Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-04-11
RECENT ROAD LEeIsLATIoN.
What the Various States Have Done Flo
 Highway Improvement.

What the Various states Have Done For
 Highway Improvement.
 The states which have recently enacted laws on the subject of road improve ment arc California, Indiana, Massachu- setts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hamp- shire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. There are only three exceptions to the rulo that all this legislation was enacted in 1S93- that of New Jersey, from 1888 to 1899; Vermont, which took action in 1899, and Washington, one of whose laws was en- acted in 1890, and the other two last year.
 One of the most elaborate of these laws is that of Massachusetts establish ing the state highway commission, with its extensive advisory functions as to the construction of good roads and providing for the establishment and construction of state highways, contingent upon leg islative appropriations.
 The laws of New Jersey are models of their kind. They facilitate the construc- tion of both local and county roads and provide that when the owners of two- thirds of the lands fronting on any pub lie road agree to pay one-tcnth of the cost of improvement the county authOri ties shall cause such improvements to be made. State aid was provided for in 1892 by legislation authorizing onc-third of the cost of county road improvements to be paid for from the state treasury tC the extent of $15, ,O00 year. A wise provision of the New Jersey legislation is that requiring all road axes to be paid i'll money, experience everywhere having shown that a leading cause of bad roads was the practice of permitting farmers to work out their road taxes.
 The example of New Jersey in this respect was followed by New York last year, and by Wisconsin also, to the cX- tent of providing that all road taxes shall be paid ill money except ill town ships that specifically vote to retain the labor system Oregon, however, pro vides that petitioners for county roads must each do one days work on the roads or pay $2-a striking way of as surfing earncstncss of intention on the part of petitioners. Nearly all the states ill question provide specifically for road construction under county auspices. New Hampshire, Vermont and Wiscon- sin, however, make the town the basis. New Hampshire abolishcs subdivisions in towns for highway districts and rc- Quires 25 cents ill every $l00 valuation to be spent for road improvement. Yer mont lays town tax of 20 cents ill cv- cry $l00 valuation for support of high ways and state tax of , cents on the dollar, to be apportioncd to the towns according to mileage. Vermont also creates a state highway commission to investigate roadbuilding ill the state.
 Toll roads disappeared from MasNa- chusctts more than q generation ago and are here regarded as belonging to the era of tho stagccoach. They are still common ill many parts of the west, and Nissouris new county option road law provides that county courts may estab fish tollgatcs upon roads that have been suitably improved Oregon $ new coun- ty road law, on the other hand, requires all roads built under its provisions to be free of toll. WashingtOn's new road laws arc remarkably elaborate and de- mand that improved roads shall be con structed i'll a very thorough and Suiistan- tial manner, according to good engineer ing principles. Boston Herald.