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S' RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
BY
M. D. CHALMERS, M.A.
BARRISTER-AT-LAW
ILoution
MACMILLAN AND CO.
1883
85975
The Right of Tmnslation and Bepi-oductioti is lieserved.
P7-i>ttedby R. & R. Clark, Edinbiit^h.
fc
PREFACE.
5::
n
(^ Our political constitution rests for the most part on the
unwritten customs of England, but our system of Local
Government is almost entirely regulated by statute law,
even to its minutest details. There are about 650 Acts,
CD or fragments of Acts, of general application relating to
® local affairs. These public Acts are supplemented by
""* some thousands of local and special Acts, which apply
Qj to particular towns or districts, and accumulate at the
-^ rate of about sixty a year. Our local legislation begins
•H with the statute Be Officio Cwonatoris, passed in 1275,
and ends for the present with the Divided Parishes Act
of 1882. Between these terminal marks the various
Acts are scattered up and down in wild confusion. The
reader's journey through this dark valley of statutory
dry bones must needs be a dull one. Writing law books
is not a good literary training, and I have no power of
enlivening the pilgrimage, or making the way seem pic-
turesque. I have tried, however, to make the book as
intelligible and accurate as the nature of the subject
admits of. My difficulty is this : — Every principle that
can be stated is liable to be obscured by a dense over-
growth of local exceptions. To attempt to go into local
PREFACE.
details and anomalies would only confuse the reader and
render my task endless. I have therefore kept to pro-
positions of general application. For instance, in de-
scribing the constitution of Municipal Boroughs I have
not adverted to the special savings for , Cambridge and
the Cinque Ports or the long array of special Acts re-
lating to Liverpool and Manchester. Once for all, then,
whenever I state a proposition, I must ask the reader
kindly to repeat before it the formula, " Except as other-
wise provided by any local or special Act, and subject to
any exceptions or savings in the general Acts."
I have to tender my best thanks to Mr. E. S. Wright,
who most kindly gave me copies of the Memoranda he
prepared in 1877 for Mr. Whitbread and Mr. Eathbone.
I ha^'e found them invaluable. For the early history
of our local institutions I have mainly used Professor
Stubbs's Constitutional History.
M. D. C.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
iNTRbDUCTORY . . . . .1
CHAPTER 11.
General View . . . . .17
CHAPTER III.
The Parish . . . . .32
CHAPTER IV.
The Union . . . . .51
CHAPTER V.
The Municipal Borough . . . .61
CHAPTER VI.
The County . . . .89
viii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
PAGE
The Sanitary District . . . .101
CHAPTER VIII.
The School District . . . .124
CHAPTER IX.
The Highway Area, etc. . . . .132'
CHAPTER X.
The Metropolis . . . . .139
CHAPTER XI.
Central Control . . . . .148
LOCAL GOVEENMENT.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
Sphere of Local Government — Constitutional Importance — Local
Government in India — The Village Comnuinity— Comjiarison
of Local and Central Government in England — Rates and
Taxation — Position of Women — The Governing Classes — Local
Government in France.
The object of the present volume is to describe the
existing machinery of Local Government in England, and
to give a short account of those matters locally adminis-
tered Avhich do not form the subject of separate volumes
of the English Citizen Series. No English institution
is intelligible apart from its history. All our local
organisations have grown up spontaneously and irregu-
larly. A brief historical sketch is therefore included
in the description of the various local institutions Avhich
in the aggregate constitute our system of local govern-
ment.
By local government, as opposed to central govern-
ment, is meant the administration of those matters which
concern onh' the inhabitants of a particular district or
B
2 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
place, and which do not directly affect the nation at
large. The whole duty of an English citizen may be
subdivided into — first, his duty to the state ; and
secondly, his duty to his neighbours. It is with his
duty to his neighbours or the neighbourhood that local
government is concerned. This duty again may be sub-
divided into two main heads — one positive, the other
negative. The positive duty is the obligation to succour
and provide for the poor and the helpless. The ad-
ministration of the Poor Law, the education of the child-
ren of the poor, and the provision of lunatic asylums,
hospitals, and other aids for the sick, fall imder this
category. The negative duty may be summed up in the
precept of the common law forbidding any man to create
a nuisance. ^ It is the business of the Local Government
to see that the neighboiu-hood is supplied with pure water,
that the food is miadidterated, that the air is uncontam-
inated, that streets are properly lighted, and that the
roads are reasonably safe and sufficient. Fresh air, sound
food, and good water, are the essential conditions of pub-
lic health, and the knowledge of their necessity is happily
spreading. As long as general principles only are re-
garded, there is not much room for controversy concerning
the appropriate sphere of local government. The difficulty
consists in the application of admitted principles when
the question crops up in a concrete form. For instance,
prisons formerly were managed by the local authorities.
County prisons were under the control of the justices,
and borough prisons under the control of the municipal
councils. But by an act of 1877 the management of all
1 A nuisance is anything which is injurious to health, or which
interferes with the lawful enjoyment by a man of his own property.
I,] INTRODUCTORY. 3
prisons was transferred from the local authorities to the
Central Government, as represented by the Home Secre-
tary. In opposition to this act it was urged that prisons
stand on precisely the same footing as workhouses and
lunatic asylums, which are properly left to the manage-
ment of local authorities. The controversy over the
transfer was bitter and prolonged. Yet the principle in
obedience to which the transfer Avas eftected is admitted
on all hands. It is essential that criminal justice should,
as far as possilile, be administered throughout the land
with absolute imiformity. Gaols are part of the
machinery of criminal justice, and as long as they were
administered by independent local bodies the requisite
uniformity in carrying out sentences of imprisonment
could not be obtained.
Turning now from the sphere of local government to
its form, it is clear that whatever be the constitution of
a State, a vast amount of matters must be locally admini-
stered. These matters may be administered either b}'
the officers and nominees of the Central Gcvernment or
by the inhabitants of the particular districts concerned.
In England local afiairs for the most part are adminis-
tered l)y the inhabitants of the particular local areas
or their representatives. Local self-government is the
prevailing system. Constitutional Avriters lay great
stress on its political importance. They regard a
vigorous system of local self-government as the chief
corner-stone of political freedom. " England alone
among the nations of the earth," says Sir Erskinc
May, " has maintained for centuries a constitutional
polity; and her liberties may be ascribed above all
things to her free local institutions. Since the days of
4 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
their Saxon ancestors, her sons have learned at their
own gates the duties and responsibihties of citizens.
Associating for the common good, they have become
exercised in public affairs."^ "Local assemblies of
citizens," says De Tocqueville, discussing the townships
of New England, " constitute the strength of free
nations. Town meetings are to liberty what primary
s choo ls are to science ; they bring it within the people's
reach ; they teach men how to use and how to enjoy it.
A nation may establish a system of free government, but
without the spirit of municipal institutions (institutions
communales) it cannot have the spirit of liberty. The
transient passions and the interests of an hour, or the
chance of circumstances, may have created the external
forms of independence : but the despotic tendency which
has been repelled will sooner or later inevitably re-
appear."- Mr. John Stuart Mill is equally emphatic.
"I have dwelt," he remarks, "in strong language on the
importance of that portion of the operation of free
institutions, which may be called the public education
of the citizens. Now of this education the local
administrative institutions are the chief instrument.""'
"The principle of local self-government," say the Royal
Sanitary Commission of 1869, "has been generally re-
cognised as of the essence of our national vigour." It
would be futile to multiply quotations on the constitu-
tional advantages of local institutions. Local government
is not endangered in England. Its sphere is likely to
be increased rather than diminished. A legislative
^ Cond. Hist. vol. iii., eli. xiv.
^ Democracy in America, edited by Reeve, vol. i., oli. v.
^ Ecpreseiitative Governmeiit, cli. xv.
I.J IXTKODUCTOKY. 5
paralysis has lately seized on Parliament, and one of the
i-emedies which seems imperatively demanded is the
.
8 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
civilisation and English law, when brought into contact
with native usages and institutions, act on them as
powerful solvents. Silently and unconsciously their
. 17.
' Hep. Mun. Corp. 1835, p. 34.
70 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
those l)odies have l)een exercised. This object has been
systematically pursued in the admission of freemen,
resident or non-resident ; in the selection of mimicipal
functionaries for the council and the magistracy ; in the
appointment of subordinate officers and the local police ;
in the administration of charities intrusted to the
municipal authorities ; in the expenditure of corporate
revenues ; and in the management of corporate property."
As a rule the numbers of the privileged freemen were
strictly kept down, ' but political exigencies sometimes
created an exception. Thus at Maldon, where the
average admission of freemen was seventeen per
annum, 1000 were created during the election of 1826.
During the same election the corporation of Leicester
spent e£l 0,000 and mortgaged a part of their property
to secure the return of a political partisan.^ The political
abuses connected with the boroughs were swept away by
the Eeform Act of 1832. Many of the smaller boroughs
were disfranchised, the parliamentary boundaries of
others were resettled, and the franchise was bestowed on
all £10 occupiers, whether freemen or not. But the
spirit of reform had not yet spent itself. It was deter-
mined to reconstruct the municipal organisation of the
boroughs on a broad and popular basis, and to restore
their efficiency in local administration. In 1833 a Eoyal
Commission had been appointed to conduct a searching
inquiry into the nature and conduct of our municipal
institutions. Their Report, which has alreadj^ been
cited, showed that it was an Aug?ean stable that had to
be cleansed. Municipal functions were almost entirely
neglected, and jobbery, corruption, and oppression
1 Eep. Mim. Corp. 1835, p. 54.
v.] Tin: MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. 71
were almost universal. The great mass of the towns-
people were excluded from corporate privileges and
from any share in town government. The municipal
councils for the most part were self-elected, and the
members held office for life. In Plymouth, where the
population was 75,000, the number of freemen was 437,
of whom 145 were non-resident. In Ipswich less than two
per cent of the inhabitants enjoyed corporate privileges,
and of that two per cent a large number were paupers.
In Portsmouth, with a poi)ulation of 45,000, the number
of freemen was 102. The freemen in many boroughs
enjoyed exclusive trading privileges, and Avere exempt
from borough tolls and market dues. In Newcastle the
payment of these tolls made a difference to one merchant
of £450 per annum. In Liverpool the tolls were even
heavier. Corporate funds, which were not spent on
political corruption, Avere " frequently expended in
feasting and paying the salaries of iinimportant officers."
Pluralism in holding lucrative corporate offices was
common. Corporate contracts and lands were let out
to corporators on terms most beneficial to the latter.
In some boroughs the coroner Avas a small tradesman.
In many boroughs where the recorder had large criminal
and civil jurisdiction, he was not necessarily a lawyer.
In nearly all boroughs the aldermen Avere ex officio
magistrates. The juries Avere taken exclusively from the
freemen, and the administration of justice Avas tainted
Avith political partisanship. At HaverfordAvest the
o[)inion Avas given that " it Avas impossible to convict a
burgess." The corporate magistrates, apart from political
bias, Avere often Avholly unfit for the discharge of judicial
functions. At Malmcsbury some of the magistrates
72 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
could not read or write. At Wenlock it was their
habit to sign blank warrants. At East Eetford a magi-
strate on one occasion amused himself by fighting the
prisoner.^ The whole Report is instructive reading and
fully justifies the conclusion arrived at by the Commis-
sioners — namely, "that there prevails amongst the in-
habitants of a great majority of the incorporated towns
a general and, in our opinion, a just dissatisfaction with.
their municipal institutions, and a distrust of the self-
elected municipal councils whose powers are subject to
no popular control, and whose acts and proceedings,
being secret, are unchecked by the influence of public
opinion."^ The Commissioners reported in 1835, and
very eff"ective legislation followed on their Report in
the same year. The Municipal Corporations Act, 1835
(5 & 6 Will. IV. c. 76), swept away the abuses laid bare
by the Report, and provided a uniform constitution for
all boroughs to which it applied, based on the model of
the best administered existing municipal corporations.
The Act begins by reciting, " that divers bodies corjDorate
at sundry times have been constituted within the cities,
towns, and boroughs of England and Wales, to the
intent that the same might for ever be and remain well
and quietly governed ; and it is ex]^)edient that the
charters by which the said bodies corporate are con-
stituted should be altered in the manner hereinafter
mentioned." It then proceeds to annul all charters and
customs inconsistent with its provisions, and to frame a
model constitution, which, with slight modifications,
should apply to all towns then or thereafter to be brought
^ Jihm. Cor}}. Rep. 1835, p. 38.
2 Mun. Corp. Re}). 1835, p. 49.
v.] THE MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. 73
under the Act. In brief outline the reforms which it
eft'ected Avere these : it took away magisterial powers
from the aldermen, provided that the recorder should
be a trained lawyer, abolished all trading monopolies,
exemptions, and restrictions, shortened the tenure of
elective officers, gave the franchise to all inhabitant
ratepayers, and provided for the honest administration of
corporate funds and the efficient discharge of municipal
duties. It was at first intended to bring London under
the Act, but the intention was temporarily abandoned,
and down to the present day the corporation of London
retains its ancient constitution. The Act of 1835, which
constitutes the great charter of English municipal liberty,
has been amended by no less than forty-two subsequent
enactments. The whole, however, are now brought
together and reproduced in the Municipal Corporations
Act, 1882, proba])ly the best-drafted Act on the statute-
book. We have therefore now a complete municipal
code, and in the sketch which follows of our existing
municipal system the provisions of that Act need alone
be referred to.
Where a town, not being a city, is governed by the
Muncipal Corporations Act, the municipal corporation
of the place consists of the mayor, aldermen, and
burgesses, and is named accordingly.^ For instance, the
proper style of the corporation of Cambridge is "the
mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of Cambridge." When
a corporation contains a cathedral and a bishop, it is
entitled to the more dignified name of city, and its
burgesses are styled citizens ; but for purposes of local
government the distinction is purely one of name. The
1 See Act of 1S82 (45 & 46 Vict. c. f-O), sec. 8.
74 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
proper style of the coi'poration of Oxford, therefore, is
the mayor, aldermen, and citizens of Oxford.^
The boundaries of municipal boroughs have not been
settled on any definite principle, and there is no power
of readjusting them Avithout a special Act of Parliament.
They intersect parishes, unions, and counties. A muni-
cipal borough is frequently not conterminous with the
parliamentary borough of the same name. The bound-
aries of the borough may or may not be, though they
usually are, the boundaries of the sanitary district and
school board of the place. In short, boroughs are
carved out of the surrounding country in the same hap-
hazard way as other local areas in England.
Freemen, as such, have no rights as burgesses. They
are entitled to the parliamentary franchise ; and their
rights to a share in corijorate property and charities,
which existed prior to 1835, are carefully preserved;
but no claim to exemption from any borough tolls or
dues is to be recognised.- Xo person can now be ad-
mitted a freeman by gift or purchase.
The municipal franchise is rested on a firm basis of
ratepaying residence. Every person who occupies a
house, warehouse, shop, or other building in the borough
for which he pays rates, and Avho resides within seven
miles of the borough, is entitled to be enrolled as a
burgess. The right of women to be enrolled and vote as
burgesses is expressly recognised by the Act;^ but it
does not appear that they may hold any corporate office.
1 A municipal coi'poration lias a common seal, a perpetual suc-
cession, and the power of holding lands in mortmain. It may act,
contract, sue, and be sued in the corporate name.
2 Act of 1882, sees. 201-209. » Ibid. sec. 63.
v.] THE MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. 75
The main riglits and duties of a Ijurgess are — (1) That he
is entitled to vote at the election of councillors, elective
auditors, and revising assessors ; (2) That he is eligible
for any corporate office, and is liable to fine if he refuses
to serve on election ; (3) That he is eligible and liable to
serve on borough juries. The overseers annually make
out the burgess list for each parish in the borough for
submission to the revision court. Where a mrmicipal
borough is also a parliamentary borough, the revising
barrister revises the municijjal list at the same time that
he revises the parliamentary lists. In other cases the
revision court consists of the mayor, aided by two revis-
ing assessors. The revising assessors must be burgesses
who are qualified to be councillors, but Avho are not on
the council.
The governing body of the borough is the Council.
The Act provides that a municipal corporation " shall be
cai)able of acting by the council of the borough, and the
council shall exercise all powers vested in the corpora-
tion. The council shall consist of the mayor, aldermen,
and councillors."
The number of coimcillors is fixed when the l)orough
is incorporated under the Act, The qualification for a
councillor is that he should be " qualified to elect to the
office of councillor" — that is to say, be enrolled as a
burgess, or that, being (qualified, except in the matter
of residence, he should reside Avithin fifteen, though
beyond seven miles from the borough, and have also an
extra property qualification. A person who is interested
in any contract made Avith the council, or Avho is in holy
orders, or the regular minister of a dissenting congrega-
tion, is disqualified for the oflice of councillor. Elections
76 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
to the council are held on the 1st of November in every
year. The term for which a councillor holds office is
three years, and every year one-third of the councillors
go out by rotation. An outgoing councillor is eligible
for re-election.
