On Tuesday, the London County Council,—the Prime Minister being present,—discussed
the scheme for the unifica- tion of London, prepared for the Royal Commission. Mr. Harrison, the deputy chairman, expounded the scheme. There was, he said, only one alternative to amalgamation, —that for establishing fourteen separate towns within the Metropolitan area. In that case, the Londoner would live in one town, work in another, go to church in a third, get water from a fourth, gas from a fifth, do his marketing in a sixth, and send his child to school in a seventh. Think, too, of the litigation and other disputes between these neighbours. Mr. Harrison might have added another reason. Some of the towns would be purely poor men's towns, and would find their burdens quite intolerable. It had been said that it was unfair "to expand what might be benefits or property belonging to the central Corporation area, to the general ad- vantage of those living outside that area." When, however, they went into the accounts, they found that very little benefit would accrue. Mr. Harrison ended by defending the proposals of the Council in regard to the City Courts. Ultimately, the discussion stood adjourned. Lord Rosebery is known to be strongly in favour of unification. This fact wakes it by no means unlikely that amalgamation will soon become a " live " question.
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