Village Squire, 1975-02, Page 12of 16. Private and separate schools were
developed along with the public school
system but/basically the system didn't change
from 1816 to 1950.
This system of free education for all was
not least among the legacies left us by our
pioneer forefathers. Today's consolidated
schools are. lineal descendants of the
one -room local schools and they too are at
least nominally under local control though
now Toronto has a very large say about how
they are run.
Another thing we have inherited is our
system of municipal government. Townships
were the first local governments organized.
The taxpayers elected a reeve and three
councillors. Their job was to do what public
work the settlers needed and raise the
necessary money to pay for it by levying a tax
on property in the township. The township
councils then appointed what officials they
needed to help them get the job done and
these officials were always residents of the
township. A fenceviewer decided disputes
about fences; a poundkeeper kept stray
animals till their owner claFmed them and
paid for any damages. A license inspector
kept an eye on inns, taverns, weight scales,
pedlars and others who served the public. An
assessor valued the land for tax purposes and
a tax collector gathered in the taxes. A
township clerk looked after everybody as well
as looking after township correspondence. A
road superintendent or Pathmaster looked
after the roads.
In the beginning there were no roads to
look after, they had to be built. Each year
some clearing would be done on the
concession and side roads. Each year a few
log bridges would be built and some corduroy
laid in the swamps. (Corduroy was small logs
placed side by side. It formed a sort of raft in
boggy spots and traces of it can still be seen
in many places on our township roads). Here
and there ditches were dug beside the roads
and the dirt from them thrown up on the
road surface.
In time gravel and crushed stone were put
on the roads. It must be remembered that
until quite recently power machinery for road
building . was unknown. Almost all our
concession and side roads were made much
as they are today by work with pick, shovel
and axe assisted by horses and oxen. So if we
find a road twisting a bit to get down hill or
curving around a swamp we can forgive our
forefathers for deviating a bit from a straight
line to save a lot of work..
For many years the work on the roads was
done by the farmers themselves. They got
paid for their work under an arrangement
known as "statute labour". Work on the
roads counted against their taxes but at one
time it was compulsory. There was no choice
really. There were no contractors in the road
building or bridge building business. A time
came when most of the taxpayers decided the
would rather pay more taxes than do statute
labour but by, that time the road system was
useable and our forefathers did it by
themselves. Of course they did it for
themselves as they did everything else. They
needed something so they made it.
Take a Sunday drive through a township
and take a bit of time to think about and
examine the roads - a very real legacy from
those who went before us. A museum in
active use!
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