The election of councillors is conducted on the model
of a parliamentary election. If a borough is not divided
into wards the mayor acts as returning-officer. If it is
divided into wards, elections to the council are held
simultaneously in the different wards, and an alderman
assigned for the purpose to each ward acts as returning-
officer. If more candidates are nominated than there
are vacancies, and a poll is demanded, the election is
conducted by ballot, as nearly as may he in accordance
with the provisions of the Ballot Act, 1872. In the
greatl majority of boroughs the elections are governed
by considerations of party politics. A municipal elec-
tion is regarded as a means of feeling the political pulse
of the inhabitants, and purely local c[uestions seem to
have but little influence on the result. Persons guilty
of corrupt practices at a municipal election are liable to
be punished in the same way as if the offence had been
committed at a parliamentary election. If it be desired
to question an election on the ground of corrupt prac-
tices thereat, the procedure is by petition to the High
Court. The petition is tried by a commissioner sent
down by the High Court, who must be a barrister of
not less than fifteen years' standing. The procedure
before him for the most part resembles the procedure in
a parliamentary election petition.
The number of the aldermen is one-third of that of
the councillors, Avhich, as we have seen, is a varying
v.] THE MUNICirAL liOROUGH. 77
number, according to the size of the borough. Any
person who is, or who is qualified to be, a councillor, may
be elected an alderman. The aldermen are elected by
the council at the ordinary quarterly meeting on the
9th of November. The mode of election is by voting
})upers, signed and personally delivered to the chairman
of the meeting. In the case of equality of votes the
chairman has a casting vote. If a councillor is elected
an alderman he thereby vacates his office as councillor.
The aldermen hold office for six years, one half of the
whole number retiring by rotation every three years.
Their longer tenure of office is intended to give an ele-
ment of stabilitj^ and continuity to the policy of the
council. If the mayor is temporarily incapacitated an
alderman may act for him, and, as we ha"\'e seen, AA'here
a borough is divided into Avards, an alderman acts as
returning-officer ; but apart from what has been referred
to, an alderman has no greater powers or other functions
than an ordinary councillor.
The Mayor is the chief officer in the corporation.
He has precedence of all persons in the borough. The
mayor is elected by the council from among the alder-
men or councillors, or persons qualified to be such. An
outgoing alderman is eligible, and as a fact an alder-
man is usually selected for the office. As he represents
the borough on public occasions, and especially when it
is dispensing hospitality, it is only fair that he should
receive a salary. The amount of his remuneration is
fixed by the comicil. The election takes place on the
9th of November at the ordinary quarterly meeting of
the council, and the statute directs that it shall be the
first business transacted at the meeting. Tlie mayor is
78 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
ex officio a magistrate for the borough, and chairman of
all meetings of the council. With the exception of the
mayor and ex-mayor, all borough magistrates are now
appointed by the Crown. The mayor is the returning-
officer in parliamentary elections, and in the election of
coimcillors if the borough is not divided into wards.
When the borough is not a parliamentary borough, in
conjunction with two assessors he acts as the revision
coiu't. He is also an ex officio member of the watch
committee. If he dies or becomes banki'upt while in
office, the town clerk must call a meeting of the
council to fill up the vacancy. If he is temporarily
incapacitated by illness or otherwse, he may appoint
a deputy.
We have now discussed the three constituent factors
of the council,— namely, the mayor, the aldermen, and
the comicillors. Directly or indirectly, as we have seen,
they are all chosen from and elected by the burgesses
at large. The Central Government takes no part or
share in their election. In France the maire and his
deputy the adjoint are the nominees of the Govern-
ment, and for the most part constitute very efficient
spokes in the municipal council's wheel. Spanish muni-
cipalities since 1869 have enjoyed the right of electing
their own alcalde, but this apparent liberty of choice is
fettered by a provision that he must l)e able to read and
write. In Germany the Crown has a veto on the
election of the burgomaster, and his appointment there-
fore requires the royal sanction.^ In England happil}^
no such restrictions are necessary, and our borovighs
^ See Cobdcii Club Essays on Local Govermnent, pp. 301, 349,
425.
v.] THE MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. 79
enjoy complete independence as regards the appoint-
ment of their governing body.
A few words must now be said about the officers of
the council. They are the Town Clerk, the Treasurer, and
"such other officers as have usually been appointed
in the borough, or as the coimcil think necessary."^ The
town clerk holds his office during the pleasure of the
council, and his salary is fixed by them. He has the
custody of the charters, deeds, records, and documents
of the borough, and it is his duty to issue the siunmonses
for the meetings of the council, and to act as secretary
to the council at their meetings and otherwise. The
treasurer, too, holds office during the pleasure of the
council, and his salary is fixed by them. It is his duty
to receive and make all payments on Ijchalf of the cor-
poration. All officers appointed by the council must give
security for the due execution of their duties, and there
are stringent provisions for making them account.
The officers above referred to are the ordinary staff of
every borough, but many boroughs have, in addition to
their normal functions, wholly or in part the organisation
of a county, having their own Commissions of the Peace,
and Courts of Quarter Sessions ; and this of course in-
volves additional officers.
If a borough has not a separate court of quarter ses-
sions, the council may petition her INIajesty in Council
to gi-ant one. The petition must specify the groiuids of
the application, and the salary that the council is willing
to pay the judge. The salary for the most part is a
nominal one of some £40 or .£50. In borough quarter
1 Act of 1882, sec. 19.
80 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
sessions the justices do not act as judges, but the office
of judge must be filled by a barrister of not less than
five years' standing, who is called the Eecorder. The
recorder is appointed by the Crown, on the recommenda-
tion of the Home Secretary. He holds office during good
behaviour, is ex officio a justice for the borough, and has
precedence next after the mayor. The same banister
may be appointed recorder for two or more boroughs.
The recorder may not be an alderman or councillor for
the borough, nor may he sit for it in Parliament. In
the case of unavoidable absence he may appoint a quaH-
fied barrister to act as his deputy for the next ensuing
sessions.
If the borough has, by prescription, a court of ciAdl
jurisdiction, the recorder is the judge of that court imless
some local Act otherwise provides. There are eighteen
boroughs having civil coiu-ts with very various jurisdic-
tions, but in several of these the courts exist only in
name, for the county courts have concurrent jurisdiction
and are preferred by the suitors.
The criminal jurisdiction of the recorder is the same
as that of a court of quarter sessions in the county, and
the procedure in court is strictly analogous. The maxi-
mum sentence which he can give is one of seven years'
penal servitude. On the civil side his jimsdiction is
limited, and the Act prohibits him from making or alter-
ing any borough rate or exercising any hcensing juris-
diction.
Incidental to a court of quarter sessions are the offices
of Clerk of the Peace and Coroner. The clerk of the peace
is appointed by the council and paid by fees. The
coroner also is appointed by the council. Any "fit
v.] THE MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. 81
person," who is not an alderman or councillor, is
eligible ; but if the coroner appoints a deputy to act
for him during unavoidable absence, the deputy must
be a barrister or solicitor. The coroner holds office dur-
ing good behaviour, and is paid by fees, which must
be certified for by the recorder. The duties of the
coroner and the procedure on inquests are the same as
in the comity.
If the council desire the appointment of a Stipendiary
Magistrate, they may petition the Home Secretary to
appoint one. If appointed, the stipendiary holds office
during her Majesty's pleasure. He must be a barrister
of seven years' standing, and is paid by yearly salary.
He has the powers of two justices acting together. Fif-
teen boroughs only have stipendiary magistrates.
In those boroughs where the county authorities have
no jurisdiction, and which are kno^\^l as counties of cities
or counties of toAvns, as the case may be, the coimcil
must also appoint a Sherift'. The appointment must be
made at the quarterly meeting of the council on the
9th Noveml^er, immediately after the election of the
mayor.
Under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875, the
council may be required by the Local Government Board
to appoint a public analyst.
Having Ijriefly described the constitution of the coun-
cil and the officers at its disposal, the duties and powers
of the council must next be considered. The council
must hold four quarterly meetings every year for the
transaction of general business. The mayor may also
call a meeting at any time. If the mayor refuses to call
a meeting, five members of the council may tall it.
G
82 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
Except in the case of the ordinary meetings the town
clerk must circulate a paper of the agenda three daj^s
before the meeting. The mayor, or in his absence the
deputy-mayor or an alderman, takes the chair. IVIinutes
of the proceedings are taken, and are confirmed by the
signature of the chairman of the next meeting. The
minutes may be inspected and copied by any burgess on
payment of a shilling.
The coxmcil maj^ appoint committees " for any pur-
poses Avhich, in the opinion of the council, would be
better regulated by means of committees;" but the acts
of the committees must be submitted to the council for
their approval.
The functions of the council are legislative as well as
admininistrati ve. ^
The Act empowers them " to make such bye-laws as
to them seem meet for the good rule and government of
the borough, and for the prevention and suppression of
nuisances not already punishable in a summary manner
by virtue of any Act in force throughout the borough."
The bye-laws may be enforced by fine not exceeding £5.
Power is given to the Privy Council to disallow any
bye-law wholly or in part. In the case of an Act of Par-
liament every citizen is bound to know and obey it, even
though it comes into force before it can be printed or
obtained by the public ; but as regards borough bye-laws
a concession is made to human infirmity, and no bye-law
can come into force imtil it has been promulgated for
forty days.
The administrative functions of the council ma}' be
divided into ordinary and special functions. A large
1 See Act of 1862, sec. 23.
v.] THE JIUNICIPAL r.OROUGlI. 83
numl)er of boroughs have special Acts under which their
councils are intrusted with special powers to carry out
particular works of local utility, such as Avatcr or gas
supply. With these of course Ave have no concern, but
there are numerous general Acts of Parliament Avhich
impose on various local authorities the duty of carrying
out their provisions. In the case of municipal boroughs,
the council for the most part is the body selected for the
performance of this trust. For instance, unless the area
of a borough is Avholly comi)rised within the area of a local
board, the council of the borough is the sanitary authority
of the place. As such the council has all the powers and
duties of an ordinary urban sanitary authority under the
Public Health Acts, 1875 to 1879.^ Again, in a borough
where there is no school board, the council has to elect
from amonur its OAm members a school -attendance com-
mittee to enforce the provisions of the Elementary Edu-
cation Act. So, again, the council is the local authority
to take action under the Artisans Dwelling Acts, the
Cemeteries Acts, the Adulteration Acts, and the Acts
authorising the establishment of free libraries, museums,
and schools of art.
The ordinary functions of the coimcil consist in the
management of the corporate property, the maintenance
of a proper police force, the regulation of markets and
burial grounds, the levying of rates, and, when necessary,
the raising of loans. In the absence of special local Acts
it is the duty of the council to see that the town is pro-
perly jDaved, lighted, cleansed, and supplied Avith gas and
Avater ; and Avhen by any local Act these duties are in-
trusted to special trustees or commissioners, poAver is
' As to these, see Chapter VII., Boards (post, p. 109).
84 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
given to them to make over their property and functions
to the council.^ The council has the same powers and
duties as regards borough bridges that the justices have
in the case of county bridges. The council may purchase
laud not exceeding five acres for borough buildings, and
may build " a town-hall, council-house, justices' room,
with or without a police station and cells, or a quarter
and petty sessions' house, or an assize courthouse, vnth
or without judges' lodgings, or a polling station, or any
other building necessary for any borough purpose." The
council are not allowed to sell, or mortgage, or let out on
long lease, any of the borough land without the approval
of the Treasur}". An exception is made in favour of long
leases of land for the purpose of working-men's dwellings,
under specified regulations. The misapplication of cor-
porate property (more especially for the piu'pose of any
parliamentary election) is severely punished.^ The main-
tenance of the police force is confided to a committee of
the council called the AVatch Committee. The watch com-
mittee must include the maj'or and such number of the
council, not exceeding one-third of the whole, as may be
aj^pointed to act on it. The watch committee must
appoint " a sufficient number of fit men to be borough
constables," and is empowered to make rules for theii*
regulation and guidance. The power of dismissal is also
vested in the watch committee. If in any emergencj'
the borough police force is not sufficient, the justices
having jurisdiction in the borough may appoint special
constables to assist.^
A short reference must now be made to Borough
Act of 1882, sec. 136. - Act of 1882, sec.
3 Act of 1882, sec. 196.
124.
v.] THE MUNICIl'AL 150R0UGI1. 85
finance.^ The subject may be considered under the tliree
heads of Expenditure, Loans, and Accounts. All rents,
profits, and receipts from coi'porate })ropcrty go to a
fund called the Borough Fund. All the ordinary exj)en-
diture of the corporation is primarily to be made out of
this fund. If the fund is more than sufficient to meet
the expenditure (a millenial state of things which, it is
believed, has yet never been realised), the svu-plus must
be applied, under the direction of the council, "for the
public benefit of the inhabitants and the improvement of
the borough." If the fund is insufficient, the council must
from time to time order a rate, called a Borough Bate,
to be made in the Ijorough to make up the deficiency.
The council assess the amount to be contributed for each
parish. The assessment is usually based on the poor-rate
valuation, but a special valuation may be made if neces-
sary. The rate is collected by the overseers — that is to
say, they are responsible for its collection. Provision is
made for adjusting accoimts between the borough and the
county, when borough prisoners are sent for trial into the
county. The expenses of the police force are in certain
cases provided for out of a special rate, called the Watch
Bate, instead of out of the borough rate. If on inspection
the force is certified to be efficient, the Treasuiy make a
grant in aid amounting to half the pay of the men.
The Treasury also contribute towards the cost of criminal
prosecutions.
AVhere expenditure is incurred on works of utility of
a more or less permanent character, the necessary funds
are usually raised by loan, repayable by instalments and
1 The subject of local expenditure and taxation is dealt with at
length by Jlr. A. J. Wilson in another volume of this series.
86 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
charged on the rates. If the benefit of a town improve-
ment "v\^ll last for several years, it is only fair that the
payments for it should be made over an equivalent period
of time, so that all who enjoy the fruits of it should join
in bearing the corresponding burden, JNIr. Bunce has
very clearly summed up the many and complex proA'i-
sions of the law relating to -loans in his essay on Urban
Government.^ "Under the Act of 1835," he observes,
" it was contemplated that loans would only be raised
for ordinary mmiicipal purposes ; but subsequent legis-
lation has enlarged the extent and variety of borrowing
powers exercised by municipal corporations in propor-
tion to the new duties and fimctions imposed upon
municipalities. Thus separate loans may now be bor-
rowed, under general Acts of Parliament, for ordi-
nary municipal purposes, for cemeteries, lunatic asylums,
parks, baths, hospitals, sewerage, and other sanitary
works, industrial and reformatory schools, libraries,
public buildings and dwelling - house improvement
schemes ; Avhile under local Acts money may be borrowed
for any purpose that Parliament can be induced to
sanction. The general loans above mentioned are repay-
able either by equal annual instalments of principal and
interest, or by a sinking fund within terms of years
specified either in the respective enabling Acts or by the
central authorities, whose consent must be obtained pre-
viously to borrowing. These authorities are in some in-
stances the Treasury, in others the Home Ofiice, in a few
cases (such as harbours and piers) the Board of Trade,
l)ut usually — and especially "w-ith reference to sanitary
works and improvement schemes — the Local Government
1 Cobden Chth Essays, 1882, p. 282.
v.] THE MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. 87
Board. In each instance, when a loan is required by a
municipal corijoration, the controlling authoiity has to
bo applied to for its consent. A local inquiry, after due
notice, is then held, and if the loan is approved a term
of years over which the repayment is to extend is fixed
by the central authority. A further check to reckless
expenditure is i)rovided l)y the requirement that a
municipal corporation shall not promote any bill in Parlia-
ment unless it be approved by un absolute majority of the
council, and also by a public meeting of ratepayers, and
has further received the concurrence of the central au-
thority." Most of the municipalities have availed them-
selves largely of their borrowing powers. According to the
Local Taxation Returns of 1882, Manchester and Bradford
have each a debt of close upon £1,000,000 ; Birmingham
owes £500,000 ; while the Liverpool debt is only £1000.
