and have obtained orders conferring on such vestries, &c., powers, duties, and liabilities of a parish council in regard to these Acts. Sect. 7 (5) of that Act provides that where the area under any existing authority acting within a rural parish in the execution of any of the adoptive Acts is co-extensive with the parish, all powers, duties, and liabilities of that authority shall, on the parish council coming into office, be transferred to that council. The effect of such orders, therefore, has been to transfer to the authorities applying therefor the powers, duties, properties, and liabilities of such Commissioners of Public Baths and Wash-houses, Commissioners of Free Public Libraries and Museums, and Burial Boards as may have been in existence within their respective areas, and to bring the subsidiary bodies to an end. But the consolidation of local administration thus provided for by the Act of 1894 has been by no means generally acted upon; some parishes having taken no advantage of the provision, and others having only partially done so.

The result is that considerable diversity exists in the administration of the adoptive Acts within the county, as is best shown by the following table :

TABLE giving the places in which the adoptive Acts have been adopted and by whom administered.

The effect of sect. 4 (2) will therefore be to bring about compulsorily by scheme the extinction of the minor bodies (col. 4), and to vest their powers and properties in the new borough councils. Where the transfer of powers has already taken place, the borough councils will, of course, possess them as the successors to the vestries and district boards under sect. 4 (1), supra; and under sub-sect. (4), infra, a borough council may adopt, in like manner as in a borough outside London, any of the adoptive Acts for the rest of the borough where any such Act does not extend at the appointed day.

Extra Rate.-See sect. 10 (4), and notes thereon, p. 101, post.

4-(3.) The powers of a borough council shall, save as in this Act mentioned, extend to the whole of their borough.

Provided that any power or duty of the council under any Act, whether general or local, conferring powers in relation to some particular parish or district, or part of a parish or district, shall be exercised and performed by the council either throughout the borough or in a limited part thereof, or shall cease to be exercised

and performed, as may be provided by a scheme under this Act, having regard to the object of the Act under which the power or duty arises, and to the nature of any change of area or alteration of boundary made by or under this Act.

Power or Duty in relation to some Particular Parish.-Where a borough created by this Act is formed by the grouping of parishes or districts which have hitherto enjoyed autonomy, it will probably be found in every case that one parish or district possesses powers and duties which another does not. This sub-section will enable any such special powers or duties (e.g., those conferred by local Acts) either to be extinguished or continued within the present limits of their exercise or extended so as to be exerciseable throughout the borough. Having regard to the language of sub-sect. 4 of this section it would seem that the adoptive Acts are not within the proviso. Sect. 19 (3), p. 160, post, contains a saving for Woolwich parish in regard to technical education and a local market.

4—(4.) Any of the adoptive Acts may be adopted in a metropolitan borough in like manner as in a borough outside London, and not otherwise, and where any of the adoptive Acts adopted before the appointed day does not extend to the whole borough, the Act may be adopted in the rest of the borough in like manner as if it were a separate borough and the borough council were the council thereof.

Baths and Wash-houses Acts, 1846 to 1896.-The Baths and Washhouses Acts may be adopted for any borough regulated by the M. C. A. by the council itself without recourse to the procedure provided in the case of a parish. By the P. H. A., 1875, the council of any borough may, if they think fit, determine that the Act shall be adopted for that borough, and then and in such case such of the provisions of the Acts as are applicable shall thenceforth take effect and come into operation in the borough, and shall be carried into execution therein in accordance with such provisions and the laws for the time being in force relating to the municipal corporation of such borough: P. H. A., 1875, ss. 6, 10, and 198.

The expenses of carrying the Acts into execution are chargeable upon the borough fund; and the council levy with and as part of the borough rate such sums of money as are from time to time necessary

for defraying such expenses: M. C. A., 1882, s. 144. The income arising from the baths and wash-houses in a municipal borough is paid to the credit of the borough fund: sect. 4 of Act of 1846.

