DOI issue:
July to December, 1852
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16610#0154
146
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI
must be drains, it is clear that the old four-foot brick sewers are the
SOME AC COUNT OF MY TRAVELS thing for these neighbourhoods. It is true they do not carry off the
filth, but then they afford comfortable accommodation to the blacking
IN SEARCH OF SELF-GOVERNMENT. \ brushes, brickbats, and old hats. Besides, their construction furnishes
work to the honest builder, while their frequent repairs give employ-
by one ov the old school. j ment to a respectable and hard-working class of artisans.
TTMPir r am o mo„ a«ri 0 1 Nothing can more clearly show how wicked and groundless are the
vt > u \ \~ u charges against the Water Companies than a perambulation of these
tfnton l nave been Drought, locaiitie8- Scarcely a court but has its stand-pipe at the bottom. In
up witn a Fotouna respect i order to gaye trouble to the inhabitants the water is turned on by a
tor our glorious constitution main.cock) aad flows for a stipulated time (often as long as an hour and
in ouurcu ana orate ; ana tuat & ha,f,} never legg thaQ twj wgek ,t three t[ and occasion.
respect extends to our glorious ially> even dailV) whUe the pipe8 ove^ the water-butts are free from all
Constitution in Local Covern-1 complicated apparatus of taps, and run while the water is on, of them-
ment also. xes,glorious con-; gelveg) ag if were> and aU for ^ game timp Ag ^ ]andlords exercjse
ISSSSS^.™^ their British Privilege of providing butts of all sizes, of course the small
ones run over before the large ones are filled. It may be said that much
water is wasted in this way, and that much dampness of walls and
foundations is thus occasioned. But what a brilliant confutation does
the practice afford of the charge of niggard supply brought against these
public-spirited Companies ! They stint the poor in water! Why, there
is not one of these courts where they don't let twice as much run to
waste as is used.
Again, there is an admirable thoughtfuluess shown in the position
chosen for these water-butts. Conscious of the importance of the
supply of water being kept near the spot where it is to be thrown away
when done with, the water-butt is generally placed within a foot or two
of the open cesspool. Sanitary enthusiasts may tell us that it there
imbibes poisonous gases, and becomes dangerous to use; but do they
consider the comfort of the poor over-worked housewife, who by this
arrangement is enabled to draw the water she wants with one hand,
while she empties what she has fouled with the other ?
I was sorry to find, however, that even in these favoured districts
that despotic and un-English body, the Commissioners of Sewers, had
been at work recklessly covering over the open ditches, which for
centuries have formed such convenient channels for the carrying off of
house refuse—with no more trouble than the emptying of a slop-pail, or
the thrust of a besom-—and have put down, along their course, ridiculous
and insignificant tubular drains, of some five or even six inches
diameter!
It is gratifying, however, to be able to record that, notwithstanding
their impertinent intrusion, the independent landlord is still master of
his own pioperty, and has, in most cases, acted up to his rights by
refusing to put down house-drains to communicate with the childish
tubular arrangements of the Commissioners, while the formalities with
which a provident legislature has fenced round any attempt at compul-
defended by Me. Toulmin Smith ; and a good many other dangerous; sion by thig aDOminable central Board, effectually prevent them from
measures, such as the Baths and Wash-houses Act, the Common forcmg the independent proprietor to avail himself of their theoretical
Lodging-Houses Act, and the Nuisances Removal Act, are all pjpeSj wnich thua remain unused, monuments of the ineffectual
formidable allies of the first-mentioned revolutionary statute ; assauits 0f eVer encroaching centralisation.
Happily, however, they have not done much mischief yet but they, Tnese are facts which make one proud of one's countrymen. The
admitted to have, and precious
hard work we give our consti-
tutions, all three of them.
There was Catholic Emancipa-
tion—what a wrench that gave
our glorious Constitution in
Church—not to speak of the
'lest and Corporation Acts,
just before. How any but a
really wonderful Constitution
in Church could have stood
such inroads I leave it to the
candour of Father Newman
to judge. Then, as for our
glorious Constitution in State
—as it has survived the Re-
form Bill and the Repeal of
the Corn Laws, I think one
may say it is proof against
most attacks.
