The public and common conveniences of the state include all of the prince’s establishments that have as a general goal to shorten as much as possible the time and efforts of the contributors[^1] to public opulence and to accelerate by these amenities the increase of their wealth. There are a number of these kinds of things in (377) every state. These include all public buildings, fountains, canals, dikes, rivers, public pastures, streets, main roads and everything that facilitates the transport of produce and merchandise from one province to another, places of public entertainment, fairs that are given for the public at public expense, post chaises[^2] and stagecoaches,[^3] exchanges,[^4] banks, mints,[^5] and a number of others whose only end is to save time and to decrease and distribute proportionally the efforts that are required to produce life’s necessary and agreeable things. The more the goods that belong to this class are perfect, the more the state’s wealth will be (378) too. It does not take a great genius to understand this truth since common sense dictates that a man who makes in one day as many products as another does in a week[^6] of the same kind would be eight times richer than the other; he would also be richer than a man who produces with an infinite amount of effort what does not considerably fatigue him. It is therefore an important object for the prince’s attentions to perfect this public convenience to the highest possible level.
To shed light on how often there is a misconception with regard to these things in states, I will give a few examples that will facilitate the application of my principles. Main roads (379) are undoubtedly one of those public conveniences that must shorten the time and effort in the transport and exchange of life’s needs. It is not the business of one or more individuals to maintain them; it is that of the whole society: they concern every individual’s conveniences. Consequently, it is up to the prince to make everyone contribute proportionally to them. However, sometimes due to false economy one does not want to spend the initial costs;[^7] taxes are even collected from passers-by for repairs that are never started or are not made to last, although an infinite number of goods are completely lost for all the contributors[^8] to the state’s wealth from the length and difficulty of (380) trips, and although the costs of repairs can be richly reimbursed later. I have seen at the gates of important towns main roads that are so bad that with the slightest amount of rain there was almost no way through. On the other hand, I have seen magnificent palaces built with the spoils from poor inhabitants by those who had to take care of maintaining public roads. It is a prejudice to believe that there are roads that cannot be made passable and convenient: causeways and cobblestones make up for all flaws. In any case, we can condemn them and choose places that are more suitable for passage. (381)
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