The accounts of most local authorities are now aud-
ited by the Local Government Board, but boroughs are
exempt from this jurisdiction. The audit is conducted
by three borough auditors, two elected by the burgesses,
called elective auditors, and one appointed by the mayor,
called the mayor's auditor. An elective auditor must be
qualified to be a councillor, but must not be a member
of the council. The mayor's auditor must be a member
of the council. The treasurer must make up his accoimts
half yeaily, and within a month of making them up
must submit them with the necessary papers and vouchers
to the auditors. After the second audit of the financial
year the town clerk must make a return to the Local
Government Board of the receipts and exi)enditiu'e of
the corporation for the year. The return must be sent
within a month of the completion of the audit. It is
88 LOCAL CxOVERNilEXT. [chap. v.
the duty of the Local Government Board to prepare an
annual abstract of these returns for submission to Parlia-
ment.^ A somewhat curious check is provided to pre-
vent the application of borough funds to improper or
unauthorised objects. The Act provides that every order
of the coimcil for the payment of money out of the
borough fund must be signed by three members and
countersigned by the to-s\Ti clerk, and then enacts that
" any such order may be removed into the Queen's Bench
Division of the High Coui't of Justice by Avi-it of certiorari,
and may be wholly or partly disallowed or confirmed, with
or without costs, according to the judgment and discre-
tion of the Court." ^ The High Court is thus constituted
a kind of casual auditor, Avhose aid can lae called in
when the regular audit fails. Judging from the reports,
recourse is not often had to this deus ex machind. A
defect in our municipal system is the absence of anything
in the natiu'e of a toAra budget. In France every com-
mune, as well as the arrondissement and the department,
has its annual budget sho^dng its financial position, and
estimating its financial requirements for the year to come.
If some such system could be introduced into England
it would probably do much to check local extravagance.
One other point remains to be touched on, and that
is the relation of boroughs to the Central Government.
As Ave have seen, the controlling poAver of the Central
Executive is piu^ely negative. It can disalloAv certain
things, such as parting Avith corporate proi^erty or the
creation of loans on the security of the rates, but there
its j)OAver of interference begins and ends. In all other
matters a municij^ality enjoys, A\^thin the limits of the
laAv, an unfettered liberty of action.
1 See Act of 1882, sees. 25-28.
CHAPTER VI.
THE COUNTY.
The County — History of the Shire or County — County Officers
— The Lord Lieutenant — The Sheriff— Tlie Coroner— The
Justices — County Jurisdiction — County Finance.
For certain administrative purposes England is divided
into counties. The term "county" is the Norman
equivalent of the old Saxon " shire." ^ There is a third
synonym, namely, the hybrid word " bailiwick," a term
still used in legal phraseology. There are forty coun-
ties in England and twelve in Wales. In addition to
the counties properly so called, there are, as we have
seen, eighteen towns called " counties of cities " and
" counties of towns " outside the jurisdiction of the
counties Avithin which they are situate, and Avhich, for
many purposes — chiefly in relation to the administration
of justice — have themselves the organisation of a county.
For parliamentary elections the counties, for the most
part, have been cut up into divisions, and for electoral
purposes the divisions so created are in effect distinct
counties. The area of the county has no relation to
any other local government area except the obsolete
hundred. The bomidaries of the county are intersected
^ " Shire " means sliare; thus the diocese of a bishop was called
his "shire."
90 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
hy the boundaries of boroughs, sanitary districts, highway
districts, unions, parishes, school boards, and burial
boards. Counties differ much both in size and population.
Rutland contains 94,889 acres and 21,000 inhabitants.
Yorkshire contains 3,882,851 acres, and has a popula-
tion of 2,886,000 persons. Formerly there were many
liberties exempt from county jurisdiction, but under an
Act of 18.50 nearly all of them have now been merged
and obliterated in the covmties within which they were
situated. Ely and the Cinque Ports, however, for many
jjurposes still retain their old exemptions.
The division of England into shires dates as far back,
at any rate, as the reign of King Edgar, though the
boundaries of some of the northern counties seem to
have been altered since the Conquest. In Saxon times
the government of the shires was representative. The
shire moot, the governing assembly, was composed of
all lords of lands, and of the reeve and four selected men
from each to\\Tiship. The presiding officers were the
ealdorman, a royal nominee, and the shire-reeve or
sheriff, an elected officer, Avho it seems generally held
office for life. The functions of the shire moot or folk
moot were at once administrative, legislative, and judicial.
The suitors — that is, all who attended — were the judges.
The power of the Central Government made itself felt
but little, and the various shires Avere almost as independ-
ent as the different states in the United States. In
early Norman times much of this independence was still
preserved. The shire moot had become the county
court. The royal power, however, was making itself
more felt. Royal judges, the justices in eyre, made their
circuits through the land, and tried the more important
VI.] TJIE COUNTY. 91
criminal and civil cases ; but they tried these cases in
the county assembly. The office of ealdorman was dis-
appearing, and the chief officer was the sheriff or vice-
comes, Avho was no longer elected, but was a nominee
of the Crown and the farmer of the royal taxes, holding
office for a single year only. The county court of the
thirteenth century is thus descril^ed by Professor Stubl)S :^
— "In its full session, — that is, as it attended the itinerant
justices of the king on their visitations, — it contained the
archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, knights,
and freeholders, and from each township four men and the
reeve, and from each borough twelve burghers. It was still
the folk moot, the general assembly of the people. It con-
tained thus all the elements of a local parliament — all the
members of the body politic in as full rei)resentation as
the Three Estates afterwards enjoj'ed in Parliament. The
county court sat once a month, but the monthly sessions
were only attended by those who had special business.
For the holding of a full county court for extraordinar}'
business a special summons was always issued. In the
county courts, and under the presidency of the sheriff,
all the business of the shire was transacted, and the act
of the county court was the act of the shire in matters
military, judicial, and fiscal, in the details of police
management, and in questions — when such questions
arose — comiccted with the general administration of the
county." From this time onwards the history of the
county court is a history of deca}-. Its criminal juris-
diction has been taken from it and transferred either to
royal commissioners — that is, the judges on circuit — or to
the county justices, who are nominees of the Crown.
1 Comt. Hist. vol. ii. p. 20.'..
92 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
The judicial functions of the suitors are now represented
by the jury system, which has slowly developed; and the
right of the grand jury to make presentments on matters
of local interest or importance is perhaps a survival of
the old right of the county to approach the Cro^\^l in its
corporate capacity. The civil jurisdiction of the county
court has been transferred either to the High Court or
to the new statutory county courts, established in 1846,
whose circuits have no relation to county boundaries,
and whose judges are barristers appointed by the Crown.
The ancient county court presided over by the sheriff
has now Imt few functions left. For parliamentary
elections the counties have been subdivided into divisions,
which, for electoral purposes, are distinct counties, and
the freehold voters have been swamped by the new £12
occupiers. The comity coroner is still elected in the county
court ; and if any one were outlawed his outlaMTy must
be proclaimed in the county court. In theory it is still
the duty of the sheriff to proclaim in the county court all
new Acts passed by the Legislature. But there its func-
tions end, and the ancient county court is but a pale
shadow of its former self. In theory, in case of any
sudden disturbance, the sheriff might still command all
the men of the county to attend him to quell it ; but
practically the lord-lieutenant and the justices are
reckoned the responsible guardians of public tranquillity.
The posse comitatus, the power of the county, headed
by the sheriff, exists only in name. All military tenures
of land were abolished in the seventeenth century, and
the modern county militia, established in the eighteenth
century, has no connection Avith the old assembly of the
county in arms, called together by the royal commission
vr.] THE COUNTY. 93
of array. The existing judicial and police functions of
the county are dealt with in another volume of this
series.^ It is onlj' its administrative powers and duties
that concern us here. The present administrative func-
tions of the county have been created Ijy a series of
statutes ranging from Tudor times down to the present
day. The body selected for the exercise of those func-
tions is not the old county court, but the justices of the
peace for the county assembled either in quarter or
special sessions. The counties are subdivided into
petty sessional divisions, and the special sessions are
merely petty sessions called and meeting for some special
puri)ose. The civil organisation of the modern county
consists of the Lord-Lieutenant and Gustos Eotulorum,
the Justices and Clerk of the Peace, the Sheriff, the Cor-
oner, the County Anal3-st, the County Surveyor, and the
County Police.
The office of Lord-Lieutenant dates from the time of
Henry VIIL He holds office under a special commission
from the Cro^\ai, and is usually a peer or other large
landowner. His office, says Hallam,'- " may be consid-
ered as a revival of the ancient local earldom, and it
certainly took away from the sheriff a great part of the
dignity and importance which he had acquired since the
discontinuance of that office. Yet the lord -lieutenant
has so i)eculiarly military an authority that it does not
in any degree control the civil i)Ower of the sherifi" as
the executive minister of the law." By an Act of 1871,
however, the militia jurisdiction of the lord-lieutenant
has been taken from him and revested in the Cro^vn.
^ See Justice and Police, by F. Pollock.
^ Const. Hist. vol. ii. p. 134.
94 ' LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
The lord -lieutenant usually holds also the office of
custos rohdorimi, or keeper of the records. As such he
is the principal justice of the county, and it devolves on
him to appoint the clerk of the peace, Avho acts as clerk
to the sessions. As connected Avith county administra-
tion, his main function is the recommendation of qualified
persons for the office of justice of the peace. It is said
that party politics are not always disregarded in con-
sidering the qualifications of persons anxious for the
commission of the peace.
The office of Sheriff dates back to the time when the
shires themselves were formed. As we have seen, the
sheriff was formerly an elective officer ; but by a statute
of Edward III.^ it is provided that "no sheriff shall
tarry in his bailiwick over one year ; and then another
convenient shall be ordained in his place that hath land
sufficient in his bailiwick by the chancellor, treasurer, and
chief baron of the Exchequer, taking unto them the chief
justice of the one bench and the other if they be present ;
and that shall be done yearly on the morrow of All Souls
at the Exchequer." In accordance -with this statute,
the judges of the High Court and the officers of the
Exchequer still meet annually and " prick " for sheriffs.
The ceremony is called pricking, because a list of qualified
persons is laid before the judges, and a pin prick is put
opposite the names of those selected. The sheriff is
an unpaid officer, and he is liable to a heavy fine if he
refuses to serve. The relations of the sheriff to the
ancient county court have already been discussed. His
duties as returning-officer at parliamentary elections are
not within the scope of this volume to describe. For-
1 U Ed. in. c. 7.
VI.] THE COUNTY. 95
merly all prisoners were held to l)e in his custody, l)ut
this jurisdiction was taken from him by an Act of 1877,
which transferred all prisons to the Central Govern-
ment. He takes precedence of all persons in the county,
except the judges on circuit. His main duties are to
attend the judges, to summon and return juries, and to
act as the executive officer of the High Court. The
sheriff in his ministerial capacity is the officer charged
with enforcing all judgments of the High Court. His
ministerial duties are discharged by the under-sheriff,
but the sherift' is held responsible for their due perform-
ance. During his year of office the sheriff may not act
as a justice of the peace. For purposes of county
government, therefore, his office is now but of little
account. Its interest is historical rather than practical.
The office of Coroner is a very ancient one, dating back,
at any rate, to the reign of King Alfred. It is regulated
partly by common law, partly by a series of forty-nine
statutes, beginning in 1275, and ending with an Act
of 1882. The name is said to be derived a caivnd,
because the coroner was originally a roj^al officer ; but
for many centuries the county coroners have been elective
officers. The right of the counties to elect their own
coroners is confirmed by the statute 3 Ed. I. c. 10.^
As Ave have seen, municipal boroughs Avith quarter
^ After reciting that " iiu-au persons ami niulisereet" liail lately
been chosen, the Act provides tliat "through all shires sufficient
men shall be chosen to be coroners. " And in furtherance of this
legislation a statute of Ed. III. enacts that "all coroners of the
counties shall be chosen in the full counties by the eonnnons of
the same counties of the most meet and lawful people that shall be
found in the said counties to execute the said office. Saved always
to the king and other lords which ought to make such coroners
their seignories and franchises. "
96 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
sessions elect their own coroners. There are also cer-
tain franchises and liberties which have coroners of their
own, and within whose precincts the county coroner cannot
act. In such places the coroner is usually appointed by
the lord of the manor, but in one franchise in Cheshire the
office is said to go with an hereditary horn. In a manor
in Essex the tenants appoint. In another franchise the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners apj^oint. The number of
these franchise-coroners, as they are called, is said to be
fifty -five. There are 175 county coroners acting for coun-
ties or divisions of counties. They are very unequally dis-
tributed over the country. Middlesex has five coroners.
The little count)^ of Huntingdon has also five; while
Dorsetshire has eleven. ■'• When the office of county
coroner falls vacant a writ de coronatore eligendo issues
from the Petty Bag Office, commanding the sheriff to
hold an election in full county court. At the election
every freeholder of the coimty, or diAasion of the county
for which the election is held, is entitled to vote. Any
person claiming to vote may be required to declare his
qualification on oath. Although the office is judicial in
its nature, no professional cpialification is required. The
only requisite is that the candidate should possess some
freehold interest in the county. A share in a freehold
grave has been held sufficient. Deservedly or unde-
servedly, from the time of Shakspeare do-\^Tiwards,
crowner's quest law has not been held in high estimation.
The elections are often hotly contested, and as much as
,£10,000 or £12,000 is said to be sometimes expended on
a single election. By a recent Act it is proAided that the
poll is not to remain open for more than one day. A
^ See speech of Lord F. Hervey, 1876, Hansard, vol. 230, p. 1301.
VI.] THE COUNTY. 97
coroner ordinarily holds office for life, l»ut may be re-
moved by the Lord Chancellor for misconduct or incom-
petence. The fact that a coroner for one county was
imprisoned in another was held sufficient to justify his
removal. A county coroner is paid by salary, the amount
of which is fixed by agreement between himself and the
justices. It seems that the amount may be revised every
five years. Provision is now made by which a county
coroner may appoint a deputy to act for him in case of
illness or unavoidable absence. The deputy must be
cither a barrister, solicitor, or medical man. The coroner
is ex officio a justice of the peace, and he may therefore
cause any person suspected of homicide to be appre-
hended even before the jury have found their verdict.
It was formerly the duty of the coroner to hold in-
quisitions concerning wrecks, treasure trove, and deo-
dands, but this part of his jurisdiction has now become
obsolete. It has only lately been decided that he has
no longer power to inquire into incendiary fires. Having
regard to recent conflagrations, it seems a pity that this
ancient jurisdiction is not revived in some form or an-
other. The main function of the coroner is to hold an
inquest, with a jurj^, over the body of any person who
has been killed, or who has died in prison, or who has
died suddenly, if the cause of death be unknown. The
inquisition must be held super visum corporis ; that is to
say, the body must be viewed both by the coroner and
by the jury. The jur}', which must consist of at least
twelve persons, are sworn by the coroner, and are then
charged to inquire how the deceased came by his death.
Witnesses are examined on oath, and the coroner has
power to order a post mortem examination of the body,
H
98 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
and the attendance of medical witnesses. The finding
of the jury is recorded on parchment, and is attested by
the signatures and seals of the jury, as well as of the
coroner. If on such finding or inquisition any person is
found guilty of murder or manslaughter, the coroner
commits him foi* trial, and the accused may be indicted
on the inquisition without any presentment by the grand
jury. As a fact, however, an independent inquiry is
always held before the justices in the ordinary way, and
the depositions are sent up and dealt with as if no inquest
had been held. This double inquiry is of course the cause
of a great deal of unnecessary expense and trouble.
The office of Justice of the Peace dates from the
statute 34 Ed. III. c. 1. There is no limit to the
number of justices which may be appointed in any
county. A justice is appointed for the whole county ;
but, except in quarter sessions, he only acts in practice
in the petty sessional division in which he resides. His
judicial functions, though defined and limited by statute,
depend ultimately on the terms of his commission. The
commission now is substantially the same in form as the
commission which was settled by the judges in the time
of Queen Elizabeth. The administrative functions of
the justices have been conferred on them by a series of
statutes, and with these functions alone the present
volume is concerned.^ Justices are appointed by the
Crown on the recommendation of the lord -lieutenant.
They hold office for life, but may be removed for mis-
conduct by the Lord Chancellor. The qualification is
the enjoyment of an estate in possession of £100 a year,
1 As to their judicial functions, see Justice and Police, by F.
Pollock.
vr.] THK COUNTY. 99
or a reversion in one of not less than ,£300 a year, or
assessment to the Inhabited House Duty at not less than
£100 a yeai'. In the case of county court judges the
property qualification is dispensed with. The justices
ai-e unpaid, and they elect their own chairman.
The most important duty of the justices is the main-
tenance of the county police. Subject to confirmation
by the Home Secretary, the Quarter Sessions fix tlie
number of men and officers for the county. They
appoint the chief constable, in whom are vested all the
powers of the old high constables of the hundreds. The
chief constable appoints the superintendents, sergeants,
and men. The Treasury pays one half the cost of the
pay and clothing of the police force. The cost of the
county police in 1880 was about £1,000,000. The
expenses are defrayed out of a special police rate, wliich
is for the most part assessed and levied like the county
rate. Provision is made for contributing boroughs and
liberties, also for special districts requiring extra police.
