the employment given

ROAD-BUILDING AND UEVIVAL OF BUSINESS. 129

iii supplying that want, he certainly is one who finds
the way to fill an existing want, and one so long felt
and so universal that the country has despaired of its
being filled, and who at the same time provides a new
field of employment for men and money, and gives to a
whole people the first lift out of the slough of despond.

The opportunity to do this offers itself to legislators
in every State of the Union to-day. The natural
sequence to railway-building is the building of feeders
to railways. A system of good common roads is essen-
tial to the complete usefulness of the railways, and
necessary in every way to the public welfare ; the con-
struction of such a system only waits on legislative
action, and when fairly begun it will furnish as much
if not more employment than did railway-building in
its most active days.

Many believe it the duty of the State to promote
employment, and the wisdom of giving work rather
than alms to the able-bodied poor is undisputed; but in
this matter we need not invoke any doubtful powers
nor pretend to any benevolence, but look only to the
narrowest and most sordid consideration, namely, that
the State can drive a good bargain with its citizens in
their time of need.

Some believe that the National Legislature should
act in this behalf, but there are so many opinions on the
subject, and so many questions, constitutional, politi-
cal, and practical, involved in national action, that it
would be folly to wait on their discussion and settle-
ment, when the way is clear for the States to proceed

130 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

at once. Not only is the way clear, but enough has
been done by one State, at least, to point out a method
of procedure that is easily practicable and already
proven to be successful.

Many of the States have only got so far in their
efforts at road-making as to find out "how not to do
it " ; but New Jersey, as we have seen, has found how
to do it, and is rapidly putting that knowledge into
effect, the secret of the method being in a neighborhood
initiative and contributive, with voluntary State aid
and compulsory county aid.

The justice and policy of State aid to road-building
have been disputed, but the practical good accomplished
by it in New Jersey is fast reconciling her people to it
and inclining those of neighboring States to its adop-
tion. New York and Pennsylvania are both moving in
that direction. It is the only method through which
the cities and corporations, which pay the bulk of our
State taxes, can give the help which most of them are
willing and anxious to give, towards the building of
country roads. Should the other States adopt this
method, they will find it easy to carry out. If they
should need to borrow money for their portion of the
expense, they are generally in excellent credit and can
borrow at low rates. The counties can do the same;
and if the local property-owners cannot pay their share
at once, the counties can give them time to pay it out
of the benefits realized, as cities do in the analogous
case of street improvement.

The national government could do one thing to

ROAD-BUILDING AND REVIVAL OF BUSINESS. 131

stimulate and aid tins work, and that without straining
its powers or incurring any responsibilities. The need
of new securities for bank circulation, in place of the
rapidly maturing government bonds, is pressing upon
Congress, and a variety of expedients have been sug-
gested to meet this emergency. Among these are the
acceptance, for this purpose, of county road bonds,
limited in amount and guaranteed by the State. Such
bonds would have the peculiar merit of multiplying their
own security, since experience shows that every new
road built adds many times its cost to the taxable
values of the district in which it lies.

The State, having the taxing power, could always
protect its own indorsement and save itself from loss.

With a proper limit to the issue of bonds, and a State
supervision of the road-building, to insure an honest
expenditure of the money, the State would run no risk,
the government would get the best of securities, and
the counties, by means of the State indorsement and the
assured market for their bonds, would be able to borrow
at so low a rate and on such time that the interest and
sinking fund charges would be but a light burden.
Probably the average rate of interest would not exceed
three per cent per annum, and one-half of one per cent
per annum in a sinking fund would pay off the princi-
pal in seventy-five years.

But to judge of the feasibility of this method of road
improvement we must consider the combined weight of
the State, county 4 and local taxation imposed by such
improvement, as compared with the present taxation

132 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

for road maintenance only. Taking the State of New
York, for example : the total road mileage in that State
is estimated by some at 100,000 miles, or 1 mile to each
300 acres of land; the present maintenance tax is
$3,000,000 annually, or an average of $50,000 to each
county, and of $30 for each mile of road, though of this
amount probably five-sixths is applied to one-half of the
roads, the other half being only neighborhood or by-
roads. Properly to improve the important half, which
is all that need be considered, would require an average
expenditure of about $1500 per mile. This estimate
may seem low, but it is two-thirds more than the cost
of the stone roads of Canandaigua, N.Y. At this rate,
the total for the State would amount to $75,000,000.
Supposing the State and county each to pay two-fifths
of the expense, and the respective neighborhoods one-
fifth, the sixty counties would have to borrow $30,000,-
000, or an average of a half million dollars each, for
their own share, and a quarter million more temporarily,
to carry the property-owners' portion until it could be
paid.

The interest and sinking fund charge on the half
million would be $17,500 per annum; but it is not too
much to say that when the travelled roads of a county
were Avell built, the saving in maintenance would be
fully one-third of the present cost, which would practi-
cally meet this charge without increase of taxation,
while the interest and principal of the quarter of a
million would be paid by the local property-owners who
borrow it.

ROAD-BUILDING AND REVIVAL OF BUSINESS. 133

The property-owners would pay one-fifth of $1500
per mile, or $300, which equals 50 cents per acre on
the 600 acres of land which would on the average be
benefited. This, if spread over ten years, would be 5
cents per acre, or, including interest, something less
than 6 cents per acre annually.

If the State should borrow its $30,000,000 on the
same terms, its annual share for interest and principal
would be $1,050,000.

Since only seven per cent of the State taxes are paid
by the farm property of the State, this charge would
amount to less than a quarter of a cent per acre annually,
and may be dismissed from consideration as bearing
upon the farmer. The cities, corporations, inheritors,
and others, who pay the remainder, will not feel it a
serious burden in view of the vast compensations it
will bring. The total is only about one-half of the
proceeds of a comparatively new source of revenue in
that State, the inheritance tax alone.

It appears, therefore, to be possible for the State of
New York to abolish forever its " bad roads tax, " which
the State Highway Manual estimates at $1 per acre, or
$30,000,000 annually, by the mere appropriation of one-
half the inheritance tax, and by the voluntary action of
the farmers in adding a little more than one-half to
their present road taxes for the space of ten years.

What can be done in New York can be done else-
where; and with the assurance that it is practicable,
and will be profitable too, to build good roads generally
and promptly throughout the country, it remains to be

134 NEW ROADS AND ROAD LAWS.

considered how tliis will effect an immediate revival of
business.

For those who have watched the wave of agricultural
prosperity which attends the mere grading of a railroad,
through a difficult country, no explanation on this point
is needed. For that work every farmer turns out a
"scratch team" and receives more ready money from
the earnings of "the boy and the colts" than he has
done from his farm products for many years, while
everything he raises finds a home market for a year or
two at good prices.

The expenditure of $50,000 of outside cash in an
average township, for road improvement, not only means
good times while it is going on, but will make impor-
tant additions to the permanent business capital of the
township.

It means, moreover, the payment of debts, the revival
of local trade, and, when it becomes general, the
increase of the purchasing power of the entire agricul-
tural class, — a class which, being largely freed from
expense for food, can devote a much greater share of
its cash income to the purchase of manufactures than
can those whose food supply is a daily fixed charge
upon their earnings.