Happily our glorious Con-
stitution in Local Government
has not yet been so severely
tried as either of our other glorious Constitutions. Private Bill
legislation, with its attendant bulwarks of Parliamentary fees, Parlia-
mentary agents, and Parliamentary counsel, still secures the Briton's
inestimable privilege of self-government—that is, government for
self—in contra-distinction from the communistic principle of govern-
ment for one's neighbour. The Public Health Act, however, has
commenced an insidious attack on this holy principle, so admirably
have inserted the small end of the wedge; and if Britons don't take
care, they will find their cesspools drained, their ash-pits invaded, their
refuse carried away—no one knows whither, their water-butts abolished,
their gullies trapped, and that sacred principle of " doing what they like
with their own" trampled under foot on every side, by some poking
Officer of Health or audacious Inspector of Nuisances.
Still, though the evil is imminent in the country, London may be
said to be comparatively safe. The successful struggle made by the
Water and Cemetery Companies last session, shows that Parliament is
awake to the levelling and dangerous principles of tlie so-called
" Sanitary Reformers," and that vested interests are still properly
represented in the legislature.
I am happy to be able to confirm, by personal experience, the infer-
ence drawn from our legislation in these matters.
It is in the metropolis that we must look for the most striking exhibi-
tion of the blessings of our great Anglo-Saxon principle of self-govern-
ment. Determined to view it in some of its proudest manifestations,
I spent the other day in their investigation, through those cheerful and
odoriferous districts — St, Olave's, St. George's Southwark, St.
Saviours, Rotherhitbe, and Lambeth. I am happy to say that through-
out these districts self-government is flourishing. The Inspector of
Nuisances is rarely seen, or when seen is treated with the contempt he
deserves, as the minion of a central despotism fulminating its unre
same spirit which resisted t he imposition of ship-money, is still battling
against compulsory drainage, and many a Lambeth Hampden is, even
now, waging a modest but heroic warfare against the Caroline preroga-
tives of the Sewers Commissioners.
Against the national importance of cultivating this sturdy spirit,
what use is it to quote the statistics of a despotic and central Registrar
General P What is it to me that fever is never absent from these places
—that infants do not rear, and men die before their time—that sickness
engenders pauperism—that filth bretds depression, and depression
drives to drink t What do you mean by telling me that cholera slew
in Rotherhithe its 205 victims in every 10,000, in St. Olave its 181, in
St. Saviour's its 153, in Lambeth its 120, while in the Strand it carried
off only 35, in Kensington 33, in Marylebone 17, and in Hampstead 8,
out of the same number ? Still, British landlords did what they liked
with their own, and self-government is unimpaired. The satellites and
slaves of an encroaching centralisation are kept at arm's length, and if
they have succeeded in putting down sewers, at least we have triumphed,
in not laying our house-drains into 'em.
It is with pride, therefore, I repeat, that whatever may be the case
in the country (where I regret to see the hateful Public Health Act
seems to be extending its ravages), in London we are still enjoying the
enormous, the invaluable privilege of self-government, and that if
Epidemic Cholera should visit us again, we may confidently show him to
garded edicts from somewhere or other. Even the scavenger is a rare his old haunts in 1832 and 1849, and so convince him that, in this free
bird of passage here, and when he does come, his ministrations a^ej country, he, too, is at liberty "to do what he likes with his own,"
chiefly confined, as is right and proper, to the streets where the
inhabitants are respectable, and can remunerate him adequately for his
trouble. In courts, where filth is only removed to be replaced, what
is the use of a scavenger ?
The levelling uniformity of "system" is, throughout these districts,
Why Don't you Speak Out!
scouted with that independence which belongs to the British character. | From the impossibility of making our present Ministers say what
Every landlord drains his premises as he likes, and in many cases does! they mean—or even, what they do not mean—the observation that
not drain at all. What good reason can there be, he very properly was once made by Talleyrand of a celebrated Nobody, may with
asks, for putting down drains for a set of tenants who will use them as equal point be turned round upon them—" Ces Messieurs ont un grand
repositories for blacking brushes, brickbats, and old hats F If there \ talent pour le silence."
