The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-06 00:00:00

Metropolitan Water Supply.

On Thursday a very important meeting of representa-
tives of the various metropolitan parishes was held in the
new Vestry-hall of Islington, for the purpose of considering
the present unsatisfactory state of the water supply of the
metropolis, and taking such steps as they might deem
necessary for demanding, either of the Government or the
Legislature, some speedy remedy for existing evils.
Dr. Harvey, of Islington, presided, and there was a nume-
rous attendance of representatives of various metropolitan
vestries and district boards. The whole of the water com-
panies had also been invited to send representatives, in order
that they might bear the grievances which it was felt the
metropolis suffered under ; but letters were read from nearly
every one of them declining to do so. A letter was also
read from Mr. Thompson Hankey, M.P., expressing his
deep sympathy in the objects of the meeting.
The CHAIRMAN remarked that this was an adjourned
meeting, but before they entered into any discussion he
thought they had better hear a Parliamentary paper read,
which represented in what position the companies were
in May last, when they were called upon, in obedience to a
Parliamentary order, to answer certain questions put to
them through the Local Government Act Office.
Mr. BERRY, assistant vestry clerk of Islington, who acted
as secretary to the meeting, read this document, showing
the present source of supply, number of reservoirs, filters,
pumping arrangement, number of tenements supplied, rates
of charges, modes of supply, whether constant or inter-
mittent, &c. ; how far the 15th sec. of the Metropolitan
Water Act, 15th and 16th Vic., cap. 84, had been complied
with ; what regulations had been made by the church-
wardens, under the 27th sec. ; what complaints had been
made as to quantity and quality of water supplied under the
9th sec., &c. The answers to those questions were gene-
rally unsatisfactory ; but with the exception of the East
London, they all declared that no complaints or requisitions
had been formally made as to the quantity and quality of
the water supplied. They most of them declared that they
gave supplies on Sunday morning where required in poor
districts, and were prepared to give constant instead of in-
termittent supplies if guaranteed against waste.
Mr. SUFFIELD, of Bermondsey, said on the memorial of
the vestry of that parish Capt. Tyler was sent by the Board
of Trade to inspect the works of the East London Water
Company, and new filter beds were ordered, but there was
not much improvement. The fact was, it was no use deal-
ing with those water companies ; but they should either
appeal to the Secretary of State or some other department
of the Government to secure a constant and pure supply.
The public health demanded it. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. ARMSTRONG, of Chelsea, said the fact was, their de-
mands might be summed up in a sentence. A constant sup-
ply of pure water at a reasonable rate. No doubt the East
London Company gave the worst and most impure supply,
and they ought to be rigidly watched. Mr. Hankey,
had taken much interest in this matter, but he had been
told in Parliament there was no real complaint. The failu'Ve
was in the act which entrusted these complaints to church-
wardens. The vestries and district boards ought to go for
powers to compel the companies to give a pure and constant
supply, as it was admitted on all hands it was impossible
to carry out any sanatory arrangements efficiently without.
(Hear.) He begged, in the first instance, to move, " That
MrTHenley be informed of the resolutions passed at the
previous and at the present delegate meeting."

Mr. GRAMMANT, of Camberwell, seconded the motion, and
contended that, by the present mode of distributing water,
it was always stagnant and impure,whilst a constant supply
would entirely remedy those evils.
The motion was carried.

Mr. LLOYD, of Plumstead, considered that nothing would
enable the people of the metropolis to bring these water com-
panies to their senses b-ut the interference of Parliament ;
and he moved a resolution to the effect that it be recom-
mended to the various vestries and district boards to em-
power that meeting of delegates to prepare a bill and give
the necessary legal notices, with the view of obtaining an
act of Parliament requiring a constant supply of water in
the metropolis and its environs.
The motion having been seconded,

Sir E. PERROTT and several other gentlemen remarked
upon the fact that the doctors were crying out in,
every direction that it was mainly impure water that was
the cause of cholera, and that the want of proper sanatory
regulations was another evil. Pure water and a plentiful
supply was the remedy in both cases, and it was the duty of
the Government to compel what was required to be done.
Mr. DENNY, of Camberwell, Mr. SUFFIELD, and others
arguel that it would be useless to go to Parliament with a
bill for doing what was stated without they were prepared
to prove that all the powers to compel the water com-
panies to do their duty wider the existing acts of Parlia-
ment had been exhausted. They contended that this had
not been done, if the returns wade by the companies to
the order of Parliament referred to were truthful. Let the
complaints of the want of a constant and purer supply be
made in an unmistakeable manner, and then, if the com-
panies refused to comply, their ground of no complaint
would be cut from under them.

