View report page

124
COAL AND WINE DUES.
The question of the continuance of the Coal and Wine Dues
was first brought under the notice of the "Vestry, in May, 1886,
by means of a communication from the Vestry of St. James, and
St. John, Clerkenwell, submitting their opinion that the Dues
would be admirably adapted for providing a fund for the
preservation of open spaces. With this the Vestry concurred, but
it was not until the end of the past year that the whole subject
had to be considered by the Vestry. It will be remembered that
the dues themselves are of long standing, but it is only since 1862
that part of the proceeds has been allotted to the Metropolitan
Board of Works for public improvements. The Coal and Wine
Dues Continuance Act, of 1861, provided that the duties, which
had been renewed from the year 1845, should be further continued
until 1872. In 1863, chiefly to meet the cost of making a new
street from Blackfriars Bridge to the Mansion House, another
Act was passed, providing for the continuance of the Dues until
1882—ten years beyond the period authorised in 1861. In 1868,
mainly to meet the expense of embanking the Thames at Chelsea,
the Dues were renewed for six years further, lapsing in 1888. The
same Act provided that they should be continued until July,
1889, the one additional year's proceeds being applied to freeing
from toll certain bridges over the Thames and Lee beyond the
limits of the Metropolis, but within the area over which the duties
are levied. In order to complete this summary, it is necessary to
notice that in 1869 was passed the Metropolitan Board of Works
(Loans) Act, which provided that the amount receivable
by the Board from the Coal and Wine Dues, should, with the
other portion of the Board's revenue, be carried to a Consolidated
Loans Fund, out of which the Board was to make provisions for
the payment of the interest on its debt, for the redemption of
debt, and for meeting its annual expenditure. From this time,
therefore, the proceeds of the dues ceased to be allocated to
specific purposes, and have formed part of the Board's annual