LOCAL. AND CENTRAL 
 GOVERN MENT 
 
 BERX^S^ ASHLEY
 
 Ij 
 
 /f
 
 OmVERSt-n^ oiC^^^^ 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 UBRARY.
 
 LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
 
 LOCAL AND CENTRAL 
 GOVERNMENT 
 
 A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ENGLAND, 
 
 FRANCE, PRUSSIA, AND THE 
 
 UNITED STATES 
 
 BY PERCY ASHLEY, M.A. 
 
 rjNroLN ror.LEGE, oxford 
 
 LECTURER AT THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND 
 POLITICAL SCIENCE IN THE UNI^'ERSITY OF LONDON 
 
 LONDON : 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 
 
 1906 
 
 
 ^16 5;] 2
 
 " • • 
 
 » • 
 • • • 
 
 • • • 
 
 - • • • 
 
 . '. '•••,. .• . • 
 
 .* •: : •'. '' •:• *. • ••• ••• 
 
 • ' • . •■ • • . . • •• 
 
 !.•••• * »
 
 \! 
 
 r 
 
 
 TO 
 
 WILLIAM JAMES ASHLEY 
 
 AND 
 
 MARGARET ASHLEY 
 
 13CA July, 1906.
 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 r4 
 
 Section 1. AdminisLrative necessity of decentralisation and self- 
 governnieut : England ...... 
 
 „ 2. Self-government in France and Prnssia 
 
 „ 3. The grant of powers to local authorities ; the 
 
 methods of central control 
 
 „ 4. The Courts of Justice and the administration ; posi- 
 tion of ollicials ; the "separation of powers" . 
 
 12 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 «<> 
 
 
 local administration in ENGLAND 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 Section 1. 
 
 The central departments 
 
 16 
 
 ^ 
 
 2. 
 
 The counties, rural districts, and rural parishes . 
 
 . 22 
 
 
 3. 
 
 The municipalities and urban districts 
 
 . 36 
 
 
 „ 4. 
 
 The Metropolis 
 
 . 46 
 
 
 „ 5. 
 
 Poor relief ........ 
 
 . 52 
 
 ^ 
 
 6. 
 
 Education 
 
 61 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 
 
 
 LOCAL administration IN FRA 
 
 NCE 
 
 
 
 Section 1. 
 
 The central authorities 
 
 . 
 
 69 
 
 
 ,, -• 
 
 The departments 
 
 
 
 78 
 
 
 3. 
 
 The arrondissements and cantons 
 
 
 
 . 91 
 
 
 „ 4. 
 
 The communes .... 
 
 
 
 93 
 
 
 „ !^. 
 
 Paris 
 
 
 
 . 104 
 
 
 6. 
 
 Education ..... 
 
 
 
 . 109 
 
 
 » ' • 
 
 Highways 
 
 
 
 . 120 
 
 IX
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 LOCAL ADMIXISTRATION IN PRUSSIA 
 
 Section L. The central authorities 
 
 „ 2. The provinces ..... 
 
 „ 3. The governineul districts . 
 
 „ 4. The circles and official districts . 
 
 5. The rural coniniuues .... 
 
 6. The towmj 
 
 7. Education ..... 
 
 8. Public assistance .... 
 
 5J 
 
 TX<iT 
 
 12r> 
 132 
 138 
 143 
 149 
 153 
 164 
 173 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF AMKKICAN CITIES 
 
 Section I. Some characteristic features 
 
 „ 2. The Mayor and the City Executive . 
 
 „ 3. The Council — its organisation and powers . 
 
 187 
 198 
 205 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION IN ENGLAND SINCE 1832 
 
 Section 1. The conditions prior to 1832 
 „ 2. Tlie first great period of reform . 
 „ 3. Further e.vtensiun of local government 
 „ 4. The second great period of reform 
 „ 5. Central control, and the problem of areas 
 
 213 
 219 
 223 
 229 
 234 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION IN FRANCE SINCE 1789 
 
 Section 1. The An^ien Regime ....... 237 
 
 ,. 2. The experiments of the First Republic and the 
 
 Napoleonic Reorganisation ..... 244 
 
 3. Subsequent changes in the central government . . 251 
 
 4. Eftect of these upon local administration . . . 258 
 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION IN PRL'SSIA SINCE 1806 
 
 Section 1 . Prussia before the beginnings of reform 
 „ 2. The work of Stein and Hardenberg . 
 „ 3. Constitutional changes ..... 
 „ 4. The local government reforms of Bismarck 
 
 263 
 
 268 
 275 
 281
 
 CONTENTS xi 
 
 CHAPTER VI 11 
 
 AUMINISTRATIVK LAW 
 
 TAfiK 
 
 Sf.ctton 1. Contrast between English and routiiifutal States . 28b 
 „ 2. The causes of the non-rfcoognitioii ol" ".idnunifltrative 
 
 law" in England 293 
 
 ?,. The nature of "administrative law" .... 297 
 
 4. Tile argument for .special tribunals .... .$04 
 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 LOCAL ADTHORITIES AND THK LEQISLATDRK 
 
 Section 1. The grant of powers to local authorities . . .311 
 „ 2. Private Bill Legislation in England . . . .310 
 
 „ 3. Provisional Orders 323 
 
 „ 4. The Legislatures and local authorities in the L'nited 
 
 States 327 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE aDMINLSTRATIVF, CONTROL OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES 
 
 Section I. Central control of local officials, and the ])uwer of 
 
 dis.soliUi(>u 335 
 
 „ 2. The approval, direction, and enforcement of action . 341 
 „ 3. The English inspectorate, and the deconcentration of 
 
 control ......... 347 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THK CONTROL OF LOCAL FINANCES 
 
 Section 1. Nature and objects of the tluancial control. The 
 
 audit 353 
 
 „ 2. Legislative restrictions \\\i()n local taxation and del)t . 357 
 
 „ 3. Administrative approval of local debt and taxation . 3GI 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THK COURTS OF JUSTICE AND LOCAL ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Section 1. The Courts of Ju.stice in England .... 3fi6 
 
 2. The Courts in Prance 371 
 
 „ 3. The Courts in Prussia 37G 
 
 Index 383
 
 LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 SECTION 1 
 
 In all European nations, whatever may have been Seif-govern- 
 
 ^ ^ ... ment and 
 
 the previous course of their constitutional history, decentraiisa- 
 the persistent and rapid growth of the functions 
 of the state, and the constant assumption of new 
 and onerous duties and responsibilities in the last 
 century, have rendered some attempts at decentrali- 
 sation and some grants of self - government 
 absolutely necessary, if the national administration 
 is to be carried on with success. Experience, 
 ancient and modern alike, has shown conclusively 
 that a completely centralised bureaucracy — that 
 is, a self-recruiting body of officials working from 
 a single centre, and responsible only to itself — 
 cannot carry on indetinitely the administration of 
 a large country ; it tends to ignore the varieties 
 of local conditions, to become stereotyped in its 
 ideas and methods, and overburdened ; and sooner 
 or later a breakdown becomes inevitable. And 
 where the people have been discouraged from 
 
 A
 
 2 INTRODUCTION [kect. 1. 
 
 taking an interest in the task of government, 
 where they have not been habituated to the 
 management of pubHc aifairs, the collapse, when 
 the bureaucracy fails, is so much the greater, since 
 there is nothing which can be substituted for the 
 broken-down official organisation. For these 
 practical reasons, amongst others of a more 
 tlieoretical and political character, in all pro- 
 gressive states, during the last century, attempts 
 have been made at decentralisation and the 
 development of self-government in two ways : ^ 
 (a) by entrusting the inhabitants of localities, or 
 their chosen representatives, with the conduct 
 (under greater or less control) of those matters 
 of public interest and utility which concern the 
 localities chiefly or entirely ; and (b) by providing 
 for the participation of unofficial citizens in the 
 management of some at least of those other 
 matters of administration which are supposed to 
 belong particularly to the sphere of the central 
 government. The systems of local administration 
 in vogue, and the constitution and working of 
 the authorities established for these purposes, 
 have naturally been influenced greatly by the 
 constitutional ideas and the forms of government 
 of the different states ; they reflect these, as they 
 
 1 " Selbstverwaltung bedeutet zuniichst die Verwaltung der 
 eigenen Angel egenheiten offentlicher Verbiinde durch selbstverwiihlte 
 Organe . . . Eine fernere Bedeutung hat die Selbstverwaltung dui^eh 
 Heranziehung dieser Organe oder der von ihnen gewahlten oder 
 vorgeschlagenen Personen zu Geschiifteu der staatlichen Verwaltung 
 erlangt." Hue de Grais, Handhuch der Ver/assung und Verwaltung, 
 (15th edition, p. 01, n. 1).
 
 SECT. 1.] INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 do also the political habits and social conditions 
 of the citizens. 
 
 So far as Europe is concerned, the develop- Local self 
 ment of local self-ffovernnient has ffone furthest in Great 
 
 " ° Britain. 
 
 in Great Britain. No attempt has been made 
 there to classify the functions of government into 
 " central " and " local " on scientific grounds ; the 
 division actually in existence has been determined 
 partly by administrative convenience (which is 
 not necessarily the same as efficiency), and partly 
 by our traditional political theories ; and the 
 result is a measure of decentralisation greater 
 than can be found in any other European state. 
 A certain number of functions are discharged by 
 central departments (i.e., by officials alone) ; but 
 nmch the larger part of the national administra- 
 tion is carried on by local authorities, elected 
 either for historical areas (the county, municipality, 
 or parish), or for artificial areas (the unions and 
 districts), but acting in either case under the 
 control of the central government. Sometimes 
 that control is exercised only by the Courts of 
 Justice ; in other cases the central departments 
 are armed with powers of supervision and direc- 
 tion. But these powers are limited by law, and 
 the departments in their turn are subject to the 
 elected national assembly ; so that the principle 
 of self-government is supreme. And, moreover, 
 we have in England traditional ideas as to the 
 autonomy of local communities, which are the 
 outcome of the particular course of our political
 
 4 INTRODUCTION [sect. 1. 
 
 and constitutional history ; and we are inclined 
 to regard the central power as something imposed 
 upon the localities often without their consent, 
 and for centuries extending its influence and 
 authority at their cost. Since the passing of the 
 first Reform Act, the enlargement of the sphere 
 of state action, and the multifarious character of 
 the work brought within it, have compelled the 
 central government either to create new local 
 authorities, or to extend the powers of those 
 already in existence. But even when the national 
 administration was most centralised in England, 
 and local government was most decrepit, the local 
 authorities never ceased to discharge some duties ; 
 and so to-day they exercise two kinds of powers 
 — some which they are thought to possess by a 
 sort of immemorial prescriptive right, and others 
 which have been bestowed upon them by the will 
 of the central government.^ In law, the local 
 authorities are simply the creatures of the legis- 
 lature, set up and destroyed by it at its pleasure ; 
 but the influence of the historical tradition is so 
 strong, that tlie English citizen probably has still 
 some conception of local self-government as a 
 right with which no central power may properly 
 interfere.^ 
 
 ^ " Local government . . . may be defined generally as the carrying 
 out by the inhabitants of localities, or bj' their elected representatives 
 of the duties and powers with which they have been invested by 
 the Legislature, or which devolve upon them at common law^." 
 Redlich and Hirst, Local Government in England, p. xxiv. 
 
 2 "En resume, les grands pouvoirs politiques en Angleterre ne 
 sont a aucun degre les creatures d'un pouvoir constituant, car leur
 
 8ECT. 2.] INTRODUCTION 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 Our Continental nci''hl)our.s iiave approuclicd Local aeif- 
 
 govemment 
 
 the (luestion from a very diflerent stand |)oint. in France and 
 
 ^ ^ "^ / Prussia. 
 
 The history of both France and l*russia is the 
 record of the building-up of a consolidated and 
 powerful state by means of a great bureaucracy, 
 directed from a single centre, and pursuing a 
 uniform policy ; and so, in both countries, the 
 people became accustomed to look to that centre, 
 to the monarch and his officials, for guidance in 
 all their affairs. The local self-government, which 
 had existed in the early days of the national 
 history, slowly became almost extinct, and 
 centralisation was complete. A\'^hen the local 
 institutions revived, it was at the will, and 
 
 existence est anterieure a quelque acta constituante que ce soit. 
 Leur titre n'est pas une volonte expresse, maiiifeste reguli^remeut 
 ot distiuctenient a un jour donue, inais une antique i^ossession 
 de fait qu'aucune contestation n'a troublce depuis des siecles. . . . 
 La condition des autorites subordonnees, locales ou speeiales, 
 n'est pas nioins particuliere. Les autorites subordonnees 
 peuvent, en general, invoquer, comme en France, un titre expres, 
 une institution conferee a une date ceitaine; mais ce titre original 
 est si incomplet, cette institution est si ancienne, qu'ils paraissent 
 peu de chose en regard du credit attache an fait de la longue pos- 
 session et des droits coutuniiers qu'une pratique intense a grelies 
 sur ce premier fonds statutaire. . . . Et leur jjasse est si long, leur 
 origiue est si voisine parfois de I'epoque ou le corps politique lui- 
 meme s'est foinie; ils se sont si bien desaccoutunies de regardcr 
 coninie mie delegation la fonction sociale qu'ils reniplissent de temps 
 immemorial ; ils se considerent si naturellement et nai'vement comme 
 des associes de I'Etat et non comme des subordonnes, que le legis- 
 lateur anglais a besoin de reflechir longtcmps et de philosopher plus 
 qu'il n'eu i le gout, pour decouvrir qu'ils sont en effet ses creatures 
 et qu'ils doivent se plier k I'utilite commune." Boutmy, Eludes de 
 Droit Constitidionncl, pp. 229-232 (edition 1885).
 
