January, 1861, the metropolitan board were very pressing for payment of the amount for 1860 (five hundred and eighteen pounds, nineteen shillings, and one penny), threatening immediate proceedings if it were not made before the 25th of that month; the vestry, however, appealed through Mr Tite against this undue pressure, contrasting with it, the treatment received by the vestry of Kensington, who were in arrear many, if not all, of their instalments, and eventually the metropolitan board consented to receive the amount of the precept for their ordinary expenses of 1860 less this sum which was included in it. Thus it is that the sums assessed for the first four years have been collected in the district, and paid to the metropolitan board; but for the two last, 1860 and 1861, they have not been paid to the metropolitan board, nor have any steps been taken to collect the money in the district. METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS. The estimate upon which the sums were originally proposed to be raised by the metropolitan board of works for the services of the year ending the thirty-first of December, 1860, gives the following particulars as applicable to this parish:— £ _s._ _d._ Sewerage and Drainage 1168 17 1 Metropolis Improvements 411 5 2 General Purposes, viz.:— Salaries, Wages, &c. 271 16 8 Printing, Stationery, &c. 45 14 6 Rent, Taxes, &c. 23 9 0 Repayment of Loans, &c., special:— Principal 283 12 5 Interest 272 17 5 Ditto ditto, general:— Clergy Mutual, £140,000 255 15 2 Bank of England, £400,000 351 14 10 Clergy Mutual, £42,000 31 16 1 Contingencies 40 0 11 £3156 19 3 This estimate, however, having been printed and sent to the various vestries and district boards, underwent considerable discussion and some modifications, the principal of which latter, were, that instead of including the whole cost of the new buildings in Spring Gardens in the precepts for 1860, it was determined to spread it over three years; an item of £20,000 for deodorization was reduced to £10,000; the amount for special charges was reduced by £5,000; and the sum of £2,000 was substituted for £5,000 for minor improvements. These alterations, with a credit of £364 10s. 10d. (the remaining portion of the £3053 16s. 3d. adverted to in former reports), had the effect of diminishing the amount required from this parish to £2239 10s. 9d., and it was thus apportioned by the precept dated 11th May, 1860:—