Page:The government of London.djvu/26

 temperature is high. Neither Mr. Buxton, nor after him Lord Elcho, could induce the Government of the day to take up the question; and so it remained in abeyance, and might still have remained there, but for the threatening of a storm of discontent regarding the supply of water, which, being essentially a practical matter, universally intelligible, people have at length been set thinking how it may best be regulated. In addition to poor rate, local government rate, police rate, school rate, the towns on Thames-side complain that they pay a heavy rate for gas, and an increasing rate, which they feel to be unjust, for water; and they have come by degrees to comprehend that without some permanent local authority responsible to them and armed with power, if not to control at least sufficient to arbitrate between them and the water companies, improvement in quality or reduction of price they must look for in vain.

For several years discontent had found desultory utterance at the arbitrary increase of charge made by some of the water companies to individual consumers without even a semblance of affording increased supply. The Act for assimilating the parochial standards of valuation was in itself expedient and just, where a common poor fund and other rates had been made permanently chargeable throughout the metropolitan cluster of towns; but its authors had overlooked the technical sanction it would give to elude the check imposed by existing statute upon augmentation of water rent in a great number of districts, unless new and special provision against it were made: and no such provision seems to have been thought of or at least proposed. Isolated remonstrance proving vain, recourse was had here and there to resistance by way of appeal to quarter sessions; but in a majority of instances the magistrates found themselves helpless to afford redress against the literal interpretation of the law which limited the company's charge to a maximum percentage. Confluent murmurs swelled into a volume of popular reproach, which at length it was impossible to disregard. Public meetings passed indignant resolutions, and numerous petitions were presented to Parliament praying that a summary end should be put to further exaction. On sanitary grounds a stir was likewise made for more constant service and a purer supply: and with a view to economy of wholesale cost and management in