1822.}; 
The amount subseribed by the ) 
~ commonwealth to the same is 1,861,542 
To these sums, if there be added 
one half the amount of the ex- 
' isting debts of the companies, 
which it is probable the roads 
have eost more than the amount 
subscribed by the state and’ by 
, ~ solvent individuals, say -----++ 
i¢ will appear that to turnpike- 
roads, there has been subscribed 
and appropriated, in Pennsy]- 
vania, the sum of----+-++--++ 6,401,474 
Towards the construction of 
bridges, also, it will appear 
that a great appropriation has 
been made. " 
The stock subscribed by indivi- 
duals, amount to-++++++-- +*+1,629,200 
That subscribed by the common- 
wealth £0 ++++<esseeerereees 382,000. 
And. if half the amount of debts 
be added, as in the former case, 40,595 
The amount contributed towards 
the construction of bridges, 
‘will have been---+«++++--++++ 2,051,795 
To Navigation Companies, 
Individuals have subscribed---++ 1,416,610 
The commonwealthhas subscribed 150,000 
And, if to these sums be added the 
cost of the works at the two 
Conawago canals, estimated 
At evcecvccesscree 240,000 
The probable amount expended 
on the Lehigh, cannot fall 
short of -+-++-+--- 150,000— 370,000 
And leaving out of view the ex- 
- penditures madeby the Schuyl- . 
kill and Susquehanna, and 
Delaware and Schuylkill, navi- 
gation companies, the result 
will show. an appropriation to 
this branch of internal improve- 
mentof --- +++ 1,916,510 
If all these subscriptions, appro- 
priations, and individualexpen- 
ditures, be added together, the 
- amount will be little short 
ai aniee and-ipinc2.- vis os vee es ©) 10,869;779 
“Two complete stone roads, running 
from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, 300 
miles each in length, one of which is 
already finished. 
One continued road from Philadel- 
phia tothe town of Erie, on the lake of 
that name, passing through Sunbury, 
Bellefonte, Phillipsburg, Franklin, 
and Meadville. 
Two roads, having but a few miles 
of turnpike deficient, from Philadel- 
phia; one to the New-Y ork-state line, 
in Bradford county, passing tbrough 
Berwick, and one to the northern part 
of the state, in Susquehanna county, 
passing through Bethlehem. And one 
continued road from Pittsburg to 
1 
381,585: 
seeeesweetor 
—__—_—, 
Proceedings of Public Societies, 
439) 
Erie, passing through Butler, Mercer, 
Meadville, and Waterford. 
The northern, north-western, and 
western, sections of the state,, will then 
be connected with the metropolis, and 
afford facilities for travelling and trans- 
portation, unequalled as to extent im 
the United States. 
Skill, and a judicious economy in 
the construction of turnpike-roads, is, 
of vital importance. The art of making 
artificial roads is in its infancy in our 
country ; and it behoves us, as we value 
our prosperity, to use every means 
within our reach to profit by the lights 
and experience of those who under- 
stand the subject better than ourselves. 
The construction of stone and other 
artificial roads, is a science which few 
men understand, and yet which few 
men hesitate to undertake; and it is no 
doubt from a want of ordinary skill in 
preparing and applying the materials 
of which our roads are composed, and’ 
in shaping their surface, and of ordi- 
nary judgment in the application of 
labour, that most of our roads have 
been constructed so expensively, and 
some of them so‘badly. 
The attention of your committee has 
been drawn to asmall English publica- 
tion, re-printed in Baltimore during 
the last year, and which is to be pro- 
cured in that city or in Philadelphia, 
entitled, ‘*M’Adam on Roads.” - It 
comprises, besides, an essay upon 
road-making, by J. Loudon M'Adam, 
esq. the author; the minutes of an 
examination of witnesses before a 
committee of the House of Commons, 
appointed to enquire into the state of 
the: roads, and particularly into a new 
system of turnpike-road-making intro- 
duced by Mr. M’Adam. Asthis work 
is well worth the perusal of all who 
have’ any desire to understand the 
principles upon which the British turn- 
pike-roads: are constructed and re- 
paired, so that not a rut is ever to be 
seen on their surface, your committee 
have deemed it*worth their while to 
bring it thus into the notice of the 
legislatire. From this book it ap, 
pears that; according to the most ap- 
proved system at present in use in 
England, the stones ‘are broken’so fine, 
as that none of them exceeds six 
ounces in weight, in order that a more 
speedy consolidation may be produced, 
The depth of the materials is about 
ten inches, which is probably one 
fourth less than the average depth of 
our stone-roads, ‘The ‘surface of the 
road 
