The foregoing is a sketch of the scheme of local government carried out in England and Wales. No attempt has been made to deal with poor law (q.v.) or education (q.v.). The local administration of justice devolving upon the justices in quarter or petty sessions is hardly a matter of local government, although in one important respect, that, namely, of the licensing of premises for the sale of intoxicating liquors, it may be thought that the duties of justices fall within the scope of local government. It will be seen that the scheme, as at present existing, has for its object the simplification of local government by the abolition of unnecessary independent authorities, and that this has been carried out almost completely, the principal exception being that in some cases burial boards still exist which have not been superseded either by urban district councils or by parish councils or parish meetings. There are also some matters of local administration arising under what are called commissions of sewers. These exist for the purpose of regulating drainage, and providing defence against water in fen lands or lands subject to floods from rivers or tidal waters. The commissioners derive their authority from the Sewers Commission Acts, which date from the time of Henry VIII., from the Land Drainage Act 1861, and from various local acts. It is unnecessary, however, to consider in any detail the powers exercised by commissioners of sewers in the few areas under their control. AUTHORITIES.--G. L. Gomme, _Lectures on the Principles of Local Government_; S. and B. Webb, _English Local Government_; Redlich and Hirst, _Local Government in England_; Wright and Hobhouse, _Local Government and Local Taxation_; W. Blake Odgers, _Local Government_; Alex. Glen and W. E. Gordon, _The Law of County Government_; Alex. Glen, _The Law relating to Public Health_; _The Law relating to Highways_; W. J. Lumley, _The Public Health Acts_ (6th ed., by Macmorran and Dill); Macmorran and Dill, _The Local Government Act 1888_, &c.; _The Local Government Act 1894_, &c.; Hobhouse and Fairbairn, _The County Councillors' Guide_; Pratt, _The Law of Highways_ (15th ed., by W. Mackenzie); Archbold, _Law of Quarter Sessions_ (4th ed., by Mead and Croft); J. Brooke Little, _The Law of Burials_; Archbold, _On Lunacy_ (4th ed., by S. G. Lushington). (A. McM.; T. A. I.) GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY