SUPPLY.—REPORT. (Hansard, 5 August 1859)

§ SIR JOSEPH PAXTON
said, he thought that the Committee, in voting this sum of £17,000 yesterday, came to a conclusion on what he considered very insufficient information. So far as he could understand—for he was not present at the discussion—it was advocated as a cheap plan of carrying out the improvement; but he thought that on the slightest examination it would be found that the sum of £17,000 did not represent the capital required for the purpose. First of all, it would be necessary to put up steam-engines in the neighbourhood of the Albert Gate, which would constitute a great nuisance to the residents near that part of the Park; and it would also he necessary to construct large filtering beds in Kensington Gardens. The expense of drawing up 2,000,000 gallons of water daily and of keeping the filtering beds clean in Hyde Park would amount to £1,200 or £1,500 a year, representing something like a capital of £50,000. He had a very high opinion of Mr. Hawksley, who was very cognizant of hydraulic matters; but as to the opinion 1014 of the hon. Member for Whitby (Mr. Stephenson), which was referred to yesterday he should have been much better pleased if that hon. Member had come down to the House and given his opinion from his place. It would have been better to have the hon. Member's opinion at first hand instead of at second hand. He had had as much to do with ornamental water as any man in the kingdom, and he had tried a variety of plans, and even, to a certain extent, the plan now adopted by the Government. He by no means said that it would be an effectual plan, but it would occasion great expense and be a great nuisance. It would be far better to do it effectually and at once, though it might cost a somewhat larger sum. He thought that the First Commissioner of Works should have given the House a little more time to consider this question, and ought not to have precipitated the Vote so much.

§ SIR JOHN SHELLEY
said, he still felt that the plan adopted in St. James's Park ought to be pursued in regard to the Serpentine—the bottom should be levelled and pure water pumped in. He thought the report of Mr. Hawksley ought to be submitted to other scientific persons in the kingdom. His right hon. Friend (Mr. FitzRoy) only met one point connected with the matter—namely, the question of cleansing the water; but his right hon. Friend must be aware, from the deputation that waited on him, that there were many other circumstances worthy of consideration. Taking into account the number of persons who bathed in the Serpentine, the condition of the bed of the river was a source of great danger. The holes might be filled up with rubbish, and, if his right hon. Friend did not go so far as to concrete the whole of the bottom, at least he might do something to remedy the mischiefs brought under his consideration by that important deputation. If the bed of the Serpentine were levelled, then the danger of loss of life from bathing would be removed, and the objectionable looking building, the Humane Society House on one of the banks, might he got rid of. It was not for him to say that Mr. Hawksley would turn out to be wrong, but he was glad to find that what he stated yesterday received some support from the hon. Member for Coventry that day. If works of this kind were to be carried out, it was very much better to meet the difficulty boldly than to deal with it in a patch-work and inefficient manner.

§ MR. WALTER
said, he was very glad that the House had had an opportunity of hearing the opinion of the hon. Member for Coventry (Sir J. Paxton) on this question, for he believed that there was no one so competent to advise the House in respect to it. He regretted that he likewise was absent from the discussion last night, for he should have liked to have had the opportunity of expressing his opinion, formed from considerable observation on this matter. 1£17,000 might appear a very small sum to spend in dealing with a question like the purification of the Serpentine, but he thought it a very large sum to pay for pouring clean water into a dirty basin. They might go on pumping and filtering for thirty years, but the water would not be clean if pumped into so filthy a receptacle as in its present state the Serpentine was. His conviction was that money spent in this way would be wasted until the Serpentine had been made a proper receptacle for clean water. He did not think that the undertaking involved that detriment to health or those difficulties which some people apprehended, and the only way to proceed was to fill up the inequalities and concrete the bottom. There were millions of firs in the neighbourhood of Bagshot belonging to the Crown, which might be thinned with great advantage, and used with other materials to fill up the holes in the bottom of the Serpentine, exactly in the same way as a road was made. The whole might then be covered over by a bed of concrete. When the bottom of the basin was thus covered then would be the time to pour in clean water. But cleansing the water was only one part of the question. What was also really wanted was, that this large basin might be used by the inhabitants of the metropolis to bathe in and skate on without danger to life, and he thought that this should be effected in a business-like and efficient manner.

SIR MINTO FARQUHAR
said, it was quite evident from the statement of the hon. Member for Coventry that there was a great difference of opinion as to the effect of the proposed proceeding. The hon. Member for Berkshire stated that he did not see what could be the use of pumping clean water into the Serpentine; but perhaps the hon. Member was not aware that it was not to be clean water, but the same water was to be pumped back again and again. To show the danger of the Serpentine in its present state he quoted the following paragraph from Mr. Page's 1016 Report to the First Commissioner of Works:— Having, with the permission of Mr. Hawes, treasurer of the Royal Humane Society, applied to Mr. Williams, the society's superintendent in Hyde Park, for information as to the injurious effects of the depth of mud and of the irregularities in the depth of the water upon the bathers and skaters, I have received from him a communication, in which he states that, within his knowledge, which has extended over the last sixteen years, many lives have been sacrificed in consequence of the irregularities in the depth, especially on the northern side; and that, as thousands of children flock round the margin of the lake during the summer months, although many of them are saved from drowning by the society's boatmen, too many meet with a watery grave; that in consequence of the great quantity of mud in a semifluid state, even athletic and expert swimmers, when seized with cramp (and consequently sinking to the bottom), become entangled in the slimy matter, which so completely fills the mouth, nose, and ears as to render, in many instances, resuscitation impossible; and in those cases where animation is restored the constitution of the rescued person receives a shock from which it never recovers. The following account, furnished to me by Mr. Williams, shows the exact number of casualties from bathing, and the deaths from suicide during the last fifteen years. From this it will be seen that the total number of bathers is estimated at 3,963,689, or on an average 264,206 per annum; and that of the total number of accidents to bathers, 377 in number, 318 were saved, and 29 drowned; and of the total number of suicidal attempts, 273 in number, 185 were saved, and 88 ended fatally. He looked upon the present as only a half measure; and he believed that it was perfectly impossible for the water of the Serpentine ever to be in a fit state unless the Ranelagh sewer were prevented from flowing into it. He thought it extraordinary that having so beautiful a Park as Hyde Park they should hesitate to vote such a sum of money as would by improving the condition of the Serpentine render it truly worthy of this great metropolis.

MR. FITZROY
said, that this question had already been discussed in the Committee of Supply. He had the choice of two plans. One involved almost an unlimited expense with a doubtful result, and he certainly did not feel that he should be justified in proposing that to the House. He did not feel it right to propose a larger expenditure than that which he had proposed in the Vote for carrying out the plan proposed by Mr. Hawksley. The hon. Member for Coventry had over-estimated the expense of the proposed plan, for he understood that the annual expense for the pumping machinery for 200 days in the year would be no more than £200. No doubt it would be for the comfort of the 1017 bather that the bottom of the Serpentine should be levelled; but, as he had before said, he did not feel satisfied in proposing another scheme more expensive and doubtful in the result. He thought the Committee of Supply took a wise course in approving the present plan, which he believed would be successful.