man may deem it necessary, or when ordered by the superintendent or other competent authority, and such hands may be called out in detail, or the whole force at any one time, as may be deemed best, for the care of the public roads.

SECTION 25. In case any person liable to work on roads shall not have been designated and apportioned by the commissioners court, the patrolman of the road nearest to which such person lives shall summon such person to work on such road the same as if such person had been designated and apportioned to such road patrolman.

SECTION 26. It shall be the duty of the patrolman to give three days' notice, by summons in person or in writing, to each person liable to road duty in said section, of the time and place when and where such person is required to appear to work on the road, and the number of days such person will be required to work.

SECTION 27. If the summons be in writing, it may be served by leaving the same at the usual place of abode of the person summoned, with some person residing at such place who is not less than ten years of age, or if no person ten years of age or over can be found at such place of abode, the patrolman may serve the same by posting it on the door of such place of abode.

SECTION 28. The patrolman shall have the power to appoint someone to summon the hands to work on the road, and such person shall be exempt from working on the roads as many days as he was actually engaged in summoning the hands.

SECTION 29. It shall be the duty of the patrolman, within ten days after he has had his road worked by those subject to road duty, to file with the county attorney of his county, or the justice of the peace of his section, a complaint in writing and under oath against each person subject to road duty who has been summoned to work and who has failed to work and who has failed to furnish a substitute, and also against each person so summoned who has refused to do a reasonable amount of work on the road or who has refused to perform the reasonable directions of the patrolman.

SECTION 30. When to the patrolman it may appear expedient to make causeways and build small bridges, or to gravel any public road, the timber, gravel, earth, stone or other necessary material most convenient therefor may be used, but in such case the owner of such timber or gravel, earth, stone or other necessary material shall be paid out of the county treasury a fair compensation for the same, to be determined by the commsisioners court upon the application of such owner.

SECTION 31. The earth necessary to construct a causeway shall be taken from both sides, so as to make a drain on each side of such causeway. Whenever it is necessary to drain the water from any public road, the patrolman shall cut a ditch for that purpose, having due regard to the natural water flow, and with as little injury as possible to the adjacent land owner; provided, that in such cases the commissioners court shall cause the damage to such premises to be assessed and paid out of the general revenues of the county, and in case of a disagreement be

tween the commissioners court and such owner the same may be settled by suit as in other cases.

SECTION 32. When it may be necessary to use a wagon for any purpose in working a road, or a plow or scraper, the patrolman of such road is authorized to exchange the labor of any hand or hands bound to work on such road, for the use of a wagon or wagons, plows or scrapers, and the necessary teams to operate the same at reasonable rates to be employed as aforesaid.

SECTION 33. It shall be the duty of all road patrolmen to measure such parts of roads as are in their respective sections and set up posts of good, lasting timber or stone at the end of each mile leading from the courthouse or some other noted place, and to make on said posts in legible and enduring figures the distance in miles to said courthouse or other noted place, which may be shown upon a board securely fastened to said post.

SECTION 34. In order to secure uniformity and procure same at a minimum cost, the road superintendent of the county shall prescribe the form and character of the board to be used and supply each patrolman with the number of boards needed in his respective section, and in addition to the mile board placed at regular intervals along the roads there shall be placed. at every cross roads or forks a proper index or sign naming each particular road, and when the said road is a State highway along which is used some particular sign or emblem to designate the course thereof, then the said superintendent shall also see that these same signs are continued throughout the county along said highway. The funds to provide such mile boards shall be appropriated by the commissioners court from the moneys paid into the hands of the tax collector by different persons of the county in paying for exemptions from road service as hereinabove provided, and it is here made the duty of the tax collector to pay over to the county treasurer all moneys collected from this source, and the same shall be applied to the road and bridge fund of the particular county.

SECTION 35. The patrolman is, with the consent and approval of the county road superintendent, authorized to exchange the labor of any hand or hands bound to work on his roads for making of mile board posts or other labor in connection therewith.

one of

SECTION 36. The commissioners court in counties having less than fifteen thousand population, and in counties having a road and bridge fund of less than $12,000, may designate the county judge, or their number, as ex-officio road superintendent and pay him an additional salary by reason of such position, which salary shall not exceed $800 nor be less than $500 per annum.

SECTION 37. If any person liable to work upon the public roads, after being legally summoned, shall fail or refuse to attend, either in person or by an able and competent substitute, or fail or refuse to furnish his team or tools at the time and place designated by the person summoning him, or, having attended, shall fail or refuse to perform good service or any other duty required of him by law, or the person under whom

he may work, or if anyone shall fail to comply with any duty required of him, as provided by this law, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, fined in any sum not exceeding $25.

