12 



4 March, 

 1864. 



Joint Letter 

 of Lords 

 Ebury and 

 Shaftesbury, 

 on behalf of 

 the Sanitary 

 Associations 

 of Great 

 Britain, and 

 Lords Sal- 

 toun and 

 Llanover, the 

 President 

 and Vice- 

 President of 

 the Fisheries 

 Preservation 

 Association, 

 to Viscount 

 Palmerston, 

 First Lord of 

 the Treasury. 

 [Pari. Paper 

 224, April 20, 

 1864.] 



forward a Government measure for the jmrpose, — and 

 had he lived no doubt he would have done so with the 

 same energy his Lordship evinced in suppressing by 

 legislative enactment the smoke nuisance, a nuisance 

 however, which, great as it was, only affected one 

 element, while the pollution of rivers, poisons two, air as 

 well as water. 



His Lordship having requested the deputation to 

 submit its views and wishes in writing, a letter was ad- 

 dressed to him, from which the following are extracts : — 



London, 4 March, 1864. 

 " ' My Lord, 



" When we had the honour of an interview with your 

 " Lordship, you requested us to submit, in writing, the 

 '' several propositions we might desire to make, for 

 " preventing the pollution of streams. 



" The pollution of rivers and streams has now become 

 " very general, and great injuries result therefrom. These 

 " may be considered — 



" First, as affecting the public at large in a sanitary 



" point of view, and what is called in Scotland the 



" ' amenity ' of the district. 



" And secondly, the fisheries, many of which have 



" been totally destroyed by the deleterious matter, which 



" is thrown into, or suffered to flow into, the rivers and 



" streams. 



" As regards the injury to the health and comfort 

 " of the population living upon the banks of rivers 

 " and streams, or in their immediate neighbourhood, 

 " it is fortunately unnecessary to use our own language, 

 " because the case has been set forth in its true light, 

 " in clear and unmistakeable terms, in the reports pre- 

 " sented by the eminent men who composed the Sewage 

 " of Towns Commission." 



The Letter after quoting from the first report of the 

 Commission on Sewage of towns in 1858, the "conclusion" 

 (before given at length, page 7) come to by those Commis- 

 sioners, namely, that 



" ' The increasing pollution of the rivers and streams 

 " of the country, is an evil of naiional importance, ichich 



