⁷⁸ The tolls for maintaining a high road cannot be made private property. This is because a neglected high road does not become impassable, but a a neglected canal becomes impassable.

The proprietors of the tolls for a high road might neglect road repairs yet continue to levy the same tolls. Therefore, their tolls should be managed by commissioners or trustees.

⁷⁹ In Great Britain, the abuses of the trustees in managing those tolls were very justly complained of in many cases.

At many turnpikes, the money levied is more than double of what is needed to build them. The work is often executed very slovenly and sometimes not executed at all.

The system of repairing the high roads by tolls of this kind is quite new. It has not yet been perfected.

This institution is new. This is why it has the following defects:

• mean and improper persons are frequently appointed as trustees
• proper courts of inspection have not yet been established for:
  • controlling the trustees’ conduct,
  • reducing the tolls to what is barely sufficient for the work required.

In due time, most of these defects may be remedied by the parliament’s wisdom.

⁸⁰ The money levied at turnpikes in Great Britain so much exceeds what is needed to repair the roads.

Some ministers considered its revenue as a very great resource which could be used for state exigencies.

⁸¹ A big revenue might be gained, but probably not as near as proponents have supposed. The plan itself is liable to very important objections:

1. ⁸² If the turnpike toll revenue were used for state exigencies, the tolls would be increased as those exigencies required. According to British policy, they would probably be increased very fast.

This great revenue would encourage the government to very frequently recur to this resource.

This would cause the turnpike tolls to continually increase.

• They would soon reduce the country’s inland commerce, increasing the prices of heavy goods.
• The market for such goods would become smaller
• Their production would be discouraged, destroying domestic industry.

2. ⁸³ A tax on carriages spent used for state exigencies will become very unequal

• A tax for road repair requires each carriage to pay exactly for the wear and tear that that carriage causes.
• A tax for the state exigencies requires each carriage to pay for the state exigency on top of that wear and tear.

The turnpike toll raises the price of goods according to their weight and not their value. It is chiefly paid by the rich consumers of bulky goods and not by the poor consumers of light commodities.

Therefore, a tax for state exigencies would be chiefly supplied by the poor, not the rich.

3. ⁸⁴ If the government neglected road maintenance, it would be more difficult to compel it to use the turnpike tolls for repair.

A large tax might thus be levied on the people without it being used for road repair.

• Mean and poor would likely not repair their wrong.
• The wealth and greatness of the trustees of turnpike roads would make them 10 times more stubborn.