 6 INTRODUCTION [sect. 2. 
 
 for the purposes, of the central authorities ; 
 and so, both in France and Prussia, local self- 
 government is regarded rather as a gift from 
 above than as an inherent right. Hence it 
 is naturally weaker than in England ; and its 
 weakness is increased by the ineffectiveness of 
 the authority exercised by the French and 
 Prussian Parliaments over the national adminis- 
 tration. In France and Prussia alike there is 
 a careful classification of public services into 
 " local " and *' central." The former are left to the 
 locally elected authorities, subject, however, in 
 most cases to the more or less stringent control 
 of the central government. '* Central " matters 
 (which include many things that we in Eng- 
 land regard as primarily local, such as educa- 
 tion, sanitary administration, and police), are 
 administered in a few cases solely by central 
 departments, but generally by territorial delega- 
 tions of those offices — that is, by official agents 
 acting singly, or in groups, within prescribed 
 areas.^ These delegations are formed in various 
 ways. Sometimes they are purely official, con- 
 sisting of a single member, or several members, 
 of the bureaucracy ; examples of this are the 
 French Prefect and the Prussian Regierimg. 
 Sometimes they are composed partly of officials, 
 and partly of unprofessional members selected by 
 the local authorities and approved by the central 
 
 1 French writers use the term " deconcentration " for this form of 
 decentralisation. Bertelemy, Droit Administratif, p. 81.
 
 SECT. 2.] INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 government, us is the case with the Prussian 
 Bezirksmtsschuss. And, finally, the local elected 
 authorities, called into being for other purposes, 
 may be made to act as agents for the central 
 departments ; the l*russian lAindrdtk and Krcin- 
 mcsschuss^ and to some extent also tlie French 
 JMayor, are instances of the use of this method. 
 
 It might be supposed that where this third 
 alternative is adopted, the effect is nmcli the same 
 as that already described for England, where the 
 local authorities have so large a share in the 
 national administration. But actually the result 
 is very different. For in all the matters entrusted 
 to them the English local authorities regard them- 
 selves as carrying out the law according to the 
 will of, and in the manner desired by, the inhabi- 
 tants of their localities, subject to the general 
 supervision of the central government ; whilst 
 French and Prussian local authorities consider 
 normally that their task is to carry out within 
 their localities the wall of the central government, 
 even in those matters w^hich are supposed to be 
 of purely local importance. The causes of this 
 difference of attitude have already been indicated ; 
 it is due chiefly to the historical part played by 
 the bureaucracy, and the maintainance of its old 
 influence ; but the result is further promoted by 
 the fact that whilst English local authorities are 
 responsible only to the inhabitants of their areas 
 so long as they obey the law, and even when 
 they disobey or exceed the law are answerable in
 
 8 INTRODUCTION [sect. 3. 
 
 practice only to the Courts of Justice, the French 
 and Prussian authorities, so far as they are agents 
 of the central departments, are responsible to them, 
 are counted as a part of the bureaucracy, and 
 subjected to administrative control. And it is 
 almost unnecessary to add that since they are 
 bound to obey the central officials in a great 
 number of matters, they become inclined to act 
 in accordance with central ideas in all the questions 
 with which they have to deal, even when some 
 of these concern directly the localities alone. 
 Thus in practice the whole of French and 
 Prussian local government is still largely under 
 the direction of the bureaucracies. 
 
 SECTION 3 
 
 The grant of There are certain other important differences 
 local between the Ens;lish and continental systems, 
 
 authorities. 
 
 which are indeed the outcome of the fundamental 
 distinction which has been indicated, but need to 
 be noticed here. One is in the manner in which 
 powers are conferred upon the local authorities.^ 
 They may be permitted to do certain specified 
 acts, and those alone ; or they may be empowered 
 to do anything which is not expressly forbidden. 
 The first of these methods — the specific grant — 
 has been adopted in England : a local authority 
 
 ' These remarks apply, of course, solely to the functions of local 
 authorities as representatives of their local communities.
 
 SECT. 3.] INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 may exercise only the powers conferred upon it 
 either by the legislative enactment which created 
 it, or by general Acts of l*arliament applying to 
 all authorities of a particular class, or by special 
 Local Acts — these last being a pecuharity of the 
 Uritish system.' The second metliod — the ^rant 
 of general .powers — is employed in France and 
 Prussia ; there the local bodies are authorised to 
 do anything that they may deem advisable in the 
 interests of the community which they represent, 
 subject to the necessity of obtaining the approval 
 of the higher administrative autliorities. The 
 result of this difference in method is that in 
 Great l^ritain Parliament determines what the 
 local authorities may do, for any fresh powers 
 they must have recourse to the legislature, and 
 the task of the central departments is limited in 
 some matters to enforcing^ the law, and in others 
 to preventing the law being exceeded by the 
 localities (though in this respect they have very 
 little control over the municipalities) ; whilst in 
 the two Continental states it is the business of 
 the departments {i.e., of an administrative body) 
 to determine what the local authorities shall do. 
 Consequently, although the legal powers of a 
 French or Prussian nmnicipality may be much 
 wider than those of an English Town Council, 
 the use made of them depends on the character 
 
 ' Such special legislation is prohibited by the constitutions of 
 many states of the American Union, though, as will be seen later 
 (c. ix.), the prohibition can be avoided.
 
 10 INTRODUCTION [sect. 3 
 
 of the controlling bureaucracy. If it is enter- 
 prising and receptive of new ideas, as on the 
 whole it is in Prussia, then there is the fullest 
 and largest opportunity for municipal develop- 
 ment ; whilst if, as in France, the bureaucracy 
 is conservative and slow to move, the action of 
 the local authorities remains cramped and limited. 
 The methods This briugs US to auothcr difference, which 
 
 of central 
 
 control. has already been indicated, in the relative import- 
 ance of the ways in which control is exercised by 
 tiie central government over the local authorities. 
 There are in fact only two ways — the judicial 
 and the administrative. Under the first of these 
 the local authorities are compelled to obey the 
 law (or restrained within its limits) by the Courts 
 of Justice, set in motion either by the government 
 departments or by private individuals. Under 
 the second form the local authorities are forced 
 to obedience by the higher authorities acting 
 by administrative or bureaucratic methods, e.g.^ 
 fines, suspensions, dismissals, or supersession of a 
 negligent authority. 
 
 In Great Britain the control is almost entirely 
 judicial. The central departments, by means of 
 inspectors, watch and advise the local administra- 
 tion ; by their power in respect to the parliamentary 
 grants for some services they can enforce a measure 
 of efficiency ; they can bring pressure to bear 
 upon negligent authorities ; but that is all. If 
 a local authority persists in its refusal to obey 
 the law, all a department can do is to invoke the
 
 SECT. 3] INTRODUCTION 11 
 
 aid of the Courts of Justice ; ^ and then the conflict 
 is no longer between the local authority and a 
 central administrative ofKce, but between the 
 recalcitrant authority and a legal tribunal. From 
 the merely administrative standpoint, this is one 
 of the weaknesses of the British system, that so 
 long as the local bodies can make a show of 
 obedience to the law in any matter, there is in 
 most public services no means of compelling them 
 to be really efficient or to attain the standard 
 which may be desirable. In the United States 
 of America, where local government is the concern 
 of the separate states, the judicial control is the 
 only one which exists, since there are no central 
 departments authorised to exercise any power over 
 the local authorities, or capable of doing so. 
 
 In France and Prussia, on the other hand, 
 there is very much more administrative control, 
 since (as already pointed out) for many purposes 
 the local authorities are regarded as peculiarly 
 the agents of the central government, and as such 
 are part of the bureaucratic organisation and 
 subject to the ordinary forms of official control ; 
 and also because of the system of grants of general 
 power, and the constant necessity of approval from 
 above for all acts of the local bodies. 
 
 ^ Tliere are some powers of administrative action, but thej' are 
 practically all left in abeyance.
 
 12 INTRODUCTION [sect. 4. 
 
 SECTION 4 
 
 The Courts of One othcr ffreat and far-reaching difference 
 
 Justice and , ^ 
 
 theadminis need onlv be touched briefly here, since it will 
 
 tration. *' "^ 
 
 be discussed very fully in subsequent chapters. 
 In Great Britain conflicts between the central 
 departments and the local authorities, or between 
 public authorities of any kind and private indi- 
 viduals, are determined by the ordinary Courts 
 of Justice, which apply to them the principles 
 of the ordinary law of the land. The citizen who 
 considers himself aggrieved by the action of any 
 public authority has precisely the same remedies 
 against it, and against any of its officials who 
 participated in the act of which he complains, 
 as he would have if the act had been committed 
 by another citizen. That is to say, an authority 
 (central or local) has no protection from liability 
 for a wrongful action (even if due to an honest 
 mistake), and its official agents are personally 
 responsible for their share in that action — they 
 cannot plead obedience to orders as a defence. 
 The same is true generally of the United States. 
 In France and Prussia the position is altogether 
 different ; there, disputes between authorities are 
 seldom brought before a legal tribunal, but are 
 usually determined by administrative decisions. 
 Further — and this is the important point — all 
 disputes between individuals and public authorities
 
 SECT. 4] INTRODUCTION 13 
 
 as such, are decided by a set of tribunals distinct 
 from the ordinary Courts, constituted in a special 
 way, and administering a body of law wliich 
 aims at protecting the ofHcials from any personal 
 responsibility for acts done by them in their 
 official character ; the citizen has not the same 
 remedies as against another citizen, and those 
 which he has are by no means so effective. This 
 system of " administrative courts " is obviously of 
 very great importance in its effect upon the 
 working of the national administration. 
 
 The continental official is then in a legally Position of 
 
 officials in 
 
 privileged position ; he also stands in a relation to locai adminis- 
 
 *■ " ^ _ _ tration 
 
 the elected local authorities altogether different 
 from that which exists in England. With us the 
 unprofessional administrators are supreme ; they 
 are the authorities, and the salaried experts are 
 merely their agents and servants. It is true that 
 the permanent officials (both of the central depart- 
 ments and of the local bodies) often exercise very 
 great influence, and largely determine policy ; but 
 that fact is due to their skill, experience, and 
 personal character, and not to their legal status. 
 In Prussia the professional administrator, even 
 when appointed and paid by the elected authority, 
 is emphatically the head of that authority, and to 
 a considerable extent directs and controls its action. 
 In France the prefect occupies an even stronger 
 position, for his appointment rests solely with the 
 central government ; he is its agent and also (and 
 therefore only secondarily) the sole executive
 
 14 INTRODUCTION [sect. 4. 
 
 official of the locality. In England, then, the 
 non - professional elected members conduct the 
 local administration, with the aid and expert 
 advice of a permanent professional staff: in 
 Prussia and in the French departments the officials 
 administer, subject to the supervision and financial 
 control of the elected representatives. 
 The Finally, at once a cause and a consequence of 
 
 "separation ... 
 
 of powers." tliis, there is a diffisrence in the relations between 
 the executive and deliberative powers in local 
 government. The English system reflects the 
 interdependence of the executive and the legis- 
 lature which is a characteristic feature of the 
 national constitution. The members of an English 
 local council together form a deliberative body, 
 but for administrative purposes they divide into 
 committees ; and so each member has a share in 
 the determination of local policy, and also in the 
 practical work of carrying the policy into effect. 
 In France and Prussia, on the contrary, the 
 deliberative and executive functions are kept 
 more or less carefully distinct — a member of a 
 local council has not commonly, as such, any share 
 in the actual work of administration ; whilst in 
 the American cities, in imitation of the Federal 
 and State constitutions, the separation of powers 
 has been carried to an extreme. 
 
 The purpose of the following chapters is to 
 endeavour to illustrate, by a description of the 
 ororanisation and workinfj of local institutions in 
 England, France, and Prussia, and in some
 
 SECT. 4] INTRODUCTION 15 
 
 American cities, the differences which have been 
 thus briefly indicated ; and to show how those 
 differences have resulted from tlie national history, 
 and from the influence exercised by forms of 
 central government upon the local institutions.
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 LOCAL ADMINISTRATION IN ENGLAND 
 SECTION 1 
 
 Central The English ministerial departments concerned in 
 
 departments. -li i i j_ n • i 
 
 any way with local government are nve m number, 
 one of them being a branch of the Secretariat of 
 State and the others offshoots of the Privy Council 
 as an administrative authority. They are : — 
 
 (1) The Home Office, under a Secretary of 
 State, assisted by a Parliamentary Under-Secretary 
 (politician), and a permanent Under - Secretary 
 (civil servant). It has the sole direction of the 
 Metropolitan Police, inspects all other constabulary 
 forces and gives a certificate of efficiency without 
 which they cannot receive the grants from the 
 central Exchequer; and its approval is required 
 for all police bye-laws made by local authorities. 
 It also controls the local sanitary authorities so 
 far as they are entrusted with duties under the 
 Factory Acts, which in the main are enforced by 
 its own staff of inspectors. The department has 
 a few other powers relating to local government, 
 including the administration of the Burial Acts 
 
 16
 
 SECT. l.| ENGLISH CENTRAL DErAKTMENTS 17 
 
 and the inspection of reformatory caiid industrial 
 schools. 
 
