THE QUESTION OF WATER RIGHTS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 260, 28 February 1874, Page 4

THE QUESTION OF WATER RIGHTS.

.-Charles RenJall was charged, on the information of-James Wilson, with polluting the Water of Leith stream. Mr. Harris- appeared for the complainant, and Mr. Stewart for the defendant.—Mr. Har-

ris briefly stated the facts of the case. The complainant is a brewer, and uses the Water of Leith water for his beer, or did so until it was rendered useless for this purpose by becoming polluted through the / business carried on by the defendunt, who is a fellmonger, carrying on hi 3 business higher up the stream. Mr. Harris said that three years ago a similar charge was brought against a Mr. Soilnness for injuring the water by establishing a flax-mill near the Water of Leith. Medical and other evidence was then given, and Sounness .was fined. There were now a number of . persons who systematically fouled this water. .There was a saw-mill

there. ' Pigs were kept near the stream. Then 'there was a dairy ; arid' it was even

a fact that: manure was' thrown into the

stream. , Hence it was resolved by Mr. Wilson to bring the present action to put a stop to this state of things. After stat-

ing, the facts of the case, he called the following , witnesses: —James - Wilson, deposed that he, was the proprietor of Well .Park Brewery, near the. Water of Leith, which, was the only - water he used for brewing purposes. " The stream ran through his land. About a month ago began to find the water become very dirty. ; Made, some enquiries, and found there was,a fellmongery at work some distance up the, stream. Went and examined it on the 29th January. It was on a tributary of the Water of - Leith, abo,ve the Douglas' saw-mili. Found a

dam, erected with logs across the creek. ..This 'was banked up with."a large number of pelts and sheepskins, the water running through and) over:'them.:, - There must . have been a hundred or two. Just above the skins,there was a box with wool being steeped in it. The water -had a milky appearance, In the neighborhood, on the banks, were heaps of reiuse, trotters, &c. A dry watercourse'.was .blocked up with decaying ; hoofs, .skins, and other refuse. The .water from this tributary ran into the main stream of the Water of, Leith. Was prepared to say that the Water of- Leith must ; become polluted ?;from this. cause. Crosstexamined: ,We used, the water for making beer. I reiuse to answer the question whether we put our refuse water into the stream. lam not aware that I am,doing what's wrong. I will allow any person to: go and; examine- ,my premises. We use; hops, malt, and sugar. I believe ■ there have been, pigs'living in the neighborhood for some time. I suppose we

have' been ; getting some sawdust' too. There is a dairy on the banks of the stream.. I do not'know whether Mar-

shall and Copeland use the Water of Leith water \ they have it laid on. We have it laid on too, and are now compelled to use it, I cannot say whether the Water of Leith is being largely used' for manufacturing,purposes. In the • case •of a flood the /heap, of rubbish I have mentioned would'be swept into the creek, or the wa-ter-would at,least pass over it or through

itiTrrMr- ; John Marshall, of the firm of Marshall 'and Copeland, said -they had been obliged to discontinue'using the Water of Leith water for the last three months, Had recently examined the

stream. This witness's evidence in this respect was similar to that given by Mr Wilson. He added that the'stench in the neighborhood of this fellmongery establishment was quite unbearable.—Grossexamined: . I would not use this water even if' the fellmongery ..were ■ not there The Water •of Leith, when clean, is far.better for brewing purposes than the Waterworks water. —James Nimori, Inspector of Nuisances, deposed that, on the 29th instant, he! had gone in company with the two last witnesses to the Water of Leith. He described the condition of defendant's place.—Thh was the case.—Mr. Stewart said he had an objection,to urge which he was quite sure would be .fatal without requiring him- to go into the facts of the case at all. 'The J 4th section of the Act, in speaking on , -the subject of sluices,; pipes, dams, -aqueducts, and watercourses, evidently referred to artificial and not to natural watercourses. Although it was not so expressed, the meaning of the word must be taken in connection with the other words

by which it was accompanied, and which in this instance clearly showed that the watercourses intended were artificial ones.

The view which he now submitted had been adopted in Victoria, and the section

of our Act was precisely the same.—His Worship : This Act has been taken from the Victorian Act. —Mr, Stewart continued : And there could be no doubt that it only applied to artificial, and not to na- ; tural watercourses, streams, or rivers. He submitted that on this ground alone , the case must, be dismissed. Therefore, . for, the present, he should not comment on the evidence.—Mr. Harris, in addressing the Bench, contended that a natural watercourse was undoubtedly meant by the Act. The word " watercourse," as here mentioned, should be taken in connection with the other words—" just as a man was known by the company he kept." A watercourse " must be natural; it could not be artificial. - Wharton and others .were good authorities upon this subject, and by reference to them it would be found, that what ho said was correct. No aqueduct, .pipe, sluice, or fountain, could exist without being supplied by a watercourse. With regard to the Australian cases which had been quoted, he 'subrnitted that they were by no means cori- , elusive as, far as this case was concerned. l ,Hiß Worship remarked that this Act was brought,in by the late Mr. Branigan, and .was a copy of the Victorian Act.—Mr. Harris thought it would lie taking too narrow a view of it to place Mr. Stewart's construction upon it. He submitted that his friend could not claim to have the case dismissed without going into jts real merits. It would be monstrous

to allow people to pollute this, steam, and j*ive no redress to those who suffered from it. This was the only stream we had, and was it to become a perfect nuisance? —which it most .assuredly would do if steps were not taken to put a stop to it its being polluted.—Mr. Stewart' said he should rest his case, for the present, on the point he had raised.—Mr. Strode, in giving his decision, said: T have no r doubt in my own mind as to the meaning of the word watercourse, as used in - this Act.' The state of things existing cries aloud for a remedy. These establishments on the banks of the stream should not be allowed. It is a very great hardship, and the sooner ■ the Legislature takes steps to alter or rather add to the law the better As to the term watercourse, taking the word in the sense in .which it is employed here, I have very little doubt it was intended to meet a case of " fluming,"— that it referred to a long flume. When this Act was passed in 1862, it was just about the height of our goldfield rush, and I think that the word was .put in.the Act in reference to a flume. Such being the case, the conviction,, if one . were to take place, would be overturned without a shadow of a doubt. The other words in th-i section' apply to something artificial, "pumps, .pipes,' sluices," .and so* on, "When I first saw the information, I imagined this would be' the difficulty. The case must be dismissed.—Tn answer to a question, his Worship said he would not allow any costs. He thought there was a wrong done, and there should be'a remedy provided: the sooner the better. • No person had a right to pollute this stream.— Mr. Stewart remarked that Mr. Wilscin himself polluted it.—His Worship said they had had no evidence of that:'besides,, two blacks did. not make one. white, nor two wrongs one right —Mr. Harris said he should take the case to a higher 'Court. There was a remedy for this.—His Worship : Yes, there is ; but jt is a complex one. -In the-meantime I advise, the defendant to stop polluting this stream.— ' Otago Guardian.'

It is a little singular how much valuable time a woman will take up in studying the postmark of a letter to see where jit comes from, when she can open the'letter and find out at once.