METROPOLITAN SEWERS BILL. (Hansard, 23 June 1852)

§ MR. PETO

said, that he had had the 1239 honour of being called to the Commission last appointed on the subject of the Metropolitan Sewers, and with him were associated Mr. Stephenson, Mr. Rendell, Sir William Cubitt, and several other gentlemen connected with the public works of the Kingdom. It was distinctly understood on the part of the Government and the Commission that the attention of the Commissioners was to be directed unremittingly to the consideration of plans for the sewerage of the metropolis. They had accordingly so devoted their attention, and during the sixteen months they had been on the Commission plans had been investigated and matured for the sewerage both on the northern and southern sides of the river, and works of great magnitude, which the urgent necessity of the case required, had been performed. Upon the noble Lord (Viscount Ebrington) giving up the office of Chairman of the Commission, he (Mr. Peto) had been requested to take the position of Deputy Chairman, and to represent the Commission in that House. Since that time, he regretted to say, they had lost their Chairman and two or three other Members, and he (Mr. Peto) felt it his duty, in conjunction with Mr. Stephenson, Mr. Rendell, and Sir William Cubitt, to resign his office. They had done so simply on this ground, that they had not, as they had conceived, had good faith kept with them—he did not mean on the part of the present Government—he entirely exonerated them—but by the late Government. The Commissioners were appointed to perform a great public duty, and so far as they were concerned they had entirely fulfilled it. When they took office they found the whole affairs of the Commission, from a misunderstanding that had existed on the part of the former Commissioners, in a most disorganised state; and he would mention one circumstance to show the mode in which the business of the Commission had been carried on. A confidential paper addressed to one of the late Commissioners, occupying a place also in the new Commission, although headed "private and confidential," had found its way into the public papers, and the first time he saw it was in the public press. He and his Colleagues felt that an Office in such a state of disorganisation did require to be reorganised, and that duty they had fulfilled. They also matured plans for the sewerage; but, having done so, they found they were not in a position to borrow money. The Act under which they were per- 1240 forming their duty was so imperfect, that although he had entered into negotiations on the part of the Commissioners for the loan of 750,000l., to be returned in about thirty years by the imposition of a small rate on the metropolis, it was found, upon investigation, that no party could safely take the loan. They felt they were placed in a most onerous position, which only those who were acquainted with the state of the metropolis could form an opinion of; and, feeling how urgent was the necessity of carrying out the works to which he had referred, and finding that there was no prospect of their being carried out, they had felt it their duty to resign; for, however anxious they were to fulfil a public duty, yet they were not prepared to remain in an invidious position, and to be pointed at as not carrying out works with which the interests and morality of the metropolis were so much connected. The drainage of the metropolis would require at least 1,000,000l, and that amount could not be acquired in any other way than by loans for a period of about thirty years, and to be repaid by a rate not higher than 6d. in the pound. It had been said that the plan proposed by the Commissioners was to make the Thames the medium of the sewerage; but he declared, that neither on the part of Mr. Stephenson, Mr. Rendell, Sir William Cubitt, nor himself, or any of the Commissioners of 1849, was the idea of taking the Thames as the means of sewerage every entertained; and that, after giving the subject their most careful and anxious deliberation, they had come to the determination that their only course was to take such a point below the metropolis as would render it impossible for the water of the Thames near the metropolis to be affected by the reflux of the tide. It was no fault of himself and his Colleagues if those plans were not carried into execution—he regretted exceedingly that they had not been able to carry out those works, but the responsibility did not rest with them. At the same time, although they did feel it their duty to resign their offices, the Government might at all times command their services.