The Sun.
London, England, 1849-09-22 00:00:00

0:4/ ettilltox 'l°Hit

LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1849,

It is of the utmost importance to the health and
well-being of every inhabitant of the metropolis that
the system of sewerage and draining, to be for the
future adopted, should be as perfect as possible ; and
no system of sewerage can be considered as perfect
which does not preserve the Thames from pollution.
We, therefore, trust that in the proposed system of
sewerage for Richmond care will be taken that
the Thames shall not be made the receptacle of the
filth and refuse of that town and its neighbourhood.
The Board of Health have warned the public, over
and over again, of the danger arising from open
drains, and, under the present system, the Thames is
made the vast open drain for the whole of the metro-
lis ; and it is worthy of remark, that the recent in-
crease of cholera, in the metropolitan parishes bor-
dering on the Thames, has been contemporaneous
with the flushing of the sewers in the snore
inland and elevated districts. We would,
therefore, earnestly impress upon the autho-
rities the necessity of devising some plan which
shall save for the future the Thames from pollution,
and restoring to us our fine river in its pristine
purity, make it that which GOD intended it should
be, the source of health to those inhabiting its banks,
and not what man has made it, the prolific parent of
deadly disease. But while we would have the
Thames preserved pure, in order that the air which
we breathe may be preserved pure also, we would
equally protest against the adoption of any other
method for the disposal of the sewage which
should have the effect of rendering the air
impure. Some persons have proposed that the
sewage in its fermenting and corrupting and
stinking state should be taken at once from the
sewers, without being subjected to any disinfect
ing proseis, and spread over the fields as manure,
With the example of Edinburgh before us, we
'cannot but fear that this plan, however bene
ficial to the fields and gardens, would, so far
as the persons inhabiting
the neighbourhood se
those fields and gardens are concerned, be neither
more nor less than sowing the seeds of disease broad
cast. If the evaporation from the surface of a cess
pool five feet in diameter is sufficient to infect witl
cholera or fever all the inhabitants of the block o
houses in the neighbourhood of which such cesspoo
is situated, what must be the effect produced by at
evaporation of ce,spool fluid from a surface of several
hundred acres in extent ? But we need not theorist
on the subject, the experiment of " fetid irrigation'
has been largely tried in the neighbourhood of Edin
burgh, and %%rah the best effects, so far as an increa-t
in the agricultural production or Liiv
. with anything but be
neficial effects as regards the public health of the
neighbourhood. Dr. ALISON, Mr. LISTON, and other
celebrated medical men, have published their opinion>
as to the deleterious effects produced by the exhale.
tions from lands thus irrigated on the public health
" The atmosphere," says Dr. ALISON, " over and
around the irrigated lands in the neighbourhood, when
loaded with noxious emanations, is known to produce,
even by very temporary action, immediate deviations
from health ;" and the late Mr. LISTON declared that he
had been long convinced that the irrigation of the loss
grounds and meadows -around Edinburgh was a
fruitful source of fevers and various kinds of typhus.
The Piers-hill Barracks are situated in the immediate
neighbourhood of these irrigated lands, and at the
time of the first appearance of cholera in this country
Dr. Bannow, then surgeon of the 31 Dragooi
Guards, stationed at Piers-hill Barracks, mad,
the following official report on the sub.
ject to Sir JAMES INI`GREGOR ; the report
is dated 6th December, 1831. In this report
Dr. I3ARLow says, "At this period when so must
alarm exists on the subject of cholera, and when hi?
AIAJESTY'S Government are enforcing so strongly all
th 3 means calculated to prevent its appearance, or to
diminish its malignity, I feel it my duty as surgeon
of the regiment now occupying Piers Hill Barracks,
to call your attention to a public nuisance of a mos
extensive kind, which exists in the immediate vicinity
of the barracks. It is an accumulation of every specie-
of filth from the common sewers of Edinburgh, and
spread out artificially so as to cover a surface o
several hundred acres." " The situation of the bar-
racks," continue. Dr. BARLOW, "is healthy,"and then
as proof of the deleterious effects of the exhala-
tions from the fermenting sewage, he re-
lates the following fact :—" A messman of
the 7th Dragoon Guards alleges that he has found
from observation and experience that the butcher'?
meat which he provides for the mess becomes vent
soon tainted at Piers hill, much sooner than in any-
other place with the same temperature. So convinced
is he that his inference is well founded, that he has
hired a room in Edinburgh where he preserves his
meat until it be ready for dressing." We think that
the result of the experiment in Edinburgh proves that
it would be by no means proper to spread sewage
refuse over a large surface in the neighbourhood of
populous districts without such sewage having
been previously disinfected. The public attention
having, by the ravages of the prevailing epi-
demic, been effectually roused to the im-
portance of the subject of drainage, it is the
duty of the authorities to take advantage of that
circumstance to secure for the inhabitants of the
metropolis as perfect a system of drainage as human
ingenuity can devise; the first object to be re-
garded in such a system is the preservation of the
public health, and therefore no system which pollutes
either the water we drink or the air we breathe can
be considered as perfect.

