89 



of poor relief, the important functions of the Kiiral Sanitary 

 Authority, and in the ahsence of School Boards, large powers 

 with reference to elementary education. These considerations 

 appeared to warrant the acceptance of the Union or Eurai Sani- 

 tary district as the basis of Eural Local Government. The mere 

 simplification of areas and rates and the consolidation of powers, 

 might be expected to have of themselves a favourable effect upon 

 the governing bodies. If in each district, whether Urban or 

 Eural, one body acting either as a whole or by committees was 

 made the authority for the j)urposes of the sanitary laws, the 

 roads, licensing and elementary education, the importance and 

 interest of office in such a body would be greatly enhanced, and 

 this would of itself go far to secure that the work would be well 

 done. Assuming the constitution of districts and of primary 

 authorities to be simplified, the necessary conditions would exist 

 for the constitution of County Boards. The i^roposals Avhich 

 had been made before Parliament for the establishment of such 

 boards had been based on two distinct grounds. One ground had 

 been the demand of the ratepayers that the county business as it 

 now existed should be administered no longer by a body entii'ely 

 nominated by the Crown, but should be administered by a body in 

 which the ratei:)ayers should be directly represented. The other 

 ground had been that it was desirable to create bodies intermedi- 

 ate between the primary local authorities and the executive 

 government, with powers for dealing with matters in which 

 the various local authorities within a county had common 

 or conflicting interests, and desirable also to transfer to such 

 a body acting with local knowledge and representing the 

 various local interests, some portion of the work of control or 

 supervision exercised by the Local Government Board, and, per- 

 haps, even some portion of the functions of Parliament in relation 

 to local legislation. The County Justices in the past had done 

 their work so well that it might perhaps be sufficient to associate 

 with them when sitting in special or quarter sessions for admin- 

 istrative business, a certain number of elected guardians and 

 representatives of town councils and local boards. If a county 

 board was to exist more than in name, it seemed clear that it 

 must take over tlie entire administrative work of the Quarter 

 Sessions. One of the greatest difficulties in the way of an im- 

 provement of local government areas was the question of relief 

 of the poor. The subject might, however, be solved as follows, 

 taking the Burnley Union as an example : TJie Union would be 

 divided into the Borough of Burnley and a number of urban and 

 rm-al boards, and representatives from each of these authorities 

 would constitute a united board for the purpose of dealing with 

 all questions relating to the relief of the poor. In conclusion, 

 Mr. Horn observed that, as the local authorities were strength- 



