(’hap. VIII. ,

B1U TAIN.

525

The act for each trust limits the rate of the tolls and the number of turnpikes; thetrustees having the power of diminishing the toll with the consent of the creditors ofthe road, and, also, of letting it out by public auction, after having stated by advertisementthe net produce during the preceding year. On the erection of a new turnpike the trus-tees, on proper notice, decide in what situation it shall be placed. All the works for thesupport of toll roads are under the direction of surveyors appointed by the trustees, as arealso the treasurer and other officers. The surveyor has the right, after having obtained theauthority of a justice of the peace, to collect in any field stones necessary for his purpose,but he is also bound to pay for the same. The trustees order the fixing of all milestones,finger-posts, and railings in dangerous places, and may prosecute any individual who wilfullydamages them.

In the year 1819 it was suggested to the Committee of Inquiry into the State of thePublic Roads, that the whole should be placed under the management of government; but,upon the ground that this was contrary to the public interest, the idea was abandoned, andthe construction and maintenance of all parish roads are still left to the parish authorities,and those of turnpike roads to the various trustees, the government alone interfering whenimprovements essential to the general prosperity, and which are too costly for the localdistricts, are to be carried out.

The narrowest limits which the law permits to be given to by-roads are as follows: —footpaths feet, horse-roads 8 feet, and carriage-roads 20 feet; their width may beincreased to 30 feet, viz. 16 feet 6 inches for the horse-road, and the rest given to the foot-ways and ditches.

The width of turnpike roads, determined by act of parliament, is 60 feet for theapproaches to populous towns, though in many places this is reduced to less than 20 feet.

The total length of the paved streets and turnpike roads in England and Wales , asreported by the Committee of the House of Lords in 1829, was 19,798 miles, and that ofthe cross-roads and other highways 95,000 miles.

It is curious to refer to the progress made in turnpike legislation, which may be thusstated : from 1700 to 1710, twelve turnpike acts were passed ; from 1710 to 1720, twenty-one ; from 1720 to 1730, seventy-one ; from 1730 to 1740, thirty-one; from.1740 to 1750,twenty-nine; from 1750 to 1760, one hundred and eighty-five; from 1760 to 1770, onehundred and seventy-five, making up to this period five hundred and thirty acts of parlia-ment which had received the royal assent. These acts were limited to a duration oftwenty-one years, as it was presumed that at the end of that period the tolls imposed wouldnot be required : the clerks of the several trusts always take care, however, that some cre-ditors of the road should remain unpaid, by which means they contrive to keep the trustalive, and prevent their own office becoming extinct. The renewal of the Turnpike Actis also profitable to the clerk, and since 1830 the term has been prolonged to thirty-oneyears ; at present the trusts in existence exceed 1100.

The General Turnpike Act now in force, the 3 Geo. 4. c. 126., was passed in the year1822.

By a statement made to Parliament of the income and expenditure of the 1111 trustsof England and Wales from the 1st of January, 1835, to 31st of December, 1835, it appearsthat the

£

Bonded mortgage debt was

- 7,116,702

Revenue received from tolls

.

-

- 1,469,317

Money borrowed on security of tolls

-

.

165,474

Manual labour -

.

-

397,665

Farm labour - - -

-

-

134,861

Materials for surface repairs

.

215,835

Interest of debt

_

.

301,508

Improvements -

-

-

211,808

Debt paid off

-

*

132,983

Wherever the government has undertaken the formation of roads, engineers have beenappointed to make a careful survey of the country, and take the levels of the line to be setout; and some of the best roads in the world have been the result of this arrangement;those in Scotland, the Glasgow and Carlisle, and the Holyhead, which were made underthe able superintendence of Mr. Telford, may be enumerated as examples. A brief accountof the methods adopted may give an idea of the great care bestowed upon them by thateminent engineer.

The Highland Roads and Bridges , executed under the direction of Mr. Telford, by theaid of parliamentary grants, constitute so great an improvement, that they deserve ourparticular attention; the whole were completed in a short space of time, when the workdone and money expended are considered.

As the Highland road was chiefly for the accommodation of cattle, hard substances