The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-07 00:00:00

SATURDAY

fled to undertake such a task, and he doubted
the expediency of creating a corporation for the
purpose. The first thing for such a body to do would
be to look out for new sources of supply, and a new
mode of distribution. That in itself would be a heavy
task to cast upon it. He believed that such a body being
pressed by the ratepayers, and divided as they usually
were by different parties amongst themselves, would be
badly adapted to carry out such an important work, and
that great delay would arise in consequence. He was
more convinced of that fact when he saw the effect pro-
duced in respect to such a circumstance in other
countries. Last year the Committee went into this ques-
tion at great length, and it appeared that many towns
had given that power to their corporations. In Edin-
burgh, people were usually most attentive to
and where the corporation had the
their
own
power to govern the water supply, the, notwithstand-
ing, abandoned it altogether in favour of a company.
Now, that was strong evidence that companicia might be
wheinreter theests,
allowed to undertake this task under a proper control.
Whether it be undertaken by companies or municipal
bodies he should be inclined to impose the same con-
ditions upon them—that the water should be approved of
by an inspector; that the mode of distribution should be
by properly-constructed channel-beds; and that the mode
of assessment should be under the control of that House.
He bad seen large filtering reservoirs, at present in use,
which appeared to him to meet the requirements of the
Bill. The question really was, not whether Parliament
should allow municipal bodies to undertake the supply
of water, but whether it would proceed further and pro-
hibit private companies from undertaking it. Now he
(Lord Seymour) was not prepared to adopt that step;
but he was prepared to bring in a Bill to say upon what
condition the supply should be conducted by those pri-
vate companies. The great objection to private compa-
nies was, that they naturally looked to their dividends
and their own interests rather than to the interest of
the public; but he thought that if, inviting the compa-
nies to obtain new Bills, this House took care that in
those Bills proper clauses were introduced to render
them, as he now proposed to do, subject to inspection
and control, there would then be every security that the
public could require, and that so tar as carrying out the
works were concerned, the existing companies would do
so with more efficiency y and economy, and without being
so neueh afraid of incurring a large expenditure of mo-
ney (WW2 them, as municipal corporations would be.
The object of the Bill was in fact directed to the
interests of the consumer. It looked to protect the con-
sumer from a supply of bad water, from an insufficient
supply, and from extravagant charges. With regard to
the mode of charge, he had obtained returns upon that
subject from all the large towns in the country, and he
found that the mode sf charge iee ween teem and `tits
metropolis differed greatly. He found also that the
Lambeth competes, which recently ieirosiuced a system
cf eh- lase upon a new scale, hid deemed it necessary to
abandon that scale and adopt another. On this account
he had not introduced any scale of rains in the Bill, nor
should he do so until further evidence had been fur-
nished upon the subject. He proposed, therefore, when
the Bill came before the Select Committee to take further
evidence upon the question of the mode of rating. There
was one method of supply which had attracted some at-
tention of late, and doubtless if the water could be dis-
tributed at a cheap rate, that plan would be of great ad-
vantage to the public. But he was not possessed of
sufficient information to be certain that the method
referred to, and which was adopted at Croydon, would be
the best for the metropolis. The general character of
the Bill was that of a controlling Bill. It left the sup-
ply of water to private companies; and where they
would not undertake it, to public bodies; but whoever
undertook it, the measure provided that there should be
some inspection on the part of the public, and that
attiount of control which would enable Parliament to
ascertain that the supply was ample in quantity, good
in quality, and cheap to price.
Mr. MOWATT said it was his duty also to rise, and
ask for leave to bring in a Bill having partly the same
object as that of the Noble Lord, to wit, the better sup-
ply of the metropolis with water, and, further, a better
system of drainage. It was needless for him to point
out at length the necessity which existed for some such
measure as the one he desired to introduce. It was
agreed on all hands that very great necessity existed for
an amended system of supply of water for the metropo-
lis, and also an amended system of draining. That was
admitted by every ono. And, indeed, the fact of the
Noble Lord bringing in, as the Government did last
year, a Bill for that express purpose, relieved him to a
great extent from the duty of establishing the proposi-
tion. The essential difference between the Bill of the
Noble Lord and the one he (Mr. Mewett) desired to in-
troduce consisted in this. £he Noble Lord had very
properly characterised his Bill as merely a controlling
and permissive Bill. His (Mr. Mowatt's) provided ex-
pressly the same objects which it was the sntire design
of the Noble Lord to provide for. But after giving no little
attention to the subjectshe said unhesitatingly that this was
not in any waya question for the interference of the Govern-
ment, except so far as it concerned them to extend the
municipal institutions of the metropolis, and enable its
inhabitants to manage the supply of life for themselves.
