I

' committed in the passmg of the Act last session.

' Smith’s the road was so narrow

73118 Colonial meta“. ‘

PROVINCIAL PARLIAMEN T.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Saturday, 9th March. noose on rat: am. no amen rue srnuu moon act.

The Hon. !\Ir. Swan explained the error which had been The intention ‘of the Legislature at the time, was, in the first place, to lay a tax of 5:. upon every man liable to Statute Labor, and of 3s. ndditional upon every man possessing a horse and cart; but the Sill as passed, by mistake, imposed a tart of Ss. for the horse and am, and by another clause left the 5s. imposed upon the owner besides; thus making the whole tax 135. per annum, where it was intended to be no more than BS. in the whole. _

His Honor the Passion" observed, that the expending of the Bond Money, within the town and royalty of Charlottetown, had been entrusted to a Board of Magistrates, and as some of that board were members of the Legislative Council, he should wish when from them how the new system had worked; itwas an e‘iperimcnt, and he should like to know how far it was likely to give satisfaction. . ' ' I

- The Hortqu. Persas would second Hts Honor’s inquiry ; he should rune!) like to know how the Road money had been expend- ed by the‘Bonrd ; for his own part, he could not see where or in‘ what way it had been expanded, still, he doubted not it had been well expended; indeed it did not appear to have been spent above

.~.ground,bui, perhaps, they ‘wauld find that it had been very

wisely laid out under ground, in the making of subterraneous drains and other excavations. They had, it is true, with amaze- ment beheld the ploughs goingin the highways, the sod of which had. been efi‘ectually turned up, but that the roads were thereby improved, or carriage-springs protected he had yet to learn, The soil ploughed up and thrown into the centre of the road, in wet weather became, in a short time, nothing but a continuous had of sand; and where it was thrown upon parts tolerany hard it only

' remained there for atime to be flooded ofl‘, washed into channels,

or cut upinto new ruis. How absurd a practice was it to think offilling up the rats with so soft a material, when the very first wheel which passedover it. opened the rut anew, and tn rainy weather the rut: were perfect puddles. In countries, such as England, where the roads are made of hard materials, the sys- tem of breaking up the roads, throwing them up in the centre, covering them with stones broken very small and bound together by earth, and rounding the whole carefully'ofl'to the Sides,answcr- edpxceedingly well. The system, after its inventor, was called 'llmdamizi'ng, and roads so made, for a time were only impruv- ed by the travelling upon them ; for the wheels, by attrition, wore nfi‘ the roughness of the stones, and the weight of the carriages, like rbllers, effectually served to fix and bind the whole together, and make of it a firm,srnooth, and beautiful road. This was the system, it would seem, to which the Board of Magistrates here ba‘dbtid an eye, but they had unfortunately overlooked the tact that rods are not stones. He thought at first there were only three magisn'ates to one road, but he was now given to understand

,. that seven ofthern, the whole Board, at one time superinieiided

the operations upon each road. To have three superiiiiendauis of one piece of work was bad enough : but to have seven was certainly much worse. He was now not quite so much at a loss to comprehend how so little benefit had resulted from their super~ intendence. . The money was nodoubt all expended, he did not question that; no, no every thing would be found right and square in the accOunts of the Board; but what he questioned, was, that the mad money had been expended with judgment. He was inclined to think it would be best to go back to the old system. With good Commissioners and only halfthe means now at our disposal, he‘ was convinced we might have good roads. The seven headed Commission he thought, had given as little proof of judgment, as was usually ascribed to the seven wise men of Gotham. They had certainly doiie no good, and he Would move that instead ofleaving the roads of Charlottetown and Royalty to be experimented upon by seven Commissioners, the Governor be empowered to appoint one Commissioner for that Distiict. He was very far from intending to prefer any thing like a charge against the many headed Commission; but he wished them to shew that they had done something for the good of the Country, beyond expending the Road-money. He was afraid the case of the Commissioners would remind their honors of the old song, which, speaking of going into court, says, if you don’t get justice, you’ll at least get plenty of law. If Charlotieiown and Royalty have not 'got good roads, they have, at least, had plenty of justices. 9

