THE "STATE-AID" LAW OF 1891.

The success of the efforts under the above-mentioned acts hastened the passage of the act granting State aid to the building of permanently improved roads. This latest enactment, which is a new depar ture in the United States and is original in New Jersey, is the law of 1891, made operative in 1892, under which the State, under certain prescribed conditions, aids the county and the property holders along the line of road to be improved. Hence, this law is commonly known as the "State-aid" law. Under its provisions more than 50 miles of stone roads have already been constructed, and more applications are in for the current year than the total appropriation can meet. Although the fear was expressed, and honestly entertained, that stone roads would be more expensive than profitable to the taxpayers, espe cially farmers, the fear has not been realized where most of such roads have been built. No one living along such roads is willing to go back to the old system.

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE STATE AID LAW.

The essential points of this law are set out in the title. The preamble and the seventh and fourth sections of this are as follows:

AN ACT to provide for the more permanent improvement of the public roads of this State. Whereas public roads in this State have heretofore been built and maintained solely at the expense of the respective townships in which they are located; and Whereas such roads are for the convenience of the citizens of the counties in which they are located, and of the entire State as well as of said townships; and

Whereas the expense of constructing permanently improved roads may be reasonably imposed in due proportions, upon the State and upon the counties in which they are located: Therefore, etc.

7. And be it enacted, That whenever there shall be presented to the board of chosen freeholders of any county a petition signed by the owners of at least two-thirds of the lands and real estate fronting or bordering on any public road or section of road in such county, not being less than one mile in length, praying the board to cause such road or section to be improved under this act, and setting forth that they are willing that the peculiar benefits conferred on the lands fronting or bordering on said road or section shall be assessed thereon, in proportion to the benefits conferred, to an amount not exceeding ten per centum of the entire cost of the improvement, it shall be the duty of the board to cause such improvements to be made: Provided, That the estimated cost of all improvements made under this act in any county in any one year shall not exceed one-half of one per centum of the ratables of such county for the last preceding year. It shall not be necessary for the board in such case to declare by resolution their intention to cause such improvement to be made, but they shall first cause all necessary surveys of such road or section to be made, and specifications for a macadam, telford, or other equally good stone road to be prepared, and shall then proceed in the same manner as is hereinbefore required in cases where such intention has been declared. If the specifications shall not be approved by the board, or by the president of the State board of agriculture, or if all the bids for the work shall be rejected, it shall be the duty of the board to cause other specifications to be prepared, or readvertisements for bids to be made, as often as may be necessary, and until a contract shall be awarded, to the end that the

improvement prayed for may be completed with reasonable speed: Provided, however, That no readvertisement need be made where the lowest bid submitted shows that the improvement prayed for can not be made within the limit of expenditure hereinafter mentioned. In every case where a contract shall be awarded after the presen tation of such petition as aforesaid, the board of chosen freeholders, instead of certifying to the county board of assessors two-thirds of the estimated cost of the work, as prescribed by the fifth section of this act, shall certify two-thirds of said estimated cost, less one-tenth of said estimated cost, which sum the county board of assessors shall include in their assessment of county taxes.

4. And be it enacted, That one-third of the cost of all roads constructed in this State under this act shall be paid for out of the State treasury: Provided, That the amount so paid shall not in any one year exceed the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars. If one-third of such cost shall exceed said sum, the said seventy-five thousand dollars shall be apportioned by the governor and the State commissioner of agriculture amongst the counties of the State in proportion to the cost of roads constructed therein for such year, as shown by the statements of costs filed in the office of the State commissioner of agriculture. The governor and said commissioner shall, between December fifteenth and thirty-first in each year, certify to the State comptroller the amount to be paid to each county for such year, and the State comptroller shall thereupon draw his warrants in favor of the respective county.

WHERE THE COST RESTS UNDER THE STATE AID LAW.

It will be observed that under this act the property owners pay onetenth and the State one-third of the costs. These payments are virtu ally a free gift to the county, which pays the remainder and thereafter must keep the road in repair, thus compelling the citizens of cities and towns to bear the same burden that is imposed upon the farmers. It differs from the Union County road law (county bonding law) in this respect-the latter compels the townships where the road is located to pay one-third the cost, and then to be taxed in common besides, thus making a double tax upon all the inhabitants of the township. The State aid law relieves them from this and imposes an assessment only on those whose property is benefited, without relieving them from local or county taxation; or, in other words, they are taxed in all respects the same as other citizens of the township are taxed, the extra assessment being a free will offering for the benefits received.