His (Mr. Mowatt's) Bill was essentially a ratepayer's
Bill—that was to say, that the inhabitants of the metro-
polis who paid for the water, used the water, and were
alone intere.ted in the drainage of the metropolis,
should be the parties to determine the sources of the
supply of water, the system of drainage, and the mode
in which those two services should be managed and con-
ducted; in other worth, that they should have the
management:of their own affairs in their own hands. He
proposed, therefore, to give greater facilities than now
existed to the ratepayers of the metropolis to take thes.,
two matters entirely under their own charge. He would
first divid., the metropolis into seventeen districts, and in
every one of these districts the ratepayers should have
the power to elect district commissi•iiiers for administer-
it g the affairs of the two services, unit-r the direction
and control of a conrral commissioner, in their own so-
p,rate districts; that was to se), Yhat they should he
in ;he p isitien of bodies whoso office it would be to
watch over and protect the local ieteseses o' the in-
habitairs in each of those districts quoad thoi7 two
great services. He proposed that they should issue the
power, in proportion to their numbers and rating, to
elect boards varying in number, but in no case fewer
man nine, in order to ensure the requisite attendance of
members to carry on the district business. In like man-
ner be proposed that the district commissioners should
have the power of electing from their own body a gene-
ral or central commission amounting in the whole to 41.
To that number he proposed] to allow the Government—
should it think tit—to add tour other commissiouers
one to represent the Woods and Forests, inasmuch as
Crown property might be affected by the laying down
of pipes and other works, one to represent the Poor-law
Board, and the remaining two to represent other boards
which were also more especially under Government
control. Thus, the Government would have a voice in
the working of the commission, which, of course, he
proposed should be incorporated for the purposes of the
Bill. To enable the commissioners to raise the neces-
sary amount of money for establishing an entirely new
system of water supply and drainage, and to keep in
effective working order the management of the two ser-
vices—powers would be given in the 13111 to the commis-
rate the
stoners to inhabitants of the metropolis.
Notwithstanding what the Noble Lord bed stated,
it was obvious, he thought, that water was a neces-
sary of life, the supply of which, in a vast metropolis
like this. could hardly be made the legitimate occupation
of a mercantile conspany,_(Hear.) And to him it was
a matter of surprise that the Noble Lord should not
have at once come to the same conclusion, for all expe-
rience ebowed that, however well they might administer
any other service prompted by their own legitimate in-
terests, this was a casein which they could not meet the
wants of the public. e„
support of this conclusion he
would only mention the well-known fact that all the me-
tropolitan water Companies were originally, without a
single exception, created by Parliament upon the express
supposition that it would be for the interest of the public
that there should be a continual competition amongst
themselves for the supply of water. In almost every
one of their Acts the preamble set forth as a condition
to their obtaining
it, that there should be this competi-
tion amongst themselves, and it was assumed, though
evidently without inquiry, that if there were that com-
petition, the interest of the public would be sufficiently
ounsidered thereby, But it had long been found out
that the public had no guarantee or protection whatever
against the acts of the existing water companies,
though he must confess that it was much to the cre-
dit of those great bodies that they, had treated the
public so tenderly and moderately in the matter of
charge as they had
done.—(Loud laughter.) He did not
propose to insert any provision in the Bill with regard to
the source of the water supply, the particular system of
drainage, or the mode in which the sewage should be
disposed of--for the obvious reason, that the commis-
sioners themselves would be the most proper parties to
decide upon these points. In all probability, as soon as
they found themselves installed, one of their first acts
would be to advertise for tenders for the best mode of
supplying water to the metropolis, the best system of
drainage, and the most advantageous and economical
method of disposing of the sewage. The Noble Lord
bad cited some instances of what he termed partial or
entire failures in the supply of water by municipal
bodies in small towns. But in his (Mr. Mowatt's) opi-
nion these were not cases in poite.; for hardly in any
instance were those municipal bodies so free and toifet-
tend Si the commission which he proposed to censti-
tuts under his Bill. With regard to the interests of the
existing water come-1301"o whatever opinion might
be
entertained as to the value of their property, they
would, under the provisions of this Bill, be entitled
to 'the reesei,a, of compensation for any loss they
might Sustain blegislation upon the sub. y yee
Arid to provide the faros which wouhl lie rest baits for
this Purpose, and establishing works, he proposed that
the "omatissionere should have power to rate all pro-
perty in the metropolis at a sum not exceeding Bd. in
the pound in any one year, and to levy a further rate of
4d. in the pound for the current expenses of the two
departments of drainage and sewage. In the whole he
would limit them to a rate not exceeding Is. in the
pound for every branch of expenditure, including com-
pensation to the water companies. That sum alone
would be a great gain to the public, inasmuch as it
was less than the average rating of houses under the
present imperfect system of supply. The value of pro-
perty in the
metropolis rated to the poor wasp pward.s
of 12,000,0001. sterling; and at Bd. in the pnd this
To raise
would return a sum of 400,0001. per annum.
the necessary amount of capital which an entirely It ?ew
system of waterworks and drainage, and conspensi! ion
to the old companies would involve, he proposed to issue
annuities, terminable or otherwise, for 201. per annum,
which, being secured upon the rating of the whole me-
tropolis, would constitute a favourable investment for the
public, and by this means he anticipated the capital
might be raised at about 31. or 41. per cent. The
association with which he (Mr. Mowatt) was acting had
been led to connect the sewage of London with the
supply of water for reasons which would be apparent
to s 11; the two questions wen °l°lelY mixed up one