34 



bers a School Attendance Committee to enforce the provisions of 

 the Elementary Education Act. Borough finance naturally fell 

 under the three heads of expenditure, loans and accounts. All 

 rents, profits and receipts from corporate property go to a fund 

 called the Borough Fund, out of which all the ordinary expendi- 

 ture of the Corporation was primarily to be made. If the fund 

 was insufficient the Council must from time to time order a rate 

 to be made in the borough to make up the deficiency. Where 

 expenditure was incurred on works of utility of a more or less 

 permanent character, the necessary funds were usually raised by 

 loans repayable by instalments charged on the rates. In this 

 borough great success had attended the creation and issue of 

 Corporation Stock, whereby a considerable saving had been 

 effected. The accounts of most local authorities were now audi- 

 ted by the Local Government Board, but boroughs were exempt 

 from this jurisdiction. As regarded boroughs the controlling 

 power of the Central Government was purely negative. It could 

 disallow certain things, such as parting with corporate property 

 on the creation of loans on the security of the rates ; but there 

 its power of interference begun and ended. In all other matters 

 a municipality enjoyed within the limits of the law, an unfettered 

 liberty of action. 



THE COUNTY. 



For certain administrative purposes England was divided into 

 counties. In addition to the counties properly so-called, there 

 were 18 towns called "counties of cities," and "counties of 

 towns " which for many purposes had themselves the organisation 

 of a county. The area of the county had no relation to any 

 other local Government area except the obsolete hundi-ed. Every 

 county proper w^as divided into petty sessional divisions. These 

 divisions were made for convenience in the administration of 

 justice. The organisation of an ordinary county consisted of tlie 

 following persons and bodies : — (1) A Lord Lieutenant appointed 

 by Commission, who represented the Crown for military purposes, 

 who appointed deputy-lieutenants, and also recommended persons 

 for the Commission of the Peace. (2) A Custos Rotulonim — • 

 keeper of the records — usually the same person as the Lord 

 Lieutenant. (3) A Sheriff, annually selected by the Crown, who 

 was the principal representative of the Crown in the execution of 

 the law. (4) Justices, whose duties were partly judicial and 

 partly administrative. (5) A Clerk of the Peace appointed by the 

 custos rotulonim as his deputy, but removable by the Justices. 

 (6) A County Treasurer, Surveyor, and other officers. The pur- 

 poses of the county organisation were of two kinds, viz : — {a) 

 Imperial purposes, the more important of which were the main- 

 tenance of the Queen's peace, the militia, the local administration 



