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dividend account; and (5) to require additional capital to be put
up to auction. The Bill was, however, thrown out on the second
reading.
The Yestry do not object to the principle of the Valuation
(Metropolis) Amendment Bill, which is to extend the right of
appeal to lessees in certain cases, but joined with other Local
Authorities in calling attention to the desirability of a clause being
inserted to restrict the service of notice in such cases to the
premises assessed. This amendment was accepted by the Members
in charge of the Bill.
PROPOSED ALTERATIONS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
The Government having again intimated their intention to
introduce a Bill for creating a municipality for the whole
Metropolis, the Vestry have appointed three of their members to
attend a conference of representatives from the various local bodies
of London, convened by the Vestry of St. Marylebone to consider
the action to be taken upon the introduction of the Bill.
The Vestry entertain the view that while for certain purposes
the Metropolis may advantageously be governed as a whole,
as in fact it is at present in the matter of the Fire Brigade,
Main Drainage, &c., elected local councils for the administration of
local affairs should form a distinctive feature in any scheme that
may be formulated for altering the present mode of Local Government
in the Metropolis.
OVERHEAD WIRES.
The rapid development of telegraphic and telephonic communication
and consequent increase of wires stretched across and along the
public streets in the Metropolis, led the Vestry to take into serious
consideration their powers to prohibit and regulate such wires.
From replies by the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General to
questions in the House of Commons it appeared that the