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power possessed by the Gas Light and Coke Company to
charge different prices in different districts, this meeting is of
opinion that an alteration of the law is desirable, with a view of
compelling the gas companies to charge a fair and uniform rate
throughout the whole of London, and that copies of these resolutions
be forwarded to the Board of Trade and the Company,"
afterwards being embodied in a petition under the seal of the Board to the
House of Commons, praying for a Parliamentary inquiry into the matter.
Many other District Boards and Vestries have followed the excellent
example set them in this District by holding similar meetings, and have presented
petitions with a like object.
Delegates from this Board have since attended meetings at Hammersmith
Vestry and also at the House of Commons on this subject. The
question whether this agitation will result in material benefit to the
consumers of gas has not yet been definitely settled, although it has
resulted in a slight reduction in the prices charged for private consumption.
LAW AND PARLIAMENTARY.
Looking at the importance of the changes made by recent legislation
dealing with the Local Government of the Metropolis it may not be out of
place under this heading to refer to the Local Government Act of 1894,
and consider briefly in what way this Board has been affected by the
provisions thereof. This is necessary in the first place, because that
important statute was only made to deal with London Vestries and
District Board at short notice by the insertion of clauses in Committee, and
the full effect of the clauses then inserted has hardly yet been realized;
in the second place, because the Board had to very carefully consider the
Act and to work under it almost directly after it came into operation, this
was not the case with Vestries which were not brought under its operation
until considerably later.
To state the effect of the Act shortly, it may be summarized as follows:
The Chairman of the Board has to be elected annually, and when elected
is, by virtue of his office, Justice of the Peace for the County of London.
The election of Chairman takes place every year at the first meeting of the
Board held in the month of June.
The qualification of members by rating is no longer required, the only
requisites being that the person to be elected shall be a parochial elector
of some parish or liberty forming part of the district, or shall have resided