本稿は、1850年代英国ケンブリッジの上水道の事業形態をめぐる事例を検討する。これまでの研究は1850年代の公営上水道不振の理由を、法制の不備、民営事業の効率に求めた。本稿の事例は、それらの要因だけでなく、市民の既得権益との関係が地方レベルでの政治的障害となり、公営上水道の財政負担と民営上水道の営利性という中央の論争の対立構図に対して、地方政治が諸利害を調整して妥協案を模索したことを示した。
This study examines a case around the corporate structure of the water supply system of Cambridge in the 1850s. 
Prior studies attributed the reasons for the inactivity of the public water works during 1850s to defective laws and higher efficiency of private enterprises. 
The case discussed in this study demonstrates that a conflict with citizens' vested interests manifests itself as a political hindrance at the local level. 
Besides the aforesaid factors, the central government was plagued with a conflict between public water works, which was mired in a fiscal burden, and the private water supply system,which had to be profitable; all the while local politics settled conflicting interests and sought a compromise.

論説