Conflict With The City
From the beginning of the commission's sittings the City were reluctant to have any dealings with the body. The main objection was that the terms of reference suggested a fait accompli, with the commission being given the duty of devising a method of amalgamating City and county, not whether this should go ahead. A special committee of the common council was established and in November 1893 advised the corporation to cease giving evidence, as the proposed merger was:
...a thing that should not be done and that the creation of a monster municipality is a thing to be utterly avoided, and the annihilation of the City equally to be avoided.
The Attorney General, Sir Charles Russell attacked the City's attitude. The only reasons he could see for resisting the merger were a misplaced pride in the office of Lord Mayor and a "too sacred regard" for the City funds. Following the receipt of a letter from the President of the Local Government Board the City agreed to resume tendering evidence in December on the understanding that the terms of reference could be modified.
However, in February 1894, the Corporation suddenly announced that they were withdrawing from furnishing evidence to the commission. The City's representative on the commission, H Homewood Crawford, resigned with immediate effect. The common council wrote an open letter to The Times explaining their actions: firstly the assurances given by the President of the Local Government Board regarding the terms of reference of the commission had not been honoured; and secondly the commission was refusing to hear their evidence regarding the position, powers and duties of the vestries and other local authorities outside the City.
Read more about this topic: Royal Commission On The Amalgamation Of The City And County Of London
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