Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1862-03-21
THE HIGHWAY DILEMMA.

this town in declining to elect Street Com
missioners and returning to the old Highway
District system is already seen to be
great mistake, and a special Town
Meeting is warned by the Selectmen. The
object of tho meeting is not to reverse the
action Of the March meeting and to elect
Street Commissioners, for that we do not
understand to be possible, as the law is but
to pass vote which will enable the Select
men to administer the business of repairing
and improving the highways of the town for
the present year. We take it to be matter
of course that to do this some, if not all, of
the Highway Surveyors elected at March |
meeting, must resign their Offices, and that |
the selectmea will not appoint Others in their
stead.
Two excellent articles on this subject
have appeared in the Daily Times,
over the signature IS" We give below
the major part OF both these articles. After
briefly alludlng to the fact that the Highway
district system had been out of use in Bur
lington for eleven years, and so forgotten that
two persons were elected at the meeting High
way surveyors of districts in which they lid
not reside, and to the Importance OF a well
conducted system to the pecuniary interests of
the Town as Corporation, as well as to the
personal convenience and safety of each one
OF its citizens the writer describes the features
of the highway district system, and shows
how it must work in this town, as follows
The theory Of that 1.-THE highway Surveyor sys-
TEN is that the tax payer shall pay his in labor
and il is his duty TO do unless he gives special
notice to the surveyor Of his desire TO pay it n
money, in which case he may do SO at q discount
Of quarter Of his tax provided he pays it preyi-
Gus TO the 18th of June. In the first place, how
ever it is the duty Of the surveyor TO give notice
to all persons, whether male or female, liable to
pay taxes i'll his district, either personally, by
written notice left at their residences. Of the
amount Of their taxes, and of the time and place
at which, and the teams, carriages and tools with
which, they required pay their taxes in lab
or. When the tax payer, or his agent, does not
, ! reside IN town, then the Surveyor must post up
his notice in some public place. Three-fourths Of
} the highway tax must be collected and expended
or worked out, between the LIST Of May and the Is;
|
2 once, however, does not commence till the 18th
! day Of May. As the surveyor is bound by the
law, not only TO give the requisite notice, but ALEC
TO superintend the working out Of the tax, it will
be readily that, in the short space OF month
and half, which is all that is allowed him, he car
only discharge his duties when his district is ena
! in territory and contains but few inhabitants
The law therefore requires the seleetmen {,
divide the town into a sufficient humber Of high
way districts to be eoHU0IisHt for repairing high
ways and in towns which have successfully
practiced under the highway surveyor system, tn,
= districts have necessarily been both small an,
numerous Thus in Essex, an exclusively farm
ing town with less than quarter the population
a Of Burlington, II has been found necessary t,
have tfss4 districts. In Burlington where thu
population is 70 a considerable extent 10 Iting,
. have but ticen. The number Of or district
cannot legally be altered until just previous &
II the next annual town meeting, il having beer
"a held by the supreme Court in % Vt. Reports 544
that after the election Of highway surveyor. n
alteration Of the number of districts be male
II % take eject during their term Of Office.
y. t. alter the highway surveyor has given hi
u notice In due form, the persons notified do not in
form him prior 90 the lst Of June Of their elec
% tion to pay in money, and pay the money befor
the 18th Of June, II is their duty to attend at tn
time aad place designated by him with such tool
&c-, as lie require, ami work out their tax unde
his direction. For theiF labor, or that Of a goo
hand furnished by them. they are allowed TEL
ccnts Per hour, and such compensation for the US
of their teams, carriages and tools as the select
men may establish. If the tax payer neglect
IS to attend and work as directed, he then become
liable to pay the whole tax in money without an
deduction and it is made the surveyors duty {
e collect such tax, If necessary, by distraint q
:. property.
The highway districts, embracing the territor
. covered by this village Nos slus4 eighf on,
# tro, and ton but in case are these compose
we'll arU annr. fr.rfH II
n tend from one to two miles beyond the limits o
, the village.
Thus, Independently of the impraeticability q
TIE surveyors Of these district; giving the requis
-s its notices, aud properly experimenting the Wor
Ct the numerous taxpayers in the village portion
Of their precincts in addition 70 attending TO tn
more rural parts Of their districts, it is obyiou
10 that all uniformity Of work on, or control Of tn
streets OF the village will be al an end. Five dii
" ierent supern;endents will thus be in clarge O
inc streets Of our village. Toe great fault ioun
IN me village with the street CommissiOners sys
d TEN has been that three superintendent were to
d many Tor efficiency and energy in the repairs O
u tho highways, and what was; required wa
&c one competent and responsible superintend
II ent Of all our roads Increase the mum
Der 10 hive and the difficulty will certainly not b
l. diminished
Again, the law requires each q these survey
y ors to be at work at the time. and require
that three-quarters Of their work should be done IL
3 month and-a-half. The town now owns toolsanC
: apparatus sufficient % employ only one gang o
&c laborers az time. Under the highway system
esch district must be furnished with tools thu
e entailing upon the town a very onerous expense
This simple statement Of the rcquirem ,nts 0
y the law, and the present division Of our villag
y INFO highway districts, furnishes, it is believe
full demonstration Of the utter inapplicabiiity o
the system to the highways Of the village. If thi
system is suitable in any case it is only among
purely asricul ural community, where the inhab
itants and the roads are few, where almost all tn
: residents can @ nveniently work out the taxes
= Nhere the population l. permanent, and all th
, people Of a district neighbors and scquaintances
But village Of the size Of ours requires a uni
iormity Of work upon its streets, which can onll
be secured by o7s efficient overseer, with gangs o
men permanently in his employ ment and thorou Oh
ly under his control, and not the temporary work
- men OF seli-selected corps, employed simply t.
: Work cut tax, too often regarded by them a
y burdensone and justifying the greatest expen
!, diture Of time and the least accomplishment o
LABOR. Systems Of draining, paving and grading
- embracing the whole village, must be established
> anu carried forward TO completion and permane ucy
: year by year. There must be Cne capable anC
authoritative superintendent of all the highways
not five hampered and haIa,scd surveyors mana
= | ging i've separate districts.
4, Ii Is much to be doubted, whether even the mos
rural portions Il our town are sufficiently SO I,
require the highway district system the on,
!
But even admitting this to be SO, it is to be re
, mcmlcred that only Eve Of our districts contain
country roads exclusively, and each OF these dis
tres Is small, and they do not, altogether, proba
, ply, contain one-tsn;h Of the taxpayers, n any
larger share Of the grand list
!heTe is 70 equity in compelling the large ma
Jcriiy 10 abide by a system so untitled to their
want tor the purpose of accommodating the small
minority. Even II there were no method Of re
concilinG the conflicting interests Of village and
country, IT, indeed, they conflicting it is Just
that, # either IL to yield, it must be the latter
Il resort To the provisions OF an Act passed
Nov. 10, 1850, will, in the opinion of IS
get the Town out Of its present difficulty.
> That act reads as follows.
SO. l. In all such towns as shall hereafter
vote to raise their highway tax in money, said
tax bill shall be put int, the hands Of the
, collector Of the iowa tax, TO he by him col
, lected aud paid into the Town Treasury, under