MAGAZINE OE SCIENCE AND AET. 
155 
miu'ht be found to more than counterbalance any dif¬ 
ference in yearly cost. „ , _ 
1 submit for the consideration of the Government, 
that a few mlcs of plank road, such as I have described, 
should be laid down as an experiment, to be composed 
of different woods, with a view of ascertaining that best 
suited for roads. 
I have indeed been told that there is no wood in New- 
South Wales fit for such a purpose; hut I am loath to 
believe this can be the case, and to give up that which 
may, perhaps, prove of much service to the public, 
without a fair trial. 
For what is it the colony really wants? Not. a few 
miles here, and a few miles there, of the very best 
svstern of Internal Communications, but roads every¬ 
where, over distances to he reckoned by hundreds of 
miles, for the least sum, in the quickest tune, they can 
be made. 
Liberal as the country is, and considerable as are its 
resources, it can scarcely be expected to vote annually 
a larger sum than will be submitted for the construction 
and maintenance of Internal Communication tor next 
year. 
* Seventy miles a year then, may be taken as the ex¬ 
treme rate at which the existing roads would be rep aced 
bv railroads, at a cost, inclusive of rolling stock, of 
£770 000 a year. In ten vears time the arterial com¬ 
munications' would be considerably advanced, but 
during that period, in all probability, the interest upon 
the capital expended must he voted by tiie Legislature, 
and in addition, the sums required to keep in something 
like order existing roads. 
But £770,000 a vear would be sufficient to make 
annually 335 miles of plank road, for example ; and in 
two or three vears after the steam and saw machinery 
arrived from' England the 700 miles could be made; 
while the capital expended would be £1,010,000, in 
place of £7,700,000 ; and the annual interest and ex¬ 
penditure, (which should he covered hv tiro receipts 
from the traffic on the road,) be £570,500, in place of 
£1,155,000. 
The more rapidly good communications can be formed 
between the ports of New South Wales and the interior, 
the more certainly will the traffic flow to them, in place 
of seeking other outlets, and from them in return, and 
those commercial connections bo established or 
strengthened with other lands that give wealth and im¬ 
portance to a nation; and the more cheaply these 
communications can be formed and the traffic car- 
ried along them, the more durable these connexions 
will be. 
In America companies have been induced to form 
railways bv the grant of lands lying in alternate sec¬ 
tions along the line to be made; the State usually re¬ 
serving to itself a per-centage on the gross receipts. 
There,°where the ordinary price of new land is a dollar 
per acre, and where the railways run lor great distances 
thronoh prairie laud, which with little labour produces 
abundant crops, for which the surrounding country- or 
Europe gives a readv market, and where emigrants flow 
ia by tens of thousands, this plan has met with great 
success ; but 1 am under the impression that along the 
principal lines of communication in this colony land 
has not been retained by the Government to any great 
extent: and that were it otherwise considerable reluc¬ 
tance would bo felt in alienating it to companies; yet 
the system possesses many points well worthy ot con- 
sideration in a new country. 
It is my duty, before leaving the subject of Railways, 
to bring prominently under the consideration of the 
Government the inconvenience that may ultimately 
arise from the difference between this country, V ictona, 
and South Australia, in the gauge ot tiro lines; the 
the gauge here being 4 feet St inches, and in the sistei 
Colonies, I am informed, the decidedly better width 
of 5 feet 3 inches. But if it be determined not to 
extend the Railways for the present beyond the limits 
No. 7. Dec. 1857. 
already proposed, the subject will then have no im¬ 
mediate importance. 
I do not feel in a position, without better information 
l the statistics of traffic, a thorough study of the re¬ 
ports and plans of the Surveyors, and an inspection of 
the country itself, upon the character of which the cost 
of construction and maintenance depends, absolutely to 
advise the Government as to the particular description 
of roadway to adopt, beyond the suggestions X have al¬ 
ready submitted my present impression is, it should 
vary with different localities. 
'With a view, however, to determining as early as 
practicable so important a matter, to employ as effec¬ 
tively as possible the surveyors placed under me by 
your letter of the 2‘Jth ultimo, and to ensure that the 
money spent upon these parts of existing roads the 
management of which has been intrusted to me by your 
instructions dated 28th ultimo is spent so as to con¬ 
tribute as far as possible to one general end, I have to 
submit for your consideration the following arrange¬ 
ments :— 
I propose to divide the country into districts, and 
place each under the charge of an Assistant Engineer, 
the Engineer-in-Chicf being consulting Engineer for 
the whole, and having also the immediate clrarge of 
the Railways. 
To place under their orders the Road Surveyors, the 
Railway Surveyors, and the men of the Royal En¬ 
gineers, in such proportions as the necessities of each 
district require. To obtain from the Engineers early 
reports upon the existing Toads and the improvements 
that can be effected in them, and also upon the line of 
country best adapted in each district for a railway, to¬ 
gether with such information as they may be enabled 
to famish of the geological character, and agricultural, 
pastoral, mineral, or other resources of the country 
passed through. 
To examine the country in person, so far as other 
duties may permit, and after receiving the reports of 
the Engineers, and consultation with them and the 
Engineer-in-chief, to direct what lines shall be levelled 
f d what plans and sections prepared. > 
To submit the plans and sections obtained, together 
with a detailed report on the country generally, and 
upon the description and course of the roadways pro¬ 
posed, to the Government for decision. 
Tliis I should be the better enabled to do as I re¬ 
ceived the monthly reports of the persons suggested to 
be employed in ascertaining the existing traffic. 
The Engineers would be also charged with super¬ 
intending generally the repairs of the roads executed 
under the Road Surveyors, and of assisting them with 
professional advice. , 
As the Electric Telegraph progresses, which you 
have informed me is also to form an intregal part of 
the department of internal communications, it will be 
necessary to have a sub-director with a working staff 
under him. 
The Secretary, the Solicitor, and the Accountant of 
the Railway Department would take their share also 
of the additional duties devolved upon it. 
The necessity for increased office accommodation I 
have already submitted to you. 
The system I have proposed would, I anticipate, he 
found as economical as efficient, and the country feel 
that every effort was being made to ascertain and meet 
its wants impartially. 
I trust the Government will overlook the deficiencies 
of a report prepared at so early a period after my 
arrival in the country, and amidst the incessant 
pressure of public duty. 
I have, &c., 
B. H. MARTINDALE, 
Chief Commissioner. 
The Honorable ... 
The Secretary of Lands and .Public works. 
