No borough is created, or borough council established and incorporated by the Act; each borough is to be formed, &c., by Order in Council under the Act; and the areas mentioned in the First Schedule, p. 209, post, are subject to alterations and adjustments to be made under this section and sects. 17 to 21, post.

Short Title.-This is "The London Government Act, 1899": sect. 35 (1), p. 208, post.

Commencement of the Act.-So far as the new borough councils are concerned, the Act does not come into force until "the appointed day," defined sect. 33 (1), Lon. G. A., 1899; which see, and note thereon, p. 202, post. The first elections are to be held on the 1st November, 1900, or as soon as practicable thereafter as may be fixed by the Lord President of the Council. The ordinary day of election in succeeding years will be, as in the provincial boroughs, the 1st, or (if that day is a Sunday) the 2nd November, annually, or triennially in the event of an order being made by the L. G. B. under sect. 2 (8), Lon. G. A., 1899, p. 45, post. The ordinary day of election of mayor and aldermen will be the ninth November, as with the provincial borough councils, and a corresponding date will be fixed for the first elections. The coming into force in the autumn of 1900 of the lists of voters, as revised in that year, is to be accelerated for the purpose of the first elections by sect. 27 (3); and after 1900 by sect. 3 (4). By sect. 27 (4), persons who were members of vestries and district boards at the time of the passing of the Act are continued in office until the day on which the first borough councillors elected under the Act come into office. This provision obviates the need for the usual vestry elections which would otherwise have taken place in May, 1900, pursuant to sect. 7, M. M. A., 1855; and, except for the purpose of filling casual vacancies, no further elections will be held. And as to casual vacancies, see the restriction contained in sect. 48 (4) (b), L. G. A., 1894, p. 23, post.

Apart, then, from the provisions depending upon the "appointed day," or any appointment by the Lord President in regard thereto, the new Act came into operation on the 13th July, 1899, the date of the Royal Assent. See the Acts of Parl. (Commencement) Act, 1793, 33 Geo. III. c. 13. The Committee of Council and their Commissioners will therefore be able to proceed at once with the preparation of the Orders in Council and schemes contemplated by the statute. As to the purposes for which Orders in Council and schemes are to be made, see the notes on sects. 15 and 16, pp. 131 and 134, post.

Extent of the Act.-The Act applies primarily to "the administrative county of London, exclusive of the city of London." These terms are explained in the succeeding note. But sect. 18, post, empowers the Committee of Council to alter the area so described by Orders in Council. Sect. 17 provides that a parish shall not be situate partly in a borough and partly in the City (sub-sect. 1). Sub-sect. 5 of sect. 18 provides that nothing in that section, which relates to detached parts, is to apply to the City. Sect. 19 removes anomalies attaching to Woolwich, sect. 20 deals with Penge, and sect. 21 with Kensington Palace.

Administrative County of London.-The administrative county of London was created by the L. G. A., 1888, out of portions of the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent. By sect. 40 (1) of that Act "the metropolis shall . . be an administrative county for the purposes of this Act by the name of the administrative county of London"; and by sect. 100, the expression "metropolis" means the city of London and the parishes and places mentioned in Schedules A., B., and C. to the M. M. A., 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c. 120), as amended by subsequent Acts. Under the Act of 1855, the parishes (outside and exclusive of those within the city of London) which were taken to constitute "the metropolis" were divided into two classes, respectively set out in Schedule A. and Schedule B. to that Act, together with a third class of extra-parochial places in Schedule C. The parishes in Schedule A. were to be governed by a vestry constituted and incorporated by the Act, but those in Schedule B. were grouped into districts, to be administered by district boards of works. By sect. 34 of the Lon. G. A., p. 205, post, the expression "administrative vestry" means a vestry elected for a parish specified in Schedule A., and "elective vestry means any vestry elected under the Act of 1855. A vestry in Schedule B., though elected in the same manner, had for its main function to elect representatives of the parish on the board of works for the district of which it formed a part: 25 & 26 Vict. c. 102, s. 40.

