Fabian Tract No. roo . • ' ~.METROPOLITAN BOROUGH ' COUNCILS: THEIR POWERS AND DUTIES. WITH STATISTICAL TABLE. PuBLISHED AND SoLD BY THE FABIAN SOCIETY. PRICE ONE PENNY. LONDON: THE FABIAX SociETY, 3 CLEMENT's INN, STRAND, W.C . ]A:>:UARY, 1900. BoROUGH CouNCILs. BY substituting twenty-eight Metropolitan Borough Councils for 127 separate local bodies (viz., twenty-nine Administrative Vestries, forty-four Non-Administrative Vestries, twelve District Boards, one Local Board of Health, twelve Burial Boards, nineteen Boards of Library Commissioners, and ten Boards of Baths and Washhouses Commissioners), the London Government Act, 1899, has revolutionized the machinery of London Local Government. At most I ,68o elected, and 308 eo-opted, members will take the place of 4,732 elected and 58 I ex-officio and appointed members. On the other hand, the City Corporation, the Metropolitan Asylums Board, and the Boards of Guardians are left untouched, and women have been unjustifiably deprived of the right to sit on the Councils. As Lord Salisbury told the House of Lords (26th July, 1899) :" These Councils differ very little from the vestries. They have one or two additional powers but beyond that the change is only a change of the area of jurisdiction and a change of name." On the day on which the new Borough Councils come into office after the 1st November, 1900 (or a day six months sooner or later as appointedby the Lord President of the Council), the powers, duties, property, and liabilities of the elective Vestries, District Boards, Commissioners or Boards under adoptive Acts, and all bodies administering local Acts, will be transferred to the Borough Councils for the areas within which the former bodies operated. But powers or duties referring to a limited part of the borough may either be continued or cease to be exercised as provided by a scheme under the Act. Electorate. The electorate consists of the parochial electors enrolled on the Local Government and Parliamentary registers, z·.e., occupiers (males -including peers-spinsters, widows, and married women whose husbands are not qualified) ; service voters, lodgers, and freeholders, as for Parliamentary elections-providing the conditions of residence, etc., are fulfilled. This is the widest electorate in the country, and the right to vote may be exercised in every borough for which the elector is registered. The revised list of voters must be issued before 2oth October in each year, and comes into operation on Ist November. Constitution of Council. A Borough Council consists of a mayor, aldermen and councillors -the total number of aldermen and councillors not to exceed seventy. One-third of the members will retire annually, unless the Council determine, after a resolution passed at a special meeting by two- thirds of those present and voting (being also a majority of the whole ,/ I 3 Council), that the whole shall retire triennially, when the Local Government Board may approve this alteration. One-third forms a quorum. The Mayor must be" a fit person" elected annually by the Council "from among the aldermen or councillors or persons qualified to be such"; he may be paid, if the Council so determine ; and during his year of office and the following year he will be a justice of the peace for the County of London. The Aldermen must be one-sixth of the number of councillors, and are elected by the Council from among the councillors or persons qualified to be such. They hold office for six years, half retiringtriennially. An alderman cannot vote in the election of an alderman. Cozmczllors must be electors within the borough or residents of at least a year's standing, including ministers of religion. Disqualified are women, aliens, persons receiving poor relief (other than medical relief) within twelve months, persons convicted of crime or insolvent within five years, paid officials of the Council, and personsconcerned in borough contracts (except as shareholders in a joint- stock company, or as interested in sale of lands or loan of money, etc.). Disqualification occurring after election, election as alderman, non-attendance for six months except for illness or with consent of the Council, vacate the seat, but not ceasing to be an elector or resident. Elections are by ballot, held on the rst November, or, if that day is Sunday, then the following day. For electoral purposeseach borough is divided into wards by Order in Council, and a number of councillors, divisible by three, is allotted to ead: ward, regard being had to the rateable value as well as to the population of the wards. In practice, the mean between them is taken. Ward areas may be subsequently altered by order of the Local Government Board after inquiry. Commdtees may be appointed and must report to the Council. Except so far as the Council direct, their acts do not require approval, but they cannot le\·y rates, raise loans, or spend money beyond the sum allowed by the Council. The library committee may consist partly of persons not members of the Council. Borough Councils may appoint joint committees for matters of common interest, and may delegate to them any powers except to borrow money or make a rate. There are two statutory committees, the Assessment and Finance Committees (see under Financial Powers). Each council must appoint a Town Clerk. This officer is not only the chief of the staff, but also the professional adviser of the Council. He prepares the voters' and jury lists, and acts as ReturningOfficer at elections. All precepts from other authorities are sent to him, and he signs all orders for payment. Financial Powers. .AuDIT OF AccouNTS. All accounts of the Borough Councils and their committees must be audited by the district auditors appointed by the Local Government Board. There must also be a special audit of the expense of promoting and opposing Bills. 4 FINANCE COl\11\IITTEE. A finance committee must be appointed to control the borough finances. Except in the case of precepts from another authority, no order for the payment of any sum may be made except by resolution of the Council passed on a recommendation from the finance committee, and all such orders must be signed by three members of the committee and the town clerk. No liability exceeding fifty pounds may be incurred except on a resolution passed by the Council after due notice on an estimate submitted by the finance committee. LAND. Land cannot be sold without the consent of the Local Government Board, and when used as an open space cannot be sold at all. Borough Councils are also given powers to buy or lease land~ for local purposes, under the Local Government Act, 1888, sec. 65, subject to the Lands Clauses Consolidation Acts. LOANS. The Borough Councils may borrow money on the security of the rates for any purposes of the Metropolitan Management Acts, subject to any sanction of the County Council. An appeal lies to the Local Government Board if the County Council refuses its assent, attaches conditions, or does not consent within six months. The s:mction of the Local Government Board is needed for loans on the security of the Library Rate, and, under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, for loans to provide sanitary conveniences, premises, etc., for disinfection, buildings for post-mortem examinations, and coroners' courts. Money may either be raised in the open market or borrowed from the County Council or from the Public Works Loans Commissioners. RATES. All the expenses of the borough must be met out of the General Rate, which includes the poor rate and the old "general,'' "lighting," and ''sewers " rates. It is to be assessed, levied, and collected under the Poor Law enactments. vVhen a borough comprises more than one parish, the amount to be raised must be divided between the parishes according to their rateable value, subject to anyprovision required for the adjustment of local burdens. If any adoptive Act or other Act does not extend to the whole borough, the expenses thereof must be levied as an additional item of and along with the General Rate over the area to which the Act extends. In many cases, therefore, there will be great differences in ratingwithin a borough. Any tenant who could have reclaimed from his landlord all or part of the sewers rate may reclaim an equivalent portion of the General Rate ; the landlord generally contracts out of the sewers rate. Assessrnent.