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26
mud, there has been on the part of the Company
only the semblance of compliance, and that consequently
the bottom of the Canal Basin and the
water in it are in as fetid a condition to-day as
they ever were.
I have purposely refrained from making any
suggestions as to the mode in which the occupiers of
the wharves should carry on their business. To my
mind the reasons are cogent for declining to lay
down rules professedly complete and conformity to
which might be held to absolve the parties concerned
from blame. The nuisance is not imaginary, it is
real, and its abatement should be not less so. The
remedies are obvious. The duties neither of the
owners nor of the occupants of the wharves are
obscure. The Canal Company knows what the
Vestry expects it to do, and can command its
own counsellors. It cannot be contended that the
Company has done all that it might have done.
Had a sufficient number of dredging machines
been employed during past winters, the bottom of
the basin would have presented a very different
appearance.
The reports of my predecessors, Dr. Burdon
Sanderson and Dr. Hardwicke, record similar conditions,
similar suggestions, and similar abortive
endeavours to effect any permanent improvement
of the Canal Basin.