 (2) The Local (iovernnient 15oard is composed 
 nominally of a number of Privy Councillors, hut 
 the work is actually done only by a IVesident, 
 with the help of a Parliamentary Secretary and 
 a permanent Secretary.^ The Board is the direct- 
 ing and controlling authority in all that relates to 
 the Poor Laws, and for this it is armed with very 
 extensive and complete powers ; it supervises and 
 guides the work of the local health authorities ; 
 it watches the financial operations of the various 
 local bodies ; it has a number of miscellaneous 
 duties in regard to such matters as the alteration 
 of boundaries, the constitution of authorities and 
 the conduct of local elections ; and it collects and 
 publishes annually elaborate information as to the 
 conditions, financial and other, of local govern- 
 ment throughout the country. The amount of 
 detailed work done by the department is enormous, 
 and in many ways it is over-burdened ; but no 
 satisfactory scheme of devolution has yet been 
 proposed. 
 
 (3) The Board of Trade is another and much 
 older nominal committee of Privy Councillors, 
 whilst in fact it has the same organisation as the 
 Local Government Board. Its functions are very 
 
 ^ The Act of 1871, establishing the Board, directs that " all rides, 
 orders, and regidations made by the Local Government Board shall 
 be valid if made under the seal of the Board, and signed by the 
 President or one of the ex-officio members, and counter-signed by a 
 Secretary or an Assistant Secretary." 
 
 B
 
 18 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 numerous and varied, but so far as the local 
 bodies are concerned it deals only with what are 
 known as their "trading" enterprises — that is, it 
 sanctions, or enquires into, proposals for the supply 
 by them of water, gas, tramways, electric light 
 and power, and issues annual returns of these 
 undertakings ; and it constitutes harbour, dock, 
 and pier authorities. Its approval is necessary 
 for bye - laws made under the Weights and 
 Measures Acts. 
 
 (4) The Board of Education resembles in form 
 the Boards already described, and its duties are 
 indicated by its title. It directs and supervises 
 the whole of the education, in elementary schools, 
 science and art schools, and evening schools, which 
 is aided by public funds ; it inspects training 
 colleges similarly supported ; and it advises the 
 local education authorities upon their schemes for 
 higher education. It is assisted by a consultative 
 committee of experts, who however advise only 
 upon questions submitted to them by the President. 
 
 (5) The Board of Agriculture differs from the 
 others in that it has not a Parliamentary Secretary. 
 It is brought into contact with the local authorities 
 only with reference to the enforcement of the 
 Diseases of Animals Acts, and to public markets.^ 
 
 Methods of Thcsc departments, each in charge of a minister 
 
 action. of Cabinet rank, are entrusted with the direction, 
 
 ^ The most recent account of the Central Departments concerned 
 with local government is in Redlich and Hirst, Local Government in 
 England, II., pp. 242-321. See also Traill, Central Government.
 
 SECT. 1.1 POWERS OF CENTRAL DEPARTMENTS 19 
 
 control, and guidance of tlie local authorities, 
 under the general supervision of the Cabinet, 
 and ultimately of Parliament. For the purposes 
 of direction they all possess what are called " sub- 
 legislative " powers ; that is, they are empowered 
 by the legislature to issue orders and regulations 
 for the detailed application and enforcement of 
 its enactments. This is particularly the case with 
 the system of Poor Relief, which is the product 
 of a vast number of orders issued by the I^ocal 
 Government Board and its predecessor, the Poor 
 Law Board ; but the same plan has been adopted 
 in various degrees for almost all branches of 
 internal administration. Connected with this is 
 the discretional grant of powers to local bodies ; 
 it is common for I'arliament to bestow certain 
 powers upon all local authorities of a particular 
 class, but to make the exercise of them dependent, 
 in each particular case, upon the approval of 
 the department specially concerned. Thus, for 
 example, the Local Government Board may 
 confer on a rural district council any or all of 
 the powers of an urban district council, for the 
 whole or any part of its area ; and in a number of 
 cases the central department may direct a local 
 authority to undertake some special duty. 
 
 Secondly, the central offices are controlling 
 authorities. Their approval is required for many 
 acts proposed to be done by local bodies, such 
 as the issue of bye-laws, dealings with nninicipal 
 property, housing schemes, loans, and many other
 
 20 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 matters which the legislature has sanctioned in 
 principle, but leaves to be determined in particular 
 cases by the departments. It is their duty to 
 see that the local authorities cany out the 
 positive directions of the law, and (in the event 
 of persistent neglect) to take the necessary steps 
 to enforce obedience. As the local bodies are 
 responsible only to the electors, and the depart- 
 ments have no powers of bureaucratic control 
 over them, usually all they can do is to invoke 
 the aid of the Courts of Justice to enforce the 
 law ; only in a very few cases have they the 
 right to step in and do the work themselves, 
 and they seldom make use of it.^ The Local 
 Government Board can dismiss any of the paid 
 officials of the Poor Law authorities at any time, 
 but this is not of much use in a conflict with the 
 elected guardians. The local authorities (but 
 not the councils of municipal boroughs) are 
 restrained within the limits of the law to some 
 extent also by the audit of their accounts by 
 the Local Government Board and the powers 
 which it exercises in connection therewith. In 
 the cases of education, police, and, to a much 
 smaller degree, pubhc health, the departments 
 can do something to secure efficiency by their 
 right to give or withhold the Exchequer grants 
 to those particular services ; but in other cases 
 all they can do is to try persuasion. 
 
 ^ The powers which the Education Departrueut formerly possessed 
 in this respect were abandoned by the Act of 1902.
 
 SECT. 1] CENTRAL INSPECTION 21 
 
 The third function is guidance. It is the 
 task of the ministries to collect and issue informa- 
 tion, to give expert advice to any local authorities 
 which may ask for it, or to issue advisory circulars 
 on their own initiative. 
 
 In order to keep acquainted with the detailed 
 work of the local administrators, to enquire into 
 their various proposals, to watch their financial 
 operations, to determine in the cases of educa- 
 tion and police the grant or amount of the 
 Exchequer contributions, and to give general 
 advice and assistance, there are staffs of inspectors 
 (Poor Law, medical, engineering, educational) 
 attached to all the central departments which 
 have been described. These officials are some- 
 times assigned to particular districts with which 
 they become intimately acquainted ; in other 
 cases they are sent down from headquarters as 
 occasion may require. The auditors (who are a 
 kind of financial inspectors) may take decisions 
 on their own responsibility, subject to appeal 
 to the Local Government Board ; in other cases 
 the inspectors merely report to the central 
 departments, which send down the consequent 
 orders, or it may be only recommendations. 
 The inspectorate renders it possible for the 
 ministries to keep watch over local action, 
 without forcing that action into too uniform 
 a mould ; and it also places a large amount 
 of expert advice at the disposal of the locali- 
 ties.
 
 22 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 Character- Before we pass now to the consideration of 
 
 istics of 
 
 English local the local authorities themselves, it may be useful 
 
 government. _ _ *^_ 
 
 to point out the general characteristics of the 
 system which is to be examined.^ 'i'bey may 
 be summarised as — (a) the predominance through- 
 out of the elected councils ; {b) the participation 
 of the elected councillors in both the deliberative 
 and administrative work — by means of the 
 committee system ; {c) the subordination of the 
 paid professional official to the unpaid elected 
 amateur ; {d) the constant recourse of the local 
 authorities to Parliament for fresh powers ; (e) 
 the comparative weakness of the merely adminis- 
 trative control exercised by the central depart- 
 ments ; and (/) the reference of all disputes, 
 between central and local authorities, or between 
 authorities and private citizens, to the ordinary 
 Courts of Justice. 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 The "ancient The largest of the local administrative areas 
 in England and Wales is the ancient county, 
 which exists now merely for the purposes of 
 parliamentary elections, as the territorial basis 
 for the militia, and for judicial affiiirs. Its 
 
 ^ The sketch given in this chapter is intended only to bring out 
 the general features of the English system for the pvu'poses of 
 comparison. For detailed accounts see the small books of Ashley 
 (1905) and Odgers (1899), the large work of Kedlieh and Hirst 
 (2 vols.), and Maltbie, Eiujlish Local Government of To-day (a study 
 of the relations between central and local authorities).
 
 SECT. 2.] COUNTY ADMINISTRATION 23 
 
 authorities, all appointed by the Crown, are the 
 I^ord Lieutenant, who is the head of the Com- 
 mission of the Peaee ; the Sheriff, who has eertain 
 duties conneeted with the administration of 
 justice; and the Justices of the Peace, who 
 formerly conducted the wliole of tlie affairs of 
 the county in addition to their judicial functions. 
 They still have a few semi-administrative powers ; 
 in Quarter Sessions they issue licences for private 
 lunatic asylums and for inebriate homes, appoint 
 visitors of prisons, by their representatives on 
 the Standing Joint Committee share in the 
 control of the county police, and now have to 
 administer the Act for the reduction of liquor 
 licences by compensation ; in Special Sessions 
 they grant public-house licences ; and in Petty 
 Sessions they may give certificates of exemption 
 from vaccination, and make various orders under 
 the Pul)lie Health Acts. iVppeals against assess- 
 ments for local rates are heard in Quarter Sessions. 
 
 But for the general purposes of local govern- The "ad- 
 ment the chief areas are the administrative county. 
 counties, which in most cases are practically 
 identical with the ancient counties,^ and are 
 therefore in the main historical areas, with some 
 common life and sentiment. But ten of the 
 ancient counties are divided into two or (in the 
 cases of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire) three 
 
 ' Actually the boundaries are exactly the same in six out of the 
 fifty-two counties of England and Wales. It may bo noted here 
 that in Acts of Parliament the term " England " includes Wales, 
 unless otlierwise stated.
 
 24 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 administrative counties ; and towns, which on 1st 
 June 1888, had a population of not less than fifty 
 thousand, or were " counties " by themselves {i.e., 
 had sheriffs and special powers in regard to the 
 administration of justice), are excluded from the 
 areas of the administrative counties and from the 
 control of their authorities. There are sixty-two 
 administrative counties,^ and sixty - nine county 
 boroughs. 
 The County Jn each administrative county the authority 
 
 Council. _ *' -^ 
 
 is the County Council, composed of ordinary 
 members elected for three years (women being 
 ineligible), and aldermen chosen for six years by 
 the whole council. The number of councillors 
 was originally left to be fixed by the Local 
 Government Board, and so were the electoral 
 divisions, which were intended to be as nearly as 
 possible equal in population ; and both the number 
 of members and the electoral divisions may be 
 varied from time to time by the Board on the 
 representation of the council. The aldermen are 
 one-third of the number of councillors, and apart 
 from their longer tenure of office they have no 
 special privileges. The council elects a chairman 
 and vice-chairman, who hold office for one year, 
 but are usually re-elected. A strong chairman 
 may exercise very considerable influence (based on 
 his personal character and ability, and not on any 
 
 ' Including the Administrative County of London, to which the 
 following description does not apply. It will be considered in a later 
 section.
 
 8KCT. 2] THE COUNTY COUNCII.S 25 
 
 legal powers) upon the action of the council, and 
 there are some cases in whicli the chairman is 
 the real directing spirit of the whole county 
 administration. 
 
 In the elections to the county councils the 
 most striking fact is the absence of party feeling 
 and the consequent infrequency of contested 
 elections.^ The persons elected are drawn very 
 largely from the classes who supply the Bench 
 of Justices — the large and small landowners, the 
 large farmers, professional men, and clergy ; repre- 
 sentatives of the lower middle and working classes 
 are comparatively rare. This is due partly to the 
 maintenance of the old influence of social position, 
 partly to the expense involved in travelling often 
 some considerable distance to the county centre 
 for the meetings of the council or its committees, 
 and partly also to the fact that the administrative 
 work was done quite well by the Justices under 
 the old system. But in spite of this class pre- 
 dominance, particularly strong in the rural counties, 
 the councils have aroused a consid^able amount 
 of popular interest, they have shown much enter- 
 prise and energy, and they have maintained the 
 best traditions of English local administration.^ 
 
 ' In the first year (1889) in 3,240 districts there were 1,749 elections ; 
 in 1901 in 3,349 districts there were only 433 contests. There was 
 a temporary increase in 1904, owing to education controversies. 
 
 - " Unsatisfactory and anomalous as the appointment of Quarter 
 Sessions undoubtedly was, it is equally certain that the Justices 
 of the Peace performed their duty with integrity and efficiency, and 
 inspired such confidence that the inhabitants as a rule have been 
 willing to leave the work in verj' much the same hands as before
 
 26 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 The The ordinary council meets only some four 
 
 committee 
 
 system. timcs a year, and so conducts its business chiefly 
 by committees. These have charge of the adminis- 
 trative work and direct the permanent officials ; 
 the business of the council is to determine 
 questions of policy, and control the action of 
 the committees. But inasmuch as the councils 
 meet ordinarily only once a quarter, and adminis- 
 trative questions often arise which cannot wait 
 so long for a decision, a council may delegate 
 all or any of its powers in a particular matter 
 to the committee concerned, and in that case 
 the committee may act without waiting for the 
 council's approval ; ^ but the power to levy a 
 rate or raise a loan cannot be so delegated. 
 Some committees are "statutory" {i.e., required 
 by law) ; such are the committees for finance, ^ 
 asylums, education (with co - opted members), 
 diseases of animals, allotments and small hold- 
 
 . . . What was good in the old Quarter Sessions administration 
 — strict observance of law, abstention from political partisanship, 
 and freedom from corruption— is no less characteristic of the new 
 body ; but in addition . . . the county councils have devoted them- 
 selves with discriminating zeal to important and useful public work 
 which had previously been almost or entirely neglected." Eedlich 
 and Hirst, II., pp. 47-48. 
 