-Where a borough comprises the whole of one or more unions, the Borough Council appoints one assessment committee for the borough, but where a poor Jaw union extends over two or more boroughs, the Board of Guardians continues to appoint an assessment committee for the whole union. In either case, the 5 valuation list is prepared under the Metropolis Valuation Act, 1869. All rates are paid by the tenant, and the rent which he might "reasonably" be expected to pay, if he paid rates and taxes and the landlord bore the cost of repairs and insurance, is taken as the grossannual value of his holding. Owners and occupiers may be called upon to provide all particulars necessary for valuation purposes. To arrive at the rateable value a maximum (which in practice is the actual) rate of deduction is authorized according to the class of hereditament. Houses and gardens under £zo gross value, one- fourth ; under £40, one-fifth ; £40 and over, one-sixth; buildingswithout land, not liable to inhabited house duty, and of a gross value of £zo and under £40, one-fifth; ditto of£40 and upwards, one-sixth ; land with buildings not houses, one-tenth ; land without buildings, one-twentieth ; mills and manufactories, one-third ; tithe, railways, and other rateable hereditaments, "in each case according to the circumstances and the general principles of law." Churches, chapels, ragged schools, public elementary schools, volunteer quarters, and certain scientific and literary institutions supported by voluntary contributions are exempt from rating. Government property is valued by the Treasury, and a voluntary contribution made to the rates in respect thereof. Under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896, the occupiers of agricultural land, i.e., "any land used as arable, meadow or pasture land only, cottage gardens exceeding one-fourth-of an acre, market gardens, nursery grounds, orchards or allotments" are exemptfrom half the rates except those where they are already exempt to the extent of one-half. In order to secure uniformity of assessment, rule~ for ascertaining gross and rateable values according to the nature of the tenancy were agreed on at the Assessment Conferences, 1890, 1894 and 1899, between the County Council and the Vestries, but these are not legally binding.* After the valuation list has been examined and amended by the surveyor of taxes, it goes before the assessment committee, to which any aggrieved person may appeal. A further appeal lies to the justices sitting in special sessions, and finally to the quarter sessions of the County of London, from which an appeal can only be taken on points of law. Full publicity is given to the lists, and notice must be given to the occupier when an assessment is increased or a new hereditament inserted. An occupier for part of a year is onlyliable for a proportionate share of the rates. If a house has been built or altered in value in the course of any year after the valuation list has been made up, the officials or any ratepayer may cause a fresh assessment to be made, and in this case there is no appealfrom the assessment committee. A new valuation is made every five years, beginning 6th April, 1871, but a supplemental list is also made every year, including all alterations which have taken place during the preceding twelve m?nths. Compozmdmg (32 and 33 V1c. c. 41).-When the rateable value does not exceed£20, the owner may enter into a written agreement with the oYerseers to pay the poor rate, receiving 2 5 per cent. corn *See Report. No. r68 of Council's publications. b mtsswn. Or the Borough Council may order all such owners to be rated subject to an allowance of IS per cent., and if an owner expresses his willingness to be rated on all his houses, whether occupied or not, he may have a further reduction not exceedingIS per cent. He forfeits his commission if he is six months in arrear ; the occupier may then pay the rates and deduct them from his rent, but is liable to distraint if he makes default after notice. Demand Note.-Not only the borough rates but also the rate to meet a precept from another authority (except the contributions to the Local Government Board for the Common Poor Fund and the expenses of the Metropolitan Asylums Board, both of which fall on the guardians) are collected by the Borough Council. They must all be levied on one demand note in a form approved by the Local Government Board, stating the rateable value of the premises, the rate per £, the period and purposes of the rate, the amount in the£ required for each purpose, and the effect of the Equalization Act. Equalziatzon of Rates.-Under 57 and 58 Vie. c. 53. the CountyCouncil must every year form a fund equal to a 6d. rate on the valuation for the year, the contribution from each parish being according to its rateable value. This fund is apportioned among the boroughs and among the parishes in a borough, according to their population as determined every year by the Registrar-General. When the grant is greater than the contribution, the difference is paid to the parish, and when it is less the parish pays the difference ; but when the total of contributions from the parishes in a borough is less than the grant to the borough no payment is required from any parishtherein comprised. The equalization grant must be expended first on the purposes of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, then on lighting, then on streets, and an annual return must be made showing the mode of expenditure. When the Local Government Board has made an order setting a time for the performance of a duty under the Public Health Act, 1891, it may also order the defaulting Borough Council to be deprived of all or part of its equalization grant, which goes to increase the fund for the following year. It is specially provided that nothing in the London Government Act of 1899 shall affect the Equalization of Rates Act, except in so far as areas are altered. Including the rates for the expenses of central bodies, 69 per cent. of the rates in the Metropolis are now levied equally over the county. Overseers.-The Borough Council takes over all the duties of overseers with regard to valuation lists and collection of rates. The town clerk takes over the duties of overseers relating to the preparation of voters' and jury lists in the borough. Administrative Powers and Duties. BATHS AND WASHHOUSES. Borough Councils can adopt the Baths and \Vashhouses Acts, 1846-96, by a majority vote, and then provide and manage publicbaths and laundries, or temporarily convert a bath into a gymnasium. The Acts have been already adopted in thirty-fiye parishes, and 7 the Baths Commissioners, where they exist, are absorbed into the Councils. The legal charges are: baths for laboring classes, cold Id., hot zd.; baths of any higher class not to exceed 3d. and 6d. ; swimming baths, zd., 4d. and 8d., according to class; washhouses, Id. for first hour, 3d. for two hours together. The statutory maximum charge for the first hour's use of a washhouse is generally disregarded. At three baths a gymnasium is provided during the winter, six are licensed for music or dancing, and others are fitted up as halls. Deptford Baths, and eleven others, are supplied, wholly or partlyfrom their own wells. Three of the new Boroughs start without public baths or washhouses, and nine have only part of their district provided with these institutions. BILLS, PROMOTING AND OPPOSING. The London Government Act, I899, gave Borough Councils the same powers of promoting and opposing Bills in Parliament, and of prosecuting or defending any legal proceedings necessary for the promotion or protection of the interests of the inhabitants of their borough, as are conferred on Borough Councils outside London by the Borough Funds Act, 1872. No Bill can be promoted or opposed except (i) after a resolution of an absolute majority of the Council at a special meeting, (ii) with the consent of the Local Government Board in respect of matters within its jurisdiction, "and, in respect of other matters, the approval of a Secretary of State," a local inquiry being held if necessary, and (iii) the consent of the owners and ratepayers of the district as expressed by resolution or, if required, a poll. After deposit of a Bill a further specialresolution of the Council is required before proceeding. No Bill can be promoted for the establishment of gas or water works to competewith existing companies. Where a Parliamentary Committee has decided that promotion of or opposition to a Bill is unreasonable or vexatious, no powers are given under this section. No payment can be made to a member of a Council as counsel or agent in connection with Bills. BUILDING. A Borough Council may (a) order the removal of dangerous or incommodious projections or obstructions in front of buildings ; (b) prescribe precautions for safety of passers-by during building operations; (c) license wooden structures; (d) remove unauthorized sky-signs, power being reserved to the County Council to act in default ; (e) remove obstructions in streets ; (/) appeal to tribunal appointed, one member each, by the County Council, the RoyalSociety of British Architects, and the Surveyors' Institution, when aggrieved by a decision of the Superintending Architect as to the O"eneral line of buildings in a street. Concurrently with the CountyCouncil it may (a) upon a justice's order demolish buildings when it has obtained a conviction for contravention of the London Building Act, I894; (b) take proceedings when timber is stored in an unlawful manner. With these exceptions, the County Council alone administers the London Building Act, I 894. 