Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1894-02-08

against and successfully overcamc-tnXa-
ton without representation.
Now there is a very simple remedy for all
this, and one 70 which it seems to us very
few. upon considering the same, can object.
Let the tax of five per cent, catted the state
road tax, I've levied on the tax list as 1T is
under the law at present; but let it be turn
ed into the county treasury by the towns of
the respective counties instead of the State
| treasury Then let it lie distributed among
the towns of the respective counties accord
ing to the road mileage, as it is distributed
at the present time The effect of this will
be to enable each county to maintain its
own roads 1t is true that the larger towns
will experience little if any relief from tlte
excessive amounts which arc drawn from
their treasures to keep up remote highways
in various parts of the State which their
people never use, but the money thus drawn
from them will be expended in their own
counties and they will indirectly derive
benefit from the expenditure through the
travel which always flows from the small
towns to the larger and vice versa.
| The smaller towns in those counties which
contain cities or large villages would be just
as well Off, if not better. than they are at
present but those counties which have no
large places within their borders and which
| have been drawing a large amount of road
funds from other counties would he the
| loser to the gain of the towns i'll other
counties. since the aggregate tax raised
would bc the Same as under the present law.
| On the whole however. this arrangement
would prove to work more smoothly than
the present and there would be no feeling Of
| injustice like that which materially inter
fcres with and hampers the present road law.
Another advantage which would result
| from the proposed change would be the OPP
portunity which it would afford for incor
porating in the law provision enabling
each county to secure the service of Il prac-
| teal road builder qualified to instruct the
/ road commissioners in relation to the best
methods of road construction with the ma
terials at hand. The Imperative need of
some supervision of this sort is shown by
the experience of Burlington. This city has
had road commissioners who are recognized
as men of strong business qualifications and
! of ability in other directions yet no small
portion of tho work of covering our street
with crushed stone has been worse than
thrown away simply because the commits
soncrS did not know that the stone used
was too soft for that purpose. As result
a large part of this material has washed
into the lake, and another considerable por-
ton has been shoveled from the cutters and
carted away
l.
siVc than the respective counties care to
make it, and i'll some instances two or more
counties might secure the services of the
same man: but for obvious reasons the ter
ritory in his jurisdiction ought not to be too
| large, Even the sum devoted at present to
temporary repairs of our roads would, if
properly expended, soon give us greatly inn
proved highways of a more permanent ma
ture and we would stop throwing money into
mere dust and mud, as many of our towns,
il not all. are doing at present.
We have devoted no little time to the in
vestigaton of this subject and we are sat
istied that our people can not real
the highest benefit from our pres
ent read law and from the funds
expended under its provisions until the
changes here outlined, or similar ones, are
made. We commend these suggestions tc
the highway commission appointed under the
joint resolution of the Legislature by Gov
Fuller i'll 1892. consisting of MesSrs. George
w. Hooker of Brattlehoro, q. l.. Kinds OF
Highgate, and j. w. Notey of Burlington
who are to print their report by July next
and we hope that these or other change,
may be made which will result in giving
Vermont as good, if not better roads, than
are to be found in any other State in tn,
Union The value of good roads is already
recognized the question of the hour is how
| to secure them