New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-12-20

and delights Of London timed himself for catch
ing the train to Edinburgh. and confessed 'ha'
he was about TO leave town.
II am going" nc said 10 the metropolis vi tIie
North. which has had men Of letters in It's tiine,
and must. suppose. adopt bated pred.n III
speaking of il in this hall. Yet shall De loatn W
leave the dancing the gavety. the joy and the lo'e
Of life In London 1t was party sally al ING
expense OF the eloquent Canon Of st. PAU M"
sent the audience home in an uproar or nerii-
ment. Evidently the Canon had never seen fdris
gayest of capitals.
LONDONS SERIOUS QUESTIONS
But when the lecturer had sounded his pacdns
on the glorious traditions of London ana the
chairman had ended his merry Guips and brEh'
epigrams the ia =, remained that the great prop
lens of metropolitan government and life arc n''
much nearer solution than they were when Ioi"
R0scbeTy became the first president of the 'ouh-
~ Council. and that the difficulties. instead Oh
diminishing are steadily increasing. ana even
multiplying Sir Walter Resant had described
London as a beautiful woman. Lord RoseDe'9
had added: Let the beauty pass. nut she II
woman with her arms in one place. her legs III
another her head in another, her heart III an
other II the centre Of an empire YET an
al on alous province Of dsiected provinces. with
ont vitazing principle. unity Of action or en-
lightened and progressive policies, such as nave
raised municipi government IN oiher rhsiS"
cities to the highest leve! of efficiency
London appeals powerfully 10 the Inauguration
by its antiquity. vastness and compieHi'E VI
worldwide interests: but The great questions con-
nected with it's extraordinary growth OF popuia-
ton and the reorganization and unlficatlon or us
parochial activities and public services nave beel
neglected and thrust ASIDE until they nave become
unmanageabe. Municipal Glasgow. the secohn
city Of the United Kingdom, has grappled with
all these questions as they have arisen. and pre-
sents TO-DAY the highest example % civic deVei-
opmcnt practical coectivist lines II he found
anywhere in Europe. Birmingham. Manchester
Liverpool. Bradford, Huddcrsfeld. Sheflied
Portsmouth and other great English towns are
struggling 10 keep abreast with the new require
ments of municipal Socialism and conditions or
life in overcrOwGed industrial communities. Lon
don ags behind. embarrassed by the magnitude
Of the undertaking: and with every ne" decade
the difficulty Of working out a practical solution
Of the question Of governing parochia mctrop
oils which is a nation ny itself. is enormously in
creased.
ANCIENT LONDON STILL.
Ii is still in many respects ancient and me-
diaeval London, with an anomalous jumbo OF
livered mummery. vestry rule corporation priv
lege and imperial administration. Nothing like
organic unity If administration nor bcmogene-
Gus system of local government exists in the
METROPOLIS Every ves,rv has its own rating and
characteristic method Of taxation. There Is
multiplicity of administrative systems and meth
DDS. ana the ground will have To be cleared in
every direction and strongholds of traditional
privilege and vested rights will have to he lev
elled before the unified organic London of the
progressive programme can become reality.
BEFORE any of the practical and successful eX
perimenis of Birmingham and Glasgow can be
tried in London the conditions of local govern
ment will need to ne completely reorSanlzed ana
a semblance of order evolved from chaos Of
medieval traditions. corporation monopolies and
parish rule. This precudes the assumption that
municipal nation of I. 800 nD0 i..DO eco pop
ulation-for that is Greater London cannot he
governed by town council without the breaking
down of the administrative system from sheer
Weight, and that is Of the most serious
questions of I.ondon's future. y. +.