[ *86 ] 



8th. Amend the public reads. 



Nothing so much contributes to the improvement of a county, as 

 good roads; before the establishment of turnpikes, many parts of 

 this county were scarcely accessible. 



Seven or eight horses were necessary to draw a waggon loaded 

 with t<wo tons weight, and scarcely ever exceeded the distance of 

 twenty miles a day ; now, the same number of horses will draw 

 jive tons, and travel thirty or forty miles. This is an immense 

 saving of labor, and yet the establishment of such roads was as un- 

 popular, and the probable benefit as little credited, as those of ca- 

 nals are now. The money collected at the gates was considered as 

 a burthen, and the public were for some time loaded with an extra 

 charge for carriage. This, however, did not last long, for in the 

 course of a few years, a diminution in the price of carriage uni- 

 versally took place, and it has gradually fallen from that time to 



Before the turnpike roads were established, coal was carried on 

 horses backs to the distance of fifteen or twenty miles from the 

 collieries ; each horse carried about two hundred and a half weight. 

 Now one horse with a light cart, will draw ten hundred weight, 

 or four times more than the horse could carry ; can an insignificant 

 toli be put in competition with this saving ? 



In respect to private roads, I would recommend a repeal of the 

 law compelling statute labor, and changing the same to a composi- 

 tion in money. 



Whenever a farmer is called forth to perform statute labor, he 

 goes to it with reluctance, he considers it as a legal burthen, from 

 which he derives no benefit. His servant and his horses, seem to 

 partake of the torpor, of the master. The utmost exertion of the 

 surveyor cannot rouse them, and the labor performed, is scarcely 

 &a/f what it ought to be. 



This would not be the case, were the surveyor_to receive in 

 money the highway tax ; he could then employ such workmen as 

 would do him justice, or if they were indolent, or insolent, he 

 could dismiss them. 



9th. • 



