On Thursday Mr. Balfour introduced the London Local Government Bill
into the House of Commons. The main fact about the Bill is that it does not touch either the City or the County Council, but is devoted solely to the improvement and ornamentation of the subordinate local bodies. The Vestries are to become municipalities, endowed with all the paraphernalia of Mayors, Aldermen, and Town Councils. A certain number of these municipalities will simply be the old Vestries glorified, but in other cases there will be a rearrangement of areas, to be worked out by a Royal Commission. One result of this rearrangement will be
the revival of the ancient city of Westminster, which will have a population of two hundred thousand and a rate- able value of £5,000,000, and will include all the old- fashioned West End—Mayfair and Belgravia—as well as Westminster, the Strand, and St. Martin's. On the whole, said Mr. Balfour, the Government had decided not to link the municipalities with the central authority of the County Council, as they did not wish to plunge them "into the political vortex in which the County Council appeared to flourish." Practically the powers of the new bodies will be those enjoyed by great towns, and there are arrangements for devolution from the central authority. No new area will be created with a smaller population than one hundred thousand. The Bill was, on the whole, very well received by the House, and in our opinion deservedly, for it is a. difficult piece of work well done. It may be, as Mr. Courtney said, "a preparation for something of far greater importance," but at any rate, as he admitted, the Bill is good as far as it goes.
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