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suggest means whereby this should be done. The Vestry felt that
they had discharged their duty when they had recorded their opinion
and submitted the same to the London County Council.
The question has been raised as to the expenditure incurred
by the Metropolitan Asylums Board. At present, its members are
delegates from the various Boards of Guardians of the Metropolis,
together with a considerable proportion of member, nominated by the
Local Government Board. Allusion has already been made to the
increased expenditure of this Board ; and, while in such a Parish as
this it is eminently desirable that London should be properly supplied
with hospitals, the Yestry felt that greater care in the expenditure of
public monies might result in a reduction in the rates. They
accordingly passed a resolution to the effect that the Metropolitan
Asylums Board should be elected by the ratepayers, on the same
lines as the School Board or the London County Council. It was
urged that the system of indirect representation, which as at present
obtains, practically deprives the ratepayers of control over a great
spending authority ; and as has been more than once mentioned in
the Annual Report, considerable difficulty, from time to time, is found
in securing admission for those cases for whom this provision is most
urgently required.
Similarly, in regard to a reform in the local government of
London, the Yestry resolved unanimously in favour of a unification
scheme, whereby London might possess one central governing
authority. The St. Saviour's Vestry, however, have requested this
Yestry to consider a scheme for the enlargement of the boundaries of
the City proper, so as to include the parishes of Christchurch, St.
Saviour's, St. George the Martyr, St. Olave's, and St. John's. This
Vestry has arrived at no conclusion on the matter. The question is
of the first importance, and turns on a great variety of considerations.
If the Legislature proposes at an early date to take in hand the local
self-government of London, and re-arrange the areas at present
covered by the various Vestries and District Boards, there is much
to be said in favour of this Parish forming part of an enlarged City.
As is well known, until the reign of Edward IV., Southwark formed
part of Bridge Ward Without, but when Bridge Foot ceased to be
valuable to the City for strategic purposes, the Borough was excluded