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65
themselves. The supply of water for London came from eight
different companies, and that supply covered not only the area
under the jurisdiction of the London County Council, but many
outside areas, which ought to be termed "Water London.''
These areas extended over different counties, Middlesex, Essex,
Surrey, Kent, and Hertford. They extended from the borough
of Croydon to the borough of West Ham, and far beyond the
centre of London to Romford in Essex, Esher in Surrey, and
Chatham in Kent. They represented 620 square miles, of which
the London County Council control only 120 square miles.
It was, therefore, difficult to suppose that these large outside
areas would be content to be governed by a body to which
they sent no representative. The Government had, therefore
come to the conclusion that it would be impossible to accept the
London County Council as the only power to control these large
outside areas. They had, in fact, determined that a new municipal
and representative body should be elected by all those who
would be governed by that body. The question remained, How
was that body to be formed? In the first place, with regard to
numbers, it was difficult to demonstrate the wisdom of any
particular number; but it was considered that thirty would
represent a fairly constituted body, not too large to relieve
members of the sense of individual responsibility. If this
number was accepted, they had then to consider by whom the
members of the body should be elected. Although the Government
had decided that they could not place this power in the
hands of the London County Council alone, they could not,
of course, take exception to the view that the County Council
was entitled to the very greatest consideration. The County
Council, as he had said, controls 120 of the 620 square miles
of" Water London," but geographical area could not be the
only and the final test; the population and the property within
the area must be taken into consideration. If that were done
the preponderance of the London County Council area became
apparent. The population of "Water London" was, according
to the census of 1891, 6,500,000, whilst the population of the