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the Bill which relate to the adjustment of boundaries are to apply to
such cases.
The effect of the Bill is to abolish all the Local Authorities in this
District (with the exception of the Poor Law Guardians, the Assess
ment Committee, and the Overseers), and to transfer their powers,
duties, property, and liabilities to the new Borough Council. Various
sections of more than thirty Acts of Parliament are made applicable to
different parts of the Bill, and it is therefore not easy to say what is the
precise effect of many of its provisions. Its effect will also largely
depend upon the nature and extent of the Orders in Council, Provisional
Orders, and Schemes which are to be made under the Act.
On the 12th April the Board adopted the following
Petition to the House of Commons, viz.:—
The Humble Petition of the Board of Works for the
Wandsworth District, under their Common Seal,
Sheweth :—
1.—That your Petitioners are the Local Authority, constituted
under the Metropolis Management Acts, tor the I )istrict of Wandsworth,
which comprises the parishes of Clapham, Putney, Streatham, Tooting
Graveney, and Wandsworth, having an area of over fourteen-and-a-half
square miles, a population of about 204,000, and a rateable value of
^1,354,172.
2.—By section 90 of the Metropolis Management Act, 1855, all
the duties, powers, and authorities in relation to the paving, lighting,
watering, cleansing, or improving of the above-mentioned Parishes, and
all other duties, powers, and authorities in any wise relating to the regulation,
government, or concerns of such Parishes or of the inhabitants
thereof (except such as relate to the affairs of the Church or the relief of
the poor) then vested in any Commissioners, Vestry, or other body or
officer, ceased to be so vested, and became vested in and are to be
performed and exercised by your Petitioners.
3.—That a Bill (hereinafter referred to as " the Bill") has been
introduced into your Honourable House, intituled " A Bill to make
better provision for Local Government in London."
4.—That your Petitioners are in favour of the division of the
Administrative County of London (exclusive of the City of London)
into Metropolitan Boroughs and the amalgamation of the duties of all
local governing bodies so that such duties may be discharged by one
and the same authority in the Borough, and they therefore approve of
the principle of the Bill.