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A Dr. Kerrison, for example, gave eviden...
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DREADFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT. Seybbai. mons...
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OVERCROWDED STEAMBOATS. While the doors ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Sanitary Association Versus The Wate...
utterly nugatory ) than that provided by the Select Committee , and described above . "The four next amendments , proposed for insertion in clause 15 of the bill , tend to secure the introduction of the constant supply , without the delay , and without several of the exemptions , conceded to the companies by the Select Committee . "These , and some other amendments referring to points of detail , are obviously well meant , and may prove useful so far as they go ; but they utterly ignore the main improvements in our water supply , set forth as attainable in paragraphs 1 to 5 of the following Memorandum ; and they leave wholly unremedied the principal evils of the Government bill , pointed out in paragraph 9 .
" As for the ten new clauses by which Lord J . Manners proposes that the present and all future water companies shall be bound and compellable to extend their pipes throughout the entire districts which they are empowered by their several Acts to supply , the effect of such a regulation , if enforced , would be to encumber the greater part of London with double and triple sets of pipes , conveying , at an enormously increased outlay of . capital , the water which one set would suffice to deliver . These clauses arc apparently intended to renew competition between the companies , now virtually leagued against the public . But they would wholly fail of any such effect . Friendly companies , making comfortable profits , cannot easily be forced
to fight one another against their wnf . Lambeth , indeed , is already piped in duplicate by two rival companies ( the Lambeth and the Southwark-and-Vauxhall ) , which , nevertheless , forbear to compete against each other , and have an understanding for the maintenance of their excessive rates . If any argument were necessary to show the futility of an attempt to reduce rates , by enforcing the needless expenditure of another million sterling ( at least ) on duplicate and triplicate pipes , it might be found in the following account ( taken from , the Times journal ) of the companies' competition with rival pipes in 1810-17 , and of the disastrous consequences of the struggle , not only to the companies themselves , but ultimately also to the public : —
" ' In 1810 , a water mania , like our recent railway mania , suddenly broke out ; and the principle of competition , to which the Legislature had all along looked for the protection of the public , was put upon its trial . Two powerful companies , which had been several years occupied in obtaining their Acts and setting up their machinery , now took the field ;—one , the West Middlesex , attacking the old monopolists on their western flank ; the other , the East London , invading their territory from the opposite quarter . At tho same time a band of dashing Manchester speculators started the Grand Junction Company with a flaming prospectus , and boldly flung their pipes into the very thick of the tangled network which now spread in every direction beneath tho pavement of the hotly-contested _streets .
" ' These Grand Junction men quite astonished the town by the magnificence of their promises . 'Copious streams ' of water derived , by the medium of the Grand Junction Canal , from the Rivers Colnc and Brent— ' always pure and fresh , because always corning in '— ' high service , free of extra charge '—above all , ' unintermittent supply , so that customers may do without cisterns ;'—such were a few of the soductivo allurements hold out b y these interlopers to tempt deserters from the enemy ' s camp . " 'The West Middlesex Company , in its opening circulars , also promised ' unlimited supplies' td the very ' housetops , ' of water ' clear and bright from tho gravelly bottom of the Thames , thirteen miles above London Bridge . ' The East London was not behind-hand with tho trumpet ; and
its ' skilful' directors , by paying dividends in rapid succession out of capital , raised their 100 / . shares to tho enormous premium of K 10 / . before thoy had well got their machinery into play . Meanwhile tho South London ( or Vauxhali ) Company was started ( in 1805 ) on tho other side of the river , with a view to wrest from its old rulers the watery dominion of tho south . The war was not , however , carrieil on in very royal sort ; for , as the travelling mountebank drives six-in-nand through a country town to entice the gaping provincials to his booth , so these wafer jugglers wont round tho streets of London , throwing up rival jets-( _Teau from theif mains to prove the alleged superiority of their engines , and to captivate the fancy of hesitating customers .
"' The Now Kiver Company , thus put , upon its mettle , boldly took up the gauntlet . It creeled new forcing engines , changed its remaining wooden pipes for iron , more than doubled its consumption of coals , reduced its charges , augmented its supplies , issued a contemptuous rejoinder lo its adversaries , anil , appealing as an ' old servant' to the public for support , engaged in a war of extermination . " ' For seven years the battle raged incessantly . The combatants sought ( and openly avowed it ) not their own profit , but , their rivals' ruin . Tenants wore taken on almost any forms . Plumbers were bribed to tout , like omnibus ends , for custom . . Such was ilio rage for mere numerical conquest , thai , a line of pipes would bo often driven down a long street to servo one now customer at . _t _. he end . Arrears remained uncollected , lest offence should
bo given and influence impaired . ( , _iiprieious tenants amused themselves by changing from ono main to another , as they might taste this or thai , tup of beer . The more _credulous citizens , relying on tho good faith of the ' public servants' ( tin thoso once powerful water-lords now humbly called themselves ) , wore simpletons enough , on the strength of their promises , fo abandon their wells , to sell oil their force-pumps , nnd io erect water-closets or baths in tho upper stories of their houses . Iu many streets there were throe lines of water-pipes laid down , involving tri p le leakage , triple interest on _cupit . i , ( ri ple administrative charges , triple pumping and storage costs , and a tri p le army of turncocks—tho whole affording a loss effective supply than would have resulted from a single well-ordered service . In this desperate _strugglo vast sums of money were Hunk . Tho recently-oatabli » hod companies worked at
The Sanitary Association Versus The Wate...
