The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-25 00:00:00

N ENV SPA? ra
relerie:W e •
•tesee-.;. sereee.:l-,:f*Xet
TH D p, OF LO
(17;•oia ace Times.).
The drainage' of London ought certain Kfro
effected completely at last. Never has a woW. been
ithe subject of longer and freer discussion for
ybars sanitary reformers, architectural and artistic
projectors, have made it a principal feature in all
plans. What was the use.of well-built houseeS: if a
huge cesspool kept them unhealthy ? Wh at was
the use of landsomit thoroughfares if the great
thoroughfare of all was 'a-diTch of liquid mud, bor-
dered with unsightly warehouses and crazy piers,
and overhung perpetually by a black cloud of
smoke from the chimneys of Lambeth and Roth.er-
hithe ? The Metropolitan Board of Works was,
constituted principally to deal with this great ques-
tion, and for more than a year past whatever assi-
duity it has shown has been devoted to the task.
We have had plans that were insufficient, and
plans that were inadreiss;ble. One project has
been summarily rejected by the Chief Commis-
sioner, and another has met the violent though
natural opposition (.f the dwellers on the Kentish
bank of the stream. The latest stage of the busi-
ness is that which is explained in the interview
between the deputation of the Board and Sir B.
Hall on Monday last.
It will be remembered that the first plan failed
to fulfil the conditions prescribed by the Legislature
—namely, that the sewage should be carried to a
point from which the flow of the tide would not
bring it back within the metropolitan area. By the
amended plan it was proposed to discharge it so
near to the pleasant little settlement of Erith that
the inhabitants, headed by Sir C. Eardley, carried
their remonstrances to the Chief Commissioner.
The result of these discussions was, of course, to
raise the question whether the sewage might not
advantageously be carried to the mouth of the rivers
or even along the Essex Marshes to a distinct-point
on the coast. However, the Board has not felt
it expedient to recommend so gigantic an en-
terprise. Captain Burstal, the Government engi-
neer, made a short time since certain suggestions
to the Board, and these it was determined to
adopt. Mr. Thwaites accordingly brought up on
Monday the new plan. The outfalls are to be 15
miles below --endon-bridge. At this point the
river is still of-iiVieyate width and depth, and the
right bank is studded with a sucoessiou of villages *
for many miles below. Even Gravesend will ndt
be beyond the unhealthy and unpleasant influences
of such a scheme. The whole of the sewage, which
is now discharged along a distance of many miles
between Hammersmith and Woolwich, will be
poured out at a single spot. When we reflect on the
state of the river between the bridges, its colour,
its consistency, how offensive it is at all times, how
absolutely sickening at low water and during the
summer months, we may judge of the prospects of
the people living at the terminus of the main drain,
15 miles below London. The filth of 3,000,000
people is now distributed along some 10 or 12 miles
of river, and at any point the effluvia are shocking,
and the water is foul to the last degree ; we may
therefore naturally conclude that to discharge the
whole of this at one spot is simply to work at the
formation of a shoal or bar of ordure, which will
make the neighbourhood uninhabitable, and the
very passing up or down the river a service of dan-
ger. In fact, it seemed to be felt, both by the Com-
missioner and the deputation, that the discharge
sewage into the bed of the river
owfatshae
rnereinterodpyo ,alstas bad as the actual evil. The
Beard of Works recommended the plan because it
fulfilled what was required—it actually drained
London. It recommended nothing further, because
it shrank from incurring great responsibility and
expense.
the Legislature fal
intended s ;
The 15 miles
ebelow-bridgefaiat
teffectsth the
sea would effect it more completely, and obviate
°litithe destruction of the intervening villages, but the
'cost, it is well known, will be enormous, and some
higher power must therefore intervene and autho-
rise the expenditure.
This being the state of things, Sir Benjamin
Hall again resolves on rec nisideration. He reminds
the deputation that Captain Borstal did not re-
commend an outfall of 15 miles below London-
bridge, but merely declared that this would be the
nearest point at which by any possibility the out-
f dls could he made in compliance with the provi-
sions of the statute. The plan, therefore, com-
plies with the provisions of the act, but it does not
follow that it cannot be improved. "1 think it
extremely desirable," says the 0 lief Cemneissioner,
"that in a work of this enormous magnitude we
should have the very best advice and counsel that
can be procured." His scheme is to refer the last
plan of the Beard, together with all that preceded
it, to three engineers, one military, and two civil,
who will report on the subject. generally. As these
gentlemen need adopt no particular plan, but may
combine the features of any or all, or devise a new
schenieeoftheir own, it is evident, that practically
the matte is taken out of the hands of the Board
;altogether. The three referees, who, we are as-
sured, will be men of the highest reputation, will
no doubt agree on a plan, which may be widely
different from that of the official engineer, but
which, whether it agree or differ, will no doubt be
accepted by the Board of Works. _ _

