FACTS FOR LONDONERS, 
 
 Vl.'Vi II 
 
 London is more than a city ; it is a whole kingdom in itself, with 
 revenues exceeding those of mighty principalities. With its suburbs 
 it exceeds in population Scotland or Ireland with Wales thrown in ; 
 if it were emptied to-morrow the whole of the inhabitants of New 
 York and Paris together could do no more than refill it. One-sixth 
 of the total population of the United Kingdom is gathered into the 
 metropolitan centre, which forms at once the largest manufacturing 
 town and the greatest port, the chief literary and scientific centre 
 and the commercial, banking, shipping and insurance emporium 
 of the world. As such it has needs and problems peculiar to itself. 
 In the following pages the Londoner will find some of the facts and 
 figures without which he can neither understand his position nor 
 discharge his duties as a citizen. 
 
 LONDON’S SIZE AND GROWTH. 
 
 The area under the government of the London County Council 
 or “ Administrative County of London,” with its 58 Parliamentary 
 constituencies, measures miles in extreme length (east and west) 
 from Plumstead to Bedford Park, and 11| miles in extreme breadth 
 (north and south) from Stamford Hill to Norwood. This area com- 
 prises, including “ the City ” proper, 74,817 acres, or nearly 117 
 square miles, exclusive of foreshore and tidal water, being three- 
 quarters the size of Rutland or the Isle of Wight. 
 
 It is adjoined by the independent Municipal Boroughs of West 
 Ham (with a population in 1901 of 267,358), Croydon (pop. 133,895), 
 Hornsey (pop. 72,056), Wimbledon (pop. 41,652) and Blomley 
 (pop. 27,354), the first two of which are “County Boroughs.” 
 The Municipal Boroughs of East Ham, Richmond and Ealing and 
 the Urban Districts of Twickenham, Chiswick, Acton, Willesden, 
 Hendon, Harrow, Finchley, Barnet, Wood Green, Tottenham, 
 Edmonton, Walthamstow, Leyton and Barking, on the North 
 of the Thames, and the Urban Districts of Erith, Bexley, Foots 
 Gray, Chislehurst, Beckenham, Penge, The Maidens and Coombe, 
 Ham and Barnes, on the South of the Thames also belong 
 practically to the Metropolitan aggregation of population ; while 
 a broader view might extend the area of the Administrative 
 County to embrace, say, the whole of the Metropolitan Police 
 District, which comprises all parishes and places (except the City 
 of London), any part of which is within a radius of 12 miles from 
 Charing Cross, or the whole of which is within a radius of 15 
 
2 
 
 miles.^ Indeed, this Metropolitan Police District, together with the 
 old City of London, which has a police of its own, form an area 
 which has latterly begun to be styled “ Greater London.” Greater 
 London has an area of 693 square miles, and a population in 1901 of 
 6,581,402, estimated to have increased in 1906 to 7,113,560. 
 
 The 117 square miles of the Administrative County had in 1901, 
 571,768 inhabited houses, containing at that date 4,536,541 persons 
 (2,142,085 males and 2,394,456 females), being 13*95 per cent, of the 
 population of England and Wales ; 60*5 to the acre, 38,795 to the 
 square mile, 7*93 to each house (Census Eeport, Cd. 2174). Particu- 
 lars as to the distribution of these millions will be found in the table 
 following page 4. 
 
 This population was estimated to have increased, in 1906, to 
 4,721,216 persons, representing about 1,000,000 families (L. S., 
 p. 28). Its growth, continuous for at least 500 years, has gone 
 on since the beginning of the century (when it had only 136,196 
 houses. Report of M. A. B., 1888, p. 7) at a prodigious rate. Taking 
 the best estimates prior to 1801, and the Census since that date, we 
 get the following table : — 
 
 Year 
 
 Population 
 
 Percentage 
 of England 
 and Wales 
 
 Year 
 
 Population 
 
 Percentage 
 of England 
 and Wales 
 
 1350 
 
 ... 90,000 
 
 3*60 
 
 1821 .., 
 
 . 1,379,573 
 
 ... 11*50 
 
 1600 
 
 . . 180,000 
 
 3*27 
 
 1841 ... 
 
 . 1,949,277 
 
 ... 12*25 
 
 1650 
 
 ... 350,000 
 
 6*26 
 
 1861 .. 
 
 . 2,808,494 
 
 ... 1400 
 
 1700 
 
 ... 550,000 
 
 9*16 
 
 1881 .., 
 
 . 3,830,297 
 
 ... 14*75 
 
 1750 
 
 ... 600,000 
 
 9*16 
 
 1891 .. 
 
 . 4,228,317 
 
 ... 14*58 
 
 .1801 
 
 ... 959,310 
 
 10*79 
 
 1901 .. 
 
 . 4,536,541 
 
 ... 13*95 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 vol. xiv., p. 
 
 821 ; and Census, London Cd. — 2174.) 
 
 For many years past this general increase has been accompanied 
 by a steady shifting of the population from the centre outwards. 
 Thus, between the years 1861 and 1901, while the population of the 
 “ Central area ” (comprising the City, Westminster, Marylebone, 
 Holborn, Finsbury, Shoreditch, Bethnal Green, Stepney, Southwark 
 and Bermondsey) decreased by 8*8 per cent., the population of the 
 rest of the Administrative County increased by 144*6 per cent., and 
 the population of the “ outer ring ” {i.e., such part of “ Greater 
 London ” as is not included in the Administrative County) increased 
 by 393*7 per cent. (Cd. 2174.) 
 
 Since the end of the seventeenth century it has overtopped Paris 
 as the largest city in Europe ; but its unquestioned commercial, 
 industrial and financial supremacy probably dates only from the 
 “ industrial revolution ” of the 18th century and the Napoleonic wars. 
 Of its 4,536,541 inhabitants, 3,016,580 were natives of London, 
 35,421 were born in Wales and Monmouth, 56,605 in Scotland, 
 60,211 in Ireland, 1,167,152 in other parts of England, 33,350 in 
 British Colonies and Dependencies, and 161,222 in foreign countries. 
 These last included 38,117 Russians, 15,420 Poles, 27,427 Germans, 
 11,264 French, 10,889 Italians, 6,189 Austrians, 4,419 Swiss, 4,249 
 Dutch and 5,561 from the United States. (Census Report, Cd. 
 875.) 
 
3 
 
 The 1,399,969 occupied males and 719,331 occupied females, 
 aged 10 years and upwards were distributed as follows : — 
 
 Males Females 
 
 I. General or local government of the country ... ... 46,638 5,796 
 
 II. Defence of the country .. ... 18,743 — 
 
 III. Professional occupations and their subordinate services 65,407 52,962 
 
 IV. Domestic offices or services 53,525 328,337 
 
 V. Commercial occupations 134,261 20,285 
 
 VI. Conveyance of men, goods and messages 243,924 3,860 
 
 VII. Agriculture 8,082 1,342 
 
 VIII. Fishing 56 - 
 
 IX. In and about and dealing in the products of mines and 
 
 quarries ... ... ... ... .•• ••• ... 3,215 209 
 
 X. Metals, machines, implements and conveyances 95,503 3,932 
 
 XI. Precious metalsy jewels, watches, instruments and games 37,681 4,034 
 
 XII. Building and works of construction 149,962 80 
 
 XIII. Wood furniture, fittings and decorations 61,891 7,929 
 
 XIV. Bricks, cement, pottery and glass 7,735 977 
 
 XV. Chemicals, oil, grease, soap, resin, &c 18,645 5,915 
 
 XVI. Skin, leather, hair and feathers 19,238 9,468 
 
 XVII. Paper, prints, books and stationery 63,566 33,369 
 
 XVIII. Textile fabrics 24,161 22,917 
 
 XIX. Dress 81,178 156,050’ 
 
 XX. Food, tobacco, drink and lodging 138,762 49,492; 
 
 XXI. Gas, water and electricity supply, and sanitary service 12,907 119' 
 
 XXII. Other workers and undefined workers and dealers ... 114,889 12,25S 
 
 1,399,969 719,331 
 
 273,916 males and 1,205,037 females, aged ten years and upwards, 
 were retired or unoccupied, including school children. 
 
 The number of registered Parliamentary electors on 1st January, 
 1907, was 686,994. The number of male adults may be estimated 
 at a quarter of the population, or about 1,180,000 on that date. 
 Hence only a little more than half the men in London can vote. 
 
 Of those who possessed votes the percentage who took the trouble 
 to vote was — 
 
 At the Parliamentary election, 1906 
 At the County Council election, 1907 
 At the Borough Councils election, 1906 
 At the Guardians’ election, 1907 
 
 78-3 
 
 55*5 
 
 48-2 
 
 28-1 
 
 (L.S., vol. 17, 1906 
 
 07, pp. 12—27.) 
 
 The above percentages are understated, and in the case of the 
 County Council elections to a substantial amount, on account of 
 plural votes and duplicate registrations, of which London has 
 perhaps 100,000 (the City’s 32,647 electors nearly all have also 
 votes elsewhere). The 5,212 electors of London University are not 
 included. 
 
 THE SOCIAL CONDITION OF LONDONEES. 
 
 London contains some 1,000,000 families. How many of these 
 are in destitute circumstances and how many comfortably off ? The 
 official census statistics give no information on this point. And 
 there is no recent information of any kind. But nearly twenty years 
 
4 
 
 ago the Et. Hon. Charles Booth, with the aid of a staff of assistants, 
 made exhaustive enquiries into the subject, and took, chiefly by minute 
 investigations into the books of the School Board Visitors, a complete 
 industrial census of London, which is still of great value. His 
 results are presented in detail in his book, “ Life and Labour of the 
 People in London,” and his classification of the population of 
 London, 1887-1889 (exclusive of inhabitants of institutions), as 
 summarized at page 21 of Vol. II., is as follows : — 
 
 A. The lowest class— occasional labourers, loafers and semi- 
 
 criminals 
 
 B. The very poor — casual labour, hand-to-mouth existence, 
 
 chronic want 
 
 C. & D. The poor — including alike those whose earnings are small 
 
 because of irregularity of employment and those whose 
 
 work, though regular, is ill-paid 
 
 Total in Poverty {i.e. not exceeding £1 Is. a week regular earnings) 
 E. & F. The regularly employed and fairly paid working-classes of 
 
 all grades 
 
 G. & H. Lower and upper middle-class and all above this level ... 
 Total in Comfort ... 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 •9 
 
 7-5 
 
 22-3 
 
 30-7 
 
 51-5 
 
 17-8 
 
 69-3 
 
 100 
 
 In another book he tells us that in East London at least a third of 
 the poorer population migrate within twelve months. “ A return 
 prepared by one of the School Board Visitors, who has a fairly 
 representative district in Bethnal Green, shows that of 1,204 families 
 (with 2,720 children), 530 (with 1,450 children) removed in a single 
 year” (C. Booth, “Life and Labour in East London,” p. 27), and 
 that female heads of families (widows or deserted wives) living in 
 houses of not more than £35 rental were found to number, with 
 their children, 34,020, representing about 8,000 households, or nearly 
 4 per cent, of the whole. Half of these supported themselves by 
 washing or “ charing,” and one-third were in Class B, that is to 
 say, “in chronic want” {ibid., p. 61.) 
 
