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60
then at the maximum), and efficient filtration, is all that can be
desired. The second point as to how long the quantity will
suffice for the needs of ever-growing London is also fully gone
into, and half-a-century is defined as the probable period. Of
course there is much to be said on the other side, and that is
lucidly given in the objections to the report of the Royal
Commission urged by the London County Council and its
officers.
Although very little is definitely said on the subject, the
impression which the perusal of the report leaves upon the mind
is that the whole control of the water supply, from the sources
to the final delivery to the consumer, should be in the hands of
one authority, and that the time has arrived when competing
companies, the result of private enterprise, should no longer be
left in possession of a monopoly of the primary necessity of
existence.
The "British Medical Journal" remarks, in an editorial, that
the position of affairs in regard to the London water supply is
becoming very critical, for, on the one hand, if certain schemes
which are ready for the consideration of Parliament be accepted,
London will be practically tied to the Thames and Lea for
another generation, while, on the other hand, even the County
Council itself is hesitating to adopt the recommendation of its
own Water Committee to go to pure sources for a pure supply.
Much has been made of the enormous expenditure which
the bringing of water from Wales must necessarily involve. But
although we quite recognise the greatness of the cost, we also
recognise the greatness of the evil which it is meant to obviate—
namely, the continued use of a water supply drawn from sources
which are every year becoming more foul. Moreover, it must
not be forgotten that if the recommendations of the Royal Commission
on Metropolitan Water Supply are adopted in their
entirety, as they should be by those who found their advice upon
them, a very large expenditure would be involved in making the