this account is now substituted were in the year ending March 31, 1888, as follows: Other pay ments. Effect on Receipts. Payments. The substitutionary payments are to be on the same basis of contribution as those on which these parliamentary grants were made.1 They must also pay out of this account the school fees for pauper children sent from a workhouse to a public elementary school; half of the salaries of medical officers hereafter appointed by local authorities: any compensation payable by the London Council to clerks of the peace or officers of quarter sessions and a proportion of the costs of the officers of the Croydon Union in respect of Penge.2 Any balance left in the exchequer contribution account after these payments are made, must be transferred by the London Council to the general county account. Upon the figures of the year ending March 31, 1888, and the estimated receipts from licences and probate duty (excepting the licences upon trade carts, locomotives, horses, mules, and horse dealers 3) it would appear that the general county account of the London county fund would receive somewhat more than £250,000 from the exchequer contribution account; but this sum will be entirely absorbed by the charge in respect of indoor paupers imposed on the council by the Act. General County Account. The chief department of the county fund will be the general county account. Into this account will be paid the balance of the exchequer contribution account; the income of all property transferred from the Metropolitan Board of Works; the income from various sources (other than rates) of the Metropolitan Board 5 and the produce of such part of the county rate as is levied for general county purposes. The London Council will pay out of this account the liabilities with respect to main roads; any contribution towards the main 2 1 tenance of highways; the cost of opposing Bills in Parliament; of prosecuting and defending certain legal proceedings, the costs of assizes and sessions and of criminal prosecutions for the whole of the Metropolis; the salaries of the chairman and deputy chairman of the London Quarter Sessions; 3 the costs of the election of councillors, and sums with reference to the remuneration of revising barristers, compensation to existing officers," and a portion of the establishment costs." 5 8 They will also have to pay out of this account to the guardians of every poor-law union wholly in London a sum equal to 4d. per head per day for every indoor pauper maintained in that union. The number is to be ascertained by the Local Government Board, and is based on the average number for the five years, March 26, 1883, to March 25, 1888. Under the provisions of this clause the London Council will have to pay to the various boards of guardians in London a sum which will approximate to £335,000 a year, and as the contribution of 5d. per head from the Metropolitan Common Poor Fund remains unaffected,1o there will be a contribution from the whole metropolis of 9d. per head in respect of the cost of nearly all indoor paupers in London. This will go far towards equalising the poor-rate. The chief charge upon the general county account will, however, be in respect of the costs incurred by the council when acting as the successors of the Metropolitan Board of Works." The income and expenditure of the board for the year ending December 31, 1887, is set out in the Appendix.12 The property, debts, and liabilities of the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, will be matter of adjustment between the councils of those counties and the London Council.13 It is not at present possible accurately to estimate what will be the probable income and expenditure of the London Council in respect of matters transferred from county authorities, but a summary of the accounts of the present counties, including parts of the metropolis, will be found in the Appendix.14 Special County Accounts. In addition to the expenses chargeable upon the whole administrative county of London-that is to say, the metropolisthere are expenses chargeable upon portions of the metropolis only, and with respect to these the Act provides that special county accounts shall be kept.15 Levy of rate. Assessment. Precepts. Future rate. The expenses thus chargeable upon portions of the metropolis are to be met by contributions from the parts chargeable only, and rates may be levied upon the districts liable to contribute. The precept for the general county contributions may include both the rate for the whole metropolis and the rate for the district. Thus the city of London will be exempt from contributing to the costs of the London County Council under certain Acts of Parliament, and separate accounts will have to be kept. The exemption of the city of London from assessment may, however, be made matter of adjustment." It would appear that the apportioned debts and liabilities of the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent will not be the subject of special county accounts. The apportioned property debts and liabilities of these counties will become the property and liabilities of the whole metropolis.3 The special county accounts will bear their proportion of establishment charges.* County Rate. Where the income of the general county account, or of any special county account, is insufficient to meet the expenditure on such account, the London Council is empowered to make up the deficiency by contributions levied and assessed in the same way as a county rate. This express provision is made applicable to London, and appears to supersede the statutory powers of the Metropolitan Board as to the levying of the Metropolitan Consolidated Rate." The contributions will be assessed on the various parishes in proportion to the annual value thereof, such value to be ascertained under the Metropolis Valuation Act, 1869.8 The precepts are to be sent to the poor-law guardians requiring them to pay the amount to the county treasurer. The amount will then be raised in like manner as the poor's-rate. Hitherto the precepts of the Metropolitan Board have been sent to the chamberlain of the city, and to the vestries and district boards, but this method appears to be now superseded. The total rateable value of the metropolis in 1888 (after allowing all exemptions) was £30,758,796.10 The Metropolitan Board consolidated rate was, in 1886, 6·88d.; in 1887, 7·55d.; in 1888, 8.39d.; and the board have estimated the rate for 1889 at 10·3d.11 The new London Council will not merely have to meet this increase for the board's transferred jurisdiction expenses, but 11 Vict. c. 102, sec. 22. 