The Daily Express of Wednesday announces the formation of a
body to be called the National Ratepayers' Federation. Among the objects of the Society are,—to protect the interests of ratepayers in England and Wales ; to investigate the expenditure of the rate-spending authorities ; to see that municipal accounts are properly prepared and audited and municipal undertakings run on sound commercial lines ; to represent ratepayers at all Local Government Board inquiries ; and to publish a journal called the Ratepayer. It is probably true, as Mr. Elvey Robb is quoted as saying, that "many ratepayers do not know that they have any rights of their own at all. It does not follow because a demand for money arrives on an official-looking form that it is necessarily right and cannot be disputed." Insistence on thorough and effective audits, such as a strictly managed business firm imposes on itself, ought surely to be blessed by every one.
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