 In London one person in every three dies in a workhouse, 
 hospital, or lunatic asylum. In 1904, out of 74,990 deaths in 
 London (44,039 being over twenty years of age), 13,950 were in 
 workhouses or workhouse infirmaries, 9,780 in voluutary hospitals, 
 1,105 in the Metropolitan Asylums Board’s hospitals, and 2,120 in 
 lunatic and imbecile asylums, or altogether 26,955 in public institu- 
 tions (L.S. pp. 33-34). Considering that comparatively few of these 
 are children, it is probable that one in every two London adults 
 will be driven into these refuges to die, and the proportion in the 
 case of the manual labour class must, of course, be much greater. 
 
 One in eleven of the whole metropolitan population is driven to 
 accept Poor Law relief during any one year (see below, p. 19), 
 and this notwithstanding the existence of organised metropolitan 
 charities disbursing several millions annually (see below, p. 23). 
 
 On the night of 17th February, 1905, 2,481 people were counted 
 sleeping out or walking the streets, apparently without a home. Of 
 this number 1,983 received food from philanthropic organizations 
 (Eeport of Vagrancy Committee, Cd. 2,852, p. 20). In 1905 there 
 

 
 'f i 
 
City of London 
 Battersea 
 Bermondsey .. . 
 Bethnal Green 
 Camberwell ... 
 
 Chelsea 
 
 Deptford 
 
 Finsbury 
 
 Fulham 
 
 Greenwich 
 
 Flackney 
 Hammersmith 
 Hampstead ... 
 Holborn 
 Islington 
 
 Kensington 
 
 Lambeth 
 
 Lewisham 
 
 Paddington 
 
 Poplar 
 
 St. Marylebone 
 St. Pancras ... 
 Shoreditch ... 
 Southwark ... 
 Stepney 
 
 Stoke Newington .. 
 
 Wandsworth 
 
 Westminster 
 Woolwich 
 
 Administrative County of London 
 
 Area in Acres 
 (Land and 
 Inland Water.) 
 
 Estimated 
 population 
 middle of 1905. 
 
 Persons 
 per Acre, 
 1905. 
 
 Persons per 
 inhabited house, 
 . 190V 
 
 i 673 
 
 22,425 
 
 1 
 
 33-3 
 
 70 
 
 1 2,160 
 
 177,532 
 
 82-2 
 
 7-2 
 
 1 1,500 
 
 129,006 
 
 860 
 
 8-3 
 
 ! 759 
 
 130,401 
 
 171-7 
 
 1 9-3 
 
 4,480 
 
 1 
 
 271,240 
 
 60-5 
 
 7-1 
 
 660 
 
 74,496 
 
 112-9 
 
 8-5 
 
 ! 1,563 
 
 114,495 
 
 73-3 
 
 7-0 
 
 589 
 
 98,207 
 
 1667 
 
 10-9 
 
 ! 1,703 
 
 157,210 
 
 92-3 
 
 7-4 
 
 3,852 
 
 103,493 
 
 26-9 
 
 6-7 
 
 3,289 
 
 2-28,479 
 
 69-5 
 
 7-2 
 
 2,286 
 
 119,037 
 
 52 1 
 
 7 4 
 
 2,265 
 
 88,142 
 
 38-9 
 
 7-3 
 
 405 
 
 56,481 
 
 139-4 
 
 ' 12-6 
 
 3,091 
 
 342,994 
 
 1109 
 
 87 
 
 2,291 
 
 180,083 
 
 786 
 
 80 
 
 4,080 
 
 313,045 
 
 76-7 
 
 7-3 
 
 7,014 
 
 144,420 
 
 20-6 
 
 5-6 
 
 1,356 
 
 147,935 
 
 109-1 
 
 8-1 
 
 2,328 
 
 170,280 
 
 732 
 
 7-5 
 
 1 
 
 1 1,473 
 
 1 129,453 
 
 87-9 
 
 9-8 
 
 ! 2,694 
 
 236,183 
 
 87"7 
 
 9-9 
 
 ' 658 
 
 116,565 
 
 177-3 
 
 9-3 
 
 ! 1,131 
 
 208,528 
 
 184-3 
 
 9-9 
 
 : 1.766 
 
 305,466 
 
 i 173-0 
 
 9-5 
 
 863 
 
 52,828 
 
 i 
 
 61-2 
 
 66 
 
 1 9,130 
 
 265,392 
 
 29-1 
 
 6-1 
 
 , 2,503 
 
 175,606 
 
 70-2 
 
 10-0 
 
 ; 8,277 
 
 125,372 
 
 15-1 
 
 6-5 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 74,839 
 
 4,684,794 
 
 63-3 
 
 79 
 
 * Lying-In Institutions are situated in St. Marylebor; 
 
 * * * The low infantile mortality in St. Marylebone and in Holborn is partly due to tj; 
 
 these children being re|j 
 
)ROXJGHS 
 
 population living 
 in overcrowded 
 tenements, 
 1901. 
 
 Rateable value 
 per house, 
 1901. 
 
 Birth Rate per 
 100 married 
 females, 
 aged 15 to 45, 
 in 1905.* 
 
 Death Rate 
 in 
 
 1905. 
 
 Deaths under 
 1 year per 1,000 
 births, 1905. 
 
 Domestic 
 Servants per 100 
 families or 
 separate occu- 
 piers, 1901. 
 
 Common 
 Lodging-house 
 accommodation, 
 31st Dec., 1904. 
 
 
 £ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10-8 
 
 483-36 
 
 16-0 
 
 19-1 
 
 149 
 
 37-6 
 
 74 
 
 10-9 
 
 41-43 
 
 20-4 
 
 15-6 
 
 131 
 
 13-1 
 
 299 
 
 19-7 ' 
 
 54-30 
 
 26-9 
 
 19-2 
 
 148 
 
 66 
 
 889 
 
 29-6 
 
 35-27 
 
 26-5 
 
 18-8 
 
 151 
 
 5-8 
 
 737 
 
 9-6 
 
 3307 
 
 21-1 
 
 14-2 
 
 124 
 
 15-3 
 
 543 
 
 14-4 
 
 85-00 
 
 19 8 
 
 15-3 
 
 117 
 
 55-2 
 
 .391 
 
 91 
 
 36-93 
 
 22-3 
 
 15 0 
 
 122 
 
 15-4 
 
 450 
 
 35-2 
 
 84-60 
 
 27 2 
 
 19-7 
 
 127 
 
 8-2 
 
 503 
 
 10-8 
 
 38-17 
 
 21-3 
 
 15-8 
 
 145 
 
 18-6 
 
 60 
 
 8-3 
 
 39-56 
 
 21-9 
 
 13-7 
 
 119 
 
 24-5 
 
 175 
 
 10-2 
 
 36-68 
 
 21-3 
 
 14-6 ■ 
 
 129 
 
 17-9 
 
 397 
 
 11-7 
 
 42-11 
 
 20-9 
 
 14-5 
 
 135 
 
 19-3 
 
 471 
 
 6-4 
 
 77-70 
 
 15-7 
 
 10-5 
 
 94 
 
 81-4 
 
 — 
 
 25-0 
 
 154-22 
 
 24-5 
 
 18-8 
 
 92** 
 
 22 3 
 
 2,368 
 
 17-0 
 
 47-42 
 
 19-8 
 
 15-1 
 
 125 
 
 15-5 
 
 1,424 
 
 14-8 
 
 92 43 
 
 18-8 
 
 15-1 
 
 144 
 
 80-0 
 
 803 
 
 12-2 
 
 42-88 
 
 22-5 
 
 15-4 
 
 115 
 
 18-1 
 
 739 
 
 2-7 
 
 34-55 
 
 20-8 
 
 12-2 
 
 92 
 
 36-2 
 
 30 
 
 13-6 
 
 77 30 
 
 18-9 
 
 142 
 
 123 
 
 50-2 
 
 264 
 
 16-4 
 
 3372 
 
 26-0 
 
 18-2 
 
 153 
 
 8-1 
 
 1,250 
 
 21-J 
 
 111-95 
 
 27-3 
 
 16-5 
 
 88** 
 
 51-4 
 
 1,525 
 
 24-0 
 
 71-18 
 
 19-6 
 
 16-5 
 
 135 
 
 16-9 
 
 1,036 
 
 29-9 
 
 54-33 
 
 26-5 
 
 20-7 
 
 167 
 
 5-7 
 
 734 
 
 22-3 
 
 56-06 
 
 22-6 
 
 19-3 
 
 148 
 
 7 8 
 
 4,095 
 
 33-2 
 
 42-43 
 
 27-9 
 
 185 
 
 141 
 
 88 
 
 6,853 
 
 5-5 
 
 42-98 
 
 17-4 
 
 13-5 
 
 122 
 
 27-8 
 
 37 
 
 4-5 
 
 38-17 
 
 21-4 
 
 13-3 
 
 119 
 
 35-2 
 
 218 
 
 130 
 
 249-08 
 
 15-9 
 
 15-1 
 
 114 
 
 65-8 
 
 1,999 
 
 6-6 
 
 33-87 
 
 21-3 
 
 13-7 
 
 102 
 
 14-4 
 
 606 
 
 16-0 
 
 65-00 
 
 22-1 
 
 15 9 
 
 129 
 
 — 
 
 28,970 
 
 lokney, Holborn, Finsbury, Stepney and Lambeth. 
 
 •ge number of births occurring in Lying-in Hospitals, many of the deaths among 
 3d in other localities. 
 

 I.: LIBRARY 
 
 ) ■ OF THE 
 
 L'NWERSITY of ILLINOIS 
 
 
5 
 
 were 48 cases in which a coroner’s jury returned a verdict of death 
 from starvation or death accelerated by privation (H.C. 1906, 
 No. 304). 
 
 There were licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquors by retail 
 at the annual Licensing Sessions, 1906, 5,018 public-houses ; 1,946 
 beer or wine houses ; 470 hotels, restaurants and refreshment 
 rooms; and 72 theatres and music and concert halls. Of public- 
 houses and beerhouses alone there are 11 to the acre and one to 
 every 651 inhabitants, but very unequally distributed. There are 
 also 2,777 “off-licenses.” (L. S., p. 206.) The average rateable 
 value of each public-house is £276 ; of each beer or wine house, 
 £70 ; of each hotel, £2,238 ; of each restaurant, £560 ; of each 
 theatre or music or concert hall, £2,301. (L. S., p. 214.) 
 