8 BYE-LAWS. A Borough Council can make bye-laws in regard to most of its specific duties, and also "generally for the good rule and government of the borough, and for the prevention and suppression of nuisances not already punishable in a summary manner" (Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, sec. 23). Public advertisement thereof must be made ; two-thirds of the Council must be present at the meetingfor adoption ; they must not conflict with any Act of Parliament or any bye-law of the County Council ; they have to be specifically approved by the Home Secretary ; and they may be vetoed by the Privy Council. Bye-laws under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, require to be confirmed by the Local Government Board, instead of the Home Secretary. Penalties up to £5, and 40s. for each day's continuance of offence after notice may be imposed. CANAL BoATS AcT, 1878. The Local Government Board entrusts to certain Borough Councils the duty of registering canal boats and enforcing the Board's bye·laws as to number, age, and sex of inmates, cleanliness, and precautions against infectious disease. Persons suffering from infectious disease may be removed and the boat detained for disinfection. CEMETERIES. Borough Councils may, by resolution, adopt the Metropolitan Burial Acts, 1852 to 1885, and provide and maintain burial grounds, erect chapels and mortuaries, reserve unconsecrated ground, etc. The Acts have been adopted in twenty-nine parishes, and existingBurial Boards will be absorbed in the Councils. Eight BoroughCouncils have no cemeteries of their own, and four have them for part of their district only. There are 640 acres of burial ground in the county, only sufficient for five years at the rate of one interment per grave. In 1897, the County Council asked thirty burial authorities if they wanted powers to establish crematoria ; eleven answered "yes," one "no," five had no opinion, and thirteen gave no reply. Powers have not yet been obtained. DRAINAGE. The County Council is responsible for the main sewers scheduled in the Metropolitan Management Act, 1855, and for such other sewers as it may declare to be main sewers ; the Borough Councils are responsible for the construction and maintenance of all local sewers and drains, subject to the bye-laws made by the County Council. A Borough Council may transfer its powers to the County Council with the latter's consent. The sanction of the County Council is required for new sewers. In new streets the Borough Council may construct the sewers, charging all or part of the expense to the owners of property; or with the consent of Borough and CountyCouncils the owners may make the sewers at their own expense, and the Borough Council may make a contribution from the rates. A Borough Council may insist on new houses being built with satisfactory drains, water supply, and sanitary arrangements, and on any 9 ?ouse be_in~ connected by a sufficient drain to a sewer, when there 1s one w1thm a hundred feet ; in either case it can do the work and charge owne_r. It may also order the draining or cleansing of ponds, ~ourts and d1tches. Its consent is required for the erection of buildmgs on or under sewers, for the alteration of drains and the branching of drains into sewers, and f?r plans and material of drains. Its offi~ers may_enter any house in the daytime after twenty-four hours' not1ce, or Without notice in emergency, and examine the drains or apparatus, and the owner must carry out any works necessary to putthem in a proper state or be charged with the expense thereof. ELECTRIC LIGHTING. Under the Electric Lighting Acts, 1882 and 1888, a BoroughCouncil may obtain a licence from the Board of Trade for the supply of electricity for all purposes except for telegraphs and telephones, three months' public notice being giYen after passing of resolution to apply. A licence runs for seven years, and may contain provisions as to the supply, safety of public, prices, inspection, etc. The Board of Trade may also proceed by a Provisional Order, which is afterwards confirmed by Parliament. The consent of the Borough Council is required before anyprivate undertakers can obtain a licence or provisional order within the borough, unless the Board of Trade dispense with it for special reasons. It may make bye-laws for the safety of the public, and its consent is needed for the opening of roads and the erection of overhead wires. Within six months after the expiry of forty-two years, and of every subsequent period of ten years, from the passing of a Provisional Order Act, or after the expiry of any shorter period provided by that Act, a Borough Council may take over a privateundertaking at the "fair market value" of all lands, buildings, works, materials, and plant, due regard being had to their nature, condition, and "suitability for the purposes of the undertaking," but without any addition for compulsory purchase, goodwill, or future profits. All disputes must be referred to arbitration. The following public authorities have lighting works in opera £Io2,ooo ; £I s,ooo ; tion :Opened. Capital. Net Profit, I 8g8. Hammersmith HampsteadIslington ... NewingtonShoreditch 1897 1894 1896 1899 1897 £72,425125,410 191,300 so,ooo 9o,o82 £I,428 8,3402,206 St. Pancras 1892 241,994 The following authorities have works under construction :- Battersea, capital Bermondsey, Fulham, £1o8,r66; Hackney, £242,367; Poplar, £n,ooo; Whitechapel, £6o,soo. Bethnal Green and Stoke Newington have obtained orders. Fourteen Boroughs start with their area given over to profit-making companies for electric lighting, and in four others the Councils have powers over part of the districts only. ro FLoons, PHEVE="TION oF (THAMEs), AcT, 1879. Borough Councils and owners of land must make and maintain flood works and river banks ordered by the County Council, and to raise funds may levy a rate charging only the parts benefited. GAS. Under the Metropolitan Gas Act, 186o, secs. 27-29, a BoroughCouncil may appoint or join in appointing examiners to test gas, and may provide testing apparatus. HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES. The Borough Councils are the local authorities under Part II. