They have not the funds to maintain a
proper police to stop the minor pollution of the river, or to scavenge it
properly, and anywhere below Kew Bridge they are entirely unable to cope
with bankside disfigurements. Else we cannot believe that for years the
bank opposite the terrace at Barnes and the villas above it would have
been given up to the shooting of dustbin refuse for hundreds of yards, or
that Chiswick and Richmond would have been permitted to pour "sewage
effluent" into what are still two of the finest reaches on the London
river, or that we should see advertisements of "A Site on the River--
Suitable for a Nuisance Trade," advertised, as was recently done, in a
daily paper. If the London public, for instance, will only make up its
mind in time that the Thames is something really necessary to its
enjoyment of life; that it is the most beautiful natural area which they
can easily reach; that on it may be had the freshest air, the best
exercise, good sport (if the fishery were replenished and the water kept
clean), and constant rest and refreshment for mind and body--it would no
doubt succeed in inducing Parliament to put the river under a strong
Commission with an adequate endowment.
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