Sir John Lubbock, we deeply regret to see, has finally
resolved to retire from the London County Council. He has, he says, too much to do. Both the Conservatives and the Progressives, it is also stated, find the greatest difficulty in securing "good" candidates—that is, men both of character and standing—for the March election. We are grieved at the reports, for they mean that the Council will sink into the hands of vestrymen ; but we cannot say that we are surprised. What does the Council offer except a prospect of unlimited work, without reward either in money or reputation, or the satisfaction of making one's ideas executive ? If there were seven headships of departments, strong men might care to bold them, or to criticise them ; but persuading committees which decide in secret is the most irritating and barren of tasks. Big men tried at first to endure the Council; but they are retiring, and they will not, we are certain, return until the committees are abolished in favour of a Cabinet. Sir John Lubbock, for example, could sit then, not indeed as one of the responsible chairmen, but as an efficient and most useful critic of municipal finance.
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