The Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) is found, like the common lobster, from Norway to the Mediterranean. It is a smaller species, with long and slender claws and is of an orange colour, often beautifully marked with red and blue. It is found in deeper water and is generally captured by trawling. It is a curious and unexplained fact that nearly all the individuals so captured are males. It is less esteemed for food than the common species. In London it is sold under the name of “Dublin prawn.”
The rock lobster, spiny lobster, or sea-crawfish (Palinurus vulgaris) belongs to the family Palinuridae, distinguished from the Homaridae by the fact that the first legs are not provided with chelae or pincers, and that all the legs possess only six segments. The antennae are very long and thick. It is found on the southern and western coasts of the British, Islands and extends to the Mediterranean. It is highly esteemed for the table, especially in France, where it goes by the name of Langouste. Other species of the same family are used for food in various parts of the world, especially on the Pacific coast of North America and in Australia and New Zealand.
In Melbourne and Sydney the name of “Murray lobster” is given to a large species of crayfish (Astacopsis spinifer, formerly known as Astacus, or Potamobius serratus) which is much used for food.
(W. T. Ca.)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, a phrase specially adopted in English usage for the decentralized or deconcentrated administration, within a state or national and central government, of local affairs by local authorities. It is restricted not only in respect of area but also in respect of the character and extent of the duties assigned to them. It is not to be confused with local self-government in the wider sense in which the words are sometimes employed, e.g. for the granting by the crown of self-government to a colony; the expression, in a general way, may mean this, but “local government” as technically used in England refers more narrowly to the system of county or municipal administration, and English usage transfers it to denote the similar institutions in other countries. The growth and persistence of this kind of subordinate government is due practically to the need of relieving the central authority in the state, and to experience of the failure of a completely centralized bureaucracy. The degree to which local government is adopted varies considerably in different countries, and those which are the best examples of it in modern times—the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Germany—differ very much in their local institutions, partly through historical, partly through temperamental, causes. A certain shifting of ideas from time to time, as to what is local and what is central, is inevitable, and the same view is not possible in countries of different configuration, history or political system. The history and present state of the local government in the various countries are dealt with in the separate articles on them ([England], [Germany], &c.), in the sections dealing with government and administration, or political institutions.
The best recent comparative study of local government is Percy Ashley’s Local and Central Government (Murray, 1906), an admirable account of the evolution and working of the systems in England, France, Prussia and United States. Other important works, in addition to general works on constitutional law, are J. A. Fairlie’s Municipal Administration, Shaw’s Municipal Government in Continental Europe, Redlich and Hirst’s Local Government in England, Mr and Mrs Sidney Webb’s elaborate historical inquiry into English local government (1906), and for Germany, Bornhak’s Geschichte des preussischen Verwaltungsrechts.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD, a department of the administration of the United Kingdom, constituted in 1871. It is the successor of the General Board of Health, established in 1848 pursuant to the Public Health Act of that year. The General Board of Health continued in existence until 1854, when it was reconstituted. Its existence under its new constitution was originally limited to one year, but was extended from year to year until 1858, when it was allowed to expire, its powers under the various acts for the prevention of diseases being transferred to the privy council, while those which related to the control of local authorities passed to the secretary of state for the home department, to whose department the staff of officers and clerks belonging to the board was transferred. This state of affairs continued until 1871, when the Local Government Board was created by the Local Government Board Act 1871. It consists of the lord president of the council, the five principal secretaries of state, the lord privy seal, the chancellor of the exchequer and a president appointed by the sovereign. The board itself seldom meets, and the duties of the department are discharged by the president assisted by a parliamentary and a permanent secretary and a permanent staff. The president and one of the secretaries usually have seats in parliament, and the president is generally a member of the cabinet. The salary of the president, formerly £2000, was raised in 1910 to £5000 a year. The board has all the powers of the secretary of state under the Public Health Act 1848, and the numerous subsequent acts relating to sanitary matters and the government of sanitary districts; together with all the powers and duties of the privy council under the acts relating to the prevention of epidemic disease and to vaccination. The powers and duties of the board have been largely added to by legislation since its creation; it may be said that the board exercises a general supervision over the numerous authorities to whom local government has been entrusted (see [England]: Local Government). A committee presided over by Lord Jersey in 1904 inquired into the constitution and duties of the board, but made no recommendation as to any change therein. It recommended, however, an increase in the salaries of the president and of the parliamentary and permanent secretaries.