The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-15 00:00:00

1880 90 92

2IETROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS.

A meeting of this board was held to-day in the Coon•
cil Chamber, Guildhall. The President, J. Thwaites, Esq.
took the chair at twelve o'clock.
MAIN DRAINAGE OF THE METROPOLIS.

After some routine business was disposed of,
The report of Mr. Bazelgette (which has already ap-
peared in The Sun) was read, for the. purpose of fully con-
sidering the arrangements proposed.
Mr. Deputy HARRISON said he disapproved of some
words of the following passage in the report, viz. :
"On the north side of the Thames, the northern high
level sewer, from Hampstead to the River Lea, is urgently
needed. It will form a substitute for the open Hackney
Brook Sewer, and embrace a length of 71 miles of
main sewer, and 11 miles of branches ; and, in an engi-
neering point of view, it is a convenient portion of the
work to commence upon. I have, therefore, first pre-
pared the contract drawings and specification for this
portion, to be let in one contract, which is now sub-
mitted for your approval ; and I recommend that adver-
tisements be forthwith issued for tenders for this contract."
He should therefore move that the Board agree with so
with so much of Mr. Bazalgette's report upon main drain-
age, date 30th Sept. last, as recommends that the Northern
high level sewer, from Hampstead to the river Lea, should
be commenced with as little delay as possible, and that ad-
vertisements for the contract be forthwith issued, upon the
terms and specifications being agreed to by the Board.
Mr. CARPMAEL seconded the amendment.

After a long discussion the amendment was agreed to.
Resolutions for the appointment of a committee to carry
out the foregoing were under discussion when our reporter
left.

GOVERNMENT PATRONAGE.—At the meeting,
held at Liverpool yesterday, of the National Association for
the Promotion of Social Science, Mr. M. Mimes, M.P.,
observed with reference to the petty description of patron-
age which was supposed to be inherent in members of the
Legislature that it was the unanimous experience of mem-
bers of Parliament that the small patronage which came to
them in the way of recommending to public offices was
nothing but an annoyance, and could not by any reasonable
being be supposed to have the slightest effect upon the opi-
nions and actions of political men. He hoped, therefore, it
would not be supposed that they were performing any great
act of superlative patriotism when they took away the ap-
pointment of a tidewaiter from a member of Parliament and
gave it to a public examiner. He also urged that superior
education meant neither more nor less than wealth, and
that by giving up all offices to the best educated they would
be merely giving them up to the sons of the wealthier
classes. The adoption of a universal competition must, he
thought, in the end degenerate into a system of routine, and
he reminded the meeting that that great country, com-
prising a third of the people of the human race, where every
single office was givin by competitive examination—China
—surrendered the whole of its forces the other day to a few
uneducated English sailors.
ANGLO-FRENCH PORCELAIN COMPANY.—An
association under the limited liability act has been formed
in the City, for the purpose of enlarging and working the
celebrated porcelain manufactures at Valentine in the
Pyrenees. Those works, we believe, have always been
highly remunerative, the productions from its potters and
artists being eagerly sought after throughout France. The
change which steam_has made in giving increased facilities
for transit direct to every portion of Europe, and the im-
mense improvement in the taste of the people induced its
promoters to look forward to a demand very considerably,
beyond its former means of supply. In this, it would ap-
pear, they were far from being sanguine, and large profits
are accruing upon the operations of the company, as a surplus
over the original gains of the Valentine works. In addi-
tion to the purely trade nature of the undertaking,- its re-
fining influences upon increased and increasing circles of
society should not be lost sight of,