568 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS [Mar. 3,

owners of lands bordering upon the public roads be required,
by law, to keep the same in good condition and repair.

A moment's reflection would satisfy all wise men that such
a system would be neither unjust or oppressive, and it will
be found in the end, that besides securing good roads for
ourselves and the public, two-thirds at least of the tax-pay-
ers would actually save money in their diminished taxation.
Our roads could be put in good condition and kept in repair
during seasons of leisure, and with comparatively little outlay
of money, and after the first labor of thorough reparation, the
work of keeping them in good condition would involve little
r no expense or labor.

In addition to the saving of our road tax by such a system,
our lands would be enhanced ten-fold more in value, by good
roads, than all the expense and labor which would be neces-
sary to make and keep them in that condition. It can hardly
be said to be an injustice or hardship to require a man to do
that which results in actual benefit to himself and the public.

It will probably be said that such a system would work
great hardship upon large land-holders. A man who owns
so much land that he cannot keep the roads passing through
it in a good condition, may be said to own more land
than he can afford to keep, and if one of the results of
this system of public roads should be the subdivision of
large tracts, it will readily be seen that the public good
as well as individual advantage, would be thereby pro-
moted. Wealth, no less than poverty, has its disadvantages,
and if a man is blessed with a large landed estate, he should
cheerfully accept the correlative obligation of keeping his
highways in good condition.

It would be a very narrow and unworthy objection to this
system to say, that persons would use these roads who had
contributed nothing towards keeping them in repair. How
many thousands of persons use the public thoroughfares of
our cities who pay nothing directly towards paving them,
yet bow few would there be to use them if they were not
paved, and how seriously damaged would be the general
prosperity from such a result? The same is true as regards
the county roads. Every vehicle, every horseman that would
be invited by good roads to pass our doors, would be so many
pledges of prosperity and thrift.

Your petitioner would further recommend that the Com-
missioners of the several counties should specify and declare
what roads were to be considered as "public roads;" that
there should be a (supervisor appointed for each county, whose
duty it should be at stated periods to examine all the public
roads of the county, and whenever he should find any of them
not to be in a condition to gratify the requirements of the
law, he shall proceed, after reasonable notice, to repair the