The CHAIRMAN observed that ho was bound in justice to
say that whenever the New River Company were applied to
for an extra or Sunday supply in poor districts, they had
cheerfully complied. Other delegates said the same re-
marks would apply to ti.;s3 West Middlesex and Chelsea
Companies. _

After a very long discussion t:2e motion was carried.
Mr. HERBERT, St. George's-in-the--
East, moved the third
resolution--." That a. morhorial t 9 the 06th,",etarY State be

prepared and signed by the chairman, urging upon him
the necessity of removing the difficulty at present existing
owing to provisions of the Water Companies Acts in com-
pelling a constant supply of water, and that a deputation
be appointed to present the same, and support the views of
the meeting." He represented a district which suffered,
possibly, more severely than any other from the want of a
pure and efficient water supply, and unless something was
done they could never hope for health. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. Box, Camberwell, seconded, and the resolution was
ultimately carried.

Dr. Harvey, Dr. Randall, and Mr. Coffin were appointed
to draw up the memorial, and submit the same to a further
adjourned meeting.

Thanks to the chairman then closed the proceedings.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The story of the Mhow Court-Martial,
and the subsequent proceedings in this country, so
familiar to every one during the winter of 1863-4,
is perhaps but faintly remembered, except by the
few who were personally concerned in it. Memories
are short in these busy days, and the rapid succession
of demands on our interests and sympathies makes
three years a long time to look back. It would be
well if impressions, and especially injurious impres-
sions, did not often survive the recollection of their
causes. The consequences of having been connected
-with some.painful affair may remain long after all
its circumstances have passed into oblivion, and an
unfounded accusation, though refuted as soon as
preferred, may affect a man's reputation and happi-
ness for life. It is to be feared that Col. Crawley,
though fully acquitted of the serious charges brought
against him, has suffered grievously under the opera-
tion of this one-sided law of amnesty. The particular
facts alleged by the prosecution, as well as, the
crushing evidence adduced in his defence, are mostly
forgotten, but his name is associated in the public
mind with cruelty and oppression, and nine out of
tenpeople who think of him at all probably think of
him as a tyrannical and justly unpopular officer,who,
though probably innocent of Sergeant-Major Lilley's
death, should never have been allowed to resume
command of the Inniskilling Dragoons. It is seldom
that an opportunity occurs of redressing a wrong of
this kind, for no man has a legal right to the good
opinion of his countrymen, nor will the most con-
spicuous public services always suffice to retrieve it.
In this case, however, such an opportunity is pre-
sented by an incident which no one could have fore-
seen. On August 14th last Col. Crawley, who is
still with his regiment stationed at Mhow, had the
misfortune to lose his ffife. This lady appears to
have been greatly respected and beloved by men as
well as officers, all of whom attended her funeral, and
joined in subscribing for a monument to be erected
to her memory. The addresses in which this desire
was communicated to Colonel Crawley, through
the Sergeant-Major on behalf of the whole body of
non-comissioned officers and soldiers, and through
Major Thesiger on behalf of the wholebody of com-
missioned officers, now lie before us, and indicate so
clear the feeling of the regiment towards their colo-
nel that we think it but au act of justice, under the
circumstances, to quote a part of them. After ex-
pressing their admiration and esteem for the de.-
ceased lady, the men_comrades, be it remembered,
of Lilley—proceed to speak of her as one who had
"shown herself worthy of being the helpmate,
through all his trials, of one of the noblest com-
manding officers in the British service, and expressly
allude to her devoted support of him during his pro-
secution. The officers' letter is in a like spirit, nega-
tiving, as far as words can, the continuance of that
ill-feeling which existed before the inquiry, and
which it was thought would be aggravated after
Colonel Crawley's return. His reply, after making
every allowance f)r the language of strong emotion,
tells the same story. He speaks without reserve of
what he owed to his wife while the court-martial
was pending, laments her loss " at the very moment
when these troubles appeared to have ceased, and
the promise of a brighter future seemed _opened out
before us," and acknowledges with heartfelt grati-
tude the unbounded kindness shown him " by every
individual in the regiment." We have no wish to
exaggerate the importance of a correspondence of
this nature, but it certainly implies the most friendly
relations and mutual confidence between Colonel
Crawley and all ranks under his command. It
leads almost irresistibly to the inference that he was
not chiefly responsible for the scandals disclosed by
the investigation, but that, on the removal of certain
disturbing elements, the harmony of the regiment
was easily restored. Had we not good reason to
believe that such has been the fact, we might have
scrupled to call attention to documents expressive
of personal condolence, but which tend, at least, to
justify rttrospectively the verdict of the court-
martial.

