FIRST READING. (Hansard, 6 August 1867)

§ MR. J. STUART MILL
said, he moved for leave to introduce a Bill for the better Municipal Government of the Metropolis. The Bill embodied the remainder of the plan, part of which he had introduced in another Bill at an earlier period of the Session. It could not be expected that the Bill could pass into law this Session, and his object was simply to have it printed so that it might be laid before the public with a view to its being considered next Session. It provided for a central municipal government, as the other Bill provided local district municipalities. The Bill borrowed from a variety of sources; from the recommendations of a Royal Commission some years ago; from those of the Committee recently presided over by his hon. and learned Friend the Member for the Tower Hamlets (Mr. Ayrton); and from the views which had been brought before the House on various occasions by the hon. and learned Member for Southwark (Mr. Locke). The Bill did not make a tabula rasa of the old system, but made use of the existing materials. The Bill proposed that the present corporation of the City of London should be enlarged by absorbing the Board of Works. The object of the Bill was to enlarge the corporation into a municipality for the whole of London, leaving behind in the City as much power as was necessary for purely local administration, which under the other Bill all the other districts of the municipality would also have. The Lord Mayor, under this Bill, would grow into a Lord Mayor for all London, and the Common Council would be converted into a Common Council for all London. That Common Council would consist of the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and common councilmen, but the aldermen, would not be a separate body, but, with the Common Council, would be elected by the ratepayers. It was proposed by the Bill that the present aldermen of the City should retain their offices for life, but that no vacancy amongst them should be filled up until their number was reduced to six, which would be double the number of 1041 aldermen for other districts of the Metropolis. There would be two aldermen in the Common Council for each district, they being those among the successful candidates for the district councillorships who had obtained the greatest number of votes. The corporation property would pass into the possession of this larger municipality. The City, it was right to say, had not given its assent to this transfer, but from what was known of the state of opinion in the City, there was ground to hope that there would be no corporate opposition to it. In consideration of the surrender of the corporation property, it was proposed to make certain concessions to the City in return, which he thought would not be considered more than a fair equivalent. It was proposed that the City should have twice the number of representatives in the Common Council that its population would justify. It was further proposed that the Deputy Mayor, who would represent the Lord Mayor in his absence or fill his place in case of his dying in office, should always be one of the aldermen of the City. There were a few other arrangements which would be sufficiently shown by the Bill itself. The county of the City of London would become the county of all London, and would have one Commission of Peace, of which all the aldermen would be members. As a temporary measure it was proposed that the Board of Works and all the present aldermen should be added to the Council, Sir John Thwaites being appointed Chairman of the standing Committees at his present salary, provided that he was willing to accept the office.

§ MR. LOCKE
said, he did not propose to enter into any discussion of the measure. Though he approved of the Bill now introduced, he thought there were considerable difficulties in its way. He did not at present see how it could be worked in connection with another Bill which the hon. Member for Westminster had introduced on the subject of the municipal government of the metropolis. He hoped, however that the introduction of the Bill would assist in reforming the municipal government of London, which stood very much in need of reformation.

§ MR. GATHORNE HARDY
said, he would not oppose the introduction of the Bill.

§ MR. ALDERMAN LAWRENCE
said, the proposal of the hon. Member for Westminster was one of great importance. The corporation of London had not yet had an opportu- 1042 nity of expressing an opinion on it. The subject no doubt would be brought before the House next Session. The corporation of London would be most ready to consider all the plans proposed, and were only anxious that the extension of the municipality should not take place at the expense of any of those valuable privileges they had so long held, and still continued to hold, for the benefit of the metropolis.