The Sun.
London, England, 1825-03-10 00:00:00

THAMES QUAY. BILL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

•
y AM directed by the COMMITTEE ap-
pointed by the OWNERS and OCCUPIERS of
WHARFS and PREMISES on the NORTH BANK of the•
THAMES to request your insertion of the following Obser-
vations on the intended measure.

I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
THOMAS CLARKE, Secretary.
43, Craven-street, Strand, March 9, 1825.

OBSERVATIONS on the Proposed TERRACE on the
THAMES, called by•the Projectors "THE THAMES
QUAY ;" hut that accurate expositor of the English Lan-
guage, Dr. Johnson, tells us that a QUAY means " an arti,
ficial Bank to the Sea or River on which Goods are conve-
niently unladen." The proposed speculation is any thing
ebut convenient, it is the most tremendous sacrifice of the Us-

fill to the Ornamental that has ever. been, imagined.
We, the Owners and Occupiers of Wharfs and Warehouses
on the North Bank of the. Thames, having seen a Paper parer
porting to be a proposal from a.Lieutenant-Colonel Trench, to
build a Terrace along the said Bank from Bridge to Bridge,
beg leave to submit the grounds on which 'we are satisfied that
the plan is at once publicly and privately injurious, utterly
destitute of all supposed advantages of profit or ornament, and
in the strongest degree undeserving of public patronage.
To give the fairest view of the case, we quote the leading
points of Lieut.-Colonel Trench's proposals, in Italies, follow-
ing them by our own observations m the briefest manner pos-
sible, and stating nothing but pure facts. •
Let us not be supposed to mean any thing personally uncivil
to Colonel Trench ; we cannot suppose that, if he were aware
of the incalculable injury the adoption of his plan would do to
priVate property and public convenience, that he would press
it ; but we must be excused if we say, that that Gentleman ap-
pears to he better qualified to draw beautiful plans than accu-
rate conclusions; as will appear from an inspection of his de-
sign, and a perusal of his statement. To avoid every thing,
however, which may appear calculated to excite any unplea-
sant feeling, we will consider this plan as the plan of the Com-
pany, without reference,to any individual.
hi, "A Terrace qf ICO or 80 feet wide, and 25 feet high, is
to be projected into the River, closing in the present Wharfs,
Warehouses, fc.; and the present receptacles for Barges are
to be commuted for a Dock between the Terrace and the Bank."
On this we ask, does not the Ricier answer all the natural
purposes of navigation in the centre of a great commercial city,
and carry all the Merchandise, Coal, and Canal Trade, that is
required ? It has an easy current, anti a safe shore ; it conveys
the vessels to the door of the warehouses, spread along its whole
course ; its navigation is conducted with less hazard, and with
more general mercantile convenience, than that of any other
great River in the world ; and in its present open and free state,
the Thames may be termed, ." The Lungs and Heart of the
City of London."
This Terrace must be as high as Waterloo Bridge, on which
the first division of it ends-:-and therefore, instead of 25 it must
be 35 feet bight—that is at least eight, and in several of the
Streets from the Strand 14 feet higher than the pavement, con-
Sequently, the ventilation which those streets (containing about
270 houses) at present receive and give to.the Strand an 4 Fieet-
street (containing near 700 houses) from the currents of fresh
air brought up each tide of the Thames—will be shut out by a
wall from eight to fourteen feet in height—and the people can
only see the River by paying toll to the projectors of " tile
'Terrace on the Thames."

The Projectors demand of Parliament to take away the Pro-
perty on the Thames bank, from -the ancient and legal Pro-
prietors, without their consent,. and vest it in them fof their
own private advantage—under the plausible pretence, that they
will improve the Navigation of the River—how can the sate,
free, and convenient access to the Banks of the Thames he ilia_
proved by enclosing them, and rendering them Inaccessible ! ! !
Such enclosure will not only greatly diminish the tVater-roour,
hut will destroy the Wharfs almost entirely.
If the Arches supporting the Terrace were all open, and as
witk as those of Waterloo Bridge, and the 'Terrace projected
into the River beyond the Wharfs, the evil would be very
great ; as it is proposed, it is absolute annihilation.
" Sovec qfthe Arches on which this Terrace is built will be
appropriated as Stores, or as Offices, Stables," c.
Will any man trust his health, or even his horse, in a cavern
in the very bed of the Thames ?
_ .

" The principle of the proposed project is to interfere with
Private Property as little as possible."
It interferes with private property in every foot of its extent,
and that, too, a property most important to the public—the
supply of merchandise, provisions, goods, &c.
The Terrace runs along the front of all the Buildings anti
Wharfs.—the effect will be that of confining and darkening
them in all instances, converting the Coal Nl'llarfs into Coal
Cellars, and, in the great majority, extinguishing the Wharfs
altogether ! And for this manifest and extensive mischiefthere
is to be no compensation, on the plea that the bed of all rivers
belongs to the Crown ! that it is considered as the King's
Highway !—if it is esteemed the King's Highway, it is so
no otherwise than in trust for the useful- and inoffensive pur-
poses which it has been appropriated to for Centuries past
" As to the private Individuals Cfr.:r objections and difficul-
ties appeal to be obviated."
The direct contrary is the case.—as we prove by the an-
nexed Copy of the Signatures of more than nine-tenths of the
Wharfingers and tenants in the First and Second Divisions—
and many of those in the Third Division.
And to the Company's statement, that they have satisfied the
objections of the individuals residing at the opposite extremities
of the First Division of the proposed Terrace, we reply simply
by pointing their attention to their signatures at the bottom of
this paper ! !
To say that the Proprietors have been satisfied is an extreme
misconception. How is it possible that they should see this
giddy and ignorant intrusion without a determination to expose
and resist it ? But the immediate Proprietors on the River are
not the only persons interested. .
Such is the feverish delicacy of property, that the laying of
the first stone of these short cuts, will lower the value of every
tenement, of every part of ground, and of every Shopkeeper's
business, from Charing-cross to Cornhill !
As to the opinion of the non-commercial inhabitants, we shall
merely state, that the Terrace was originally to have included
that part of the River, near Whitehall ; but from Whitehall it
was driven by the direct opposition of the Inhabitants.
It war then to fix itself at the end of Whitehall Place; but
from this, too, it was driven.
It was then to start from Charing Cross;—then from Nor-
thumbetland-street ;—and in every instance has met with the
most marked disapprobation of both the Tenants and the
Landlords.

The changes in the detail of this fanciful and extravagant
plan have been as various as those in the position.
The Public may feel some surprise at the list of Persons of
Rank and Character who have permitted their names to appear
as.promoters of this scheme ; but it is to he presumed that those
honourable Persons took all the suggestions of the Projector for
Facts.

It is to be further remarked, that not one of the honourable
Persons whose names appear as supporters of the measure, Pos-
sess any property on the River's Bank ' • while the subjoined
list contains not a single name but of an Owner and Occupier,
and contains nearly the whole of the names of those whom the
Committee have had an opportunity of consulting on the subject.
.