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49
dations, resulting in extreme discomfort to the inhabitants besides
tending to produce in the dwellings ideal conditions for the spreading
of dry rot.
Last year it was reported that the problem was being investigated
under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food which invited the London County Council to consider
in what way jurisdiction over the river could best be exercised.
Following a conference held at the Ministry with representatives
from interested public authorities it was agreed that the
London County Council and the Kent County Council should
confer with the local authorities in their areas and report their
progress to the Ministry.
Finally the London County Council advised the Minister that
"it was the Council's opinion that the River Ravensbourne should
be dealt with as a water course under the jurisdiction of the Land
Drainage Authority and that legislation should be sought to confer
such functions on the Council in respect of that part of the river
which is within the County boundary. In this event it is understood
that the Council would become eligible, under the Agricultural
Act, 1937, for grant towards the cost of an approved drainage
scheme designed to prevent flooding within the County".
A joint Bill with the Kent County Council was drafted and is
in the process of being presented to Parliament.
In the interim, the London County Council, in co-operation
with the consulting engineers appointed by the Kent County
Council, are implementing a co-ordinated scheme for the improvement
of the river.
Atmospheric Pollution—General.—Recognition of air pollution
is not new. In 1306 a Londoner was fined and executed
for offending against an Act of Parliament passed in 1273 and
John Evelyn the diarist in 1661 complained bitterly of smoke
which exposed inhabitants of London to an "impure and thick
mist and filthy vapour" rendering them liable to "a thousand
inconveniences and corrupting of the lungs".
In England and Wales some 30,000 deaths and over 30,000,000
working days per year are lost on account of bronchitis and,
according to statistics available from the World Health Organisation
it would appear that our overall respiratory death rate is the
highest. To many responsible people much of this lung disease is
attributable to air pollution.
Dr. Lessing, C.B.E., Ph.D., has stated that in Great Britain
there is discharged into the air a sulphuric acid equivalent of
12.000,000 tons a year derived from the combustion of coal and oil