The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-04-11 00:00:00

report which recommended the immediate prosecu-
tion of the Rivington Pike scheme, was the most
judicious one which could have been adopted. A
tried and able servant, formerly of the Harrington
Company, but at present of the Corporation—
Mr. Macdonald—bad reported that the Harrington
Works alone were capable of producing 3,000,000
gallons per day, instead of the two companies con-
jointly producing something under 3,000,000
gallons as represented by Mr. Hawksley; and
that with the entire resources now in the hands of
the Corporation. they will be enabled to give an
ample daily supply of water for all the inhabitants,
besides having a sufficient quantity always available
for the suppression of fires and other public pur-
poses. Such a startling difference of opinion being
thus shown to exist between Mr. Hawksley and
Mr. Macdonald, it was only prudent, before pro-
ceeding to an immense outlay of the public money,
for the Council and the public as well to have a
further opportunity of examining the testimony of
the two gentlemen who thus differed so widely,
and their comparative claims to confidence, on the
score of their experience of the locality and the
opportunities which they have respectively enjoyed
of forming just conclusions.

With respect to one of the Works in question—
the Harrington—the opportunities possessed by '
Mr. Macdonald are known to most of the Council.
That gentleman undertook the management of
those Works about three years ago; and by the ,
improved arrangements and increased liberality 1
which he was enabled to brimg into action, he
succeeded in removing much of difficulties, as
to scarcity of water, about which so much complaint
had previously been made. And we believe we,
are justified in saying that one of the most impor. ,
tant of those difficulties—the want of a ready'
supply of water in cases of fire—has not been
felt during the last two years. In many instances,
a plentiful supply has been thrown on direct from
the mains; and in one case such a supply was
afforded for three weeks consecutively, and, we he-•
lieve, could have been kept up without difficulty.
Of the capability, then, of the Harrington Works,
past, present and prospective, Mr. Macdonald
must be allowed to have a fair knowledge; and
there can be no doubt that he has availed himself
of opportunities sufficient to enable him to
acquire an idea of the capabilities of the Bootle
and Green Lane.

What may have been Mr. Hawksley's oppor-
tunities we do not know. They must, however,
have been brief and imperfect as compared with
those of Mr. Macdonald. We must bear in mind,
too, that, in his capacity as the retained engineer
of a body seeking to buy the existing Water
Works at the lowest price, and also to carry out a
vast scheme of their own, Mr. Hawksley would
approach the subject of their capabilities and con-
sequent value with a hostile bias on his mind.
Moreover, we have his opinions as promulgated by
him at a time when he was not retained to depre-
ciate the character of the existing Works, or to
carry out an extensive new scheme, but was rather
disposed to advocate the opposite side of the
question—the sufficiency of the present Works, and
the absence of any necessity for an extended and
costly scheme. Mr. Booker, on Wednesday last,
very appropriately directed the attention of the
Council to two letters which appeared in the co-
lumns of a contemporary in August, 1844. It
will only be necessary for us, however, to quote
from one of them, viz.:—
" With respect to the alleged inability of the two exist-
ing Liverpool Companies to afford the supply of water
required for public purposes, and to the enormous outlay
these Companies would have to encounter in providing
the requisite means, I entirely differ from Mr. Simpson.
I believe indeed that the Liverpool and Harrington Com-
pany alone now uselessly pumps through its escape valves
a much greater quantity of water than would be required
for both these purposes, and that either one or both t 1
companies might at a cost of £20,000 accomplish every
object contemplated by the Commissioners, and afford
to the whole body of consumers a continuous service
besides. Nor only could the existing water companies
construct all the necessary works for very much less money
than Mr. Simpson asserts to be requisite, but could also
apply those waters for many public and private purposes
of the utmost importance to the town and trade of Li- 4
verpool, for which they can never beeome available while
in the hands of the Commissioners."

The conversion has certainly been a somewhat
violent one.

Upon personal grounds we should be unwilling:
to believe that either of the gentlemen could be
biassed either one way or the other. It may be
worth while, however, to observe that Mr. Mac-
donald is now perfectly disinterested in maintaining
his opinions as to the sufficiency of the existing
Water Works. He is now a trusted servant of. the
Corporation; and strong convictions of the public
interest can alone have turged him to take a course
which may be of injurious result to himself. Mr.
Hawksley, on the other hand, has a direct interest
in the promotion as rapidly as possible of the Pike
scheme; and although we should be sorry to be,
lieve that either the prospect of greater salary or
commission could influence the opinions of a pro-
fessional man of his standing, yet engineers are
only men after all.
But there is a further reason why we are thank-
ful to Mr. Lace for having given to the Council
breathing time, with respect to the decision of this
question. The present, we contend, is not an ordi-
nary period, nor are we surrounded by ordinary
circumstances. The ratepayers of Liverpool, from
whose pockets the large expenditure into which we
are invited to run, will have to be drawn, arc
pressed down with burthens which they cannot
sustain ; and there are few who can see any pros-
pects of material improrovement. It may be said
that the Council can borrow money. They will
do so just now, however, at a high rate of inte-
rest; and on every ground we think it most desir-
able that a pause of a year or two in the carrying
out of the Rivington scheme should be conceded.

THE PORTERAGE SYSTEM OF LIVERPOOL.

We are happy io observe that a committee of the
council .has now been appoinied, "to inquire into the!
present system of porterage, and to report thereon to the ;
Council." This step argues o desire to he informed; and I
we augur good from it, because, from what we have ob-
served,
it does not seem Char the Council, as a body, are
perfectly acquainted with the extent of the evil'attendant
upon the system.
We bad intended to have remarked at length upon the
startling facts, which fell from some of the speakers at the
meeting yesterday week of the working porters, held in the
Music-hall, as well as upon some evidence which we have
gathered, as to the injurious working of the system, from
some of our merchants, as well as from intelligent practi-
cal men amongst the body of master psrters. We forbear
doing so now, however. We conceive it to be the most
useful course, we can adopt as a journalist, to urge upon
the various bodies most interested to elect efficient and
well-informed deputations to wait upon the Committee of
the Council, and to state boldly to them their grievancies
and their views as to remedial measures. The working
porters, especially, we would urge to select intelligent
and rational men from their body—men who can tell a
plain straightforward tale without being led into ex-
travagances and idle declamation; and we trust that the
committee selected for the inquiry will take care that such
men may he enabled to speak their minds freely, without
the fear of being compromised with their employers.