 The preceding table (from the Census of 1901, the Eeport of the 
 L.C.C. Medical Officer, 1905, and L. S.) gives certain facts indicating 
 the comparative condition of the inhabitants of the different London 
 Boroughs. 
 
 LONDON’S ANNUAL EENTAL. 
 
 There are no means of ascertaining the exact amount of rent 
 received annually by the landlords of London. The total rental 
 value can, however, be arrived at approximately from the official 
 assessment. All lands and houses throughout the metropolitan 
 area are re-valued every fifth year for rating purposes ; and in the 
 meantime supplementary valuation lists are made to include all new 
 buildings and structural alterations as soon as occupied. -Under the 
 Valuation (Metropolis) Act, 1869, the assessment must in all cases 
 be equal to the full annual value at which the property would 
 let from year to year, the tenant paying rates and taxes, but not 
 executing repairs. Eeturns of rentals are quinquennially obtained, 
 formerly by the Overseers of each parish and now by the Metropolitan 
 Borough Councils ; and, although the valuation and rental may 
 not be exactly equal, there can be no doubt that the valuation does 
 not, on the whole, exceed the gross rental. The total “gross 
 valuation ” for the year 1906 was £52,928,707. The so-called “ rate- 
 able value,” obtained by a fixed deduction for repairs from the gross 
 valuation, was £43,486,437. The rates are actually levied on the 
 “ assessable value,” which is the rateable value less half the value 
 of agricultural land, and which in the same year was £43,477,771. 
 (L. S., p. 473.) 
 
 Though there has been considerable improvement of late, there 
 can still be little doubt that London as a whole is under-assessed 
 and a reconstitution of the valuation authority is much needed. 
 For instance, a deduction of one-sixth for repairs is made from the 
 “ gross valuation ” even when the great part of it represents the 
 value of the site which, of course, needs no repairs ; and again, when 
 the tenant is doing the repairs the rent he pays is often taken as the 
 gross valuation, though, as stated above, this ought to be what he 
 would pay if the landlord did them. We can, therefore, safely 
 take the total rental of London land and houses to be at least fiftyi 
 
6 
 
 million pounds sterling annually. How much of this represents 
 the rental value of the bare site cannot be ascertained with absolute 
 certainty, but calculations based on the increase during the past 
 thirty-five years (p. 9) indicate that the total annual value of the 
 bare site must exceed £20,000,000 per annum. This is the price we 
 pay year by year for the privilege of occupying the low hills and 
 swampy marsh by the Thames, which labour has made so pro- 
 ductive. 
 
 The balance of £30,000,000 per annum represents the annual 
 rental value of the buildings on that site. But, in addition to this 
 payment, the total “ rates ” now levied in London (see below, 
 pp. 12 — 13) amount to about £14,000,000 (exclusive of water rate), 
 bringing the total annual cost of living and carrying on business in 
 London up to nearly £64,000,000, less than one-quarter of this being 
 at present devoted to public purposes. 
 
 This total amounts, on an average, for each of London’s 
 1,000,000 families, to : — 
 
 For Ground Bent ... 8s. Od. per week. 
 
 ,, House Bent ... 12s. Od. ,, ,, 
 
 ,, Bates 5s. 6d. ,, ,, 
 
 25s. 6d. ,, ,, 
 
 London’s landlords include all sorts and conditions of men, from 
 the ducal ground landlord and the wealthy leaseholder, down to the 
 tenant in beneficial occupation ” at less than a rackrent, and the 
 shareholder in a Building Society. But the great bulk of the rental 
 goes into comparatively few hands. Among the largest owners are 
 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners (especially in Paddington, Notting 
 Hill and Lambeth); the City Companies — see p. 14— (especially in 
 the City, St. Giles’ and St. Martin’s) ; the National Government, 
 through the Office of Woods and Forests (especially near Begent 
 Street, the Begent’s Park and on the Holborn Viaduct), and through 
 the Exhibition Commissioners of 1851 (at South Kensington) ; the 
 • Duchy of Cornwall (in Lambeth and Kennington) ; the City Cor- 
 poration (especially in the City and Southwark) ; the London 
 County Council ; various Colleges at Oxford and Cambridge (notably 
 Magdalen) ; the three great endowed hospitals, St. Bartholomew’s, 
 St. Thomas’s, and Guy’s (especially in Southwark and the City) ; 
 the Trustees of the City Parochial Charities (especially in the City) ; 
 and the great charitable foundations (such as Christ’s Hospital and 
 the Foundling Hospital). 
 
 To this extent the property is, in some sense, already “ munici- 
 palized ” or “ nationalized,” though the proceeds are often wofully 
 misapplied. Next in order come the great private ground landlords : 
 the Duke of Westminster (Belgravia, Pimlico, the Grosvenor Square 
 district), the Duke of Bedford (Bloomsbury, the Covent Garden 
 district, and Ampthill Square), Lord Howard de Walden (West 
 Marylebone), Lord Cadogan (Chelsea), the Earl of Dartmouth 
 (Blackheath and Lewisham), the Duke of Portland (East Mary- 
 
7 
 
 lebone), the Marquis of Northampton (Clerkenwell), the Duke of 
 Norfolk [(South of the Strand), the Marquis Camden (Camden 
 Town), Lord Southampton (Tottenham Court Doad and Kentish 
 Town), Sir Spencer Mary on Wilson (Hampstead), Captain Penton 
 ^entonville), the Marquis of Salisbury (St. Martin’s Lane), the 
 Tyssen - Amherst family (Hackney), the Eyre family (St. Johns 
 Wood), the Curzon family (Mayfair). It will be seen that many of 
 these great landlords are hereditary legislators. Nearly all their 
 property is in strict settlement, but a life owner has now large legal 
 powers of disposal. It is nevertheless practically impossible to 
 obtain anything more than terminable leases on the large pro- 
 portion of London comprised in these and other estates.* 
 
 Besides the annual rental, the owners of London receive a con- 
 tinual stream of wealth in the “ unearned increment ” of value 
 being constantly added to their property. 
 
 The rateable value of the Administrative County of London at 
 he revaluation in 1906 was £43,500,000. Let us assume that the 
 property is on an average worth only 18 years’ purchase of ^ the 
 rateable value (i.e., 15 years’ purchase of the gross valuation). 
 The saleable value of London at the present day would then be 
 £780,000,000. In 1871 the rateable value was only £20,000,000, equal 
 to a saleable value of £360,000,000. The total increment during 
 those 35 years was, therefore, equal on an average to twelve millions 
 a year, representing a growth in saleable value in the 35 years of no 
 less than £420,000,000. A large part of this increased value was, 
 however, caused by expenditure on new buildings. The suburban 
 districts have been filling up ; and the central districts have been 
 extensively rebuilt. Fortunately the annual revision of the valua- 
 tion list enables us to distinguish between new buildings (together 
 with any structural improvements in old ones) and the rise in rent 
 of unaltered land and buildings. We are thus able to ascertain 
 separately, from official figures, the annual growth from this cause 
 in all years except those of the quinquennial revaluations. As those 
 periods have no influence on the building trades, it is fair to esti- 
 mate for them at the mean of the year before and of the year after ; 
 and thus we have the total growth in rental caused by building 
 operations very accurately ascertained. Errors of valuation no 
 doubt occur ; but these may be assumed to balance each other ; 
 and no one can pretend that London is, on the whole, even now 
 over- assessed. Any additional growth must have been due to inten- 
 sified demand for existing buildings, caused by increasing population, 
 by the advance of London as an industrial centre, and by the help- 
 less condition of the London poor. All landlords do not benefit 
 equally ; but from the point of view of the community at large this 
 annual net increase is a real “ unearned increment.” How much it 
 amounts to is shown in the following table, compiled from “ London 
 Statistics” (Vol. XVI., p. 478). 
 
 * Cf. “ The Great Landlords of London,” by Frank Banfield, M.A. (Spencer 
 Blackett, 1888). 
 
8 
 
 On 
 
 6th April. 
 
 Rateable Value. 
 
 Total 
 
 Yearly increase. 
 
 Yearly increase 
 due to 
 
 New Buildings. 
 
 “ Unearned 
 Increment.” 
 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 1871 
 
 19,963,285 
 
 
 
 
 1872 
 
 20,272,171 
 
 308,886 
 
 308,886 
 
 
 1873 
 
 20,539,971 
 
 267,800 
 
 267,800 
 
 
 1874 
 
 20,888,389 
 
 348,418 
 
 348,418 
 
 
 1875 
 
 21,292,559 
 
 404,170 
 
 404,170 
 
 
 1876 
 
 23,240,070 
 
 1,947,511 
 
 368,598<x 
 
 1,578,913 
 
 1877 
 
 23,573,096 
 
 333,026 
 
 333,026 
 
 
 1878 
 
 24,053,542 
 
 480,446 
 
 480,446 
 
 
 1879 
 
 24,594,293 
 
 510,751 
 
 540,751 
 
 
 1880 
 
 25,206,745 
 
 612,452 
 
 612,452 
 
 
 1881 
 
 27,629,241c 
 
 2,422,4966 
 
 559,408(X 
 
 1,702,338 
 
 1882 
 
 28,135,604 
 
 506,363 
 
 506,363 
 
 
 1883 
 
 28,652,847 
 
 517,243 
 
 517,243 
 
 
 1884 
 
 29,158,002 
 
 505,155 
 
 505,155 
 
 
 1885 
 
 29,632,463 
 
 474,461 
 
 474,461 
 
 
 1886 
 
 30,716,719 
 
 1,084,256 
 
 399,371a 
 
 684,885 
 
 1887 
 
 31,041,000 
 
 324,281 
 
 324,281 
 
 
 1888 
 
 31,316,073 
 
 275,073 
 
 275,073 
 
 
 1889 
 
 31,588,153 
 
 272,080 
 
 272,080 
 
 
 1890 
 
 31,777,015 
 
 188,862 
 
 188,862 
 
 
 1891 
 
 33,004,612 
 
 1,227,597 
 
 224,366a 
 
 1,003,231 
 
 1892 
 
 33,264,483 
 
 259,871 
 
 259,871 
 
 
 1893 
 
 33,578,860 
 
 314,377 
 
 314,377 
 
 
 1894 
 
 33,902,747 
 
 323,887 
 
 323,887 
 
 
 1895 
 
 34,221,830 
 
 319,083 
 
 319,083 
 
 
 1896 
 
 35,793,672 
 
 1,571,842 
 
 304,681a 
 
 1,267,161 
 
 1897 
 
 36,083,950 
 
 290,278 i 
 
 290,278 
 
 
 .1898 
 
 36,584,981 
 
 501,031 1 
 
 501,031 
 
 
 1899 
 
 37,022,237 
 
 437,256 
 
 437,256 
 
 
 1900 
 
 37,562,187 
 
 539,950 
 
 539,950 
 
 
 1901 
 
 39,643,618 
 
 2,081,431 
 
 500,102a 
 
 1,651,015 
 
 1902 
 
 40,103,872 
 
 460,254 1 
 
 460,254 
 
 
 1903 
 
 40,623,989 
 
 520,117 
 
 520,117 
 
 
 1904 
 
 41,086,974 
 
 462,985 
 
 462,985 
 
 
 1905 
 
 41,657,066 
 
 570,092 ! 
 
