Transactions. 125 



The three surface wells meationed, besides being' very distant from 

 the populous parts of the town, yielded but a trifling supply, and 

 two of them were liable to be submerged when the river was high ; 

 and in regard to the river itself, while there is no doubt of the 

 superior purity of its water, it must have been, at the point 

 usually drawn from, contaminated by sewage, and far more 

 largely, in consequence of a practice which, if now discontinued, 

 was prevalent only a few years ago — the custom of making the 

 river a sink for the reception of all kinds of refuse. When to 

 this is added the discolouration of the water during floods, and 

 the inelBcient, cumbersome, and objectionable method of its distri- 

 bution, it may well be conceived that water famine must have 

 been an often recurring circumstance in the town ; and at no time 

 could the supply be said to approach a sanitary standard either as 

 to quantity (the circumstances being considered) or quality. 



Although a better supply of water was urgently needed, the 

 movement in that direction for a long time made but little pro- 

 gress. This was partly due to the peculiar relation in which the 

 governing authority stood to the question. It was not generally 

 recognised as a part of the duty of such authority to enforce or to 

 provide a supply of water. The usual course, in case of a supply 

 being desired, was to establish a joint stock company, who obtained 

 an Act of Parliament and undertook the construction of the works 

 as a speculation. In the present instance the scheme was not 

 suSiciently tempting, and therefore the several efforts which were 

 from time to time made to start a company proved a failure. 



The earlier Acts of Parliament for police purposes proceeded 

 on similar lines, no provision being made in them for introducing 

 a supply of water. In the year 1681 Dumfries obtained from the 

 Scottish Parliament of Charles II. a Local Police Act, and another 

 was passed in favour of the town in the 51st year of the reign of 

 George III., but neither of them contained water clauses. The 

 General Police Act of 1833 first conferred on local authoi'ities 

 powers in that direction, and gradually as the importance of the 

 (luestion came to be recognised, they were amplified in succeeding 

 Acts, until now the providing of a plentiful supply of pure water 

 occupies a foremost place in the sanitary work of which local 

 authorities have charge. The Town Council minutes show that 

 about the beginning of last century proposals had been made to 

 bring water in pipes to the town, but not until more than a 



