Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, APRIL 16. 1890. Pollution of Rivers.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 15 April 1890, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, APRIL 16. 1890. Pollution of Rivers.

Oan publio bodies pollute a public river? We say not only that thay cannot, but that the law should be m<de much cl arer than it K so tha they should not even be permitted to attempt t. "The Municipal Corporations Act, 1886,". permit! a^ Borough council to dairjr out

system of drainage, hampering it with only a provision that nothing "shal be deemed to entitle the Council to create a nuisance, or to deprive any person of any right or remedy ha would otherwise htive against the Corporation or aay other person of any such nuisance "' The failure in the present state of the law is making compulsory on the part of the abject or a to prove a matter a nuisance, which is acknowledged by all scientific people to be undoubtedly one. We art glad to notice that the public bodies hating an interest in the Manawatu rive* below Palmerston, are agreeing to work with our Borough Council in protesting against the selfish proposal of the Palmerston Borough Couaoil to free themselves from their own tewage, by depositing it in the , lirar to be carri- d past other peop'e's i property, to their hurt and annoyance. We understand that at present their plea for objecting to the interference of those interested in the lower reaches of thg riter, is much the same as that given by the giri for her illegitimate baby, "it was auch a little one," but we bave to take into übnsideraiion that not only will the town of Palmerston incrsase in population, but that other towns are growing up, and the bad example set, will likely be followed by all An expert in law was examined many years ago before a select committee of the English Par. liament, and h« stated he held that the emptying of sewage into rivers was acting illegally and contrary to the provisions of the common law, i and »a that law had always been expounded the rivers were not tc be polluted. He further explained that pollution became either a pubic injury or private damage, and for public injury the manner in which a case would be heard would be under the criminal jurisdiction. Every fact in relation to this di«cus ion depends upon the quantity of sewage discharged into a river and the volume of water in it, but the fact, that only a commencement has been made, should be no reason for objecting to the action Cases are cited where rivers have been so fouled that cattle would even not drink the water, but though this may be thought a far fetched instance it must be remembered, that sewa c is present and dangerous even where the water appears bright and sparkling, and it becomes most dangerous in this form, as the caution of colour, against its use, is withdrawn, and is thus taken unthinkingly. We cou'd pile up cases upon cases in support of our contention, but we will content ourselves with pointiag out what must occur in th« proposal now under consideration. The townspeople of Palmerston have all to gain, and nothing to lose, they will get rid of their offensive matter, and obtain their water from another source than the river. The residents along the river will primarily suffer, as the formation of the river is suited { for being a fever breeding ground. ' The sewage outfall will discharge at all times, and during the period thai; ihe river is in flood, the solid nutter will be taken over the bro *d river | >>ott->m, and after the subsidence of I the water, the offensive matter will i ' '6 left to rot and disseminate disease in whatever quarter the wind listeth to blow. There will be nothing to prevent this, nor can anything prevent it. The nuisance will depre c ate the value of every acre of river frontage from the outfall to Jackeytown It is no wonder, therefore that the Manawatu Road Board are rea' : y to protest. The Fitzherbert Board should stir, as they will be similarly placed. We can now con* sider the lower reaches of the river, unler tidal influence. The qu tntity of sewage, in reference to the volume of water in the river may at present be sufficient to assimilate all the offensive matter in solution, and our only greviance will be that we knjw it is there, but cannot see it. If uufortunately we have to rely on '.the river for water, we shall have to drink the composition, and receive with it the g"rms of low fever a. 4 other ills. We have however aU ways to keep in view the rapid in* crease of population, and it would not take a nntnber of years for the banks of the river, subject to tidal influence, to be made almost unin-. habitab'e l>y the constant washing up and down of the solid particles <>f the 'ffensive matter discharged. We look upon this intention of the Borough of Paluerstoti as being the precursor of the destruction of our river, both for drinking, fishing, and trade purposes- For dri f iking, by fouling the water, as Mr Raw inson, civil engineer said at the committee, filtering water in which sewage had been discharged does nothing but strain out the solids, and does not touch any chemical combina* tion, so that after the water has been filt red it is sufficient to breed fever, and may putrify in time; for fishing < by killing the fish, for Mr W. J. FlenneU, one of the Commissioners of Fisheries, st-ited, he was aware that a certain deposit takes p ace in a river from the sewage of towns, and that the derosit putrifies in warm weather aud is very offensive. It is injurions to fish, though whilst the offensive matter was in suspension in the water it might not be, as it deposits on spawning beds and kills the ova. And for trade; by the discharge of a davy quantify of silt which wi'l in time aJfect the depth

of the -water. The English ratepayers have much to regret that the wiß<i provision of Kichard II who created a Btatue against throwing filth and corruption into rivers or any other watercourses, has been disregarded, and it goes without contradiction that those who come after us wilt be duly grateful, if, by timely protest, we save the river to them fit for all such purposes Providence directed it to supply, which certainly was not for a common and noxious sewer* The Mayor and Councillors of the Borough of Foxten Sh&uld never weary in this fight for purity and health.