 570,092 
 
 
 1906 
 
 43,486,437 
 
 1,829,371 
 
 !. 
 
 503,362a 
 
 1,326,009 
 
 - Total in 1871-1906 
 
 23,523,152 
 
 14,309,660 
 
 9,213,552 
 
 (a) Estimated. (b) Government property £160,750, included for first time 
 in 1881. (c) Including loss of £69,686 by alteration of area. 
 
9 
 
 The total “ unearned increment ” during this period of 35 years 
 (up to the last general valuation) is thus seen to have been £9,213,552 
 in annual rental, representing a saleable value of over £160,000,000. 
 It amounts to one-fifth of the total saleable value of London. It 
 must not, however, be supposed that this growth in value is all 
 instantly received by the freeholder, still less by the great landlords, 
 A large portion of it is temporarily intercepted by house-farmers, 
 leaseholders, copyholders, and other types of landloi^.( T)he average 
 rise of London rateable value (on unaltdrfid bVitWings) is , accordingly 
 £263,244 per annum, or 0‘84 per cent, on the awerage valuation. 
 This annual rise in rent represents an annual addition to the sale- 
 able value of the property of about £4,750,000. 
 
 One suggestion may be added. If the £23,520,000 total increase 
 in London’s rateable value during 35 years of enormous building 
 operations is divided so that £14,300,000 is due to them and 
 £9,200,000 to unearned increment,” we may hypothetically infer 
 that a similar proportion holds good of the total rateable value. In 
 that case, out of the annual rental of £50,000,000 (see pp. 5, 6), we 
 may estimate that £30,000,000 is for buildings, and some £20,000,000 
 for ground rent only. This state of things is not peculiar to London. 
 It is the inevitable result of private ownership of land in advanced 
 industrial communities. Every growing town in England shows 
 similar results. 
 
 The “ City” of London alone increased in rateable value tenfold 
 between 1801 and 1906, viz., from £507,372 to £5,320,163 ; or from 
 £760 per acre per annum to almost £8,000 per acre per annum. 
 {EncyclopcBdia Britannica, Vol. XIV., pp. 820, 832, and L. S., p. 473). 
 The proportion of the rental value of the bare site to that of the 
 erections upon it is here much more than two-fifths, and the saleable 
 value much more than eighteen times the rateable value. 
 
 This great unearned increment is due to the aggregation of people 
 in this great city and to the expenditure of rates in police, sanitation, 
 lighting, clearing of slum areas, poor relief and other necessary or 
 beneficial purposes. The close connection between the two is 
 illustrated by the table on the following page (from Mr. G. L. 
 Gomme’s Memorandum presented to Eoyal Commission on Local 
 Taxation, 1898, C. 8,765, p. 264), which shows with regard to 
 London property built prior to 1871 and valued in that year at 
 £19,650,743 the rise of rateable value and of rates levied. 
 
10 
 
 Year. 
 
 Estimated 
 
 Rateable 
 
 Value. 
 
 Estimated 
 amount of Rates 
 levied thereon. 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 1878-9 
 
 £ 
 
 21,250,861 
 
 £ 
 
 4,596,969 
 
 21-16 
 
 1879-80 
 
 21,250,861 
 
 4,681,868 
 
 22-03 1 
 
 1880-1 
 
 21,250,861 
 
 4,712,189 : 
 
 22-17 
 
 1881-2 
 
 22 , 852,004 
 
 5 , 770,715 
 
 2088 
 
 1882-3 
 
 22,842,004 
 
 4,863,385 
 
 2129 i 
 
 1883-4 
 
 22,842,004 
 
 5,023,754 
 
 1 21-99 
 
 1884-5 
 
 22,842,004 
 
 5,152,334 
 
 i 22-55 
 
 1885-6 
 
 22,842,004 
 
 5,287,332 
 
 ! 23-14 
 
 1886-7 
 
 23 , 505,265 
 
 5 , 280,711 
 
 , 2256 
 
 1887-8 
 
 23,404,265 
 
 5,265,726 
 
 1 22-49 
 
 1888-9 
 
 23,404,265 
 
 5,310,401 
 
 1 22-68 
 
 1889-90 
 
 23,404,265 
 
 5,604,661 
 
 ; 23-94 
 
 1890-1 
 
 23,404,265 
 
 5,839,968 
 
 24-95 
 
 1891-2 
 
 25 , 175,862 
 
 6 , 091,532 
 
 1 2519 1 
 
 1892-3 
 
 24,174,862 
 
 6,184,469 
 
 , 25-28 1 
 
 ‘ 1 
 
 While the rates on such property have increased between the years 
 1878-9 and 1892-3 from £4,596,969 to £6,184,469, or £1,587,500, 
 the annual value of the property itself has increased from £21,250,861 
 to £24,174,862, or £2,924,001. Thus, if we had made the landlord 
 pay every farthing of the rates he would not have been able to say 
 that he was out of pocket. 
 
 THE GOVEENMENT OF LONDON. 
 
 Though much has been done for unity, uniformity and simplicity 
 in the last 60 years, especially by Acts passed in 1855, 1867, 1888, 
 1899 and 1903, London is still governed by a multiplicity of 
 authorities, the existence of some of which is quite unknown to the 
 majority of the ratepayers and other inhabitants. 
 
 Authority is exercised and rates levied over the Administrative 
 County of London by the London County Council (gross expenditure, 
 £8,802,483 in 1904-5), The Metropolitan Asylums Board (£1,026,674 
 in 1903-4), and the Central Body under the Unemployed Workmen 
 Act, 1905 (see below, p. 19), and, over a much larger area (see 
 above, p. 1), by the Metropolitan Police (£2,467,973 in 1905). 
 
 The Metropolitan Water Board has an area nearly as large as 
 that of the Police, but with quite different boundaries. The City is 
 exempted from some of the powers exercised in the rest of the 
 Administrative County by the County Council, and exercises them 
 or itself through its Corporation. It also has its own police. 
 
11 
 
 The river Thames is controlled by the Conservancy (£118,562 
 in 1904), the Watermen’s and Lightermen’s Company, the City 
 Corporation as port sanitary authority, and the Dock Companies ; 
 but these bodies have no power to rate the lands and houses of the 
 inhabitants of London. 
 
 Further, authority is exercised and rates levied in 29 boroughs, 
 together composing the Administrative County, by their 28 Metro- 
 politan Borough Councils, including that of the “ City of West- 
 minster ” (gross expenditure, £4,708,739), and by the Corporation of 
 the City of London (£1,314,383); and in 31 other districts by 
 their Boards of Guardians, and by joint committees of these Boards 
 styled Sick Asylum District Managers and School District Managers 
 (£3,599,878). Authority is also exercised, though rates are not 
 levied, in the 28 Metropolitian Boroughs and in the City by the 
 29 Distress Committees under the Act of 1905. (For figures of 
 expenditure, which are for 1903-4, unless otherwise stated, see 
 L. S., pp. 358, 360, 404, 408 and 420.) 
 
 Of these bodies some are only partly or remotely responsible to 
 the people of London. The Police authority is frpkly autocratic. 
 Only the London County Council, the City Corporation, the Borough 
 Councils and the Boards of Guardians are directly elected. At the 
 end of three years a triple series of elections takes place, all held 
 within a period of five months of each other. The elector only 
 imperfectly comprehends the difference of the duties of the three 
 bodies to which he is called on to elect representatives — to say 
 nothing of those of the non-elective bodies — and is weary of repeated 
 pollings. The evil result is especially noticeable in financial matters. 
 The rate demanded by the Borough Council, as collecting authority, 
 is usually paid grumblingly without regard to or understanding of 
 the different details composing it, even so far as these are therein 
 intelligibly exhibited. Only occasionally does the ratepayer wake 
 up and then he runs amuck, blindly visiting the faults of one 
 authority on all those which he is called upon to elect. 
 
 The complexity of London administration is still further increased 
 by certain partial attempts to level the inequality of rating prevalent 
 in the different parts of London. The most important of the means 
 adopted are *. for Borough Council purposes, the fund under the 
 Equalisation of Kates Act, 1894 (which equalised expenditure to the 
 amount of £1,026,906 in 1904-5) and the Medical and Sanitary 
 Officers’ Grant (£32,659) ; and, for Poor Law purposes, the Pauper 
 Lunatic Grant (£171,181), the Metropolitan Common Poor Fund 
 • (£1,577,089) and the so-called Indoor Pauper Grant (a fixed sum of 
 
 £327,000 per annum). (See L.S., pp. 448-9 and 451). 
 
 The Boroughs benefiting by the Equalisation of Kates Act, 1894, 
 are (in order of greatness of amount in the £ by which their rates 
 ^ are respectively relieved) : Bethnal Green, Poplar, Camberwell, 
 
 Woolwich, Stepney, Hackney, Deptford, Fulham, Islington, Green- 
 wich, Battersea, Wandsworth, Southwark, Lambeth, Hammersmith, 
 Lewisham, Stoke Newington, Shoreditch, Bermondsey, St. Pancras 
 and Finsbury (L. S., p. 450) ; and the Unions benefiting by the 
 
12 
 
 Common Poor Fund are (in similar order) : St. George-in-the-East, 
 Bethnal Green, Stepney, Poplar, Mile End Old Town, Bermondsey, 
 Whitechapel, Southwark, Shoreditch, Camberwell, Greenwich, 
 Hackney, Holborn, St. Pancras, Woolwich, Fulham, Lambeth and 
 Islington (L. S., p. 448). 
 
 The rates raised by central bodies in London, including the 
 various equalisation funds (only two of which are separately stated), 
 were : — 
 
 
 1 1901-2. 
 
 1902-3. 
 
 1903-4. 
 
 1904-5. 
 
 Average for 
 4 years. 
 
 County rate (general and 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 special) 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 3-50 
 
 1 
 
 4-75 
 
 1 
 
 5-75 
 
 1 
 
 4-25 
 
 Education rate... 
 
