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merit in the Metropolis, I also reported, on April 23, as follows:—
" London, as defined under the Metropolis Management Act, is
to be created a county, and governed by a County Council, to be
directly elected by the ratepayers. The County Council •will
take over the powers, duties, and liabilities of the Metropolitan
Board of Works, which will cease to exist, and certain powers now
possessed by the Corporation, and various powers at present
exercised by the Secretary of State, the Board of Trade, and the
Local Government Board, as set out in schedules appended to
the Bill. The County Council will have the appointment of
Public Analysts. Its functions as a Sanitary Authority will be
those, mainly, now possessed by the Metropolitan Board of
Works under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, the
Slaughter Houses (Metropolis) Act, &c.—functions which, elsewhere
than in London, are at present exercised by the municipal
authorities and local boards, and will in future be carried on by
their successors, the ' District Councils.'
"The Bill does not touch the Vestries and District Boards
of Works, but Mr. Ritchie intimated the intention of the Government
to deal with them at some future time, by amalgamating
them, within certain defined areas, as ' large District Councils
with large and important administrative functions.' The County
Council will be enabled to transfer to District Councils any
powers or duties transferred to the County Council by the Act,
so that it is probable that the District Councils of the future in
London will be entrusted with the carrying out of the sanitary
duties now discharged by the Metropolitan Board. No new
sanitary powers appear to be conferred upon the County Council,
but they will exercise certain powers of control, now discharged
by central authorities, e.g., under the Burials Act, the Gas and
Waterworks Facilities Acts, the Electric Lighting Acts, the
Baths and Washhouses Acts, &c., among others. The County
Council will also exercise the powers of the Local Government
Board, under sections 189 and 191 of the Public Health Act
(which does not at present apply to London), with regard to