Evening star., 1900-01-24
WATER POLLUTION
Report on the House Bill to Investi-
gate It
A COMMISSION OF SANITARY EXPERTS
Necessity of the Legislation is Ger
era'Iy Admitted.
VALU f OF THE INQUIRY

The report on the bin to investigate the
| pollution of water supplies says:
This bill provides for an Investigation #
! the pollution of water supplies by a COM
| mission of five sanitary experts To be az
| pointed by the President They are To- r.
ceire a salary at The rate Of 5000 per an
mum. and are directed to report from time
! 10 time the results of their investigation To
| Congress, their final report to be made
| during the next session of the present Con-
| gress. sum not TO exceed Siu.wn j. ap-
propriated to carry out the objects Of T..
| bill
| The necessity Of such legislation seems
| to be generally admitted, Professional m-u
| have recommended 1t for wears and the de-
| mand for II on the part of the people has
gradually become SO strong that ii should
be ignored no longer The pending bill has
been indorsed by the boards OF health OF
Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan Missouri,
| New Jersey, New York Ohio Wisconsin
| and other states and number of state
| legislatures have petitioned their represen-
tatives in Congress for its passage The
| American Health Association. "a national
| organization of physicians. has strongly
| recommended it, and the committee is not
| aware of any opposition to the measure
| from any quarter.
| An InaIienabI- Right.
| 'It is one of tha fnalicnabc rights Of tie
| people IL have the water for drinking for
| waterlng stock, fnr mauufacturiug aeri-
| cultural and domestic uses come L. them
| in its natural accustomed fow free from
| pollution or sewage cast into il by artifi-
cial drains from other states or cities.
| Upon the other hand. it is a fact known To
| all, that this right of the people is very
| generally invaded by the present method Il
| disposing of the sewage and nlth of our
cities. towns villages and mauufacrurIu..
| establishments by III" dtScharg. Of such oi,-
| Jectonable matter into the water supplies f
the country. That this l. a common Iir4r-
| tee in many parts of the country no .r.
| will deny. and the well-substantiat-d clam
| that such pollution of our rivers + men,
| acing the health and lives "f the people -
| the motive of the committee IN recommend
| ing this legislation.
| when this continent was bur thiulv sell
tied questions Of proper sanitation received
| but little attention. for the reason that ma
| tlre Itself performed the service at puriTI-
| cation, but with the enormous increase pr
| our population, the marvellous growth Of
| our cities, and the rapid dev-lupmrrt Of
our industries sanitary problems of The
| greatest Importance 10 The Wcll-b.ing ul
| our people are pressing for rational aud
| speedy solution. The natural forces for
| merely relied upon are no longer III suiil-
| cleut potency To satisfy the people that do.
| etertous results will he prevented rspcriti-
| ~ NheiI-and such cases can Ice ct"d-Ui-
| llfe itself Is reversed by artificial
| Tor the purpose Of diSpnslug uf rNlrinVdi-
| nary large amounts OF filth and sewage
| The committee does not deem il urc,z-
sary. for the purposes uf this btll, To- ait
| duce b. scientific evidence the absolute
| proof that running water thus polluted viii
| not purify itself AMI not carry disease and
| death into the homes Of the n."i,ir who ar,
| dependent upon Its use. While perhaps The
| weight OF testimony, furnished largely hN
| the experience of other countries trud- l.,
| prove this theory, Yet there are IhoS" Whu
| combat it, and in order THAI the ~rpp. uf
| conservative legislation may not lie trans
gressed the bill merely provides for an iu-
| quiry-an investigation To he ordered and
| conducted for the purpose of either cuu-
| hrminS or dispellns the doubts which Sur-
| round this question and reasonably exist
| III the minds Of The people.
Effect of the InNestiga,iou
'If the commission created by this bin
should find. upon an impartial and thor-
| oughly scientific Investigation that the
! peoples fears as to the effects of water
pollution on their health are unfounded. a
| report to Congress of such a nature would
| presumably end the matter, though tie
| money expended would not have been spent
| ia VAIN even in this case, because the mrl.-
| tai relief afforded our people by such S-i-a-
ttnc knowledge cannot he estimated too
highly. If, on the other hand. the iavesli-
| CATION should result in the production OF
| absolute proof that water pollution Is en-
dangering the health and lives of orr pea-
| pie and the commission should report
| TO Congress, this body will, and und ubtci-
| ~ should, make such reports the basis nf
| further Legislative action destined To- COM
| bat and, il Dossiole. cure the evil
| These considerations incidentally damtu-
Strate the necessity that the commission
| to be intrusted with this responsible, work
| should be of the highest scientific okarac-
| ter 1t might be argued that the work
might well be performed under one Of ths
| departments OF the government, bat the
committee is of opinion that rothing
short of an independent and impartial COM
mission of scientific experts. appointed
| without regard 10 location or political
utilization, and clothed with all the dignity
of high national authority. will satisfy ;he
people and inspire that confidence in is
conclusions which Is absolutely essential
| for the success Of this legislation
The question may he asked, why do not
the several states guard against The evil
complained OF The answer 10 this Is that
quite number of states have laws en- their
statute books prohibiting the pollution u
the water courses, but it must be remom-
bered that state Is absolutely pOwerlcss
when its water is polluted by The action II
the people of another state. 1t cannot. as
Il state, make common war upon a ne.-s.l-
boring state; it cannot act beyond it, own
borders, and cannot inyad" the territory II
the neighboring state with an armed force
to protect its citizens against the threat
ened danger that will come to them by the
draining of sewage into a river which wash
IS the shores Of both states. Consequently
Congress alone can afford relief in such
cases. and the bill expressly limits the III
VeStgation under it to cases where The
health of the people OF more than one state
is affected or threatened to be affected.
Calls for Congressional Action.
The fact that all our largest rivers ex-
tend through the territory of two, three
and four states makes the question prima
face one calling for congressional action.
Ii may be argued that in all cases where a
nuisance can be proven the federal courts
and the Supreme Court of the United States
have ample jurisdiction, and these tribunals
are frequently applied to when an imme-
dlate remedy Is sought. but here IL is mric-
lE proposed 10 furnish expert testimony II
the highest character. under the most CN-
alted authority, and such testimony will
be of iuestimable value in all judicial pro-
ccedings of The kind We'll as basis for
future legislative action. The Jurisdiction
of the courts in such cases does not ac-
quit Congress of its duty. under the general
welfare clause of the Constitution. to en-
act laws not only for the protection of nav
igation, but also for the protection of the
health and lives of the people. a duty
which it has properly recognized and dis
IL.