It appears from the returns made to Parliament, that the sum annually raised for the use of the Roads exceeds the neat revenue of the Post Office; yet is this very large sum expended through the hands of persons of the lowest rank in society, under an appearance of control; which equally deceives the public and deludes the expectation of those who conduct the general business of the Roads.
Commissioners can only act with effect, as a deliberative body; and their most beneficial resolutions are rendered valueless, through want of a steady executive power. Any attempt on the part of individual Commissioners to exercise this power is a still more dangerous course. The designs of the majority may thus be impeded, or thwarted by the subsequent interference of a single person.
All other branches of the public revenue are defended by the station and character of the persons, under whose care they are placed. The Legislature and the Government have wisely considered it important (with a view to economy) to purchase talents, and station, as a protection for every branch of the public expenditure; but in the case of the Roads they have miscalculated the power and effect of the controlling and directing authority. A proper comparison has not been made of the duties, or of the effect of the exertions of a body composed of unpaid and unresponsible individuals, like the road Commissioners, and those of bodies composed of Boards of Commissioners, in the pay, and responsible to the Government for the due administration of the trust reposed in them: having also proper officers equally responsible as themselves to act under their directions. The state of the public roads, the alarming amount of an increasing debt, the loose and neglected state of the accounts of the several Trusts, are the best proofs of the defects of the system, and of its comparative inefficiency.
The returns made to Parliament by the several Trusts in the kingdom (defective as they are) afford matter for serious reflection. England alone, is divided into 955 little Trusts which may be considered, in fact, as hostile to each other; while it is evident that unity of action is of vital importance among Commissioners of the same branch of the public service, for effecting the great object of their appointment. While therefore each of those small communities is liable to be biassed by individual interest or feeling, it will hardly be deemed inexpedient to recommend some central control over the District Commissioners, that may have the effect of regulating the eccentricity of their measures, as well as giving their views, in many instances, a better direction. This central control will be most beneficially established in each county, under such regulations, and with such powers as the wisdom of Parliament may deem most effectual.
A General Road Act must, in order to adapt itself to the exigences of the times, embrace a comprehensive view of the subject: and effectually remedy all the great evils which have originated in the weakness of the system, and have been allowed to grow up, through a want of attention to the altered state of the commerce, agriculture, manufactures, and general interests of the kingdom. Until the Legislature shall be pleased to enter into a serious consideration of the subject, no general and useful amendment can take place. The great debt, (exceeding at this moment Seven Millions,) will continue to increase, and improvement will still be impeded by obstacles not removeable by any other power except the authority of Parliament.
PREFACE
TO THE
SEVENTH EDITION.
In preparing another edition of the various papers on roads, which I have published during the last six years, it may be useful to take a slight review of the subject, and of the gradual progress of road improvement throughout the country.
That any further information should be called for, after the numerous additions made to the original pamphlet, (particularly the last communication to the Board of Agriculture,) is a convincing proof of the impossibility of conveying adequate instructions for practical purposes, by means of the press. It is, however, of the utmost importance that the theory be fully understood, as from want of comprehending the original nature of the system have arisen the many fruitless attempts at imitation, which have cost such vast sums to the public.
The practical utility of some parts of the system is so obvious, that they have been acted upon in various places, without any desire of further improvement. It is uncommon now, to meet with roads repaired with large stones, or of the dangerous convex form, which was the universal custom about five years ago; but these improvements being merely grafted on the old erroneous method, have never been attended with the rapid diminution of expense, and the durable advantages which immediately result from the adoption of the entire system as recommended by me.
Those who continue to use any part of the old method of road-making, are not, perhaps, aware of the principles upon which they are acting. I have formerly remarked, that the old roads of the country were generally carried along the tops of hills in search of dry or strong ground; and it is plain that the first turnpike roads were merely attempts to open more direct communications through the country, in continuing, by mechanical means, the rocky paths, to which travellers were obliged to resort. With this view, large masses of stone were first sunk into the ground, and afterwards thick layers of broken stone strewed over them, so as, in fact, to form an artificial rock. The insecurity of this unskilful structure must be obvious. The rain penetrating through every part of the surface kept it continually in a loose state, and as it was imbedded below the ground water, it was constantly broken up in winter by the frost. Hence the vast sums required for the forming new roads, and the heavy and incessant expense of keeping them in a passable state. Any improvements that have been made on this plan, merely relate to the smoothness of the surface, by more carefully laying on the stones, at, consequently, a greater expense: but the original principle remains the same in every road, except those where the new system has been fully adopted. Under such disadvantages, it is not surprizing that the roads of the kingdom have not kept pace with the advancement of every other useful art. The large sums demanded for the first outlay, and the frequent failure of such speculations from the badness of the roads, and the expense of their subsequent repairs, sufficiently account for the tardy progress of road-making. From conviction of the very insufficient and expensive nature of the method in use, I was led to consider of the possibility of constructing lines of communication, capable of conveying the heaviest weights over every kind of soil, and at all seasons, upon principles purely scientific: a plan, which even in theory differs as widely from the inartificial methods of road-making hitherto practised, as the principle by which an arch is thrown over a river, differs from the heap of stones which constitutes the ford.