The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-30 00:00:00

METROPOLITAN COMMISSION OF
SE WERS.

OPENING OF ME NEW COMMISSION.
A special Court of Sewers was held yesterday, at the
Cenrt-house, Greek-street, Soho, for the purpose of
opening the new commission, and making arrangements
for the regulation and management of the business of the

- -- . .
commission.
The members of the commission present were Messrs.
R. Jobb, T. Hawes, L. Redhead, G. S. Smith, J. Hodg-
son, J. Pascall, G. Offer, F. Chalmers, J. Thwaites, and
W. Evans, Sir J. V. Shelley, Dr. Sayer, Dr. Lewis, and
Captain Johnson.
The commission was then read by the secretary, and
The CHAIRMAN proceeded to make some general oh.
servations upon the leading features of the present state
of the commission. He observed that few of the new

commissioners were, perhaps, aware that previously to
the year 1848 London and its neighbouring city was,
with respect to its sewage, governed by seven separate
commissions, and that the jurisdiction of those commis-
sions extended over an area of 200 miles. The commis-

sion just read and every commission since 1848 had been
nearly identical in regard to the extent of the jurisdic-
tion which, under previous commissions, had existed for
upwards ef 300 years. But the limit of 200 miles did
not represent the full extent of her Majesty's powers,
for she was able to extend the power of the commission,
net only over the territory subject to the old separate
commissions, but also over any district which was
within twelve miles of St. Paul's, which would in-
clude an area of 400 miles. That power had not, how-
ever, been acted upon. Again, the commissioners had
in their discretion forborne to act in many of the out-
lying parts of their own jurisdiction, where, if they
pleased, they might have levied rates and have ex-
ercised the powers of drainage. In 1848 the act of
the 11th and 12th of Victoria, ehap. 112, was passed,
which first established the Metropolitan Commission
of Sewers. The first act of that commission was to in-
crease the area of some of the existing districts, and to
form some new districts, the total area of all the districts
being 114 square miles. He wished particularly to draw
attention to the new districts, the state of which would
require attentive consideration, in consequence of the
gross inadequacy of the sewers, and of the amount of
the rates to supply the wants of those districts. A six-
penny rate was altogether inadequate to provide for
what was required. The large area under thejurisdic-
tion of the commission was divided into 25 districts ;
each district was rated separately, and the rates raised
in each were expended solely for that district, and could
not be expended for any other district. On the north
of the Thames the general course of each district was at
right angles with the river. They had been formed
with "reference to the natural fall of the groued. The
drainage of each district might be considered as corn.
1 posing a principal contributory to the Thames, with a
hill ion each side, forming its boundary, the drain or
sewer being in a valley. On the south there was the
areat Surrey and Kent district ; on the south-west there
was one of the newly formed districts—the Wandle dis-
trict ; more westward there was th• Richt-net:el district.
I These districts the commissioners had rated ; but there
were other districts which they never had rated, such a;
Kew, Mortlake, and Putney. It had been, he believed,
the intention of the commission of 1849.50 to rate those
districts, but it was never acted upon. Oa the south-
east was the Revensbourue district, formed also in
1849, and the Greenwich district. Oa the north wer •
Fulham and Haertmersinith, entirely new districts. To
them, and also to Ravensbonrne, would app'y the ob-
servations he had already made as to the inaletpacy of
the rates to provide for all the wants of the district.
The chairman then proceeded to notice the financial
position of the commission. The rate which Parliament
originally empowered the commissioners to levy was is,
in the pound. Two years afterwards the rate was re-
duced to 31. in the pound, and in 1852 it vies raised to Gcl.,
at which it stood at the present time. The commissioners
who had just gone out of office came into office about two
years and four months ago. After carefully examining
the state of the financial accounts, they wore of opinion
that a sixpenny rate would not be sufficient to provide
proper sewage for the different districts; they, therefore,
had felt it their duty to raise in each district the full six-
penny rate, except in the Regent-street and Regent's-
park district, where a rate of fourponce only was levied.
The total amount which had been raised by the late com-
missioners in the two years and four months was
438,0001. A sixpenny rate would realise 216,000/. a
year, over the whole taxable district, with the slight ex-
ceptions he had stated. The next topic to which the
chairman adverted was the nature and extent of the
works which had been executed or undertaken by the
late commissioners. Tho works to which the commis-
sioners felt it their duty to attend were of three kinds—
first, the main drainage works, or what were called the
arterial works. Those were the sewers which wore in-
I tended to convey away the sewage from the Thames.
They were intended to intercept the general sewers which
ran at right angles into the Thames, and, instead of run-
ning north and south, they would carry the sewage from
the intercepted sewers from west to east, about four
miles below Blackwall. That was the first great work
to be accomplished; the second was the formation of the
subsidiary sewers ; and the third, the construction of
the house drainage. Up to the present time it had not
been in the power of the late commission to commence
the main drainage works. The works hitherto put in
hand had been limited entirely to the subsidiary drain-
' age. Everything had been made subordinate to the main
drainage, and no sewer had been constructed which would
not fall in with the main drainage scheme. The total
amount of money expended by the late commission,