Increased purchases by the farmers mean increased
employment for the artisan class, thereby adding to
their power to purchase farm products, and when it is
once begun, this action and reaction brings prosperity
to producer and consumer, including full employment
to all who are engaged in the exchange and transporter-

ROAD-BUILDING AND REVIVAL OF BUSINESS. 135

tion of products. It is only necessary to set the ball
rolling, and the place of all places to start it is with
the farmers ; money expended among them will quickly
find its way through all the channels of trade and pro-
duction. It would be worth while, at this crisis, even
to make some sacrifices for this purpose. How much
more is it worth while to bring it about by inaugurating
a work of the highest beneficence, or, as the National
League puts it, "to lift the country out of its present
difficulties by means which are certain to promote its
permanent prosperity."

The extent of roads in the United States is estimated
at about one arid one-half millions of miles. The cost
of improvement will average higher elsewhere than in
New York, which has good materials well distributed;
it may be taken generally at about $ 1800 per mile. To
improve one-half of the roads in the country at that rate
would cost $1,350,000,000. This is a vast amount, but
it would be less difficult to raise it for roads than for
railroads, and it would be easier to expend it within a
given time, the area of operation being wider and con-
struction so much more simple. If this sum were
expended for that purpose before 1900, it would not
quite equal the expenditure for railroads in the same
length of time prior to 1890, but it would be better
distributed and ought to go far toward restoring gen-
eral prosperity; certainly, with that amount of money
put into circulation, and good roads everywhere, we
might make shift to travel comfortably if not gaily into
the new century.

136 NEW EOADS AND ROAD LAWS.

In view of all the conditions, the friends of road
improvement should now be able to enlist the great
financial and commercial interests of the country in
their cause. They will find opposition in some locali-
ties to the incurring of debt for road-making, but they
can cite the experience of many counties and townships
in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michi-
gan, Indiana, and Kentucky, where such "borroAving"
has brought, not "sorrowing," but relief and rejoicing,
and they can say with truth that no instance to the
contrary has come to the knowledge of the National
League or been developed by the government inquiry.
If any man doubts the practical value of road improve-
ment, let them persuade him to visit the counties of
Camden and Burlington in New Jersey, and he will
find farming communities actually getting rich in these
hard times, solely by reason of their good roads.

APPENDIX.

ABSTRACTS OF NEW ROAD LAWS IN
SIXTEEN STATES.

CALIFORNIA.
LAW OF 1893.

1. Board of supervisors divide the county into road Road districts,
districts, and each supervisor is road commissioner in

his district.

2. Board of supervisors have control of all roads,
and as road commissioners, they take charge of all
repairs. They receive 20 cents per mile, one way, for
travelling on this duty, but not to exceed $ 300 per
annum.

Board of su-
pervisors :
duties ; com-
pensation.

INDIANA.
FREE GRAVEL ROAD, LAW OF 1893.

1. County commissioners, upon petition of fifty free-
holders of any township or contiguous townships con-
taining an incorporated town or city of less than 30,000
inhabitants, for the improving of any road by grading,
paving, mecadamizing, or gravelling, shall submit the
question to the voters of the township, towns, and
cities on the line of the road, and if the majority of
those voting are in favor of such improving, the com-
missioners shall proceed to build such road at once.

2. The petitioners to pay all costs of election.

3. Construction to be let to the lowest responsible

bidder.

139

Question of
road improve-
ment to be
submitted to
voters.

Costs.
Construction.

140

APPENDIX.

Bonds.

Special tax.

Free gravel
roads

4. County bonds running from one to five years to
be issued for construction of the roads.

5. These bonds and interest to be paid by special
tax upon the property of the townships, towns, and
cities on the line in proportion to the cost of the road
in each.

6. Free gravel or stone roads may be built on county
lines and their cost assessed upon the lands within 2
miles on each side.

MASSACHUSETTS.
HIGHWAY COMMISSION AND STATE KOAD LAW OF 1893.

Highway com-
missioners ;
duties, sal-
aries.

State high-
ways.

Connecting
roads.

1. Governor and council appoint three commis-
sioners, at a salary of $2000 each and travelling
expenses. Commission to compile statistics, make
investigations, advise regarding construction, altera-
tion, and maintenance of roads, prepare maps showing
location of road materials, and hold a public meeting
in each county for the discussion of road matters at
least once a year.

2. Upon petition of county commissioner the com-
mission may adopt any road as a State highway, and
construct the same if the legislature makes appropria-
tion therefor, except that the grading and bridging
shall be done by the county. Such highway to be
maintained by the State under supervision of the
commission.

3. Upon petition of two or more cities or towns a
connecting road, new or existing, may be made a State
highway, and constructed in the same manner.

Electors vote
road system.

MICHIGAN.
COUNTY OPTION LAW, 1893.

1. The board of supervisors of any county may, by
a two-thirds vote of all the members of said board,
submit the question of adopting the county road sys-
tem to a vote of the electors of such county.

APPENDIX.

141

2. In any county where the county road system shall
be adopted, a board of county road commissioners,
not exceeding five in number, shall be elected by the
people of such county.

3. Said board of county road commissioners may
lay out such new roads within the county as they deem
necessary.

4. Any road heretofore laid out, or any part thereof,
shall become a county road if the board of county road
commissioners shall at any time so determine.

5. Said board of county road commissioners shall
determine the amount of tax to be raised. Such tax
shall not exceed $2 on each $1000 of the assessed
valuation.

6. Whenever the board of supervisors of the county
shall, by a two-thirds vote of all the members, resolve
to contract indebtedness or issue bonds to raise money
for the construction and maintenance of county roads,
the question shall be submitted to a vote of the electors
of the county at a general or a special election to be
called for that purpose. . . . No bond or evidence of
indebtedness shall be negotiated at less than par and
the accrued interest.

NOTE. — The constitution of Michigan was amended
in 1892 to permit this legislation.

County road
commission-

ers.

Duties.

County roads.

Tax>

Bonds, issue
of; question
to be sub-
mitted to vote
of electors.

MISSOURI.
LOCAL OPTION LAW OF 1893.

1. A majority of the legal voters voting may adopt
the county system ; whereupon,

2. County courts appoint supervisors of roads.

3. County courts provide for working, repairing, and
improving all public roads in the counties by contract.

4. Supervisors shall inspect the work and repairs
contracted for and make quarterly reports to the
county court, showing the condition of roads in the
several districts.

County sys-
tem.

Supervisors.

Improving
roads.

Quarterly re-
ports.

142

APPENDIX.

Tollgates

County court
may sub scribe.

Poll-tax.

5. County courts may establish tollgates upon any
roads that may be gravelled, macadamized, or planked
in a substantial manner.

6. Whenever any citizen subscribes fifty (50) dollars
or more for the purpose of improving any road, the
county court may subscribe a like amount.

7. Poll-tax of $2 and property tax of 10 to 20 cents
per $ 100, payable in money for county road fund.

Highway dis-
tricts.

Funds, rais-
ing.

Highway
agents.

NEW HAMPSHIRE.
ROAD LAW, 1893.

1. Each town shall constitute one highway district;
all subdivisions are abolished.

2. Each town shall raise twenty-five (25) cents per
$100, and as much more as may be deemed necessary
for road purposes, but not more than fifty (50) dollars
per mile of road.