 1 Local Government Act, 1888, sec. 82 (2). 
 
 ■■^ The Finance Committee has special duties: "Every county 
 council shall from time to time appoint a Finance Committee for 
 regulating and controlling the finance of the county, and an order 
 for the payment of a sum out of the county fund . . . shall not 
 be made by a county council excejDt in pursuance of a resolution . . . 
 passed on the recommendation of the Finance Committee and . . . 
 any costs, debts, or liability exceeding £50 shall not be incurred 
 except upon a resolution of the council passed on an estimate 
 submitted by the Finance Committee." Local Government Act, 1888, 
 sec. 80 (3).
 
 SECT. 2.] WORK OF COUNTY COUNCILS 27 
 
 ings. Others are optional, and Joint committees 
 of two or more councils may he apjiointcd for 
 special purposes.^ There is also a Standing Joint 
 Committee for the administration of the county 
 police ; it is composed of equal numbers of 
 representatives of the County Coimcil and Quarter 
 Sessions, and is practically independent of the 
 council, though it reports to it and receives from 
 it the money which it requires. 
 
 The powers and duties of a council are many Powers of 
 
 • • 1 1 • 1 1 • • County 
 
 and varied. It is the highway authority, being council, 
 responsible for all the roads within its area which 
 it recognises as " main roads " (over 27,000 miles 
 in all), and maintaining them either directly or 
 through the district councils ; it keeps up county 
 bridges, and may construct or aid light railways. 
 It has recently received a great addition of work 
 in regard to education ; it must secure an adequate 
 supply of elementary education in the county, 
 and in addition may supply or aid the supply of 
 higher education. It is a public health authority : 
 it supervises the sanitary work of the rural district 
 councils, and for that and other purposes may 
 appoint a medical officer ; it administers the 
 Acts relating to foods and drugs, diseases of 
 animals, weights and measures, and river pollu- 
 tion ; and it may establish isolation hospitals. 
 
 ' Tlic committees of the Surrey County Council arc for Asyhuns 
 (2) Finance, Education, General Purposes (including Allotments and - 
 Small Holdings), Highways and Bridges, Public Health, Reformatory 
 and Industrial Schools, Diseases of Animals, County Rate, and 
 Selection.
 
 28 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 It provides asylums for pauper lunatics, and, if 
 it so wishes, for lunatics who are not paupers ; 
 in the former case the cost of maintenance of 
 the patients falls upon the Poor Law authorities. 
 The council administers county property, may 
 provide reformatory and industrial schools, makes 
 bye-laws for the county, and may exercise any 
 additional powers which it can obtain by means 
 of Private Bills promoted by it. Through its 
 representatives on the Standing Joint Committee 
 it has a share in the control of the police. 
 Finally, it has some powers of supervision over 
 the smaller rural authorities, as to the approval 
 of loans, changes in boundaries, etc., and these 
 powers could be greatly extended, since the Act 
 of 1888, as now amended, provides that the 
 Local Government Board may by order transfer 
 to any or all of the county councils any powers, 
 duties, or liabilities of any of the central depart- 
 ments concerned with local government. The 
 devolution of control intended by this would 
 however be resisted strongly by the councils of 
 non-county boroughs and urban districts. 
 Finance The expenses of a county council are met by 
 
 (1) the proceeds of any county property that 
 there may be ; (2) " general " or " special " county 
 rates (that is, rates levied upon the whole or part 
 of the county) made on the basis of the poor 
 rate ; (3) Government grants from the Exchequer 
 Contribution Account,^ for police, higher educa- 
 
 ^ For the Exchequer Contribution Account see Redlich and Hirst,
 
 SKCT. 2.] THE COUNTY OFFICIALS 29 
 
 tion, and other services, and unassigned ; (4) 
 Government <^rants for elementary education ; and 
 (5) grants linder the Agricultural Hates Act in 
 relief of the rates upon agricultural land.^ 
 
 The principal officers of a county council are county 
 
 officers 
 
 the clerk (who is also clerk of the peace), medical 
 officer, education secretary or director, coroners, 
 surveyors (for highways, etc.), public analyst, 
 inspectors under the Food and Drugs and Weights 
 and Measures Acts, and a county treasurer. These 
 officials are permanent (that is, they are untouched 
 by changes in the composition of the council) ; 
 they are the servants of the council, as are the 
 permanent officials of all English local authorities, 
 and so far as they influence the administration at 
 all they do it by their knowledge and experience, 
 and not because of their legal position. 
 
 The administrative county contains four 
 different classes of local government areas — 
 non - county boroughs, urban districts, rural 
 districts, and rural parishes.^ It will be con- 
 venient to take the two last - named here, and 
 
 II., pp. 92-97, and also the Memorandum on Grants - in - Aid by 
 Hamilton in the Volume of IMemoranda published by the Royal 
 Commission on Local Taxation. 
 
 ^ The Act directs the payment from the National Exchequer to 
 the local authorities of a sum equal to half the rates levied by 
 them in 1895-9U upon agricultural land. Passed originally in 1896 
 for a term of years, it seems now to have become a permanent 
 arrangement. 
 
 - The parishes in the boroughs and urban districts exist now only 
 for some purposes of Poor Law iiuichiuery, and not for general 
 matters of local government. They will be noticed later in the 
 accoiuit of Poor Relief.
 
 so 
 
 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 The rural 
 district. 
 
 The District 
 Council and 
 its Dowers. 
 
 to leave the boroughs and urban districts to be 
 discussed in the next section. This is justified 
 also by the fact that the County Council exercises 
 some control over the authorities of the rural 
 district and the rural parish, but practically none 
 over those of the other two areas. 
 
 A rural sanitary district was originally a Poor 
 Law Union {i.e., a group of parishes formed 
 for purposes connected with the relief of the 
 poor), or the rural portion of a Union, treated 
 as an area for the administration of the Public 
 Health Acts. The rural district is in fact 
 still generally conterminous with the rural Poor 
 Law Union, or with the rural part of a Union 
 which is both rural and urban ; but with the 
 limitation that no rural district may lie in more 
 than one county. There are six hundred and 
 seventy-two such districts in England and Wales. 
 The authority of the district is the council, 
 composed of persons (including women) elected 
 in most cases triennially by the rural parishes 
 according to population ; the persons so elected 
 are also representives of their parishes on the Board 
 of Guardians. A council may elect its chairman 
 from outside ; he is e.v - ojjicio a Justice of the 
 Peace during his year of office. The council must 
 meet at least once a month ; it may appoint what- 
 ever committees it thinks advisable, and co-opt 
 outside persons to any of them ; ^ and it may 
 
 ^ " A parish or district council may appoint committees consisting 
 wholly or partly of members of the council." Local Government Act,
 
 SECT. 2] POWERS OF DISTRICT COUNCILS 31 
 
 delegate to such committees any of its powers 
 except those relating to rates and loans. 'I'hc 
 councils are the sanitary authorities for their areas, 
 and in fact the real responsibility for the public 
 health administration of rural England rests upon 
 them. They therefore have varied and extensive 
 powers and duties under the various Public 
 Health Acts — including sewerage and drainage, 
 water supply, etc. — and, moreover, the I^ocal 
 Government Board may, by order, confer upon 
 a rural district council, for the whole or any part 
 of its area, all or any of the powers otherwise 
 exercised only by urban authorities. The councils 
 also have charge of all the roads (about 95,000 
 miles in length), which are not main roads, and 
 may take over from their county councils the 
 charge of the main roads in return for an annual 
 payment.^ The rural district councils may pro- 
 vide allotments, carry out housing schemes, and 
 make use of other '• Adoptive Acts " (such as 
 those for the provision of open spaces) ; and they 
 may take any action necessary for the protection 
 of public rights of way, and rights of common. 
 The chief salaried officials are the clerk, treasurer, 
 
 1894, sec. 56 (1). This power of co-optation seems to be used only 
 very infrequently. 
 
 ' It is gencrallj' agreed that the highway administration of this 
 country is far from satisfactory. The roads, indeed, are usually well 
 made, but there are too many authorities ; each comity council and 
 each district council maj' organise its own sj'stem in its own way, 
 without regard to its neighbours. A co-ordinating autliority is 
 badly needed; and, moreover, the revival of the use of the main 
 roads for long distance travelling seems to involve some readjust- 
 ment of the burden of maintenance.
 
 32 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMLNISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 medical officer, one or more sanitary inspectors 
 and surveyor. 
 
 Finance. The expenditure is chiefly upon pubhc health 
 
 and highways, and is met by (1) general or special 
 district rates, levied upon the same basis as the 
 poor rate, but with the difference that agricultural 
 land, railways, canals, tithes, and tithe -rent 
 charges are assessed at only one-quarter of their 
 poor rate valuation ; (2) the state contributions 
 under the Agricultural Rates Acts ; (3) subven- 
 tions from the Exchequer Contribution Account 
 of one-half the salaries of medical officers and 
 sanitary inspectors appointed on terms approved 
 by the Local Government Board ; and (4) the 
 proceeds of any district property, such as water- 
 works. 
 
 The combination of the duties of rural 
 district councillor and guardian, and the amount 
 of work attached to both these offices, makes 
 them sufficiently important to be attractive ; and 
 on the whole the average quality of the councils 
 is good. There are doubtless a number of excep- 
 tions, and the sanitary administration is not 
 always carried on with the energy which could 
 be desired ; but when all the conditions of rural 
 England are taken into account, it may fairly 
 be said that the councils have done their work 
 well. 
 
 The rural Each rural district consists of a group of poor 
 
 law parishes, which indeed exist in urban areas 
 also, but these are of no importance for general
 
 SECT. 2] THE RURAL PARISHES '33 
 
 local administration/ In each rural parish there 
 is a parish meeting of all persons on the local 
 government and parliamentary registers (includ- 
 ing therefore women and lodgers); it elects its own 
 chairman, and also the overseers, who have certain 
 duties in regard to the poor rate, the assessment 
 and collection of other local rates, and the making 
 of electoral and jury lists. The further organisa- 
 tion of the parish depends upon its size ; every 
 parish with a population of 300 has a Parish 
 Council, parishes with populations of 100 may 
 have councils if they so desire, and parishes with 
 less than 100 inhabitants may have them by 
 agreement with the county councils. A county 
 council may group parishes, but in that case each 
 of the parishes in the group retains its separate 
 parish meeting. In the year 1902-3 there were 
 12,985 rural parishes ; and of these 7,250 were 
 entitled to have councils, 5,735 to have meetings 
 only. 
 
 Where there is not a council, the chairman of the Parieh 
 
 meeting and 
 
 parish meeting generally conducts whatever admin- council. 
 istrative business there may be (though a parish 
 committee may be appointed), and the chairman 
 with the overseers forms a body corporate for the 
 holding of any parish property. Parish meetings 
 must be held in all parishes at least once a year, 
 
 ^ The " Poor Law Parish " is " a place for which a separate poor 
 rate is or can be made, or for which a separate overseer is or can 
 be appointed." It differs often from both the ancient civil, and 
 ecclesiastical parishes. Wright and Hobhouse, Local Government and 
 Local Taxation (2nd edition), p. 1. 
 
 C
 
 34 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 but may be more frequent. The number of 
 members of the parish council ranges from five to 
 fifteen, and is fixed by the County Council ; women 
 are eligible, and so are any persons residing within 
 three miles of the parish boundaries ; the elections 
 are usually triennial. A parish council may 
 appoint committees, and co-opt outside persons 
 to any of them. 
 Parochial There is much work which these parochial 
 
 administra- 
 tion, authorities may do. A parish council or meeting 
 
 may acquire rights of way, control or maintain 
 footpaths, manage civil parochial property, apply 
 the Adoptive Acts relating to allotments, recrea- 
 tion grounds, baths and wash-houses, lighting, 
 and burial grounds ; it may utilise wells or springs, 
 provide protection against fire, and watch the 
 sanitary conditions of the locality in order to 
 keep the rural district council informed, and if 
 that body neglects its work to invoke the aid of 
 the county authorities. It appoints (wholly or in 
 part) trustees of all civil charities in the parish, 
 and is represented upon the managing bodies of 
 all public elementary schools. But the exercise 
 of these powers is crippled by the smallness of 
 the great majority of the parishes ; about nine- 
 tenths of the total number have populations of 
 less than 1,000, and 2,000 have less than 100 inhabi- 
 tants each. There are certain obvious difficulties 
 which result fi:om this. One is the financial 
 weakness of the authorities. The general rate 
 (on the basis of the poor rate) which may be
 
 SECT. 2] WEAKNESS OF PAROCHIAL SYSTEM 35 
 
 levied must not exceed sixpence in the pound, 
 and the special rates under the various Adoptive 
 Acts are all limited. In small parishes, there- 
 fore, sufficient money for any except a very few 
 purposes cannot be obtained ; and even if the 
 rate limit were removed there would still he a 
 strong disinclination to undertake any action 
 involving much expenditure. Further, there is 
 not much ability on which the parishes can draw, 
 partly owing to their small size, and partly because 
 the small amount and apparent unimportance of 
 the work renders it in most cases unattractive.^ 
 The result on the whole is that the working of 
 the Act of 1894 has disappointed its promoters. 
 Something has been done in regard to hghting, 
 allotments, and burial grounds (for which parishes 
 may combine) ; there has been activity in the 
 protection of rights of way and of commons and 
 open spaces ; and the representation of the 
 inhabitants of the parishes in the management of 
 elementary schools and charities is useful. But, 
 speaking generally, the conditions of rural England 
 do not promise much development or success for 
 the parochial organisation of local government 
 in the absence of considerable social changes ; and 
 the real work must come more and more into the 
 hands of the authorities of a larger administrative 
 area — the rural district. 
 
