They find that by a subsequent law, passed on the 3d day of March, 1803, Congress appropriated three per cent. of the said five per cent. to laying out and making roads within the State of Ohio, leaving two per cent. of the appropriation contained in the first mentioned law unexpended, which now remains for “the laying out, and making roads from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic to the river Ohio, to said State.”
They find that the net proceeds of sales of land in the State of Ohio,
| From 1st July, 1802, to June 30, 1803, both inclusive, were | $124,400 92 |
| From 1st July, 1803, to June 30, 1804 | 176,203 35 |
| From 1st July, 1804, to June 30, 1805 | 266,000 00 |
| From 1st July, 1805, to Sept. 30, 1805 | 66,000 00 |
| ————— | |
| Amounting, in the whole, to | $632,604 27 |
Two per cent. on which sum amounts to $12,652. Twelve thousand six hundred and fifty-two dollars were, therefore, on the 1st day of October last, subject to the uses directed by law, as mentioned in this report; and it will be discerned that the fund is constantly accumulating, and will, probably, by the time regular preparations can be made for its expenditure, amount to eighteen or twenty thousand dollars. The committee have examined, as far as their limited time and the scanty sources of facts within their reach would permit, the various routes which have been contemplated for laying out roads pursuant to the provisions of the act first mentioned in this report.
They find that the distance from Philadelphia to Pittsburg is 314 miles by the usual route, and on a straight line about 270.
From Philadelphia to the nearest point on the river Ohio, contiguous to the State of Ohio, which is probably between Steubenville and the mouth of Grave creek, the distance by the usual route is 360 miles, and on a straight line about 308.
From Baltimore to the river Ohio, between the same points, and by the usual route, is 275 miles, and on a straight line 224.
From this city (Washington) to the same points on the river Ohio, the distance is nearly the same as from Baltimore; probably the difference is not a plurality of miles.
From Richmond, in Virginia, to the nearest point on the river Ohio, the distance by the usual route is 377 miles; but new roads are opening which will shorten the distance fifty or sixty miles; 247 miles of the contemplated road, from Richmond northwesterly, will be as good as the roads usually are in that country, but the remaining seventy or eighty miles are bad, for the present, and probably will remain so for a length of time, as there seems to be no existing inducement for the State of Virginia to incur the expense of making that part of the road passable.
From Baltimore to the Monongahela river, where the route from Baltimore to the Ohio river will intersect it, the distance as usually traveled is 218 miles, and on a straight line about 184. From this point, which is at or near Brownsville, boats can pass down, with great facility, to the State of Ohio, during a number of months in every year.