278 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

to make a confusing picture. An example may serve to present
the facts m their proper relation. In the geographical County
of Warwickshire, there are about one-and-a-half million people;
over a million of these in the City of Birmingham, and over
150,000 in the City of Coventry—both County Boroughs—
manage the whole of their local affairs through their City Councils/
leaving about 350,000 people in the Administrative County.
Six Municipal Boroughs, ranging from Nuneaton with 45,000
to Stratford-on-Avon with 12,000, contain together some
165,000 people; these Boroughs have greater or less power
according to their size and history. Leamington, for example,
manages its own elementary schools, while Rugby, despite
its larger population, does not, as it has only been a Borough
since 1932. Three Urban Districts contain 50,000 people; the
largest, Solihull, with 25,000, is bigger than some of the Boroughs.
This leaves 135,000 people governed in Rural Districts and
Parishes under the supervision of the County Council. These
areas are adapted for Parliamentary purposes as follows:
Birmingham is cut into twelve Parliamentary Borough Divisions,
each returning one member, Coventry is a Parliamentary Borough
with one member, and the Administrative County falls into
four .single-member County Divisions. Throughout the country,
one of the most striking facts is the widely differing status of
town districts; compare with the City dignity of Coventry the
200,000 people of Harrow still organised as an Urban District
in the County of Middlesex* For while the dignity of a Borough
is gratifying, it is also expensive. It is an open question whether
greater freedom from County control will mean more efficient
service; the County Council may have insufficient under-
standing of local problems, but, being a larger authority, can
probably afford to employ more highly trained officials. An
argument about applying for a Charter may be an undignified
tussle between the partisans of an ambitious citizen who wants
to be Mayor, and a group who do not mind what their local
Government is like so long as it is cheap. But it may also be a