29 



therefore, it was possible to turn sewage into profitable 

 manure, as it had been proved, the 5 or 6 million people in 

 London ought to put their heads together and put their 

 feet down and say they would insist on having the sewage 

 taken out of the river. It was no use for it to be taken out 

 at Crossness, and carried half a dozen miles lower down, 

 nor, as some enthusiastic engineer suggested, that it should 

 be taken 20 or 30 miles out into the German Ocean, where 

 it would not be the slightest good, and would be an injury 

 to those fisheries which the Exhibition had been promoted 

 to foster. 



Mr. SiLLAR said he should not have said anything on 

 this occasion as what he could have said had been much 

 better said by perfectly unprejudiced and impartial wit- 

 nesses, but as Mr. Lyon had asked for a few facts he 

 thought it right to say a few words. This process had 

 been in active operation at Aylesbury for some eight years. 

 During those years the water had been so cleansed as to 

 meet every requirement of the riparian owners, and to 

 receive annually a vote of perfect confidence by the 

 trustees of the town ; secondly, the works had been visited 

 constantly, sometimes every day, and even at night, by the 

 officials of the town, who bore unanimous testimony to the 

 fact that there never was the slightest nuisance of the kind ; 

 thirdly, with regard to the value of the manure, the effect 

 of the severe test, the market price, applied to it was 

 very satisfactory, for the demand was greater than the 

 supply. 



The Chairman then said he should submit the following 

 resolution which he thought would be a very suitable 

 outcome of the discussion : " That it is the opinion of this 

 conference that the pollution of rivers is an evil so serious 

 that stringent measures should be adopted without delay, 