3. Each town elects highway agents, who have
charge of the construction and repairs of highway
and purchases.

Township
committee.

County bonds.

State aid.

Chosen free-
holders may
improve roads.

NEW JERSEY.
ROAD LAWS, 1888 TO 1892.

1. The roads of a township are placed under the
management of the township committee, and money
may be raised by township bonds for grading, macad-
amizing, and improving the same ; bonds to be author-
ized by vote of the annual town meeting.

2. The board of chosen freeholders of any county
may designate certain roads as county roads and
improve the same by the issue of county bonds.

3. The State shall pay one-third of all cost of road
improvement so authorized by the chosen freeholders,
within the limit, at present, of $75,000 per annum.

4. Whenever the owners of two-thirds of the lands
fronting on any public road will undertake to pay

APPENDIX.

143

one-tenth of the cost of improving such road, it shall
be the duty of the board of chosen freeholders to
cause such improvements to be made.

5. The office of overseer of highways is abolished. Abolished.

6. All road taxes are to be paid in money. Eoad taxes.

NEW YORK.
COUNTY ROAD LAW, 1893.

1. The board of supervisors may adopt the county
road system and designate county roads.

2. A county engineer to be appointed in every such
county by the board of supervisors.

3. County roads to be maintained at the county
charge.

4. County engineer to have full supervision of con-
struction and maintenance of county roads.

5. Board may borrow money for construction,
maintenance, and repair.

6. May issue bonds for twenty years bearing 5 per
cent interest, but not to be sold below par.

7. All road taxes in such counties to be paid in
money.

Additional laws provide for an experiment in the
use of convict labor on highways near Clinton prison,
and for the publication of a manual containing the
highway laws of the State and giving instruction in
road-making. Copies to be furnished to each commis-
sioner and overseer of highways at the town charge.

County road
system.

County engi-
neer.

County
charge.

Construction
of roads.

May borrow
money.

Bonds.

Road taxes
paid in money.

NORTH DAKOTA.
COUNTY ROAD FUND LAW, 1893.
In addition to all other taxes for highway purposes Special tax for

. roadimprove-

a special tax on all property in the county, except in ment.
incorporated towns and cities, may be collected and
kept as a county fund for the improvement of the
principal thoroughfares in the county under direction
of the county commissioners.1

144

APPENDIX,

County court
may improve

roads.

Koad viewers.

County fund
to pay one-
half.

Free.
Special tax.

Day's work.

OREGON.
COUNTY ROAD LAW, 1893.

1. The county court of any county is empowered,
upon petition of a majority of the resident landholders
within 3 miles of the proposed improvement, to im-
prove, change, grade, drain, gravel, or macadamize any
county road or public highway.

2. Viewers are appointed by the court to apportion
the estimated cost upon all the side lands within 3
miles, according to the benefits derived therefrom.

3. If the county court be satisfied that the proposed
improvement will justify an expenditure from the
county fund, it may order that a portion of said cost,
not exceeding 50 per cent, shall be so paid.

4. All roads built under provisions of this act are
free of toll.

5. The county court may levy a special tax of 50
cents per $ 100, and a poll tax of $ 2 per head, as a
fund for building and maintaining county roads and
bridges.

6. Petitioners for county road must each do one
day's work on the road or pay $ 2 to the supervisor.

TENNESSEE.

lioad districts.

Duties of com-
missioners.

Overseers and
tools.

Convicts may
be employed.

ROAD LAWS OF 1894.

1. County courts divide their counties into road
districts and choose commissioners for each district.

2. Such commissioners control highways and pur-
chases in their district, and direct the manner of work-
ing roads.

3. Commissioners appoint overseers and purchase
necessary tools and materials.

4. All persons confined in county jails or work-
houses are available to the commissioners for the
purpose of working on the public highways.

APPENDIX. 145

5. The county court may assess the number of days' Tax.
poll-tax from four to eight, and a highway tax from 5
to 25 cents on $100.

VERMONT.
ROAD LAW OF 1892.

1. Creates the office of road commissioner for each Road commis-

sioner,
town.

2. Lays a town tax of 20 cents on the dollar of the state an(l towE
grand list,1 and a State tax of 5 cents on the dollar for

support of the highways; the State tax to be appor-
tioned and repaid to the towns according to road
mileage.

The law of 1893 creates a State highway commis- Highway com-
sion to investigate the matter of road-building in the
State.

WASHINGTON.
ROAD LAWS, 1890 TO 1893.

1. Commissioners of any countv may cause to be Commission-

.,,.,, . , ,. , i.i ers may im-

estabhsned or improved any public road or highway; prove roads.

2. They may submit to the voters of such county Election,
the question of issuing bonds ;

3. Such bonds to run not more than twenty years, Bonds,
and not to exceed 6 per centum interest; and

4. Not to make the accrued indebtedness exceed 1J indebtedness.
per cent of the value of the taxable property in the

county.

5. Bonds to be sold at not less than par. Par value-

6. A State road through the Cascade Mountains to State road,
be built under authority of a special commission.

WISCONSIN.
ROAD LAWS OF 1893.

1. The town board of each town shall have full Town board,
supervision, management, and control of roads in said duties<

1 The " grand list " is 1 per cent of the valuation of property.

146

APPENDIX.

Purchase of
material, etc.;
l>ay.

Pay taxes in
money.

town, and may make and repair the same by contract,
and appoint a competent superintendent of roads.

2. The town board may procure machinery and
material, and hire laborers and teams ; may purchase
gravel pits, stone quarries ; may make temporary loans
on the credit of the town, to be paid from the road
taxes.

3. All road taxes to be paid in money, except in
townships which specifically vote to retain the labor
system.

KENTUCKY.

The Fiscal Court of each county to have full charge
of roads. To levy a tax not exceeding 25 cents per
$ 100 on property, and a poll-tax not mote than one
dollar, and a labor tax not more than six days. To
appoint a county and district supervisors.

NORTH CAROLINA.

County commissioners and justices of the peace may
provide a county fund for roads by a tax not exceeding
15 cents per $ 100, and four days' poll-tax. All jail
prisoners and State prisoners for a term of less than
five years, and all vagrants, are available for highway
work, and courts may sentence convicts to hard labor
on the public roads not exceeding ten years.

County commissioners have full control of expendi-
ture for the county road fund.

APPENDIX. 147

PROPOSED LAW FOR STATE AID IN
NEW YORK.1

Nos. 1164, 1405.

IX ASSEMBLY,

MARCH 9, 1894.

Introduced by Mr. KERR — read once and referred to the committee on
agriculture — reported from said committee with amendments — ordered
reprinted as amended and placed on the order of second reading.