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI
must be drains, it is clear that the old four-foot brick sewers are the
SOME AC COUNT OF MY TRAVELS thing for these neighbourhoods. It is true they do not carry off the
filth, but then they afford comfortable accommodation to the blacking
IN SEARCH OF SELF-GOVERNMENT. \ brushes, brickbats, and old hats. Besides, their construction furnishes
work to the honest builder, while their frequent repairs give employ-
by one ov the old school. j ment to a respectable and hard-working class of artisans.
TTMPir r am o mo„ a«ri 0 1 Nothing can more clearly show how wicked and groundless are the
vt > u \ \~ u charges against the Water Companies than a perambulation of these
tfnton l nave been Drought, locaiitie8- Scarcely a court but has its stand-pipe at the bottom. In
up witn a Fotouna respect i order to gaye trouble to the inhabitants the water is turned on by a
tor our glorious constitution main.cock) aad flows for a stipulated time (often as long as an hour and
in ouurcu ana orate ; ana tuat & ha,f,} never legg thaQ twj wgek ,t three t[ and occasion.
respect extends to our glorious ially> even dailV) whUe the pipe8 ove^ the water-butts are free from all
Constitution in Local Covern-1 complicated apparatus of taps, and run while the water is on, of them-
ment also. xes,glorious con-; gelveg) ag if were> and aU for ^ game timp Ag ^ ]andlords exercjse
ISSSSS^.™^ their British Privilege of providing butts of all sizes, of course the small
ones run over before the large ones are filled. It may be said that much
water is wasted in this way, and that much dampness of walls and
foundations is thus occasioned. But what a brilliant confutation does
the practice afford of the charge of niggard supply brought against these
public-spirited Companies ! They stint the poor in water! Why, there
is not one of these courts where they don't let twice as much run to
waste as is used.
Again, there is an admirable thoughtfuluess shown in the position
chosen for these water-butts. Conscious of the importance of the
supply of water being kept near the spot where it is to be thrown away
when done with, the water-butt is generally placed within a foot or two
of the open cesspool. Sanitary enthusiasts may tell us that it there
imbibes poisonous gases, and becomes dangerous to use; but do they
consider the comfort of the poor over-worked housewife, who by this
arrangement is enabled to draw the water she wants with one hand,
while she empties what she has fouled with the other ?
I was sorry to find, however, that even in these favoured districts
that despotic and un-English body, the Commissioners of Sewers, had
been at work recklessly covering over the open ditches, which for
centuries have formed such convenient channels for the carrying off of
house refuse—with no more trouble than the emptying of a slop-pail, or
the thrust of a besom-—and have put down, along their course, ridiculous
and insignificant tubular drains, of some five or even six inches
diameter!
It is gratifying, however, to be able to record that, notwithstanding
their impertinent intrusion, the independent landlord is still master of
his own pioperty, and has, in most cases, acted up to his rights by
refusing to put down house-drains to communicate with the childish
tubular arrangements of the Commissioners, while the formalities with
which a provident legislature has fenced round any attempt at compul-
defended by Me. Toulmin Smith ; and a good many other dangerous; sion by thig aDOminable central Board, effectually prevent them from
measures, such as the Baths and Wash-houses Act, the Common forcmg the independent proprietor to avail himself of their theoretical
Lodging-Houses Act, and the Nuisances Removal Act, are all pjpeSj wnich thua remain unused, monuments of the ineffectual
formidable allies of the first-mentioned revolutionary statute ; assauits 0f eVer encroaching centralisation.
Happily, however, they have not done much mischief yet but they, Tnese are facts which make one proud of one's countrymen. The
admitted to have, and precious
hard work we give our consti-
tutions, all three of them.
There was Catholic Emancipa-
tion—what a wrench that gave
our glorious Constitution in
Church—not to speak of the
'lest and Corporation Acts,
just before. How any but a
really wonderful Constitution
in Church could have stood
such inroads I leave it to the
candour of Father Newman
to judge. Then, as for our
glorious Constitution in State
—as it has survived the Re-
form Bill and the Repeal of
the Corn Laws, I think one
may say it is proof against
most attacks.
