The Press. — London, England, 1858-04-03 00:00:00

THE MAIN DRAINAGE QUESTION. DEAN SWIFT says of BLACKMORE— He took his Muse at once, and dipt her Right in the middle of the Scripture. With equal abruptness we have just seen an English country gentleman, the brother of a duke, taken from the Leicestershire Hunt, and plunged, with scarcely an hour's notice, into the very midst of the " Main Drainage " contro versy, which has perplexed all the engineers and hydraulic surveyors of England for more than a dozen years past ! Still, courage ! my lord ! You have come into this controversy at a not unhappy moment. The question, after long agitation, is now ripe for decision ; and there will be honour, as well as some trouble, connected with its settlement. We will take the liberty to sketch its history, and to indi cate the path which leads to a safe conclusion. More than a dozen 'years have already been spent in the investigation of this question. Two Commissions were formed, by the Royal fiat, between 1847 and 1855, consisting of some of the ablest men of the day ; but internal dissensions, and the want of means, prevented them from accomplishing anything; and, at last, the Government of Lord PALMERSTON gave us the METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS, chiefly with a view to constitute a taxing machine, which might raise a sum of five or six millions from the inhabitants of the metro• polia, without burdening the Government with the unpopularity of this new taxation. The two defunct Commissions had accom plished thus much :—They had examined, with sharp engineering eyes, various plans for draining the metropolis, and had arrived at certain safe conclusions. The matter was therefore prepared for decision ; and the con sequence was, that the Metropolitan Board of Works could act at once. That body has been accused of delay ; but there never was a more groundless accusation. It came into existence in January, 1856 ; several weeks were required to complete its organization and appoint its officers; but before the first summer had ended, it had adopted an elaborate plan for the drainage of the metropolis, and had depo- sited it at the office of the Chief Commissioner. Three or four mouths were then wasted in disputes about the point of outfall. The Board had fixed on a point two miles on this side of Erith. After much discussion, Sir B. HALL indicated a point about a mile and a half further down, as the one to which he would consent. The plan, therefore, thus adjusted, was ready for adoption before the Board had been in existence for one whole year. Sir BENJAMIN HALL now created a new delay of seven months, by an error peculiarly his own He plunged into all the troubles of a " double government." His proper function was merely that of a president—to approve, or disapprove, of the plan laid before him. But he went beyond this. He appointed a new Commission, of three engineers, to consider the plan of tho Board, and all other plans, and to devise, if it were possible, some new scheme of their own. We had now two bodies, each separately empowered and instructed to prepare a plan. As these two bodies were very differently con structed, it was almost inevitable that they should disagree. A greater practical blunder never was committed, than the construction of this second Board, to rival, or amend, the plans of the first. The first result was, the loss of seven months. Three engineers, empowered and ordered to go into the whole question, could scarcely have been expected to produce the result of their inquiries in a shorter time. Nor, as they were not inst►ucted simply to approve or dis approve the plan of the Board, was it likely that they should bring up a simple Yes or No. And so we find that, after seven months' labour. carried on at a large expense, they do two things :- 1 : They report, that the plan of the Metro politan Board is, after all, substantially, the only plan which can be adopted. 2. They recommend certain enlargements of that plan—especially the carrying the TH E SS, APRIL 3, 1858. sewage down to Sea-reach, by long open canals of nearly eighteen miles in length. The additions and alterations thus proposed by the three engineers are approved by no one. Their seven mouths labour seems to have been nearly thrown away. But this one result we do obtain—that, in their judgment, the plan proposed by the Metropolitan Board is, in all its main features, the right and only plan. So stood the question, then, a month ago, on the accession► of Lord JOHN MANNERS to office. But within the last week a new circum stance has occurred, which a little, but not considerably, alters the aspect of the whole affair. After all the complaints we have had of the dilatoriness of the Metropolitan Board, a body of delegates waited, very recently, upon Lord JOHN MANNERS, seriously to urge upon him the uncertainty which surrounds the whole question, and to request— That he will defer giving assent to any plan for the main drainage and sewage interception of the metropolis until full and open inquiry shall have been made—first, into the unitary necessity of the undertaking; secondly, its ade quateness to accomplish the object proposed; thirdly, the sufficiency of the estimates for the whole amount of the work, so that the ratepayers may he acquainted with the total liabilities with which they will thereby be encum bered; and, fourthly, the mode in which it is proposed to raise and pay off the enormous sums that would be ne• cessary. Now, as this deputation was not a con temptible one—comprising, as it did, three members of Parliament and three members of the Metropolitan Board—we think it right to say something of its request; though, coming from any less respectable body, we should have described it as an unmeaning jumble of words. The first and the last part of the petition of these memorialists seem quite unnecessary. Can it be a question, at this time of day, whe ther the Thames needs cleansing? Who can venture on its stream, in one of the innume rable steamboats which now " plough up the mud," without having ocular demonstration of