AN ACT

To PROVIDE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS BY LOCAL
ASSESSMENT, COUNTY AND STATE AID.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and
Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Petition of bordering land-owners for survey and
estimate of cost of local road ; subsequent petition of residents of
benefit district. On presentation to the board of supervisors of
any county of a petition signed by the owners of not less than one-
third of the lands bordering on any section of road already estab-
lished or proposed to be established in such county, asking for a
survey and estimate of the cost of building or rebuilding such road
in a substantial and permanent manner either of stone or gravel
as prescribed in such petition, such board of supervisors shall cause
such survey and estimate to be made for the information of such
petitioners, and shall forward a copy thereof to the State engineer.
Whenever, thereafter, the petitioners shall present to such board of
supervisors a map or description of the lands which, in their
opinion, will be directly benefited by the construction or improve-
ment of such road, together with a written request of the owners
of three-fifths of such lands, that all the lands so benefited and the
personal property in such district be assessed, in proportion to
the benefits conferred for such construction or improvement, to
the amount of one-third of the total cost thereof, such board of
supervisors shall cause such road to be constructed or improved.

i This bill passed in the Assembly by a vote of 84 to 23. .

148 APPENDIX.

Such lands so mapped or described shall be known as the benefit
district of the said section of road. But whenever the original
petition in any case shall set forth that the area to be benefited by
the road is peculiarly restricted by the proximity of other roads or
by other circumstances, an examination and report shall be made
by the supervisor of the town and the surveyor of the road, and if
it appears thereby that such area is less than two square miles for
each mile of the road to be built, then the proportion of cost re-
quired to be paid by the benefit district shall be diminished at the
rate of three and one-third per cent of the whole cost for the first
one hundred acres of such deficiency, and three per cent for each
additional one hundred acres of said deficiency, but shall in no
case be less than one-tenth of the whole, and the balance of the
cost of such construction shall be equally borne by the county and
State.

SEC. 2. Applications. — Copies of all maps and descriptions and
requests of property owners residing within the benefit district
accompanied by an application for State aid shall be transmitted
to the State engineer, who shall file the same in his office and record
the date of the receipt thereof. State aid shall be accorded to the
various benefit districts in the order of the date of the receipt of
their applications, and when such applications shall be sufficient to
exhaust the appropriation made for such purposes, the State engi-
neer shall notify the applicants and the county board of supervisors
and all liability for State aid shall thereupon cease. Whenever
any subsequent appropriation is made it shall be first-available for
the applications already on file in the order of their receipt. Xo
State aid shall be allowed to any section of road unless the State
engineer shall certify that such road is or will be a main travelled
road and a proper subject to receive State aid.

SEC. 3. Construction of road. — Such road shall be constructed
or improved according to plans and specifications furnished by the
State engineer and shall conform to the survey and estimate of cost
provided by the board of supervisors. The contract for such con-
struction or improvement shall be let by the board of supervisors
to the lowest bidder upon the publication of a notice once in each
of four successive weeks in two newspapers published in such
county stating where a copy of the plans and specifications of the
proposed construction or improvement may be obtained, and the

APPENDIX. 149

time and place where the board of supervisors or a committee
thereof will meet to receive bids. The cost of the publication of
such notice shall be a county charge. Each of such bids shall be
accompanied by a bond, with satisfactory security in a sum to be
determined by the board of supervisors, conditioned that if the con-
tract shall be awarded to such bidder he will execute an agreement,
in writing, to perform the work according to the plans and specifi-
cations and terms of the contract. Such contract shall be executed
in duplicate by the chairman of the board of supervisors under the
direction of the board, one of which shall be retained by the con-
tractor and the other filed with the clerk of the board. A copy of
each contract shall be forwarded to the State engineer to be filed
in his office. Before beginning the construction of the woik
under any contract the State engineer shall appoint a competent
person as superintendent of such work, who shall receive as com-
pensation a sum not to exceed four dollars per day, to be paid in
the same manner as other employes in the State engineer's depart-
ment, out of the moneys appropriated for that purpose. Such
superintendent shall supervise all work done under the contract
and require the provisions thereof to be strictly adhered to by the
contractor. The contract may provide that partial payment shall
be made to the contractor during the progress of the work, in
which case such superintendent shall, as each payment becomes
due, make a certificate to the chairman of the board of supervisors,
stating the amount of work done and that such work has been
done according to the provisions of the contract, and thereupon
such chairman shall direct payment to be made by the county
treasurer to an amount not exceeding eighty per cent of the value
of the work performed. When the work under the contract shall
be fully completed the superintendent shall make a detailed and
itemized statement, in duplicate, of the cost of the construction or
improvement, one copy of which shall be filed with the secretary
of the board of supervisors and one with the State engineer.
When such roads are completed they shall become county roads
and thereafter be maintained at county expense.

SEC. 4. County engineer. — A county engineer may be employed
by the board of supervisors whenever required under the provisions- •— ^
of this act. Such engineer shall have general supervisioi£;6ir7;he3?t "5T"
construction of all roads built under this act, and, shall have

' ^ "'• ^

150 APPENDIX.

power to suspend any superintendent of construction appointed by
the State engineer, for neglect of duty or incapacity, subject to the
final action of the State engineer ; during such suspension he may
appoint a substitute, who shall be entitled to the pay of such
superintendent.

SEC. 5. Payment of cost of construction. — Except in cases
where the benefits are " peculiarly restricted," one-third of the total
cost of the construction or improvement of such road shall be paid
by the owners of the land and property in the benefit districts,
which amount shall be assessed upon such owners according to the
benefits derived by them ; one-third shall be a county charge, and
the remaining one-third of the total cost shall be paid from the
State treasurer to the county treasurer, upon the warrant of the
comptroller and the certificate of the State engineer that the road
has been properly constructed according to plans and specifications
furnished by him.

SEC. 6. Assessment of cost upon property benefited. — The
assessors of each town, through which the road so constructed or
improved extends, shall one year after the completion of such road
assess the amount to be paid by the property owners of the benefit
district upon the parcels of land and personal property therein, in
proportion to the benefits conferred by such construction or im-
provement. They shall describe in the annual assessment-roll, in
a place separate from other assessments, the several parcels of land
so assessed, and set down the name of the owner of such parcel,
when known, with the amount in dollars and cents assessed on
each parcel. Such assessment shall be a part of the annual assess-
ment-roll, and shall be subject to review and correction in the same
manner as the annual assessment-roll, and the sums assessed on
the several parcels of land shall be liens thereon respectively until
paid, and shall be collected in the same manner as other town
taxes, except that each assessment may be paid in ten equal annual
instalments, with interest annually at the rate of five per cent on
the amount unpaid, or in one instalment, at the option of the
owner of the. property assessed ; but the owner may, at any time,
pay the entire amount unpaid with interest to the date of pay-
ment. The amount remaining unpaid upon each assessment shall
each year be added in like manner to the assessment-roll. All
moneys collected upon such assessment shall be paid to the county

APPENDIX. 151

treasurer and held by him as a separate fund for the payment of all
claims arising from the construction or improvement of such road.

SEC. 7. Issue of bonds. — The board of supervisors of any
county may borrow money, from time to time, for the construction
and maintenance of roads built under this act, and may issue bonds
or other evidences of indebtedness of the county therefor, which
shall be under the official seart of the county treasurer, and signed
by the chairman of the board of supervisors. Such bonds or other
evidences of indebtedness shall bear a rate of interest not exceed-
ing five per cent per annum, shall not be for a longer period than
fifty years, nor be sold for less than par. But the amount of such
bonds or evidences of indebtedness issued by any county for the
purposes of this act shall not exceed three per cent of the assessed
valuation of the real and personal estate subject to taxation in such
county.

