88 



On Improving Internal 



[Jan. 



When the paper first reached me, I took the liberty of showing it to 

 an influential person, and requested the favour of his opinion as to the 

 propriety of bringing it forward, in such a way, as might perhaps lead 

 to the plan proposed being tried on a few miles of some much frequented 

 road. 



This gentleman, though fully coinciding in my opinion as to the 

 beneficial results likely to flow from the adoption of such roads, yet 

 seemed to think, as I understood him, that the expense would prove a 

 bar to their adoption. I was not then, nor indeed am I now, prepared 

 to show by comparative statements that the first expense of laying such 

 a road w-ould not greatly exceed, if indeed it did not actually fall short, 

 supposing Mr. Kellie's estimate nearly correct, of the cost of forming a 

 good road of the common construction. This could be easily ascertain- 

 ed in Madras where the tear and wear of roads is great, and road making 

 and repairing in constant practice. According to Mr. Gordon's table, 

 quoted in the paper, the tear and wear of an iron rail -road is 80 — and of a 

 broken -stone road 26 times greater than that of a tram-way, hence, were 

 the cost of making a tram-way 20 times greater than that of a common 

 road, it would still prove the cheaper of the two, leaving altogether out of 

 the question, its superiority as a means of transit. Can more conclu- 

 sive evidence be adduced in favour of the plan than this table affords ? 



The destructive tendency of our monsoon is alleged as an objection to 

 this kind of road, this is at best a speculative objection, common roads 

 are well knovi^n to suffer most severely from this cause, tram ones have 

 never been tried, and there seems every reason to believe that the mas- 

 sive materials of which they are composed, will effectually counteract 

 causes of destruction, to which loose materials offer no resistance. 



I have already remarked that I do not know the average expense of 

 laying a good broken-stone road, but according to Mr. Kellie's estimate, 

 W'hich was submitted to a very able engineer, and who thought it a " roomy 

 estimate," the cost of a tram-way of two lines of stone is about 16 inches 

 for the rupee; and supposing we add 168 rupees to the estimate to give 

 us in round numbers 4000 per mile; we should still have 15 inches for 

 the rupee, at which rate, I question if we could thoroughly break the 

 btones required to make so much really substantial road, 8 feet wide, 

 exclusive of the charges for carting and laying them in their place: and 

 when placed, they require constant attendance to keep them there, if 

 it happens to be a much frequented road. When to these drawbacks 

 we add the difference (250 per cent.) of tractive power required on such 

 roads, I think a very strong case has been made out for giving the 

 lolan the benefit of a trial on a cout-iderable scale, and if the result, is 