 1 
 
 2-52 
 
 1 
 
 2-66 
 
 1 
 
 3-19 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 3-09 
 
 Police rate 
 
 Metropolitan Asylums 
 Board (common 
 
 0 
 
 5 
 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 5 
 
 charges) 
 
 Metropolitan Common 
 
 0 
 
 4-50 
 
 0 
 
 5-875 
 
 0 
 
 5-625 
 
 0 
 
 4-625 
 
 0 
 
 5-16 
 
 Poor Fund 
 
 Equalisation Fund 
 
 0 
 
 8-12 
 
 0 
 
 8-44 
 
 0 
 
 9-35 
 
 0 
 
 8-90 
 
 0 
 
 8-70 
 
 under Act of 1894 ... 
 
 0 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 6 
 
 Total 
 
 4 
 
 5-14 
 
 4 
 
 7-47 
 
 4 
 
 9-91 
 
 4 
 
 10-27 
 
 4 
 
 8-20 
 
 (From L.C.C. Paper No. 886, dated 8th July, 1905.) 
 
 The average for the 4 years of the total rates varied from 9s. 8d. in 
 Poplar to 6s. 4d. in the City ; the Guardians’ rate varying from 
 2s. 6'4d. in Poplar to Os. 2-8d. in Westminster, and the Borough 
 Council rate from 2s. 2-2d. in Battersea to Os. 9'5d. in Deptford. 
 The following table (from the source last quoted) shows with regard 
 to the Metropolitan Boroughs and Unions in detail the 
 
13 
 
 Avekage Eate for the Four Years 1901-2 to 1904 - 5 . 
 
 Boroughs and Unions. 
 
 Assess- 
 
 able 
 
 value per 
 head of 
 popula- 
 tion 
 (1904). 
 
 Eate 
 
 Total 
 
 rates. 
 
 in the £ le-s 
 
 Guardians’ 
 
 rates. 
 
 ded. 
 
 Borough 
 
 Council 
 
 rates. 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 Poplar B. and U. 
 
 4-8 
 
 9 
 
 8-1 
 
 2 
 
 6-4 
 
 2 
 
 1-2 
 
 Bermondsey B. and U. 
 
 7T 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 4-7 
 
 1 
 
 9-5 
 
 Stepney B. — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stepney U. 
 
 5-6 
 
 8 
 
 8-6 
 
 1 
 
 11-9 
 
 1 
 
 9-7 
 
 St. George-in-the-E. U 
 
 4-2 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 0-9 
 
 1 
 
 8-7 
 
 Mile End Old Town U 
 
 3-8 
 
 8 
 
 2-25 
 
 1 
 
 8-7 
 
 1 
 
 7-2 
 
 Whitechapel U. 
 
 6-3 
 
 7 
 
 6-2 
 
 1 
 
 0-2 
 
 1 
 
 7-5 
 
 Bethnal Green B. and U 
 
 4-1 
 
 8 
 
 0-25 
 
 1 
 
 8-8 
 
 1 
 
 2-7 
 
 Camberwell B. and U 
 
 4-9 
 
 7 11-6 
 
 1 
 
 4-5 
 
 1 
 
 9-2 
 
 Battersea B. (part of Wandsworth U.). , 
 
 6*0 
 
 7 
 
 10-25 
 
 0 
 
 8-5 
 
 2 
 
 2-2 
 
 Woolwich B — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Woolwich U. (part of) 
 
 5T 
 
 7 
 
 7-4 
 
 0 
 
 10-0 
 
 2 
 
 2-0 
 
 Lewisham U. (part of) 
 
 6-0 
 
 7 
 
 0-5 
 
 0 
 
 8-2 
 
 1 110 
 
 Greenwich B. — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Greenwich U. (part of) 
 
 5-9 
 
 7 
 
 7-55 
 
 1 
 
 3-8 
 
 1 
 
 3-6 
 
 Woolwich U. (part of) 
 
 6T 
 
 6 11-75 
 
 0 
 
 8-9 
 
 1 
 
 2-8 
 
 Hackney B. and part of U. 
 
 5-4 
 
 7 
 
 5-5 
 
 0 
 
 10-2 
 
 1 
 
 69 
 
 Shoreditch B. and U 
 
 6-7 
 
 7 
 
 5-5 
 
 0 
 
 8-0 
 
 2 
 
 1-4 
 
 Fulham B. and U 
 
 5-5 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 0 
 
 8-4 
 
 1 
 
 8-8 
 
 Holborn B. — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Holborn U. (part of) 
 
 15-3 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 0 
 
 11-0 
 
 1 
 
 9-8 
 
 St. Giles and St. George U 
 
 16-6 1 
 
 7 
 
 1-6 
 
 0 
 
 7-1 
 
 1 
 
 8-9 
 
 Wandsworth B. and part of U 
 
 6-2 
 
 7 
 
 2-4 
 
 0 
 
 8-5 
 
 1 
 
 8-1 
 
 Deptford B. (part of Greenwich U.) 
 
 5-5 
 
 7 
 
 2-25 
 
 1 
 
 4-6 
 
 0 
 
 9-5 
 
 Lewisham B. (part of U.) 
 
 6-4 
 
 7 
 
 2-1 
 
 0 
 
 8-3 
 
 1 
 
 8-1 
 
 Lambeth B. and U, 
 
 6-2 
 
 7 
 
 0-75 
 
 0 
 
 9-0 
 
 1 
 
 5-9 
 
 Islington B. and.U. ... 
 
 5-7 
 
 7 
 
 0-6 
 
 1 
 
 1-3 
 
 1 
 
 2-1 
 
 Southwark B. and U 
 
 6-2 
 
 7 
 
 0-3 
 
 0 
 
 8-8 
 
 1 
 
 5-3 
 
 Hammersmith B. and U 
 
 6-3 
 
 6 
 
 11-75 
 
 0 
 
 8-3 
 
 1 
 
 5-8 
 
 St. Pancras B. and U 
 
 7-7 
 
 6 
 
 11-4 
 
 0 
 
 8-1 
 
 1 
 
 5-1 
 
 Chelsea B. and U 
 
 11-5 
 
 6 
 
 10-75 
 
 0 
 
 8-4 
 
 1 
 
 4-6 
 
 St. Marylebone B. and U. 
 
 13-3 
 
 6 
 
 9-6 
 
 0 
 
 7-7 
 
 1 
 
 4-2 
 
 Finsbury B. (part of Holborn U.) 
 
 96 
 
 6 
 
 9-4 
 
 0 
 
 10-2 
 
 1 
 
 0-5 
 
 Hampstead B, and U. ... 
 
 11-7 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 0 
 
 3-3 
 
 1 
 
 8-4 
 
 Stoke Newington B.(part of Hackney U.) 
 
 6-6 
 
 6 
 
 8-25 
 
 0 
 
 9-9 
 
 1 
 
 0-2 
 
 City of Westminster — ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Strand U 
 
 63-6 
 
 6 
 
 9-3 
 
 0 
 
 6-6 
 
 1 
 
 3-6 
 
 St. George’s U. 
 
 26-3 
 
 6 
 
 5-9 
 
 0 
 
 4-9 
 
 1 
 
 2-5 
 
 Westminster U. ... 
 
 34-8 
 
 6 
 
 2-1 
 
 0 
 
 2-8 
 
 1 
 
 2-5 
 
 Paddington B. and U 
 
 9-8 
 
 6 
 
 5-5 
 
 0 
 
 3-4 
 
 1 
 
 5-4 
 
 Kensington B. and U 
 
 12-7 
 
 6 
 
 4-5 
 
 0 
 
 4-7 
 
 1 
 
 0-4 
 
 City of London (night population) 
 
 195T 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 0 
 
 3-6 
 
 1 
 
 4-3 
 
 Do. {day population) 
 
 16-5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Average for the Administrative County 
 
 1 
 
 8-9 
 
 7 
 
 0-5 
 
 0 
 
 9T 
 
 1 
 
 5-5 
 
 Note. — The Central rates included in the columii “ Total Eates” amount to 
 4s. 8’2d, except in the City. Figures sometimes do not quite tally owing to losses 
 in collection, adjustments between parishes, etc. 
 
14 
 
 These heavy variations in the rates raised are due in some 
 measure to differences of principle of administration adopted in the 
 past or present by local bodies (itself an evil within the boundary 
 of one and the same city), e.g., as to provision of buildings, giving 
 of out-door relief, etc. ; but chiefly to the difference in their 
 respective resources and necessities. (Compare column 1 of table 
 above and the table of pauperism next to p. 18.) Thus the richer 
 districts enjoy the advantage of a low poor rate, at the same 
 time profiting by the cheapness of the labour of the residents in 
 the poor districts, which are made still poorer by the heavy burden 
 of their own rates. 
 
 THE CITY GUILDS. 
 
 Property worth at least £20,000,000, clearly belonging to the 
 people of London, is still secretly administered by the 1,500 members 
 of the self-appointed “ Courts of Assistants ” of the 74 “ Livery 
 Companies,” the ancient trade guilds of the City of London. The 
 total property of these companies, including their valuable plate, 
 halls, etc., was estimated by the Royal Commission on the City Livery 
 Companies (which reported in 1884) to be worth about £15,000,000 in 
 1879-80, and to be then producing an income of £750,000 to £800,000 
 a year. They also estimated that the capital value would rise to 
 £20,000,000 in the next 25 years (see their Report, p. 30), which would 
 make their income at the present time about £1,000,000 a year. 
 This is derived mainly from land and house property in London and 
 elsewhere. Below are given tables taken chiefly from Firth's 
 “ Reform of London Government,” summarizing the Report of the 
 Royal Commission, showing their income in 1879-80, and details of 
 their expenditure out of corporate moneys in that year. 
 
 About a quarter of their income was held on special charitable 
 trusts, such as schools, almshouses, pensions to the aged — some 
 restricted to members of the companies and their families, some open.* 
 The balance of the companies’ income was “ Corporate Income,” 
 regarded by the members as being at their own disposal. Accordingly, 
 while generously contributing about £150,000 to various public 
 purposes (schools, technical education, charities, etc.), they practically 
 divided the rest among themselves, some £40,000 being paid to the 
 1,500 members of the respective courts of assistants (sometimes 
 consisting largely or partly of members of the same family) in fees for 
 their attendance, £60,000 in salaries to clerks and other officers, and 
 £100,000 consumed in banquets. (See Report, pp. 36, 37.) 
 
 Under the pressure of public opinion there is a tendency for their 
 voluntary contributions for public purposes to increase. A notable 
 instance is what they have done for the City and Guilds Institute 
 
 * Of their charitable income a certain part, say £30,000 or £40,000, was for 
 the benefit of City Parishes of London, or of provincial towns and villages — to a 
 considerable extent by means of doles in money or kind. See the Report, 
 pp. 33-34, and the Digest of Endowed Charities of the Livery Companies, 1868. 
 These do not include the City Parochial Charities, which (with a few exceptions) 
 have been consolidated, reorganized and their doles abolished under an Act of 1883. 
 