Happily our glorious Con-
stitution in Local Government
has not yet been so severely
tried as either of our other glorious Constitutions. Private Bill
legislation, with its attendant bulwarks of Parliamentary fees, Parlia-
mentary agents, and Parliamentary counsel, still secures the Briton's
inestimable privilege of self-government—that is, government for
self—in contra-distinction from the communistic principle of govern-
ment for one's neighbour. The Public Health Act, however, has
commenced an insidious attack on this holy principle, so admirably
have inserted the small end of the wedge; and if Britons don't take
care, they will find their cesspools drained, their ash-pits invaded, their
refuse carried away—no one knows whither, their water-butts abolished,
their gullies trapped, and that sacred principle of " doing what they like
with their own" trampled under foot on every side, by some poking
Officer of Health or audacious Inspector of Nuisances.
Still, though the evil is imminent in the country, London may be
said to be comparatively safe. The successful struggle made by the
Water and Cemetery Companies last session, shows that Parliament is
awake to the levelling and dangerous principles of tlie so-called
" Sanitary Reformers," and that vested interests are still properly
represented in the legislature.
I am happy to be able to confirm, by personal experience, the infer-
ence drawn from our legislation in these matters.
It is in the metropolis that we must look for the most striking exhibi-
tion of the blessings of our great Anglo-Saxon principle of self-govern-
ment. Determined to view it in some of its proudest manifestations,
I spent the other day in their investigation, through those cheerful and
odoriferous districts — St, Olave's, St. George's Southwark, St.
Saviours, Rotherhitbe, and Lambeth. I am happy to say that through-
out these districts self-government is flourishing. The Inspector of
Nuisances is rarely seen, or when seen is treated with the contempt he
deserves, as the minion of a central despotism fulminating its unre
same spirit which resisted t he imposition of ship-money, is still battling
against compulsory drainage, and many a Lambeth Hampden is, even
now, waging a modest but heroic warfare against the Caroline preroga-
tives of the Sewers Commissioners.
Against the national importance of cultivating this sturdy spirit,
what use is it to quote the statistics of a despotic and central Registrar
General P What is it to me that fever is never absent from these places
—that infants do not rear, and men die before their time—that sickness
engenders pauperism—that filth bretds depression, and depression
drives to drink t What do you mean by telling me that cholera slew
in Rotherhithe its 205 victims in every 10,000, in St. Olave its 181, in
St. Saviour's its 153, in Lambeth its 120, while in the Strand it carried
off only 35, in Kensington 33, in Marylebone 17, and in Hampstead 8,
out of the same number ? Still, British landlords did what they liked
with their own, and self-government is unimpaired. The satellites and
slaves of an encroaching centralisation are kept at arm's length, and if
they have succeeded in putting down sewers, at least we have triumphed,
in not laying our house-drains into 'em.
It is with pride, therefore, I repeat, that whatever may be the case
in the country (where I regret to see the hateful Public Health Act
seems to be extending its ravages), in London we are still enjoying the
enormous, the invaluable privilege of self-government, and that if
Epidemic Cholera should visit us again, we may confidently show him to
garded edicts from somewhere or other. Even the scavenger is a rare his old haunts in 1832 and 1849, and so convince him that, in this free
bird of passage here, and when he does come, his ministrations a^ej country, he, too, is at liberty "to do what he likes with his own,"
chiefly confined, as is right and proper, to the streets where the
inhabitants are respectable, and can remunerate him adequately for his
trouble. In courts, where filth is only removed to be replaced, what
is the use of a scavenger ?
The levelling uniformity of "system" is, throughout these districts,
Why Don't you Speak Out!
scouted with that independence which belongs to the British character. | From the impossibility of making our present Ministers say what
Every landlord drains his premises as he likes, and in many cases does! they mean—or even, what they do not mean—the observation that
not drain at all. What good reason can there be, he very properly was once made by Talleyrand of a celebrated Nobody, may with
asks, for putting down drains for a set of tenants who will use them as equal point be turned round upon them—" Ces Messieurs ont un grand
repositories for blacking brushes, brickbats, and old hats F If there \ talent pour le silence."