88 LOCAL TAXATION 



generally. The Committee showed the defects of these 

 measures, and especially the very partial character of the 

 relief proposed by means of the House Duty, which would 

 have almost exclusively benefited town populations, and 

 one-half of w r hich would have fallen to the share of London 

 alone. These two Bills were received with so much dis- 

 approval that they were withdrawn. 



Another was the Army Regulation Bill, Clause 7 of which 

 proposed to transfer the power of granting Commissions in 

 the Militia from Lords -Lieu tenant to the central authority, 

 but to continue and extend the system which charged the 

 County Rates with all the expenses of Militia Storehouses 

 and building Militia Barracks. Lord George Hamilton, on 

 behalf of the Committee, opposed this, and in a division the 

 Government obtained a majority of two. At the beginning 

 of the following Session the Government announced that they 

 had abandoned their proposals for throwing these charges 

 on ratepayers, and that they recognised their Imperial 

 character. In their Annual Report the Committee expressed 

 appreciation of the satisfactory manner in which Mr. Cardweli 

 (Secretary for War) proposed to carry out this transfer. 



The Elections (Parliamentary and Municipal) Bill was also 

 opposed successfully, and the Government abandoned all 

 the clauses in this Bill which originally proposed to charge 

 ratepayers with a considerable proportion of election expenses. 



Four other opposed Bills were withdrawn, but two were 

 hurried through the House in the last d&ys of the Session, 

 when the great majority of Members had left London, and 

 when fair discussion was impossible. These two were the 

 Pauper Inmates Discharge Act and the Vaccination Act 

 (1867) Amendment Act. 



Sir Massey Lopes brought to the notice of the House of 

 Commons certain gross inaccuracies in the abstract of County 

 Treasurers' Accounts, and also in the Borough Accounts. 

 Amended returns were obtained, but these w r ere still unsatis- 

 factory ; he therefore moved for a new form of return of these 

 accounts, in order that the public might get a clear idea of 

 the state of Local Finance. 



