The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-11 00:00:00

11; E SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, AUGUST 11, 1866.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.--This Day.

SHERIFFS' COURT.
(Before Mr. Commissioner Kerr.)

THE WATER SUPPLY AND THE PUBLIC.-IMPORTANT JUDG-
MENT.-SPALDING V. THE EAST LONDON WATERWORKS

COMPANY.
This was an action of the very highest importance,
especially so at the present time, in which the plaintiff
sought to recover £5 damages alleged to have been sus-
tained through the' defendants refusing, to supply him
with water until he had paid a certain sum of money due
to the company by another person. The facts are perfectly
novel, never having arisen before. It appeared that when
the plaintiff took possession of a certain house the water
supply had been cut off by the defendants, and as the act
of Parliament, known as the " Waterworks Act,"
set out that the rate must be paid in advance, plain-
tiff waited upon the company with a half-year's rate,
and requested 'that the water might be laid on.
The company declined to comply with this request
until a sum due to it for arrears by a formor tenant was
paid. Plaintiff declined to pay these arrears until serious
consequences were likely to ensue through the absence of
a proper water supply, and then he paid the money under
protest. He now sought to
.recover damages from the
company, and at the original hearing the question was
fully argued by himself and Mr. Philbrick for the company,
his Honour reserving judgment until to-day. This morn-
ing Mr. Commissioner Kerr delivered judgment as follows:
This is an action by the plaintiff as an occupier'Of a
house within the area supplied with water by the de-
fendants, against defendants for refusing and delaying to
supply the plaintiff with such water. The defendants have
admitted the refusal, and the tenders alleged by the plain-
tiff have been proved. The plaintiff relies upon the 43d
and 53d sections of the Waterworks Clauses Act.
10th Vic., cap. 17 and 43d sec., imposes upon water com-
panies a penalty of 40s. per day to be paid to-every person
who had paid or tendered We water rate for every day
th© refuial to' supply the water shall continue:- The 53d
section gives the occupier a right to demand a mipply upon
the payment or tender of the rate. The defendants relied
upon the 74th section of the act, which empowered the
suppliers to stop the water from. flowing into such pre-
mises as the occupiers neglected to pay the rate. The com-
pany contended, in.fact, that if any tenant of a house fall
into arrears that house should remain without water, even in
the occupation of another tenant, so long as the arrears were
unpaid. I have given my best attention to the words of the
section, but they do not appear to me to justify the inter-
pretation which has been put upon them. Every separate
clause of it may be interpreted to refer to the particular
tenant or occupier who has made default in paying his
rate. To hold otherwise would be to repeal the 53d sec-
tion, which, as I have already stated, gives to the occupier
a right to a supply of water. It may be said that there is
a hardship in calling upon the defendants to supply water
to a person of whom they know nothing, but this is not
so, for the 70th section gives the water company a right
to payment in advance on every succeeding quarter-day of
the appropriate rate. It is entirely their own fault if they
incur any loss whatever. The verdict of the court will
be for the plaintiff.
The verdict was then entered for the plaintiff with costs
•
FIVE POUNDS OR FIVE PENCE.-SINGIILAR DISPUTE.-

The Drury-lane Murder.

The report current this morning, that the mur-
derer of the boy found hanging in the cellar at
Neal's-court, Drury-lane, had been captured at
Woolwich, is entirely without foundation.
No reward has yet been offered by the Govern-
ment for the capture of the murderer.

An American National,Bank in London.
A printed circular has been forwarded to ably
commenting
us,
commenting on the present dead-lock of the English
money market, and suggesting the establishment in
Europe of a Great National American Bank to
regulate the exchanges with the United States. If
an unfavourable exchange arises, says this docu-
ment, from the fact of the balance of trade being
against us, and gold is exported merely as the
cheapest mode of paying our debts, then a supply
of bills will soon check the exportation of gold. To
obtain this supply of bills it strikes us Uncle Sam
should try the experiment of becoming his own
banker in London rather than be dependent on the
Bank of England. On an average the balance of
trade is not against the United States, though
the balance of exchange may be so at given pe-
riods. Gold is the natural product of the soil,
and we need not fear a drain, or devise means to
prevent its exportation. But let us keep control
of the gold, and not subject ourselves to rules and
enactments of British bank directors. If the
Bank of England increases or decreases her cir-
culation by reason of injudicious legislation, it
is pretty evident that the late of exchange be-
tween the United States and England is subject to
fluctuations wholly at variance with the require-
ments of the balance of trade. The fluctuations are
brought about by the see-saw fashion of the Bank
of England. We entirely agree with the writer,
and we regret that"the author has not forwarded his
name and the steps taken to bring the matter to the
consideration of American merchants. We will be
prepared to enter more fully on this subject if the
writer will communicate further with us, for we
hold "with him when he says—" British merchants
fail to set the house in order, and after a long, reek-
' less locking up of capital in bubble schemes, and
over-nursing of cotton speculations, they find them-
selves involved in endless financial difficulties. The
United States should not be made the sufferers
under the circumstances."—Anglo-American Times.