Too Much Nick

“The Prefect of Paris, Monsieur Poubelle, succeeded in forcing garbage cans on the property owners in 1887 only after a ferocious public battle. This government interference in the individual’s right to throw his garbage in the street - which was, in reality, the property owner’s right to leave his tenants no other option - made Poubelle into the ‘cryptosocialist’ of the hour. In 1900 owners were still fighting against the obligations to put their buildings on the public sewer system and to cooperate in the collection of garbage.”