Page:Remarks on the Present System of Road Making (1823).djvu/90

 the best pledges of ability, attention and economy. If your Committee think it necessary to propose, in one respect, an interference with their appointments, it by no means proceeds from any distrust of their judgment or integrity.

The duties of a head surveyor demand suitable education and talents. These qualifications must be fairly remunerated; and it is evident, that the limited extent of the funds of Turnpike Trusts, in general, do not afford the means of paying to such an officer an adequate salary. The difficulty might in many instances be obviated by voluntary associations, but where the system is wished to be universal, it ought not to be left to so precarious a dependence.

The plan to which your Committee, after full consideration, are disposed to give the preference, is that of empowering the magistrates of every county, assembled in quarter sessions, to appoint one or more surveyors general, who shall have the superintendence and management of the turnpike roads within the county, under the authority and direction of the Commissioners of the different trusts. It is not necessary at present to enter on the detailed regulations by which the executive duties of such. an officer should be prescribed, so as to keep them under the deliberative control of the