15 
 
 for Technical Education, though their support of this has tended to 
 fall off in the last few years. But the great bulk of their funds is still 
 at the sweet will of governing bodies in many cases inefficient and in 
 no case subject to any public audit or control. 
 
 Table Showing the Corporate and Trust Income of the 
 London Livery Companies, 1879-80. 
 
 Company. 
 
 Corporate 
 
 Income. 
 
 Trust 
 
 Income. 
 
 Total 
 
 Income. 
 
 Number of 
 Liverymen 
 
 Number 
 of Court. 
 
 Twelve Great Com- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 panies. 
 
 Mercers 
 
 £ 
 
 47,341 
 
 £ 
 
 35,147 
 
 500 
 
 £ 
 
 82,758 
 
 157 
 
 30 
 
 Grocers 
 
 37,736 
 
 38,236 
 
 214 
 
 35 
 
 Drapers 
 
 50,141 
 
 28,513 
 
 78.654 
 
 302 
 
 29 
 
 Fishmongers ... 
 
 46,913 
 
 3,800 
 
 50,713 
 
 432 
 
 34 
 
 Goldsmiths 
 
 43,505 
 
 10,792 
 
 54,297 
 
 170 
 
 25 
 
 Skinners 
 
 18,977 
 
 9,950 
 
 12,068 
 
 28,927 
 
 190 
 
 30 
 
 Merchant Taylors 
 
 31,243 
 
 43,311 
 
 195 
 
 35 
 
 Haberdashers ... 
 
 9,032 
 
 20,000 
 
 29,032 
 
 460 
 
 38 
 
 Salters ... 
 
 18,892 
 
 2,148 
 
 21,040 
 
 173 
 
 27 
 
 Ironmongers 
 
 9,625 
 
 12,822 
 
 21,617 
 
 52 
 
 55 
 
 Vintners 
 
 9,365 
 
 1,522 
 
 10,887 
 
 220 
 
 18 
 
 Olothworkers 
 
 40,458 
 
 10,000 
 
 50,458 
 
 150 
 
 44 
 
 Twelve largest of the 
 Minor Companies. 
 
 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 Leathersellers 
 
 16,395 
 
 2,333 
 
 18,728 
 
 139 
 
 Brewers 
 
 3,157 
 
 15,482 
 
 18,640 
 
 75 
 
 30 
 
 Carpenters 
 
 10,378 
 
 940 
 
 11,318 
 
 134 
 
 ? 
 
 Saddlers 
 
 10,243 
 
 1,000 
 
 11,243 
 
 92 
 
 24 
 
 Armourers 
 
 8,026 
 
 60 
 
 8,086 
 
 66 
 
 21 
 
 Cordwainers ... 
 
 6,154 
 
 1,600 
 
 7,754 
 
 96 
 
 20 
 
 Coopers... 
 
 2,420 
 
 4,700 
 
 7,120 
 
 170 
 
 20 
 
 Dyers ... 
 
 6,000 
 
 5,337 
 
 1,000 
 
 7,000 
 
 83 
 
 9 
 
 Cutlers 
 
 50 
 
 5,387 
 
 88 
 
 23 
 
 Stationers 
 
 3,170 
 
 1,576 
 
 4,746 
 
 312 
 
 9 
 
 Girdlers 
 
 2,932 
 
 1,374 
 
 4,306 
 
 91 
 
 24 
 
 Apothecaries ... 
 
 3,398 
 
 500 
 
 3,898 
 
 150 
 
 24 
 
 Fifty Smaller Com- 
 
 
 
 
 
 800 
 
 panies^ about 
 
 40,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 3,500 
 
 
 480,838 
 
 188,147 
 
 668,985 
 
 
 
 Annual value of Halls, 
 Plate, Almshouses, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 etc., about 
 
 100,000 
 
 _ 
 
 100,000 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Total in 1879^80 ... 
 
 580,838 
 
 188,147 
 
 768,985 
 
 7,500 
 
 1,500 
 
 Estimated Income for 1905. 
 
 
 . £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 
 
 
 755,000 
 
 245,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 
 
16 
 
 Expenditure of Corporate Moneys, 1879 - 80 . 
 
 Name of Company. 
 
 Corporate 
 
 Income. 
 
 Court and 
 other Pees. 
 
 Salaries. 
 
 Entertain- 
 ments and 
 Wine. 
 
 Maintenance 
 of Buildings, 
 &c. 
 
 Voluntary 
 
 Contribntions. 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 Mercers 
 
 47,341 
 
 8,766 
 
 5,643 
 
 4,909 
 
 7,729 
 
 15,236 
 
 — 
 
 Grocers 
 
 37,236 
 
 762 
 
 3,672 
 
 6,014 
 
 2,298 
 
 17,491 
 
 1,860 
 
 Drapers 
 
 60,141 
 
 4,984 
 
 4,149 
 
 6,112 
 
 16,576 
 
 12,320 
 
 997 
 
 Fishmongers 
 
 46,913 
 
 £6,994 
 
 9,311 
 
 7,247 
 
 19,993 
 
 8,344 
 
 Goldsmiths 
 
 43,505 
 
 1,576 
 
 4,292 
 
 6,266 
 
 ! 6,954 
 
 28,414 
 
 2,736 
 
 Skinners 
 
 18,977 
 
 2,566 
 
 2,617 
 
 5,602 
 
 1 1,498 
 
 5,272 
 
 2,212 
 
 Merchant Taylors 
 
 31,243 
 
 1,291 
 
 4,685 
 
 8,985 
 
 j 1,936 
 
 11,694 
 
 457 
 
 Haberdashers 
 
 9,032 
 
 2,496 
 
 762 
 
 2,024 
 
 ' 1,115 
 
 1,176 
 
 276 
 
 Salters 
 
 18,940 
 
 3,101 
 
 1,072 
 
 3,046 
 
 i 2,345 
 
 2,557 
 
 8,474 
 
 Ironmongers 
 
 9,629 
 
 873 
 
 1,534 
 
 2,479 
 
 i 2,866 
 
 1,057 
 
 1,350 
 
 Vintners 
 
 9,335 
 
 1,104 
 
 1,726 
 
 3,070 
 
 ! 1,607 
 
 1,508 
 
 499 
 
 Clothworkers 
 
 39,149 
 
 3,524 
 
 3,070 
 
 3,742 
 
 7,517 
 
 19,473 
 
 — 
 
 Apothecaries 
 
 3,398 
 
 296 
 
 498 
 
 778 
 
 153 
 
 631 
 
 — 
 
 Armourers and Braziers... 
 
 8,086 
 
 1,465 
 
 660 
 
 1,923 
 
 1,996 
 
 3,283 
 
 — 
 
 Bakers 
 
 1,911 
 
 347 
 
 186 
 
 778 
 
 384 
 
 393 
 
 — 
 
 Barbers 
 
 1,383 
 
 166 
 
 250 
 
 556 
 
 201 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Blacksmiths 
 
 684 
 
 -102 
 
 77 
 
 370 
 
 46 
 
 128 
 
 — 
 
 Brewers 
 
 3,157 
 
 307 
 
 773 
 
 628 
 
 478 
 
 606 
 
 — 
 
 Carpenters 
 
 11,318 
 
 941 
 
 691 
 
 1,289 
 
 973 
 
 1,227 
 
 2,147 
 
 Coaohmakers 
 
 1,179 
 
 182 
 
 131 
 
 238 
 
 353 
 
 178 
 
 — 
 
 Cooks 
 
 2,560 
 
 356 
 
 244 
 
 1,122 
 
 319 
 
 189 
 
 — 
 
 Coopers 
 
 2,420 
 
 1,461a 
 
 377 
 
 c 
 
 371 
 
 190 
 
 — 
 
 Cordwainers 
 
 6,259 
 
 £2,206 
 
 1,070 
 
 1,542 
 
 1,050 
 
 — 
 
 Curriers 
 
 1,295 
 
 129 
 
 278 
 
 320 
 
 1,250 
 
 105 
 
 — 
 
 Cutlers 
 
 5,885 
 
 702 
 
 585 
 
 2,343 
 
 695 
 
 1,155 
 
 20 
 
 Founders ... 
 
 1,853 
 
 271 
 
 250 
 
 410 
 
 839 
 
 54 
 
 — 
 
 Girdlers 
 
 4,356 
 
 319 
 
 442 
 
 1,052 
 
 1,461 
 
 177 
 
 — 
 
 Glaziers 
 
 285 
 
 36 
 
 45 
 
 189 
 
 — 
 
 11 
 
 — 
 
 Innholders 
 
 1,327 
 
 184 i 
 
 150 
 
 222 
 
 360 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Joiners 
 
 1,312 
 
 244 
 
 120 
 
 783 
 
 83 
 
 264 
 
 — 
 
 Leathersellers 
 
 16,395 
 
 2,200 ! 
 
 1,070 
 
 2,666 
 
 9,100 
 
 2,705 
 
 — 
 
 Painters 
 
 793 
 
 — 
 
 44 
 
 325 
 
 362 
 
 31 
 
 — 
 
 Plumbers 
 
 887 
 
 316 ' 
 
 86 
 
 398 
 
 E 
 
 66 
 
 — 
 
 Saddlers 
 
 10,243 
 
 3,140 ! 
 
 773 
 
 1,755 
 
 1,365 
 
 1,845 
 
 — 
 
 Scriveners 
 
 836 
 
 184 ; 
 
 114 
 
 383 
 
 D 
 
 245 
 
 — 
 
 Stationers 
 
 3,173 
 
 — 1 
 
 335 
 
 644 
 
 1,077 
 
 560 
 
 — 
 
 Wax Chandlers 
 
 1,375 
 
 2,092b 
 
 220 
 
 c 
 
 c 
 
 — 
 
 15 
 
 Wheelwrights 
 
 319 
 
 
 48 
 
 225 
 
 34 
 
 40 
 
 
 A Including Entertainments. b Including Law Costs, &c. 
 
 c Included with Court Fees. d Included with Salaries. 
 
 E Included with Entertainments. 
 
17 
 
 These companies formerly discharged various public functions 
 connected with their respective trades, and were once doubtless of 
 great public utility. Every trading citizen, rich or poor, man or 
 woman, could become a member, and was sometimes obliged to do 
 so. It is probable that the companies are still legally empowered 
 to compel every tradesman in the City of London to take up his 
 freedom in the company ; and that every tradesman or craftsman 
 has the right to be admitted ; and that they are bound to teach the 
 trade to all who come to learn, and to provide for their poor 
 members and such as are infirm or decayed out of the lands which 
 they were by charter permitted to acquire. 
 
