The London Council will do one thing, at any rate.
It will take the youthfulness out of Lord Rosebery. It held a sitting of five hours on Tuesday, principally occupied in discussing a Report by the "Parliamentary Committee," recommending it to support or oppose half the Bills of the Session. The principal subject of discussion was the Lease- holds Enfranchisement Bill, which it was resolved to support by 72 to 30, though one Radical, Mr. Torr, strongly opposed the proposal. He wants to tax the ground on which the Metropolis is built, and being shrewd, sees clearly that if the 500,000 leaseholders become freeholders, he will never get his tax. After the division, the Chairman pathetically re- quested the Councillors to get to work : but Mr. Marks was obdurate, and proposed and carried an addition to the Parliamentary Report asking for a right to tax Mr. Willing for the benefit of the community. He did not put it in that way, of course, but that is the upshot of the proposal to tax advertisements on hoardings, which would only be fair if the object were to suppress those nuisances. The Council then turned to business, and seemed inclined to reject the Metropolitan Board's project of a foot-tunnel under the Thames at Blackwell, costing 2318,000. It was informed, however, that the East End wished for it, especially Poplar, and submitted at once. A job, did you say? How can there be a job in a popular project ?
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