As we have already seen, the justices in quarter sessions
are entrusted with the duty of forming highway districts.
Under the Act of 1878 special powers are given to them
to coerce defaulting highway boards who have neglected
to maintain their roads in proper repair. They also
hear and decide appeals from union assessment -com-
mittees. The maintenance of county l)ridges and shire
halls specially constitutes another of their duties.
Prisons have been removed from the control of the
local authorities, but they are still subject to inspection
by committees of visiting justices. The maintenance
and management of pauper lunatic asylums is also a
matter for the justices. The acting lunacy authority is
100 LOCAL GOYERXMEXT. [chap. vi.
a "committee of visitors" appointed annually by the
quarter sessions out of their omti number. A committee
of the justices is also the local authority for the enforce-
ment of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts. The
Privy Council exercises a general control over the work-
ing of the Acts. The quarter sessions also appoint the
county analyst under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts,
and paid Inspectors of weights and measures under an
Act of 1835. In Petty Sessions the justices appoint the
overseers, and exercise their licensing jurisdiction. The
laws relating to the sale of intoxicating liquors are
exceedingly complicated, and the subject from every
point of view is a thorny one. Music and dancing licences
and theatres are also under the control of the justices.
The general expenses of the county are defrayed out
of the county rate. " The county rate," says Mr. R. S.
Wright, " is an assessment not on indiA-idual properties,
Init on the several parishes in the county. A committee
of quarter sessions ascertains the total of the net rate-
able value of each parish, and apjjortions the whole
required amount accordingly. Precepts for the amount
required from a parish are sent to the g-uardians of the
union in which the parish is included. The guardians
pay the amount to the county treasurer, and recover it
by order from the overseers of the parish. The overseers
raise it in the parish by poor rates. "^ The told amount
of county expenditiue in 1880 was rather more than
£2,750,000 — that is to say, about 5 per cent of the total
local outlay. The Treasury subventions came to rather
more than £500,000, so that rather more than £2,000,000
had to be raised out of county rates.
1 Memo of 1877, p. 19.
CHAPTER VII.
THE SANITARY DISTRICTS.
Sanitary Districts — Necessity and Province of Sanitary Legislation
— History of Sanitary Legislation — Urban Sanitary Authorities
— Local Boards — Rural Sanitary Districts and Authorities —
Port Sanitary Authorities.
For sanitary purposes, using the term in its -ttadcst
sense, the whole of England, with the exception of the
Metropolis, is divided into Sanitary Districts. A sanitary
district is either rural or urban. The boundaries of the
poor-law unions arc the boundaries of the rural sanitary
districts, and the guardians are the rural sanitary
authority. The urban sanitary districts are carved out
of the rural districts according to the exigencies of
population. The urban sanitary authority may be either
the town council of a municipal borough, the improve-
ment commissioners of an Improvement Act district, or
a local board. Take Kingston Union as an example :
it contains one municipal borough, one Improvement
Act district, and six local board districts, dotted a1)0ut
in various parts of its area. Every part of the union
that is not included in one of the urban districts is
under the sanitary jurisdiction of the guardians. Thus
everj' house is under either an urban or a rural sanitary
102 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
authority. There is no connection between the boundaries
of an urban sanitary district and parish boundaries or
any other area of local government. The total number
of urban sanitary districts is 1006 ; and the total urban
population is 17,500,000.
This division of the land dates from 1872. Systematic
sanitary legislation in England has had but a short
history — in fact, it may be said to begin with the Public
Health Act of 1848. The reason is not far to seek. In
the first place, owing to the pressure of population, and
the rapid growth of large towns, sanitary legislation has
of late years become much more urgent. In the second
place, sanitary science is yet in its infancy ; its laws are
still empirical, and it is only quite recently that they
have been recognised as laws at all. An epidemic disease
is no longer looked upon as a shower of darts from some
angry Apollo. It is known to be the consequence of the
neglect of sanitary precautions, and the violation of
sanitary laws. Of the intimate nature and causes of
infectious and contagious diseases, however, we as yet
know nothing for certain. Some would trace all com-
municable disease to a living germ or contagium vkian ;
others, like Dr. Eichardson, with his glandular theory, see
in dead matter the tetemma causa of such maladies.^
This much is sure — that minute material particles given
off from the bodies of the sick impinge upon the bodies
of the sound, and set up therein a similar disease, which
can in hke manner be further disseminated. Experience
^ 111 the case of one communicable disease (anthrax or splenic
fever), the truth of the germ theory seems to have been established
by the researches of Koch and Pasteur. The specific bacteria found
by them appear to be the cause and not merely the concomitants
of the malady ; but what is one among so many ?
VII.] THE SANITARY DISTRICTS. 103
has also taught us that by isolating the sick and carefully
disinfecting their clothing, the spread of the disease can
be effectually arrested. Science is divided on the ques-
tion whether the ordinary infectious and contagious
diseases, such as scarlet and enteric fever, or diphtheria,
can originate de novo and arise spontaneously, or whether
they must in all cases be communicated either mediately
or immediately from the sick to the healthy. We, how-
ever, know for certain that infection is the ordinary
cause of such diseases, and that if infection could be
efficiently arrested, sporadic cases Avould be of compara-
tively little moment. We further knoAv that pure air
and water are the essential conditions of health, while
polluted air and water are the sure forerunners of
z^Tnotic disease. Sewer gas may or may not be the
cause of typhoid fever and diphtheria, but, if not in itself
the cause, it is clearly an excellent vehicle for the
poisons of those diseases. It is therefore essential to
prevent the escape of sewer gas into our houses. The
})oison of typhoid fever seems capable of almost un-
limited diffusion in water. A year or two ago there
occurred at Caterham an outbreak of enteric fever,
attacking some himdred persons and causing many
deaths. A local inquiry was ordered by the Local
Government Board. Dr. Thorne-Thorne's admirable in-
vestigation conclusively showed that the outbreak was
caused by the accidental pollution of the water supply
from a single case. Milk has been shown to have an
extraordinary power of conveying the poisons of scarlet
fever and di^jhtheria. Decaying animal and vegetable
matter and the overcrowding of human beings are
eminent provocatives of disease. Thus, while our know-
104 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
ledge of actual causes is very incomplete, we know
enough of the conditions of health and disease to form
a series of useful working hypotheses on which to
legislate and take action. The public health legislation
of the last few years has almost stamped out typhus
fever, a disease which formerly exacted an annual
tribute of some thousand lives. Compulsory vaccina-
tion has scotched, though it has not killed, smallpox,^
and under recent sanitary legislation the general health
of the population has improved, and the expectation of
life has percejitibly increased. For the years 1841-51
the death-rate was 22 •23 per thousand, while the death-
rate for the years 1871-81 was 21-27 per thousand.
This lower death-rate implies the survival of 300,000
persons who according to the previous rate of mortality
would have died.- Much, however, remains yet to
be done. The individual is comparatively helpless.
It is only the strong arm of the law and concerted
action that can deal effectively with questions of public
health. In 1881 the number of deaths from scarlet
fever was 16,000, while 8000 persons died from enteric
fever. Smallpox claimed 5000 victims. So much for
the killed ; but we have no list of the maimed and
1 For the statistics of vaccination, see an article by Dr. W. B.
Carpenter in the Nineteenth Century for April 1882. Mr. Peter
Taylor's answer to it is a literary curiosity. It consists of a series
of arguments in which not a single conclusion follows logically from
the premises. The protective effect of a successful vaccination
seems to be about the same as that of a previous attack of small-
pox. An old doctor known to the WTiter is in the habit of ex-
plaining that he always has his children baptized and vaccinated,
confirmed and re-vaccinated, and that then he has done all that
science can do to guard them from the attacks of sin and smallpox.
2 Census Rcjmi, 1881, p. 3.
VII.] THE SANITARY DISTRICTS. lO'j
Avoundcd. A little thought given to these figures Avill
show what an amount of human misery and economic
loss they represent. It is not pleasant to reflect that
the greater part of this misery and loss could have been
prevented by efficient hygienic precautions. The con-
nection between unhealthy or overcrowded dwellings
and crime has often been insisted on, but by no one
more powerfully than by Lord Shaftesbury. The loss
of vigour and diminished power of work due to unhealthy
surroundings may be an imknown quantity, but no one
can doubt its magnitude. Nothing more need be said
to demonstrate the importance of the subject-matters
with which sanitary authorities have to deal ; but before
describing their present powers and mode of action some
short account must be given of the history of our
sanitary laws.
A nuisance injurious to health is indictable at common
law. For instance, if a man accumulates filth on his
land so as to cause a nuisance to his neighbours, he may
be prosecuted criminally. The now obsolete Court's
Leet seems to have exercised some control in sanitary
matters. It maybe noted that the court rolls of Stratford-
on-Avon show that in 1552 Shakspeare's father was
fined for depositing filth in the public street in Aaolation
of the bye-laws of the manor, and again in 1558 for not
keeping his gutter clean. But the function of common
law begins and ends with the punishment of individuals.
It knows nothing of prevention or cure. It has no
machinery for dealing with those insanitary conditions
which the massing of human beings together in cities
and towns necessarily creates, and which the individual
is powerless to cope with. Here the aid of the Legis-
106 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
lature must be invoked, and no one can complain that
in the compHcated problems of sanitary science we have
not a dignus vindlce nodus. The history of our public
health legislation is exhaustively traced by the Royal
Sanitary Commission of 1869. The first sanitary Act
on the statute-book is an Act of 1388, which imposed a
penalty of £20 on persons who cast animal filth and
refuse into ditches and rivers. In the reign of Henry
VIII. the Statute of Sewers was passed, which authorised
the issue of Commissions of Sewers at the discretion
of the Lord Chancellor and Lord Treasurer. The Act
defined the duties of the Commissioners, Avhich included,
among other matters, the cleansing of rivers, public
streams, and ditches.^ In the seventeenth century
special statutes were passed relating to the plague.
As early as the reign of George II. the more populous
and wealthy towns began to seek a remedy in their indi-
vidual cases by applying to Parliament for special legisla-
tion ; and from that date do'wn to the present time very
numerous special Acts have been passed conferring on
populous places powers of local government, pointed
more directly in the earlier instances at the paving,
lighting, cleansing, and improving the districts embraced
in them, but recognising in all later instances the im-
portance of sanitary regulations, and afi"ecting to make
provision accordingly.
The Lighting and Watching Act, 1833, was a step
towards more general legislation. It provided for light-
ing and watching in parishes ; enabled the ratepayers to
appoint inspectors, Avho might contract for Avorks ; and
imposed penalties for contaminating water by gas. The
1 Jiqwrt of Sanitar)j Commission, 1869, p. 4.
VII.] THE SANITARY DISTRICTS. 107
Act was permissive. The jirovisions might be adopted
in any parish by resohition of the vestry duly convened
for that purpose. There are still 194 parishes, not in-
cluded in url)an sanitary districts, which are partially
governed under it.
In 1847 the Towns Improvement Clauses Act, the
To^^^ls Police Clauses Act, the Water-works Clauses Act,
the Gasworks CUuises Act, Avith several similar Acts,
were passed for the purpose of consolidating and gene-
ralising the provisions usually required in local Acts for
various pulDlic purposes. Their object is to supply
model clauses, which can be adopted by reference into
local Acts. "With a few exceptions their provisions
have been adopted into all subsequent local legislation.
There are still about fifty Improvement Act districts.
In 1848 was passed the first great and comprehensive
measure — a measure which may be called the foundation-
stone of our national sanitary legislation. The Public
Health Act of 1848 did not apply to the Metropolis, but
was intended mainly for other large toAvns and populous
places. It created a General Board of Health, the
members of which were appointed by the CroAvn, and
they were empowered to appoint inspectors to see that
the provisions of the Act were carried out. The General
Board of Health Avere empowered to create (through the
machinery of an Order ill Council) local boards of health.
In places Avhere the rate of mortality Avas exceptionallj-
high the Board of Health might act of its OAvn motion ;
but in ordinary cases it could only act on the petition
of the ratepayers. In municipal boroughs the Town
Council Avas constituted the local board. In other places
the board Avas elected by the ratepayers. Certain
108 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [ghap.
specified powers were conferred on all local boards, and
the General Board of Health were authorised to vary
local Acts by provisional order. -^ In particular, local
boards were empowered to construct and manage sewers,
drains, wells, water and gas-works, deposits of refuse,
closets, and slaughter-houses ; to regulate offensive trades,
to remove nuisances, to protect water- works from pollu-
tion, to pave and regulate streets, to regulate dwellings
and common lodging-houses, to provide burial and recre-
ation grounds, and to supply public baths with water.
Between 1848 and 1875 some thirty Acts were passed
amending or extending the Act of 1848, but three only
need be specially ref ei-red to. The Local Government Act
of 1858 enabled a local board to be created by the re-
solution of the ratepayers of any place having a defined
boundary without the intervention of the Board of
Health. That Board was allowed to expire, and its
remaining functions were divided between the Home
Office and the Privy Council. In 1871 the public health
powers of the Home Office and Priv}^ Council were
transferred to the newly- created Local Government
Board. The Public Health Act of 1782 divided the
country into urban and rural sanitary districts, and con-
stituted the guardians the rural sanitary authority. Up
to that date the guardians had been the authority to
exercise in rural places the powers under the various
Acts relating to the removal of nuisances. The vestries,
on the other hand, had been the rural sewer authorities,
and as such had had various other sanitary powers con-
ferred upon them.
The Public Health Act of 1875 repealed the Act of
' ^ Second Eeport, p. 8.
VII.] THE SAXITAKV DISTiUCTS. 109
1848 and twenty -nine of its amending Acts, and re-
enacted them in an intelligil)lc form. It does not apply
to the Metropolis, Ijut it forms the sanitary code of the
rest of England. Two short amending Acts have l)een
passed — one in 1878 relating to water supply in rural
districts, and one in 1879 relating to burial grounds;
l)ut, with these exceptions, the law of general application
relating to sanitary matters is to be found in the Act of
1875.
I. The Urban Sanitary District.
We must now proceed to describe the constitution,
powers, and duties of the existing sanitary authorities
as determined by that code of 1875. AVe need not con-
sider separately the cases where the town council of a
borough, or the Improvement Commissioners of an Im-
provement Act District constitute the Urban Sanitary
Authority. The constitution of the town coimcil is
regulated by the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, and
that of the Improvement Commissioners by their special
Acts ; but as regards their powers and duties, they have,
in addition to their own proper jurisdiction, all the
powers and duties of an ordinary local board. ^ With
this exi)lanation we may at once proceed to deal Avith
the Local Board as the tj^pical urban sanitary authority.
A local board, when constituted, is a corporation
having a corporate name, under which it may sue and be
sued, a perpetual succession and common seal, and power
to hold lands in mortmain. It may, under certain cir-
^ By sec. 341 of the Act of 1875 the powers given by that Act
are cumulative.
no LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
cumstances, be dissolved by the Local Government Board
by Provisional Order. The area under the jurisdiction
of a local board may likewise be altered by Provisional
Order.
A local board may be created in two ways : — First, the
Local Government Board may, by Provisional Order, de-
clare that any rural district, or any part thereof, shall be
constituted a local government district ; and thereupon
the district becomes subject to a local board, to be
elected as prescribed by the Act.-^ Secondly, the o^^^lers
and ratepayers of any district having a defined boundary
may, under certain regulations, pass a resolution declar-
ing it expedient that the district should be constituted a
local government district. The Local Government
Board may then, by a simple departmental order, con-
stitute the district an urban sanitary district, and order
the election of a local board.
When a new urban district is thus constituted, the
Local Government Board defines its area, decides whether
or no it shall be divided into wards, determines the
number of members who shall constitute the local board,
and issues regulations- for the first election.
After the local government has been started by the
central authority, the elections are regulated by the Act.
The persons entitled to vote are owners and rate-
payers. In order that non-resident owners, whose pro-
perty of course may be very much afl'ected by the action
of the board, may have their say, it is provided that
owners may vote by proxy. An owner claiming to vote
as such, or desiring to appoint a proxy, must send in a
claim ; and a register of owners and proxies is directed
1 Act of 1875, sec. 271.
VII.] THE SANITARY DISTRICTS. Ill
to 1)0 kept. If an owner be resident, lie is entitled to
vote both as owner and as occupying ratepayer. The
system of plural voting prevails. Each owner and rate-
payer has from one to six votes, according to the rate-
able value of his property. A resident owner may vote
both as owner and ratepayer, so that, if his property be
sufficient, he may have as many as twelve votes. ^ A
corporation, though it i>ays rates, has no vote.