 It need hardly be said that the companies themselves recognise 
 no such obligations. The Goldsmiths Company still does the 
 ‘‘ hall-marking ” of gold and silver ; the Fishmongers Company still 
 inspects and condemns stinking fish ; the Apothecaries Company 
 maintains botanic gardens and grants inferior medical degrees ; the 
 Gunmakers Company tests and stamps gun-barrels ; and the 
 Stationers Company sells almanacks and maintains not very 
 efficiently a register of published books. But these, with some 
 minor efforts of the Plumbers, Turners, Coachmakers and a few 
 other companies, practically cover the surviving public services 
 rendered in return for the magnificent public property administered 
 by the companies. 
 
 The necessity for reform has long been manifest. The Eeport of 
 the Eoyal Commission of 1884, signed by such moderate reformers 
 as the Earl of Derby, the Duke of Bedford, Viscount Sherbrooke, 
 Lord Coleridge, and Alderman Sir Sidney Waterlow, recommended 
 the immediate intervention of the State for the purpose of (1) pre- 
 venting the alienation of the property of the companies of London; 
 (2) securing the permanent application of a considerable portion of 
 the corporate income thence arising to useful purposes ; (3) declaring 
 new trusts in cases in which a better application of the trust income 
 of the companies has become desirable. It also recommended 
 that the companies should be compelled to publish accounts ; that 
 their constitution should be reorganised ; and that admission to the 
 livery should cease to confer the Parliamentary franchise. 
 
 POOK BELIEF. 
 
 The reform of the Poor Law and its administration is a national 
 rather than a metropolitan question ; but the size of London, the 
 extent of its destitution, the want of order or control in its charities, 
 hospitals, etc., and of system in its municipal life, make reform 
 specially urgent within its boundaries. 
 
 The administration of the Poor Law is committed in London to 
 31 Boards of Guardians, acting either for separate parishes (18) 
 or for “ Unions ” (13) of smaller parishes, and the Metropolitan 
 Asylums Board. Pauper lunatics, however, are sent to the asylums 
 provided by the County Council and by the City Corporation. 
 
 The Guardians are elected triennially in April. Their election 
 evokes the least interest of aU (see above, p. 3). At the Guardians’ 
 
18 
 
 election of 1907 there were only contests in about two-thirds of the 
 wards, and even where there were contests only 28*1 per cent, of the 
 voters on the average took the trouble to poll. Elected under these 
 circumstances the personnel of the Boards of Guardians is generally 
 not of a very high order. 
 
 Yet the Boards of Guardians have to perform functions which are 
 of the highest importance to the pubhc, especially to the poorer 
 citizens. They are bound by law to grant relief to every destitute 
 applicant ; but it rests with them to decide whether to grant “ out- 
 door relief ” in money or food ; or merely to admit the applicant to 
 the workhouse, the workhouse infirmary (for the sick), or the 
 “ labour-yard,” for imposing task work on able-bodied men. These 
 institutions, as well as the Poor Law schools* and the “ casual 
 wards ” are completely under their control. 
 
 The Metropolitan Asylums Beard is composed of 55 delegates 
 elected by the Boards of Guardians, with 18 members nominated by 
 the Local Government Board. It controls and manages 6 public 
 asylums for imbeciles (as distinguished from lunatics) ; 14 metro- 
 politan hospitals for the infectious diseases, of both paupers and 
 non-paupers ; 2 ophthalmic, 2 ringworm and 7 defective schools ; 
 3 convalescent homes, and 1 training ship and 3 remand homes for 
 children, and an ambulance service. Its gross expenditure in 
 1904-5 was £1,002,708 (L. S., p. 415), most of which is recoverable 
 from each union in proportion to its rateable value and practically 
 all of which ultimately swells the poor-rate. 
 
 The following table, taken from H. C., 1905, No. 81, L. S., 
 pp. 71 — 85, and the “ Statistical Abstract for London,” vol. ix., 
 shows : — 
 
 ♦ On 1st January, 1906, only 753 children were boarded^ut by the Guardians 
 of London Unions ; while of the children of school age maintained in Poor Law 
 establishments (not counting those of the Metropolitan Asylums Board, and not 
 counting children sent to Boman Catholic and other certified schools) 8,233 were 
 taught in pauper schools, and only 2,557 were taught in ordinary public ele- 
 mentary schools. (See L. G. B. Report, 1905-6, pp. 534, 535, and 572 — 576.) 
 

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18 
 
 election of 1907 there were only contests in about two-thirds of the 
 wards, and even where there were contests only 28‘1 per cent, of the 
 voters on the average took the trouble to poll. Elected under these 
 circumstances the personnel of the Boards of Guardians is generally 
 not of a very high order. 
 
 Yet the Boards of Guardians have to perform functions which are 
 of the highest importance to the public, especially to the poorer 
 citizens. They are bound by law to grant relief to every destitute 
 applicant ; but it rests with them to decide whether to grant “ out- 
 door relief ” in money or food ; or merely to admit the applicant to 
 the workhouse, the workhouse infirmary (for the sick), or the 
 “ labour-yard,” for imposing task work on able-bodied men. These 
 institutions, as well as the Poor Law schools’*' and the “ casual 
 wards ” are completely under their control. 
 
 The Metropolitan Asylums Board is composed of 55 delegates 
 elected by the Boards of Guardians, with 18 members nominated by 
 the Local Government Board. It controls and manages 6 public 
 asylums for imbeciles (as distinguished from lunatics) ; 14 metro- 
 politan hospitals for the infectious diseases, of both paupers and 
 non-paupers ; 2 ophthalmic, 2 ringworm and 7 defective schools ; 
 3 convalescent homes, and 1 training ship and 3 remand homes for 
 children, and an ambulance service. Its gross expenditure in 
 1904-5 was £1,002,708 (L. S., p. 415), most of which is recoverable 
 from each union in proportion to its rateable value and practically 
 all of which ultimately swells the poor-rate. 
 
 The following table, taken from H. G., 1905, No. 81, L. S., 
 pp. 71 — 85, and the “ Statistical Abstract for London,” vol. ix., 
 shows : — 
 
 * On 1st January, 1906, only 753 children were boarded-out by the Guardians 
 of London Unions ; while of the children of school age maintained in Poor Law 
 establishments (not counting those of the Metropolitan Asylums Board, and not 
 counting children sent to Roman Catholic and other certified schools) 8,233 were 
 taught in pauper schools, and only 2,557 were taught in ordinary public ele- 
 mentary schools. (See L. G. B. Report, 1905-6, pp. 534, 535, and 572 — 576.) 
 
-IBRARV 
 
 OF THE 
 
19 
 
 Of the 6,636 male able-bodied adults shown in the table as 
 having received indoor relief, 3,708 were described as in health and 
 2,928 as temporarily disabled. Of the 4,802 females, 2,304 were in 
 health and 2,498 temporarily disabled. Again, of the 3,540 male 
 able-bodied adults shown as having received outdoor relief, 1,117 
 were described as having been relieved on account of their own 
 sickness, accident or infirmity, and 2,423 as having been relieved for 
 other causes. Further, of the outdoor paupers, 1,425 men, 1,500 
 women and 1,122 children received medical relief only, which does 
 not disfranchise. 
 
 The total number of paupers relieved is always less in summer. 
 On 1st July, 1905, it was 138,276 (H. C., 1905, No. 81—1.). It 
 fluctuates, of course, also from year to year. Thus, while the total 
 shown in the table for 1st January, 1905, amounted to 31* * * § 8- per 
 thousand of the population, the proportion for the same date in 1903 
 was '29*4; in 1904, 29*6; in 1906, 31*7; and in 1907, 30*8. (See 
 H. C., 1903, No. 109; 1904, No. 84; 1905, No. 81; 1906, No. 272; 
 and 1907, No. 108.) 
 
 Of course the relief is not usually given permanently, even in 
 the case of the aged. But the total number of persons^ who 
 receive relief during a year is not generally recorded in an available 
 form. In 1892, however, a count was taken which showed that 
 while on the 1st of January of that year 60,676 persons received 
 indoor and 37,677* received outdoor relief, the total numbers of 
 persons receiving such relief during the year ending Ladyday, 1892, 
 were 160,737 and 152,779 f respectively (see H. C., 1892, No. 265). 
 Moreover, as to lunatics, figures are available showing that while 
 there were in the London County and City Asylums 17,552 patients 
 (pauper and non-pauper) on 31st December, 1904, the total number of 
 cases treated therein during the year ending on that day was 21,243 
 (see L. S., p. 162). As to vagrants there are no figures for the year. 
 We may assume that these proportions hold good as to the figures 
 given in the table above, and, therefore, find the number of paupers 
 relieved during the year 1904-5 to have been 186,600 indoor, 
 213,9001 outdoor, and 20,900 lunatics. We may guess the number 
 of vagrants to have been 10,000. This calculation based however 
 on the figures for a year rather above the average, would give a 
 pauper class seeking relief in London during the year of 430,000,§ 
 or 1 in 11 of the total population, 1 in 9 of the wage-earning 
 classes. 
 
 Unemployed Workmen Act, 1905. 
 
 Under this Act, passed in the autumn of 1905, a new organization 
 has been set up for the purpose of relieving, without the stigma of 
 pauperism, workmen temporarily unemployed for causes over which 
 they have no control. There are in London 29 “ Distress Com- 
 
 * Or, exclusive of those receiving medical relief only, 34,064.’ 
 
 t Or, exclusive of those receiving medical relief only, 110,862. 
 
 X Or, exclusive of those receiving medical relief only, 158,500. 
 
 § Or, exclusive of those receiving medical relief only, 375,000. 
 
20 
 
 mittees,” acting under the control of an authority with the barbarous 
 title of “ Central (Unemployed) Body for London.” Each Com- 
 mittee has a Labour Bureau or Exchange, maintained by grants from 
 the central body, where applicants for work can apply. From their 
 establishment up to 31st March, 1906, the Distress Committees 
 received 39,728 applications, including 575 from women. Of the 
 applications received, those of 23,838 persons (on whom 69,038 
 others were dependent) were during the period mentioned enter- 
 tained as deserving ; and of these 9,443 were provided with work by 
 or through the medium of the Committees. Of the persons whose 
 applications were entertained 50-2 per cent, were general^ or casual 
 labourers, and 24-9 per cent, belonged to the building trades. The 
 males among them amounted to 1’7 per cent, of the male working 
 population. The total expenditure up to the same date was £32,718, 
 which was defrayed partly by voluntary contributions and partly by 
 the levying of a rate which under the Act must not exceed -|d. in 
 the £ ; or Id. with the consent of the Local Government Board 
 (H. C., 1906, No. 392). In the year November, 1905, to November, 
 1906, they spent just about £100,000. 
 
