ate treatment, a similar process had been
going on. The Metropolis Management Act of 1855 established (outside the
city) two classes of parishes--the first class with vestries of their
own, the second class grouped under district boards elected by the
component vestries; and the Metropolitan Board of Works (abolished in
1888), elected by the vestries and the district boards, was made the
central authority.

In 1867 the Metropolitan Asylums Board took over its work from the
metropolitan boards of guardians. See further CHARITY AND CHARITIES,
PUBLIC HEALTH, EDUCATION, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, VESTRY, &c.

The system of local government now existing in England (see also the
article LOCAL GOVERNMENT) may be said to have been founded in 1888, when
the Local Government Act of that year was passed. Since then the entire
system of the government of districts and parishes has been reorganized
with due regard to the preceding legislation. The largest area of local
government is the county; next to that the sanitary district, urban or
rural, including under this head municipal boroughs, all of which are
urban districts. The parish is, speaking generally, the smallest area,
though, as will hereafter be seen, part of a parish may be a separate
area for certain purposes; and there may be united districts or parishes
for certain purposes. It will be convenient to follow this order in the
present article. But before doing so, it should be pointed out that all
local bodies in England are to some extent subject to the control of
central authorities, such as the privy council, the home office, the
Board of Agriculture, the Board of Trade, the Board of Education or the
Local Government Board.

The county and the county council.

_The Administrative County._--The administrative county includes all
places within its area, with two important exceptions. The first of
these consists of the county borough. The second is the quarter sessions
borough, which forms part of the county for certain specified purposes
only. But the county includes all other places, such as liberties and
franchises, which before 1888 were exempt from contribution to county
rate. For each administrative county a county council is elected. For
purposes of election the entire county is divided into divisions
corresponding to the wards of a municipal borough, and one councillor is
elected for each electoral division.

County council elections.

The electors are t