On the whole, the Bill was not badly received ;
but Mr. Sydney Buxton protested that it was not fair to make the County Council guarantee the loan, and yet not have a majority on the Board. The Bill is to be sent to a Joint Committee of both Houses, and will no doubt be improved by the intimate discussion it will there receive; but undoubtedly the financial proposals present a certain difficulty. Would it not be possible to make more use of the Liverpoci precedent? The Harbour Board there is a very efficient body, and has the confidence of those who use the port. The chief criticism which we feel inclined to pass on this Bill, the Lcndon Education Bill, and all measures of a like sort is that so large a drain is made on the personnel of the County Council. The Asylums
Board, the Water Board, and now the Port Board and the Education Committee,—all require to be supplied with members, and necessarily with some of the best members of the Council. If this is to be continued, the Council will have too few members left to do its own work unless it greatly re- duces the size of its Committees. We admit we do not see an alternative, but direct administration by elected bodies is becoming a matter of no little difficulty.
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