SEC. 7. This act shall take effect immediately.

PROPOSED STATE AID IN PENNSYLVANIA.
ONE MILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY.

[Extract from the report of a commission composed of three senators, five
members of the house, and five citizens, appointed by the governor —
1891.]

Your commission desire to say that in formulating a bill they
have not attempted to give you one that will place the manage-
ment, construction, and repairs of the roads, highways, and bridges
of the Commonwealth on the highest and most scientific plan, but
that they have endeavored to give you one that they believe will
be, if enacted into a law, a long stride in advance of the present
system.

They believe, at the same time, that it will not be so far in ad-
vance that the people will not adopt it.

Your commission has constantly kept in view the fact that in all
reforms it is absolutely necessary to move in a conservative way,
and thus create sentiments that will in the end produce the best
results.

In the bill your commission herewith present to you, they have
preserved the township as a unit, believing that the people will

152 APPENDIX.

never surrender the township government, as it is the basis of our
State organization.

The bill provides< for three supervisors to be elected in each
township for the term of three years, one of whom shall be elected
each year, and they, like our school directors, to serve without
compensation.

These supervisors are to have charge of the making and repair-
ing of the roads, highways, and bridges, the appointing of road-
masters, and the fixing of their compensation, and also the com-
pensation of the laborers under them.

Your commission believed that this method would, in a large
degree, take the management of our roads out of politics, and
thereby secure the very best men as supervisors, and enable the
road master to carry on his work in a business-like way.

The bill provides for a money tax, which it was believed would
alone result in a reduction of at least one-half in the road tax of
every township and at the same time give better roads.

In adopting a money tax no citizen of the township who honestly
desires to work out his road tax is excluded from so doing, for pro-
vision has been made whereby preference is to be given to citizens
of the township, between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five, and
that no person who is not a naturalized citizen can be employed
upon the roads of any township in the Commonwealth.

The bill further provides that the board of supervisors of a town-
ship may, if it is so desired, sell the repairing of the roads of the
township to the lowest bidder or bidders, requiring the purchaser
to give bonds in double the amount of the purchase, to carry out
his contract under the specifications laid down by the board of
supervisors.

Your commission were led to insert this provision in the bill to
enable those townships that have such a system to continue the
same, and to authorize other townships to adopt it if they so
desire.

A large number of the members of your commission believed
that by the selling of the roads for repairs there would be a great
improvement in our roads, and, at the same time, a large saving in
the cost thereof. Your commission at the same time believed that
it was wise to allow each township to choose either plan, as in the
judgment of the citizens thereof seemed best. Your commission

APPENDIX. 153

fully realized the depressed condition of agriculture at the present
time, and the over-heavy burdens the farmers of the Commonwealth
are now bearing, owing to the unequal taxation under our present
revenue laws. Your commission were therefore a unit in believing
that if there were to be substantial and permanent improvements
in our highways, there must be State aid, which they recommend.
By permanent improvement is meant the use of stone, brick,
slag, iron, gravel, wood, or other lasting material conveniently to
be had.

Whilst an appropriation clause could not be inserted in the road
bill, your commission have prepared another bill providing for one
million dollars annually, to be distributed to the townships on the
basis of the amount of road tax collected in each township the pre-
ceding year, and only on condition that the township shall lay
aside twenty-five per cent of its road tax annually for permanent
improvements, and that the twenty-five per cent shall, together
with the State appropriation, be used only in stone or other per-
manent improvements of certain roads, which shall be designated
highways.

Your commission have also provided for the election by each
county of a suitable person, to be styled a comity engineer, who
shall have supervision of all roads on which State money is ex-
pended, and, in addition to that authority, shall be one of the
jurymen in laying out of new roads, and the changing and vacat-
ing of old ones, but not to have any control over the other town-
ship roads; neither has he the power to expend the money on such
roads.

The board of supervisors has the power to make the contracts
for building these highways, and can alone expend the moneys
received from the State, and the twenty-five per cent of the
township tax added thereto, all of which must be paid into the
township treasury, and over which the county engineer has no
control whatever.

In providing for a county engineer, we believed it to be abso-
lutely necessary that the State should be protected in its part of the
work, and know how its money was being expended, as sacredly
as the township.

Whilst the provision for a county engineer will entail the cost of
another salaried officer, they were led to believe that it would be a

154 APPENDIX.

great saving to the township, and thus save the counties many
thousands of dollars, and at the same time give much more uni-
formity to our roads, and the making of the same.

Your commission believed that the engineer could from time to
time hold supervisors' institutes from place to place in his county,
and instruct supervisors and roadmasters in reference to the best
methods of making roads, and also inform them of the progress
being made in other parts of the county, and thus the people
would become interested and stimulated to make more improve-
ments.

To protect the interests of the people, we have introduced a
section making it a penal offence for any supervisor or county
engineer to be interested, directly or indirectly, in the making or
repairing of roads, highways or bridges, or in the sale of materials
used.

STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION.

LAW OF MASSACHUSETTS, 1893.

[CHAPTER 476.]

AN ACT to provide for the appointment of a highway commission to
improve the public roads and to define its powers and duties.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

Hghway com- SECTION 1. The governor, with the advice and con-
duties, com- sent of the council, shall, within thirty days after the
office, e°tc.' passage of this act, appoint three competent persons
to serve as the Massachusetts Highway Commission.
Their terms of office shall be so arranged and desig-
nated at the time of their appointment that the term
of one member shall expire in three years, one in two
years, and one in one year. The full term of office
thereafter shall be for three years, and all vacancies
occurring shall be filled by the governor, with the
advice and consent of the council. The members of
said board may be removed by the governor, with the
advice and consent of the council, for such cause as
he shall deem sufficient and shall express in the order

APPENDIX. 155

of removal. They shall each receive in full compen-
sation for their services an annual salary of two thou-
sand dollars, payable in equal monthly instalments,
and also their travelling expenses. They may expend
annually for clerk hire, engineers, and for defraying
expenses incidental to and necessary for the perform-
ance of their duties, exclusive of office rent, the sum
of two thousand dollars. They shall be provided with
an office in the State-house or some other suitable
place in the city of Boston, in which the records of
their office shall be kept. They may establish rules
and regulations for the conduct of business and for
carrying out the provisions of this act.

SEC. 2. They shall from time to time compile sta- statistics.
tistics relating to the public roads of cities, towns,
and counties, and make such investigations relating
thereto as they shall deem expedient. They may be
consulted at all reasonable times, without charge, by
officers of counties, cities, or towns, having the care of
and authority over public roads, and shall without
charge advise them relative to the construction, repair,
alteration, or maintenance of the same ; but advice
given by them to any such officers shall not impair
the legal duties and obligations of any county, city,
or town. They shall prepare a map or maps of the Map.
Commonwealth, on which shall be shown county,
city, and town boundaries and also the public roads,
particularly the State highways, giving, when prac-
ticable, the names of the same. They shall collect
and collate information, concerning the geological
formation of this Commonwealth, so far as it relates
to the material suitable and proper for road-building,
and shall, so far as practicable, designate on said map
or maps the location of such material. Such map or
maps shall at all reasonable times be open for the
inspection of officers of counties, cities, and towns
having the care of and authority over public roads.
They shall each year hold at least one public meeting
in each county for the open discussion of questions

156

APPENDIX.

