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101
in a communication addressed to your Petitioners in January lust,
wherein the opinion of your Petitioners was invited as to the adoption
of a sliding scale of commission under section 3 of the Poor
Rate Assessment and Collection Act 1869, at the same time
reminding your Petitioners that the Agreements entered into with
the owners were subject, to the control of the Vestry. Of course your
Petioners readily agreed with any suggestion that would tend to
secure an increase of revenue from every penny rate levied in the
parish.
18. That the parish of St. Mary, Newington, of which your Petitioners
are the Local Authority, comprises an area of 632 acres, containing
17,626 assessments and 13,392 inhabited houses, and a population
of 115,663 according to the census of 1891, and possessing a
rateable value as shown by the last list of totals published under
the Valuation of Property (Metropolis) Act, of £479,941. The
parish under the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885, was constituted
a separate Borough for Parliamentary purposes, and returns two
members to Parliament.
19. That although your Petitioners have always taken considerable
interest in the government of the Metropolis, they are not
influenced by the Report of the Royal Commission appointed to
consider the conditions under which the amalgamation of the City
and County of London could be effected, their desire for being
invested with full municipal life and privileges arising from their
knowledge of the present administration of the affairs in their own
particular parish.
20. That your Petitioners believe that great economy to the Inhabitants
would arise by their being invested with control over the making,
assessing, and collecting of the Poor and other Rates levied in the
Parish, and the appointment of Collectors and the management of
Walworth Common Estate ; and that means would be found, with
the future approval of your Honourable Board, for the proceeds of
this Estate, or at least a portion thereof, being applied more in
accordance with the requirements of the present wants of the
Parish, such as the payment of interest on capital required for the
erection of municipal buildings, the existence of which would protect
the Artisan and Labouring classes in this densely-populated
parish from the ever-increasing rentals charged to them by the
Property Owners of the parish.
21. That your Petitioners feel that the powers of the Burial Board might
be more efficiently and economically discharged by a Committee of
their body than by a distinct Corporate Board, and that if the duties
of the Board were transferred to the directly-elected representatives
of the parish, action would soon be taken to relieve the parishioners
of the high rates of Burial fees charged to non-parishioners for
interment in Cemeteries provided by Companies and by Burial
Boards created by the adjoining Local Authorities.