The amending enactments which affect the arrangement of these parishes and districts are the Metropolis Management Amendment Act, 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 33, s. 3), the Metropolis Management (Battersea and Westminster) Act, 1887 (50 & 51 Vict. c. 17), and the Metropolis Management (Plumstead and Hackney) Act, 1893 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 55). In effect Schedule A. now comprises thirty parishes and Schedule B. forty-two parishes, the latter being grouped into twelve districts. Under the M. M. A., 1855, the city of London con

tinued to be a county of itself (a), and by the L. G. A., 1888, the county of the city of London remained a county for non-administrative purposes, that is, for the purposes of quarter sessions, justices, militia, coroner, sheriffs, &c. For all other purposes it was merged in the administrative county of London. For non-administrative purposes the metropolis outside the city of London was constituted a county by the name of "the county of London": sect. 40 (2). Thus for administrative purposes under the L. G. A., 1888, the whole metropolis is one county, called the administrative county of London; but for non-administrative purposes there are two counties, the county of London and the county of the city of London. It is the non-administrative county or county of London that is to be divided into "metropolitan boroughs," and this expression of "county of London" is used in sect. 4 (1) of the Lon. G. A., p. 48, post, as synonymous with "the administrative county of London, exclusive of the city of London."

Metropolitan Boroughs.-This section does not of itself create any boroughs, borough councils, or corporations, but empowers the Queen by Order in Council to divide the county of London into boroughs with satisfactory (sect. 17 (2), p. 154, post) areas. Commissioners to be appointed by a Committee of the Privy Council (sect. 15) are to give effect to these provisions by Orders and schemes, for which purpose they are endowed with the necessary authority by other provisions in the Act, which are more conveniently discussed under the respective sections. Inter alia, Part XI. of the M. C. A., 1882, is for this purpose extended to the county of London by sect. 16 (1) (b) of the Act, whereby the commissioners may do all things (saving as to police, and regard being had to consistency) (b) for the areas which are to be formed into boroughs, as the Privy Council may do by scheme for any town or district and for any of the purposes of such Part XI. outside the metropolis (c).

But there will be, nevertheless, two material differences between metropolitan and provincial borough councils. Sect. 210 of the

M. C. A., 1882, provides that if on a petition from the inhabitant householders of any town or district in England praying for the grant of a charter of incorporation her Majesty, by the advice of her Privy Council, thinks fit by charter to create such town or district a municipal borough, and to incorporate the inhabitants, it shall be lawful for her

(a) See 3 Geo. I. c. 5.

(b) See p. 135, post.

(c) Part XI. of M. C. A., 1882, so far as material, is set out p. 142, post.

Majesty by the charter to extend to the municipal borough and the inhabitants thereof so incorporated the provisions of the M. C. Acts. Here, it will be noticed, the borough is created and the inhabitants thereof are incorporated by charter. The grant of a charter is, of course, an exercise of the Royal Prerogative. But statutory authority was necessary in order to extend to any new provincial borough the provisions of the M. C. Acts (d), and such authority is conferred by the section quoted. This plan has not been followed in the case of London. The metropolitan boroughs are not to be created by charter, the inhabitants are not to be incorporated, but the new boroughs are to be formed by Orders in Council, and the incorporation is not of the inhabitants but of the borough councils.

By sect. 7 of the M. C. A. the municipal corporation is "the body corporate constituted by the incorporation of the inhabitants of a borough," who (sect. 10) act by and through an elected council, consisting of mayor, aldermen and councillors.

This, similarly, only obtains with the Corporation of the City. But it is understood that the new borough of Westminster to be created by this Act is to receive a charter incorporating the inhabitants of the borough and creating the borough a city (e). Elsewhere in the county of London each metropolitan council itself will be the incorporated body in like manner as was its predecessor the vestry or district board (sect. 42, M. M. A., 1855), and as are county councils, school boards, district councils and similar statutory authorities.

And by sect. 31 (1), p. 195, post, expressions in any Act passed prior to 13th July, 1899, referring to a borough are not to be construed as referring to a metropolitan borough unless applied thereto by this Act or subsequent legislation.

An Order in Council is by sect. 27 to give each of the boroughs an appropriate name, fix the days, years and times for the retirement of the first aldermen and councillors, and make such temporary modifications of the provisions of the Act as may be necessary in the case of the first constitution of the borough councils.

