POLLUTION OF RIVERS ACT 25 



was, nevertheless, the case. In the village over 

 the fields there are many who can tell you that 

 when the old squire owned the property things 

 were very different ; but when he died and the 

 estate was bought by the company which set up 

 the works, the hideous chimney of which is visible 

 for miles round, the fish rapidly disappeared, by 

 reason of the filth from the manufactory, and it is 

 now many a day since a trout has been seen. 



Nor is the foregoing at all an exaggerated 

 description. Scarce a county in England which 

 does not possess one or more rivers in a more or 

 less similar condition from similar causes. I may 

 go much further, and at once state that I do not 

 believe that there is one single river in England 

 which is not to a certain extent polluted. And yet 

 there is an Act entitled the ' Rivers Pollution 

 Act,' and its terms are, roughly speaking, as 

 follows : 



' Every person who puts, or causes, or permits 

 to be put, or to fall, or to be carried into any 

 stream, so as to interfere with its flow, or to 

 pollute its waters, the solid refuse of any manufac- 

 tory, manufacturing process, or quarry, or any 

 rubbish, cinders, or waste, or any putrid or solid 

 matter, will be guilty of an offence against the 

 Act/ 



The Act also contains prohibitions against 

 allowing solid or liquid sewage matter to be put, 



