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48
WATER-SUPPLY.
of water to confer. No doubt it will occur to you,
that against evils of this nature—evils arising in the
conflictive interests of water-buyer and water-seller,
the first principles of commerce imply a resource;
and that in this matter, as in others of the sort, a
customer holds in his own hands the remedy for his
dissatisfaction. But although the supply of water,
in the hands of the powerful companies who vend
it, is in many respects a common transaction of
trade, and as such is in theory open to competition,
yet I would beg to point out to your Honourable
Court, that in regard of the City under your jurisdiction,
no such check and no such stimulus as competition
can virtually be said to exist. In every practical
sense the sale of water is a monopoly. The
individual customer, dwelling in Cripplegate or in
Farringdon, who is dissatisfied with his bargain in
water, can go to no other market; and however
legitimate may be his claim to be supplied with this
prime necessary of life at its cheapest rate, in the
most efficient manner, and of the best possible quality,
your Honourable Court, hitherto, possesses no
power to enforce it.
All who have given impartial consideration to
the subject seem to concur as to the advantages
which result from a control over the supply and
distribution of water being possessed by those who
are responsible for the drainage and cleanliness of
a district. These different duties are in such essential
relation to each other that they would seem