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63
the sanitary authority of the district forming or
comprising the parish; but if the contribution
exceeds the grant due to the parish the London
County Council will be empowered to levy on the
parish for the purpose of meeting the excess a
county contribution as a separate item of the county
rate. The sums paid under the Bill were to be
applied first in defraying expenses under the Public
Health (London) Act, 1891, and so far as not
required for that purpose, those incurred in respect
of lighting, and so far as not required for that purpose,
those incurred in respect of streets. The Bill
would relieve the rates of Clerkenwell by about
£4,000 a year, equal to a rate of nearly 3d in the
pound. The Yestry presented a petition in its
favour, but it was eventually dropped, to be reintroduced
in the ensuing Session.
District Councils.—The last annual report recorded
the fact that a Bill to established Parish
and District Councils was introduced into Parliament
by Mr. Fowler, President of the Local Government
Board, in March, 1893, but that no further
progress had then been made. The Government,
however, proceeded with it through an autumn
session, and in Committee of the House of Commons
introduced a clause which applied its provisions
as to the qualification of electors and of the
persons to be elected, and the mode of election, to
the Vestries and District Boards of the Metropolis.
Other amendments of the law governing these
bodies were also inserted in the Bill. These
clauses, with others, were struck out by the House
of Lords, but were re-inserted by the Commons;
and the Bill, much altered from its original shape,
received the Royal Assent on the 5th March, 1894.
The following is a brief statement of the principal