The Hon. Mr. Swaaav, as one ofthe Board, felt himself called upon to offer an explanation on behalf ofhimselt' and colleagues. Before he entered upon his explanation, he Would, however, in the first place, state that the value of the system pursued by the Magistrates could not be tested in one sermon; and it wauld be unjust to decide upon it without affording them an opportunity of following it up, and completing their plans. If he wore’aslted why they had not made greater improvements, he would answer, that. considering the very bad state in which they had found the roads, more ought not to have been expected of them. It was impossible, by any efforts, to change as it were, the face of na- ture in one seasnn. To one error at the very commencement of their proceedings he was willing to confess. They commenced their operations upon the roads too early in the season, and the consequence was that the soil which had been thrown up was all washed away and the drains choked up. Experience hail provul that they ought net to have commenced before June Their, honors, however, would bear in mind that the improvemenis contemplated by the Magistrates could not possibly be effected in one year. The complaints made against them were therefore unreasonably loud. There was one gentleman present, who, he (the hon. Mr. Swabey) thought would hear testimony in favor of the Board. He meant the hon. Mr. Hall. The Malpeque Road, on which that gentleman resided, was now tn a mticli better state than it had been in for a long time before the Magistrates had been appointed to expend the road money. Look to the Royalty Road. He defied any man to say that that had not been greatly improved under the management of the Justices. Part of that road had been a perfect swamp, and it was impossible to convert it into a good road unless by regular gradations. Up to M- . that they could procure no

It was impossible for them Again he would appeal to

materials wherewith to improve it. to get over physical difficulties. Charlottetown, he would appeal to the hon. Mr. Peters himself, to say whether considerable improvements had not been made in the streets. Could not that hon gentleman get to his own house with dry shoes? The hon. Mr. Peters observed that was in con- sequence of the rain which he hihiself had catised to be made, but that his cellar was filled with water.) The hon Mr. Swabey continued, and observed that the hon. gentleman’s drain would have been of but little service to him had it not communica'cd with those which the Justices had caused to be made; and, as for the flooding of his cellar, it was, perhaps, his own drain which had filled it. Well then, with respect to the road between the corners of Col. Lane’s lot and Dr. Poole’s, did the water stand \there as it formerly did? He thought no one would deny that the Justices had made some improvement there. If the road down to his own residence and government house were brought under review, it would be found that it had been well drained and greatly improved. Certainly the main street had also teen very much improved : it had been well drained, and was, now no longer, in wet weather, the muddy and almost impassable raid that it formerly was. In fact every street in town had been improved to a greater or less degree, and the inhabitants of the town, generally speaking, admitted it. Greater improvements were certainly still required, but they could not be made without means. What the Justices had done might, indeed. be trulv termed an experiment, but without time the experiment could not be properly tested. He did not object to theirjutlgrnent being called in question, but he deprecated a premature decision. The funds at their disposal they had expended, but they had been found quite insufficient for the completion of the alterations and improvements which they had had thoughts of effecting. One thing was certain the justices could not have come into office in _a more unfavourable season, for every thingturned to mud; and it was also equally a fact that the experiment they had attempted could not be tested in one seas0u. (The hon. Illr. Peters here observed that their improvements would not have turned to mud, had the earth been properly thrown up, and the roads fairly rounded. But how was it likely to be otherwise when the soil was merely scattered over the flat roads or thrown into the ruts ?) The hon. Mr. Swabey continued: whether the means at the dis- posit! of the Commissioners were sufficient or their scheme a good one, he wouldhot, positively pretend to say : but he was quite certain that a great deal had been done for the improvement of worn-u roads. The Royalty Road, the St. Peter’s Road, the Mal- peque oad,‘and the streets of Charlottetown had been all greatly improved. . The honxgentleman concluded by observing that if their means were inadequate, they were only so in com- parison With former means; and he thought the present enact- :nentr, u “p the whole, a much better one than that which it had ups . His Hpnor the Parstnsxr gave the Justices credit, the best intentions, but for the best ofjudgment; and he was not Willing that the country should lose the benefit of their expe- rience. However he thought the hon. Mr. Swabey had gone a