Among the many imposts levied upon the British
nation, there is perhaps none more unequal in opera-
tion, or more unprofitable to the Exchequer, consi-
dering the amount of property upon which it is
chargeable, than the land tax. If fairly and equit-
ably assessed, according to the intention of the Le-
gislature by which it was first granted, it would
now produce nearly 20,000,000/. sterling, sufficient
to defray the expenses of our naval
military, and
ordnance thpartments, and of the entire civil overn-
ment of the country. Owinm g to the grossg mis-
manageent that has taken
place, and the unwise
and impolitic provision which enabled parties
charge:ll)le therewith to redeem the liability for a
mere trifle, the amount pad into the Exchequer is
lees than 1,200,000/. terling, or abut six per cent.
of what ought to h© the real produce of the tax.
Nothing could be sounder in principle than the land.
tax on its original creation. It was in fact to all intents
and purposes a property tax in its most unobjectionable
intended
to and there can be no doubt that it was
to be levied on personal as well as real property. It
was desired that every man should contribute to the
national Exchequer in proportion to his means. But
there was at that period but little personal property,
gad that could h 4tJily conceal 4 ci uiaJ away wich)

Elsewhere in our columns will be found a commu.
cation addressed to ourselves by a very afflicted
4-entleman, the father of the unfortunate Lieutenant
GRAHAM. Every one, we are satisfied, who has
become acquainted with the particulars relating to the
Childers and its recent Commander will peruse with
-he deepest interest, and with the most genuine
-motion, the remarks contained in this interesting
tocument. In the course of a postscript, which we
tbstain from publishing, our correspondent (whose
affliction, although the writer is an entire stranger to
ourselves, has excited our profoundest sympathy)
,bserves that his son, now incarcerated in Exeter
county gaol, is " treated as a felon, and fed as a felon,"
exclaiming, in a kind of incredulous indignation,
Do I live in England, or in Algeria ?" So long
As justice remains unsatisfied, in reference to
Mr. PITMAN and Lieutenant GRAHAM, we
shall not cease to comment upon the cruelty of
,he whole proceeding towards the latter, and towards
Mr. ELLIOTT, his companion in misfortune. It will
afford us, moreover, unalloyed gratification to forward
the production of a memorial addressed to her Most
Gracious MAJESTY, who is ever the willing source
of consolation to the unfortunate. Such a memorial
from the People to the SOVEREIGN is, we maintain,
seriously called for at the present moment, not only
to mitigate the excessive punishment imposed
upon these two young officers, the victims of atrocious
tyranny and lamentable vindictiveness, but is essen-
tial, also, as the readiest means of bringing down
destruction on the existing system of naval and m
tary courts-martial.

HER MAJESTY'S DEPARTURE FROM SCOTLAND...-.
Tho royal train is ordered to consist of seven carriages,
and her Majesty will either occupy the same carriage in
which she travelled from Glasgow to Perth, or the sa-
loon carriage belonging to the London and North-
Western, which then accompanied her, and now, we
believe, awaits her at Perth. An engine belonging to
the Edinburgh and Glasgow line will, as a matter of
course, be attached to the train at Greenhill, and an en-
gine of the North-British at the station here. Tho dis
tance from Perth to Edinburgh by this route is 7i miles,
which will likely be acc:;mplished in little more than two
hours. No furtlarr communication has as yet been re-
ceived here from Balmoral as to her Majesty's passing
through Edinburgh, and no steps have teen taken by
any public bodies to demonstrate their loyalty, by their
preaence on the platform or otherwise, till her Majesty's
a ishes be ascertained.—.-Catedohian Mercury.
COLOSSEUM AND CYCLORAIVA.—At this season per-
haps no exhibition in London affords such a varied treat
as this magnificent establishment. Tho Cyclorama of
exhibLisbon, and the Earthquake, is the most extraordinary
ition of a scenic nature ever attempted—it is
unique. The Panorama of Paris by Night, the Grand
Saloon of Sculpture,;the Swiss Cottage, and real Moan-
Ttt ahhianet 'mt.lh' ouersriFiitts,o
r&e
ece .wa
a&oncfo.lthlboaarttmhe
hespudecerhliiogarhsteerdiews
ioathfs.
a attractions, raction s,
ahffeursdeesa
great additional source o.
f hmusement. class,

* " Suggestions for a General Equalization of the Land
Tax and the Abolition of the Income and Real Property
Taxes, and the Malt Duty." By Samuel Mil'er, Etch
BArrister•at-Law. London. B. Sweet, Chumplaue.
1846, Pp. 34.