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13
livelihood. It was shown also that but a very small proportion of
the fires in the Metropolis were occasioned by the stacking of firewood.
The Board therefore were of opinion that the Bill was
unnecessary for the protection of the public, and that in the interests
of the trade and of the workpeople employed it should not be proceeded
with. A resolution to this effect was passed and forwarded
to the Metropolitan Board of Works, who shortly afterwards,
yielding to the strong opposition it encountered, withdrew the Bill.
By this Bill, as amended by a Select Committee of the House
of Commons, it was provided that the cost of maintaining the
New Streets at Hyde Park Corner should be defrayed in equal
moieties by the Metropolitan Board of Works and the Vestry of
St. George, Hanover Square. Deeming this arrangement to be
unjust towards the poorer parishes, and otherwise objectionable as
being a departure from the recognised principle that the cost of
the maintenance of streets should be borne by the districts in
which they are respectively situate, this Board resolved to cooperate
with the Wandsworth Board of Works in opposing the
same, and in May last presented a Petition to the House of
Lords against it, and praying that the Bill might be amended so
that the entire cost of maintaining the new Streets referred to
should be defrayed by the Vestry. The Bill shortly afterwards
came before a Select Committee of the House of Lords, presided over
by the Duke of Richmond, and the objectionable clause was struck
out. On the 2nd instant, however, a fresh clause was introduced
on behalf of the promoters, which it was proposed to substitute
for the one struck out, referring it to an arbitrator, to determine
whether the roads should be maintained and lighted at the expense
of the Vestry and the Metropolitan Board, or either of them, and
in what proportions, but the Chairman of the Committee was of
opinion that the proposal would require very careful consideration,
and later on the further consideration of the Bill was adjourned
until after the Whitsuntide Vacation.
The object of this Bill is the better Prevention of Fires in the
Metropolis, and the bringing to justice of persons wilfully
causing them. It provides for the appointment by the Home
Secretary of a Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner to inquire,
C2
Fires Prevention
(Metropolis)
Bill.
Hyde Park
Corner (New
Streets) Bill.