A great opportunity is offered to London. The Duke of
Bed- ford, in a letter to the Corporation of the City, offers to sell Covent Garden Market and the houses round it, the leases of which are about to fall in. He admits the necessity of im- provements, but says he is unable to make them on the scale required, which, under our absurd system of life-tenancies, may be true. We do not suppose that the Corporation will accept the offer, as the Duke's Trustees have no power to accept a bid much lower than the value ; and we do not quite know why 4g E. C." should expend its property for the benefit of "W. C." If, however, London were governed, as it ought to be, by a single Corporation, that body would jump eagerly at the offer, and not only effect a grand improvement in the very centre of London, but revolutionise the fruit and vegetable supply. At present, they are strict monopolies, and a good apple is dearer than a good orange which has come, perhaps, a thousand miles. If the dealers in Covent Garden had the orange trade, they would stub up three-fourths of the orange groves, and sell the fruit at sixpence apiece, pleading want of room.
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