View report page

15
London
Children's
Asylums
District.
In January, 1897, a proposal was made for the constitution
by the Local Government Board, of a new Authority of
a similar character to the Metropolitan Asylums Board, for
the purpose of dealing with children suffering from various
diseases, or who were ordered by two justices or a magistrate to be
taken under the Industrial Schools Act, 18G6, to a workhouse or an
asylum of the district. It was felt that the constitution of another
Metropolitan Authority was wholly unnecessary. Considerable feeling
was expressed in various parts of London in opposition to the proposal,
and on the 23rd February, 1897, the Vestry passed the following
resolution:—
"That, in the opinion of this Vestry, the ratepayers of the
Metropolis are already over-burdened by the demands of
central Authorities over which they have no control, and
it regards with much anxiety, the creation of another
Central Board, the 'London Children's Asylums District,'
as proposed by the Local Government Board."
The ratepayers of the Parish will learn with pleasure that the
proposal has since been abandoned.
Nelson Street
Recreation
Ground.
The purchase and the laying out as an open space, of
this ground has not yet been completed, but the negociations
are now in an advanced state, and on the 9th February, the
Vestry affixed its seal to an agreement with the County Council
undertaking to pay £164 towards the cost of the purchase.
Incorporation
Question.
A subject which has attracted a considerable amount of
attention, not only in this Parish but throughout the
polis, has been the application made by the Parishes of St. Margaret
and St. John, Westminster, and St. Mary, Kensington, for grants of
charters of incorporation for these districts. The Royal Commission
of 1894 on London Government suggested that charters should be
granted to certain of the larger Parishes of the Metropolis. Having
in view, however, the number of Statutes under which London
is governed, and their complicated nature, it has been found that it
would be impossible to grant charters of incorporation similar to those
of the various cities and boroughs of the country, or to constitute
anything like independent municipalities. The only effect of the