the necessity of immediate reform ? And, as to the adequacy of the estimates, and the mode of raising the money, surely the Metro politan Board, consisting of forty-five men of business, specially selected by the vestries of London for this purpose, may be trusted by those who selected them, both to look well into the estimates, and also to take care, be fore they incur a large expense, that the means of defraying it will be available. The t - wo - chief things which claim Lord JOHN MANNERS'S attention just now, are : I. The adoption of the best plan; and this includes two points of detail. (1.) Is it quite certain that a plan of Thames embankment, leaving all the present sewers as they are, and merely emptying them into tunnels lying on each side of the river, in stead of into the river itself :—is it quite certain that such a plan would be very much more expensive than Mr. BAxALoErre's plan? If not, there is certainly a great deal to be said in its favour. (2.) But, if such a scheme as this be not feasible, then there remains nothing but a simple Ay or No to Mr. BAZALGETTE'S plan— i.e, the plan of the Board. And here, one point only is still contested—namely, the point of outfall. Erith says, Do not bring your sewage here. But Erith is not taxed one single penny for the work; and Erith's fear that the broad river there flowing will be horribly polluted by re ceiving that sewage which at present is de• posited in a stream of one-eighth of the volume, is probably chimerical. At all events, if the Kentish towns claim a voice in the matter, let the Kentish towns offer them selves to bear a portion of the burden. 11. The cost of this great work, and the means of defraying it. We take for granted that the metropolis will be expected to pay for its own drainage. But the late Government, having, to escape the un popularity of laying on new taxes, constituted a new Board, or taxing-machine, which is to find the money, ought not now to leave that Board to provide the funds in a disadvanta geous and costly manner. A new Board, of doubtful permanence, raising iates which may not be peaceably paid, will hardly borrow money on such security, at less than four, or four and a half, or five per cent. Let the Government say, " We will see this work carried out, and we " will guarantee the loan," and the money will be raised at three and a quarter or three and a half per cent. The difference will amount to twenty per cent. of the whole sum. And this difference the Government ought not to throw upon the metropolis, by declining to guarantee such a loan ; which must be raised for a public purpose, and by a Board consti tuted by Parliament; not on the motion of any private person, or single district, but by the will of the Government itself. OUR NORTH AMERICAN COLONIES. EMIGRATION PROSPECTS FOR 1858. Is the present overcrowded state of the labour market, when the minds of all who are in terested in the condition of the working classes are anxiously turned towards the means of lessening the evils which necessarily arise from excessive competition, it becomes of great importance to ascertain how the strength and skill for which there is no em ployment here may be best applied to the development of the resources of our colonial possessions. Really authentic information with regard to emigration is so seldom to be obtained, in consequence of the reckless way in which speculators garble the truth to serve their own pecuniary interests, that we think we shall do a service to all classes of our readers by giving them, from official docu ments, some particulars with reference to the prospects open to emigrants to our North American dependencies during the present year. No part of our colonial empire possesses greater advantages, or seems destined to attain a higher importance in the future, than Canada. Its present territory of 350,000 square miles will ere long be increased by the addition of the Red River and Saskatchewan districts ; and it is not too much to expect that, before many years have past, it will have no western boundary short of the Pacific. In its means of communication this vast tract of country is unrivalled ; two great trunk lines of railway vie with the most magnificent system of natural and artificial water highways in the world, to facilitate intercourse between the various parts of Canada and the sea. The climate is healthy, and the soil prolific— the average yield of wheat exceeding twenty two bushels per acre. And the political in stitutions of the country are on a par with its natural advantages. The connection of Canada with Great Britain secures her against foreign aggression, while all her internal re lations between government and people are those of a distinct and independent nationality. Her own Legislature exercises complete con trol over her internal commerce, laws, muni cipal institutions, taxation, religion, and education. She has an admirable system of common schools, which furnish the means of instruction to all her inhabitants ; in religious matters there is pet feet toleration ; and the only direct taxes which the settler is called upon to pay are those levied for local pur poses, in respect to which he has the right of voting. _ _ The recent selection of Ottawa as the capital of this great colony materially en hances the value of the free grants of land which are obtainable in the neighbourhood of that city. These grants, of 100 acres each, may be had on the following conditions :- 1. That the settler be eighteen years of age. 2. That he take possession of his allotment within one month. 3. That he put twelve acres of land into cultivation within four years. 4. That he Luild a log-house, •?0 by 19 feet, and reside on the land until the above con ditions are fulfilled. 5. Families may reside on a single lot, and the several members having land allotted to them will be exempt from building and resi dence upon each individual lot. Another great advantage which Canada pos• sesses over our other colonies is its proximity to the mother country. In a fortnight, or at most a month, after leaving his native land, the emi- fi.