Aus:
The Economist, 8. Dezember 1866. S. 1423/1424.
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The Sewage of Towns Progress.

An unsavoury Congress on this subject at Leamington.

The chief systems advocated were the earth closet system, the system of irrigation, and the system of deodorising sewage either by acid, sulphate of lime, or other chemical agents.

Die Croydon experiments (irrigation) schon früher erwähnt. Gesundheit: 1849, says Dr. Carpenter, before sewered, Croydon sehr unhealthy. Deathrate 1 : 36 (27.7 in 1,000), while that of the surrounding country was 1 in 58. The Population of Croydon was then 19,000, the number of inhabited houses, 3060 und the rateable value of the parish 70,000l. Population jezt 40,000, rateable value almost 200,000 und deathrate sunk to 19.5 in the 1000. All this owing to the introduction of good water supply with sewage and thorough drainage, while the irrigation of meadows with sewage has raised the value of land and diminished the amount of sickness … before it is passed on the land the sewage is drained of the solid parts, which are afterwards used separately. Liquid manure has an advantage over solid manure as being food for the plants at once, while solid manure needs time and the agency of water. The result of irrigating a field of rye grass was that 6 crops taken from it in one year, the total height of them being 187 inches. The grass was sown in the early part of November, and it was 6 inches in height by Christmas. Before sewage was applied to the claysoil the land was not worth 1£ per acre; the present tenant is willing to give 16£ per acre for land and sewage. The grass of the irrigated land is preferred by cattle to any other grass, and keeps the cattle in better milk and better condition than other grasses. … But any mismanagement of the drainage works would be a fruitful source of disease. If the sewers are not properly ventilated bad gases escape into the houses, and if any sinks are left untrapped the consequences may be fatal. The Croydon experiments are of great value to the towns too large for the earth closets.

In Manchester the system of taking away the refuse without entering the sewers is tried, but the removal of refuse costs a good deal more than the sale of its produces. It was found, too, at Aldershott, that though the surrounding soil was about the poorest in the Kingdom, no one would take the camp refuse even gratuitously, and the removal of it cost the War Office 5 500 o 600l. a year. Yet Mr. Hawkesley tells us that the product of the earth closets is really worth 1l. per ton, and the results, whenever the refuse has been applied to land, have borne out this estimate. Data z.B. darüber geliefert duch Convict Prisons. Lord Leigh, who presided at the Leamington Congress, said the earth closet system had been tried with much success at the reformatory school of which he was chairman. Many such towns as Leamington just now in awkward predicament about their sewage. They have been restrained by law from sending it bodily into the rivers. The new Thames Navigation Act and the local acts to which it is giving rise, are exercising the same pressure on the towns above London. Something must be done in these places. It will be a wanton waste of money to construct enormous works on the plan of the Metropolitan Main Drainage for the sake of throwing into the sea what is so useful on the land. It is well to bear in mind that lands cultivated by some of the early American settlers became barren after two generations, while the soil of China unceasingly fertile for upwards of 3,000 years. The waste of the ash constituents of bread and meat in London alone is said to amount to 602,676 tons.

Aus:
The Economist, 2. November 1867. S. 1241/1242.
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Trades Unions’ Finance.

The societies are as yet financially young; their superannuation fund does not begin to tell for years, because they only take young members. Therefore, their great apparent prosperity quite consist consistent with real insolvency, even so far as the risks of old age and sickness are themselves concerned. But if you added to these liabilities the strike liabilities, the insolvency is indisputable.

Aus:
The Economist, 2. November 1867. S. 1243.
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Bank of England.  Zusatz von Marx.
Schließen (Separate Reserves for Bankers’ Accounts)

If the Banks all issued notes, and at the same time instituted an efficient system of note exchanges by means of which they returned to one another the notes of their respective issues, as in Scotland, the return by the Banks of the notes in circulation made up immediately after a general exchange of notes would represent the notes in the hands of the general public as distinguished from the banks. As a matter of fact, such a return is made weekly by the banks in Scotland, and shown, in round figures, that the 1l. notes in circulation 2,500,000l. und die notes of 5l. and upwards, 1,500,000l. These returns show with great accuracy the amount of the natural circulation of the country. Aber in England there is a national circulation und an artificial or factitious circulation. The national circulation is the notes in transitu, or circulation outside the banks. The artificial consists mostly of the B. o. England notes held in reserve by the non-issuing banks. The amount |174 so held varies, not according to the actual requirements of the public, but the anticipated requirements, and in times of mistrust the apprehensions of the non-issuing banks. Daher die increase in the apparent circulation on 9. und 16 May 1866. The increase in that one week was nearly 4 millions. This operated on the B.o.E. reserves precisely as if much bullion shipped out of the country. Wären die Bankers accounts getrennt gewesen von der übrigen Reserve, so on 16. May, 1866, supposing they held 10 Mill. £ belonging to other banks, all the specie they had of their own was 2,323,805l. against 41,207,708l. of liabilities, for 11,120,995l. of which they were under statutory obligation to provide a separate reserve of gold.