View report page

84
power being vested in the School Board to supply vacancies
occurring in their body, without the slightest reference to
the opinions or desires of the ratepayers.
The Education Department stated, in reply to the
representations of the Vestry, that the present mode of
electing members to fill casual vacancies in School Board
was introduced to remedy the evil of expense, and as far as
their Lordships are aware had worked satisfactorily, and they
were therefore not prepared to propose the change desired by
the Vestry. The rejoinder to this reply would seem to be
that if their Lordships regard as satisfactory the election of
a stranger to the exclusion of a candidate extensively
supported by the constituency in which the vacancy occurred,
they might dispense with election by the ratepayers altogether,
and thus remedy the evil of a much larger expense every
three years. The Eating Authorities of London, however,
do not appear to share the opinion of the Education Department
with regard to the present system.
A suggestion that the Parliamentary Electoral Districts
should be adopted as the Electoral Districts of the School
Board, incidentally involving the abolition of the cumulativesystem
of voting, was received from the Vestry of St. Pancras.
As the adoption of this proposal would diminish the
representation of Westminster on the Board from fivemembers
to three, the Vestry decided to confer with the
other Rating Authorities in the Division before expressing a
definite opinion thereon. The invitation to attend this
conference was accepted by three of the four other EatingAuthorities
(the Strand District Board adhering to its
practice not to touch upon questions relating to the School
Board), and a meeting of representatives was accordingly held
at the St. James's Vestry Hall, on the 11th January, when
Mr. Winnett, of St. James's, occupied the chair, and resolutions
were passed as follows:—