The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-06-07 00:00:00

Clit c'7stonthriby Oberkr

SATURDAY, JUNE 7th, 1884.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

It is somewhat remarkable that while
there has been year after year so much. talk 1
outside Parliament on this most important
question, so little has been done by the .
Legislature itself. The subject of local i
taxation is intimately associated with that
of local government, and not a session passes
which does not witness the passing of a re-
solution declaring the expediency of at once
dealing with it. Yet all this -.vhile nothing 1
is done. Indeed, the present House of i
Commons promises to be known as the Par- 1
liament of Good Resolutions. If a question I •
could be settled by the passing of a resoln- 1
tion, a good many would have been got out '
of the way during the past four years. The
House has in this way pronounced in favour
of local option in deciding upon the grant
of licenses for the sale of intoxicating drinks,
it has condemned the application of the Con-
tagions Diseases Acts, it has by a very large
majority declared that marriage with a de-
ceased wife's sister ought to be legalised, and
it has carried against the Administration a
motion moved by Mr. Albert Pell in favour
of overhauling the present system of local
taxation. Each of these topics was disposed
of in a single sitting, in a light and airy
manner. The division took place and no
more was heard about the matter. Any
local body can pass a resolution, but some-
thing more practical is expected from the
imperial Parliament.
Two topics have within a few years forced
themselves to the front in the demand for
public attention, and that attention will yet
occupy more of the time of Parliament than
it has hitherto done. The first is Home
Rule for Ireland, and the second is the local
government of London. The former is un-
doubtedly the more pressing of the two, and
promises to be a very serious matter in the
next Parliament. Within a few weeks we
have seen how a compact body of men acting
together can make or mar a Ministerial
majority. On the second reading of the
Franchise Bill Mr. Gladstone's Government
were 130 to the good in the division lobby.
They had the solid vote of Mr. Par-
nell and his followers. On the vote of cen-
sure moved by Sir Michael Hicks-Beach,
these gentlemen voted against the Ministry,
whose majority was reduced thus to 28. A
few more Parnellites, a few more Conserva-
tives, and half a score fewer Liberals, would
have turned the scale against the adminis-
tration, and the country would have now
been in the throes of a general election.
What the composition of the next Parlia-
ment may be it is of course impossible to
ieretell. The resulfs of the general elections
of 1874 and 1880 were surprises to a good
many, and there is no forecasting the con-
sequences of a widely-extended 'franchise.
The members of Mr. Parnell's party look
forward to being enabled to hold the balance
between Liberals and Conservatives in the
House of Commons. They , say that, as
Parliament will not grant Home Rule to
Ireland, Ireland through her representatives
will rule the British Empire. This is a very
serious contingency and as Home Rule is
not likely to be given.— to Ireland during
what remains of the present Parliament, it
is a contingency which will be presented
with grim earnestness to its successor.
The local government of London is. another
branch - of a great question that calls loudly
for settlement. ' When the Municipal Cor-
porations Reform Act of 1836 was under
consideration the metropolis was not included
: in the schedules, on the principle that it was
, not wise to overload the measure with un-
necessary dead weight, the intention being
to deal with London speedily in a separate
enactment. Nearly half a century has
. passed away. The active municipal life
: which was then given not only to Liverpool
, and Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds,
, but to little provincial towns as well, is not
' yet the possession of the British capital.
Successive Ministries have not cared to
touch this question because it is so vast and
so complicated, and, moreover, because of the
opposition certain to await any measure
; which menaced the continuance of existing
i interests. A bill is now before Parliament
• for extending the Corporation of London to
the whole of the metropolis; but such are
the forces arrayed against it that even its
L heartiest well-wishers begin to lose hope
over its prospects for this session. The
Corporation, the Metropolitan Board of
Works, the vestries, and all the other local
bodies, are of course perfectly within their
right in opposing what they believe to be
injurious to their interests. But the action
. taken against the Ministerial measure il-
lustrates the difficulties surrounding any
• attempt to deal with the important subject
of local government. And it may also be
pointed out that while the Home Secretary's
London Bill has thus stuck fast during the
whole of the period between the Eastcr and
Whicsuntide recess, Sir Charles Mike,
another member of the Cabinet, has been
waiting to introduce his plan of county ad-
ministrative reform, applying to the shires
broader principles of local self-government
than they have hitherto possessed. Of this
there is of course not the slightest chance
this session. Thus it comes to pass that
whether Ireland, London, or the counties
are concerned, local government still remains .
a question to be dealt with in the future.