First report. : Minutes of evidence taken before the Commissioners appointed to inquire whether any and what special means may be requisite for the improvement of the health of the metropolis.

  • Great Britain. Metropolitan Sanitary Commission.
Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: First report. : Minutes of evidence taken before the Commissioners appointed to inquire whether any and what special means may be requisite for the improvement of the health of the metropolis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    98/204 (page 90)
    No. 19. Nor under the notice of the Court ?—No. Beriah Drew, Esq, You are obliged to give notice to the parishes of any lines of sewers you are about to construct. Have you had any objections from parishes as to the nature of the works you intend to carry on, or any suggestions of improvements?—No person was attending upon the subject of those sewers, with the exception of a deputation from Deptford, and their objection was that the Commissioners were not appointed by themselves, and they thought they oiio-ht to -have the appointment. There was no objection to the sewage works ?—No. Nor did you receive any suggestion of improvement ?—No. Why are you required to give notices to the parishes?—^The Act of Parliament requires it. Tt is an Act which was passed before my time. I expect at that period it was contemplated that sewers would go through private property. The Commissioners found afterwards how ■ difficult that would be, and they have always subsequently made them through public streets, but the notice is still given. Is not the business of the Commission very much retarded by their being required to give such notices ?—It is I'etarded a fortnight only ; there is also the expense and trouble of going .round to all the parishes, but that is all. After you have given notice what is the result ?—If the parishes were to come before the 'Court and suggest a better line, the Court would take the suggestion into consideration, but I ihave known no instance of it. Nor any suggestion as to an improvement in form or a reduction in price ?—No. There IS an estimate generally, but in the first instance it is a rough estimate; it then goes to the contractor. Would not it be a matter of great convenience if you had the same jurisdiction as is exer- cised by the Commissioners of Paving ?—The officers of the two Commissions have always acted in concert together. Would not it be more convenient for you to have the jurisdiction to carry out the work !' instead of having to go to another body for permission to take up the pavements ?—Yes. Is the whole of your district under one Commission for Paving?—^No; there are a great many Paving Commissions, but not so many as there are on the Middlesex side of the water. How many Paving Boards are there within your jurisdiction ?—Thirteen. Do the surveyors of those various Boards charge you a uniform price for taking up and relaying the pavement?—The Commissioners of Sewers do that; generally it is an agreement with the pavement contractor to do the work, but wherever we disturb any pavements we replace them. What do you charge per yard for doing so?—It varies from 9<f. to Is. 6ff., according to soil and materials. The contractor pays you for relaying the pavement, does he?—No, we pay the contractor. If it is necessary to take tip the pavements for the purpose of making a sewer, we make that part of our contract; and our contractor makes an agreement with the contractor for keeping the pavements in repair, as to the sum of money which he has to pay him for relaying the pavements. Do you know M'hether the contractors of the various Paving Boards charge a uniform rate ?— I do not know. With respect to private works, do you charge a sum at once to them, or have you any means of distributing the charge over a period of time ?—We have the power of distributing it. What are your means of doing so?—They exist under the present Act of Parliament. All sums above 10/. may be thrown over 20 years. Take a case of a sum under 10/., how may that be dealt with?—The Commission decides upon the course. What may the Commissioners do ?—They have said the payment shall not exceed 20s. a- year, so that if it is 5Z. it will be spread over five years. Supposing it to be a class of house inhabited by labouring people, or one of the fourth class of houses where the payment would be 5Z., it would be required to be paid for in five years ?— Yes. Supposing a house to be held by a person who has only the remainder of a lease of five years, he would have to pay in those five years for that which would probably last during thirty ?—Yes. Would not the circumstance of his having to pay such a sum form in itself a very great obstruction to the application of drainage to cottages of that class?—I am sorry to say that the payment of any money by the owners of small houses very much retards any improvement. Supposing that cost of 5Z. to be spread over a period of 30 years, and to be repaid by annual instalments, it would amount to 'bs. \\d. per annum principal and interest at 5 per cent, per annum. If, instead of requiring IZ. per annum, or 5Z, in five years, it were only 55. \\d., which was required, would not that be not only more correct in principle, but give an enormous facility to the drainage of that class of houses ?—But 1 am afraid the public would lose a great deal of money in that way. In what way?—In getting those small payments. You would charge rates upon that small property ?—Yes, but they are generally compounded for by the landlord. Would he not compound for this 5s. 1 \ d. 1—He would have five years to pay it in according to the present plan. Would not it be more equitable to him if he had 30?—It might be so. Would not it facilitate the drainage of this class of houses by persons having short interests— a lessee, for instance, having only a term of five years ?—Yes,