,luring two years and four months, on works which
were either executed or now in progress, was 595,0001.
That included 31,000/. for repairs, 43,000/. for cleansing,
50,0001.'f0r pipes, sewers, &c. The total length of the
sewers constructed was about 114 miles ; of that length
92 miles consisted of brick sewers, and the remainder of
pipe sewers of various sizes. In addition to this, a vast
amount of sewerage work had been done by private indi-
viduals, not merely in house drainage, but in subsidiary
drainage ; the expenditure for which was not less than
255,000/., up to the close of the present year. Many of
those private works could not have been constructed if
the works of the commissioners had not formed an out-
let for them. The amount expended on the works ex-
ceeded the receipts from the rates ; but certain sums had
been borrowed by the commissioners to carry out the
works. He would now call the attention of the court to
the main drainage question. In 1849 and 1850 a vast
number of schemes were brought before the commis-
sioners in consequence of invitation by the commission.
The late Mr. Foster, who was employed by the commis-
sioners, was directed to prepare a scheme for the main
drainage of the metropolis. He did so, and his reports
upon the different portions of that drainage, north and
south, were among the papers of the commission. Mr.
Fester estimated the amount of the cost at 1,250,0001.
One of the first labours of the late commissioners was to
reconsider the whole question of the main drainage, and
they referred Mr. Foster's report to their own engineer,
Mr. Bazalgette, in conjunction with Mr. Heyward, con-
nected with the city commission. Those gentlemen
prepared a plan which was afterwards fully considered
by, and received the unqualified approbation of, the
commissioners' consulting engineers, Sir W. Cubitt and
Mr. Stephenson. The late commissioners adopted the
scheme so prepared and approved, and were desirous
of carrying it into effect. The money it would require
to do so was 3,000,000/. [The chairman here explained
the cause of the great difference between the two esti-
mates.] Mr. Foster did not provide for the drainage of
the western section on the north side of the Thames, nor
for compensation to parties whose lands might be inter-
fered with, nor for the purchase of land that might be re-
quired. Those and other items omitted would have tnade a
great difference in the amount of that gentleman's esti-
mate. The difference of the two estimates was, there-
fore, after all, more apparent than real. The report of
Messrs. Bazalgette and Heyward had been printed and
widely circulated, and the commissioners were very de-
sirous it should be well understood by the publio. [The
chairman here referred to a plan lying on the table, and
pointed out to the Court those portions of the main
drainage scheme which demanded their earliest and most
earnest attention.] In reference to the question of con-
verting sewage into manure and making it an article of
sale, the commissioners had thought it right to take ad-
vice upon the matter, and had consulted Mr. Wickstead
on the subject. That gentleman had entirely disposed of
one part of the question—namely, the rendering of tie
sewerage of London available in a liquid state ; for if
the drainage were all upon a level, the first outlay would
be no less than 20,000,000/. And, even if it could be
disposed of in a solid state, that would not dispense with
the necessity of constructing the Hackney-brook sewer ;
nor, if the scheme were considered applicable on the
south side of the river, would it materially interfere
with the design of the main drainage on that side of the
river. The north portion of the work might be more or
less affected by the success of the scheme, but, at all
events, no less a portion than 1,000,000 i. out of the
3,000,0001. of the cost of the main drainage would re-
main unaffected by any plan for converting the sewage
into manure ; the commissioners, therefore, would be
I justified in at once commencing that portion of tho
works which would remain untouched by the success of
Mr. Wiokatead's, or any other person's plan. The late
commissioners made several ineffectual attempts to ob-
tain from Parliament the necessary funds, but circum-
stances prevented the Government from attending to their
demands, at least, to their full extentof 3,000,000/. But in
1853 the commissioners obtained powerto borrow2oo,ooo/.
They were anxious to begin the main drainage works, but,
not having an assurance that moneywould be forthcoming
to enable them to complete those works when once cem-
menced, they came to the conclusion that they would
not be justified in entering upon the main drainage
scheme at all. Having, however, so large a sum in hand,
they devoted 180,000/. thereof to the carrying out of the
subsidiary works, which works were now either com-
pleted or in progress. As to the remaining 20,0001., it
would be for tie new commissioners to decide how it
should be applied. It was true, he considered, they
would be in some degree fettered by what had already
been done; for Parliament had called upon the late com-
missioners to make a return setting forth the way in
which they proposed that that 20,0001. should be appro-
priated. A statement showing the manner in which it
was intended to expend the money had been presented
to Parliament, and to this extent he felt there was a sort
of moral obligation imposed onthe presentcommissioners
i7uo
expiredr,
oe go regard . d
there
drtehseeoxlipsotpoerdzo par i at
.ion o f that sum. He should
have stated that when the old separate commissions
to 100,0b0/.
perm therefore, ; ther permanent debt of between
rowed, the _ , which was afterwards increased
erLaffai
ess
cet t
eas session
furtherstiow
no
loans,sura o fa3mooou, On9to/ .
when the 200,0001. was bor-
roweranwenats
givendebt atemetbuenteeedmutoliss3ioono,eorosot/o.
The cerrunis loners had
and a sum of 10,000/.
wahpipelicationenabled, advancedof
this
sf from
oaciporl.i,-
vate quarter. Astosetdhe
before, the bill pas
the commis-
sioners to borrow it he was requeit'y the Home