THE FIRST ROADS BUILT UNDER THE NEW LAW.

The passage of this law created a demand by the friends of the road movement for its enforcement, and an equally determined opposition, which resulted in an appeal to the courts, and the mandatory features were sustained. During this opposition elsewhere the county of Middlesex, seeing an opportunity to get several roads built immediately, borrowed $50,000 or $60,000 for road purposes for their share of the expense, and extended the proposed roads to be improved 5 miles more or thereabouts, making about 10 miles to be improved under the new law, and the State paid them on the 27th of December, 1892, $20,661.85, being the first money paid by the State of New Jersey for improved

roadways. (It is also the first money ever paid in the United States under a law granting State aid for the construction of public roads.)

Since that time there has been an increasing desire for roads to be improved under this act, and a much larger sum will be required annually to meet the demands.

AMENDMENTS TO THE STATE AID LAW.

During the past session of the legislature several attempts were made to amend the law, and many suggestions to modify or amend some prominent feature were presented, yet the law remains practically unchanged. The only alterations of any importance are as follows: A reduction in the pay of the supervisors of construction, from $5 to $3 per day; a change giving the petitioners a voice in their appointment; a change removing the labors of enforcing the law from the president of the State board of agriculture and placing it upon the State commissioner of public roads, an officer rendered necessary in consequence of the rapidly increasing demand for the aid of the State in improving its highways, and the limited appropriation rendering it imperative for the State's representative to be familiar with the location and general character of the road seeking advantages under the law. THE EXTENT OF THE COUNTY DEMANDS UNDER THE LAW.

The provisions of the law as it stands, and the manner in which it has been enforced, have proved satisfactory to the people of the localities where the improvements are located, and to others who have witnessed the practical benefits arising therefrom. The rapidity with which this sentiment has increased is apparent in the demands from more than half the counties in the State, from which specifications now on file represent enough miles of roads seeking recognition under the law to absorb the present annual State allowance for two years in advance of the present. The demand still continues, and will continue as it becomes practically demonstrated that all parts of the State are accessible to the operations of the law.

SAVING EFFECTED BY GOOD ROADS.

That farmers should be relieved of a portion of the burden of maintaining the public roads is a reasonable demand, and is heartily concurred in by the best citizens of our cities and towns.

The depression in the price of farm products and farm lands necessitates a lessening of the cost of production, and the saving in time and labor in drawing a load to or from market is an important item. To illustrate this more fully, my own experience and that of other farmers, from whose correspondence the following assertions are extracted, should be conclusive:

Prior to 1893 I lived within 2 miles of a stone road leading to Camden. My tenant hauled manure from Philadelphia during the fall and winter, going down with

two horses and bringing out a load with them. When he got within 2 miles of home he had to double up his teams in order to bring the two-horse load the balance of the distance to my farm. It took him longer and was more fatiguing to the team to come those 2 miles than to come the entire 10 miles from Philadelphia to Merchantville, and he was frequently obliged to throw part of the load off to get home with the four horses. It is this waste of time which makes it important to farmers that we should have improved highways I know it is necessary to educate the people up to this idea of stone roads, and that it requires a great deal of education in some cases.

Before the building of the turnpikes 25 baskets of potatoes were considered a load from the farm I now occupy to market. After the turnpike was built 50 to 60 baskets were considered no more of a load than the 25 a few years previous. And now since the stone road has been built our load is 85 or 100 baskets; and during the past winter our team has carted over 150 loads of manure from Philadelphia, several of which I weighed and found to amount to 6,869, 7,300, and 7,920 pounds clear of the wagon, which weighed alone 2,300 pounds-a combined weight of about 4 tons. Many of these loads were drawn from the city to the point of leaving the stone road with only two horses, and the result has been the saving of over $100 in my manure bill for the year.

OPINIONS OF FARMERS REGARDING ROAD IMPROVEMENTS.

