Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1903-03-13
THE HIGHWAYS.
Their Business Management. Plea For
Better Town Administration of Road
Affairs.

/
These head lines seem to indicate that
road matters are going wrong. Not en-
tirely this Fair progress has been made
in road improvement throughout the
state, but for the expenditure made we
might do better.
During the ten years of state aid to
towns for highway improvement, there
has been expended of state money the
sum of $3.50, $40, and in addition to this
the twenty per cent. tax that towns are
required to raise for road maintenance,
which in the same period of time has
amounted to at least SO, 543 $50, making
a total expenditure in the last ten years
of S4,41s, 200, which is 5000 for every
mile of road in the state, an average per
year of about $50 per mile. Considering
that this includes all streets, roads, back
country lanes, and everything that is an
open road, and taking into account the
large mileage of narrow back roads that
are but little used and but little money
expended upon them, this showing is
not satisfactory.
Dissatisfaction appears in some sec
tons, in the number of towns that APP
piled at the last session of the legislat
ure for authority to elect more than one
road commissioner in each of those
towns. The people of those towns are
chatting under existing conditions, but
their relief will he found in improving
town administration instead of creating
more of it, We were interested to note
that these towns have usually elected a
new, inexperienced road commissioner
each year, and have never settled down
to any continuous good road policy; SO
it may reasonably be expected that
simply increasing the number of road
commissioners will aggravate or in
crease the difficulty instead of diminish
ing it.
Analyze the subject to find the cause
and inefliciency unbusinesslike methods
in town management, will be found the
chief cause. The blame cannot all be
placed upon the road commissioner He
town, and the road business is town
business. The management of public
road work should be delegated to none
but capable men. The mistake has fire.
quently been made of selecting men for
road commissioners because they could
accomplish large amount of labor or
boss ii gang of men, but lacking in com
prehension, good RID judgment, and
business abiity-the most essential
qualities.
There is altogether too much work
done upon the roads that amounts to
but little. There is IA great loss from
work being done out of season that
should have been prevented by slight
work done at the right time. Neglect
ing roads that are good. or fairly good,
until they become bad, and expensive
to rebuild, is poor and wasteful manage
ment Towns should not keep COM
missioner in office who neglects the
roads to attend to his personal affairs,
and who works the road when convent
ent for himself. The responsibility for
such conduct rests with the town, for
this is town business.
More economic measures should be
adopted for maintaining roads, and
more of the town money should be
used with the state money for perma-
nent road work. 1t costs much less to
keep good road good than is now used
upon poor roads that are perpetually
poor.
Towns that are succeeding best in
improving their roads are using an in
cIeasing portion of their town fund, in
connection with the state appropriation,
in road building of "A permanent charac
ter. And if towns We're required by law
to provide at least one-third of the
amount that is expended in those towns
under state supervision, it would induce
a better administration, and increase the
mileage of good roads.
We urge consideration of these mat
tiers, and call attention to the county
road meetings which will soon be held.
AT these meetings all these matters are
talked over and freely discussed; efforts
are made to plan out and secure the
adoption of better methods and gene
raj working system. The commission
ers form their plans and get the key
note for the years work, and there
should be wide-a-wake general inter-
est in these meetings and the subjects
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