8 32 & 33 Vict. c. 67. 9 15 & 16 Vict. c. 81, sec. 26. 10 See for rateable value of metropolis, Appendix II., Table IV. 11 See Appendix II., Table IV. also to levy contributions for all the ordinary transferred county charges, and for a large portion of the new contribution of 4d. per day for each indoor pauper. As to the two last items, they will, of course, be met by the cesser of the present county rate, and by the proportionate lessening of the poor's-rate. Finance Committee. mittee. The regulation and control of the financial matters of the Statutory council will be placed in the hands of a finance committee. finance comThe Act expressly provides for the appointment of such a committee,1 and that no order of the county council for the payment of any sum out of the county fund, either on account of capital or income, shall be made except in pursuance of a resolution of the council passed on the recommendation of this committee. It further provides that no costs, debt, or liability exceeding £50 (except as to the standing joint committee) shall be incurred, except upon a resolution of the council passed after an estimate submitted by the finance committee. Payments into and out of the county fund must be made by County the county treasurer. Unless made in pursuance of the specific treasurer. requirement of an Act of Parliament or the order of a competent Court, all payments out of the county fund must be made in pursuance of an order of the council, signed by three members of the finance committee then present, and countersigned by the clerk of the council. But one order may include several payments.2 The London Council may appoint a county treasurer.3 If the council appoint a treasurer or treasurers under the power transferred from county authorities, he or they must be " a person or persons resident in the county." If they adopt the powers of the Municipal Corporations Act-as they are entitled to do-he must be a "fit person not a member of the council." 6 In some corporate towns a banker is appointed, and the cor- Practice poration accounts are kept at his bank. In other towns the in other borough accountant is appointed treasurer. In either of these corporations. cases, however, the borough accountant practically does the routine work of the treasurer. His duties are settled by the finance committee. He keeps the whole of the accounts of the corporation; supervises the staff of the finance department; receives all money and pays it into the bank, and deals with all questions of loan. He makes an estimate of the probable expenditure of each committee of the corporation for the ensuing year. This estimate is made by him in conjunction with each committee, and the whole of the estimates so prepared are laid before the finance committee. From these aggregate estimates the finance com 1 L. G. A., sec. 80 (3). 2 Ibid., sec. 80 (1). 3 Ibid., secs. 3 and 75 (16) (e). 4 12 Geo. 2, c. 29, sec. 6. 6 M. C. A., sec. 18. mittee prepares and lays before the council an estimate for the whole year. The council discuss, and then confirm or modify such estimate. The passing of such estimate is taken to be the authority of the respective committees to expend the money, and they proceed with such expenditure without further reference to Adaptation the council. Adapting this procedure to the special provisions of the Local Government Act, there would be a resolution passed by the London Council upon the estimate sent in by the finance committee. This resolution would authorize the liabilities to be incurred which were set out in the estimate. to London. Control by committee. Annual budget. Financial year. Existing powers unaltered. But the Local Government Act makes a restriction as to payments which goes beyond that to which other corporations have been hitherto subject. The practice in some of these corporations is for the spending committees, after passing the bills sent in to them in respect of their expenditure, to send such bills on to the finance committee, and for the finance committee, after debiting the amounts in their books of account under proper heads, to pay the bills. The finance committee in these cases exercises no control over the committee expenditure: their simple duty on receiving the bills from the committee is to record them and to pay. Under the Local Government Act the finance committee will exercise a direct control over all expenditure out of the county fund. They will have to recommend all payments, and the council will have to confirm such recommendation before the payments can be legally made. The Act further provides that an annual budget shall be laid before the council. This will have to be done by the finance committee. Such budget must contain an estimate of all receipts and expenditure for the ensuing financial year. Such financial year will, after a day to be settled by the Local Government Board, begin on April 1.2 Upon the estimate so submitted the council will settle the amount of contribution to be raised in each half of such year. The estimate so made by the council may be revised at the end of six months as to the last half year. The accounts and returns of the Metropolitan Board of Works are now made up to the 31st of December in each year.3 The accounts and returns of the London Council will, after a day to be appointed by the Local Government Board, be made up to the 31st of March. The transitory modifications rendered necessary by the change of date may be made by the Local Government Board." Borrowing Powers. The London Council are empowered to borrow for the purposes of the Local Government Act, 1888, in accordance with the provisions of the Acts relating to the Metropolitan Board, and are |