In a metropolitan borough the necessary sums required for carrying the Acts into execution will be raised with and as part of the general rate sect. 10 (1) and (2), pp. 92 and 97, post; and the approximate amount required for the purpose, including an estimated proportion of the cost of collection, will be shown separately on the demand note, in such form as may be approved by the L. G. B.: see p. 115, post; see also s. 10 (4), p. 101, post.

Public Libraries Acts.-The Public Libraries (Amendment) Act, 1893, enacts that where a library district is an urban district, the Public Libraries Act of 1892 may, subject to the conditions of limitation on expenditure contained in sect. 2 thereof, be adopted, and the limitation of the maximum rate to be levied for the purposes of that Act may, within the limits fixed by that Act, be fixed, raised, or removed, by a resolution of the urban authority.

Sect. 2 of the principal Act provides that the maximum rate for any one financial year shall not exceed a penny in the pound; and that the Act may be adopted for a half-penny or a three-farthing rate, which limits may be afterwards raised or removed by a further poll of the

voters.

The consent of the urban authority so given by resolution is substituted for the consent of the voters in any case when the consent of the voters is required under the Act of 1892; and sect. 3 of that Act, relative to the proceedings to be taken for ascertaining the opinion of the voters with respect to adoption, is repealed as to urban districts: sect. 2. Sect. 27 of the Act of 1892 defines the expression “urban district to mean, inter alia, a municipal borough.

Under sect. 3 of the amendment Act, special notice must be given to every member of the council at least one month before the meeting at which it is proposed to pass a resolution to adopt the Act or raise any limit to the maximum. The notice is to be given in the usual manner. The resolution has to be published in one or more newspapers circulating within the borough, and notices have also to be affixed to the church and chapel doors, &c.

A copy of the resolution has also to be sent to the L. G. B. The resolution comes into operation at a time not less than one month after the first publication of the advertisement of the resolution as the authority may by the resolution fix. A copy of the resolution is con

clusive evidence of the resolution having been passed unless the contrary be shown. Sect. 4 gives power for two or more municipal councils as library authorities to combine by agreement for any period for carrying the Act into execution, the expenses to be divided as may be agreed; and a joint committee may be formed, the members whereof shall be appointed by the several combining authorities in such proportions as may be agreed on, but need not be members of any of the combining authorities. Any such committee are to have such of the powers of a library authority, except that of borrowing money, as may be conferred on them by the agreement between the respective councils: see also sect. 8, Lon. G. A., p. 88, post, which confers similar powers in regard to any committee or joint committee that may be appointed.

Burial Acts. Upon the petition of the council of any borough, stating that an Order in Council has been made for closing all or any of the burial grounds of one or more parishes, being wholly or partly within such borough, and there is difficulty or inconvenience under the 16 & 17 Vict. c. 134, of providing requisite places of burial for the inhabitants of such places, her Majesty may by Order in Council direct that the powers for providing such places of burial shall be vested in the town council: 17 & 18 Vict. c. 87, s. 1. Notice of the petition and of the time when it will be taken into consideration, is to be published in the London Gazette and a newspaper usually circulating in the borough, a month before the petition is considered.

Upon the making of such Order, if the town council decide on providing burial grounds, such council shall be a burial board for the purpose, and the provisions of the former Acts are to be applicable to the town council. The provisions of 15 & 16 Vict. c. 85, mentioned in 16 & 17 Vict. c. 134, s. 7, except the provisions relating to the constitution, incorporation, meetings, entries of proceedings, and accounts of burial boards, are extended and made applicable to the borough and the council, and to any burial grounds, &c., which may be provided by such council; but no approval, sanction, or authorisation of the vestry of any parish is requisite: 17 & 18 Vict. c. 87, ss. 1 and 2. The expenses are to be paid out of the borough fund or borough rates (sect. 3), and any surplus funds are to be applied in aid of that fund instead of in aid of the poor rate: 20 & 21 Vict. c. 81, s. 22; or the money may be raised by the council, if they think fit, by means of a separate rate, to be called a burial rate, to be charged upon all property within the borough liable to be charged to the burial rate. In a