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, I 890. Periodic inspection of the borough must be made, and, in particular, of any house againstwhich four neighboring householders have complained. When a house is unfit for human habitation the Borough Council must proceed summarily against the owner or occupier; a fine up to £so may be imposed and the house closed. The tenant must then get seven days' notice and his reasonable removal expenses from the Council, recoverable from the owner. If the house is not forthwith put in a proper state, the Council may order the owner to demolish same (subject to an appeal to quarter sessions), and after three months may do the work and charge the cost on the premises. On the complaint of a medical officer or fo_ur inhabitants, the Council may (subject to an appeal to quarter sessions) order the demolition of any "obstructive" building which makes other houses unhealthy or prevents the removal of a nuisance, and may within a year buy the site. Compensation is fixed by a Local Government Board arbitrator, and where neighboring houses are raised in value by the works he must charge the owners with a corresponding share. In the case of small unhealthy areas, the Borough Council must submit to the Local Government Board, after notice to all owners and occupiers, a scheme for the improvement of the area. Before confirming the scheme the Board must hold a public enquiry, and it may insist on such provisions for the rehousing of displaced persons "as seem required by the circumstances." The area may be boughteither by agreement or under Local Government Board arbitration. Compensation must be based on the fair market value after deducting the cost of repairs and the extra rent due to overcrowding ; if a house cannot be made fit for habitation, only the value of the land and materials must be paid. The County Council may contribute towards the expense. All action taken must be reported to the County Council, and where the Borough Council has been a month in default the County Council may act in lieu and recover its expenses. The County Council must report all areas of not more than ten houses to the Borough Council, and all disputes as to whether the work should be done by the Borough or County Council must be referred to the Home Office. So far, fifteen clearance schemes are at present in progress or awaiting confirmation by the Local Government Board. They II provide for the re-housing of 3,190 out of s,o8o persons displaced, and the cost is estimated to be £ zI 6,ooo, about half of which will be borne by the County Council. The London Government Act, 1899, empowers a Borough Council to adopt Part Ill. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, within the borough, and erect "lodging houses for the working-classes." Very wide powers are given, for the term '' lodging houses" includes "separate houses or cottages for the working-classes, whether containing one or several tenements," and a "cottage" may include a garden of not more than half an acre in extent, and £3 in value. Land may be taken compulsorily with the consent of the Home Secretary, or a contract may be made for the purchase or lease of houses hereafter to be built, or existing houses may be bought and adapted. After seven years the houses may be sold if too expensive. Paupers are not eligible as tenants. LABOR BUREAUX. After the distress of 1892, when roo,ooo persons were said to be out of work, Labor Bureaux were started by the vestries of Battersea, Hackney, Islington, St. Pancras, and St. Martin's and Strand (jointly), in order to find employment. They mainly attract casual workers and unskilled laborers. Including the Salvation Army and Y.W.C.A. Bureaux, 19,293 applicants registered in 1898, and work was found for IO,S07; I 2,626 situations were offered by employers. LIBRARIES. The Public Libraries Acts, 1892 and I893, have already been adopted in thirty-eight districts, and Borough Councils, which take over the existing Library authorities, may adopt these Acts by majority vote at a speciai meeting. Seven Boroughs start with no public library within their area, and seven others have libraries for part of their district only. A Library Rate of Id. in the £ may be levied to provide "public libraries, public museums, schools for science, art galleries, and schools for art," and the Council mayborrow on security of the rate with consent of the Local Government Board. The library and museum may be free. Persons not members of the Council may be appointed to the Library Committee. Sixteen public libraries are open on Sunday. Whitechapelhas a museum, and sends three members to the Board of seventeen trustees for the Whitechapel Art Gallery. Camberwell, with the aid of private donors, has established the Lord Leighton Memorial Art Gallery, where it holds exhibitions and accommodates a School of Arts and Crafts maintained by the County Council. Shoreditch, out of money received for letting space for advertisements, set up a Technical School, now taken over by the County Council. OvERHEAD WIRES (LoNDoN) AcT, I89r. Borough Councils must enforce the County Council's bye-laws regulating strength, placing, etc., of overhead wires, may appointinspectors, and may require the removal of dangerous wires. 12 PARKS AND OPEN SPACES. Borough Councils may take land by gift or purchase for use as an open space. In 1897, the vestries and district boards managed only 2 I 2t acres of open spaces out of London's total of 7,ooo acres. Local bodies sometimes object to bearing the whole expense of an open space which may be used by persons from other districts, but the County Council meets this grievance by contributing towards the purchase, and occasionally towards the maintenance of open spaces not under its own control. No ground used as a park or open space can be sold. PuBLIC HEALTH. Borough Councils are sanitary authorities entrusted with the carrying out of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891 ; they must also obserYe and enforce the County Council's bye-laws, and may make bye-laws regarding their own duties. The County Council may prosecute in default of a Borough Council, and charge all expenses to the latter. On complaint by the County Council that a Borough Council has defaulted in the performance of any duty under this Act or under any bye-law, the Local Government Board may, after inquiry, order the duty to be performed within a set time, and in case of non-performance may enforce the order by writ of manda· mus, or may appoint the County Council to perform the duty at the expense of the borough ; the equalization grant may also be withheld. This power has been found, in practice, inoperative ; but it enables the County Council to attend to complaints. A qualified medical officer of health must be appointed in each Borough, removable only by the Local Government Board. An adequate number of sanitary inspectors, approved by the Local Government Board, must also be appointed, and the number maybe increased by the Board at the instance of the County Council; about one to 2 , 500 houses is considered the minimum for efficiency. Half of the salaries of medical officers and inspectors falls on countyfunds. Periodic inspection must be made for the detection of nuisances, and any premises may be entered by day or duringbusiness hours. After notice has been served requiring abatement of nuisance, offenders may be proceeded against before a summary court and an order obtained for the abatement of a nuisance, for the prohibition of its recurrence, or for the closing of a dwelling- house. In the last two cases an appeal lies to quarter sessions. The Borough Council may execute the necessary works and charge defaulting owner; it has also the option of taking cases to HighCourt. Auimals.-Offences are: keeping an animal so as to be a nuisance or injurious to health, and keeping swine within forty yards of a public place. Unfit places may be closed. Under County Council bye- law," noisy " animals may be held to be nuisances. Brrkelzouscs .-The Borough Council t!nforces the Factory and Workshops Acts regarding the cleanliness, ventilation, and sanitary condition of retail bakehouses, and the prohibition of new under ground bakehouses. 13 . paines.-The Borough Council registers dairymen, inspect& dame.s, and enforces the bye-laws of the County Council for securing th~ .lighting, ventilation, cleansing, drainage and water-supply of dames, the cleanliness of vessels for the sale of milk and the prevention of infection. The County Council may a~t in default. (See also "Infectious Diseases.") D welling-houses.