The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-15 00:00:00

NEATEN

Tll3 SOLICITOR-GENERAL observed that the main-
tenance in India of a number of nominal Sovereigns was
an admitted evil, and their abolition was beneficial to the
people of India, and did harm or injury to no human being.
Then were we, notwithstanning, bound to perpetuate the
evil ? It was said that we were bound by the treaty of
1801. He contended that the terms of the treaty bore no
such construction ; that it was not the intention of the
treaty ; on the contrary, that it was framed expressly for
the purpose of excluding the possibility of such an inter-
pretation. He proceeded to show that there had been a
clear case of treachery on the part of the Nawabs of the Car-
natio ; that a correspondence of a treasonable character be-
tween Wallajah and Omdut-ul-Omrah. and Tirpoo Sultan
had been discovered which gave us the right and the power
to depose the Nawab. He explained the grounds of the treaty
of 1801, which was a personal treaty, under which it was in-
tended that the then Nawab, Azeem-ul-Dowlah, should
hold the title by permission of the East ludia Company,
and not by hereditary right, which could be claimed
neither by the letter or spirit of the treaty, nor by the in-
tention of its framers. He insisted that the house could
decide upon the case, and that nothing but evil could result
from the appointment of a committee.
Mr. HENNESSY observed that only inquiry was asked
for, and he was surprised that the Government resisted it.
Mr. DUNLOP thought it was a case for inquiry.

Mr. 11. SEYMOUR opposed the motion. He thought
that neither on legal grounds nor upon the ground of ex-
pediency could the motion for an inquiry by a committee
be maintained. At the same time, the East India-office
should, in his opinion, take the case of this unfortunate
family into consideration.
After a few words from Mr. Ixolum,

Sir C. WOOD justified the policy and justice of the
course which had been taken in the case of the Carnatic
family upon public as well as special grounds, and insisted
that it had been attended with no breach of faith. He gave
a short history of the transactions which resulted in the
treaty of 1801, and an explanation of its object, which was,
after the Carnatic had been forfeited by the family, to give
to the then Nawab Azeem-ul-Dowlah the title for life only,
the words " him and his heirs," and all terms implying
perpetuity, being intentionally omitted. He cited the
opinions of Indian statesmen and other authorities adverse
to any claim of hereditary right in his descendants.
The discussion was continued by Colonel Dicxsox and
Colonel SYKES.

Upon a division, the motion was negatived by 53 to 38.
The house then adjourned.

The State of,the Thames.

The following is a copy of the report of Mr. S.
W.Leach, engineer to the Conservators of the River
Thames, upon the present condition of the works
in the upper districts of that river :

"TO 'rim HoN. THE CONSERVATORS OF TILE RIvER THAMES.

" My Lord Mayor and Gentlemen,—ln conformity with
y:ur directions that I should report upon the present con-
dition of the works in the upper districts of the River
Thames, I have the honour to state that, in order to enable
me to do so, I visited on the 20th and 21st inst. that part of
the river which lies between Oxford and Maidenhead. The
remainder of the distance to Staines I have so recently had
an opportunity of examining that I did not deem it needful
to go over it again. The portion of the river beyond the
jurisdiction of the Conservators of the River Thames ex-
tends from Cricklade, in the county of Wilts, to Staines,
being about 152 miles in length. It becomes navigable at
Lechlade, whey) it unites with the Thames and Severn
Canal, thus communicating with the River Severn. I did
not visit this district, extending down as far as Oxford, and
being in length about 36 miles. I understood on inquiry
that it was scarcely used for large traffic, and the appliances
for the purposes of rendering it navigable are of so rude
and antiquated a character as to be practically almost use-
less.
miles,there
Betweenlocksand
e Oxford and S t a
weirsines.
In
, a
o f about
areB 0
several
beauty
of widetheir
e iandr a
ude deep
yr et abcahne satinot i
rless
yremarkableo
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ur
atv
ih. e-
gation. Indeed, had the locks been constructed at a
sufficiently low level to allow deeply-laden
adhad some
barges to use
them during summer low water, and - few
e
shal-
lows been removed by dredging, there is every reasontobelieve that, instead of its being what it now is, nearly
abandoned navigation, an active trade would h a
have
maintained. As a result of the low of the traffic, and the
been
consequent failure of the needful funds for repairs, the
locks are falling into a most dilapidated condition, not one
of the whole number being in a satisfactory state : many of
them, indeed, are dangerously out of order. I have found
by experience that it is hazardous to predict the failure of
dilapidated structures, for they often endure long after their
destruction seems inevitable ; but there are some of these
Jocks apparently so completely out of order that it is diffi-
cult to conceive that they can by possibility last much
longer. It is clear that the giving way of one single lock
would put an end to the traffic on the part of the river
where it might happen, and that such au occurrence is
imminent in several instances I do not hesitate to assert.
If I might single out one lock more than another where this
danger threatens, I should name Bell Weir Lock, the first
ahove Staines,and through which the largest amount of barge
traffic passes. There are several of the others which might
fairly be described as equally insecure and equally likely to
produce the same disastrous result to the navigation. A
cardinal defect in nearly all these locks is the inadequate
depth on the lower sills. Several were pointed out to me
where that depth was less than three feet. A profitable
cargo cannot be carried in a vessel whose draught is suffi-
ciently light to enable it to pass such an obstacle, and it is
this defect which has tended very greatly to the destruction
of the trade on the river. So far has this destruction gone
that at many of the locks, especially between Abingdon and
Reading, I was told that sometimes for a week together not
a single barge passed through. At almost each of the locks
between
puwerfor Oxford and Maidenhead there is a water-mill, the
dtr:iveinwgeiwr hatictahcbiseddetrioveeadcbfrlookmot.hlef htheaedlooefkwwaetreer
held up by
power of the mill wouldn cabesegsonsee, e
to fail, which in ma
remedy the defect by damming unless the thienemintiletrhwe ewr
ea t
tor
or
up the look. This process

