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4
In 1856, when the Metropolis Management Art came into
force, the rateable value of the Metropolis was £11,283,663 and
the rateable value of the Lewisham district was £138,100, or
little more than one-hundredth (1.22 Per cent. of the whole.
The relative values, taken from the Valuation Lists and County
Rate Basis of Metropolitan countieas issued by the Metropolitan
Board in Deeember, 1872, are for the whole Metropolis
£20,287,709, and for the Lrwisham district £107,639, or about
one-fiftieth (2 per cent.) of the entire Metropolis.
Out of the fifteen Districts formed under the Metropolis
Management Art, in the Lewisham District in rateable
value was the smallest but three, viz., Fulhum, Plumstead, and
St. Olave's, Sonthwark; since that time the Lrwisham District,
whilst maintaining its position in exerss of the three Districts
mentioned, has outgrown the Districts of the Strand, Whitechapel,
St. Giles's, Limehousc, St. Savopir's, and Holborn, and
now stands sixth in importance as regards rateable value. The
Lewisham District is also of greater rateable value than that of
the majority of the twenty-three parishes in Schedule A. of the
Act.
Such being the growth in population and general importance
of the District, a corresponding increase in the expenditure for the
purposes of local management must necessarily be expected, and
a comparison of the balance sheets of the Board year by year
from its constitution show that the demands of the District have
more than kept pace with its growth, but a large proportion of
the expenditure of the present and several previous years has
been laid out in permanent works, the cost of which has been
defrayed out of money borrowed for the purpose, and the repayment
will be thrown over terms of years. Thus, whilst the
accounts for the year show a total expenditure of nearly £43,000,
the sum received from rates is little more than £33,000, and, notwithstanding
a greatly increased expenditure, the burdens upon
the ratepayers for all local purposes under the jurisdiction of the
Board have not been, on the average, heavier during the past few
years than at any previous period since the constitution of the
Board.
Extracts as to the Lewisham District are appended to this Report. It will be
seen that the figures quoted in the Report of the Medical Officer of Health are
slightly inaccurate, they having been procured from the Registrars prior to (he
publication of the Census.