The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-11-02
HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS WORK

His Experience in Visiting Towns
 Travelling Expenses of the Office.
 "The path of Highway Commissioner James II. Macdonald" says yesterdays Hartford Times, "is not strewn with roses, or if here and there a soft, beau tifully tinted petal Is to be seen, many thorns lie in close proximity to it. When the single-headed commission was created by the law of 1897, and MT. Macdonald was appointed commission CT at salary of $2, ,5OO, with $500 for ex- penses, he expected that there would not be a demand made on his time for travelling. He entertained the hope that he could direct the construction of roads from his office by conferences with selectmen and by correspondence. The towns had two years experience in road-building, with state aid, and there was reason to think that his ex- perience was sufficient to enable them | to continue the work intelligently and economically.
 "But, as @ matter of fact, the towns are leaning more than ever on the high | way commissioner for advice and direc- tion. Perhaps changes in the position of selectmen account for this more than anything else. It is not the only reason, however, for in the case of towns where the personnel of the office has remain ed unchanged the same disposition to rely on the highway commissioner IS noticeable. The result of this want of self-reliance on the part of the towns is that Commissioner Macdonald is compelled to visit towns where roads are in course of construction oftener than the legislature intended he should when the appropriation of $500 was | made for the expenses of his office. MT. Macdonald is spending at the rate of | $75 a month for travelling expenses. He | has appealed to the board of control for an additional appropriation for ex- 1 penSes.
 | Some people are of the opinion that the officials of the town provide for the l creature comforts of the commissioner. l That is mistaken opinion. These | sparsely settled rural towns, where the
 almightiness of the cent, not to speak l of it's rich relative, the dollar, is rec l ognized in every calculation, have no ambition to play the part of the host to
 state official. They are more modest
 in their social aspirations and do not | deprive MT. Macdonald of the privilege | of paying his own board bill. It doesn't matter that the commissioners visit is 1 made on the towns invitation and for the towns benefit. MT. Macdonald was
 in a rural town the other day, When | he had inspected the road with the lo- cal officials. and transacted other busi- | ness, it was dinner hour. A cosy, in- viting hotel was within sight, and one of the officials pointed to it with the re- mark that MT. Macdonald could get a good dinner for very little money in it.. MT. Macdonald, who likes company at | table, invited the selectman to take dinner with him at his (Mr. Macdon- | ald's) expense.
 Much obliged, but I've got to go
 home, as Amanda (his wife) will be
 wondering what keeps me- was the se-
 lectmans reply.
 Tt is impossible not to admire the
 seectman's domesticity while condol-
 ing with the genial commissioner in
 being obliged to dine alone
 'It is to be feared that the officials
 of some towns are wofully ignorant of
 the law or culpably careless in observ-
 ing it's requirements. The law requires
 that the selectmen of each town shall
 certify that the road has been con-
 structed according to contract before the towns share of the state appropria-
 tion shall be paid. On a recent visit
 to six towns MT. Macdonald discovered
 that the state roads In them were be-
 ing constructed without the supervision
 of a local inspector, and that the con-
 tractors had ample opportunity to vio-
 late the contracts and give the towns imperfectly constructed roads. How
 the selectmen of these towns could have
 certified that the roads had been con- structed according to contract is more than the commissioner is able to under.
 stand. In another town the commis-
 sioner found that one selectman was
 the contractor, and his colleague on the
 board of selectmen, inspector!'