 ^ 111 1902-3 out of 7,250 parishes entitled to councils, 6.531 had 
 financial transactions of some kind ; out of the 5,735 other parishes, 
 only 390 had any receipts and expenditure. The parish authorities 
 spent in all £228,917 (the largest item being ^60,000 for lighting), 
 and an additional £25,332 from loaiiii.
 
 36 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 SECTION 3 
 
 The Coming next to the urban areas, we take first 
 
 municipal , • • i i i • i 
 
 boroughs. the municipal borouglis, i.e., urban communities 
 which have received a Charter of Incorporation and 
 therewith certain privileges from the Crown, and are 
 governed under the Municipal Corporations Act, 
 1882 — an amended version of the reforming Act 
 of 1835. The municipalities of England are 
 either historical communities remodelled in 1835, 
 or modern communities which have been 
 incorporated by a Hoyal Charter (granted by 
 the Crown in Council) ^ since that year ; many of 
 the former were always very small, whilst charters 
 are now given only to fairly populous places. 
 Consequently the municipalities vary remarkably 
 in size, from Liverpool with 723,000 inhabitants 
 in 1901, to Hedon with only 1,020 ; there are 31 
 with populations of over 100,000, and 109 with 
 populations of less than 10,000 (whilst 66 of 
 these have less than 5,000 each). It follows from 
 this " that whilst the outhne structure of municipal 
 
 1 The charter is not given as a matter of course. An enquiry may- 
 be held, either by the Privy Council, or by the Local Government 
 Board at its direction ; and opponents are heard. Between 1888 and 
 1902, 55 applications for charters were made, and only 35 were 
 granted. 
 
 ^ And also from differences in social and economic conditions. 
 "No anatomical resemblances of outward structure can assimilate 
 the inner municipal life of quaint old cathedral cities with that of 
 new and fashionable watering-places, that of sea-jDorts with that 
 of inland towns, that of manufacturing or mining settlements with 
 that of market towns in the midst of agricultural neighbour-
 
 SECT. 3.] THE MUNICIPAL BOROUGHS 37 
 
 government is everywhere the same, there are 
 very great differences in its character and extent. 
 The charters do not specify the powers to be 
 exercised by the municipal authorities, but are 
 concerned mainly with structure. The powers 
 are derived from a number of sources: — (1) The 
 Municipal Corporations Act, 1882; (2) general 
 Acts, conferring powers on all authorities of 
 particular classes, as the Public Health Act, 1875, 
 and the Education Act, 1902 ; (3) " Adoptive 
 Acts," i.e.. Acts giving particular powers to any 
 of specified classes of local authorities, which 
 choose to "adopt" them; (4) Private (or I^ocal) 
 Acts promoted by the town councils or by 
 any authorities whom they have superseded. 
 
 There are a number of differences between the Differencea 
 
 between 
 
 municipal boroughs which must be noticed, boroughs. 
 Some are differences of status ; a small pro- 
 portion of the boroughs are " cities," and as such 
 have a certain precedence due sometimes to the 
 fact that they are the seats of bishops,^ and in rarer 
 cases (as Nottingham and Sheffield) to grants from 
 the Crown ; in a few instances the chief repre- 
 sentative of the municipality bears by royal 
 grant the title of Lord INIayor. Other differ- 
 ences of much greater importance are connected 
 with the administration of justice; many boroughs 
 
 hoods." Brodrick, in Cobden Club's Local Government and Taxation 
 (1875), p. 50. 
 
 ^ There are two cathedral "cities" which are not municipal 
 boroughs — Elj' (which is an urban district), and St Davids (which 
 has only a parish council). 
 
 ^ 1 D .J ^
 
 38 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMLXISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 have a separate Commission of the Peace ; some 
 have a stipendiary magistrate^ appointed by the 
 Crown ; in a considerable number there is a 
 separate Court of Quarter Sessions, in which 
 justice is administered, not by a bench of justices, 
 but by a legal officer, the Recorder, also appointed 
 by the Crown ; and a few boroughs are " counties 
 of cities or towns," and possess their o\^ti sheriffs. 
 The chief distinction, however, from our present 
 standpoint is between " county " and " non-county " 
 boroughs ; ^ in the former, the town councils 
 have most of the powers and duties of a county 
 council ; whilst the " non-county " boroughs send 
 representatives to the county councils, which 
 exercise some powers within the municipal 
 boundaries. 
 The Town In all the boroughs the municipal authority is 
 
 Council. , ° ... 
 
 concentrated in the Town Council, consisting of 
 from nine to seventy-two (or in a few cases more) 
 councillors elected for three years — one-third 
 retiring every year — and of aldermen to the 
 number of one - third of the councillors. The 
 aldermen are chosen by the whole council, for 
 six years, usually from amongst those members 
 of the council who have the longest experience 
 of municipal affairs ; ^ women are not eligible as 
 
 1 A stipendiary (police) magistrate can act alone, whilst there 
 must be at least two justices. 
 
 ^ Vide supra, p. 24. 
 
 " The aldermen form a second Chamber, and are ex-officio Justices, 
 only in the City of London, which will be described later. It shares 
 with Winchelsea (a tinj^ Cinque Port), the distinction of being the 
 cujly unreformed municipalities.
 
 SECT. 3.] THE MAYOR 39 
 
 either councillors or aldermen. Party politics 
 enter much into municipal elections, especially 
 in the larger towns, and the local machinery of 
 national parties is greatly used in municipal 
 contests ; but, nevertheless, there are very many 
 cases of long and continuous membership of the 
 councils. Experience seems to show that in 
 spite of many efforts party loyalty carmot be 
 relied upon in municipal elections in this country 
 as it can be in the United States ; and consequently 
 our municipal government has, on the whole, not 
 become a field for the rivalry of political factions. 
 
 The Town Council elects, annually in November, The Mayor, 
 a Mayor who holds office for one year ; re-elections 
 are frequent in the small boroughs, but not in the 
 larger. The JNIayor, who is unpaid, is usually 
 chosen from amongst the aldermen or councillors ; 
 but he may be elected from outside their ranks, 
 and may be absolutely inexperienced in municipal 
 affairs. He presides over the council meetings, 
 and is generally an eoc-ojficio inember of all com- 
 mittees ; he is ex-officio chairman of the borough 
 bench of magistrates, where there is a separate 
 Commission of the Peace ; and he represents the 
 municipality at all public ceremonies. He may 
 be a mere figure-head ; in any case his influence 
 and authority depend solely upon his own personal 
 character and energy, and not upon any powers 
 attached to his office. 
 
 A town council has a two-fold character. It Municipal 
 
 functions. 
 
 is the representative authority of the municipahty.
 
 40 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 and it is also the urban sanitary authority ; its 
 
 functions in these two respects are distinct in 
 
 law, and to some extent also in fact, but the 
 
 distinction has come to be of small importance, 
 
 except in regard to finance. As a municipal 
 
 authority it administers corporation property and 
 
 has powers in regard to police and education ; as 
 
 an urban sanitary authority it carries out the 
 
 Public Health Acts, and deals therefore with 
 
 drainage and sewerage, water-supply, lighting, 
 
 street improvements, housing schemes, markets, 
 
 cemeteries, and isolation hospitals. Many of the 
 
 " Adoptive Acts," for the provision of baths and 
 
 wash-houses, parks and open spaces, museums and 
 
 art galleries, may be used by a town council in 
 
 either character ; and similarly as either a municipal 
 
 authority or an urban sanitary authority it may 
 
 promote Bills in Parhament to obtain additional 
 
 powers.^ There is a growing tendency to limit 
 
 the powers of the smaller boroughs. Thus since 
 
 1882 no separate police force may be established 
 
 in any borough with less than 20,000 inhabitants, 
 
 and in 1888 the forces in boroughs with less than 
 
 10,000 inhabitants were transferred to the county 
 
 authorities ; only boroughs with populations of 
 
 ^ The Borough Funds Act, 1872, as now amended lays down that 
 municipal and urban district councils may promote a Bill, and spend 
 money out of the rates for that purpose, only on the conditions that 
 (1) a special resolution to that effect be passed by the coimcil with 
 special formalities, and that (2) the resolution be confirmed by the 
 ratepayers either at a towns-meeting or poll. This is the nearest 
 apjDroach in England to the referendum which exists in some 
 American cities, and in Canada (e.g., at Toronto) ; instances of 
 rejection by the ratepayers here are not uncommon.
 
 SECT. 3] MUNICIPAL FUNCTIONS 41 
 
 not less than 10,000 can be separate areas for 
 elementary education under the Act of 1902 ; and 
 the same limit is applied for a number of other 
 services, such as the administration of the Acts 
 relating to the diseases of animals, weights and 
 measures, and food and drugs — for these purposes 
 the smaller municipalities are merged in the 
 counties. It should be added that all county 
 boroughs, and a number of Quarter Sessions 
 boroughs, are required to provide accommodation 
 for pauper lunatics. 
 
 In the last thirty years or so there has been " Municipal 
 
 . . trading." 
 
 a great development of the activity of town and 
 urban district councils in regard to what is called 
 "municipal trading" — waterworks, tramways, gas 
 and electric hghting, electric power, and a number 
 of other things, ranging from river steamers to 
 sterihsed milk for children. The increase in the 
 apparent debt of local authorities, resulting from 
 the heavy capital expenditure required for the 
 provision of these services, and the action of the 
 councils in taking to themselves services which 
 would otherwise offer a field for private enterprise, 
 have recently provoked much opposition and roused 
 keen controversy.^ It is not proposed to discuss 
 the matter here, but only to point out the con- 
 siderations wliich have had most weight with the 
 local authorities. They seem to have been two — 
 
 ^ There is a very extensive literature, chiefly in pamphlets and 
 articles, on "municipal trade." See L. Darwin, Municipal Trade; 
 Shaw, Common Sense of Municipal Trading ; and the Reports of the Select 
 Committees of 1900 and 1903.
 
 42 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMLMSTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 first, the belief that practically all these services, 
 essential to the well-being of the inhabitants, tend 
 to become monopolies, and therefore should be 
 in the hands of authorities amenable to public 
 opinion and control, and not seeking merely a 
 financial profit ; and, secondly, the desire to obtain 
 from these financially remunerative services some- 
 thing to set against the heavy unremunerative 
 expenditure rendered necessary by English sanitary 
 legislation.^ These two ideas are not always held 
 together — there are many advocates of municipal 
 ownership who are opposed entirely to the alloca- 
 tion of profits to any purpose except the reduction 
 of charges ; but nevertheless these two considera- 
 tions, either separately or together, seem to have 
 determined municipal policy. It is, of course, 
 possible to adopt an alternative poUcy — private 
 enterprise under strict control ; but this has not 
 hitherto been popular in England, in the L^nited 
 States its results have been far from satisfactory 
 (especially in their indirect effects on civic hfe), 
 and in Germany the city administrators are moving 
 rapidly in the same direction as ourselves. 
 
 ^ " He held distinctly that all mouoiDolies which were sustained in 
 any way by the state ought to be in the hands of the representatives 
 of the people, by whom they shoidd be administered, and to whom 
 the profits should go. At present the council had inadequate means 
 for discharging all the obUgations and responsibilities devolving upon 
 them, and he believed that the pressure of the rates would become 
 intolerable unless some compensation could be foiind in such a 
 proposal as that before the cotmcil. Tlie purchase would help to 
 relieve the ratepayers of burdens which were every day becoming 
 more oppressive." — Mr Joseph Chamberlain as Mayor of Birmingham, 
 1874, on the purchase of the gasworks.
 
 SECT. 3] TOWN COUNCIL COMMITl'EES 43 
 
 A town council determines its ovm procedure, Committees. 
 and works chieHy by committees ; the meetings 
 of the council as a whole (which are held as often 
 as may be necessary) are occupied chiefly by the 
 receipt of the reports of the committees, the 
 discussion of any questions raised by them, and 
 the voting of the necessary resolutions. Some 
 of these committees are statutory — those for 
 police (the "watch committee"), education (with 
 co-opted members, including women), diseases of 
 animals, and asylums, in boroughs which are 
 separate areas for these purposes. Others are 
 appointed to the number which the council thinks 
 necessary, and any committee may appoint sub- 
 committees for special branches of its work. 
 Unlike the county councils, town councils may 
 not delegate any of their powers (except those 
 relating to education) to their committees.^ 
 
 The expenses of a town council as a mimicipal Finance. 
 authority are met from the borough fund, which 
 is formed from the proceeds of corporation property, 
 fees, fines, etc., and of the borough rate, which is 
 levied on the same basis as the poor rate. Its 
 expenditure as a sanitary authority is met by the 
 general district rate, levied on a slightly different 
 
 ^ "The council may from time to time appoint out of their own 
 body such and so many committees, either of a general or special 
 nature, and consisting of such number of persons, as they think 
 fit, for any purposes which, in the opinion of the council, would be 
 better regulated and managed by means of such committees ; but 
 the acts of everj' such committee shall be submitted to the council 
 for their approval." Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, sec. 22 (2). 
 Contrast the Education Act, 1902, seo. 17 (2).
 
