Letter to the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers on the drainage of the metropolis / By Mr. John Phillips, Chief Surveyor. Extracted from the orders of Court, 21st June, 1849.

  • Phillips, John (Surveyor)
Date:
[1849]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Letter to the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers on the drainage of the metropolis / By Mr. John Phillips, Chief Surveyor. Extracted from the orders of Court, 21st June, 1849. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    iHetrojJolttan beta's. Letter to the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers on the Drainage of the Metropolis. By Mu. John Phillips, Chief Surveyor. Extracted from the Orders of Court, 21 st June, 1849. My Lords and Gentlemen, 1, Greek-street, Soho-square, 21st June, 1849. The Survey Committee having, at their meeting on the 15th instant, passed resolutions in reference to the drainage of West¬ minster, approving in effect the suggestions of Mr. Austin’s report of February, 1848, it becomes my duty, as your Chief Surveyor, to warn you against attempting to exe¬ cute the works therein contemplated, as I have no hesitation in stating that they are wholly impracticable and are unworthy the objects which should be kept in view for the perfect drainage of this great metropolis. Many large and populous metropolitan and suburban districts are now without any drainage, while the public are suffering greatly in consequence, and the drainage of many other districts is in so fearful a condition as to demand at the hands of the Commission immediate measures of relief, and the public are daily and justly ex¬ pressing dissatisfaction at the want of energy exhibited by the Commission. I should hesitate to address you if I were not satisfied that it is time for me to speak out both for the credit of the Court, and for the reputation of its officers, since at the last meeting of the Court it was publicly announced that a three feet pipe will carry off the drainage of the whole of the metropolis. This statement is re¬ peated in the daily papers, and is passing through the provinces with more than usual rapidity. Such an announcement bearing the sanction of the Court, contrary as it is to fact and to all observation, is calculated to bring the Commission into ridi¬ cule, and to destroy public confidence both in the Court and its advisers. The following passage is amongst the conclusions of the first report of the Sanitary Commission, 1847. “ The more the investigation advances, the more is it apparent that the pro- “ gressive improvement and proper execution of this class of public works, together “ with the appliances of hydraulic engineering, cannot be reasonably expected to be “ dealt with incidentally, or collaterally to ordinary occupation, or even to connected “ professional pursuits, but require a degree of special study, which not only place “ them beyond the sphere of the discussion of popular administrative bodies, but “ beyond that of ordinary professional engineering and architectural practice. “ In justification of this conclusion, and to show' the evil of the perverted appli- “ cation of names of high general professional authority, we might adduce examples •c of the most defective works which have received their sanction.