324 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

and manages much property, both within its own borders and

elsewhere. The City itself, and some of the City Companies

control secondary schools; but this is not comparable to the

ordinary local education service. The schools are Public Schools,

they are not within the City boundaries, and they draw their

pupils from a wide area. The sanitation of the Port of London,

and the markets near the City come under the Council's control.

The City is certainly a local Government area, but it is much

more; it is a separate institution within the State, charged with

functions which it has collected throughout its history, and

which, through the prestige and power of its citizens, it has been

able to retain. £iany ceremonies illustrate its dignity—the King

formally obtaining the City's consent before entering its confines,

the Prime Minister speaking at the Guildhall Banquet held after

the election of the Lord Mayor, the annual pageant of the

Lord Mayor's Show. The Lord Mayor himself occupies a position

similar in nature to that of ordinary Mayors, but surpassing theirs

as the Mansion House surpasses a Town Hall. He is particularly

noticeable as a contributor to, and organiser of charitable funds,

such as that for refugees in China. Under his auspices, civic

functions are arranged to do honour to distinguished people.

In time past, particularly in the reigns of Charles I and George

III, the City played a notable part in asserting the rights of the

commercial community, and the liberties of citizens against

attempts at royal despotism. Now that the struggle against the

Crown is over, the City is a staunch supporter of the Conservative

Party; there are no more such spectacles as occurred in 1771

when the Lord Mayor was conveyed to the Tower by order of a

Government subservient to the King, to return thence in state

amid the cheers of the people. ^

THE^LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL.

During the greater part of the last century, the districts
outside the City were ruled each by its own Vestry or Board,
and these bodies sent members to a.Metropolitan Board of Works/