The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-04 00:00:00

Turnpike Trusts.

The select committee appointed to inquire inta
the expediency and practicability of abolishing Tur-
npike Trust, have agreed to the following report

Your committee have considered the report of 1836,
which was referred to them. They have received much
valuable information from Col Pennant and Mr Wrightson
as to the course pursued since that period, from which it
appe'ars that the whole bonded debt on turnpike trusts in
England and Wales, which in 1833 exceeded £7,000,000,
has now been reduced to little more than :C1,000,000. There
are, however, large arrears of interest which, although in
process of reduction since 1836, mainly by disallowances,
still amounted in 1860 to £760,000.

They have also considered the report of the Commissioners
of Roads for Scotland, where in several counties the system
has been greatly improved by the appointment of road
boards, who, by the consolidation of various trusts or by the
assessment of counties for the repair and maintenance of the
roads, and by the appointment of a competent surveyor for
each county, have effected a material diminution of expense,
whieh will lead to a speedy extinction of the existing debt
and a reduction both in number and amount of tolls.
In Ireland the removal of tollgates has been effected by
charging the repairs of the roads and the existing debt upon
the rates of the counties and baronies, the roads having been
submitted to the supervision of the county surveyors.
In South Wales, where some years ago great dissatis-
faction prevailed in consequence of the frequency and appa-
rently unjust distribution of tollgates, owing to the exces-
sive number of trusts, great improvement has been effected
by an Act of Parliament which consolidated the trusts,
regulated the number of tollgates, and provided for the ex-
tinction of debt by the advance of a sum of money out of
the Consolidated Fund, to be repaid by terminable annuities
jof 30 years. . .

Your Committee fully concur in the conclusion arrived
at by the committee of 1836, " that the abolition of tolls
throughout the kingdom would be beneficial to the com-
munity," and they think that the anticipations of that com-
mittee as to the probable effect of railways have been to a
great extent realized, the traffic being now chiefly local, and
the tolls being generally paid by the ratepayers.
In the words of Mr Wrightson, "The through traffic
has been diverted by the railroads; the roads have become
a local burden, and the trustees have been driven to the
multiplication of bars."
Wherever the ratepayers are the principal tollpayers,

the inference would appear to be inevitable that it would
be better they should contribute to a rate which would be
administered under their own supervision or that of their
representatives than continue subject to tolls.

Tolls appear to your committee to be unequal in pres-
sure, costly in collection, inconvenient to the public, and
injurious, as causing a serious impediment to intercourse
and traffic.

Mr Wrightson estimates the cost of each gate at £25, and
he thinks there are at least four gates in each trust, which
is probably too low an estimate, but, as the number of trusts
exceeds 1,100, thy) cost of collection, even on this estimate,
would be very large.

Mr Macefield states that in the Leominster trusts it
takes one half of the revenue to pay the expenses and esta-
blishment charges, while the repairs are put upon the
parishes. Mr. Wrightson adds that the cost of renewals is
enormous. Were the system as productive and as satisfac-
tory as it is in many instances notoriously the reverse, the

existence of a double set of officers in one district would
still, in the opinion of the committee, be unnecessary and
extravagant.
Cases are not rare of trusts in which the whole produce
of the tolls, after payment of the establishment charges, is
absorbed in the payment of the interest of the debt, while
arrears accumulate, and the whole burden of the mainte-
nance of the roads is thrown upon the parishes.

This parochial burden, c.mtemplated by the existing law,
and of inevitable incidence whenever tollgates are removed,
will, in the opinion of your committee, press unequally and
unjustly on many small, poor, or peculiarly situated
parishes, and they therefore recommend the adoption of a
more extended area of rating.

Your committee are far from saying that there may

not be some districts in the north of England or elsewhere
in which the abolition of tolls, under the exising state of the
law, would be unsatisfactory ; but they think such cases are
exceptional, and that tolls should not therefore be continued
generally over the whole country.
From the annual returns, as well as from.the evidence of
Mr Leslie, it would seem that the bonded debt of England
and North Wales may now be taken at a nominal sum but
little exceeding £4;000,000. In the opinion of Colonel
Pennant and of Mr Wrightson the • current value of this
debt is about £3,000,000, which sum might be liquidated
by an annual payment of say £lBO,OOO for 25 years.
On the whole, your committee are of opinion that the
abolition of•the turnpike trusts, as now existing, would be
both beneficial and expedient, and might be practicable if
the system adopted in Scotland or in South Wales could be
acted upon in each county in England and North Wales.
Your committee are of opinion that, pending the aboli-

tions of the present system, attention might with advantage
be directed to the circumstances of the several trusts whose
Acts are continued from year to year by the Annual Con-
tinuance Act ; and if it should be found that the power of
Parliament might be beneficially exercised, in order to pro-
vide for the more speedy extinction of the debt of any trusts
—to eecure a full consideration of the propriety of abolish-

ing trusts which are free from debt (now amounting to more

than 100), or to obtain economy of management by the con-
solidation of several trusts; your committee suggest that
such trusts should be excluded from the operation of the
Continuance Act and be obliged to come to Parliament for
a renewal of their acts.

THE MANAGER AND THE CONDUCTOR.--It is ex-
traordinary that Costa should have failed where it was na-
tural to conclude his experience would have made him ab-
solute master, viz., in the adaptation of his music to the
singers' voices, The artistes all complained (in an under-
tone, of course) that the " Tessitura" was too high for them,
and that if the management continued to give Sig. Costa's
opera, injury to their voices would be the inevitable conse-
quence. One great singer (an especial friend of the com-
poser) urged this point strongly on the director, at the
same time expressing his surprise at Costa, who had had so
much knowledge of the voices of the company, should
compose for them a &avows. But for these energetic re-
monstrances the opera might have been given oftener, not-
withstanding the serious loss it entailed upon the treasury.
For I felt hoW deeply signor Costa was interested in its
success, and as a matter both of good-will and policy, I was
desirous of pleasing my conductor. Combined, however, with
the private complaints of the artists, were the expostulations
of the subscribers, and in spite of personal inclinations I
was obliged to withdraw the opera. The composer, as he
could not suspect the artists, and slow to believe in dissatis-
faction of the subscribers, consequently threw all the blame
on the management; and although I had laboured hard to
procure an opposite result, he ascribed tq me the compara-
tive failure of his opera. This incident is one among many
that tend to show the wisdom of the law laid down at the
Grand Opera of Paris, peremptorily forbidding the produc-
tion of any composition either of the chef d'orchestre or the
director of the music.—.Lt nitey's Reminiscences of the
Opera,
THREATENED STRIKE IN THE BUILDING TRADE.
—The building trade in Manchester is in a highly flourish-
ing state, and the contracts in the hands of the principal
builders are exceedingly heavy. The joiners have chosen
this as a favourable opportunity for making a demand for
advance of wages to the extent of 2s per week. A meeting
of 16 of the principal masters decided unanimously to reject
the demand, and six others have given in their adhesion to
this decision. They complain that, with the heavy contracts
they are now holding, and have taken on the faith of a con-
tinuance of the present rate of wages, such a course would
involve considerable loss. One builder estimates that this
advance would involve £35 per week extra in his present
wages payment. A strike took place some time back at the
new assize courts building at Manchester, but was defeated
by the contractor obtaining workmen from other parts of
the country. The men, however, have to work under the
constant protection of the police. It is expected now that
there will be a general strike in the trade.