-The Borough Council must make and enforce bye-laws for the registration and inspection of houses let in lodgings (not. "common lodging-houses") or occupied by more than one family, the number of occupants, and sanitary condition. When the medical officer of health certifies that any house or part thereof is "so overcrowded as to be injurious or dangerous to the health of the inmates, whether or not members of the same family," proceedings must be taken, and the house may be closed if two convictions are obtained within three months, even thoughagainst different parties. In all houses satisfactory ashpits, waterclosets, etc., must be provided and a suitable water supply laid on ; defects found on inspection must be remedied, or the works will be executed at owner's cost. An appeal lies to the County Council. An underground room used separately as a dwelling-place must be seven feet high (three above ground) with a paved area in front four feet wide ; if the area is six feet wide, the height of one foot above ground suffices. Proper sanitary conveniences, fireplace, drainage, etc., must be provided. In case of structural alteration an appeal lies to the Local Government Board. A house unfit for habitation, including one without the prescribed water-fittings, may be closed. Before a new house can be occupied the Borough Council must certify that there is a proper water supply, but an appeal lies to the police magistrate ; bye-Jaws must be made as to cleanliness of cisterns, etc. ; and proceedings must be taken against any water company not reporting within twenty-four hours the cutting off of the water supply of a dwelling-house. The Customs and Inland Revenue Act, r89r, exempts from house duty houses structurally fitted in the opinion of a medical officer of health for occupation as separate tenements at an annual rental not exceeding £..j.O. The medical officer must personally examine the house and fill up a certificate for the Surveyor of Taxes. The Metropolitan Branch of the Incorporated Society of Medical Officers of Health has recommended that the certificate should depend upon compliance with the provisions of the London Building Act, r894, as to height and area of rooms, upon provision of sufficient water supply and water closets on each floor, upon efficient drainage and adequate accommodation for washing clothes. It is plain that the proper administration of this Act is of great importance for all dwellers in tenements and flats. Factones and Workshops.-The Borough Council must see that eYery workshop and workplace which is not a factory subject to the provisions of the Factories and 'Vorkshops Act, r878, is kept clean and free from effluvia, is so ventilated as to render innoxious any 14 gases, dust, etc., and is not so overcrowded as to be dangerous to health ; further, that every factory, workshop, or workplace is provided with proper sanitary conveniences for each sex separately. It may also require the cleansing or limewashing of any workshop, or any workplace, or any factory which is not under the Factories and Workshops Acts. The Home Office throws practically the whole enforcement of the provisions of the Factory Acts regarding "domestic workshops" upon the Borough Councils. In case of general default by a Council, the Home Office may order a factory inspector to act, and in case of particular default after the factory inspector has given a month's notice, the inspector may take any necessary proceedings-in both cases at cost of Council. Food.-A medical officer of health or sanitary inspector can enter any premises and seize any article of food which is exposed or beingprepared for sale if it appears to him to be unfit for food. A magistrate may order it to be destroyed, and may impose fine up to £so, or six months' imprisonment with hard labor. A public analyst must be appointed in each Borough with the approyal of the Local Government Board. Borough Councils must enforce the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, r875-1899, specially directing their officers to take samples of articles exposed for sale or in course of delivery, for the purpose of detecting the admixture of ingredients injurious to health or prejudicial to the quality of the article. The sale of any article or food or drug "not of the nature, substance, and quality of the article demanded" is also an offence. The Local Government Board or the Board of Agriculture may act in default of a Borough Council at latter's expense. Vessels containing condensed milk which is separated or skimmed must be conspicuously labelled. Borough Councils must also enforce the Margarine Act, r887, as to labels ; register manufacturers and wholesale dealers in margarine and margarine cheese ; and see that these articles do not contain "more than ro per cent. of butter fat." Borough Councils must also enforce the Sale of Horseflesh Act, r889, requiring a visible sign on shops where horseflesh is on sale as human food, empowering seizure of suspected meat, etc. Hospzlals.-A Borough Council may build temporary or permanent hospitals for the use of the inhabitants of the borough, or combine with another Council for that purpose, or contract for the use of a hospital. This power is not confined to infectious disease hospitals, but no London local authority has yet exercised it. The cost of maintenance of a non-infectious patient, who is not a pauper, in a hospital is recoverable as a simple debt, but not after the expiryof six months from his death or discharge. House Refuse must be removed gratuitously at regular periods by the Borough Council ; occupier can only dispose of it himself if it is not removed for seven days, and then must give notice. Trade refuse must also be removed, but for a reasonable charge, disputes to be settled by a police magistrate. The Council may order the removal of "any accumulation of obnoxious matter." lizjectzims Dzseases (z'.e. smallpox, diphtheria, membranous croup, erysipelas, scarlet fever, scarlatina, and typhus, typhoid, enteric, IS relapsing, continued, or puerperal fevers, and other diseases added by the County or Borough Council with approval of the Local Government Board).-Cases must be notified to medical officer of health by medical attendant or relatives. The Borough Council must disinfect infected premises, clothes, etc., gratuitous!y, and provide proper premises for that purpose; it may, with a magistrate's order, remove infected persons to hospital ; it may inspect and, after inquiry, close dairies anywhere when suspected of being a source of infection ; it must carry out the Local Government Board regulations for the supply of medical aid and accommodation, cleansing, etc., in epidemics; it may provide ambulances, free temporary shelter or house accommodation, and, with the consent of the Local Government Board, a temporary supply of medical aid and medicine for the poor. It also enforces the law against the vacating or letting of infected premises, the exposure of infected persons in public places or vehicles, the engaging of infected persons in any occupation, and the detention of corpses in living rooms. The example of Battersea and Camberwell Vestries in circulating notices as to the importance of disinfecting rooms after consumption and offeringdisinfectants free, may be commended. ll1ortuanes must be provided, and the "decent and economical" interment of the dead may be undertaken. The County Council can enforce the provision of a building for post-mortem examinations, which must not be in a workhouse. Pttb!z"c Samimy Convemrmces may be provided and, if desired, fees charged for same. O.ffenszve Businesses.-On the complaint of a medical officer of health, or two doctors, or ten inhabitants, that any building used in any business causing effluvia is a nuisance or dangerous or injurious to health, the Borough Council must take summary proceedings; and unless the person responsible can show that he has taken the best practicable means for abating the nuisance he is liable to a fine up to £so. It may also make and enforce bye-laws for preventingnuisances arising from any offensive matter running out of any manufactory, shop, etc., into a public place ; and may object before the Local Government Board to bye·laws proposed by the CountyCouncil for the regulation of offensive trades, but it must enforce them when made. Rzve1' Pollution.-Concurrently with the County Council a Borough Council may enforce the Rivers Pollution Act, 1876, against any person polluting a stream flowing past or through the borough. Slauglzte1'houses.-The County Council licenses slaughterhousesand knackers' yards. Borough Councils must enforce the CountyCouncil's bye-laws, may oppose the issue of a licence, and mayinspect during business hours. The County Council may act in default of the local authority. Conviction for having unsound meat may entail loss of licence. Smoke.-Ail furnaces and steamboats must consume their own smoke, as far as practicable, or the Borough Council (and it alone) may proceed summarily against the owner, occupier or employee. Similarlywith a chimney (not of a dwelling house) sending forth black smoke. r6 Tents a1td Vans.-Borough Councils may make bye-laws for promoting cleanliness in and the habitable condition of tents, vans, etc., and for preventing overcrowding and the spread of disease. Water.