NA TURE 



557 



THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29. 1921. 



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Smoke Abatement.^ 



THE final report of Lord Newton's Committee 

 on Smoke and Noxious Vapours Abatement, 

 appointed nearly two years ago by the Minister 

 of Health, makes its appearance at an opportime 

 time. The conditions affecting the supply and dis- 

 tribution of coal are gradually becoming more 

 normal, and we are looking forward to the time 

 when its consumption will more nearly accord with 

 the country's needs. The recent disturbance in the 

 coal trade and the absolute futility of the wasteful 

 strike have taught U3 many lessons which it would 

 be the height of unwisdom not to lay to heart. We 

 liave learned, for example, the imperative necessity 

 for more economy in the consumption • of our coal. 

 There is a wider recognition of the fact that our 

 methods of using it as fuel are extravagant and 

 wasteful, and that we get no adequate return of its 

 potential value. We have realised that heat and 

 power are bound, for at least some years to come, 

 to cost us more than they did in pre-war years. 

 This question affects everybody ; it is, in fact, at the 

 root of the country's well-being and prosperity. We 

 ought, therefore, to see that all possible means 

 are taken to ensure that in its use we get the value 

 of our coal. It is notorious that under our present 

 systems we get only a fraction of that value. It is 

 not too much to say that if the country's fuel were 

 treated in accordance with the teaching of science 

 its present high price would be largely, if not 

 wholly, counterbalanced. 



Another lesson which the recent scarcity of coal 



1 Commiftee on Smoke and VqxJous Vapours Abatement. Final Report 

 (London: H.M. Stat ionerj' Office, 1921.) dd. net. 



NO. 2722, VOL. 108] 



brought home to the dwellers in our towns is the 

 delight and the blessing of a pure atmosphere. 

 During the coal strike the public Press literally 

 teemed with expressions of pleasure and gratification 

 in the enjoyment of a cleaner and clearer air. 

 Loiidon enjoyed vistas hitherto unperceived, and 

 Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield had the unwonted 

 luxury of an uninterrupted view of the heavens and 

 the sight of a distant landscape. The man in the 

 street naturally asked himself whether, with the 

 anticipated return of prosperity, it was absolutely 

 necessary that we should revert to the former con- 

 dition of things. Interested parties are apt to 

 preach that a smoky atmosphere is an index of the 

 country's industrial activity. Undoubtedly it has 

 been so in the past. But the conditions of to-day 

 are not those of even a dozen years ago. Science 

 has pointed to much in the way of amelioration, 

 and there is absolutely no reason why the charm 

 and healthful pleasure of a clear atmosphere should 

 not continue to be enjoyed, not only in London, but 

 even in the busiest of our manufacturing towns, if 

 public opinion were resolute to secure it. 



The Report of Lord Newton's Committee, ad- 

 mirable as it is in many respects, affords no fresh 

 information to those who have studied this question 

 of smoke, its cause, and the methods of its abate- 

 ment. The evil has been with us since the time of 

 Edward I., and has steadily increased with the 

 growth of our population and the development of 

 our manufacturing industries. It has probably 

 already passed its worst phase. Economic influ- 

 ences are at work tending to mitigate it. Legisla- 

 tion has made, from time to time, feeble attempts 

 to deal with the nuisance, but Goverimients, afraid 

 of any interference with industry, have been loth 

 to attack the problem in a statesmanlike fashion, 

 and municipal authorities, with whom the adminis- 

 tration of the law rests, for reasons which need 

 not be particularly specified, have been even more 

 reluctant to take action. The consequence is that 

 England has the smokiest and smuttiest atmosphere, 

 taking it as a whole, of any country in the world. 

 The condition of many of the smoke-begrimed towns 

 in the manufacturing districts of Lancashire, York- 

 shire, and Staffordshire is a disgrace to a civilised 

 community. 



The Committee frames a strong indictment 

 against local authorities throughout the country who 

 have failed to do their duty. In its opinion the 

 provisions of the existing law are strong enough to 

 combat the evil if they were only enforced. It must 

 be said, however, in bare justice to these authorities, 

 that certain of these provisions make it very difficult 



