SMOKE ABATEMENT. (Hansard, 30 April 1913)

Mr. GORDON HARVEY

I beg to move, "That leave be given to introduce a Bill to make provision for the reduction of the output of smoke from fires and furnaces other than the domestic hearth."

I do not propose to detain the House by any arguments by means of which I should induce the House to accept the main object and proposal of this Bill. I think everyone is agreed as to the desirability of the abatement of the great nuisance of black smoke. In our manufacturing districts the nuisance is of a most intolerable kind. There is the destruction of sunlight, there-by leading of necessity to the destruction of health. Vegetation is choked and killed; the homes of the people are filled with dirt, which cannot be adequately prevented even by the incessant toil of the hard-working women who keep the houses. There is loss of health; there is loss of much pleasure and much refinement; there is great loss of temper and there is loss of self respect, because people cannot possibly keep either their persons or their clothes in a cleanly condition. Not only is this the case in the industrial districts, but the countryside is beginning to suffer as well. It has been ascertained that the heavy fumes of black smoke travel no less a distance than 15 miles in certain conditions, and there are very few places in this country so remote from some chimney or furnace or other, and in the coming years, unless there is a check put upon the output of black smoke the country districts will suffer more than hitherto, because there is a growing tendency to take large manufacturing works away from great centres, where the rent and rates are high, into country places. This, of course, is a tendency which has much to commend it, but I appeal to dwellers in country places to remember that, unless the black smoke nuisance can be checked, it will be very harmful to many portions of the country which do not feel the inconvenience at present. If anyone hints at the necessity of interfering with a polluted atmosphere he is almost sure to be accused of harassing or interfering with trade. Dividends and clouds of smoke seem to hang together in many people's minds, and even with regard to the artisans themselves, I fancy that they look upon a smoky chimney very often as identical with wages, and a clear atmosphere as identical with short time and lack of employment. I am the last man to desire to embarrass trade. I 1215 am myself a manufacturer and I am in part, at any rate, responsible for the good behaviour or otherwise of five or six factory chimneys, and I am convinced, through long experience and experiment, that in most cases where proper appliances have been provided the smoke can be entirely abolished, and that at a profit to the owner of the works. There are cases, of course, of old and crowded works, which are now raising steam beyond the capacity originally intended, where the case is difficult, and where some patience, no doubt, will have to be exercised. It has hitherto been thought an essential equipment of a factory or workshop that a great high chimney, costing anything up to £1,000 is necessary. But even the day of that is past. High chimneys will soon, if scientific appliances are put in, be things of the past.

Let me describe the provisions of the Bill. It proposes to deal with fireplaces and furnaces other than the domestic hearth, and those fireplaces and furnaces are to be provided with means of consuming the smoke produced in the process of combustion. Metallurgical and pottery furnaces may be exempted after an inquiry by the Local Government Board. The emission of black or other smoke—and I lay some stress on the word "other"—in quantities such as to be a nuisance may be punished by a fine levied on an ascending scale if the offence is repeated. The Bill proposes the creation of Joint Boards somewhat on the plan of a Rivers Board. These are to be formed to carry out the Act and are to consist of members of adjoining local government authorities grouped together under a scheme to be drawn up by the Local Government Board, and these Boards are to have qualified inspectors. I regard the provision of these Boards as of very great importance. At present every little local authority acts alone in this matter, and with regard to the smaller ones, such as the urban district councils, they are quite incapable of dealing with this difficulty in their own areas. In the first place, they cannot afford proper inspectors. In the second place, they are generally composed of people in somewhat humble life, small tradesmen and others, and unhappily, very often the offender in regard to the smoke nuisance is the most powerful and important person in the district. There is another reason for failure, and that is that there is no uniformity of standard 1216 recognised, and one district which does its duty well may be punished by outpourings of black smoke from its neighbour on the windward side, which may undo all the good it has performed. So I believe that these Boards, by means of joint action, by means of their strength and authority and uniformity, will be able largely to mitigate this intolerable nuisance.