Secretary to make a statement of what was proposed to
be accomplished in the course of 12 months, on their
being authorised to raise that money ; he was to state
the extent of the works, the mode in which they were to
be made, and the advantages to result from them ; and
he believed, it was greatly owing to the statement
which he made that the power to borrow the
300,000/. was given. He did not mean to say that any
such communication with the Government could ne-
cessarily fetter this commission, but the view taken
by the late commissioners was that they were morally
bound to fulfil the kind of engagement which was
made as to the application of the money. The decision
to which the late commissioners came as to the applica-
tion of the 300,0001. was what they believed would give
the greatest satisfaction to the public. If they had looked
at the subject in one aspect only, they might have applied
the whole to the formation of the Hackney-brook sewer
the whole way from Hampstead to the river Lea. It
would have just completed that part of the scheme. But
they thought the people on the south of the Thames
would have reason to complain if the whole sum had
been appropriated to the north. They, therefore, ad-
vised that 110,0001. should be applied to the Hackney-
brook hewer, and 190,000/. te the drainage on the south
of the Thames. The 110,0001. would construct a sewer
from the river Lea to Stoke Newington. It would, in
fact, supply the main trunk sewer of the valley of the
Hackney-brook district, and enable the subsidiary
sewers to be formed. It would be a deep-covered sewer.
The work proposed to be done on the south side of
the river was not that which was the most advisable in
an engineering point of view, but perhaps the best under
the circumstances. Such, then, was the present state
of the question with regard to the main drainage, and it
would be for tho Court to consider whether they would
adopt the views of their engineers, approved of as they
had been by their consulting engineers and by the late
commissioners. Probably most of them were acquainted
with Mr. John Rowe, formerly connected with the Fins-
bury Commission, and afterwards with the Metropolitan
Commission, who considered that their scheme might
be materially diminished in cost if certain suggestions
of his were adopted, and he laid before the late commis-
sioners a plan which was to have that effect. But cir-
cumstances prevented the late commissioners from
attending to that suggestion. The plan itself had only
recently come into their hands. It was now before
their consulting engineers, Sir W. Cubitt and Mr.
Stephenson, and the Court right expect to have
their report in a few days. Whether the sugges-
tions it contained would be valuable or feasible ho was
not in a position to say, but they would soon know. He
believed ho had now adverted to all the prominent topics
connected with the commission. He had shown what
was the amount, of their receipts, what the sum in which
they were indebted—being 600,0001., the full extent to
which the commissioners were enabled to borrow by act
of Parliament—and he had also stated what were the
works they were endeavouring to accomplish. He had
little further to add. As to details, they would come
before the Court at different times.
Mr. OFFER—What is the rate of interest you pay far
your borrowed money?
The CHAIRMAN—The interest varies from 41 to 5 per
cent.