Information.

relating to the public roads, due notice of which shall
be given in the press or otherwise.

Annual report. SEC. 3. They shall make an annual report to the
legislature of their doings and the expenditures of
their office, together with such statements, facts, and
explanations bearing upon the construction and main-
tenance of public roads, and such suggestions and
recommendations as to the general policy of the Com-
monwealth in respect to the same, as may seem to
them appropriate. Their report shall be transmitted
to the secretary of the Commonwealth on or before
the first AVednesday in January of each year, to be
laid before the legislature. All maps, plans, and sta-
tistics collected and compiled under their direction
shall be preserved in their office.

SEC. 4. County commissioners and city and town
officers having the care and authority over public
roads and bridges throughout the Commonwealth
shall, on request, furnish the commissioners any in-
formation required by them concerning the roads and
bridges within their jurisdiction.

SEC. 5. For the purpose of carrying out the provi-
sions of this act said commission may expend such
sums for necessary assistants, the procuring of neces-
sary supplies, instruments, material, machinery, and
other property, and for the construction and mainte-
nance of State highways, as shall from time to time
be appropriated by the legislature ; and they shall in
their annual report state what sums they deem neces-
sary for the year commencing with the first day of
March following.

SEC. 6. Whenever the county commissioners of a
county adjudge that the common necessity and con-
venience require that the Commonwealth acquire as
a State highway a new or an existing road in that
county, they may apply by petition in writing to the
Massachusetts Highway Commission, stating the road
they recommend, and setting forth a detailed descrip-
tion of said road by metes and bounds, together with

Expenses.

Acquisition of
new State
highways.

APPENDIX. 157

a plan and profile of the same. Said commission
shall consider such petition, and if they adjudge that
it ought to be allowed, they shall in writing so notify
said county commissioners. It shall then become the
duty of said county commissioners to cause said road
to be surveyed and laid out in the manner provided
for the laying out and alteration of highways, the
entire expense thereof to be borne and paid by said
county. Said county commissioners shall preserve a
copy of such petition, plans, and profiles with their
record for public inspection. When said commission
shall be satisfied that said county commissioners have
properly surveyed and laid out said road, and set in
place suitable monuments, and have furnished said
commission with plans and profiles, on which shall be
shown such monuments and established grades, in
accordance with the rules and regulations of said
commission, said commission may approve the same,
and so notify in writing said county commissioners.
Said commission shall then present a certified copy of
said petition, on which their approval shall be indi-
cated, together with their estimates for constructing
said road and the estimated annual cost for maintain-
ing the same, to the secretary of the Commonwealth,
who shall at once lay the same before the legislature,
if it is in session, otherwise on the second Wednesday
of January following. If the legislature makes appro-
priation for constructing said road, said commission
shall cause said road to be constructed in accordance
with this act, and when completed and approved by
them said road shall become a State highway, and
thereafter be maintained by the Commonwealth under
the supervision of said commission.

SEC. 7. Two or more cities or towns may petition Proceedings in
the said commission representing that," in their opin- gtatehighway.
ion, the common necessity and convenience require
that the Commonwealth should acquire as a State
highway a new or an existing road leading from one
city or town to another, which petition shall be accom-

158 APPENDIX.

panied by a detailed description of such road bv metes
and bounds, and also a plan and profile of the same.
If said commission adjudge that the common neces-
sity and convenience require such road to be laid out
and acquired as a State highway, they shall cause a
copy of said petition, on which shall be their finding,
to be given to the county commissioners of the county
in which said road or any portion of it lies. It shall
then become the duty of the county commissioners, at
the expense of the county, to cause said road to be
surveyed and laid out, and to set in place suitable
monuments, and to cause a detailed description by
metes and bounds, plans and profiles, to be made, on
which shall be shown said monuments and established
grades, and to give the same to said commission ; but
said county commissioners shall have the right to
change the line of said road, provided the termini are
substantially the same. Said county commissioners
shall preserve said petition and a copy of the plans
and profiles, with their records, for public inspection.
When said commission shall be satisfied that the
county commissioners have properly surveyed and laid
out said road and set in place suitable monuments,
and have furnished them with plans and profiles on
which shall be shown said monuments and established
grades, in accordance with the rules and regulations
of said commission, they shall then proceed in the
same manner as provided in section six of this act ;
and when said road is completed and approved by said
commission it shall become a State highway, and there-
after be maintained by the Commonwealth under the
supervision of said commission.

Cost of con- SEC. 8. In all cases where a highway is to be con-

paid? 10n> ° V structed at the expense of the Commonwealth as a
State highway, all the grading necessary to make said
highway of the established grade, and the construc-
tion of culverts and bridges, shall be paid for by the
county or counties, respectively, in which said high-
way or any portion of it lies, and the work must be

APPENDIX. 159

done to the satisfaction of said commission. No action
by a person claiming damage for the taking of land
or change of grade, under the provisions of this act,
shall be commenced against a county until said com-
mission has taken possession for the purpose of con-
structing such State highway.

SEC. 9. When appropriation has been made by the Commission
legislature for the construction of a State highway,
said commission shall at once cause plans and specifi-
cations to be made, and estimate the cost of the con-
struction of such State highway, and give to each city
and town in which said road lies, a certified copy of
said plans and specifications, with a notice that said
commission is ready for the construction of said road.
Such city or town shall have the right, without adver-
tisement, to contract with said commission for the
construction of so much of suck highway as lies within
its limits, in accordance with the plans and specifica-
tions of the commission and under its supervision and
subject to its approval, at a price agreed upon between
said commission and said city or town ; but such price
agreed upon shall not exceed eighty-five per cent of
the original estimate of said commission. If such city
or town shall within thirty days not elect to so con-
tract, said commission may advertise in one or more
papers published in the county where the road or a por-
tion of it is situated, and in one or more papers pub-
lished in Boston, for bids for the construction of said
highway in accordance with the plans and specifica-
tions furnished by said commission, and under their
supervision and subject to their approval. Said com-
mission shall have the right to reject any and all bids,
and they shall require of the contractor a bond for at
least ten thousand dollars for each mile of road, to
indemnify such city or town in which such highway
lies against damage while such road is being con-
structed, and the Commonwealth shall not be liable
for any damage occasioned thereby. Said commission
shall make and sign all contracts in the name of the
Massachusetts Highway Commission.

160

APPENDIX.

Approved.

Removal of
buildings.

Repairs. SEC. 10. For the maintenance of State highways,

said commission shall contract with the city or town
in which such State highway lies, or a person, firm,
or corporation, for the keeping in repair and main-
taining of such highway, in accordance with the rules
and regulations of said commission and subject to
their supervision and approval, and such contracts
may be made without previous advertisement.

SEC. 11. All contracts made by or with the Massa-
chusetts Highway Commission under the provisions
of this act shall be subject to the approval of the gov-
ernor and council.

SEC. 12. Xo length of possession or occupancy of
land within the limit of any State highway, by an
owner or occupier of adjoining land, shall create a
right to such land in any adjoining owner or occupant
or a person claiming under him, and any fences, build-
ings, sheds, or other obstructions encroaching upon
such State highway shall, upon written notice by said
commission, at once be removed by the owner or occu-
pier of adjoining land, and if not so removed said
commission may cause the same to be done and may
remove the same upon the adjoining land of such
owner or occupier.

