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HISTORY OF ENGINEERING.
Book I.
guidance of the authorities with respect to the convenience, safety, and cleanliness of thetowns.
The corporation of the city of London appoint their own commissioners, and Westmin-ster and the other parishes within the bills of mortality are under the jurisdiction of localcommissioners or their vestries.
All inhabited houses and shops are rated according to the value at which they areassessed for the poor-rate to provide funds for the purposes of paving, &c.; and publicbuildings pay a shilling per square yard over half the public way in front or belonging tothem.
The commissioners of paving regulate the duties of the scavengers and dustmen, levy tinesfor the deposit of rubbish of any kind, either on the footways or streets, and are empoweredto cleanse the public thoroughfares, to contract for the watering of the streets, and provideall that is requisite for the purpose ; for which the inhabitants deriving the advantage paya tax not exceeding one-fortieth part of the rental. When new streets are formed, or oldones improved, the commissioners may purchase the ground necessary, or call a jury (stat.3 Geo. 1. c. 25.) for fixing the value.
Parish Roads .— All that was excellent in the old statutes, or authorized by custom forthe regulations of parochial roads, was embodied in an act passed in 1773 (15 Geo. 3. c.78.), under which a surveyor is annually chosen, whose duty it is to maintain the roads ofhis parish in good order. The act states that on the 2d of September every year, or theMonday following if it should fall on a Sunday, a meeting for the nomination of ten candi-dates for the situation of surveyor shall take place ; they must possess property or incometo the annual amount of 100/., or be occupiers of land or houses of the yearly value of 30/.Three days after the meeting the constable presents the list to a justice of the peace, and it issubsequently laid before a Special Quarter Sessions held the first week in October. Thejustices then appoint one or more surveyors of roads for each parish ; should the candidatesappear to them incompetent, they have the privilege of electing a respectable house or lease-holder who may not be included in the original list.
A surveyor so chosen manages all the executive part as well as the expenditure, for whichhe is personally responsible, and his office is somewhat similar to the sdile of ancientRome , his only reward being the exact performance of his duty ; but a professional sur-veyor may be appointed with a salary if the parish, or more than two-thirds of thosequalified to vote, agree. Surveyors chosen from among the parishioners often exhibit greatzeal, and some knowledge of their subject; but the professional man, who devotes his life tothe practice of such works, must be better qualified for the task, and his attention willnecessarily be more concentrated upon it, and were such offices filled by persons selected fortheir knowledge as civil engineers, there can be little doubt that, with perfect integrity, thehighways in each parish would be maintained at a cheaper rate and in better order. Themagistrates of each county might have the power to nominate an engineer-in-chief, or anofficer from whom some general instructions should proceed.
Laws relative to Public Roads -By the act 13 Geo. 3. c. 78. s. 63., it is deemed
unlawful to dig a ditch, plant a hedge, trees, or shrubs, or fix a paling within at least 15feet from the centre of the road. The ditches and drains on each side are to be maintainedand kept in repair by the owners of the adjoining ground. They must also make thebridges or lay the pipes where the communications take place with their property. Thesurveyors may procure gravel, sand, chalk, or stone from the commons, and from everyriver or stream throughout the parish, but he is restricted from injuring any private orpublic buildings.
Turnpike Roads were established after the return of Charles II. , and acts were passed inthe second year of his reign for widening and repairing some of the public roads : the firstrelates to that from London to Scotland , which passed through Hertford, Cambridge, andHuntingdon. Many subsequent acts followed, hut all the important laws were combinedin the 13 Geo. 3. c. 84., which was again modified by the 3 Geo. 4. c. 126., containing allthe regulations requisite for this important subject; it arranges the collection of the roadtax, and places the receipt and employment of the funds under the direction of trustees :a trustee must have an income of 100/. per annum arising from landed property, or bepresumptive heir to some one having an income of double that amount; and within tenmiles of London the qualification is 10,000/. personal property after the payment of all debts.
The revenue arising from the tolls is paid into the hands of a treasurer by the receivers,who are to present their accounts to the trustees whenever called upon, but alwaysat their annual meetings, which are held for the express purpose of examining and passingaccounts; besides this there are as many special meetings called as may be deemednecessary, three members being sufficient for ordinary purposes, and seven to alter orrevoke an order made by a preceding assembly. The trustees have the power of short-ening, improving, or altering the direction of a road; but they may not deviate more than100 yards from the old line without consent of the proprietor of the land crossed by thenew line. They may borrow the money necessary for making, repairing, or improvingthe roads, the interest and capital being paid out of the tolls.