 Officers. 
 
 The urban 
 district. 
 
 44 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 basis ; whilst the special rates which may be levied 
 under some of the " Adoptive Acts " are limited 
 in amount. It also receives Government grants 
 for police, sanitary officers, and education. Deal- 
 ings in municipal property, and loans (unless 
 expressly authorised by Parliament), need the 
 approval of the Local Government Board, but 
 the accounts of municipalities (except those for 
 education) are not subject to audit by that depart- 
 ment. The chief permanent officers of a town 
 council are the town clerk (who may exercise very 
 great influence upon the municipal administration), 
 treasurer, education secretary, medical officer, and 
 sanitary inspectors, chief constable (where there 
 is a separate police force), and the heads of 
 the various administrative departments, which 
 vary in number with the extent of municipal 
 activity. 
 
 The urban districts may be dismissed more 
 briefly.^ They are areas organised under the Local 
 Government Act, 1894 ; and include (1) areas 
 which prior to 1894 were Improvement Districts 
 under Commissioners established by Local Acts ; 
 (2) Local Board of Health Districts formed under 
 the Public Health Acts ; (3) other areas since 
 formed by the joint action of the county councils 
 and the Local Government Board. In 1902-3 
 there were 812 such districts, ranging in population 
 
 1 From the standpoint of the Pubhc Health Acts, England is 
 divided into rural and urban sanitary districts (the latter including 
 boroughs). But the term "Urban Districts" usually means the 
 areas under the Act of 1894.
 
 SECTS] THE URBAN DISTRICT 45 
 
 from 300 to nearly 100,000 in a few cases.^ The 
 authority in each is a council consisting solely council. 
 of members elected either one-third every year, 
 or all every third year ; women are eligible, 
 and there are no aldermen. Each council elects 
 its own chairman who (unless a woman) is a 
 Justice of the Peace during his year of office ; 
 it must meet at least once a month, and may 
 appoint committees which may include co-opted 
 persons. To the committees entrusted with 
 sanitary and highway matters all the powers of 
 the council in regard to those services may be 
 delegated, with the usual exception as to rates 
 and loans. 
 
 The urban district council is the sanitary authority Powers. 
 for its area, and therefore has many powers and 
 duties under the Public Health Acts ; it is the 
 highway authority, maintaining its local streets 
 and roads, and may take over from the county 
 council that portion of the main roads which lies 
 within its boundaries, in return for an annual pay- 
 ment ; it may make use of any of the " Adoptive 
 Acts " ; it may exercise any powers which it can 
 obtain under Private Acts promoted by itself, or 
 under provisional orders for tramways, water-supply, 
 gasworks, electric light and power, etc. An urban 
 district authority has not the status and ornamental 
 trappings of a municipal authority ; but its powers 
 
 ^ It will bo observed that i^opuliitioii has little to do with the 
 classification of English areas. Many urban districts are larger 
 than most municipal boroughs j and some are smaller than most 
 nn-al districts.
 
 Finance. 
 
 46 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 are practically of equal importance and extent. 
 Many urban district councils are much more 
 important and active than the council of an average 
 middle-sized borough ; and the general remarks 
 made above as to the work of the municipalities 
 apply equally to the urban districts. 'J'he main 
 differences between a municipality and an urban 
 district (apart from forms) are that the latter has 
 no aldermen, has none of the privileges connected 
 with the administration of police and justice which 
 most of the boroughs enjoy, has its accounts audited 
 by the Local Government Board, and is much 
 more closely controlled by that body. 
 
 The expenses of the council are met by (1) 
 the proceeds of district property, fees, and fines ; 
 (2) the special rates levied under Adoptive Acts 
 and any Local Acts ; (3) the general district rate 
 for sanitary purposes ; (4) the education rate (where 
 the urban district is a separate area for elementary 
 education) ; and (5) Government grants for educa- 
 tion and towards the salaries of medical officers 
 and sanitary inspectors. The chief officers of the 
 council are the clerk, treasurer, surveyor, medical 
 officer, and inspectors, and (where necessary) 
 education secretary. 
 
 SECTION 4 
 
 The Govern The present municipal organisation of the 
 
 London. Capital of England is based mainly upon the 
 
 Local Government Act of 1888, and the London
 
 SECT. 4.] GOVERNMENT OF EONUON 47 
 
 Government Act of 1891). With its area of 121 
 square miles and its population of four and a 
 half millions, London presents a series of adminis- 
 trative problems greater and more complex than 
 those of any other city in the world. It is not 
 that the problems are different in kind, for the 
 needs of the vast urban populations are everywhere 
 the same, but that their larger extent renders it 
 practically impossible for all the administrative 
 details to be dealt with adequately by a single 
 authority. Consequently in London there are two 
 sets of authorities — central and local — and although 
 the arrangements of each group are open to much 
 criticism, the division of labour is in itself an 
 absolute necessity. 
 
 The principal " central " authority is the London The London 
 
 . . . County 
 
 County Council, consisting of one hundred and council. 
 eighteen councillors elected (two for each parlia- 
 mentary division) for three years, and nineteen 
 aldermen chosen by the council for six years ; 
 it selects a chairman, vice-chairman, and deputy- 
 chairman from its own ranks, and they hold office 
 for one year (re-elections were common in the 
 early years of the council's history, but have now 
 been abandoned). The elections of councillors are 
 always contested on party lines, but the attempts 
 made to identify political with municipal parties 
 have not been very successful ; only at the general 
 parliamentary election of 190G did the municipal 
 and parliamentary representation of London be- 
 come at all identical. In its general form and
 
 48 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 powers the London County Council resembles 
 the other county councils ; but it has the special 
 powers and duties needed for the administration 
 of a great urban area, and is therefore a com- 
 bination of the councils of a county and of a large 
 municipality. It meets once a week during the 
 greater part of the year, and has about a score of 
 chief committees, with a great number of sub- 
 Powers, committees. It deals with main drainage, river 
 embankments, street improvements, bridges (except 
 those within the area of the City of London), 
 tramways, housing, lunatic asylums, parks and 
 open spaces, licensing of music halls and some 
 theatres, protection against fire, and a vast number 
 of miscellaneous services ; it is the education 
 authority (with co-opted persons on its committee 
 for that purpose), and as such (in addition to the 
 elementary schools which it maintains) it has built 
 up a great system of technical and secondary 
 education, and contributes largely to university 
 education. It has some public health powers of 
 its own (infant life protection, inspection of common 
 lodging - houses, licensing of slaughter - houses, 
 regulation of obnoxious trades, etc.), and exercises 
 a general supervision over the sanitary adminis- 
 tration of the metropolitan boroughs ; it also 
 controls the raising of loans by them.^ 
 The The Metropolitan Police have charge of an 
 
 Metropolitan ^ 
 
 Police. 
 
 ^ The estimated ordinary expenditure of the County Council for 
 1905-6 (not including working expenses of "trading " enterprises) was 
 £9,494,355, including £4,086,094 for education.
 
 SECT. 4.] "CENTRAL" LONDON AUTHORITIES 49 
 
 area very much larger than the administrative 
 county — it includes all the territory (except the 
 1 square mile of the City) included in a circle with 
 a radius of 15 miles from Charing Cross, and 
 embracing about 688 square miles. The force is 
 under the control of a Commissioner, appointed by 
 and dependent solely upon the Home Secretary ; 
 and although the local authorities of its area bear 
 practically the whole of the cost (apart from the 
 grant which the Government makes to all police 
 forces, and a small additional contribution for 
 the services of the force as a " state " police) they 
 have no voice in the management.^ Another 
 authority for an area larger than the adminis- 
 trative county is the INIetropolitan Water Board, The 
 
 •^ II' Metropolitan 
 
 established m 1903 to take over the undertakmgs water Board. 
 of the eight private companies which had hitherto 
 supplied London and surrounding districts ; " water 
 London " has an extent of some 620 square miles, 
 and the Board is composed of representatives of 
 the London County Council, the City Corporation, 
 the metropolitan borough councils, and the councils 
 of counties, municipal boroughs, and urban districts 
 in the area of supply. The Metropolitan Asylums The 
 
 •,-t T n 1 t - • ^ ^ • o ^ Metropolitan 
 
 Board, rounded m 1867, is the authority tor the Asyiuma 
 
 Board. 
 
 provision of isolation hospitals, asylums for 
 
 ' Practically all European capitals have a special police organisa- 
 tion dependent solely upon the Government. This is due upon the 
 Continent to political reasons, but in England to (1) the absence of 
 any central local authority when the Metropolitan Police were 
 established in 1829 ; (2) the largeness of the area ; (3) the work done 
 by the force as a "state" police (extradition, supervision of foreign 
 criminals or suspects, protection of Government buildings, etc. ). 
 
 D
 
 50 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 imbeciles (as distinct from lunatics), and hospitals 
 for Poor Law children for the Poor Law Unions 
 of London ; it consists of representatives of the 
 Metropolitan Boards of Guardians and persons 
 nominated by the Local Government Board. 
 
 The City The Corporation of the City of London occupies 
 
 a peculiar position. It consists of a Lord JVIayor, 
 aldermen, and common councillors elected (the 
 aldermen for life and the councillors annually) by 
 the members of the " livery companies," which are 
 the descendants of the mediaeval guilds. The con- 
 stitution of the city has not been changed in 
 essentials for about four and a half centuries : the 
 aldermen form a second chamber, are ecc-qfficio 
 Justices of the Peace, and serve the office of 
 Lord Mayor for one year in order of seniority 
 (though nominally elected). The Corporation is a 
 " central " authority, since it has (apart from its 
 historical position) special duties and privileges ; 
 it possesses its own police force for its one square 
 mile of territory, is the port sanitary authority, 
 maintains several bridges and central markets, and 
 has a number of powers connected with the 
 administration of justice, including the appoint- 
 ment of two sheriffs.^ 
 
 •me The " local " areas are the Metropolitan 
 
 Metropolitan i i/> iiiiTi/^ ■ 
 
 boroughs. boroughs, lormed under the London Government 
 
 ^ Two other " central " bodies are the conservancies of the Thames 
 and Lea rivers. They have general charge of the na\ngatiou of those 
 streams, and contain representatives of the various local authorities 
 and other bodies interested.
 
 SECT. 4.] LONDON BOROUGHS 51 
 
 Act of 1899. They are twenty-eight in number, 
 with populations ranging from 341,000 in Islington 
 to 53,000 in Stoke Newington. Each has a council 
 of not more than sixty members elected triennially, 
 and aldermen (to one-sixth of the number of 
 councillors) chosen by the council for six years. 
 The Mayor holds office for one year, and need not 
 be selected from the council itself. The borough 
 councils (like the Corporation of the City) are the 
 sanitary and highway authorities ; they are 
 responsible for the assessment and collection of 
 local rates ; and have the ordinary powers of 
 urban authorities in regard to the use of the various 
 Adoptive Acts, and the promotion of Private 
 Bills. The London boroughs do not enjoy the 
 same freedom from control as the true municipal 
 boroughs ; they are subject to the audit of the 
 Local Government Board, to the approval of the 
 London County Council in regard to loans, and to 
 its supervision of sanitary administration. The 
 borough councils took the place of a very much 
 larger number of local bodies; the Act of 1899 
 was an important step in the direction of con- 
 solidation and simphfication ; and on the whole 
 the effect of the change has been a distinct 
 improvement alike in the composition and work 
 of the authorities.^ 
 
 These various authorities naturally all have Finance. 
 
 1 It should be added that for Poor Law purposes London is 
 divided into thirty Poor Law Unions, which do not necessarily 
 coincide with the boroughs.
 
 52 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 power to levy the necessary rates, but as there 
 are great differences in rateable value between the 
 districts, and as on the whole the poorer the 
 district the greater the amount and cost of 
 administration, two attempts have been made at 
 the equalisation of the financial burdens (apart 
 from the rates levied by the County Council, which 
 are uniform throughout the Metropolis). The 
 Metropolitan Common Poor Fund is raised by a 
 uniform rate in the thirty unions, and from it 
 there is provided the cost of district asylums for 
 imbeciles, dispensaries, vaccination, and 5d. a day 
 for each indoor pauper. The equalisation of 
 Rates Act, 1894, directed that a rate of 6d. in 
 the pound on rateable value should be levied all 
 over London, and the proceeds divided between 
 the boroughs according to population.^ 
 
 SECTION 5 
 
 The Poor Law There remains one set of areas and authorities ^ 
 ^ ' established for one particular purpose — the relief 
 
 ^ An extension of this arrangement is now (1906) under the 
 consideration of the Government. The fullest account of the 
 administration of the Metropolis is given in the London Manual 
 (annual volume). 
 
 2 There are a number of other authorities scattered about the 
 country — Port Sanitary Authorities (sometimes identical with town 
 or urban district councils), Harbour and Dock authorities (often also 
 identical with town councils), Commissioners of Sewers, Drainage 
 Boards, Conservators of Commons and various Joint Boards {e.g., for 
 Asylums, Burial, Drainage, etc), — but they are comparatively few in 
 number and need not be described here.
 
