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with remedying the consequences of this neglect, and averting
similar problems for the future. If the present plan of acquiring
open spaces to form a permanent "Green Belt" round London
is successful, the problem will be brought within definite, though
very wide limits, for the belt will He well beyond the County
boundary. Meanwhile, the decline in the County's population,
a source of anxiety to the Finance Committee, is the Parks
Committee's opportunity to increase the number of open spaces,
and gratify the growing demand for open air recreation. The
Highways Committee, which has to work in conjunction with the
Ministry of Transport and the London Passenger Transport
Board, is chiefly concerned with the widening of streets, and the
building of bridges to bear an increasing volume of traffic.
A Town Planning Scheme for London is in preparation, but its
results will only be fully apparent after many years.

GENERAL PROBLEMS.

The L.C.C. is an impressive example of the potentialities for
good in English local Government. During the fifty years of its
life it has been able to undo much of the evil done by centuries
of neglect, and to show how the wealth of the capital might in
part be used for the public advantage. So there has grown what
at first sight seemed impossible—a consciousness, among four
Trillion people, most of whom live and work in districts remote
from each other, of common citizenship and pride in collective
achievement. Ija the fifteenth century William Dunbay described
London as "The flour of cities alle"; three hundred years later,
Cobbett described the sprawling growth as "the great wen".
It is within the power of the L.C.C. to make Dunbar's judgment
once more appropriate.

In sheer size, the Government of London resembles that of a
State, rather than that of a local authority, and certain features
appear in its methods of work, reminiscent of the Central
Government. The leader of the party hi power, and the leader of
the Opposition have a recognised status, and enjoy the right to