In order to be eligible as a member of a local board
the candidate must reside in or within seven miles of
the district, and must possess the required property
([ualification. The qualification varies according to the
population of the district. If the district contains less
than 20,000 inhabitants, the property quahfication is
£500, or a ratal of £1.5. If the district contains more
than 20,000 inhabitants, the property qualification is
£1000, or a ratal of £30. Bankruptcy is a disquali-
fication.
Members of the local board hold office for three years,
one-third going out every year by rotation. Retiring
members are re-eligible. The members of the board
elect their own chairman, and are unpaid.
The chairman of the board is the returaing-officer for
elections. He must so make his arrangements that the
election may be completed before the 15th of April in each
year. He also acts as revising-officer for the pmpose of
revising the register of owners and proxies.
Candidates must be nominated in writing. If there
^ The scale is — Rateable value umlcr £50, one vote ; over £50
but under £100, two votes ; over £100 but under £150, three
votes; over £150 but under £200, four votes; over £200 but
under £250, five votes ; for £250 and upwards, six votes.
112 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
are more candidates than vacancies, the contest is con-
ducted by voting papers. Voting papers in the pre-
scribed form are left at the address in the district of
each person entitled to vote. Three days afterwards
the appointed persons call for the voting papers and de-
liver them to the retiirning-officer, who counts them up
and declares the result. The candidates may be present
at the counting. There is no special machinery for de-
ciding disputes, so that the only way of impeaching the
result of an election is by recourse to a court of law.
The returning-officer is entitled to his expenses, and a
reasonable sum may be voted to him as remuneration
for his trouble.
If a casual vacancy occurs it is filled up by the re-
maining members of the board by co-optation.
The board has power to provide itself ^\'ith oflSces,
and to appoint and pay clerks and other necessary
officers. It must have a clerk, a surveyor, and a
treasurer.
The sanitary officers of the board are two in number —
namely, the Medical Officer of Health and the Inspector
of Nuisances.
The medical officer of health, who must be a qualified
medical practitioner, is the sanitary adviser of the board.
His duty is to attend their meetings Avhen required, to
advise them as to their sanitary bye-laws, to keep them
informed as to the health of their district, and to bring
to their attention anything defective in their arrange-
ments, or any threatenings of an apjiroaching epidemic.
He supervises the proceedings of the inspector, or in-
spectors of nuisances ; and he may also himself exercise
the powers of an inspector of nuisances. It is further
VII.] TIIK SANITARY DISTRICTS. 113
his duty to make an annual report on the health and
sanitary conditions of his district to the Local Govern-
ment Board, and to report specially in the case of any
epidemic outbreak. If his reports are properly made a
portion of his salary may be repaid to the local board
out of monies voted by Parliament.
The inspector of nuisances is appointed and paid Ijy
the board. It is his duty to search out and report upon
all nuisances in the district prejudicial to health, and,
under instructions, to take proceedings for their abate-
ment. He also reports to the medical officer of health.
A new and important function is that of procuring
samples of food for analysis by the public analyst. It
may be noted that private individuals, on payment of a
small fee, are entitled to have any drug or article of food
analysed in like manner.
The fimctions of the board may be divided into — (a)
legislative and (b) administrative functions.
The power to make bye-laws would i)robably attach
to a local board by virtue of its being a territorial
corporation,^ but the Act has specially provided for the
point. A local board may make bye-laws for the piu--
pose of carrying out the provisions of the Public Health
^ ""Where it is necessary for the accomplishment of the objects
of their incorporation, a body corporate has as an incident to it
the power of making bye-laws, and of enforcing them by penalties ;
and such bye-laws, in the case of municipal corporations, and of
other corporations entrusted with local, popular, or territorial
government, will bind l)oth members and strangers, and not mem-
bers of the corporation only." .... " A bye-law is a rale obliga-
tory on a body of persons, or over a partiiuilar district, not being
at variance with the general laws of the realm, and being reasonable
and adapted to the purposes of the corporation. ... It must not
be retrospective." — Grant oji Corporations, p. 76.
I
114 LOCAL GOVERNilENT. [chap.
and Nuisance Removal Acts, and the bye-laws may im-
pose penalties not exceeding £5 for offences against
them. In the case of continuing offences there is power
to impose further penalties not exceeding 40s. a day.
All bye-laws must be made under the seal of the board,
and must be advertised and published in the prescribed
manner. They must also, before coming into force, be
submitted to the Local Government Board for its ap-
proval, when they may be either confirmed or dis-
allowed.
■'■ The administrative functions of a local board are
either sanitary or general. In the exercise of its sani-
tary powers it may purchase and construct sewers, and
may provide a map of its sewer system. The sewers of
the district vest in the board. It must keep its sewers
so cleansed and ventilated as not to be a nuisance. It
has power to make owners of houses drain into its
sewers if the houses be within 100 feet of the sewer;
and no new house may be built in the district without
being properly drained to the satisfaction of the sur-
veyor. Houses more than 100 feet from the sewer may
drain into cesspools. There are special powers to enable
local boards to start and maintain works for disinfecting
sewage, or otherwise disposing of it, so as not to create
a nuisance. By leave of the Local Government Board
adjoining urban districts may unite and work together
in sewage schemes. Local boards may either undertake
themselves, or contract for, the scavenging and cleaning
of the houses and streets in their district. If in any
house there has been infectious disease, or if any dwell-
ing is in a filthy condition, the local board may, on the
certificate of their medical officer of health, require it to
VII.] TIIK SANITARY DISTRICTS. 11.5
be whitewashed and otherwise purified. Among pleasures
expressly forbidden to dwellers in urban districts is the
" keeping of any s^v^ne or pig-stye in any dwelling-house;"
but the provisions of the Act may be summed up by say-
ing that it is made the duty of every householder to keep
his house and premises wholesome and clean, while it is
the duty of the board to see that he does so.
Where a district is not already supplied Avith water
by some water company with statutory powers, the local
board may undertake the water supply. In such case
the board may either supply water by measure, charging
according to quantity, or may recoup itself by a water-
rate. If the surveyor reports that any house has not a
proper water supply, the board may compel the house-
holder to take a supply from them. There is also power
to the board to piu^chase or lease the works of existing
water companies. In connection with Avater supply the
local board is boiuid also to supply fire-plugs.
The local board has ample poAvers for the regulation
of cellar-dAvellings and common lodging-houses, and the
Local Government Board may, under certain conditions,
empower the local board to make bye-laws regulating
any houses let in lodgings although not common lodging-
houses. The jurisdiction of the board to prevent and
abate nuisances is extensive. It further has power to
prevent offensive or noxious trades, such as soap-boiling
or talloAV- melting, from beinii; established Avithout its
consent, and to regulate them Avhen alloAvcd.
The poAvers of sanitary authorities for dealing Avith
infectious diseases are not so large as they ought to be,
and those that they have are not sufficiently used. A
person Avho, A\hile suffering from an infectious disease.
lit) LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
wilfully exposes himself in the streets or in any other
public place, or who gets into a public conveyance with-
out warning the driver, is liable to a penalty not exceed-
ing £5. Practically, proceedings are never taken to
enforce this provision, yet such a person probably is as
dangerous to his neighbours as if he were to shut his
eyes and then fire off a pistol at random in the street.
The inclination at present is to pity rather than to blame
him. If the infectious particles that he discharges only
made a noise, or could be rendered visible, his conduct
would be viewed in a very different light. The local
board may provide mortuaries, but there is no power to
order the body of a person who has died of an infectious
disease to be removed to the mortuary, unless there are
other persons actually living or sleeping in the same
room, and even then the procedure is complicated and
requires the intervention of a justice of the peace. Surely
in no case ought the body of a person who dies of an
infectious disease to be kept in a dwelling-house more
than a few hours. As it is the blinds are pulled down,
the windows closed, and all the surroundings predispose
towards a spread of the disease. The local board may
order infected clothing to be burned, making compensa-
tion to the owners. It may also order a house to be
disinfected ; but these powers are not of much use -with-
out systematic provision for the notification of infectious
disease to the local authority. In twenty-three towns
clauses have been introduced into their special Acts,
making notification of infectious disease compulsory on
the medical man in attendance. The plan seems to
work well. In places where it has not been tried medical
men are said to be opposed to the duty of notifying
VII.] THE SANITARY DIBTRICTS. 117
being cast on the doctor. They urge that it should be
made the duty of the householder. But as it is the
doctor and not the householder Avho has to decide whether
the patient is suffering from nettle rash or scarlet fever,
from measles or from smallpox, the doctor seems to the
lay mind to be the proper person to notify. Printed
forms should of course l)e provided, and he should be
entitled to a small fee to cover postage and to remunerate
him for his troul)le. Again, where the public are invited
into houses where there is a case of infectious disease, it
ought to be made compulsory to give a warning. Take the
case of a shop. If the householder chooses to keep a case
of infectious disease — say smallpox — in a dwelling-house
communicating with the shop, ought he not to be
compelled to put up a warning, so that his customers
might come in oi- stay out with their eyes open and
at their own risk? The case of a private house of
course stands on a diftercnt footing from a house into
which the public are invited to enter. We knoAv that
scarlet fever can infect milk to an almost unlimited ex-
tent. If a milkman chooses to keep a case of scarlet
fever in his house instead of sending it to hospital, ought
he not temporarily to be stopped from supplying milk
which may spread the disease right and left 1 The local
board has power to construct and maintain hospitals, and
two or more local authorities may have a joint hospital.
There is also power to recover expenses from patients
who are not paupers ; but this latter provision is believed
to be a dead letter. Every inducement should be held
out to induce persons of the better classes to avail them-
selves of hospital accommodation Avhen suffering from
infectious disease. A well-to-do man is just as infectious
118 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
as a poor man, and it is only the very rich who can afford
to take such precautions as render the spread of infection
impossible. What seems requisite is the adoption by
local authorities of the system which works so well at
the London Fever Hospital. The rule there is that every
patient must contribute something towards his expenses ;
but the committee, in special cases, have power to remit
or reduce the fee. Many a man who in sickness does
not wish to be dependent on charity is able and willing
to pay something, and thus preserve his self-respect, but
he cannot afford the whole cost of an infectious Ulness.
A person who, under these circumstances, goes into a
hospital benefits tAvo parties — namel}', himself and the
public. The patient gets the benefit of hospital appli-
ances and nursing ; the public is protected from the risk
of infection. It is only fair that each party benefited
shoidd contribute towards the expenses. The London
Fever Hospital also provides private rooms for patients
who are willing to pay a fee which covers the cost of the
case. It receives about 1000 cases a year, but there are
certainly not less than 25,000 cases of scarlet fever alone
in London every year. The system, therefore, must be
largely extended before much impression can be made
on the general prevalence of infectious disease. Private
enterprise can do but little, but local authorities might
do much. An institution which rests on so sound a
principle as helping those who are trying to help them-
selves does not appeal strongly to the benevolent pubHc,
who greatly prefer sentimental and indiscriminate
charity.
Turning from the sanitary to the more general func-
tions of urban authorities, Ave find that the local board
VII. J THE SANITARY DISTRICTS. 119
has the management of all streets and highwaj'^s within
its district. It is ex officio the surveyor of highways, and
may exercise any powers which a vestry could exercise
outside the district. It may make new roads and regu-
late the width and paving of new streets, and may make
regulations to which all new buildings or houses in the
district must conform. It may name or rename and
renumber streets ; it may put up clocks in public places ;
it may provide public walks and recreation grounds,
and may establish markets, charging stallage rents to
the vendors who use them.
If there be no gas company in the place, it may con-
tract for or itself undertake the supply of gas both for
streets and private houses. It may also buy out existing
gas companies. It may make rules for the prevention
of fires and the regulation of hackney carriages. It
may establish cemeteries, and make bye-laws for their
manairement.
All these miscellaneous functions involve of course
very considerable expenditure. The expenditure is of
two kinds — namely, expenditure benefiting particular in-
habitants, and expenditure benefiting the inhabitants of
the district generally. To meet these two classes of
expenditure two different methods are provided. The
expenses of works of the first class, — as, for instance, the
expenses of putting house drains in order, or connecting
them with the urban authorities' sewers, or paving a
private street, — are directed to be borne by the owners
or householders themselves. If the board does the work
it may recover the money expended from the house-
holder. "\Miere the outlay is heavy, the board for the
most part has a discretion to declare the expenditure to
120 . LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap,
be private -improvement expenses. In such case the
repayment by the householder may be spread over a
series of years not exceeding thirty, and the money may
be collected by means of what is called a private-improve-
ment rate, leviable on the particular persons benefited.
Expenditure which relates to the inhabitants generallj-
is met out of the general-district fund. Into that fund
go the receipts from market-tolls, loans, and the general-
district rates. The general-district rate must be made
by the board under their common seal. It may be made
from time to time as occasion requires, and "may be
made and levied either prospectively, in order to raise
money for the payment of futui'e charges and expenses,
or retrospectively, in order to raise money for the pay-
ment of charges and expenses incurred at any time
within six months before the making of the rate." The
district rate is assessable on all property assessable to
the poor rate, and is to be assessed "on the full net
annual value of such property."^ The poor-law valuation
is usually taken as the basis. Occupiers not o'vvners are
the persons generally rated ; bu.t the local board may, if
it choose, rate the owner instead of the occupier where
the annual value of tlie premises does not exceed £10,
and the premises are let out to weekly or monthly ten-
ants. The rates may be inspected by any person inter-
ested, and before making a rate it is the duty of the
local board to prepare an estimate sho-ning the total
amount required, the value of the assessable property, and
the amount of rate per pound. There are some compli-
cated provisions about highway rates in certain circum-
^ Act of 1875, s. 211. But agi-icultural land within urban
limits is only to be assessed on onc-fourih of its net annual value.
VII.] THE SANITARY DISTIIICTS. 1-Jl
stances which need not be gone into here. Works which
are not of a permanent nature must be paid for out of
current income ; but the expenses of works of a perman-
ent character may be defrayed out of loans. The loans
must be repayable within sixty years, and the sanction
of the Local Government Board to the scheme and the
amount of the loan must be obtained. The loans form
a charge on the general-district rate. In order to secure
the lenders, special provisions for the repa}Tiient of loans
and the due payment of interest are made by the Local
Loans Act, 1875. As a result, local anthorities can
generally obtain money on very easy terms. The last
report of the Local Government Board shows that be-
tween 1871 and 1881 urban sanitary rates have increased
by £7,000,000, or, in other words, 96 per cent.
One other point must l)e adverted to — namely, the
powers entrusted to the Local Government Board of
forcing local authorities to do their duty. If a local
authority makes default in any matter relating to the
seAvering or water supply of the district, the Board, after
due inquiry, may order the local authority to execute
the necessary works within a specified time. If the
order is not obeyed, it may either be enforced by a writ of
Mandamus, or the Board may appoint persons to do the
work and recover the expenses from the local authority.
IT. The Rural Sanitary Authority.
The rural sanitary district, as we have seen, consists
of all that part of the area of a union which is not
included in any urban district The guardians acting for
the parishes situate in that area are tlie Kural Sanitary
122 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chai-.
Authority. If a parish is partly in an urban, partly in a
rural district, the Local Government Board decides
whether its guardians shall act in the rural authority or
not. The total number of rural sanitary districts is 577,
and, according to the Census Returns of 1881, they con-
tain a population of about 8,500,000.
In rural places sanitary problems are for the most
part less pressing than in thickly-populated towns ; con-
sequently the normal powers of the rural authority are
much less extensive than those of its urban kinsmen.
Speaking broadly, a rural authority has much the same
powers as an urban authority in respect of sewerage and
drainage, water-supply, and the inspection and abate-
ment of nuisances. Its powers as regards water-supply
have been largely increased by the Public Health Act of
1878. It has not the powers of an urban authority in
respect of lighting, highways, streets, public baths, or
recreation grounds. The Local Government Board may,
however, confer on a rural authority all or any of the
powers of an urban authority. The sanitary officers in
a rural district are the same as in an urban district.
The system of taxation, as described by Mr. R S.
Wright, is as follows : — " Each parish is pima fade a
separate contributory place chargeable Avith its oym
special expenses {e.g. water-supply or other local work).
General expenses {e.g. salary of sanitary officers) are de-
frayed out of a common frmd payable out of the poor
rates in proportion to the parish valuation-lists. Special
expenses are payable by the parish for which they are
incurred, and are also payable out of a special rate, which
is a poor rate, but is levied in the particular parish on
the same basis as that of the general district rate of an
VII.] THE SANITARY DISTRICTS. 123
urljan district (i.e. agricultural land, railways, etc., pay
on only one-fourth of their net i-ateable value)." The
Local Government Board may, however, consolidate
parishes for the purpose of special expenses (e.g. a joint
Avater-supply).