It must be plain from these facts that the drain-
age ,1 a_.ondon is, after all, about to be decided upon
by Parliament, and by no other body. The assem-
bly over which Mr. Thwaites presides is not strong
enough for the work. The enterprise grows in im-
portance the more it is contemplated, and is so great
a national question as to demand the assent of the
Legislature to every detail. The Board cannot
borrow the inoney for this immense project with-
out the assistance of Government, Government
cannot give its assistance without the sanction of
Parliament, "and I am quite sure," says Sir B.
Hall, "that Parliament will desire, before any
such sanction is given, that the whole question shall
be considered in the manner I have now sketched
out :" that is, by the Government referring the
whole matter to en gingers appointed by itself, and,
in fact, acting practically as if the Metropolitan
Board of Works had never come into existence.
The whole of this affair gives us a proof of the om-
nipotence of Parliament, and how impossible it is
for any delegated assembly to breathe the same air
as the great council of the nation. Some people
have complained, perhaps with reason, that the
House of Commons is occupied too much with de-
tails, anti it has been suggested that local and pri-
vate bills should be decided ou by inferior legis-
latures, bearing to Parliament the same relation
that the State Legislatures of America bear to
i cannot teatdee
decid©,
idte, mayana deliberateul
u tAi
leas
exe-
cute aud.
Con-
gress. The present case is a practical answer to
such a project. We find that a secondary assembly
cannot
nialiellold ldl(ti' hat, its
but o
at whatever cost of tim
under the
e or trouble,
every question of importanc© must come
immediate examination of the House of Commons.
it:, nsget sewage
aagg ee of Sir
cannot B.
be
the House of Commons, therefore, we look
of
for the long delayed solution this difficulty.
it is easy to see
that the engineers he speaks of will be asked to say
Fwhroemthetrheoll
enal
carried
l to a point on
or near the ocean, anti to report what will be the
cost of such extended works• It is evident that the
question of expense'
must be foremost in the inquiry.
Thus, then, stands the matter :—Parliament has
decided that Lendel
I shall be drained. Professional
examination has,
, Proved that au outfall 15 miles
below bridge will effectually do t • his For such a
work, therefore, the may be taxed con-
sistently with the of Parliament.
But the
inhabitants the river banks below Lon-
dam demand of
.
that the sewage should be carried to
the sea, ''
while the London ratepayer says that this
will cost 1 •
um more than he ought fairly to be called
on to
pay, The two questions then are, whether
the public shall be ;;ratified by an outfall
generally
at the sea ;
and, if this be decided in the affirma-
tive, Who shall pay the extra cost ? Believing
that probably Parliament and the country will de-
mand that the Thames shall be wholly rescued from
Pollution, we think that members in the next ses-
sion will have to decide on the second matter.
Shall London pay for sewers all the way to the
German Ocean ?—shall the two counties which the
river divides pay for all below the 15-mile point ?
—or shall the extended works be at the cost of the
country at large ? There is much to be said on all
these questions when the time comes. We are
now, however, at an earlier stage, and just begin-
ning to feel some hope of a practical result by find-
ing that the whole subject is to be considered by
Parliament, as used to be the custom in days when
the Metropolitan Board of Works was not yet in
being.

- The payment of an entrance fee at the Bourse has, it
appears, been positively decided on, workmen having
been engaged on Saturday in putting up the turnstiles
by which the receipts are to be ehecked. The entrance
is to be If. each person, or 150 f. the year Ly sub.crip-
tion, for the hours from one to three. Frost three to
five the charge is to be 50c.

Ht o le c
l o wa,uyr'es
pe[eA.rlipesysEurTeimsßemzeNsTdfo—r
h and
E I eillylB
Vaughan, of Portsea, respectfully and gratefully informs
Professor Holloway that he was suffering for many"'
years with an inveterate scurvy ; Yell 'pots appeared
on the face and hands, accompanied 00fiutmseuenryty.
with distressing lan-
guor, weakness of the legs, foetid breath, days without
hope and nights without sleep, the distemper only aggra-
vated by medical advice, when providentially he was
induced to obtain Professor Holloway's medicines, by
the aid of which he niiraculowly regained health and
strength in a very ,hort time.—Sold by all medicine
v,,t,,10r, 1:A-cog-hoot the world, at Professor Holloway's
E,tabitsuwent, 244, Strand, London, and 81, Maiden-
laue, New York; by A. Stamp, Constantinople; A,
Guidicy, Smyrna ; and E, Muir, Malta.