THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



201 



the fruits; so these people continue mowing heavy hay- crops 

 or grazing good grass, by help of the waters they bathed ni 

 or skated on wlien children, and uovcr dream of grea.er profit if 

 the floods w.'re assuaged, or of saliihriiy witii less expanse of 

 cold water and olTensive raud ; or if they anticipate such iiu- 

 prcvenieut, cannot risli anything upon tiie chance feasibihty of 

 confining the streams and aciii;!ving a perfect drainage. Now 

 a general act, partitioning the kinj^dom into districts or drain- 

 age departments, and establishing an organization for superhi- 

 tcnding the outflow of our water.', would create (as it were) 

 a public opinion on the subject, by offering machinery for 

 compreht'iisive or isolated improvement to the attention of 

 owners, tenants, and townsfolk. In these days of profuse ad- 

 vertisement, \(e do not conceal our wares until customers 

 spontaneously iucpiire if we have them : to dispose of our 

 goods we must " push" the trade ; and instead of waiting for 

 new wants to arise, must make those wants by offering to 

 supply them. So would a general drainage act operate : by 

 providing the remedy, it would stimulate the spirit of improve- 

 ment in districts now blind to the misery of their state because 

 ignorant of the advantages they might enjoy. In Ireland, 

 numerous as are the " works" undertaken, they only amounted 

 to a fourth of those applied for. What would be the nature 

 of the proceedings under a general act? The Irish drainages 

 were executed by the Goveiumeut Commissioners, under the 

 following regulations : Any one or more persons interested in 

 a district, memorialized the Bt-ard, engaging to defray the cost 

 of preliminary proceedings if the \vork did not go on : the 

 Board then made inquiry, a survey, and report, which v.aa sub- 

 mitted to a meeting of the proprietors ; and if the owners of 

 one-half the extent of laud m the proposed district (with the 

 consent of tenants under lease) gave in their assents, the 

 drainage was proceeded with, and where one individual pos- 

 sessed more than half the number of acres the other owners 

 could outweigh his decision. The expense was charged upon 

 the lauds of all the proprietora in proportion to the benefit 

 considered by a valuator to be conferred on each part. Much 

 of the money for these works was obtained by private loans on 

 the security of the lands to be drained, for which debentures 

 were issued ; but the principal funds were advanced by the 

 Treasury, to be repaid by instalments in 12 up to 40 years. 

