LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
[To EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Sra,—I have subscribed to and read the Spectator for many years, and hate to find therein an ill-judged article. You tar us all with the same brush. I have been a guardian of the poor of my native parish of Bermondsey—now part of St. Olave's Union—for eighteen years. We are concerned for the poor from London Bridge to Deptford, and adding the adjacent parish of Camberwell thereto (in which I reside), an area is embraced extending nearly to the Crystal Palace. Now I do not know such a person as a guardian nominated by the Local Government Board. A rector of a small parish some years back certainly did apply, and sat at our Board for a short time ; and there may be some in the Metropolis. But it is exceptional. The mode of election of Guardians is perfectly fair and open. There is no secrecy whatever about it. The only drawback is that so few ratepayers take the trouble properly to fill in their voting-papers. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I can positively say that in the two areas above mentioned a good class of men are elected, who attend to their duties and take care of the poor, while the interests of the ratepayers generally are not neglected. No doubt some of the rides of the Local Government Board are fussy, and that there may be a difference of opinion as to plurality of votes. But this works well enough. I am entitled, according to my rating, to six votes as occupier and six as owner. But while I have
never claimed these latter, I hold that my large stake in the parish entitles me to some consideration over that of a small holder, who has, perhaps, only lately come into residence. I do not think the proposed Municipal Bill proposes to interfere with the case of the poor. If the writer in last Saturday's paper wants to go into the matter, I will help him.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