SECTION 38. The provisions of this chapter requiring personal service upon the public roads shall not apply to persons residing in an incorporated city or town, which has by proper ordinance adopted a method of street work within the limits of such city or town, unless the city government shall by appropriate ordinance adopt the provisions of this act, in which event all the provisions hereof may be enforced and made effective within such town or city, and any and all persons shall be subject to street duty when called upon for such by the street commissioner or other person in charge of the roads or streets of said town or city. And provided further, provisions of this act may not apply to counties containing any city of more than one hundred thousand (100,000) inhabitants according to the census of 1920, which county may be operating under a special road law. Provided further, that where in any county a local road district has been heretofore created and has funds on hand for road building, then its expenditure is not affected by this act, but same may be expended as under existing law and where such local road districts have voted a maintenance tax or otherwise raised a road maintenance fund, such fund must be expended in the district for which it was voted or originally designed, and any local board charged with the disbursement of such fund is hereby continued with all the powers as originally designed and constituted under, the law by which it was created. Such share of the county road maintenance fund as may be allotted to the sections within the special road districts shall be handled through the superintendent and patrolman just as in other portions of the county, and the local board of commissioners, or governing body for such local district may, if they so elect, have use of the patrolman for the particular road district as so to unify the maintenance work.

SECTION 39. The provisions of this chapter are designated to embody all of the statutes on the subject of road maintenance, and all laws and parts of laws in conflict herewith, whether special or general, are hereby repealed. (See Appendix.)

SECTION 40. The fact that there is now no adequate method of caring for and maintaining the public roads of the State, and the fact that vast sums of money are being spent in building and improving roads that are calculated to rapidly deteriorate if not systematically cared for and maintained, creates a public emergency requiring that the constitutional rule providing that bills shall be read on three several days in each house shall be suspended, and said rule is so suspended, and this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.

MAINTENANCE FUNDS.

As stated in the introductory, the "hit and miss" plan of maintenence in general use in the State is due in part to insufficient funds for carrying out the work on a systematic plan. The present sources of maintenance funds in a county are as follows:

(a) The commissioners court may levy a tax not to exceed 15 cents on the $100 property valuation for general road and bridge purposes.

(b) By special vote of the people an additional tax not exceeding 15 cents on the $100 property valuation may be assessed for road maintenance.

(c)

One-half of the gross receipts from the registration of motor vehicles.

The first two sources, (a) and (b), are fixed by the Constitution, and, therefore, cannot be changed except by an amendment thereto. These funds are designated as a road and bridge fund and the administration of same is solely under the jurisdiction of the commissioners court.

The auto tax fund (c) is expended by or under the direction of the commissioners court of the several counties upon plans approved by the State Highway Department. The State Highway Department has established the policy of requiring that this fund be expended first in the maintenance of the designated State highways. If after these have been adequately maintained there is a balance remaining in this fund, this balance may be used for maintenance purposes on other improved roads. One of the requirements of the Department in connection with approving the maintenance plans for the expenditure of the auto tax fund is the preparation of a budget showing the amount of funds available and the manner in which it is to be spent. This fact should not be overlooked by the commissioners court and the county road superintendent in the preparation of their maintenance budget as required under the Davidson-Perkins Patrol Act.

In those counties where State or Federal aid has been secured in carrying out their highway construction, attention is further directed to the agreement entered into by the commissioners court with the State or Federal government in making their application for aid. This agreement reads as follows:

"That the commissioners court of...

. County does

guarantee and pledge the good faith of the county that the aforesaid road in.. County shall, during and after improvement be adequately maintained to the satisfaction of the State Highway Department, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the commissioners court does hereby set aside for the purpose of maintaining said road the amounts received, either wholly or in part, as may be necessary from the road and bridge tax, from the county's share of the motor vehicle license fees, and from such special tax as is authorized by law, to an amount equal to $. .per mile per annum or a total of $..... .per annum for the aforesaid improved road, and such funds shall be used only for repairs and maintenance of the improved.. ..miles of said road in...

. County."

There is also a provision in the Federal Road Act covering maintenance work on the designated State highways where Federal aid has been given. This provision reads as follows:

"If at any time the Secretary of Agriculture shall find that any road in any State constructed under the provisions of this act is not being properly maintained he shall give notice of such fact to the Highway Department of such State and if within four months from receipt of said notice said road has not been put in a proper condition of maintenance, the Secretary of Agriculture shall thereafter refuse to approve any project for road construction in said State, or the civil subdivisions thereof, as the fact may be, whose duty it is to maintain said road, until it has been put in a condition of proper maintenance.

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ROAD MAIN-
TENANCE.

The most important or primary object to be attained in road maintenance is a smooth wearing surface which adds greatly to the comfort and pleasure of the traveler and at the same time reduces the maintenance expense. This can be done by keeping the road well drained and dragged and patching the surface at the proper time with materials of the same character as used in the original construction.

DRAINAGE.

The importance of adequate drainage cannot be too greatly emphasized. Unless the subgrade is properly drained, the wear