Injuries. SEC. 13. The Commonwealth shall be liable for in-

juries to persons or property occurring through a de-
fect or want of repair or of sufficient railing in or upon
a State highway.

Jurisdiction. SEC. 14. Cities and towns shall have police juris-
diction over all State highways, and they shall at once
notify in writing the State commission or its employes
of any defect or want of repair in such highways. Xo
State highway shall be dug up for laying or placing
pipes, sewers, posts, wires, railways, or other purposes,
and no tree shall be planted or removed or obstruction
placed thereon, except by the written consent of the
superintendent of streets or road commissioners of a
city or town, approved by the highway com mission,
and then only in accordance with the rules and regu-

APPENDIX. 161

lations of said commission ; and in all cases the work
shall be executed under the supervision and to the sat-
isfaction of said commission, and the entire expense
of replacing the highway in as good condition as be-
fore shall be paid by the parties to whom the consent
was given or by whom the work was done ; but a city
or town shall have the right to dig up such State high-
way without such approval of the highway commis-
sion where immediate necessity demands it, but in all
such cases such highway shall be at once replaced in
as good condition as before, and at the expense of the
city or town. Said commission shall give suitable
names to the State highways, and they shall have the
right to change the name of any road that shall have
become a part of a State highway. They shall cause
to be erected, at convenient points along State high-
ways, suitable guide posts.

S*;c. 15. The word " road," as used in this act, in- Koad defined,
eludes every thoroughfare which the public has a right
to use.

SEC. 16. This act shall take effect upon its passage, in effect.

Approved June 10, 1893.

STATE ENGINEER DEPARTMENT.
LAW PROPOSED BY THE MARYLAND ROAD LEAGUE.

SECTION 1. There shall be appointed by the governor of this
State, with the consent and approval of the senate, on March 1,
1894, and every fourth year thereafter, an expert engineer, to be
the State road and highway engineer, who shall hold his office for
the term of four years or until his successor is appointed.

SEC. 2. He shall receive a salary of $5000 per annum, shall
give bond for the faithful discharge of his duties in the amount
of $5000, and shall pay over all moneys, papers, etc., at the expi-
ration of his term or when ordered by the governor.

SEC. 3. It shall be the duty of the attorney-general, at the
request of the governor, to give his counsel and opinion to such
officer.

162 APPENDIX.

SEC. 4. He shall be provided with suitable offices and working
equipment, and is hereby empowered to employ such engineers,
clerks, and other assistants, at such salaries as the board of public
works may, upon his application, approve.

SEC. 5. He shall submit to the governor on or before January 1,
1896, and every two years thereafter, a report upon the state of
the roads and bridges in the State and the best methods of con-
structing and maintaining the same, with estimates of cost, ex-
penses, etc., and shall suggest some general plan of administration
thereof, either by the State or counties, or jointly, or such changes
in the present methods as may recommend themselves to him.

SEC. 6. He shall further, upon the application of any of the
county boards of highways and bridges herein provided for, give
them the benefit of his advice, counsel, and assistance, either in
person or by deputy.

SEC. 7. He shall further, upon the application of any such
board, detail an assistant engineer to assist it in its work for such
time as may be proper, provided all the expenses incurred by
such assistant in such work over and above his personal expenses
and salary shall be paid for by such board.

SEC. 8. He is further empowered, with the approval of the
board of public works, to purchase stone-breaking machines, to
set them up at convenient points, and to supply stone to the
county boards at cost price.

SEC. 9. He shall render to the governor, legislature, and board
of public works such other services as they may require.

SEC. 10. He shall keep a record of all his proceedings and an
account of all money received and spent and for what purpose,
which record and account he shall furnish to the governor on the
1st day of July each and every year ; such records and accounts,
however, to be always open to the inspection of the governor or
any committee of the legislature.

SEC. 11. All moneys paid out on account of this department
shall be paid out by the State treasurer upon the order of the
State engineer, indorsed by the comptroller.

SEC. 12. The sum of $25,000 per annum, or so much thereof as
may be needed, is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the
treasury for the use of this department.

APPENDIX.

168

FREE ROAD MATERIALS BY CONVICT
LABOR.

(1) LAWS OF DELAWARE, CHAPTER 670, 1893.

Within two years from and after the passage of
this act the Levy Court of New Castle county are
authorized and directed to secure, by purchase or con-
demnation, as hereinafter provided, a stone quarry
along the route or within convenient reach of a rail-
road in New Castle county, the stone in said quarry
to be of a character suitable for being broken into
macadam. That the said Levy Court, within the
time specified, shall advertise for bids and proposals
and grant to the lowest and best bidder the contract
for the building of a suitable structure for confining
prisoners, the same not to exceed in cost the sum of
twenty thousand dollars.

SECTION 2. It shall be and may be lawful for any
court in New Castle county, having competent juris-
diction in the matters of obtaining money under false
pretences, pointing a deadly weapon, carrying con-
cealed a deadly weapon, gambling, lottery, policy
writing, assault and battery, assaults, drunkenness, dis-
orderly conduct, and vagrancy, and of such other crimes
the punishment for which, in the discretion of the
court passing sentence, should be hard labor, to sen-
tence any male person or persons convicted as afore-
said to imprisonment in the workhouse of New Castle
county at hard labor in the quarry aforesaid, in addi-
tion to the penalties prescribed by law ; provided nev-
ertheless that such imprisonment at hard labor, for
drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and vagrancy shall
not exceed sixty days.

SECTION 3. It shall be the duty of the superintend-
ent of the workhouse hereinafter provided for to
receive all persons who may be sentenced under the

Levy Court of
New Castle
county author-
ized to secure
a stone quarry.

Location of.

Shall contract
for a building
to confine
prisoners.

Cost of.

Courts in New
Castle county
may commit
certain offend-
ers to work-
house at hard
labor in stone
quarry.

Imprisonment
for drunken

ness, etc., not
to exceed
sixty days.

Duty of super-
intendent of
workhouse.

164

APPENDIX.

Who to be
deemed va-
grants under
this act.

Eight hours a
day's work.

Working
hours.

No exemption
from labor
except for
physical in-
ability.
Management
of refractory
prisoners.

Action of
superintend-
ent to be re-
ported to jail
commission

Duty of jail
commission-
ers respecting
government of
workhouse.

Condemnation
of quarry ;

provisions of Section 2 of this act and keep them at
hard labor as herein provided.

SECTION 4. That all beggars and vagabonds who
roam about from place to place, without any lawful
business or occupation, sleeping in outhouses, barns,
market places, sheds, and in the open air, and not
giving a good account of themselves, shall be deemed
vagrants and liable to the penalties of this act.

SECTION 5. Eight hours shall constitute a day's
work at hard labor, and such hard labor shall be per-
formed between the hours of eight o'clock in the
morning and five o'clock in the evening. No person
sentenced under this act shall be exempt from said
labor except through physical inability properly cer-
tified to the superintendent of the workhouse by the
jail physician. Should any prisoners prove refractory
and stubborn, and refuse to work or perform his or
their work in a proper manner, the superintendent of
the workhouse shall have power to place such pris-
oner or prisoners in solitary confinement, there to be
kept on bread and water until he or they shall submit
to perform his or their tasks and to obey his orders.
Every action of the superintendent under this section
shall be reported immediately to the jail commission-
ers, who shall have power to revise the same.