On May 5, 1894, a circular letter was sent to various prominent farmers, inviting them to express their opinions regarding the permanent improvement of public roads. Some of the expressions elicited by that letter are given in the extracts which follow:

From H. Darnell, Mount Laurel, N. J.:

In reply to your letter asking the views or opinions of farmers as to the efforts now being made regarding the permanent improvement of public roads, I would say that since having some of them so improved among us it is the universal opinion among farmers that they are of more benefit to the agricultural community than anything that has ever been done for them, and that they will derive more benefit therefrom, considering amount of cost, than from anything that has been heretofore accomplished.

From Samuel L. Allen, Philadelphia, Pa.:

The assistance of the State in building permanent stone roads in the vicinity of my farm and home, in Cinnaminson Township, Burlington County, N. J., has been very beneficial and thoroughly appreciated by myself and many other farmers. At first the farmers of the neighborhood were largely opposed to the movement, but within the past year they have become almost unanimous in favor of the extension of the system. I am hoping that the State appropriation may be largely increased. From H. H. Brown, Old Bridge, N. J.:

We have 4 miles of macadam road through our township. Property has almost doubled in value and travel has more than doubled. Farmers carting over our road speak in the highest terms of it. It is a rest for their horses to cart over it. Our citizens are greatly in favor of having it extended, and I think the present law is working very nicely all over our county, and I would be very sorry to see it changed. From Clayton Conrow, Cinnaminson, N. J.:

While I believe that good roads are of great benefit to all the mercantile, manufacturing, and agricultural industries of our State, they have enabled the farming class of our citizens especially to conduct their business at a profit by reducing the cost of fertilizers brought on to the farm and the expenses of conveying products to

the market. In fact, this apparently small item of expense, daily saved, constitutes the difference between success and failure. Good roads enable the farmer to place his products on the market when at the highest point; bad roads often forbid this. Good roads enable him to deliver perishable vegetables and tender fruit in so much better condition that they invite the better class of customers and command a higher price. Thus, every consideration of the subject, if carried to its legitimate conclusion, is in favor of good roads. We can't afford bad roads. Their effect is enervating, while that of good roads is inspiring.

From Dennis Long, Union, N. J.:

I think the law granting State aid in the building of stone roads is one of the best that can be put on our statute books, and that the sooner our public roads are all in the hands of the freeholders of the different counties, with some competent men to supervise and construct the same in a permanent way, with stone for a solid foundation, well pounded and wedged, and with broken stone on top, solidly rolled, the better off the people of New Jersey will be.

We have a county road in my own neighborhood of which we are very proud, and near which property has advanced 50 per cent of its value before the road was laid. A case in point is that of a piece of property along this county road, which could have been bought for $20,000 before the road was built, and only a few days ago the owner was offered $30,000 for the same farm, and it is 2 miles away from any railroad station. And there are many more cases of the same sort.

From William R. Lippincott, Fellowship, N. J.:

In reference to the farmers' views on building stone roads in our State, it is safe to say that the general impression among farmers is that stone roads improve the country they pass through. Where they have been built one can already see greater energy being manifested among the farmers along their lines. One of the most important things for the farmer is easy access to a market where he can sell his product, and stone roads are to agriculture what rivers are to commerce. Again, good roads show the most direct benefit to the farmer for the taxes he pays, and in many instances save him in toll a heavy interest on their cost. Almost every intelligent farmer views stone roads as forerunners of other improvements that must follow, such as the electric railways, free mail delivery, and an increased demand for country residences, and the numerous applications presented to the boards of freeholders speak in plain language the farmers' views on road improvement in New Jersey. I hope the governor will not approve any bill that tends to stop this great onward movement for good roads.

From John M. Lippincott, Moorestown, N. J.:

My opinion is desired in regard to the operation of the New Jersey State road law. In the first place, I believe it to be the right principle for the State to assist in permanently improving our leading roads.

So far as my present knowledge goes, after having a half mile built under its provision directly through the center of my farm, I believe the present law with a few slight alterations to be a success, if carried out strictly in the spirit intended, independently of politics.

From Stockton Hough, Trenton, N. J.:

In answer to your inquiry concerning the benefits derived under the law granting State aid in building stone roads, I would say, from my experience, as the first promoter of these roads built in Mercer County, N. J., that in the beginning I met with opposition at every step, and now that the road is near completion, all opposition has been silenced, and all are anxious to extend the system wherever possible. This sentiment is growing daily with the experience of those who use these roads, many of whom never had any opportunity to know what a good road is. Travel has already doubled over our road, and property has greatly increased in value. Building sites