Captain JOHNSON expressed his extreme satisfaction at
what hart fallen from the chairman respecting the main
drainage, compared with which all other matters were
of minor importance. He wished to be furnished with
copies of all the reports made by the engineers with re-
ference to that great question, and also for a copy of Mr.
Rowe's report. He thought it would be likewise desir-
able that espies should he supplied of all the general
orders relating to the drainage since the breaking up of
the commission in 1849.
The CHAIRMAN said the engineer's report should be
furnished, but Mr. Rowe's report was as yet only i❑
manuscript. The general regulations would be found
in the blue-books.
Mr. OFFER supposed it would be for the new commis-
sioners to consider whether they were to be the general
orders and roles of the commission or not.
The CHAIRMAN—UntiI they are repealed or altered
they must be the rules of the commission, otherwise the
commission would be at a standstill. Of course. the new
commissioners bad the power to alter or rescind what
orders and rules they pleased.
Mr. OFFER regretted to find that a rate of 61 in the
pound was not sufficient to carry on the local drainage.
lie trusted it would eventually be found an adequate

'barge.
Sir J. Snentuv wished it at once to be understood
that, looking at the importance of the duties they had to
perform, he should he very sorry if it should be supposed
that he came to that Court with his mind made up to op-
pose everything that had hitherto been done. Still, he
should Lel it his duty to make himself fully acquaiiited
with all matters that came before him for decision, and,
if any inconvenience arose from the delay which would
be necessarily occasioned thereby, the blame could not
be considered to attach to him. He had been appointed
to the commission several months ago, and yet those
who were introduced into the commission with him had
only been called upon to attend that Court on almost the
last day of November. He deemed it right at once to say
in reference to the main drainage of the metropolis, that
at the time the 300,0001. was voted there was a distinct
understanding that the amount so raised under the sane-
tion of Parliament was to be wholly expended on the
outfall works of that drainage. It was never contem-
plated that such a sum as that could complete those vast
works. In fact the report of Sir W. Cubitt and Mr.
Stephenson showed that 300,0001. would go a very little
way. But he understood the chairman to say that
110,0001. was to be expended on works at what was
called the Hackney-brook district, which only affected
a small portion of the drainage on the north of the
Thames. That could hardly be called the outfall of the
works north of the Thames. The hon. baronet concluded
by saying that while he shonld on the one hand refrain
from opposing everything that bad been dune by the late
commission, still, on the other band, he should require
to have his mind fully informed upon every subject
which he might be called upon to sanction.
The CHAIRMAN could not conceive that any commis-
sioner would comeand in a blindfold manner approve of
all that might have hitherto been done. Of ct urse they
must examine into every question, therefore any delay
that might occur would bo inevitable. He was happy
to find that the hon. baronet approved of the whole of
the 300,0001. being applied to the main drainage. It
would be so applied ; for, although 110,0001. would be
laid out on works in the Hackney-brook district alone,
it was not with the view principally of benefitting that
district that it was proposed that the money should be
so expended, for, if the commissioners had now the whole
800,000/. in their hands, that would be the proper mode
in which to apply it. The locality lay high, and the
works ought naturally to commence in the highest por-
tion of the area where they were to be constructed.
Dr. Siren, referring to the non-success of all preced-
ing commissions, said that the real cause of their failure
was to be found in the acts of Parliament which consti-
tuted the commissions. It was well that the old sepa-
rate commissions should be superseded ; they had the
representative principle, but no unity of action. But
what had the acts of Parliament done t They gave unity
of action, but no representative principle, and so long as
the representative principle was denied to that board
they would not be able to do more than their predeces-
sors had done. With respect to the formation of this
commission, he was himself nominated en the 21st of
July, 1854, and the commissions had not been called
into action till four months afterwards ; and, according
to the live continuation act, their powers would neces-
sarily expire on the 31st of August next ; thus the com-
mission would only have eight months' vitality, There
was no act of Parliament by which they had any reA
legal existence. There was nothing more to authorise
their acting than the kind permission of the Secretary of
State for the Home Department. Were they to be a
transition commission ? or were they to form an experi-
mental commission ! With the limited powers and
means they possessed, the public must not expect from
that new commission more than they had received from
any previous commission. In reference to the conver-
sion of sewage into an article of manure, he thought it
would be quite practicable at the great outlets. The
thing had succeeded in Paris, and he saw no reason why
it should not be successful here.
Mr. THWAITEH was of opinion that the first act of the
new commission should be to make themselves masters
of their finances. He therefore moved, "That the secre-
tary do prepare and lay before the court a detailed state-
ment of the liabilities and resources of the commission,
setting out the date, the amount, and the time for the
completion of all contracts, and the payment, if any,
made on account thereof."
Mr. Wain seconded the motion, which, after a few
remarks from the chairman, was agreed to.
It was then ordered that a communication be made to
the Lord Mayer, Aldermen, and Commons of the city of
London as to the opening of the commission.
A long discussion ensued as to the day and time for the
court holding its meetings, when it was agreed that for
the present the court should meet on Tuesdays at 12.
The usual routine business was then disposed of, and
' the court adjourned.
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