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39
The County
Councillors
for
Westminster.
The representatives of Westminster upon the
County Council—Sir Walter de Souza and Mr.
Watney—have uniformly shown themselves to
be in harmony with the Vestry upon the various matters
in which the views of the Vestry have not coincided
with those of the Council on local matters. The services
of both gentlemen have invariably been accorded in
the interests of the parish, although success has not in
all cases attended their efforts.
The
Agenda Papers
of
the Council.
One of the first departures of the Council
upon its assuming jurisdiction, was to discontinue
the practice observed by their predecessors
for more than thirty years, of sending to the local
authorities copies of the agenda papers of the meetings
These papers had contained the reports and recommendations
of the Committees, and had reached the Vestry in
time to admit of representations to the local members in
case any course inimical to the interests of the parish had
been proposed. In substitution for this paper, which frequently
afforded information of great local value, the
Council generously intimated their intention to forward for
the use of the Vestry, a copy of their "summons paper,"
which contained the bald notice of the meeting and the
notices of motions by individual councillors on questions,
for the most part, of an abstract character, and quite
useless to the Vestry. The Council were applied to
for copies of their agenda paper, but their answer was in
the negative. On the 24th July, after several instances
had occurred in which a reference to such papers would
have been of value, the Vestry made further representations
to the Council in support of their former request.
The Councillors for the Division were also desired to
support this renewed application, and communications
were addressed to the other Vestries and District Boards
suggesting that they might similarly solicit the support of