III. The Fort Sanitary Authorltij.
Besides the ordinary urban and rural authorities, there
are forty-one port sanitary authorities. The Port Sani-
tary Authority has jurisdiction over all waters within the
limits of the port and such portions of the surrounding
land as are specified by the provisional order Avhich
creates the port authority.
The Local Government Board, by provisional order,
may constitute any local sanitary authority whose dis-
trict forms part of or abuts on any port, or any conserv-
ators or commissioners having jurisdiction over such
port, the sanitary authority for the port.
Where there are two or more riparian authorities
having jurisdiction within any port the Local Govern-
ment Board may, if it thinks fit, combine them by pro-
visional order, and constitute them the sanitary authority.
In such case the provisional order must either prescribe
the mode of their joint action or must provide for the
formation of a joint board.
The constituting order may assign to the port sani-
tary authority all or any of the rights, Powers, and duties
possessed by local authorities imder the Public Health
Act, 1875. It nuist further direct the mode in which
the expenses of the port authority are to be paid.
CHAPTER VIIL
THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
National Education — Elementary Schools — School Districts^
School Boards — School-Attendance Committees.
For pui'poses of elementary education England and
Wales are parcelled out into School Districts. This
division of the land dates from ]\Ii'. Forster's Elemen-
tary Education Act of 1870, which may be regarded as
the charter of national education. That Act has been
several times amended by subsequent statutes, but only
for the purpose of supplementing and -working out the
details of the original scheme. Prior to 1870 primary
education was recognised as an object of public utility.
Building grants and annual grants out of public moneys
were made in favour of voluntary schools Avhich reached
a certain standard of eflficiencj'. But Mr. Forster's Act
first recognised and gave effect to the principle that it
is the duty of the State to see that every citizen receives
the primary elements of an education. The execution
of this public duty is entrusted to local authorities,
under the superintendence of the Education Depart-
ment of the Privy Council. When the Act of 1870
came into operation the chief element of controversy
ciiAi'. VIII.] THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. 125
was the question of religious teaching in rate-supported
schools. Controversy now turns chiefly on the standard
of education that is to be considered elementary. With
these questions the present volume is in no wise con-
cerned. We have only to consider the machinery by
which the Education Acts are worked, and not the
nature of the products which that machinery turns out.
In order that the Acts may be efficiently carried out,
statutory duties are imposed on three classes of persons,
— namely, parents, the Education Department, and local
authorities.
First, It is declared to be the duty of the parent
of every child to cause such cliiM to receive efficient
elementary instruction in reading, -wiiting, and arith-
metic. The term "parent" is defined so as to include
every person standing towards a child in loco parentis,
and has been held to apply to a maiden aunt.
Secondly, The Acts make it the duty of the Education
Department to see that in every school district there
shall be an adequate supply of public school accommoda-
tion to meet the wants of the inha1)itants. In order
that the necessary information may be obtained, the
various local authorities are required to furnish returns
to the Education Department, and there is also power
for the Department to hold independent inquiries.
Thirdly, If in the opinion of the Education Depart-
ment there is not a sufficient supply of public -school
accommodation in any school district, it is the duty of
the local authority to supply it.
An Elementary School is defined to be a school where
elementary education is the principal part of the educa-
tion given, and where the ordinaiy pa}incnts from each
126 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
scholar do not exceed ninepence a week^ A public
elementary school is an elementary school which is open
to inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools,
which is worked under the conscience clause, and which
conforms in other respects to the requirements of the
Education Department.
The machinery by which these various duties are en-
forced is as follows : - — The country is mapped out into
school districts, and a school authority is provided for
each district.
The whole of the Metropolis constitutes one school
district, and the local board district of Oxford consti-
tutes the school district for that city. The borough of
Wenlock is treated as a parish ; but with these excep-
tions, the rest of England and Wales is mapped out into
school districts on the following plan : — Every borough
under the Municipal Corporation Acts constitutes a
school district. Every parish not included in a borough
also constitutes a sthool district. Where a parish is
partly within and partly without a borough, the part
outside is treated as a separate parish, and constitutes a
school district. The Education Department has power
to unite school districts, and then the united district
thus formed is treated as an ordinary school district.
The local education authority in a school district may
be either a School Board or a School- Attendance Com-
mittee. Every school district must be under either one
or the other.
1 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75, sees. 3 and 7.
^ See Oweu's Education Acts Manual, 15th Ed., especially the
introduction. The subject will he dealt with in detail in the
volume devoted to it in this series.
viii.] TIIK SCHOOL DISTRICT. 127
A school board may be created in two ways— namely
(1) by the action of the Education Department; and
(2) by the voluntary action of the ratepayers of the
district.
If the Education Department, after inquiry, find that
there is not sufficient public school accommodation, they
must notify the local authorities of the fact, and require
them to supply it. If, after the expiration of six months,
the local authorities have neglected to provide the re-
quired accommodation, the Education Department must
cause a school board to be created for the district.
A school board may in any case be created on the
application of the persons locally interested. In the
case of a borough the application must be made by the
town council ; in any other case the application must be
made by the persons on Avhom it would devolve to elect
the school board. The opinion of the electors must be
taken in a meeting duly convened for the purpose. The
meeting is called by the clerk to the guardians on the
application of fifty ratepayers. If the resolution be
negatived, it cannot be proposed again for a year.
The Education Department have power, under certain
conditions and circumstances, to dissolve a school board.
At a school-board election every ratepayer is entitled
to vote. He has as many votes as there are members
to be elected, and he may distribute his votes as he
pleases, — that is to say, if he likes he may give the
whole of his votes to one candidate.
The mode of conducting elections is under the control
of the Education Department. By the regrdations of
that Department the nominations of candidates are to
be in writint;, and when there is a contest the poll is to
128 LOCAL GOYERXMENT. [chap.
be taken according to the provisions of the Ballot Act,
1872, applicable to a municipal election. The retiuTiing-
officer in a borough is the mayor, or, if it be divided
into wards, one of the aldermen of the ward. In rural
districts the clerk to the guardians is the retiu"ning-
officer.
When first a school board is elected, the number of
members is fixed by the Education Department, but
afterwards it may be such as the school board, Avith
the approval of the Education Department, may deter-
mine. ]^o qualification has been fixed for membership
of a school board. The members of a school board hold
office for three years, and then all retire together. Re-
tiring members are eligible for re-election. In the case
of any dispute as to the election of a member, the
Education Department may determine the question. If
a casual vacancy occurs, the remaining members of the
board may elect a person to fill up the vacancy. The
school board is a body corporate, with a common seal,
perpetual succession, and the power to hold lands in
mortmain. The members of the board elect their own
chairman, and minutes of their proceedings signed by
him are evidence.
A school board may appoint a clerk, a treasurer, and
teachers. These officers hold office duiing the pleasui'e
of the board, and receive such salaries as the board may
assign to them.
The board may make bye-laws for the purpose of
enforcing the attendance of children at school, and may
appoint an officer to aid in carrj'ing the bye-laws into
effect. Another mode of compelling attendance is by
school-attendance orders, made by the justices on the
VIII.] THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. 129
application of the school l)oard. If the order be not
complied with, the child may be sent to a certified in-
dustrial school.
The school board may, with the consent of the Edu-
cation Department, provide an office for themselves ;
and it is their duty to provide such school accommoda-
tion as the Department may require them to provide.
If the school board make default, the Education Depart-
ment may, after due notice, appoint a committee to act
in their place, until the requirements of the Department
have been complied with. The expenses of the school
board are defrayed out of the school fund.
All monies received by the school board go into the
school fund. The sources from which that fund is sup-
plied are — (1) Fees paid by children; (2) Parliamentary
grants in aid of building or permanent imi)rovements ;
(3) Loans ; and (4) The school rate.
For purposes of building or enlarging schools exten-
sive borrowing powers have been conferred on school
boards. They must, however, obtain the sanction of the
Education Department, unless they borrow money for
the purpose of an industrial school. In that case the
sanction of the Home Secretary is requisite. The repay-
ment of loans may be spread over a period of fifty years.
According to the returns of 1882, the amount of the out-
standing loans effected by school boards was very nearly
£11,000,000. Eather more than .£1,000,000 was bor-
rowed by them during the year.
The ordinary soiu'ces of revenue are derived from fees
and rates. The fees are fixed by the school board under
the sanction of the Education Department. The school
board have power under certain conditions to remit a
K
130 LOCAL GOVEKXMEXT. [chap.
child's fees, and the Guardians have a fivrther power of
paying the fees where the parents cannot afford them.
The difference between fees and expenditure is made
up by a rate. The school board deliver to the rating
authority a precept for the amount required. In boroughs
the rate is levied as part of the borough rate, and in
parishes outside boroughs as part of the poor rate. In
the year 1881 the amount raised by rates was £1,500,000,
while the amount derived from fees was .£.370,000. More
than three-fourths of the expenses were therefore contri-
buted by the rates.
School-board accounts are required to be made out in
such form as the Local Government Board may direct.
They must be made up and balanced half yearly or yearly,
as may be directed, and the chairman must sign the
balance-sheet. They are then audited by the Poor Law
Auditor, who is an oflBcial of the Local Government Board.
An appeal lies from his decision to that Board. After
the audit the balance-sheet must be sent to the Education
Department and the rating authorities. Any ratepayer
is entitled to a copy on paying a fee of sixpence. There
are now 20.51 school boards.
In places whei'e there is no school board the school
authority is the School -Attendance Committee. That
committee consists in effect of a sub-committee of some
previously existing local authority. The school attend-
ance committees are appointed annually, and must con-
sist of not less than six nor more than twelve members.
In the case of a borough the council must appoint the
school-attendance committee out of the members of the
council. In the case of an urban sanitary district, ^\nth
a population of not less than five thousand, the sanitary
VIII.] THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. 131
iiuthority must in like manner appoint a committee of
their members to be the school -attendance committee.
In the case of a parish not included in one of the above-
mentioned areas the school-attendance committee con-
sists of a committee of the board of guardians Avathin
whose jurisdiction the parish is situated. School-attend-
ance committees may appoint local committees of not
less than three persons " for the purpose of giving such
aid and information " as the committee may require.
They may also make bye-laws in the same manner as a
school board, for the purpose of enforcing attendance at
school. Provision is made for the appointment and pay
of officers to cany out the bye-laws and the provisions of
the Acts as to school attendance. In certain cases, how-
ever, in rural districts, the officers of the guardians are
to act. It is the duty of the school-attendance com-
mittee to publish the provisions of the Acts, and to
report to the Education Department any infringements
of the conscience clause.
If a school-attendance committee make default in the
performance of its duties, the Education Department
may appoint persons for a specified })eriod, not exceeding
two years, to perform the duty of the committee. The
persons so appointed may be remunerated, and the ex-
pense incurred may be recovered from the town council
or guardians, as the case may be.
CHAPTER IX.
THE HIGHWAY AREAS — BURIAL AREAS, ETC.
Highway Areas — Highways and Main Roads — Highway Parishes —
Highway Districts and Boards — Urban Higliways — Sanitary
District Cemeteries— Burial Boards Cemeteries — Miscellaneous
Areas.
I. Highway Areas.
A HIGHWAY, as defined by Blackstoue, is a public road
which all subjects of the realm are entitled to use. The
main Highway Areas are three in number — (1) the high-
way parish ; (2) the highway district ; and (3) the urban
sanitary district. The first two are rural authorities.
This classification is not exhaustive, because the six
counties of South Wales have a special highway organisa-
tion of their own under Acts of 1844 and 1860. The
Isle of Wight has its special constitution ; and the
Metropolis, of course, is excluded from the operation of
the general Acts. There are, too, other places and
towns which have special Acts, varying or adding to the
general highway powers.
Highways are of two kinds — namelj', ordinary high-
ways and main roads. The distinction — in substance
though not in name — was created by the various Turn-
CHAP. IX.] THE llKillWAY AND BURIAL AREAS. 133
pike Acts which began to be passed in the last centur}^
but which of late years have been discontinued. It is
clearly right that the arterial roads through which the
main traffic of the country flows should be put on a
dirterent footing from the roads which only serve certain
small areas. Under the Turnpike Acts the control of
the roads to which they applied was vested in trustees,
who were empowered to defray their expenses by col-
lecting tolls. In theory nothing could be fairer than
the system of paying road expenses by taxing those who
use the roads in exact proportion to the use they make
of them. In practice the system is both annoj'ing and
costly. Mr. Dodson has described it as "the most
extravagant mode of maintaining roads which the in-
genuity of man or fiend could devise."^ The turnpike
trusts are now expiring fast, and no one has a good Avord
for the moribunds. In 18G4 there were 1048 trusts,
comprising 20,000 miles of road. In 1882 there were
only 105 trusts, comprising 3000 miles of road. In 1893
the last toll will have been collected. Until 1878, when
a road was distTU'npiked, it became an ordinary highway ;
but by the Act of that year it was provided that all
roads disturn piked after 1870 should be deemed to l)e
main roads. In the case of main I'oads, one half of the
expenses is to be repaid bj^ the county to the highway
authority if the road is repaired and maintained to the
satisfaction of the county surveyor. The Act further
provides that the county authority — that is to say, the
justices in quarter sessions — may declare any highway to
be a main road, or, on the other hand, may apply to the
Local Government Board for a provisional order declaring
^ Hansard, vol. cclx'. \\\\ 64.
134 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
that a main road shall cease to be such, and become an
ordinary highway. The county contribution in 1881
amounted to .£73,000, but the returns are not complete.
1. The highway parish may be defined as "any parish,
township, or place maintaining its own highways, or
which would maintain its own highways if it were not
included in a highway district or an urban sanitary dis-
trict." ^ The total numl^er of highway parishes is not
known, but the number of highway parishes maintaining
their own roads is 5804. It is to be noted that the
highway parish does not necessarily coincide with the
poor-law parish. By custom a particular township or
hamlet which is part of a poor-law parish may for high-
way purposes be a separate parish. For instance, in
Shropshire there are 740 highway parishes, while there
are only 224 poor-law parishes ; and in one district of
Cumberland there are 66 highway to 36 poor-law parishes.
At common laAV the duty of maintaining and repairing
highways lay upon the parish. If the inhabitants of the
parish neglected this duty they might be indicted.
This general rule was subject to two exceptions, which
are still preserved — first, a particular individual might
be bound ratione tenura.', to repair the public roads passing
through his property ; and secondly, a particular indi-
vidual, or even a hamlet, might ratione tenurce be exempt
from the general duty. The Highway Act of 1835
adopts the common law for its basis, and proA-ides the
machinery by which the parish may perform its duties.
The vestry must appoint a surveyor, who holds office for
a year, and is liable to a penalty if he refuses to act.
The vestry may, if they think fit, vote him a salary, and
^ Report of Lords' Committee on Highivays, p. \\.
IX.] THE HIGHWAY AND BURIAL AREAS. 135
he may appoint a deputy. By leave of the vestry the
surveyor may appoint a collector. It is the duty of the
surveyor to see that the roads are properly maintained,
and with the sanction of the vestry he may enter into
contracts for their repair. It is also his duty to assess
and levy the necessary highway rate. If the vestry
makes default in appointing a surveyor, the justices
must appoint some person to the office. In parishes
where the population exceeds 5000, the vestry may
appoint a board to discharge their functions in respect
of highways. This board is in effect a committee of
the vestry. There are now, it seems, nine such boards.
2. Under Acts of 18G2 and 1864, power was given to
the quarter sessions to combine parishes into highway
districts. In the exercise of these powers 366 higliAvay
districts, comprising about 8000 highway parishes, have
been created.^ The organisation provided by these Acts
consists of a district highway board, composed of the
justices resident in the district, and of way wardens
elected by the several combined parishes. The board
must appoint a treasurer, a clerk, and a district surveyor,
and it may appoint an assistant surveyor. The functions
of the board correspond with those of the vestry and
surveyor in a highway parish. The expenses are borne
partly by a common fund, partly by the difierent parishes.
" The common fund," says Mr. E. S. Wright, " is formed
by contributions in proportion to the poor-law valuations
of the several parishes. The amount of the contribution
so due from a parish and that of its separate charges for
its own roads are levied by a precept. If the parish is
^ Including the special Welsh boards, there are 424 high\vay
boanls.
136 LOCAL GOVEEXMEXT. [chap.
not a poor-law parish, the j^recept goes to the way
wardens, and the amount is raised by them by a separate
highway rate. In other cases the precept goes to the
overseers, and they pay out of the poor rate."
