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County Council area was 4,232,000. The rateable value
of "Water London" was £41,750,000, of which £30,000,000
was within the County Council area, and £11,750,000 outside
that area. Of course that gave a greatly preponderant claim to
the County Council, having regard to the proportion of population
and rateable value. But they could not proceed upon that
assumption alone. Other matters had to be considered. Whilst
there was no reason why the representatives of, say, West Ham,
Croydon, and Hertford should join together for common action,
they could contemplate the County Council representatives
acting as one. Then there was another grave consideration in
seeking to determine the number of representatives to whom
these large interests should be committed. The legislation
which the Government were proposing was not legislation for
the present time alone. It was essentially legislation for the
future as well as for the present. There were many who said,
" the water supply of London is sufficient; "but there were also
others who, with perhaps greater force, affirmed that, looking at
the growth of London, the time was approaching when preparations
should be made to meet the demands of Greater
London. Between 1841 and 1891 the population of Greater
London had increased from 2¼ millions to 5½ millions, or more
than double, and from a report published in 1893 by Lord
Balfour's Commission there was every reason to believe that
in thirty-five years, in 1931, the population of Greater London
would exceed 11,000,000, or more than double the population at
the present time. They ought, therefore, to constitute this
governing body so as to meet the requirements to some extent
of the future as well as of the present. Then they had to ask,
where would that future growth of population be most shown as
time went on? It would without doubt be outside the area
of central London. Apart from the fact that the building of the
future must to a great extent be outside the area of central
London, there was the tendency of people to leave the urban
parts in order to live in the suburban and even the rural parts.
The result of these tendencies must be that in 1931 there would