It will certaiidy occur to the Directors, that in a work so exteiisi\<:", as tiiat committed to tliem, much unnecessary expeiice, and imicli waste of time must be incurred, unless the executive part of the business be properly conferred ; and your committee, to avoid this evil as much as possible, recommend t'lat the executive of the business should be committed to a sin.!,le direc'.ing liead, to a man of known and acknowledged abilities, of a mind so comprehensive, as to combine and form all the arrangements, witli a minute detail of each part; capable of foreseeing what will be wanting in future, that the supplies may be prepnred, witlxmt incurring t!iat extra expence which ever attends collections made on the spur (tf the occasion"; In short, a man, who if he has not had ]nactical experience, has activity, ingenuity and judgment sufhcient to compensate in a degree for that defect -- so capable of profiting by experiment, that the artists, whom he superintends, may not

1100 INLAND LOCK-NAVIGATION.

injuriously impose on the company. To engage such a person, your Comniitlee conceive would be true economy ; to find such a cliaracter is certainly not very easy ; but it well merits the attention of the board to find one thus qualified ; the eyes and the hopes of the stock-holders, and those of the community, will natiu-ally be turned to the directors ; It is therefore, incumbent on tiiem to begin well, to proceed with vigour ; but with that degree of circumspection, which is the result of mature deliberation. Well digested arrangements, steadily and unremittedly persevered in, are capable of, and certainly will surmount, all but perfect impossibilities.