282 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

their work; possibly in the future water supply may become a
national service.

Besides providing water, the local authorities take control of
wells and other small natural supplies to see that they are fit
for use* and make by-laws to protect the .water froipi contamination
and waste. The cost of the whole service is usually met by a
special water rate. Urban authorities frequently encourage the
use of water by providing baths and public laundries. As housing
has improved, and more people have acquired baths and facilities
for clothes-washing at home, they have come to make less use of
this public service. A Borough Council which wants to see its
baths well patronised, finds it necessary to equip them for
swimming sports and provide turkish and foam baths, and other
kinds of remedial treatment. When suitable land can be obtained,
an open air swimming bath is usually a successful venture.

Similar problems of engineering and purchase of property
beset the task of removing refuse and disposing of sewerage.
The health authorities supervise all building to see that nothing is
erected in places which the sewerage system has made unhealthy,
and that no buildings lack sanitation. The house to house
collection of refuse is a special urban problem. In some towns
may be seen rows of dustbins in the streets awaiting collection;
the bins may then be emptied into a horse-drawn cart with the
top only half covered so that much refuse blows about the streets,
which* if the local authority is equally unenthusiastic about open
spaces, will be the chief playground for the children.- In better
governed towns there will be motor vehicles, so equipped that
the whole task is performed with speed and cleanliness. Such are
the criteria by which local Government is judged. Another source
of c&sease is impure food. The health authorities appoint Sanitary
Inspectors to visit shops, and take samples of food for the Public
Analyst. A regular item on the agenda of Council meetings is
the report on these activities.

2. Treatment of illness. For this section of the health services,,
the County and County Borough Councils are the responsible