a ruinous Iobs ; and such as kept up a show of prosperity were , in fact , like the East London Company , paying dividends out of capital . The New River Company's dividends went down from 500 ? . to 23 ? . per share per annum . In the border-line districts , where the fiercest conflicts took place , the inhabitants sided wiih one or other of the contending parties . Some noted with delight the humbled tone of the old arbitrary monopolists , and heartily backed the invaders . Some quiet old stagers stuck to the ancient companies , and to the faces of familiar turncocks . These paid ; but many shrewd fellows put off the obsequious collectors , and contrived to live water-rate free . Thus the honest , as usual , paid for the knaves ; and the ultimate burden of all these squandered resources fell ( also as usual ) on society at large .
" ' Such a state of things could not last ; and it came to a conclusion which experience , had it been invoked , might have led Parliament to anticipate . For , scarcely a century before , the two chartered East India Companies , after five years' internecine war , had coalesced to form that gigantic confederacy which for years monopolised the Indian trade , and rose to an unexampled pitch of corporate power and aggrandisement , at the cost of the mercantile community . " 'Just so , in 1817 , the great water companies coalesced against the public ; and coolly portioned out London between them . Their treatment , on this occasion , of the tenants so lately flattered and cajoled , will never be effaced from the public memory . Batches of customers were handed over by one water company to another , not merely
without their consent , but without even the civility ot a notice . Old tenants of the New Kiver Company , who had taken their water for years , and had been their thick-andthin supporters through the battle , found themselves ungratefully turned over—without previous explanation—to drink the 'puddle' supplied by the Grand Junction Company . The abated rates were immediately raised , not merely to the former amount , but to charges from 25 to 400 per cent , more than they had been before the competition . * The solemnly-promised high service was suppressed , or made the pretext for a heavy extra charge . Many people had to regret ' selling their
force-pumps as old lead , ' or fixing water-closets on their upper floors , on the faith of these treacherous contractors . Those who had fitted up their houses with pipes , in reliance on the guarantee of ' unremitting pressure' found themselves obliged , either to sacrifice the first outlay , or to expend on cisterns and their appendages further sums , varying from 10 / . or 20 / . up to 50 / ., and even , in many cases , 100 / . When tenants thus unhandsomely dealt by expressed their indignation and demanded redress , they were 'jocosely' reminded by smiling secretaries that the competition was over , and that those who were dissatisfied With the companies' supplies were quite at liberty to set up pumps of their own . '
" Thus , as in political affairs , Anarchy invariably leads to Despotism , so , in commerce , Subversive Competition always ends its disorderl y and ruinous course in Monopoly , which ( whether avowed or tacit , individual or collective ) is but Despotism in a lower sphere . " The cure for these evils lies in tho Competitive Contract-system , which brings competition to bear for , instead of in , tho field of supply . ; so as to obviate the reckless multiplication of establishments , and capitals , and staffs , for tho perfomanco of a service for which ono would suffice . The evidence cited shows that tho
water companies might bo bought out , so as to clear tho way for tho consolidation of the water supply with tho drainage and other connected sanitary services , under a public authorit y , responsible to tho rate-payers through Parliament , and charged to supervise the due execution of the works by contractors competing freely , on open tender , in tho public market ; a system obviously calculated to secure for the _]) ublic the best possible service at tho lowest possible rates . By empowering such an authority to buy the companies out in full , with money borrowed at ' A or ' Ay per cent ., wo should come into possession of their works ai . an annual charge for interest , less by nearly two-fifths thftn our present annual payment to the companies . B y consolidating tho nine establishments thus acquired , wo should save more than half the present working costs ; and hy the further consolidations referred to above , for which this first one would prepare tho ground , we should still more reduce our annual charges , imd still more improve our sanitary condition .
" Such is the course implied in the formula of Kan _itauy CONSOLIDATION , HTUUCTU ItA I , AND A l > M J NIHTHAT 1 Vii ; a luminous and pregnant principle laid down b y tho Health of Towns Commissioners under Sir Robert Peel , embodied in the Health Act under Lord John Itussell , and adopted as their guiding-rule by the Sanitary Party . It is for Parliament , to consider whether , by rejecting this course , and adopting in its stead tho fragmentary arrangements proposed in Lord John Muiiners ' _s bill , thoy will disavow and reverse a princi p le thus sanctioned by our ablest modern statesman , deliberately affirmed by tho three brunches of the Legislature in ( . he Health Act now working so well , and unanimously adopted by tho Party which especially devotes itself to sanitary affairs .
