[ Bernard Alfred Southgate, Director of the Water Pollution Research Laboratory. ] Three Typed Letters Signed (both 'B A Southgate') to J. Samson of the Royal Society of Arts, regarding a lecture on 'Prevention of Water Pollution'.

Five items: Southgate's three letters and carbons of two of Samson's replies (17 July and 10 August 1963). The five are all in good condition, on lightly aged paper. Southgate's first letter (16 July 1963; 1p., 12mo) accepts Samson 'invitation to give a paper', and discusses the question of the title: 'We are concerned here with the prevention of pollution and the study of its effects in surface waters and my paper would deal mainly with that side of the question rather than with the treatment of water as carried out by a water undertaking. It is of course a fact that pollution has a very great bearing on the suitability of water as the raw material for a supply but, as I say, I think I should be concerned mainly with the prevention of this pollution rather than with its elimination at a water works.' In the carbon of his reply of 17 July Samson states that the Society's Council will be happy to 'fall in' with Southgate's wishes, but that they 'also had in mind the question of fluoridation'. Southgate returns to the problem of the title in a 29-line letter of 9 August 1963, which also discusses possible chairmen for the lecture. He rules out as 'not quite appropriate' Samson's suggestion of the Minister of Health: 'the Minister mostly concerned with water supplies and prevention of pollution is the Minister of Housing and Local Government. I think however that to ask him would be flying too high.' His two suggestions are C. H. Spens and Professor J. Proudman. In the carbon of his reply of 10 August, Samson returns to the question of the title ('I appreciate your problem, as it is one about which lecturers often have difficulty.'), and gives four suggestions. On 23 August Southgate writes to inform Samson that he is accepting one of the suggestions ('Prevention of Water Pollution - the Present Position').