The London water supply / by Arthur Shadwell.

  • Arthur Shadwell
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The London water supply / by Arthur Shadwell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    21/324 page 5
    on the water supply have always fallen upon fruitful ground. If it had been perfection, we should have grumbled about it. But, being a human institution, it is no more perfect than any other, and from time to time it has given real grounds for hostile criticism. That, however, is no more than can be said of pretty nearly everything in this world, and it does not account for the extraordinary disfavour in which the water companies now stand. They have moved with the times, as I shall show later on, quite as fast as other institutions; defects have been remedied, and improvements introduced according to the ad- vancing needs and knowledge of the day ; the history of the London water supply is one of continual pro- gress. And yet those who provide it stand in far worse odour to-day than at any previous period. The reason is not far to seek. Dissatisfaction with the water supply on one ground or another has arisen from tune to time since an early period in the century, and in 1883 considerable impetus was given to it by the remark- able case of Dobbs v. the Grand Junction Company ; but the extreme prejudice against the water com- panies dates from the creation of the London County Council, when the water supply became a political question. With the proceedings of the County Council I shall deal later on ; at present I am only concerned in tracing the growth of public opinion. Ever since the County Council came into existence
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3