would be, however, the stoppage of a public highway. It
is one among, perhaps, many of the difficulties which
would arise out of the failure of these works. It is not
unworthy also of remark that those beautiful reaches for
which this part of the Thames is noted owe not a little of
their attractiveness to the fulness of their stream being
maintained by the weirs, to which the locks are an essential
adjunct. Newnham, Basildon, Cliefdon, and other spots
would have their beauty sadly marred by the river being
reduced as it would be to a streamlet. I have already men-
tioned that at each lock is a weir, constructed for the pur-
pose of holding up a head of water, and so giving an artifi-
cial depth to enable barges to pass over the shallows, which
would otherwise obstruct their progress. My attentionwas
particularly attracted to the insufficiency of the provision
made at almost all of these weirs for the escape of the land
floods. I regard this as a most important defect. Generally
speaking, the capacity of the river appears ample to carry off
all ordinary land floods, but the weirs have been, most of
them, so constructed as to offer great impediments to the
escape of flood waters, and they have been and are the
means of inflicting very much injury on the low-lying dis-
tricts within their influence. When it is considered how
great is the length of the river (152 miles) subject to the
action of these weirs, it will be perceived how important is
the defect I have pointed out. Among other evils which are
now attracting attention in the part of the river under con-
sideration is the extraordinary and luxuriant growth of
weeds which has occurred on the decline of the barge
traffic. The passage of the barges and the dragging along
of the towing lines kept the weeds effectually in check.
This influence being no longer in existence, in some pecu
liar localities the weeds have attained so rank a growth as
to cover the whole bed and surface of the river. It is by
no means impossible that if this growth is allowed to con-
tinue unchecked it may lead to the silting up of channels
which it is important should be kept open for the drainage
of the country. A grievance which has been and still is
the cause of much complaint from bargemen is the charge
made for what is known as the " old lock tolls." This
charge is made for locks which have ceased to exist for
very many years, and the barge owners not unreason-
ably complain of having to pay a toll from which they
derive no benefit. If means could be adopted to arrest
the destruction which seems to impend over this
navigation, and to restore the works to a state of efficiency,
it might be well worth consideration whether in some cases
one lock might not be substituted for two, and thus future
expense of maintenance be saved as well as existing im-
pediments removed. There are instances in which this plan
might very probably be adopted with advantage, but further
information on the point would be needed before it could
be recommended with absolute certainty. This idea leads
me to point out the want which exists of a proper map of
the part of the river under consideration, accompanied by
longitudinal and cross sections, which would give the infor-
mation which is much needed in dealing with the question.
Registers of the daily height of the water and the rise of
floods ought also to be kept, in order to supply the data to
determine on any alteration which may hereafter be deemed
desirable. I have confined my remarks to defects in the
works which have presented themselves to my notice, and
have not entered upon the questions of the policy or the
means of maintaining the navigation. They are matters
which would require more comprehensive investigation than
I have considered it within my province to pursue.—l
have, &c., "S. W. LEACH, Engineer to the

"July 23, 1864." Conservators of the River Thames.

City Sewers Commission.

_._

Yesterday, at 12 o'clock, a meeting of the Commissioners
of Sewers of the City was held at Guildhall, under the
presidency-of H. De Jersey, Esq., Deputy and Under-Sheriff.
Among the commissioners present we noticed—Alderman
and Sheriff Besley, Alderman Stone, Deputy Bone, Deputy
Bower, Deputy Reed, Deputy White, Deputy Farrer, Deputy
Lott, Messrs. George Walter, J. Thomas, Cos, Ellis, Gower,
Chaplin, Straker, Banning, Israel, J. T. Young, &c.