158 LOCAL TAXATION 



report was unanimously adopted and sent to the Chancellor, 

 who, after some delay, said he would give the amendments 

 suggested in the report his careful consideration. 



On 1st April a resolution was carried protesting against 

 the mutilation and destruction of the county government 

 area that would result if the Cambridge Provisional Order 

 were confirmed, as that Order proposed to convert the Quarter 

 Sessions Borough of Cambridge into a County Borough, thus 

 inflicting a gross injustice upon the rural ratepayers of the 

 county. The Council also sent Mr. Charles Bathurst to support 

 a deputation on this question to the Prime Minister, who said 

 he was much impressed by the very real hardships that had 

 been brought to his notice in this connection by the deputa- 

 tion. On 3rd July the Local Government Provisional Order 

 (No. 21) Bill, which proposed to constitute Cambridge, Luton, 

 and Wakefield county boroughs, obtained a second reading, 

 and was referred to a Committee with an instruction that 

 the effect of the confirmation of each Provisional Order would 

 have on each County Council was to be considered. This 

 Committee decided, but only by the casting vote of its 

 Chairman, to agree to the constitution of Cambridge and 

 Luton as county boroughs, while in the case of Wakefield 

 the Committee came unanimously to the same conclusion. 

 The Bill was reported to the House, but was then suspended 

 until the next session. When it came up for third reading, 

 on 26th March, 1914, it was rejected by 237 votes to 183. 

 The opposition to this Bill, with such a satisfactory result, 

 caused much perturbation in certain circles, and it is probable 

 that the opinion which was becoming stereotyped that a 

 population of fifty thousand warranted a district being con- 

 stituted a county borough, without consideration of other 

 circumstances, has received a very severe check. 



During December and January Mr. Charles Bathurst put 

 a series of questions to the Chancellor of the Exchequer with 

 a view to eliciting the proportion of Imperial and local taxa- 

 tion borne by real and personal property respectively. On 

 13th January, 1914, Mr. Lloyd George stated that " the 

 amount of tax paid in respect of any particular class of pro- 