 But in our own country a very different style of procedure 

 would probably be adopted, in order to be palatable to a 

 people accustomed to regard local self government as the bul- 

 wark of their political trcedom. We never could submit to 

 have the Government engineer offering us a Scheme of im- 

 provement with the alternative of " this or none." It appears 

 to my mind that a general act for this kingdom should ap- 

 portion the whole surface (as I have before said) into drainage 

 districts; each including 'a main river or water-course, with 

 all its branches and feeding ditches from the outfall to the 

 very source— being, in fact, the entire catchment basin of the 

 stream. And thio because each river system is independent of 

 all others ; while its separate divisions, whether in the estuary 

 delta, the upper valley, or the thousand feeders along its 

 course, are mutually affected by and dependent upon each 

 other. Not that all rights and reaponsibilities upon the river 

 are to be swamped and set aside; but a jurisdiction is to be 

 established over all. To conserve and improve the drainage 

 of a district, to regulate all matters concerning mill-power, 

 irrigation, or inland navigation, let there be trustees or com- 

 missioners ; either a representative body, or sort of water- 

 parliament, elected by all the different interests, or constituted 

 in a different manner, if this were considered objectionable or 

 unlikely to answer the end in view. Proper officers might be 

 appointed to watch over and examine every portion of the 

 tract, from the tidal harbour to the farm ditch, through which 

 may run a right of water-way ; and a model for such duties 

 may be found in our fen drainage management. The district 

 could devise, support, or oppose auy scheme of improvement 

 as at present ; and there would exist an organization for sub- 

 mitting proposals to the direct sanction or rejection of all par- 

 ties concerned. The advantage of the general act would be in 

 its provisions empowering the district board (however consti- 

 tuted) to deal with mills, properties, &c,, and rate the charge 

 for outlay, &c., according to fixed principles laid down for 

 different cases, thus obviating the necessity for the host of 

 local acta that would otherwise be necessary for draining the 

 kingdom, and which, because of their very cumber, will never 

 he ob^ainpd. This is merely thrown out by way of collateral 

 suggealion J but itiac a L-cuvral act of come dcscripiiou is re- 



quisite, I most firmly believe. It is evident that general rules 

 for compensation, &c., could be framed, after due inveittigatioa 

 of the existing state of things throughout the country, be- 

 cause our rivers are capable of being classified, according as 

 they subserve the purposes of flour-mills or factories, naviga- 

 tion or simple draijiage, and so on ; and the remedial measures 

 will be similar in certain descriptions of ca'cs : as where 

 water-mills must be removed, or steam-power provided in 

 place of the water, or the water-power itself increased ; where 

 navigation must be abandoned, or, on the other iiand, may hi 

 combined with better drainage; and so on. And there is 

 already a sufficient number of precedents of tne purchase of 

 mills and canals, and compensations of all kinds, to guide na 

 in framing a new general act, comprehensively embracing all 

 specific cases likely to arise. A measure of this kind, laying 

 down principles upon which claims are to be regulated, would 

 be a novelty ; but one approaching to the general character I 

 have been insistiiig upon is already before the public. For 

 in the spring of 1852, a Bill for tlie '■ Drainage and Embank- 

 ment of Lauds" was presented to the House of Lords by the 

 Earl of Carlisle, who, on withdrawal from office, brought iu and 

 left it as a bequest to the Ministry succeeding that of which his 

 lordship was a member. The provisions (comprising 133 

 clauses) are so important, and so nearly answering to the re- 

 quirements of the country, that I must give you a brief ouiliue 

 of them ; although no legislation on the subject has taken 

 place from that time to this. Instead of dividing Euglaiid 

 and Wales into districts, it is left for any pertons inte- 

 rested to apply by memorial to the Enclosure Commis- 

 sioners, accompanied with map3, plans, and estimates of 

 proposed works ; the Commissioners are theu to con- 

 vene a meeting of all parties concerned; and if the 

 assents received represent three-fourths in extent of the 

 land, they may d'iclare the lands, etc, to be a "drainage 

 district." Proprietors vote without regard to the amount 

 of their interest; and tenants are considered jointly with 

 owners, where the lease is of longer term than 14 years, 

 and the rental under two-thirds of the clear annual value. 

 At a meeting called for the purpose, a body of trustees, not 

 less than six nor more than nine in number, is to be chosen 

 by " the persons interested in the greater portion in exttnt 

 of the lands, etc., represented at the meeting ;" and the 

 election is for seven years. The same meeting is also to 

 elect a Committee of Works, to which trustees are eligible. 

 In case of neglect or refusal to elect these bodies, the Com- 

 missioners appoint them themselves. The Board of 

 Trustees, with proper officers, is to make all contracts for 

 works ; raise funds; render annual accounts, open to public 

 iuspeclion ; submit to the Commissioners, once a year, a 

 detailed plan, specification, and estimates, etc., of the works 

 proposed to be undertaken in the district during the ensuing 

 year; and, in fact, be the responsible managers. _ The Com- 

 mittee of Works is to supervise the execution of the 

 works ; the Board of Trustees to superintend the Com- 

 mittee. The Inclosure Commissioners are to determine 

 disputes between the two bodies. No works are to be 

 undertaken without the approval and order of the Com- 

 missioners ; and they are to report their proceedings an- 

 nually to one of the Secretaries of State. Ihe moneys 

 required are to be raised by rate, assessed upon the whole 

 of the lands in the district, in proportion to benefit re- 

 ceived ; or by mortgage upon the security of the lands to 

 be drained, by way of terminable annuity : and any owner 

 may appeal to the Commissioners, if dissatisfied with the 

 assessment of the trustees. This, then, is the organization : 

 Initiative and executive local representative bodies, govern- 

 ing the water-interests of separate districts, and charging 

 the expenses of improvement and maintensnce upon all the 

 lands, the owners of three-fourths the extent of land binding 

 the minority to contribute ; and all under the controlling 

 head of the Inclosure Commission. What " works" may be 

 executed? The trustees may alter any weirs, dams, 

 streams, &c., or construct new works for discharging floods, 

 or lower the water-level of a river, provided they do not 

 lessen the water-power or supply to mills, towns, or fac- 

 tories. Then they may purchase and remove any "null, 

 factory, weir, dam, or other work of obstruction;" or, not 

 agreeing for the purchase, they may take the same, and 

 award compensation— that is, with the express authorisa- 

 tion of the Commissioners. Nothing is said, however, 

 about s'lbstitnting steam or wind-power instead of the 



