View report page

186
another; through the activity of Mr. Evan Spicer,
such a clause was drafted and submitted to Mr. Ritchie,
President of the Local Government Board, approved by him,
inserted in the Bill, and within a month the following
clause had received the royal consent, and become law:—
"3. It shall be lawful for the Commissioners,
separately appointed under the Public Libraries [England]
Acts, 1855 to 1887, for any two or more adjoining
parishes, with the consent of the vestries of such
parishes, from time to time to agree to share in such
proportions and for such period as may be determined
by the agreement, the cost of the purchase, erection, repair,
and maintenance of any library building situate
in one of such parishes, and also the cost of the purchase
of books, periodicals, and newspapers for such library,
and all other expenses connected with the same; and
the inhabitants of both or all the said parishes, as the
case may be, shall be entitled to use the said library so
long as the agreement shall continue in force.
"And any such agreement may provide that upon
its termination an adjustment shall be made of the
interests of the several Commissioners in the library,
building, books, and other property to which they have
contributed, and as to the mode in which such adjustment
shall be arrived at."—Public Libraries Acts
Amendment Act, 1889, Vict. 52, c. 9.
We must congratulate the Parishioners on being indirectly
the means of such an important and valuable
addition to the law.