-Borough Councils may provide public wells and fountains, close private wells on a justice's order, require the provision of a constant water supply, and appeal to the Board of Trade under the Metropolis Water Act, r 87 r, with respect to the regulations of water companies supplying the borough. RAILWAYS, CANALS A:-ID TRAl\1\VA\'T. Borough Councils may make complaints as to rates and charges, traffic facilities, etc., before the Railway Commissioners under the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888 (sec. 7), without proof that they are aggrieved. The consent of the Borough Council is required under the Tramway Act, r87o, before a provisional order can be issued for the laying of a tramway within the borough, but its consent may be dispensed with if two-thirds of the line lies in the districts of consenting authorities. Borough Councils can compel canal companies to fence the banks of canals which are accessible to the public. STREETS. The Borough Council is the authority for the "paving, lighting, watering, cleansing, or improving" of the borough. With the consent of the County Council it may extend or improve any street or canal-bridge in the borough, taking land compulsorily for the purpose ; but in large works it is usual to join with the CountyCouncil. Landowners must lay out all new streets to the full width of forty feet for carriage and twenty feet for passenger traffic. Borough Councils may take over new streets and pave them at cost of owners, and may require the owner of any court, passage, or public place not a thoroughfare to pave same. A street may be closed during alterations after notice to the Councils of contiguous boroughs. The Act of I 899 transferred to the Borough Councils I rt miles of main roads formerly vested in the County Council, which contributed £7,345 towards their maintenance by the vestries. The consent of the Borough Council is required before any person or company can break up the pavement or surface of a street, and the work must be done under supervision by the Council's officers, and the street must be reinstated in former condition. The Councils alone, and not any occupier or owner, are responsible for the sweeping and cleansing of streets, pavements, footpaths, etc., and must make and enforce bye-laws for the prevention of nuisances arising from dust, ashes, and filth in streets. If they create a nuisance in the removal or disposal of refuse, the County Council, with the consent of the Local GoYernment Board, may take summary proceedings. Dust D rstructors.-Street refuse, as well as house refuse, is the absolute property of the Borough Councils, and its disposal is one of the problems of large towns. Newington finds it profitable to treat its refuse so as to make it saleable as manure. Battersea, Lewisham, Poplar, St. Luke's, St. Pancras, Shoreditch, vVestminster, I7 Whitechapel, and Woolwich have dust destructors in which the refuse is burned, and Bethnal Green, Fulham, and Hackney will construct similar furnaces in connection with their electric lightingschemes. Shoreditch uses its destructor to heat its libraries and baths and to generate energy for its electric works. Mr. Hammond, the distinguished engineer, in his report* to the Hackney Vestry, estimated the ultimate saving from the destructor at £ 4,ooo yearly, the cost of collection alone being ss. a ton when a central site was used for its deposit, instead of 8s. a ton as at present. TRANSFER OF PowERS. The local authorities have had power to transfer their drainage duties to the central body since 1855· Under the London Government Act, 1899, the County Council may transfer to the Borough Councils the highways of certain bridges, towards the maintenance of which it contributes £308, and the highways of the Victoria and Albert and Chelsea Embankments, which cost it now £10,950, in consideration of an annual payment by the CountyCouncil, to be fixed in case of dispute by the Local Government Board. Under the latter Act, also, the Local Government Board may, on the joint application of the County Council and the majorityof the Borough Councils, make a Provisional Order, requiring confirmation by Parliament, transferring to all the Borough Councils any power exerciseable by the County Council and vzce versa. The expenses of the transferred power shall be met as fixed in the Order. VoTERS' AND JuRY LrsTs. The preparation of these lists is transferred from the Overseers to the Town Clerk of each borough. MrscELLA;o;Eous. The powers of the Woolwich Board of Health to maintain its market (net income £525) and to contribute towards technical education are continued to the Council of the new borough. Any powers of a Vestry relating to church affairs, the collection of church- rates, and any interest in church property are by scheme to be vested in the incumbent and churchwardens and not transferred to the Councils. Buildings in a churchyard belonging to any authority whose powers are transferred to the new Councils will vest in the Council concerned. The nominees of the Borough Council will be substituted for Overseers as Trustees for any charity. Finally, Borough Councils may ''acquire, hire, erec.t, and ~urnish s.uc~, halls, buildings, and offices as they may from t1me to t1me reqmre. Minutes, Reports, etc. The Borough Councils must keep minutes of the proceedings at their meetings, and accounts of their receipts and expenditure. Any ratepayer can, "at all reasonable times," examine these minutes and accounts, and make copies and extracts therefrom free of charge. • .J/unicipal Journal, 24th February, I 8gg. 18 An Annual Report of all proceedings, and of works completed and in progress, including the Report of the Medical Officer of Health, must be published and supplied to any person on payment of twopence. An annual list of estates, charities, bequests, etc., belonging to the borough, with the application thereof, must also be published. The Borough Councils and Labor. The Councils may either give their work out to contractors or may adopt the principle of direct employment. The former plan is the more usual, the latter the more profitable. Since October roth, 1895, Battersea Vestry has done all its work through its Works and General Purposes Committee. Up to March 25th, 1898, it expended on works£41,054, saving £539 on the estimate; in 1898-9 it spent£9,829, and for the following year proposes to spend £141,059, including the construction of baths, electric-light station, wood- paving and sewers. "After allowing for the exclusion of the ordinary highway, cleansing and repairing works of the parish, a sum ::>f £66,375 may be added to the foregoing for works executed during the period named, viz., the IOth October, !895, to the 25th March, 1899, for general repairs to plant, repairs to sewers and sewers cleansing, repairs to private drains and new drains, mason and paviors' work, and repairs to gas and water trenches, etc."'" The Vestry are now considering the establishment of a municipal printery. Another recent example is that of Poplar, which saved £693 on an estimate of £14,990 for paving works carried out by its own workmen in 1898-9. The "fair wages" clause is introduced into contracts by many of the Metropolitan authorities, but the treatment of employees in most cases falls below the agreed "trade union rates." Battersea and Poplar are the most satisfactory : Bermondsey, Bethnal Green, Fulham, St. George the Martyr, and some others, following more or less closely. Except in the case of old men the minimum of 24s. a week is generally observed. Poplar is the first district to raise the wages of dustmen, roadmen, etc., to 30s. per week after two years' service (November, 1899). Outside of Battersea, Plumstead, Pcvplar, and Woolwich the eight hours' day does not exist, the usual hours per week being 54 to s6t. Most of the local authorities allow one one week's holiday and statutory holidays with pay. Half-pay is generally allowed for a varying period during sickness. Details as to wages, hours, holidays, trade union rates, etc., may be seen in a return prepared for the Vestry of Camberwell in September 1899. Transitory Provisions. The task of working out the details as to the transfer of powersis given to a Committee of the Privy Council and three Commissioners appointed by it. The Committee will frame an Order in Council forming each of the areas mentioned in the Act into a separate borough and incorporating a Council therein, and the Order • Surveyor's Report. See lifzmicipal jozwnal, June 23, r8gg. STATISTICS. Mctropolitlm Borough. Battersea ... Bermondsey Bethnal Green Camberwell Chelsea Deptford Finsbury Fulham Greenwich Hackney ... Hammersmith Hampstead Holborn ... Islington ... Kensington Lambeth ... Lewis ham Marylebone Paddington Poplar St. Pancras Shoreditch Southwark Stepney ·~ Wandsworth ... Westminster ... . .. Woolwich... ...... Stoke N ewington ... London Open Spaces. Population. Debt for Boron~b lnbabit.ed Houses. Purposes. Relation to Existing-Local Government Districts. Area Rntco, 18\!6·7. Acres. Change Change Rate cqunl Growth since 1891 since 1891 Eqoallzatl~ 1896-7. 