City of London.-The position of the City is unique. It is a municipal borough, but differs as such not only from every other part or district of the metropolis, but also from every other municipality in the kingdom, inasmuch as it was excluded from the operation of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835, and is not subject to

(d) In 1841 it was held that the grant of a charter of incorporation was an exercise of the common law prerogative of the Crown, although it extended to the new corporation the powers of the 5 & 6 Will. IV. c. 76, which the Crown had power to do only by virtue of 7 Will. IV. & 1 Vict. c. 78. (Rutter v. Chapman, 8 M. & W. 1.) (e) But see note to sect. 16 (3) (b) at p. 151, post.

the consolidating Act of 1882. The corporation of the City has, under 2 William & Mary, sess. 1, c. 8, the title of "the mayor, commonalty, and citizens of the City of London," and, as in other municipal boroughs outside the metropolis, consists of all the citizens, though the word "corporation" is popularly applied to the governing body, viz., the common council, composed of the lord mayor, the aldermen, and the councillors. Herein the new municipal corporations will differ from it, as is shown in the preceding note (p. 5, supra). The aldermen are elected directly by the citizens registered in the different wards, and not by the council, as in all other municipal corporations. The lord mayor is annually elected by the mayor and aldermen from two candidates nominated by the common hall. His election (unlike that of mayors under the Act of 1882 and under this Act) is subject to the approval of the Crown. As "the City" never came under the reforms effected in 1835, it naturally contains many other survivals. The smallness of its area (ƒ); its 28 wards (varying in size from Farringdon Without, with 145 acres and 11,550 population, to Cornhill, of about 4 acres and 200 population); its 112 parishes (ranging from St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, 44 acres and 1,744 population, to St. John the Evangelist, of four-fifths of an acre and a resident population of 17 persons); its administration and government; its system of rating; all show special features, which have been the subject of inquiry by a succession of Royal Commissions and Parliamentary Committees. The reforms that have been made have emanated from itself through local Acts. Under one of these (12 & 13 Vict. c. xciv. s. 5, 1849), the franchise for electing the common councillors, instead of being confined to the liverymen who were freemen, was extended to the parliamentary electors. Again, until 1897 the highway and sanitary powers were exercised by a body called the Commissioners of Sewers, who were appointed annually by the Common Council, but when appointed exercised independently certain powers of municipal government-such as paving, lighting, improving, cleansing, public health-and levied a rate for these purposes. In fact, they held a similar position to the vestries and district boards. By the City of London Sewers Act, 1897 (60 & 61 Vict. c. cxxxiii.), this Commission was dissolved, and the execution of their powers, authorities and duties transferred to the Common Council. As already stated, the City has acquired all the attributes of a county (g), and possesses separately a sheriff, a coroner, justices and court of quarter sessions, courts for civil suits, lieutenancy and militia, police force, and certain county administrative powers. Under sect. 40 (3) of the L. G. A., 1888, the Corporation may assent to the surrender of its separate jurisdiction of justices. The City enjoys a number of exemptions from control by, or appeal to, the London County Council, as, e.g., from bye-laws as to construction of sewers, except as to main drainage (25 & 26 Vict. c. 102, s. 83; 53 & 54 Vict. c. 66, s. 8); under London Building Act, 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c. ccxiii. ss. 30, 84, 164, 165); and under Public Health (London) Act, 1891, s. 133. The Common Council are the authority for the execution within the City of the whole of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c. 70, s. 92, and 1st Sched.); also for the Factory and Workshop Acts, 1878 (41 Vict. c. 16, s. 96) and 1883 (46 & 47 Vict. c. 53, s. 18), the Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act, 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. 37, s. 27), Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875 and 1879, Burial Act, 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. 85), and City of London Burial Act, 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c. 35). The Common Lodging Houses Acts, 1851 and 1853 (14 & 15 Vict. c. 28; 16 & 17 Vict. c. 41), do not extend to the City.

Having regard to sect. 17 (1) of the Lon. G. A., certain questions are likely to arise before the Commissioners to be appointed under sect. 15 in regard to boundaries. The City Sewers Act, 1848, s. 262, enacts that "the word 'City' shall mean the City of London, and the liberties thereof, and shall include such parts of Holborn, the Minories, and Aldersgate Street as are or have been usually treated as being within the liberties of the City, and the courts and alleys leading into the same or communicating therewith, and also the north side of Eldon Street, formerly called Broker Row, Moorfields, and the courts and alleys leading into the same or com

(f) The City contains 670.5 acres, 9,655 houses, and a resident population of 31,108. (g) See 3 Geo. I. c. 5.