 SECT. 5] POOR RELIEF 55 
 
 of the poor. Since the Poor Law of IGOl tlie 
 parish has been the unit of Poor Law administra- 
 tion ; but the ordinary parish is far too small to 
 be satisfactory for that purpose. In the eighteenth 
 century combinations of parishes were permitted 
 and became fairly frequent, and the Poor Law 
 Amendment Act, 1834-, made the arrangement 
 general by the formation of Poor Law Unions, 
 consisting sometimes of a single parish, but gener- 
 ally (as the name implies) of a combination of 
 parishes ; " the general idea on which the union 
 was formed was that of taking a market town as 
 a centre, and uniting the surrounding parishes, 
 the inhabitants of which resorted to its market, 
 such a centre being supposed to be convenient for 
 the attendance of guardians and parish officers. 
 A limiting principle was that in the first instance 
 the union should be small enough for the guardians 
 to have a personal knowledge of all the details of 
 its management, and it seems to have been intended 
 that, as the business became simplified and under- 
 stood, the area might be enlarged."^ There are 
 now six hundred and fifty-seven such unions : it 
 must be remembered that the Poor Law organisa- 
 tion is the same for urban and rural areas alike, and 
 that the boundaries of the unions have no necessary 
 relations to the boundaries of any other local 
 government areas except the parishes." 
 
 ^ Wriglib and Hobhouse, Local Government and Local Taxation 
 (2nd edition), p. 9. 
 
 ■" Thus the city of Birmingham includes one whole Poor Law 
 Union, and parts of two others.
 
 54 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 The Board of The authority in each union is the Board of 
 
 Guardians. . ^ 
 
 Guardians, holding office for three years ; ^ women 
 are ehgible, and much valuable work is done by 
 them. Actually separate elections of guardians 
 take place only in urban unions or the rural 
 portions of mixed unions ; elsewhere the persons 
 chosen as rural district councillors are ipso facto 
 guardians for their electoral areas (parishes). Poor 
 Law administration in England presents two 
 peculiar features : first, it is the only general public 
 service for which the ad hoc principle {i.e., the 
 election of a separate authority with a separate 
 rating power) has been maintained ; ' and, secondly, 
 it is of all branches of local administration the one 
 most strictly controlled and directed by a central 
 department. The retention of a separate authority, 
 though undesirable on general grounds, may 
 perhaps be justified in this case by the nature, 
 extent, and complexity of the work ; but the 
 continuance of the very strict tutelage exercised 
 by the Local Government Board over the guardians, 
 necessary undoubtedly in the early years after 1834 
 in order to prevent a relapse into the former evils, 
 now tends to become an obstacle alike to the activity 
 
 1 The Board may elect a chairman and vice-chairman ft'om 
 outside, or co-opt two members. 
 
 - The Boards of Guardians have a few duties besides poor relief — 
 the administration of the Vaccination Acts, the ai^pointment of 
 registrars of births, deaths, and marriages, and (outside the Metropolis) 
 the supervision of the assessment and collection of most of the local 
 rates based upon the poor rate. But the actual Poor Law administra- 
 tion is so much the largest part of their work that they are practically 
 ad hoc authorities.
 
 SECT. 5] OUTDOOR RELIEF 55 
 
 and enterprise of the guardians and to the efficiency 
 of the central authority. 
 
 The guardians have nothing to do with the Asylums. 
 provision or management of asylums for pauper 
 lunatics, though the cost of the maintenance of 
 each inmate is borne by the union upon which he 
 is chargeable. But apart from this the guardians 
 administer the whole of the poor relief system. 
 The relief given falls into two great divisions — 
 outdoor and indoor. The chief forms of out- 
 relief are : — 
 
 (a) Weekly allowances in money or in kind. Methods of 
 
 relief. 
 
 The guardians may not pay rent, redeem tools, or 
 buy clothes (except in rare cases), and they may 
 not give this form of relief to ordinarily able- 
 bodied adults outside the workhouse, except in 
 cases of distress arising from such causes as 
 " sickness, accident, bodily or mental infirmity in 
 themselves and in their families." This means 
 that out-relief cannot be given to the able-bodied 
 who are out of employment ; with the exception 
 indeed that the guardians may by special permission 
 provide for this class under the regulation that 
 " every able-bodied person, if relieved out of the 
 workhouses, shall be set to work by the guardians 
 and be kept employed under their direction and 
 superintendence so long as he continues to receive 
 reUef," but the difficulty experienced in finding 
 satisfactory work has been so great that few boards 
 now attempt to make use of this power, except in 
 some towns.
 
 56 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 {b) Apprenticeship ; boards of guardians may 
 pay the premiums necessary for children to be 
 bound apprentices. 
 
 (c) ]MedicaI assistance ; each board must appoint 
 one or more medical officers to attend upon all 
 poor persons requiring such assistance, and to 
 supply the necessary medicines. 
 
 {d) Finally there is "burial by the parish." 
 
 The forms of in-relief are : — 
 
 (a) The casual ward, where a night's shelter 
 is given to vagrants in return for a compulsory 
 amount of work. 
 
 {b) The workhouse, which is the refuge chiefly 
 for the disabled, either by age or infirmity, and 
 for women and children.^ A classification of 
 inmates (aged and infirm, married persons, children, 
 etc.), is in part required by law, and in part recom- 
 mended by the Local Government Board ; but it is 
 difficult in the small country workhouses to carry 
 out this arrangement so far as is desirable. 
 The best results attained so far have been in the 
 provision of some extra comfort for the aged, and 
 in the treatment of the children. 
 
 (c) The infirmary is practically a parish hospital.^ 
 The condition of the infirmaries was for long very 
 
 ^ The original idea of the ■workhouse was that willingness to 
 enter it should be a test of the anxiety for help, and in it work was 
 to be found for the able-bodied. Actually the name has come to 
 be a misnomer : on 1st July 1905 there were only 7,615 able-bodied 
 men in health in the workhouses, out of a total indoor workhouse 
 population of 214,884. 
 
 ^ Hospitals for infectious diseases are jjrovided in London bj' the 
 Metropolitan Asylum Board, and elsewhere by county or sanitary 
 district authorities.
 
 SECT. 5.] POOR LAW SCHOOLS 57 
 
 unsatisfactory, but there has been a marked im- 
 provement in recent years. 
 
 {d) The schools. The provision for the 
 children, which is the most hopeful part of the 
 Poor Law administration, takes various forms. 
 There is the school in the workhouse itself, or the 
 arrangement whereby the children, whilst living 
 in the workhouse, attend the ordinary pubhc 
 elementary schools ; but both these plans are 
 undesirable, since they keep tlie children for all or 
 much of the time in the atmosphere of pauperism. 
 There are " scattered homes " for small groups of 
 children, who attend the ordinary school ; there 
 are the large " barrack schools," maintained some- 
 times by a combination of unions ; there is the 
 " boarding out " system, which works well if great 
 care is taken in the selection of the homes, and 
 constant inspection maintained ; and, finally, there 
 are '* cottage homes," where a small village is built 
 round a school and workshops, and a number of 
 children are placed in each cottage under the 
 charge of a workman and his wife. 
 
 It is the duty of the guardians to determine Finance. 
 in the case of each applicant the nature and 
 extent of the relief to be given, and in the work 
 of enquiry, and the distribution of relief, they 
 are assisted by professional relieving officers ; the 
 definite decision rests with the guardians them- 
 selves, or the " relief committee " appointed by 
 them. This is one of the weakest parts of the 
 Poor Law machinery ; the relieving officers are
 
 58 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 generally few and overworked, whilst their enquiries 
 (being merely professional,) are apt to become of 
 a routine character, and there is no provision for 
 that constant and detailed attention to individual 
 cases which alone can make relief of permanent 
 use. The cost of the relief of the poor and of the 
 other duties of the guardians is borne in each 
 union by a common fund, to which the constituent 
 parishes contribute in proportion to their rateable 
 value, the only items chargeable to the separate 
 parishes being the salaries of assistant overseers 
 and rate collectors. Asylums are provided by 
 county or borough authorities, but the main- 
 tenance of the inmates is a charge upon the unions 
 from which they come. The central government 
 contributes (through the Exchequer Contribution 
 Account) an amount equal to the fees of pauper 
 children attending elementary schools, salaries 
 of teachers in Poor Law schools, the salaries 
 and superannuation (in 1887-88) of union officers 
 outside London, salaries of Poor Law medical 
 officers in London, some other small payments, 
 and four shillings per head per week for pauper 
 lunatics. Guardians may recover (if they can) the 
 whole or part of the expenditure on relief from 
 the responsible relatives of the person relieved. 
 The whole of the work of the Boards of 
 Central Guardiaus is under the strict control and 
 
 control. 
 
 surveillance of the Local Government Board, 
 which can issue orders and regulations of all 
 kinds, prescribing the duties of the guardians
 
 SECT. 5] UNEMPLOYMENT 59 
 
 and the methods of work in great detail.^ Its 
 inspectors, eacli in charge of a district, can attend 
 the meetings of the guardians, and visit and 
 inspect thoroughly any Poor I^aw institution at 
 any time ; this arrangement not only enables 
 the central department to maintain a constant 
 watch, but also puts much expert advice at the 
 disposal of the guardians. Further, the appoint- 
 ment of local officials (clerk, Poor Law medical 
 officer, relieving officers and workhouse officers) 
 must be approved by the Local Government 
 Board, which on the other hand can dismiss any 
 official without the consent of the guardians.^ 
 
 It has already been remarked that the English 
 Poor Law system is not adapted, and scarcely 
 professes, to deal with distress arising from 
 temporary lack of employment amongst the 
 able-bodied workmen. This defect led to the 
 Unemployed AVorkmen Act of 1905, which 
 applies to London and towns or urban districts 
 with not less than 50,000 inhabitants. In each 
 London borough there is to be a ** distress 
 committee," consisting partly of councillors and The distress 
 
 committees. 
 
 partly of guardians and other experienced 
 persons ; and there is also a " central committee " 
 of representatives of the London County Council 
 
 1 It has been estimated that the Poor Law statutes and depart- 
 mental orders in force would cover 2,500 printed octavo pages ; 
 there is urgent need for consolidation. 
 
 - For the poor law administration see Fowle, Poor Lav: ; Chance, 
 Our Treatment of the Poor ; the Annual Reports of the Local Govern- 
 ment Board; and the Annual Reports of the Proceedings of the 
 Poor Law Conferences.
 
 60 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMLMSTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 and of the distress committees, with co-opted 
 persons. The local committees are to make 
 themselves acquainted with labour conditions 
 in their boroughs, receive applications from 
 unemployed workmen, and endeavour to find 
 work (by opening employment bureaus, or 
 inducing the borough councils to undertake 
 public works, etc.), or they may hand over 
 the cases to the central committee. The local 
 committees may not themselves provide work ; 
 the central committee may do so ^ ( by establishing 
 farm colonies or in any other way), and may aid 
 emigration or help the removal of the workman 
 to another part of the country where there is a 
 demand for labour. The expenses are to be 
 defrayed out of a central fund formed from 
 voluntary gifts and the proceeds of a limited 
 rate, and aided by a government grant. The 
 large urban areas outside London may have 
 similar committees of councillors, guardians, and 
 other persons, with powers like those exercised 
 by the London central committee. The Act, 
 which is to be in force for three years, is so 
 recent that it is scarcely possible to express any 
 opinion as to its working ; but it inaugurates an 
 attempt to deal seriously and on fresh lines with 
 a problem which hitherto has been left mainly to 
 the spasmodic and often ill-directed efforts of 
 private charity. 
 
 ^ Subject to the restriction that the work so provided "shall 
 have for its object a purpose of actual and substantial utility."
 
 SECT. 6] NATIONAL EDUCATION 61 
 
 SECTION 6 
 
 The creation of a national system of Education Education. 
 in England is entirely the work of the nineteenth 
 century.^ Up to 1833 the country depended 
 for elementary education entirely upon private 
 (mainly philanthropic or religious) enterprise, and 
 when in that year the first small grant of £20,000 
 was made by Parliament, the money was 
 distributed by the Treasury for school buildings 
 according to the advice of the two great societies 
 to whose activity such organised elementary 
 schools as existed were chiefly due.^ 
 
 Then after various enquiries by Parliamentary Development 
 committees the decisive step in the direction of action, 
 state action was taken in 1839, when the grant 
 was increased, a contribution made to the two 
 societies for the erection of training colleges, a 
 special committee of the Privy Council appointed 
 to administer the grants, and the principle asserted 
 of the inspection of all schools in receipt of public 
 monies. In the next decade progress was made 
 chiefly in regard to the supply of teachers — the 
 foundation of more training colleges was encouraged 
 and scholarships to them were established by 
 
 ' The purpose of this section is to sketch briefly the develop- 
 ment of English state action in regard to education, and then to 
 describe the existing machinerj', without discussing the difficult 
 problem of " religious education." 
 
 ■^ The British and Foreign Schools Society, a nonconformist 
 society giving in addition to secular instruction only " Bible teach- 
 ing " ; and the National Society, an Anglican organisation.
 
 62 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 the Government, the pupil-teacher system was 
 inaugurated, the state certification of teachers was 
 estabhshed, and regulations were imposed as to the 
 proportion of certificated teachers in the public 
 elementary schools. Various attempts followed in 
 subsequent years to organise local action and to lay 
 the duty of pro"^^ding elementary education upon 
 the local authorities,^ but nothing was done until 
 1870. The Elementary Education Act of that 
 year laid down three principles, but modified 
 them all in application. There was to be in each 
 school district an elected authority for elementary 
 education, but only where the supply of each 
 education by voluntary effort was inedequate. 
 A local rate was to be levied, but only where 
 there was a School Board : and attendance was 
 to be compulsory, but only where any School 
 Boards chose to make bye-laws to that effect. 
 Legislation in 1876 and 1880 made compulsory 
 attendance general, and eleven years later 
 elementary education became practically free. 
 
