On Thursday night the Commons resumed the debate on the
London Bill. A great effort was made to induce the Govern, meat to make elections for the Councils triennial instead of annual, as in every other municipal Council in England. No real case was made Out for not following the well-established principle, which Mr. Courtney as well as Mr. Balfour showed was considered by those best able to judge—i.e., the provincial municipal authorities—to be essential to sound administration. At last, however, Mr. Balfour—as we think, unwisely—so far yielded to the pressure as to agree that if it chose, a munici- pality might adopt the triennial system. The only other impor- tant change was the fixing of the number of Aldermen at one.. sixth of the number of Councilors, and the making seventy the maximum of members in any Council. Mr. Balfour, we are glad to see, insisted that the choice of Aldermen should not be restricted to Councillors. The use of Aldermen is to allow the co-option of able administrators who are willing to serve,. even though they may not happen to be residents.
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