1896-7. 1896 since 1894~ per cent. 1800 For Borough per cent. Grant [-], or £ £ per cent. Total. Purposes. tribution ( Battersea Parish ... 2,1,69 407 18·7 165,115 includes •. d. d . +9"6 22,421 d. 1,506 76 +7•9 104,495 175,531 5•05 +31·6 137,561i 6 7 Bermondsey Parish 17"64 16,568 -3·14 627 4 0·7 94 85,475 Rotherhithe Parish +0·9 10,246 -8·2 754 69 50,283 60,570 9·1 +0·9 7 2 40,379 St. Olave's District .. . 12·64 +2·8 -3·86 5,273 125 +0·5 21,453 54,420 3 2·4 +21·3 137 11,731 7 4 22·64 Bethnal Green Parish .. . -7·8 -2·96 1,049 -18·5 755 99 11,593 400 13·1 -20·0 59 129,162 6 0~ 12·28 Camberwell Parish nil 14,922 +5·15 4,450 -9.8 49,571 43,900 217 4•8 -2·9 96 7 3 253,076 15·64 Chelsea Parish less +7·5 -7·78 35,220 +4·0 61i0 21 124,938 108,651 3•2 -8·7 197 7 0 75,196 12·64 Ken sal Green . .. . -4·65 144 -2·7 57,214 93,269 +0·4 11,890 +27·8 60 21,450 6 0 13·14 +0·05 Deptford St. Paul's in Greenwich District 1,574 31 1·9 119 107,273 includes +5·9 15,504 588 +4.5 see Greenwich 74,810 18 3·06 +76·6 149 5 6 109,961 10·64 -3·51 Clerkenwell Urban Parish... . .. 9,709 316 8 2·5 69 61i,847 nil 5,910 St. Luke's Parish... ... ... . .. . .. 237 -6·5 37,496 39,336 8 +4•2 193 3·5 6 1 41,527 11·64 -2·2 -2·08 St. Sepulchre's l . . 3,498 -11·5 19 26,444 42,491 2 -43·5 213 10·5 6 2~ 12•44 Glasshouse Yard f Holborn Distnct 1,717 -13·0 +0·25 205 + 78 see Holborn 4,081 6 182 +6·5 6 8 16•20 733 -5·9 +4·51 Charterhouse... . .. 93 +34•7 see Holborn 1,015 101 -5·7 5 7 14·01 137 nil +3·45 Fulham Parish ... 3 1,7~~ 44 6 2 113,781 +24•1 +5·44 includes 15,266 +18·6 68,583 109,059 +8·1 399 6 5 20·64 84,429 -3·75 12,822 Greenwich Parish Greenwich 3,8~ 1,7 69 60,779 +6·1 9,426 Deptford St. Nicholas Parish District +4·8 329,187 ·6 1 69,462 20,030 1 1 25 +8•7 6 0 16·64 7,722 +12·1 -3·23 935 Charlton } . . +1"4 61,505 0·1 j whole district 3,513 35 +3"4 5 8 5·64 Kidbrooke Lee D1str1ct 13,753 -2·24 +17"1 1,~00 2,194 +20·6 79,291-32·1 see Lee 7,228 69 +6·3 6 9 23·64 2,175 -5·4 -0·77 267 Hackney Parish .. . -2·2 31,105~33·7 see Lee 1,599 3,2 11 +9•7 618 6 4 18·7 11·64 213,044 -0·40 +7•2 29,429 +3·5 1,077,541~11·9 89,061 91,320 3 + 14·5 6 6 11·64 -3·72 Hammersmith Parish ... 80 242 10·5 104,199 +7·1 14,538 +3·4 598,207~11·1 59,650 157,360 +60·1 6 6 15·64 -2·55 Hampstead Parish 51 318 14"2 75,449 +10·2 10,347 includes +8•7 824,68€ 23·1 98,989 206,164 +7·6 5 11 9 17·97 2·2 +1·30 67,425 5,635 St. Giles District... . .. 825,14( 39 8 3·3 38,237 -3·9 3,311 -11·3 439,591 7"4 42,796 21,574 St. Andrew's ) H lb D" t . t 169 +3·1 6 6 20·37 1 0·9. +1•69 24,991 -4·8 1,896 Saffron Hill S 0 orn IS ne -26·4 251,()()( 9·9 1 26,227 18,264 162 -0·7 12•32 5 9t +1•16 3,832 -15·0 356 -41•2 94,641 10·9 j whole district 6,877 -0·4 6 3 14•66 Furnival's, Gray's, Staple's and Lincoln's Inns +4·03 -13·6 365 72 -17"3 39,8\¥. 9·2 122 I slington Parish .. . +5·22 to+ 3,100 40 336,764 +5•5 38,369 Kensington Parish +1·3 1,799,031 8·4 176,183 193,370 +4·2 2,18! 12 5 6~ 9"89 -3·14 170,461i +2·4 21,561 -2·4 2,107,99! 5·4 122,198 160,722 Lambeth Parish ... 110 -8·2 511 3,941 116 10·71 +2·04 295,033 +7•2 40,232 +4·3 1,701,78( 11·2 126,463 165.041 includes 78 +37·0 5 11 7,011 280 14·14 -2"49 99,962 17,287 697,181 77 Lewisham Parish, Lewisham District 5,773 258 83,213 +15·1 14,417 +15·0 560,61\ 15·0 61,779 75,626 14 + 3•5 6 9 17•14 -1·30 whole district 15 Lee Parish, Lee District 1,238 31 16,749 +2·2 2,870 1-4 +2·5 33,074 18,067 +1•5 0 21·64 -0·51 whole district 14 St. Marylebone Parish 1,506 372 141,188 -0·9 14,612 -5·1 Paddington Parish 94,924 106,181 1,605,42' ~:~ +59·0 6 0 13·32 1,256 132 124,506 +5·6 14,778 125 90,971 51,607 Poplar District, i.e., -14·5 +2-1 1,930,501 8·6 5 10; 13·11 2,333 88 169,267 +1·5 21,898 -0·4 73,501 111 Bow Parish ... 738,95! 6·4 565 41,687 +3·2 5,567 +0·9 75 42,111 -7·1 Bromley Parish 8 5 160,72: 10·4 13•64 610 -0·3 69,821 8,975 -0·7 74 15,033 Poplar Parish +7·8 245,96! 8·3 8 1 15•64 1,158 57,759 7,356 +2"4 -0·7 114 30,118 -1·6 St. Pancras Parish 332,26! 4·6 8 1 16•14 2,672 292 240,764 +2·7 24,084 -1·5 182,694 337,101 50 Shoreditch Parish +31-5 1,664,54: 2·2 15•64 6 3~ 648 7 122,358 -1·4 13,077 -5-1 694,32', 101 60,944 218,312 includes +212•0 6 8 11·39 1,119 12 206,582 21,230 191 1,143,121 -8 Newington Parish ... . .. 631 7 120,939 13,276 +4·4 187 60,481 86,775 499 51 1+ ·o +121·8 St. George's Southwark Parish ... 6 4 18•64 -5· 60,278 5,512 +0·9 run;6B ~0:4 28,335 27,191 194 -22·7 St. Saviour's District ... 6 7 16·64 -4 2,442 4 -6.7 25,365 352,029 + 3·3 21,424 53,768 +384·7 includes 5/10 to G/6 10·02 to u ·eo + ~e t ..,. !:100 ,6 47 82,445 ....,lfl...-l---..2,1,.3,.--+-u ~i 1 :J6. 1,343,015 Limehouse District ... 58,305 46 i3 7,135 +1"6 -0·1 305,880 3·2 172 26,546 35,844 +116·7 Mile End Old Town Parish 14 6/0 to 6/9 11·64 to 14·64 111,060 +3·2 -·G7 to ~.:.!4 14,097 677 +0·2 129 397,834 5•7 41,251 44,865 + 1·6 6 10 8 10·64 St. George's in the East Parish -7·3 47,506 +3·7 5,210 244 -1·6 168 198,883 4·0 19,007 19,111 +12·6 6 3 13•64 The Tower -5·6 919 +5·8 1 21 201 3·0 11 77,757 Whitecha.pel District .. . +5·6 6,002 -12·2 35e 440,418 t9·2 43,446 29,447 nil 1,163 12·7 187,264 6/8 to 7/2 11·64 to 18·64 + 19·3 30,182 -·so to -; 18 Wandsworth District, i .e., 9,106 +19·0 224 1,311,416 24•3 122,566 46,953 Clapham Parish ... +7"4 7,516 23 1,137 +N 305,626 12·9 18,383 -12·9 20,566 6 8 + 15•7 17•64 -1·3 Putney Parish 3,375 2,21( +13·7 188,749 17·5 22,673 -28·0 54,338 +26·4 6 7 -O·f 17"64 Streatham Parish 9,038 +28·2 50,555 -5·4 2,~~(\ 440,255 1 35•6 -1·" 7,306 + 26·3 16·64 6 4~ 1,260 Tooting Parish +16·1 35,076 30·2 1,781 -2·8 58,101 + 24-3 7 4 22·64 -H 8,993 Wandsworth Parish +23·9 2,43' 341,710 25·8 35,427 723 -8·3 283 193,465 6 7 -1·f 16·64 19,763 includes 2,55 4,946,223 282 25.2 79,967 +2·0 9.336 St. George's Hanover Sque ro Parish -16·7 1,11 1,988,437 8·2 85,613 99,576 1 -15·6 0·6 23,050 11•20 -7·8 6 +4 0 2,286 St. James, \Vestminster Parish ... 96 11· -11"8 16 817,316 9·9 36,764 22,658 +978·9 314 38·6 53,234 -4·2 5 0 8·25 4,915 St. ~fa.rgo.ret's and St. John's Parish + 4"6 142 23· -12·0 81 120 42•0 882,345 1 15-1 61,140 124,490 13,077 +14·9 -10·6 5 9 12·73 1,224 St. l\Ia.rtin's in the Fields Pn.rish + 8 107 20·85 -17·1 28 587,301 13•7 35,913 126,749 oil 355 6 0 12·56 + 51·0 St. Peter's Close .. . 28 +4"f 79 19·82 +12·0 1 3,967 3·4 3·6 6 23.782 -5·4 5 6 7·79 + 1"' Strand District .. . 1,974 see St. 1\I a.rgarct's -8·1 666,857 6·2 48,559 43,289 4·2 16 354 +20·4 106,477 11·36 to 19·37 5/8 to 6/1 includes 16,159 149 30·95 + 2"42 ~ ··741 8,2 6·2 70 41,314 + 1·1 542,703 1 \Voolwich Parish ... 5,355 13 +1·8 1,1 266,279 3·1 6·9 25,769 44,599 234 -6·8 59,252 +13·0 6 6 15·64 -1 Plumstead Parish .. . 9,690 39 14"45 +12·2 3,3 20 0·5 221,976 30•5 30,395 37,696 -8·7 5,911 +4·0 6 0 17"64 -8 Eltba.m, Lee District .. . 1,114 19 6·43 +8·6 3 7 ' 6·4 . 56 see Lee 3,874 54,448 1 -1·o 50,377 +14·3 includes 7 0 22·64 -0 'a 7,375 24 3·8 312,895 33,485 Stoke Newington Parish + 8·2 G:, 5,152 +8·0 32 13·9 220,60-2 15·1 -2·2 14,847 16,521 10,892 -1· South Hornsoy . . . . .. 6 1 6·64 55 10•8 2,223 2: 4 o·5 Hamlet of Peuge ... 21,308 5 0 92,293 I + 4.5 85 7 ~ 3,451 +3·3 152,283 . 2·3 -1· 31,083 see Lewisham 16,638 +1·8 20·64 6 5 -17·5 6 ~ 4,568 -14·3 4,560,281 .j.1·6 222,305 1,471,042 -7·9 17·30 5 7~ +5 19-18 NoTE.-Kensal Green is to be divided between Ken gton and Paddington. Penge is to be excluded from the County of London. I 9 BLE Battersea 23·3 Bermondsey 158 18·0 4 BLE 159 Bermondsey 29·1 2 BL 175 Rotberhithe 11·1 34-23 1 161 St. Olave's 7 B E 151 Bethnai Green 12 BL 18·58 CamberweU 155 3 BL Chelsea 1 BL see Greenwich Kensal Green 6 B Deptford 38·78 Fins bury 173 44·24 3 L 150 Clerkenwell 38·08 3 see Holborn St. Luke's sec see Ho Iborn St. Sepulchre's IIolborn ... Glasshouse Yard Ham'smth 167 Charterhouse G BLE Fulham 19·8 148 Greenwich 3 B whole district Greenwich see Lee Deptford So. Nicholas see Lee Char! ton 10·83 . 