By the Highways Act, 1878, it is enacted that where
the area of a highway district coincides Avith the area of
a rural sanitary district, the rural sanitary authority —
that is to say, the guardians — may apply to the county
aiithority to have the control of the highways transferred
to them. If the justices make the order, the guardians
thereupon supersede the district board and become the
highway authority. It is not known in how many cases
this provision has taken effect.
To sum up — In rural districts the highway area may
be either a highway parish or a highway district ; and
the highway authority may be a parish surveyor, a parish
board, a district board, or the guardians. All rural high-
way accounts are now audited by the Local Government
Board. The total expenditure for the year 1881 was
£1,854,000.1
3. In urban sanitary districts the urban sanitary
authority is also the highway authority. The urban
authority, as we have seen, may be a to^vn council, or
a local board, or improvement commissioners. Their
powers over streets and roads have already been re-
ferred to.
II. The Burial District.
The laws relating to the provision of burial grounds
are at present exceedingly complicated. The common-
law right of burial in the parish churchyard has been
1 Report of Local Government Board, p. cxxxii.
IX.1 THE IIICIIWAY AND BURIAL AKEAS. 137
already adverted to. As poimlation has increased, parish
churchyards have become insufficient to meet the require-
ments of the parish. In towns, moreover, churchyards
are frequently ordered to he closed for sanitary reasons.
When the parish churchyard is no longer accessible,
provision is made for the burial of the dead in three
ways : —
First, there are cemeteries made and maintained as
commercial undertakings xmder special Acts of Parlia-
ment. These undertakings Avere sufficiently numerous,
even in 1847, to make it expedient to pass the Ceme-
teries Clauses Act, which contains a series of model
clauses for adoption into the special Acts.
Secondly, by an Act of 1879, the provisions of the
Cemeteries Clauses Act, 1847, are incorporated into the
Public Health Act. The effect of this is, that any sani-
tary authority may now make and maintain a cemetery
for its own district,^ and exercise all the poAvers given
by the Act of 1847. A cemetery may therefore now be
provided for a borough, an Improvement Act district, a
local board district, or the extra-urban parts of a union.
Thirdly, burial grounds may be provided under a
series of eleven Acts, extending from 1852 to 1875,
commonly known as the "Burial Acts." Any parish or
township may adopt the i)rovisions of these Acts, and
as a fact 552 burial boards have been constituted under
them. The burial board is elected by the vestry. It
must consist of from three to nine ratepayers of the
parish. The members hold office for three years, one-
third retiring annually. As vacancies occur, the board
1 The cemetery for the district naay, in certain cases, be situated
outside the district.
138 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap. ix.
may fill them up, if the vestry do not. The board, with
the consent of the Home Secretary, may mortgage the
rates in order to pay for a burial ground. The manage-
ment of the burial ground and the fixing of fees for
interments is entrusted to the board, subject to regula-
tions made by the Home Secretary. Parishes may concur
in providing a common burial ground ; and a burial
board, instead of providing a cemetery, may contract for
accommodation in the cemetery of some other authority.
There are some rather complicated provisions under
which a town council or other urban sanitary authority
may acquire the powers of a burial board wdthin its own
area. The Select Committee on Poor-Law Guardians,
1878, were "clearly of opinion that in urban districts
the separate existence of burial boards ought at once to
cease, and that whenever any new duties are imposed by
the legislature on such districts they should be carried
out by the existing authorities."
There are other local authorities besides those which
have been described -within whose jurisdiction the Eng-
lish citizen may occasionally find himself. He may be
the inhabitant of a drainage-board district or a Land
Drainage Act district ; but it Avould merely confuse the
reader, without answering any practical purpose, to go
into these special authorities and occasional jurisdictions.
CHAPTER X.
THE METROPOLIS.
Areas and Rating — Police — Licensing — Poor-Law Administration
— The Metropolitan Asylums Board— The Metropolitan Board
of Works— The Vestries and District Boards— The City Cor-
poration.
This volume would be incomplete Avithout some reference
to the Metropolis, l)ut it would be impossible within
the limits of space assigned to me to describe its system
of government.^ The Metropolis has no defined area, or
rather its area differs for different purposes. The metro-
l)olitan police district differs from the metropolitan man-
a^i^ement district or jjostal district. What is generally
understood by the Metropolis is the area under the juris-
diction of the Metropolitan Board of Works. The con-
fusion which reigns supreme over local affairs in the rest
of England is only worse confounded in the case of the
Metropolis. The only part of the Metropolis which has
a definitely-organised system of government is the City
of London. The City has an area of some 700 acres
and a "sleeping i)op\dation" of about 50,000 persons.
' For information as to London government, see Ji^port of
Municipal Corporations Commission, 1837; Norton's Citi/ of Lon-
don; "Woolrych's Metropolitan Management Acts; Cohden Club
Essays, 1S82, Paper by J. B. Firth, M.P.
140 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
The greater London of the Registrar-General sprawls
over some 120 square miles of ground, extends into foiu-
counties, and has a population of 3,814,371 persons.
The constitution of the City of London is regulated by
120 charters, some 50 general Acts, and an unknown
quantity of special Acts. London outside the City is
regulated by about 120 general Acts, supplemented by
an unknown quantity of special Acts. The fact that the
Metropolis is so well governed as it is speaks well for the
practical sagacity and honesty of purpose of those that
rule the monster city. There are not infrequent hitches
in the cumbrous machinery, but the marvel is that it
moves at all. The amount collected by rates is about
£5,500,000. The revenues of the City Corporation, in-
cluding tolls and dues, come to about £1,500,000 more.
There are nine different kinds of rates collected. The
number of distinct rating authorities does not appear in
any official retiu-n. Besides the City Corporation, the.
Metropolitan Board of Works, and the London School
Board, there are twenty-eight boards of guardians and
forty-three incorporated vestries and district boards. It
is often said that there is no system in metropolitan
government, and that legislation respecting it has pro-
ceeded on no settled principle. It may be doubted
whether either of these statements is accurate. The
theory of London government appears to be this : — There
is in the centre a compact town of small dimensions,
namely, the City ; around the City walls there is a fringe
of country villages, which for the most part can be
governed like other country parishes. Unfortimately
the facts do not square with the theory. Hitherto so
much the Avorse for the facts. AMien the facts have be-
X.] THE METROPOLIS. 141
come obstreperous, some exceptional expedient has been
resorted to — some special authority has been created to
meet the need of the hour. The plan of i)utting a new
legislative patch on to the old garment has been con-
sistently pursued with the usual result. To give a metho-
dical account of London government would be as difficult
as to describe the pattern on a patchwork quilt. All
that can be done is to give some description of the local
authorities which constitute the more important patches.
Before saying anything about the local authorities, it
may be well to mention some exceptions to their juris-
diction. National buildings and most of the public
parks are under the Office of Works, a State depart-
ment consisting of a permanent staff and a parliamentary
Chief Commissioner, who is appointed by the Govern-
ment of the day, and goes out with his party. The
Metropolitan Police Force, which consists of about 10,000
men, is under the direct control of the Home Secretary
and is quite distinct from the City Police. The cost of
the Metropolitan Police for 1881 was £1,148,000, while the
cost of the City Police was about £100,000. The theatres
in certain parts of London are licensed hy, and are under
the control of, the Lord Chamberlain. In the rest of the
Metropohs, except the City, they are under the control of
the various county justices. Music and dancing licenses
and public-house licenses are in the hands of the county
justices or city magistrates, as the case may be. The sup-
ply of gas and water for the most part is in the hamls of
piivate companies with special statutory powers.
The administration of the poor law is in several
respects peculiar. Li addition to the ordinary elective
and ex officio guardians, there are guardians nominated
142 LOCAL GOVERNJIENT. [chap.
by the Local Government Board. Any justice of the
peace or ratepayer resident in the union is qualified for
nomination. There is a proviso, however, that the
number of ex ojficio and nominated guardians must " not
exceed one-third of the full number of elected guardians."
Under an Act of 1867,^ for certain poor-law purposes, the
richer unions are made to contribute to the poorer unions
by means of what is called the Common Poor Fund.
The Local Government Board assesses the amount that
each union or union-parish is to contribute to this fund ac-
cording to the parish valuation-lists. The more important
items charged on the Common Poor Fund are the main-
tenance of pauper lunatics, the provision and maintenance
of hospitals for patients suffering from fever and small-
pox, the salaries of persons employed in dispensaries,
vaccination, and the registration of births and deaths.
The construction and management of asylums for the
imbecile or insane, and hospitals for infectious cases, are .
taken out of the hands of the ordinary guardians and
vested in the Metropolitan Asylums Board. The Board
is a body coi'porate. The members of the Board are in
part elected by the guardians of the several unions, in
part nominated by the Local Government Board. The
number of members is fixed by the Local Government
Board. The present number is sixty, of whom fifteen
are nominated and forty-five are elective members. The
nominated members must never exceed one-third of the
elective members. The elective members are chosen by
the guardians either from among themselves or from
the ratepayers of the union. The nominated members
must be either justices of the peace or ratepayers resi-
1 30 Yict. c. 6. sec. 79.
X.] Tin: .MIITROI'OLIS. H3
dent in the Asylums Board district. Five hospitals for
infectious diseases have been founded by the Board.
Their experiences during the recent smallpox epidemics
have not been happy. The eftect of massing large
numbers of smallpox cases together had never befc^re
been ti'ied. The undoubted result was the spread of the
disease in the immediate vicinity of the hospitals. The
subject has been investigated by a Royal Commission
and the Local Government Board. The result of their
inquiries is to show that under proper management
there is no danger to the neighbourhood from hospitals
for the ordinary infectious fevers ; but that the aggrega-
tion of smallpox cases is unsafe, and that for the future
some other plan must be tried. By a curious anomaly
the pro\^sion of hospitals for infectious disease is con-
sidered a poor-law, and not a sanitary, matter, and the
whole management of these institutions is conducted
without any reference to the sanitary authorities.
There is one school board for the whole Metropolis.
The Board consists of fifty members, elected by the difter-
ent districts into which for this ])urpose the metropolitan
area is divided. The chairman is elected by the Board,
and receives a salary. The members are elected by the
different districts in the following proportions : — namel}-,
Marylebone, 7 ; Finsbury, 6 ; Tower Hamlets, 5 ; Hack-
ney, 5 ; Southwark, 5 ; The City, 4 ; Greenwich, 4 ;
Westminster, 5 ; Chelsea, 4.^
The main drainage of London, and, witli certain limi-
tations in the case of the City, the regulation of streets
and bridges, and the control of the fire brigade and the
making of town improvements, are under the control of
^ See Ovron's Education Ads, loth cd. p. r23.
144 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
the Meti^opolitan Board of Works. This Board was
created in 1855 by the first of the Metropolitan Manage-
ments Acts.^ The Board is a corporate body consisting
of forty-six members. The chairman receives a salary
of £2000 a year. The rest of the members are unpaid.
The City elects three members ; the rest are elected by the
various vestries and district boards in the metropolitan
area. The members of the Board hold office for three
years, one-third of the members retiring every year by
rotation. Retiring members are eligible for re-election.
The seventy-eight parishes in the metropolitan area
outside the city ])oundary are governed by either vestries
or district boards. There are twenty-three vestries ruling
large single parishes, and fifteen district boards governing
associated groups of parishes. The vestries and district
boards are the sanitary and nuisance-removal authorities
for their respective areas. They also superintend the
lighting, paving, watering, and cleansing of the streets..
Minor drainage works, supplemental to the main system,
are also in their hands.
The London vestries are incorporated. The members
must have a rating qualification of not less than <£40 a
year. They hold ofl^ice for three years, one-third retiring
annually. The elections are held in May. The number of
vestrymen varies according to the population of the parish,
but the maximum is. 1 20. The candidates are proposed
and seconded. If there be more candidates than vacancies
the election takes place by ballot. The rector of the par-
ish and the churcliAvardens are ex officio vestrymen. The
accounts of the vestries ai-e audited by elected auditors. -
1 18 & 19 A^iut. c. 120.
2 See Report on Poor Law Guardiaiis, etc., 1878, p. 137.
X.] THE METROPOLIS. 145
The members of the district boards are elected by
the vestries of the combined parishes. The constitution
of the district boards is in most respects similar to that
of the vestries for single parishes.
The City of London has an area of about one square
mile. Within its limits the Corporation is for nearly
all purposes, except main drainage, the Local Authority.
No one can deny the efficiency of the government
within these narrow limits. The City has its own police
system and its own courts. It is the sanitary authority for
the port of London. It has the monopoly of all markets
within seven miles of its boundary. It also has the right
of collecting certain duties on all corn, coal, and wine
l)rought into the port of London or the metropolitan area.
The Corporation exercises its functions through three
assemblies — namely, the Court of Aldei-mon, the Court of
Common Council, and the Court of Common Hall. The
Lord Mayor is president of each of these assemblies.
The Court of Aldermen consists of twenty-six alder-
men, including the Lord Mayor. The City is divided into
twenty-six Avards. There are twenty-four wards which
each elect an alderman ; two more wards elect an alder-
man between them; the remaining alderman sits for a
twenty-seventh nominal ward, and the vacancy is usuall}'
bestowed on the senior alderman.^ The aldermen hold
office for life, are ex ojfirio magistrates, and when sitting-
alone have the powers of ordinary justices sitting in pett}'
sessions. The Court of Aldermen elects the Eecorder, and
licenses brokers, and has considerable financial control.
The Court of Common Council is the main legislative
and executive body. It consists of the twenty-six aldermen
' Report of 1837, \\ 6.
L
146 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
and 240 common-council men elected annually in different
proportions by the several wards. The electors at the
ward-mote elections need not be citizens, but must have
a certain property qualification in the City. The Court
of Common Council acts chiefly through committees, the
most important of which is the Commission of Sewers,
who superintend the paving, lighting, and street manage-
ment of the city. Most of the corporate officers are
elected by the Common Council. The Commissioners of
1837 point out that "an unlimited command over the
funds of the City is held by two independent bodies, the
Court of Aldermen and the Court of Common Council."
It does not seem, however, that much practical incon-
venience arises from this anomaly.
The business of the Court of Common Hall is believed
to be confined to the election of certain officers, the most
important of which are the Lord Mayor, the Shei-ifi's, and
the Chamberlain.
The right of citizenship is confined to members of the
sixty-nine livery companies. Any livery man may take
up his freedom and be enrolled as a citizen.
The Lord Mayor is chosen from among the aldermen
who have served the office of sheriff. The Court of
Common Hall names two aldermen — usually the two
senior aldermen — qualified and willing to serve, and of
the two thus named the Court of Aldermen selects one,
usually the senior one. The Lord Mayor is the chief
magistrate of the City, and is expected to take the lead
in all City functions and other matters of public interest.
During his year of office he lives at the Mansion House,
and there dispenses hospitality on behalf of the city.
His salary for the year is £10,000.
X.] THE METROPOLIS. M7
Nothing need be said about the functions peifomied
by the Sheriffs and Auditors. Tlie names of the offices
sufficiently denote their duties. The Cliam1)erlain is
the treasurer of the Corporation. The Kecorder, who
is elected by the Court of Aldermen, is a judge of the
Central Criminal Court, and chief judge of the Mayor's
Court, Avhich has an imlimited civil jurisdiction within
the City limits. Tlic Deputy-Recorder is called the Com-
mon Sergeant. He is elected by the Court of Common
Council. So also is the judge of the City of London
Court, — a court which has the jurisdiction of an ordinary
county court. The principle of elective judges is a bad
one ; but the elections made have, as a rule, done great
credit to the electors. There have, however, been ex-
ceptions.
Among the other more important officers elected Ijy
the Court of Common Council are the Town-Clerk, the
Eemembrancer, and the City Coroner.
The City Corporation is subject to no external control
or audit, and, except in the matters where the Metro-
politan Board of Works has jurisdiction, it enjoys complete
independence.
Most of the more important local authorities exercis-
ing jurisdiction in the Metropolis have now been adverted
to ; but there are many minor authorities which ought
to be described in order to give anything like a complete
account of London government.^ That, however, is out-
side the scope of a volume in this series.
1 Sncli, for instance, as tlie Thames Conservancy Board, the
various bari;il boards, tlie City of Westminster, etc.
CHAPTER XL
CENTRAL CONTROL.
Central Coutrol— The Local Government Board— Its Functions-
Advice —Administrative Control— Audit— Limits of Central
■ Control.
The supervision of the Central Government over local
authorities is mainly exercised through a new depart-
ment called the Local Government Board. School
boards and school-attendance committees, as regards all.
matters relating to education, are under the control of
the Education Department of the Privy Council, while
financially they are mainly under the Local Government
Board. In matters relating to the contagious diseases
of animals, the Privy Coimcil is the central controlling
department ; and as regards loans for certain local pui'-
poses, the sanction of the Treasmy is required. Licenses
to local authorities under the Electric Lighting Act are
under the control of the Board of Trade. But the general
superintendence of local affairs is now gathered together
in the hands of the Local Government Board.