i

not only for

little too far, in his Iaudations of the‘ improvements which he and his colleagues had effected. He (Mr. Swabey), had Slate‘l that stagnant waters had been remOVed, and the streets We“ drained. He (his Honor), could not say how far the stagnant waters bad, or had not, been removed ; but he couldsay lhal, from the depth of the mud, in soft weather, the crossing ol the streets was both difficult and dangerous. Indeed, at times when one’s horse was sinking, and his head going down, one mg I almost apprehend his being thoroughly engulphed, and 10st'to the sight for ever. Notwithstanding'this, it was a question Will] him, whether their honors would not be doing wrong. In agree' ing to any motion which would deprive the country ol the benefit ofthe experience, which the Jusrices had acquired in office. He (his Honor), was inclined to retain them. The hon. (Mr. Swa- bey), had boasted a great deal. of the improvements made upon the Royalty road. How far he had justly done so, _ he fl“s Honor), could not tell; but he was very willing to believe that iftlie Justices were continued in office, the country would yet be satisfied of the wisdom, and efficacy of their schemes. ‘

The Hon. Mr. DALRYMPLE said, that, at no previous time, Itad he heard so many complaints, of the wretched state of the roads. within ten miles of Charlottetown, as since the experiment which had been made upon 1lietii last season. Their present wretched condition was, indeed, a convincing prool'that nothing was 10, be gained by increasing the number of superiiiiendntits ut- direc- tors. It plainly verified the old adage, ‘~ too many cooks spot! the broth.” He was inclined to revert to one commissioner.

The Hon. Mr. PETERS would relate an anecdote. which be thought might happily illustrate the position of the Justices, with respect to the differenv‘roads in which it had been their duty to attend. He (the hon Mr. Peters). being, on a. certain occasmn, in the lobby ofthe House of Commons, anti in conversatiouwtlh Mr. Harrison, a member ofthe house, that gentlcinaii was ac- costed by another member of the house, who reminded him that such a committee, of which he (Mr. IL), was a member, was then sitting. and wished '0 know why he did not attend it. “ The tr ith is,” said Mr. Harrison in reply, “I ain,ai the present moment, a mcrnberofseveral difi'erentcommiiiees, and have made up my_ mind to keep 0 ofthe way ofthein all, to prevent its being said ol me that I have given any one of them an‘ undue preference, by paying any more attention to it than iothe others.” Now, be (the hurt. Mr. Peters) thought it not improbable that the Jusi:ces might very honestly offer some such explanation, as Mr. Harri- son's, for their neglect of the different roads which had been entrusted to their management; their determination to be im- partial may have caused them to neglect the whole. The trtith was,lhe new system, as it had been carried into operation, appear- ed to be a bad one . it might, however, easily be improved; the roads might be divided amongst the Justices, and then the busi- ness, through their undue dependence upon each Oihcrgvpuld not be altogether neglected : giva Capt. Swabey the Malpeqh‘e Road, give a second road to a second Justice, chird to a third, and so on; and then, perhaps, the :wliole would give satisfaction. In this way one commissioner Wl'h his men would speedin effect much more than the whole seven had done. (That was the old system, interposed the hon. Mr. Swabev, and it did not answer). The hon. Mr. Peters continued : he well knew the Ju~tices meant to do good, but be main lained they had not gone properly to work; they had expended their means in ploughing up all the roads in one season, and scattering the turned up soil over the surface of ilie rumls. That was not the way to improve the roads; the mere throwing of soft materials upon hard, or hard materials upon soft, and the filling up of ruts with sods, would never-make good roads. .

The Hon. Mr. Swancv should like to know where they were to get any better materials than those which were in use. Were they to send to Nova Scotio. for them? were they to procure stone from the Pictou quarries? For his own part he would have no objections to making trial of such a material, ifit could be shown to liim how their means were to be made adequate to the procuring of :1 sulficient supply of it.

