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17.—That in the third schedule section 140 of the Metropolis
Management Act, 1855, should be left out. In the opinion of your
Petitioners the power contained in such section of placing streets :n
more than one parish under the exclusive management of one
authority is useful and should remain as at present.
18.—That in the same schedule the reference to part of section
154 of the Metropolis Management Act, 1855, should be left out.
In the opinion of your Petitioners the powers contained therein are
more useful than those proposed to be conferred upon the Borough
Councils by clause 7, sub-clause 5, of the Bill, and should remain as
at present.
Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray that the Bill may
pass into law with the foregoing alterations or such of
them as to your Honourable House may seem expedient.
Many amendments to the Bill were made in Committee,
the chief being a provision that the audit of
accounts should be by an auditor appointed by the
Local Government Board, the vesting of the powers
and duties ot Overseers in the Borough Councils, and
the practical settlement of the areas of all the Boroughs
instead of this being left (in many cases, as proposed
by the Bill) to Commissioners appointed by the Privy
Council. Some opposition was offered to the constitution
of this District as the area of a Borough on
account of its large size, but the inclusion of the District
in the schedule to the Bill was carried on a divisicn
by a majority of 118 to 58. The schedule, as settled,
contains 28 Boroughs, thus reducing the number of
local government areas in the Metropolis by 14. Upon
the report stage of the Bill the House decided that
women might be elected as Councillors or Aldermen.
The Bill was introduced into the House of Lords on
the 15th June, and read a second time without a
division on the 20th June. The Lords inserted a provision
disabling women from being Councillors or
Aldermen, and made some other amendments. The
Bill as amended was agreed to by the House of Commons
on the 6th July, and received the Royal assent, July 13th.