Before 1871 it was other-snse. The exercise of
central supervision was scattered over various depart-
ments, having no organised communication with each
CHAP. XI.] CENTRAL CONTROL. 149
other. The natural result was confusion and uncertainty
of action. The evil and its remedy are thus stated by
the Koyal Sanitary Commission of 18G9. "However
local," they say in their Report, " the administration of
affairs, a central authority will nevertheless he always
necessary in order to keep the local executive every-
where in action — to aid it when higher skill or infor-
mation is needed, and to carry out numerous functions
of central superintendence. The causes of the jjresent
inefficiency of the central sanitary authority are obvious.
"(1.) Its want of concentration — the reference of
general questions of local government being made to the
Local Government Act Department of the Home Office ;
that of measures ' for diseases prevention ' to the Privy
Council ; and that of other matters to the Board of
Trade.
"(2.) The want of central officers, there being, for
instance, no stafi' whatever for constant, and a very
small one for occasional, inspection.
" (3.) The want of constant and official communication
between central and local officers throughout the king-
dom. A new statute therefore should constitiite and
give adequate strength to one central authority. There
should be one recognised and sufficiently powerful min-
ister, not to centralise administration, but, on the con-
trary, to set local life in motion — a real motive power,
and an authority to be referred to for guidance and
assistance by all the sanitary authorities for local govern-
ment throughout the country. Great is the vis inertim
to be overcome ; the repugnance to self -taxation ; the
practical distrust of science ; and the number of persons
interested in offending against sanitary laws, even amongst
150 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
those who must constitute chiefly the local authorities to
enforce them."
These recommendations were carried into effect by the
Act of 1871.^ The Act recites that " it is expedient to
concentrate in one department of the C4overnment the
supervision of the laws relating to pubhc health, the
rehef of the poor, and local government." It then pro-
ceeds to constitute a Local Government Board, to consist
of " a President to be appointed by her Majesty, and to
hold ofl&ce during the pleasure of her Majesty," and of
the following ex officio members — that is to say, the
Lord President of the Council, all the Secretaries of
State, the Lord Privy Seal, and the Chancellor of the
Exchequer. The ex officio members are impaid. The
President is salaried. Provision is made that the Presi-
dent and one of the secretaries to the Board may sit in
Parliament, and as a fact the President has always been
a Cabinet Minister. The whole Board, it is believed,-
hardly or never meet. Questions of national importance
of course come before the Cabinet. The President and
the Department do all the work. The Act seems to
contemplate this, for it provides that the Local Govern-
ment Board may adopt an official seal and style, and that
any act to be done or instrument to be executed may
be done or executed in the name of the Board by the
President or by a Secretary or Assistant-secretary, author-
ised so to do b}' any general order of the Board.
The Act vested in the neAv Board — (1) All the powers
^ The Local Government Board Act, 1871, 34 and 35 Vict. c. 70,
Since then five or six Acts have been passed conferring additional
powers and duties on the Board in special matters. See, e.g., the
Local Taxation Returns Act, 1877 ; the District Auditoi-s Act, 1879 ;
and the Alkali Act, 1881.
XI.] CENTRAL CONTROL. 151
and duties of the Poor Law Board ; (2) All the powers
and duties of the Privy Council relating to vaccination
and the prevention of disease ; (3) All the powers and
duties of the Home Office in relation to public health,
drainage and sanitary mattei's, baths and wash-houses,
public and town improvements, artizans' and laboiu"ers'
dwellings, local government, local returns, and local
taxation.
The Board reports annually to Parliament, and also
furnishes exhaustive returns of local taxation, expendi-
ture, loans, and debts.
The functions of the Board may be considered under
three heads — namely, advice, administrative control, and
financial control. In order to perform these fxmctions,
the Board, in addition to the ordinary staff of a Govern-
ment office, has attached to it a staff of medical men,
architects, and engineers, to conduct local investigations
of a scientific or technical nature. Its public health
and medical department is under the guidance of a dis-
tinguished member of the Royal Society.^
In order that the Board may be able to offer efficient
advice to the various local authorities who may consult
it, it is essential that it shoidd have the fullest informa-
tion. It consequently has conferred on it large powers of
demanding reports and returns of every sort and kind from
local sources. Every year an immense stream of statis-
tics is poured in to its various departments. Sir Charles
Dilke, in ^evie^\^ng its functions in a speech to his con-
stituents, estimated the amount of statistical returns at
its disposal at ten millions. It is the duty of the Board
^ Dr. Biiclianaii, F.R.S., a wortliy successor to Mr. Simon,
F. R.S., who has done so much for hygiene in England.
152 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
to collate, digest, and report upon the statistics that are
presented to it. It is further its duty to hold local in-
quiries into outbreaks of disease, or any break-down or
hitch in the Avorking of the sanitary laws, and it has
power to charge the expenses of these inquiries on the
rates. To give instances, the Board has recently held
investigations on the spot concerning an outbreak of
enteric fever at Bangor, an outbreak of scarlet fever at
Halifax, an outbreak of trichinosis on a training ship
in the Thames, the alleged dissemination of smallpox
from the Asylum Board Hospital at Fulham, and the
occurrence of some deaths at Norwich alleged to be due
to careless vaccination. The investigations are conducted
by medical men of high scientific attainments ; and the
reports they send in not only enable the Board to advise
the local authority for the time being in trouble, but are
also of great scientific value. The Board is thus gradu-
ally accumulating a mass of experience which in time ■
A^all go far towards solving many difficult problems of
sanitary science. It further has power to direct and pay
for special researches into any medical question bearing
upon its duties. Another important and little -known
function is that of advising the Government on local Acts.
"The Board," says Sir Charles Dilke,^ "has to report
specially on every private bill that relates to private
matters. There are few who know what an enormous
number of interests are affected by what is called private
bill legislation. As every member knows, but as the
public generally are not aware, private bills are brought
on before the House is constituted for the despatch of
public business. There is an exaggerated power to block,
' Speech to constituents at Chelsea — Times, 2d January 1883.
XI.] CENTRAL CONTROL. lo;3
to obstruct, and to call attention to public bills, but there
is perhaps too little to call attention to private Ijills.
They are not printed and circulated among all members,
and copies are only to be obtained by asking for them at
the office. A number of matters pass unobserved in
private Ijills Avhich Avould be made the subject of active
opposition if they -were in public bills. They contain
bye-laws for loans, and many other matters of vital im-
portance. It is the duty of the Local Government Board
to examine these measures and report specially upon
them." Local Authorities are at any time entitled to the
advice of the Board, and it is the special function of the
Board to advise them on matters of hospital construction,
and to consider and report on the reports received from
local medical officers of health.
The administrative control exercised by the Board
over different local authorities varies considerably, as we
have already seen. In poor-law matters the control is
complete. The Board has power to create, dissolve, and
amalgamate unions, and to regulate the proceedings of
the guardians in the minutest particulars. Over muni-
cipalities proper the Board has no direct control. It is
only when the borough wants to borrow money that the
Board can step in and impose conditions. Over sanitary
authorities the Board has considerable power, as we have
seen, and it can force them to carry out sanitary measures
to its satisfaction. It can by provisional order alter,
amend, or repeal local Acts relating to sanitary authorities.
These provisional orders, it is true, require confimiation
by Parliament, but that is usuall}^ obtained as a matter
of course. It can also authorise sanitary authorities by
provisional order to acquire any necessary land by com-
154 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
piilsory purchase. It can in like manner dissolve or alter
the boundaries of local-board districts. It supenases
and can alter or amend the bye-laws passed by sanitary
authorities under the Public Health Act, 1875. As
instances of bye-laws disallowed by the board, the follow-
ing may be cited — namely, a bye-law prohibiting aU boys
from throwing stones in the to'svn, a bye-law prohibiting
persons from singing hymns in the streets, a bye-law for-
bidding strangers to bring dogs into the town, and a
bye-law forbidding "lounging" on Sunday afternoon.
The working of the Canal Boats Acts, the Rivers Pollution
Prevention Acts, and the Alkali Acts, are under the special
superintendence of the Local Government Board. It can
confer on rural sanitary authorities all or any of the powers
of urban sanitary authorities. The Board also has special
and stringent jjowers for dealing with epidemics. In
such case it may provide for the speedy interment of
the dead, house-to-house visitation, and other requisite
arrangements. Nearly all loans for local public works
(except piers and harbours) have to be sanctioned by the
Board, unless they are authorised by special Act of
Parliament. In the Report for 1882 the Board say:^
"Among the purposes for Avhich we have sanctioned
loans during the year have been included the construc-
tion, widening, paving, flagging, and channelling of
streets ; the erection of offices, public baths and wash-
houses, bridges, gasworks, markets, hospitals, sea-
defences ; the provision of pleasure-grounds, cemeteries,
^ Elevcntli Report, Local Government Board, p. Ixiv. The re-
payment of local loans, and the due payment of interest, the issue
of debentures, etc., are now regulated by the Local Loans Act, 1875,
38 and 39 Vict. c. 83.
XI.] CENTRAL CONTROL. 155
slaughter-houses, manure depots ; and works for the
removal of night-soil and for the destruction of refuse.
In dealing with the applications which have been made
to us for sanction to raise these loans, we have adhered
to our usual practice, and have strictly scrutinised the
purposes for which the money is to be borrowed. We
have also been furnished with plans and detailed esti-
mates of the proposed works, and ])efore sanctioning the
loans have satisfied ourselves that the works are neces-
sary and suitable to the locality, and that the estimates
have not been excessive." It is further the duty of the
Board to see that the provisions of the Adulteration Acts
are carried out by keeping the local authorities up to
the mark. This seems to be a difficult task, especially
in the case of the smaller boroughs. " In one case," say
tlie Board,^ "a town council at first refused to have
samples analysed, saying they had received no com-
plaints, but afterwards, on our insistance, decided to
make the experiment. The result was that no less than
three out of four of the samples examined during the
quarter were found to be adulterated." The statistics for
the whole country are collected l)y the Board. As
regards coftee, 1200 specimens were examined and 224
were found to be adulterated; 19 per cent of the milk
specimens were found to be adulterated. In some cases
as much as 60 per cent of water was found to be added.
The analyst for "Wooh^nch remarks that the inhabitants
must be paying 'some thousand pounds a year under the
name of milkmen's bills, but reall}^ as an additional
water rate.'- The analyst for Essex complains that the
milk is not even adulterated -with pure water, but that
^ Eleventh Report, p. xcix. - Eleventh Eeport, p. ciii.
156 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
the compound ' is eminently favourable for the develop-
ment of disease germs.' The total number of articles
analysed during the year was 17,000, of which about
15 per cent were found to be adulterated. The super-
intendence of the operation of the Vaccination Acts
is specially entrusted to the Board, who have power
to make special grants to public vaccinators who
attain a high standard of efficiency. It may be noted
that the Board have recently taken up the subject of
animal vaccination, and that they now supply calf
lymph to the vaccinators in order to meet the preju-
dices of those who object to humanised lymph. Among
the miscellaneous duties of the Board are the issue
of instructions to the Registrar- General's Office for
the registration of births and deaths, the sanction of
sales of land by parishes, and the examination of bye-
laws under the Highways and Locomotives Act, 1878.
The financial control exercised b}^ the Board over local
bodies is enforced in two ways. In the first place, as
we have seen, when a local authority Avishes to boiTow
under the powers given by the Public Health Act,
1875, and some other Acts, it must first obtain the sanc-
tion of the Board. The control in this direction is by
no means complete, for it appears from the Board's last
Report that since 1871 local bodies have obtained numer-
ous special Acts, under which they have borrowed no
less than £33,000,000. Under these Acts the sanction of
the Board has not been requisite. The Board, however,
have authorised loans to the extent of £24,000,000.
Secondly, the Board is charged with the duty of
auditing the accounts of most local authorities. Mimi-
cipal boroughs and counties are exempt from the central
XI.] CENTRAL CONTROL. 157
audit, Init it eml>races the accounts of poor-law guardian-s,
rural .sanitary authorities, urban sanitary authorities
other than town councils, overseers of the poor, school
boards, highway boards, and surveyors of highway
parishes. For purposes of audit the country, exclusive
of the Metropolis, is mapped out into thirty-three dis-
tricts. The Board appoints officers called District Audi-
tors, who under its directions conduct the audits on the
spot. An appeal lies from the decision of the district
auditor to the Board in respect of any disallowance or
surcharge. As a rule, if the defaulting authority has
made a bond fide mistake, the Board lets it off with a
caution ; but there is power to charge the defaulting
anthoi'ities with any sums mis-spent, and occasionally in
the interests of public justice this power is exercised by
the Board. In 1880 the number of disallowances and
surcharges reported by the district auditors was 6825.
Poor-law accounts have for a long time been audited
by the Central Government ; but the extension of the
audit to other local bodies is of recent date. The utility
and efficacy of an independent audit is pointed out in
the Keport of the Poor Law Commissioners in 1837,
where it is observed " that the negative duty not to
apply a tax for an unauthorised purpose is more pe-
culiarly fit to be enforced by an audit and account
When I'cinforced by an efficient remedy for the re-
cover}^ of balances, and when the responsible party is
in solvent circumstances, it is the most simple, ready,
and self-acting of all expedients for the security of public
property ; and no other known administrative inquisi-
tion, and no judicial proceeding, either of a remedial or
penal character, can be compared with it." When in
158 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap.
1879 highway accounts were first brought under the
audit, some curious appHcations of the rates came to
light. In one parish a sparrow-shooting club for the
farmers had for five and twenty years been supported
by the highway rate. In another parish the mole-
catchers' bills were paid out of the same source, the
explanation being given that " having no other available
source from which to pay the above, we paid it from
the surveyor's account."^ In two or three cases lately
rewards for killing foxes were found to have been paid
out of the rates. Considering that in most parts of
rural England vulpicide and infanticide are thought to
be crimes of about equal magnitude, it seems rather a
strong measiire to apply rates to either purpose. Among
other items of disallowed expenditure we find champagne
and plovers' eggs, visits to the theatre, journeying ex-
penses when no journey was taken, presentation por-
traits, " suitable demonstrations " on the chairman's
wedding day, memorial keys, and the like.
Whether the jurisdiction of the Board over local
authorities ought to be extended or curtailed is a matter
on which opinion may well be divided, but the value of
its functions in giving advice and instruction can hardly
be disputed. "Power," says Mr. J. S. Mill, "ma}^ be
localised, but knowledge to be most useful must be
centralised. There must be somewhere a focus at which
all its scattered rays are collected, that the broken and
coloured lights which exist elsewhere may find there
what is necessary to complete and purify them. The
Central Authority ought to keep open a pei'petual com-
munication with the localities, informing itself by their
^ Tenth Report, Local Government Board, p. 43.
XI.] CENTRAL CONTROL. 159
experience, and them by its ovm, giving advice freely
when asked, and volunteering it when it seems to be
required."^ At any rate, until our rural system of local
government is better organised, the ratepayers will be
grateful for the central audit ; but the extent of the
administrative control that the Central Government
shoidd exercise is a most difficult i>ro])lem. Obedience
to the general laws which the Legislature has laid down
for the preservation of private and individual rights
and the limitation of the power of local authorities, can
be enforced by the courts of law; but how far ought
local bodies to be allowed to mismanage their own
affairs ? If they are superintended by an intelligent
and conscientious central department, aimed with large
executive powers, it is apt to err on the side of undue
interference. When it sees things going %vi-ong it steps
in with a high hand to set them right. Yet it is only
by a succession of tumbles that a child can learn to walk.
A local authority in leading strings is not likely to learn
aright the lesson of self-government. If local autonomy
possesses the political value its admirers assert for it, it
may be well worth while to make some temporary sacri-
fices to develop and strengthen it. In local matters
" that which is best administered " may not be " best " in
the long run. The tendency to regard all England as
a suburb of London is certainly not a healthy one.
Anything that can give vigour and colour tn local life
should be encouraged. In the case of local bodies, as
in the case of individuals, it may be better and healthier
to be too little governed than to be too much governed,
even though the government be good. " Le difficile
^ lu'prcscntdtivc Government, cli. xv.
160 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. [chap. xi.
est de ne promulguer que des lois necessaires; de
rester a jamais fidele k ce principe vraiement constitu-
tionnel de la societe, de se mettre en garde centre la
fureui' de gouverner, la plus funeste maladie des
o;ouvernements modernes." ^
1 Mirabeau I'Aine, sur I'Education Publique.
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