SECTION 12. The commissioners of the jail and
workhouse shall have power to make rules for the
government of the workhouse and all persons con-
nected therewith, for the cleanliness and health of the
prisoners, and for the employment of convicts ; they
shall have power to order fuel and bedding, to furnish
working tools, materials, and fixtures for the work-
house, and, when directed by the levy court, they may
purchase such stone-breaking machinery as the said
levy court may deem proper and expedient, and to
erect such buildings and walls as may be ordered by
the levy court.

SECTION 13. Should the levy court fail to secure
the quarry aforesaid by purchase, then they shall pro-

APPENDIX. 165

ceed to secure some suitable quarry by applying to the
Court of General Sessions of the Peace and Jail Deliv-
ery of the State of Delaware in and for New Castle
county for the appointment of five suitable persons,
who shall go upon and view the premises selected by
the levy court aforesaid and proceed to condemn the
same under the law and in the manner provided for
the condemnation of land for road or county purposes
in Chapter 60, Revised Code of the State of Delaware.

SECTION 14. The stone shall be broken so that it sto,ne> how

broken.

can be used for road macadam. The stone so broken
shall be divided among the several hundreds of New
Castle county making demand therefor and upon pay-
ment by such hundreds of the costs of transportation.

The division shall be made in the following manner, How divided
that is to say : should the supply exceed the demands hSreds?
of the several hundreds, the said hundreds shall be
entitled to receive any quantity that may be ordered
by the road commissioners thereof, or the street and
sewer department of the City of Wilmington, and the
transportation paid therefor, and if in the judgment
of the commissioners of the jail and workhouse the
supply of stone is much in excess of the demand, they General pro-

r J J visions in rela-

may, after sufficient advertisement, sell the same or a tion to distri-
part thereof at public sale, and turn over the proceeds broken stone.
therefrom to the receiver of taxes and county treasurer
of New Castle county. Should the demand for stone
from the several hundreds be greater than the supply,
the stone shall then be equally divided between the
several hundreds, car load at a time, until the orders
of the several hundreds are filled and the [supply] of
stone exhausted. The superintendent of the work-
house shall superintend and manage the breaking of
stone, the loading of cars, and the filling of orders of
the several hundreds, or purchasers at public sale ;
and he shall receive all payment therefor, and settle
with the county treasurer on the first Monday of
every month; such settlements shall be audited by
the comptroller of accounts of New Castle county.

166 APPENDIX.

How stone SECTION 15. The road commissioners of any hun-

pHed to streets dred m -^ew Castle county, or street and sewer depart-
men* °f the City of Wilmington, making demands for

mington and stone and receiving the same, shall select one certain
sioners of the road in their hundred to improve, and they shall com-
dred^1111111 plete the improvements thereon before stone is put
upon any other road. The road shall be graded,
macadamized, piked, or otherwise improved by means
of stone, for a width of at least twelve feet, whenever
such improvement may be required to keep the same
constantly in good condition. The improvement of
the roads by means of stone, as aforesaid, shall be, as
far as practicable, continuous along the entire length
of the road.

(2) PROPOSED LAW IN IOWA.

(From The Clinton Age.)

Senator Green has a new plan for bettering the roads of the State
which is proposed in a bill introduced by him. He proposes
that rock for macadamizing the roads and streets of the State
shall be furnished from the State quarry at Anamosa. The stone
is to be quarried by the convicts, broken into proper size and
loaded on cars by them and furnished free of charge to cities
and townships whose council or trustees will pay the freight.
This, according to the senator's idea, will not only furnish material
for the construction of magnificent roads, but will also give ample
employment for the State's convict labor.

Not the least important feature of the senator's bill is the taking
of convict labor out of competition with paid labor. The Age has
often declared it were better that prisoners should be employed
to do a kind of work one day and undo it the next, rather than
to engage in any business which came in competition wTith paid
labor. We believe that Senator Green's plan would wrork admi-
rably, and that the railroads would haul the material at or below
cost. The railroads of Iowa have already shown a disposition
to co-operate with the people in carrying out any practical plan of
permanent road-building. We hope the Green bill will become
a law. We do not know how the prisoners are employed, but
we do know that every labor organization in the State ought
to immediately pass resolutions favoring the Green bill.

LIST OF BOOKS

ON

ROADS AND ROAD-MAKING

FOR SALE BY

D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY.

BURKE (M. 1).). Brick for Street Pavements. 8vo, paper,

illustrated. 1892 $ 50

BYRNE (Austin T.). A Treatise on Highway Construction.
Designed as a Text-book and a Work of Reference for all
who may be engaged in the Location, Construction, or
Maintenance of Roads, Streets, and Pavements. 8vo, cloth.
Second revised and enlarged edition. 1893 5 00

CHASE (C. P.). Brick Pavement. The Inauguration and

Execution of the Work. 12mo, paper, illustrated. 1891 . 1 00

CODRINGTON (Thos.). The Maintenance of Macadamized
Roads. 2d edition, revised and enlarged. 8vo, cloth.
1892 . ., 3 00

GILLESPIE (W. M.). Manual of the Principles and Practice
of Road-Making. 10th edition, with large addenda. Ed-
ited by Cady Staloy. 12mo, cloth. 1871 250

1

BOOKS ON ROADS AND ROAD-MAKING.

GILLMORE (Genl. Q. A.). Practical Treatise on Roads,
Streets, and Pavements. 70 illustrations. 12mo, cloth.
Eighth edition. 1892 $2 00

HAUPT (Prof. L. M.). A Move for Better Roads. Essays
on Road-Making and Maintenance, and Road Laws. 8vo,
cloth. 1891 2 00

HERSCHEL (C.) and NORTH (E. P.). The Science of Road-
Making, by C. Herschel. Construction and Maintenance of
Roads, by E. P. North. 8vo, cloth. 1890 50

JENKS (J. W.). Road Legislation for the American State.

8vo. paper. 1889 75

LAW (Henry) and CLARK (D. K.). The Construction of
Roads and Streets. Part I. The Art of Constructing Com-
mon Roads. Part II. Recent Practice in the Construction
of Roads and Streets, including Pavements of Stone, Wood,
and Asphalt. Illustrated. 1887 1 80

LOVE (E. S.). Pavements and Roads. Their Construction

and Maintenance. 8vo, cloth. 1890 5 00

MATTHEWSON (L. W.). City Streets. How to build Them

and Why. 12mo, paper. 1890 25

ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE. Prize Es-
says reprinted from "The Engineering Record." 12mo,
cloth, illustrated. 1892 1 00

SINSABAUGH (L. W.). Digest of United States Patents for
Paving and Roofing Compositions to January 1, 1875, and
English Paving Compositions to January 1, 1874. 8vo,
half bound. 1875 10 00

WILKINS (Genl. H. St. Clair). A Treatise on Mountain
Roads, Live Roads, and Bridges, with numerous plates.

8 vo, cloth. 1880 550

2

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