The Hon. Mr Pu'rcits replied that the ploughing tip of the roads would be sufficient, if crtre and pains were afterwards taken to round,'form, and drain the roads systematically.

The Hon. Mr. SWABEY said their means were too limited, to admit of their attempting so much in one season. i

The Hon. Mr. PETERS. Let the tax be doubled then: he. for one, would cheerfully pay it. Not only are the inhabitants ofChar- lottetovt'n, and those resident in the neighbourhood Ofit, coucern« ed in having good roads in every direction by which it is ap- proached, btit the whole people throughout the Island have an interest. and that not a trifling one, therein. Charlottetown is the genera] focus of business, and persons having to visit it from every quarter on that account, but particularly persons who are in the habit 'of bringing heavyloads to it two or three times a week, are all deeply concerned in the state of the roads by which it is togbe entered. He himself would cheerfully pay live times as much as he now did, to have the roads improved and kept in proper repair; and, be doubted not, many besides were ofthe some mind on this subject with himself. Few, however, he felt satisfied, in Charlottetown or in immediate connexion therewith, would object to the payment of double the amount of the present tax, for the sake of having good roads in the neighbourhood ofthe town; and ifa ilouble tax were imposed it might enable them to effect all that was destred. The general state of the roads leading into and from Charlottctown, was a. disgrace to the Island, and almost every stranger who visited the Colony commented upon the roads to that effect It was nonsense to say that the fault lay in our soil; that was not the case, the soil of this Island was as suitable for making gOod roads as that of New Brunswick. All that was wanted was the knowledge and practice of a right sys- tem. One man ought to be employed for every five miles of road, to make frequent surveys thereof, and take care that all repairs were made as soon as possible after it was observed that they were required.

The Hon. Mr. M‘DONALD asked the hon. Mr. thought that good roads could be made irt this Island, alone? '

The Hon. Mr.I’ETEna said he did. We could not which would certainly be much better, but out of the managed, very good roads might be constructed, and these might be

Peters, if he with the soil

get gravel, soil properly

kept in good repair, by simply employing a than upon every five miles or so, to fill up holes as they were made, not just by throwing in a little loose earth which the next wheel would cut up or displace, re the next shower convert into a puddle , but by completely breaking up that part of the road, and reconstructing it. The distance be- tween Miramichi and Frodcrickton ivas fifty miles, and the soil out ofwhich the road was constructed, for its whole length was a lioht loam, and so good was the road, that he would not desire to hazel upon a better. It had been constructed by ploughing it up, clearin

ofi'about six inches from the surface, anid rounding it. down to the sides, so as to allow all wet or moisture to run gently off into the drains made on each side of it for its reception. .

N. B.—-THr-: HON. Mn. YovNc.—In the conclusion of the Report of the debate on the Bill for the confirming of Titles to Land bought at Land Assessment Sales, published in the lust ISIttnder, the Re; porter has made the hon. Mr. Young second the amendments of the hou. Mr. Peters. This was not. the fact—Mr: Young steadily opposed the amendments from first to last. It was the hou. Mr. Holl who seconded the motion of the hon. Mr. Peters. The misstatement ori- ginated in the Reporter’s having misunderstood some observation of the hon. Mr. Young, having reference to the amendments proposed by the Hon. Mr. Pcters.—Reroarian. I

fiHW

THE Subscribers having been duly appointed the sole

Agents ofDAVID STEIVA RT. Esquire, for his Estates on [mic or Townships Nos. 7, 10, 1‘2, 27, 30, 46, 47, and Leiinox Island, beg to intimate, that they are. prepared to lease lands, with a liberty ofpnrchasing, and to sell on the most liberal terms and that all persons indebted to that gentleman, for rentor others wise, are hereby required to make immediate payment ofthe same.

. All persons found trespassing on anyol the above properties either by cutting Timber, or in any other respect, will be pro- secuted with the utniostrigour ofthe Law.

H. D. MORPETH

PETER EMEI .’ December I0tli. 1840. {Y

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