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

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TH P) D T SAOPi OF L 0 4',o*:ke*

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The drainage of London ought ceirtgliattle,4
effected completely at last. Never hastaeeioAeQktkcV
the subject of longer and freer discuss 44; fit S
years sanitary reformers, architectural and artistic
projectors, have made it a principal feature in all
plans. What was the use of well-built houses if a
huge cesspool kept them unhealthy ? What wax
the use of handsome 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 Rother-
hithe ? The Metropolitan Board of Works wale
constituted principally to deal with this great ques-
tion, and for more than a year past whatever assi-
drnty it has shown has been devoted to the task.
We have had plans That were insufficient, and
plans that were inadmissible. One project hag
been summarily
rejected by the Chief Commis-
sioner, and another has met the violent though
natural opposition of the dwellers on the Kentish
bank of the stream. The latest stage of the busi-
ness is that whic.ch 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
tthe
theln"er oftro the
e
bproiinngt
iftrobaemit withinwhhlietidLwao. would nottbe
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 rivera
or even along the Essex Marshes to a distinct point,
on the coast. However, the Beard has not felt
it expedient to recommend so gigantic an en-
terprise. Captain Burstal, the Goverument 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 ()wings are to be 15
miles below London-bridge. At this point the
river is still of moderate width and depth, and the
right bank is studded with a succession of villages
for many mites below. Even Gravesend will not
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 HetnetiereentWapd Wu lwich, will be
poured out at a eingtaenCtrn. When we /effect on the
state of the river netween the bridges, its colour,
its coutistency, 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 mono) 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-
missiouer anl the deputation, that the discharge
of the reetropelitati sewage into the bed of the river
was a remedy almost as bad as the actual evil. The
Beard of Works recommended the plan because it
fulfilled whet was required—it actually drained
London. It recommended nothing further, because
it shrank from incurring great responsibility and
expense. Tim ontfall 15 miles below-bridge effects
what the Legislature intended ; the outfall at the
sea would effect it more completely, and obviate
the destruction of the intervening villages, but the
cost, it is well known, will be enormous, and some
nigher power must therefore intervene. and autho-
rise the expenditure.
This being the state of things, Sir Benjamin
Hell again resolves on reconsideration. He reminds
the deputation that Captain Burstal 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 die could bo 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. "I'think it
extremely desintele," says the Chief Conntissioner,
" that in a work of this enormous magnitude we
should have the vary best advice and counsel that
can be procured." His scheme is to refer the last
plan of the Board, 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
•
cow bilia the feaeures of euy or all, or devise a new
scheme of their own, it is evident, t hat practically
the matter is taken out of tip hands of the Board
altogether. The three referees, who, we are as-
sured, will be men of the highest reputation, will
-no annbt agree oe 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 pleio from these facts that the drain-
age of .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 this money 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 engineers appointed by itself, and,
in fact, acting practically as if the Metropolitan
Board of Works had never come into existence.
Tice whole of this affair gives us a proof of the om-
nipetence of Parliament, and how impossible it is
for any delega,ed assemlsly to breathe the same air
as the great council of the nation. Seine people
have ootripleined, perhaps with reason, that the
Reuse of Commons is occupied too much with de-
tails; and it has been suggested that local and pri-
vate bills should be decided on by inferior legis-
latures, bearing to Parliament the same relation
that the State Legislatures of America bear to Con-
gress. The present case is a practical answer to
such a project.. We find that a secondary assembly
cannot hold its own ; that it may deliberate and
recommend, but cannot decide, and mttch less exe-
cute ; and that, at whatever cost of time or trouble,
every question of importance must come under the
immediate examination of the House of Commons.
To the House of C31111:110138, therefore, we look
for the long delayed solution of this difficulty.
From the language of Sir B. Hall it is easy to see
that the engineers he speaks of will be asked to say
whether the sewage cannot be carried to a point on
or near the ocean, and 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 London shall be drained. Professional
examination has proved that an outfall 15 miles
below bridge will effectually do this. For such a
work, therefore, the ratepayers may be taxed con-
sistentlythe spirit of the act
with • of Parliament.
But the inhabitants of the river banks below Lon-
don demand that the sewage should be carried to
the sea, the t London ratepayer says that this
while
will cost him more than he ought fairly to be called
on to pay. Time two cinefeions
then are, whether
the. public generally eb3ll be gratified by an outfall
at the sea • and, if this be decided in the affi e-
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.
in the next Pollution we think that members
on the second matter.
ses-
sion brave to decide
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
when
the time comes. We are
questions thesean earlier stage, and just begin-
ning to feel some hope of a
now, however, at
practical result by find-
ingthat 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 haying
been engaged on SaturJay in putting up the turnstiles
by which the receipts are to be checked. The entrant,*
is to be If. each person, or 150 f. the year by subscrip-
tion, for the hours from one to three. From three to
five the charge is to be 50c.

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