Page:The character and extent of air pollution in Leeds - (A lecture delivered before the Leeds Philosophical Society, on March 3rd, 1896.) By Julius B. Cohen (IA b21534160).pdf/15

15 Before leaving the subject of smoke I desire, as a member of the Leeds Smoke Abatement Committee, in whose proceedings I have for some years taken an interest, to justify a recent resolution passed by that committee. The resolution is as follows:—"That the Smoke Abatement Societies of other towns be requested to co-operate in a memorial to the Local Government Board, praying them to have all chimneys connected with manufacturing industries included in the Alkali Act, so that they may come under the inspection of the Local Government Board, not under that of the Local Authority." At the annual meeting of the Sanitary Aid Society, the Deputy-Mayor (Mr. Gordon) objected to the resolution on the following grounds: The Local Authority, he said, could do more than the Local Government Board, whose system he regarded as too rigid. The smoke nuisance might be removed by an appeal to local patriotism, and by impressing upon manufacturers the fact that it would be more profitable to consume their smoke.

Anyone acquainted with the work of the Smoke Abatement Societies in Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Glasgow, and elsewhere, must know that such appeals have been made ad nauseam, without producing the slightest effect.

Some years ago the late Mr. Herbert Fletcher, of Bolton, a gentleman who identified himself with many movements for improving the condition of the working classes, tackled the problem of factory smoke. Himself a large colliery owner, he began with his own collieries, where he soon succeeded in abolishing every vestige of smoke. He tried to induce others to imitate him, but he was met by the reply that many appliances for smoke prevention in the market proved ineffective, and that it was impossible to be sure of obtaining a good article. Mr. Fletcher then became the active hon. secretary of a committee called the Committee for Testing Smoke-Preventing Appliances, the object of which was to test and report upon every accredited appliance which existed, or might be subsequently introduced for preventing smoke.