18·1 138 Kidbrooke 15 B E Hackney '""· Stoke Newingt'n 13-44 . 20·3 160 mc.Fulh"m LE Hammersmith 10·32 14·3 117 BLE Hamps tead 29·8 26·2 152 Ho! born 6 BL 27·7 205 St. Giles 13808 { 5 L whole district St. Andrew's Saffron Hill 20·25 Furnival's, Gray's, Staple's and Lincoln's Inns 147 17·26 19 B E Islington 163 15·87 8 BL Kensington 145 13 BL Lambeth 136 Lewisham BL Lewisham 15·6 117 whole dist. inc. Plmstd Lee 26·78 22·5 140 16·81 6 B 18·0 144 Marylebone 7 B 17"83 Paddington 22·0 155 7 E PoplarBL Bow BL Bromley 27"62 BL 21·8 Poplar24·0 159 33·68 10 B E St. Pancras 174 6 BLE Shoreditch 22·26 23·5 Southwark 170 7 BLE 3ni 28·5 Newington 188 6 26·8 L 188 2 BL 25·76 28·0 189 3 BL 22 0 22·1 151 3 L 39·83 29·9 193 3 BL 43·5 24·9 164 6 BL 5•57 17"6 I I Whitechapel 130 13 inc. Wandsworth Battersea L Clapham L Putney L Streatham Tooting BL Wandsworth 11 18·1 Westminster 139 4 BL 78 21·0 162 St. George's, Hanover Sq. 2 B St. James 24·9 167 3 BL 25·5 St. Margaret and St. John 199 1 BL St. Martin in the Fields St. Peter's 30·0 202 3 Strand 23·0 Woolwich 154 2 BL Woolwich see Lee 5 L Plumstead see Lee 1 E ltham Stoke N ewingtonLE Stoke Ncwington South Hornsey. see Ha ckney 2 L Penge 25·8 153 6 City of London. Local Government District. St. George's, Southwark St. Sa.viour's Stepney L.i.meb o uso ~file E nd Old Town ~~.G.;~,:~:·s in the East must lie before Parliament for thirty days before becoming valid. The production of documents and the attendance of witnesses can be enforced in the performance of these duties, and all expenses fall on the County Council. No parish may be in two boroughs or partly in a borough and partly in the City; parishes may be divided to give a satisfactory area ; wholly detached portions of a parish are to be annexed to adjoining areas, except for some "exceptional reason" and in the case of Knightsbridge ; detached portions of another county wholly surrounded by the County of London shall become part of the County of London, and when such a portion is part of an urban district adjoining the County of London, the remainder may be annexed thereto (this refers to South Hornsey); detached portions of a London parish surrounded by another county shall be added to that county. The disposal of the anomalous district of Penge is also left to the Committee. Parliamentary boundaries must not be altered. A "scheme" must also be prepared "for the adjustment of the powers, rights, privileges, franchises, duties, property, and liabilities'' of existing local authorities in the district, except as regards the School Board and police ; for the abolition or continuance of such authorities, including, besides vestries, local boards and commissioners under the adoptive .Acts, the Ely Place Commissioners, the Crown Estate Commissioners, Gardens and Estates Commissioners, Borough Market Trustees, the \Vhitechapel Hay Market Trustees, the City Corporation as regards Southwark, the Dean and Chapterof St. Peter's, \iVestminster, and the Court of Burgesses, Westminster; for the definition of parish boundaries and the arrangement of wards; for the conferring of the powers of a Parish Council; for the appointment of trustees of parochial charities ; for such adjustments as are necessary to prevent injustice in the incidence of rates or the discharge of liabilities or otherwise, especially such adjustments as are required for the due carrying out of the adoptive Acts ; for the transfer of existing officers ; and for the repeal or modification of local Acts, except the London Building Act, I 894. Local authorities and persons affected may oppose "schemes,'' and as Part XI. of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, is embodied in the Act of 1899, the Committee must consider objections, and, "if they think fit," submit the scheme either to Parliament or to the Oueen in Council. But a scheme must be laid before Parliament if a petition is presented by a local authority affected, or from one- twentieth of the number of owners•and ratepayers together, or from owners and occupiers of one-twentieth of the Yalue of rateable property in the area affected (sec. 2 I 3). F F ABIAN" SOCIETY-The Fabian Society consists of Socialists. A state. ment of its Rules; pa:ticulars of the conditions upon which members will lecture in London or the country; and the following publications can be obtained from the Secretary, at the Fabian Office, 3 Clement's Inn, Strand, London, W.C. FABIAN ESSAYS IN SOCIALISM. (35thThousand.) Paper cover, I/-; plain cloth, 2/-, post free from the Secretary. FABIAN TRACTS and LEAFLETS. Tracts, each 16 to 32 pp., price 1d., or 9d. per doz., unless otherwise stated. Leaflets, 4 pp. each, price 1d. for six copws, 1s. per 100, or 8/6 per 1000. The Set of 66, post free 2/3· Bound in Buckram, post free for 3/9· Boxes for set, 1s., post free 1s. 3d. I.-On General Socialism in its various aspects. TRACTS.-79· A Word of Remembrance and Caution to the Rich. By JOHN WooLMAN. 7S. Socialism and the Teaching of Christ. By Dr. JoHN CLIFFORD. S7. The same in Welsh. 42. Christian Socialism. By Rev. S. D. HEADLAM. 75· Labor in the Longest Reign. By SIDNEY WEBB. 72. The Moral Aspects of Socialism. By SIDNEY BALL. 69. Difficulties of Individualism. By SIDNEY WEBB. 51. Socialism : True and False. By S. WEBB. 45· The Impossibilities of Anarchism. By BERNARD SHAW (price 2d.). 15. EnglishProgress towards Social Democracy. By S. WEBB. 7· Capital and Land. A survey of thedistribution of property among the classes in England (5th edn. revised 1896.) 5· Facts for Socialists. Asimilar survey of the distributionof income a.nd the condition of the people. (8th edn. revised 1899.) LEAFLETS. 13. What Socialism Is. I. Why are the Many Poor? 3S. The same in Welsh II.-On Application of Socialism to Particular Problems. TRACTs.-gS. State Railways for Ireland. SS. The Growth of Monopolyin English Industry. By H. W. MACROSTY. S6. Municipal Drink Traffic. Ss. Liquor Licensing at Home and Abroad. By E. R. PEASE. S4. Economics of Direct Employment. S3. State Arbitration and the Living Wage. So. Shop-life and its Reform. 74· The State and its Functions in New Zealand. 73· Case for State Pensions in Old Age. By GEo. TURNER. 67. Women and the Factory Acts. By Mrs. SIDNEY WEBB. 50. Sweating: its Cause and Remedy. 4S. Eight Hours by Law. 23. Case for an EightHours Bill. 47· The Unemployed. By J . BURNS, M.P. LEAFLETS.-Sg. Old Age Pensions at Work. rg. What the Farm Laborer Wants. 111.-0n Local Government Powers : How to use them. TRACTs.-S2. Workmen's Compensation Act : what it means and how to make use of it. 77· Municipalization of Tramways. 76. Houses for the People. 62. Parish and District Councils. 61. The London CountyCouncil. 55· The Workers' School Board Program. 54· The Humanizing of the Poor Law. By J. F. 0AKESHOTT. LEAFLETS.-go. Municipal. ization of the Milk Supply. Sr. Municipal Water. 6S. The Tenant's Sanitary Catechism. 71. Same for London. 63. Parish Council Cottages and how to get them. ss. Allotments and how to get them- FABIAN MUNICIPAL PROGRAM (Nos. 30 to 37). The Unearned Increment. London's Heritage in the City Guilds. Municipalization of the Gas Supply. Municipal Tramways. London's Water Tribute. Municipalization of the London Docks. The Scandal of London's Markets. A Labor Policy for Public Authorities. The 8 in a. red cover for 1d. (9d. per doz.); separately 1/-per 100. IV.-On Books. 29. What to Read. A List of Books for Social Refor!llers. CoJ;~,tains the best books a.nd blue-books relating to Economics, Socialism, Labor Movements. Poverty, etc. 3rd edn.; rovised 1896. Stiff cover, 6d. each; or 4/6 per do.z. V.-On Fabian Policy. 70. Report on Fabian Policy and Resolutions presented to the Inter- oat. Socialist Congress. 41. The Fabian Society: its Early History. By BERNARD SJ-IAw. VI.-Question Leaflets, cont£J.ining Questions for Candidates for the following bodies :-No. 20, Poor Law Guardians. No. 24, Parliament. No. 25, School Boards. No. 26, LondC'n County Council. No. 27, Town Councils. No. 28, County Councils, Rural. No. 56, Parish Councils. No. 57, Rural District Councils. No. 59, Urban District Councils. BooK BoxEs lent to Societies, Clubs, Trade Unions, for 6s. a. year, or 2,'6 a quarter Printed by G. '>ta:cdring, 9 Fiusbury Street. E.C., and Publi•hed by the Fabian Society, 3 Clement's Inn, :Stran1, London, W.C. R~ADtNG u~T CLiil dilUlu Ll~ri~I~Y