ANGLO-AMERICAN TIMES. - The Times avails
itself of Lord Stanley's speech at the Liverpool
banquet to revert •to the subject of the United
States claims against England for the depre-
dations of the Alabama. The proposition of the
leading journal is, perhaps, the best solution of the
difficulty. It amounts to this—that a joint com-
mittee be appointed to deliberate on the rights and
duties of neutrals in time of war, and to devise
rules which all maritime nations should be invited
to adopt and carry out by legislative measures.
The commission should include eminent continental
jurists, and be invested with the amplest liberty of
recommendation. So far for the future. But the
Tinges proposes to utilise the recommendations of
this commission with reference to the Alabama
claims, by bringing the depredations of that cruiser
to the verdict of the new laws contemplated. If,
says that journal, upon the perusal of their report,
her Majesty's Government should be of opinion
that, under the circumstances, some reparation is
due either in international law or in international
equity to the United States in respect to the Alabama,
it will not be too late to make it, and no false pride
should prevent our doing so with good grace.
Two great objects would be secured if both
nations loyally carried out this proposal. In the
first place, the future would be secured, as far as
human action can secure it against such shameful acts
of piracy. A nation, when bound alike by interna-
tional law and honour to make good the damage
perpetrated on the commerce of another nation by
a cruiser illegally leaving its ports, would take care
that no such vessels should be fitted out within its
jurisdiction. The effect would practically give to
all countries the strongest possible guarantee
against so wanton and shameful a destruction
of its commerce. In the second place, a
very bitter cause of feud between the two leading
maritime nations would be removed. No step could
more tend to conciliate the United States than a
frank acknowledgment of error by the Government
of Great Britain, and recompense to the sufferers
injured by the alleged neglect. As the Times says,
Mr. Adams's representation to Lord Russell was
in the nature of a legal demand, and it was properly
met by a legal demurrer. It was practically granted
that our law had been violated in the equipment of
the Alabama, and the commercial marine of the
United States had suffered grievous injury thereby.
The Alabama would never have got to sea but for
the inopportune illness of the Queen's Advocate.
That she did get to sea, if not the fault, is at any
rate the misfortune, of the Queen's Government.
As the case, now stands the misfortune fell on the
people and commerce of the United States, who are
thus made to bear the penalty of the shortcomings
of her Majesty's advisers. It is the business of the
British people to see that their law cannot be vio-
lated because au officer of their Government is ill,
and if it be violated it is they who should bear the
burden, and not another people with whom we are
supposed to be on the most friendly terms. It is
the latter consideration that has so keenly touched
the sensitive nature of the American people. They
allege that the British people were not actuated by
friendly feelings. They state that not only was the
Alabama illegally fitted out and permitted to go
to sea from one of our ports, but that she
received countenance and support in her disas-
trous career throughout the British Empire. It
cannot be denied that the public statements, at
least of the sentiments of the British people, as a
whole were against the Government of the United
States, and favourable to the Rebellion. And, as
we have shown elsewhere, this was due to the ma-
chinations of the Tory party. Lord Stanley, in
his late speech at Liverpool, almost acknowledged
this, when he deprecated the hasty, partial, and
passionate criticism of their institutions, which
Americans attribute to English Conservatives. As
the real originators of the dilemma, the amends
would tome better from a Tory Government than
from a Liberal one, although the actual catastrophe
occurred while the Liberals were in power. No
better opportunity could be afforded than the pre-
sent of settling for ever the Alabama claims. Lord
Stanley can do it with honour, and without dero-
gating from the dignity of the nation, and the Con-
servatives, who were the authors of the terrible
blunders, can without compromising their party
acknowledge their error, and tender with a free
and open hand restitution for the consequences
which their own fatal mistakes entailed on the coun-
try. The case is one which does not admit of delay.
Although just now out of sight, the grievance,
though unseen, is growing vigorously. Every day
its roots are strikingdeeper, andevery day brings the
baneful weed nearer to the season when it will bear
most noxious fruit. A farmer knows that thistles
should be uprooted and destroyed before they have
time to spread to the grievous injury of his crop.
If he be wise he does not haggle over the
terms requ;red to eradicate the evil, know-
ing that hereafter the injury and expense
will be multiplied indefinitely. We hope that
the question will not be burked. It will lie over
during the period of trial, while the United States
are reconstructing their Unions When that is ic-
y