:y;!:^-t'm^ '■I \ ^^AHvaan-iv^ ^oxmmi^ '^smmm^ '^mt^mj^ ^^WEUNIVERI/^ ^lOSANCnfir^ ^"UBRARYO^ 1^ V^i ea fe cIOSANCEIGa ea ^>sjaAiNn-3V^^ ^oxmmi^ "^^ommm sr> ^iojnvaao^ ;jjOFCAUF0R(^ ^ "^^AHvian^^ ^OFCAUFOfl!^ ^. , if ^rlOSANCEU ^UNIVERS/^ M ^ 1^' 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. THE END. Printed hy K. & R. CLAkK, Edinhtrgh. Now Publishing in Crown Svo., Price 3«. (jd. each. Ubc Bnglisb Citisen: A SERIES OF SHORT BOOKS ON HIS RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES. Edited by HENRY CRAIK, M.A. This series is intended to meet the demand for accessible in- formation on the ordinary conditions and the current terms of our political life. The affairs of business, contact with other men, the reading of newspapers, the hearing of political speeches, may give a partial acquaintance with such matters, or at least stimulate curiosity as to special points. But such partial ac- quaintance with the most important facts of life is not satis- factory, although it is all that the majority of men find within their reach. The series will deal with the details of the machinery whereby our Constitution works and the broad lines upon which it has been constructed. The volumes in it will treat of the course of legislation ; of the agencies by which civil and criminal justice are administered, whether imperial or local ; of the relations between the gi'eater system of the imperial Government and the subdivisions by which local self-government is preserved along- side of it ; of the electoral body, and its functions and constitu- tion and development ; of the great scheme of national income and its disbursement ; of State interference with the citizen in his training, in his labour, in his trafficking, and in his home ; and of the dealings of the State with that part of property which is, perforce, political — the land ; of the relation between State and Church which bulks so largely in our history, and is entwined so closely with our present organization ; and lastly, of those relations of the State that are other than domestic. The books are not intended to interpret disputed points in Acts of Parliament, nor to refer in detail to clauses or sections of those Acts ; but to select and sum up the salient features of any branch of legislation, so as to place the ordinary citizen in possession of the main points of the law. Thefolloioing are the titles of the volumes : — 1. CENTRAL GOVERNMEKT. H. D. Traill, D.C.L., late Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford. {Ready. "Mr. Traill gives a chapter to.executive government under the constitutional system, another to the cabinet, and then one apiece to the great offices of state. . . . This scheme Mr. Traill has carried out with a great deal of know- ledge and in an excellent manner. ... A clear, straightforward style enables him to put his knowledge in a way at once concise and lucid." — Saturday Review. 2. THE ELECTORATE AND THE LEGISLATURE. SpE^x•ER Walpole, Author of " The History of England from 1815." [Ready. " Mr. Walpole traces the growth of the power of Parliament through all those stages with which we are now familiar, and he does so very clearly and succinctly." — St. Jatncss Gazette. 3. LOCAL GOVERNMENT. M. D. Chalmers. [Pxady. 4. JUSTICE AND POLICE. F. Pollock, late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, &c. 5. THE NATIONAL BUDGET : THE NATIONAL DEBT, TAXES, AND RATES. A. J. Wilson. [Ready. " We "have, ere now, had occasion to warmly commend the English Citizen Series. Not one of these works have better deserved the highest encomiums than Mr. Wilson's book. ... It is calcxilated to do much in the way of enlightenment." — The Citizen. 6. THE STATE AND EDUCATION. Henry Craik, M.A. 7. THE POOR LAW. Eev. T. W. Fowle, M.A. [Ready. " Mr. Fowle 's is indeed an admirable epitome not only of the present state of our poor laws, 'but also of the earliest institutions which they have superseded. . . . His work is a remarkably concise statement on the whole question in its bearings on the rights and responsibilities of English citizens." — Athenceum. ' ' Mr. Fowle's treatise is a valuable little summary It is worthy of & wide circulation." — The Academy. MACMILLAN & CO., LONDON. 8. THE STATE IN ITS RELATION TO TRADE. T. II. Faukki^ [licady. " The subject is one on which Jlr. Farrer, from his official position, speaks with a fiihiess of knowledge such as few possess, and this knowledge he has the faculty of conveying to others in a vigorous and attractive way." — The Economic. 9. THE STATE IN RELATION TO LABOUR. W. Stanley Jevons, LLD., M.A., F.R.S. [Ready. "This little hook is full of useful information, well and thoughtfully digested. The facts are conveniently grouped, either to illustrate principles which the author desires to inculcate, or in accordance with the particular l)i-aiich of law to which they relate." — Law Times. 10. THE STATE AND THE LAND. F. Pollock, late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. [In the press. 11. THE STATE AND THE CHURCH, lion. Arthur Elliot, M.P. [Ready. "This is an excellent work — ^judicious, candid, and impartial." — North British Daily Mail. 12. FOREIGN RELATIONS. Spencer Walpole, Author of " The History of England from 1815." [Ready. "A work wliich every student of public affairs should almost know by heart." — Glasgmo News. 13. (1) INDIA. J. S. Cotton, late Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford. [In the press. (2) COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES. E. J. Payne, «L Fellow of University College, Oxford. [In tlus press. MACMILLi^j!^ k CO., LONDON. Now Publishing in Crown d>vo., Price 2s. %d. each. lEnglisb /Iften of Xettevs. Edited by JOHN MORLEY. JOHNSON. By Leslie Stephen. SCOTT. By E. H. HuTTON. GIBBON. By J. C. MoRisoN. SHELLEY. By J. A. Symonds. HUME. By Prof. Huxley, F.R.S. GOLDSMITH. By William Black. DEFOE. By W. MiNTO. BURNS. By Principal Shairp. SPENSER. By the Very Rev. the Dean OF St. Paul's. THACKERAY. 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