 LONDON’S HOSPITALS. 
 
 London’s sick are provided for in 12 great general hospitals with 
 medical schools ; 11 smaller general hospitals ; 87 special hospitals 
 (many of these unnecessary) ; 41 provident and 38 free dispensaries ; 
 32 workhouse infirmaries and sick asylums; 42 poor-law dispensaries, 
 and 11 public hospitals for infectious diseases, and a considerable 
 number of convalescent homes at the seaside and elsewhere. (See 
 L. S., pp. 102 to 110 ; Burdett’s Hospitals and Charities for 1906, 
 p. 178, ihid. for 1905, p. 82, and the Annual Charities Eegister for 
 1906, pp. 103, 169.) These 273 separate institutions compete with 
 one another for funds, for patients, for doctors, for nurses and for 
 students. They are distributed geographically over London without 
 regard to present local necessities ; nor does a proper system of 
 co-operation exist among them. New institutions are started, some- 
 times under doubtful auspices; some of those already existing are 
 obviously maintained m^-inly as a means of livelihood for the staff ; 
 and institutions are not wanting in which the motive for healing the 
 body is to catch the soul. 
 
 The annual income of the 110 voluntary hospitals is computed 
 to have amounted in the year 1904 to £1,461,479 (equivalent to a 
 rate of about 8^d. in the £), of which about £270,000 came from 
 invested property, about £340,000 from legacies, about £150,000 from 
 “ King Edward’s Fund,” the “ Hospital Sunday Fund ” and the 
 “ Hospital Saturday Fund,” probably £40,000 from patients’ pay- 
 ments, and some £650,000 from subscriptions, donations, the 
 proceeds of bazaars, concerts, fairs, fetes, limericks and lotteries, 
 and all the thousand and one devices invented by officers at their 
 wits’ end for funds to maintain the 8,001 occupied beds (2,410 
 remained empty, chiefly through want of funds), the 120,674 in- 
 
21 
 
 patients and the 2,011,161 out-patients of the year. The 41 free 
 dispensaries had in 1903 a total income of £31,871 and dealt with 
 207,549 patients, while the 38 provident dispensaries, with an income 
 of £23,393, had the care of 77,055 members and their families. 
 
 But the number of beds provided by public authorities largely 
 exceeds those of all the voluntary hospitals put together. The 
 Metropolitan Asylums Board, on 31st December, 1904, was maintain- 
 ing 11 hospitals for fever and other infectious diseases with accommo- 
 dation for 4,981 patients, without counting the accommodation they 
 had ready for 2,000 small-pox patients. Any inhabitant suffering 
 from the dangerous infectious diseases is now admitted to free 
 treatment in its hospitals, and this is not to be considered 
 “ parochial relief ” (Public Health (London) Act, 1891, sec. 80). 
 Accordingly, 85-6 of the cases of scarlet fever notified in London in 
 1904 were admitted to these hospitals, 78'7 of the cases of diphtheria 
 and 51-6 of the cases of enteric fever, and any cases of small-pox. 
 The total number of patients treated during the year was 21,656.^ 
 
 The 32 poor-law infirmaries and sick asylums have accommodation 
 for 16,976 paupers, while during the year 1904 there were issued 
 114,158 orders for medical attendance (in addition to 17,223 outdoor 
 paupers attended without order). These orders are only granted for 
 a week or so, but may include a whole family. Their acceptance does 
 not involve disfranchisement (see Medical Belief Disqualification 
 Act, 1885). 
 
 One in three of London’s population will die in a workhouse, 
 poor-law infirmary. Metropolitan Asylums Board hospital, or 
 voluntary hospital ; one in eight will die in a voluntary hospital ; 
 these being the proportion of deaths in these institutions to the 
 total number of deaths occurring (L. S., p. 34). One in every three 
 or four of the inhabitants of London and its neighbourhood will 
 make some sort of use of one or more of the voluntary hospitals in 
 the course of the year. Yet the public have at present absolutely 
 no control over the establishment, the property, the expenditure, 
 the management or the extinction of these institutions. Only three 
 of them have to render any accounts to the Charity Commissioners. 
 There is no public supervision or inspection, and no public audit to 
 check their waste, Their property, consisting of investments pro- 
 ducing about £270,000 a year, and buildings very leniently rated at 
 about £80,000 a year, besides valuable plant, is, except in a few 
 instances, at the mercy of the governing body and trustees for the 
 time being. Their income is expended by boards of directors or 
 governors, usually co-opted or self-appointed, though nominally 
 elected by subscribers. Most of the management really rests with 
 the medical staff and officials. The only outside control is the 
 pressure put on them by the King’s Fund, the Hospital Sunday 
 Fund and the Hospital Saturday Fund in making their grants. By 
 .this means considerable good has already been effected. 
 
 But many were counted twice over, or even oftener. 
 
22 
 
 THE PEOPERTY OF THE POOR. 
 
 Of the vast amount of property, given or bequeathed by way of 
 endowment of various charities, much has been stolen ; and much is 
 still being jobbed or misapplied. No annual official statistics exist 
 of the charitable endowments ; no general public audit, super- 
 vision or control checks the waste or misappropriation of the property 
 of the poor. The Charity Commissioners sometimes interfere in 
 special cases ; but they have no general authority over charities as 
 such. Trustees of charitable funds are bound to render accounts to 
 the Commissioners, and, in the case of parochial charities, to the 
 Borough Councils (18 & 19 Vic. c. 124, s. 44), but many disobey the 
 law, which is not enforced. Those returns which are received are 
 not necessarily published. 
 
 There has recently been issued by the Charity Commissioners a 
 “ Digest of Endowed Charities in the Administrative County of 
 London ” (H. C, 1905, No. 309), which shows endowments appro- 
 priated in whole or in part for the benefit of London with a gross 
 income of £710,450. The principal heads are : — 
 
 For the benefit of parishes within the City 
 For the benefit of parishes without the City 
 
 Bridge House Estates, about 
 
 City Parochial Foundation 
 
 Peabody Donation Fund 
 
 Other General London Charities ... 
 
 Total ... 
 
 £ 
 
 ... 28,369 
 
 ... 298,478 
 ... 125,000 
 ... 92,805 
 
 ... 67,547 
 
 ... 98,251 
 
 ... £710,450 
 
 The Bridge House Estates are applied in maintaining the City 
 bridges. The City Parochial Foundation was formed in 1883 to 1891 
 by consolidating the charities of the smaller City parishes, and of its 
 income in 1903 of £92,805, £39,948 was applicable to Church 
 purposes and the rest for secular, chiefly polytechnics and institutes. 
 
 The Peabody Donation is for housing the working classes. 
 
 In addition, the City companies hold trust property which must 
 now be worth at least £200,000 a year, without counting their 
 “corporate income.” And the voluntary hospitals have an income 
 derived from invested property of about £270,000. The total income, 
 therefore, derived from property of these London charities is about ' 
 
 £1,200,000 a year, and the total annual income from all sources of all 
 the London charities must amount to several million pounds. The 
 Classified Directory to the Metropolitan Charities for 1907, published S 
 
 by Longmans, Green & Co., mentions 916 charitable institutions 
 having their headquarters in the Metropolis, and gives the approxi- 
 mate income of 731 of them as amounting in 1905-6 to £7,533,252. 
 
 The principal heads are given as : — 
 
 y 
 
23 
 
 Institutions for spiritual welfare 
 
 Charities for permanently afflicted 
 
 Hospitals, dispensaries, convalescent homes, etc 
 
 Charities for the aged 
 
 Institutions for food and for general relief 
 
 Voluntary homes, orphanages, etc 
 
 Institutions for reformation and prevention .. 
 
 ,, ,, education 
 
 ,, ,, social improvement 
 
 ,, ,, protection 
 
 £7,533,252 
 
 LONDON REFORM UNION. 
 
 ••• Hon. EARL BEAUCHAMP, K.C.M.G. 
 
 Cbairman w. maude, j.p. 
 
 1bon* XTreasurer. 1bon, Solicitor. 
 
 Et. Hon. SYDNEY BUXTON, M.P. C. E. BEAL. 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 F. W. GALLON, Trafalgar Buildings, OLaring Cross, W.C. 
 
 3 Banfter 0 . Central ©tKces. 
 
 BAECLAY & CO., Ltd., TEAFALGAE BUILDINGS, 
 
 1, Pall Mall East, S.W. Charing Cross, W.C. 
 
 Telephone : 1972 Central. 
 
 OBJECTS OF THE UNION. 
 
 To encourage good citizenship among all who live or work in London, and to 
 promote united action in furtherance of social reform and better Municipal 
 government. 
 
 To secure the adoption of Progressive principles by all Municipal bodies in 
 and around London. 
 
 To reform the present system of local taxation, the City Corporation and its 
 funds, the police, and the markets. 
 
 ^ To improve the administration of the river, docks, and Port of London, the 
 
 means of traniit-and lighting, and the Poor Law. 
 
 To promote a just policy for labour, better housing and sanitation, a 
 Municipal temperance policy, and the complete organization of all branches of 
 • education. ■ 
 
 All Progressives and those interested in the improvement of London and 
 reform of its government are cordially invited to join the Union. Subscription, 
 2s. 6d. per annum and upwards. 
 
 £ 
 
 3,265,189 
 
 275,551 
 
 1,166,458 
 
 670,335 
 
 581,018 
 
 462,200 
 
 68,294 
 
 562,832 
 
 230,810 
 
 250,565 
 
P. S. KING & SON, 
 
 — ORCHARD HOUSE, 
 
 Established in 
 
 Parliament St. 2 (S’ 4 GREAT SMITH STREET, 
 
 WESTMINSTER. 
 
 IPubllBbcrS, IParliamentar? an^ (Beneral 
 ... - » = Booksellers. = =» 
 
 MONTHLY CATALOGUE of all recent Parliamentary Papers, Reports, Bills, 
 etc,, also of the Reports issued by the India Office and Government of India, the 
 London County Council, and of Books and Pamphlets on Questions of the Day 
 — Political, Economical, and Social. Post free. 
 
 LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL. The Reports of the London 
 
 County Council, consisting of the Annual Accounts, Reports on Water 
 Supply, Public Health and Sanitary Matters, Fire Brigade, Works 
 Department, Technical Education, Rating and Taxation, Statistics, 
 etc., are published by P. S. King & Son. Catalogue post free. 
 
 RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 RATING OF LAND VALUES 
 
 Notes upon the Proposals to levy Rates in respect of Site Values 
 made by Arthur Wilson Fox, C.B., as Secretary to the Royal 
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