" Should Parliament adopt so unfortunate a course , it , will become the duty of the Sunifury Association plainly and persoveringly to denounce their inconsistency ; fo appeal from ( heir second to their first decision ; and to demand on behalf of tho public , tho ro-aflirmatioii of tho only line sanitary policy , the policy of ( V . nnoli oatioN . "
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A Dr. Kerrison, For Example, Gave Eviden...
A Dr . Kerrison , for example , gave evidence that his rate bud been raised by tho Grand . Function Company from Ml . to si \ guineas and a half ; ami that his next-door neighbour ' s had been advanced from Ml . ( o seven guineas Mr . Ilulehelt , the hotcl-koepor in Piccadilly , had his rate raised , without notice , from ( W . to _fwonty-fivo guineas per annum ; his supply being at tho same time so greatly diminished that ho ' was obliged to sink a well _tfOO fool . doon for tho _ucrvicc of his cofioo-rooiu .
Dreadful Railway Accident. Seybbai. Mons...
DREADFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT . _Seybbai . monster excursion trains left Burnley on Monday , conveying upwards of 5 , 000 of the teachers , children , and friends of the various Sunday schools of the town to York , Goole , Liverpool , and other places . The Goole train , engaged by the Wesleyan Methodists , consisted of about 35 carriages , containing some 1 , 200 persons , and reached Burnley , on its return , _qhout : 11 . 30 p . m ., every one delig hted with the day ' s tri p to the sea , and quite unprepared for the most fearful railway accident which has ever occurred in . this neighbourhood . The train had arrived within a few hundred yards of the station , when it was brought to a
stand for the purpose of detaching the engines ( according to the usual practice ) , and running the train on to the main line , which is not employed at this station for the ordinary passenger traffic ; but before the engines could be disposed of , the train , from its weight , was again in motion , and , before the pointsman could attend to bis duty , had passed on , down the incline , to the usual passenger platform , which is adapted only for a short train , and terminates in a strong stone wall . The train entered the station with considerable impetus , and dashed against the buffers protecting the wall , two of the carriages being raised completely on end , and almost shivered to pieces by tho concussion . The scene which ensued was most
lamentable , and almost baffles description , the screams of mothers for their children _^ being mingled with the cries and groans of the wounded . The news of the calamity soon spread through the town , and the confusion was increased by the hundreds ot people who crowded into the station . Mr . Superintendent Carswell , with a party of the county constabulary , was soon on the spot , and resorted to active measures for the extrication of the injured , four of whom were found to be quite dead , and some 20 or 30 seriously injured .
A special engine was despatched to Manchester immediately after the accident for Mr . Hall , the passenger superintendent , who arrived - at three o ' clock on Tuesday . After a careful investigation of the circumstances , Mr . Hall is of opinion , that had the points been properly attended to , the accident would not have occurred . The pointsman ( John Parker ) was instantly arrested .
Overcrowded Steamboats. While The Doors ...
OVERCROWDED STEAMBOATS . While the doors of the Court of Aldermen were closed on Tuesday , for the purpose of discussing a matter of some importance connected with the magistracy of the city of London , Alderman Wilson brought forward , with the unanimous approbation of the Court , tho motion" That it be referred to the Committee for General Purposes to appoint an inspector of steamboats plying for hire between Gravesend and Westminster-bridge , to ascertain the number of passengers carried at different times on board such boats , and to take such measures thereon to prevent tho overcrowding thereof as to tho committee may appear advisable . "
He referred to the act of the 14 th and 15 th Victoria , c . 71 ) , passed expressly to prevent that which was daily taking place on the Thames , to the imminent danger of life to all who , for business or pleasure , ventured on board . A person who embarked at Westminster , when there appeared to be moderate room , might be so jammed in a crowd picked up before the vessel quitted London-bridge , as not to be able to move , and , were it not for the fresh breeze of the river , scarcely able to breathe , for it wa . s no uncommon sight to behold 300 or 400 persons all huddled together in the fashion of oxen , and sheep , and pigs , in that market , the name of which would be soon merely historical . \ Hy the fifth section of the act , the Hoard of Trade was required to furnish to the owners and masters of steam-vessels
certificates of the number or passengers each vessel was constructed to carry , and by the 12 th , the owner or muster of a steam-vessel became liable to a _jiennlty of 2 , 01 . for carrying a greater number of passengers than the number stated in the certificate , *' and a penalty of 5 . v . for every passenger above the number specified . 1 Ic thought the enforcement of the penalty on only one steamboat would produce such a panic among tho owners of the craft , that , very little , more would be heard about overcrowded steamboat * , on the river Thames . It , was to be apprehended that the act , like many other acts
_intendeikfor the public good , remained almost useless in consequence of the difficulties in the way of proving and enforcing the penalties , for b y another clause the parties aggrieved could not complain or lay the information . That necessary proceeding must he carried into effect by a person appointed by the Hoard of Trade , and flint was the reason lie wished an inspector to be appointed , as the Hoard of Trade would doubtless gladly empower such oflicer to enforce fhe clauses of this important act . If he should fail in that project he would be prepared to lay _liefore tho committeo rules and bylaws for the rogulution of tho river , passed by tho Court
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 17, 1852, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17071852/page/10/
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