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not included in the duties to be conferred on the District Council,
neither is it proposed that the Vicar or Churchwardens should be
ex officio members of such Council.
In framing their scheme your Committee have taken into consideration
the powers and duties at present vested in County Councils, in
Municipal Corporations and in the existing Vestries and District
Boards, in order to see how far the District Council should be clothed
with like powers. Your Committee recognise the fact that in London
it would be impossible to give to a District Council all such powers as
are, for instance, vested in the Corporations of Birmingham, Leeds,
Manchester, Nottingham, and other large provincial cities. Some of
these must in London be exercised by a central authority, such as the
County Council, which is in a position to carry out enterprises that a
District Council could not hope to undertake and to enforce measures
designed to benefit the whole Metropolis and not particular localities.
At the same time, your Committee are of opinion that where it is
possible to carry out any matters of local administration without
interfering with the interests of those residing in other districts, it is a
sound principle to insist on such administration being exercised by the
persons living in each district or by their duly authorised representatives.
Your Committee, in making their recommendations, have been
guided solely by a desire to make local government in London as
effective for its purpose and as little liable to friction as in the nature
of the case it can be.
Before concluding, your Committee would acknowledge the
assistance they have derived from your Yestry Clerk, whose large
experience has materially aided them in their consideration of the
subjects brought under discussion. Your Accountant too has aided the
Committee with some valuable suggestions.
Having indicated the principles upon which they have proceeded,