 JNIeanwhile there had been a slow development 
 of state encouragement of secondary education, 
 chiefly by the establishment of science and art 
 schools at South Kensington, and by grants to 
 institutions giving science and art teaching 
 approved by the central department. A great 
 
 1 It is noteworthy that the Eoyal Commission of 1858-61 
 recommended the formation of county and borough Boards of 
 Education, -vrith powei' to levy a rate. It ^ras at first intended 
 in 1870 to give elementary education in the boroughs into the 
 hands of the town councils, but the advocates of the ad hoc 
 system ultimately prevailed.
 
 SECT. 0] BOARD OF EDUCATION 63 
 
 advance was made when in 1889 and 1890 the 
 councils of counties, boroughs, and urban districts 
 were authorised to supply or aid the supply of 
 technical or manual instruction, to use for that 
 purpose (if they thought fit) the proceeds of certain 
 taxes on beer and spirits levied by the central 
 government but handed over to the local 
 authorities, and to supplement this by a small 
 local rate. For Wales special arrangements were 
 made by the Intermediate Education Act, 1889, 
 which enabled county and county borough 
 councils to contribute to secondary (as distinct 
 from technical) education. In the same year 
 small grants were made for the first time from 
 the central Exchequer to a number of institutions 
 recognised as giving education of a university 
 type. 
 
 The Education Department was formed in The central 
 
 ^ _ department. 
 
 18.5G by the combination of the " Educational 
 Establishment of the Privy Council Office," 
 and the " Establishment for the Encouragement 
 of Science and Art," which had hitherto been 
 under the Board of Trade. The office of Vice- 
 President was created, but the position of its 
 holder was never quite clearly defined ; always 
 a politician, he was sometimes entirely subordi- 
 nate to the Lord President of the Council 
 (the official head of the department), and some- 
 times practically an independent minister. In 
 1900 the office was reorganised as the Board of 
 Education, under an independent President,
 
 tions in 1902. 
 
 64 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 assisted by a Parliamentary Secretary, It now 
 directs and controls the whole of elementary educa- 
 tion and science and art teaching, in schools which 
 are supported out of public funds ; it inspects 
 those schools, and distributes the Exchequer 
 grants ; it also inspects training colleges. Its 
 powers in regard to secondary (as distinct from 
 science and art) education are confined to the 
 inspection of such schools as desire it. 
 Thecondi- By the year 1902 the need for a general 
 
 reorganisation had become painfully apparent. 
 The elementary schools fell into two groups — 
 {aj *' board schools," maintained by local school 
 boards entirely out of Exchequer grants and 
 local rates, and with simple biblical teaching ; 
 (b) the "voluntary schools," maintained by 
 private subscriptions and Exchequer grants, and 
 with denominational (usually AngUcan or Roman 
 Catholic) religious teaching.^ But gradually sub- 
 scriptions had fallen off, and the voluntary schools 
 had sought more and more for state assistance, until 
 nearly 80 per cent., of their revenue was derived 
 from Government grants, though the schools were 
 managed solely by foundation trustees. Rather 
 more than half the children receiving elementary 
 education w^ere in voluntary schools, but, though 
 some of these attained a very high standard of 
 
 ^ The "religioijs grievance," resulting from this was that there 
 were 7,478 districts with only one school (generally Anglican) and 
 in that school denominational religious instruction was given. The 
 " conscience clause " permits the withdrawal of the children from 
 the lesson, but such a step is not always possible or desirable.
 
 SECT. 6.] EDUCATION IN 1902 65 
 
 efficiency, yet on the whole the financial limitations 
 made the general level of the voluntary schools 
 lower than that of the board schools. These 
 latter, aided by the rates, had extended their 
 sphere of action greatly ; in " higher grade " day 
 schools they were giving education practically 
 of a secondary type, in evening continuation 
 schools they provided elementary and more 
 advanced teaching for both adults and young 
 people, and they maintained centres for the 
 training of pupil teachers. Some of this over- 
 lapped the work of the technical education 
 committees of the local authorities ; and legal 
 decisions determined in 1900 and 1902 that all 
 the instruction given to adults, and the subjects 
 taught in the higher grade schools, were illegal, 
 since they were outside the meaning of the term 
 " elementary." 
 
 For secondary education the technical com- 
 mittees were doing much valuable work, and in 
 AVales the county and county borough authorities 
 contributed largely to the maintenance of ordi- 
 nary secondary schools ; the central government 
 aided only science and art teaching. For the 
 training of teachers for the elementary schools 
 neither the state-aided private institutions nor the 
 school boards made anything approaching to 
 an adequate provision. Finally, apart from the 
 small central contributions to "university colleges," 
 the pubUe authorities did nothing for university 
 education, 
 
 E
 
 66 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMLNISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 TheEduca- The Act of 1902 (a) abandoned the ad hoc 
 
 (i.) Element-' system, and made the county and munieipahty 
 
 ary educa- *^ . . . 
 
 tion. the basis of educational organisation ; and (b) 
 
 put an end to all restriction upon the action of 
 the new authorities. For elementary education 
 the authorities now are the councils of all 
 counties and county boroughs, of municipalities 
 with at least 10,000 inhabitants, and urban 
 districts with at least 20,000 inhabitants ; ^ and 
 they take over the whole of the elementary 
 schools (whether board or voluntary schools) 
 within their areas, and control entirely the 
 secular teaching given in them. Every local 
 education authority is required to appoint one 
 or more committees, composed partly of 
 councillors and partly of co-opted persons 
 (including women) ; to the committees so 
 appointed all the powers of the authorities 
 may be delegated with the usual exceptions 
 as to finance. In the case of a " council " 
 (formerly " board ") school, there are managers, 
 of whom two-thirds are appointed by the local 
 education authority, and one-third by the local 
 authority (if distinct from the education 
 authority). For " voluntary " schools two-thirds 
 of the managers are appointed by the old trustee 
 managers, one - sixth by the local education 
 authority, and one-sixth by the local authority, 
 
 1 Municipalities and urban districts may siirrender their powers 
 to the local county councils, if the latter are willing to accept the 
 transfer. This is in many ways desirable, but the extent of it will 
 depend chiefly upon the financial effects.
 
 BKCT. f?.] THE EDTTCATION ACT OF 1902 67 
 
 if distinct {c.^\, in rural areas the parish council). 
 In the council schools undenominational Bible 
 teaching is to be given, in voluntary schools the 
 religious instruction is to be in accordance with 
 the trust deeds. The Government grants for 
 elementary education (apart from office expenses) 
 amounted in 190:3-4 to £9,799,412. 
 
 For "higher education" (which is defined (ii) Higher 
 
 education. 
 
 Simply as " education other than elementary," 
 and can therefore include secondary, technical, 
 and university education, and the training of 
 teachers) the authorities are the councils of all 
 counties and county boroughs, and of all munici- 
 palities and urban districts.^ For this purpose 
 they may expend the "whisky money," and 
 supplement it by a small rate. The nature and 
 extent of their action in this respect are left entirely 
 to the discretion of the local authorities themselves, 
 in consultation with the Board of Education, and 
 with due regard to local conditions. 
 
 The increase of the Exchequer grants towards 
 the university colleges, the proposed reorganisa- 
 tion and extension of the state scientific institu- 
 tions at South Kensington, the commencement 
 of state contributions towards secondary educa- 
 tion, the growth of the new universities and 
 their close connection with the local education 
 
 ^ The inclusion of all the municipalities and urban districts as 
 areas for "higher education " is somewhat unfortvmate, since many 
 of them are too small to be effective. But they can surrender their 
 powers to, or act jointly with, the county counoils.
 
 68 ENGLISH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. i. 
 
 authorities^ are all evidences of a revived interest 
 in national education, and the recognition of 
 the need for a co-ordinated system embracing 
 all three grades. The expenditure upon educa- 
 tion by the central government is now more 
 than £12,000,000 per annum, but more is 
 necessary ; and the working of the new Act 
 will involve a considerable increase of taxa- 
 tion throughout large districts where hitherto 
 there has been no education rate at all. This 
 may act as a check upon the county councils, 
 and probably secondary education (in regard to 
 which there is no compulsion upon the 
 authorities) will suifer to some extent. But, 
 nevertheless, if only some compromise on the 
 question of religious teaching can be obtained, 
 and the controversy removed which has been so 
 long a stumbling block in the path of educa- 
 tional reform, there is abundant opportunity and 
 reasonable prospect for the construction of a 
 really complete system of national education. 
 
 1 E.g., some of the universities are undertaking the training of 
 teachei's for the local authorities, and are represented upon the local 
 education committees ; \\rhilst authorities are contributing to the 
 universities and are represented upon their governing bodies.
 
 CHAPTER 11 
 
 LOCAL ADIMINISTIIATION IN FRANCE 
 SECTION 1 
 
 The work of the central administration in France Ministnefl 
 is divided between the following eleven ministries, 
 of which the last five alone are important from 
 our present standpoint : — 
 
 (1) Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
 
 (2) Ministry of War. 
 
 (3) Ministry of Marine. 
 
 (4) Ministry of the Colonies. 
 (.5) Ministry of Justice. 
 
 (6) Ministry of Finance. 
 
 (7) Ministry of the Interior, which is concerned 
 
 chiefly with police, local government and 
 the control of local authorities, public 
 assistance and public health, prisons, and 
 the administration of Algeria. Under 
 the Minister of the Interior is the 
 Prefect of Police, who in many respects 
 resembles our own Commissioner of the 
 Metropolitan Police (entirely dependent 
 upon the Home Secretary). He is the 
 head at once of the local police of the 
 
 69
 
 70 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ir. 
 
 capital and the surrounding district, and 
 of the "state" police (protection of 
 the President of the Republic, extradi- 
 tion, etc.). 
 
 (8) INIinistry of Public Works — administration 
 
 of the national roads, state railways, 
 supervision of other railways, provi- 
 sion and maintenance of lighthouses, 
 harbour works, navigation of rivers and 
 canals, and many other matters. 
 
 (9) Ministry of Commerce and Industry — 
 
 technical education, patents, prepara- 
 tion of commercial treaties, administra- 
 tion of factory legislation, commercial 
 and industrial statistics and information. 
 Attached only nominally to this Ministry 
 is the Department of Posts and Tele- 
 graphs, in charge of an under-secretary 
 who is almost an independent minister. 
 
 (10) INIinistry of Public Instruction — all three 
 
 grades of national education, central 
 educational institutions, and (through 
 the Direction des Beaux Arts) instruc- 
 tion in Art, the national theatres and 
 museums, and historical monuments. 
 
 (11) JVIinistry of Agriculture — agricultural 
 
 legislation, education, information and 
 
 statistics, irrigation and drainage, 
 
 national woods and forests, etc. 
 
 The Ministry of Public Worship (Ministere 
 
 des Cultes) has never of recent years (if at all)
 
 SECT. 1] MINISTERIAL OFFICES 71 
 
 been possessed of an independent head ; it is 
 usually attached either to the Ministry of the 
 Interior or the Ministry of Public Instruction. 
 It deals with the subventions to the clergy and 
 places of worship of the denominations recognised 
 by the state. 
 
 In regard to these central departments there 
 are a few points worthy of consideration. The 
 first is the very small number of offices open to 
 politicians ; each department has only one parlia- 
 mentary representative — the minister ; except in 
 the case of the Post Office there are no political 
 under - secretaries or other officials as in Great 
 Britain. A British Prime Minister has at his 
 disposal nearly fifty administrative offices^ of one 
 kind or another, to which he can (and in fact 
 must) appoint members of one or other House 
 of Parliament ; a French Premier has at most 
 only about a dozen such offices. One reason 
 for this is certainly the fact that a French 
 minister can speak in explanation and defence 
 of his policy in both the Senate and the 
 Chamber of Deputies, even when he is a 
 member of neither body (as is sometmies the 
 case with the Ministers of War and Marine) ; 
 and so the chief reason for the existence of 
 parliamentary under-secretaries in Great Britain 
 is lacking in France. Secondly, the peculiar 
 conditions of political life in France have 
 tended to give the permanent Civil Service still 
 
 ' Exclusive of offices in the Roj-al Houseliold.
 
 72 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 more power there than in Great Britain, large 
 as is its authority here. For the absence of 
 definitely organised political parties, and the 
 consequent dependence of ministries upon com- 
 binations of groups, have resulted in rapid 
 changes of Government, so that the average 
 life of a French ministry (until recent years) 
 has been considerably less than twelve months. 
 It is true that in a few cases a minister might 
 stay in office under a succession of Prime 
 Ministers, and that a change of ministry in 
 France does not necessarily mean a change of 
 policy, since it is often due chiefly to personal 
 causes ; but these facts do not affect the general 
 result. When ministers come and go with such 
 rapidity it is certain that each newcomer — 
 anticipating but a short stay — will be disinclined 
 (unless he be a man of exceptional force) to 
 attempt to inaugurate any considerable changes, 
 that he will be ready to let matters go on in 
 the old departmental way, and that the permanent 
 officials, who alone have any real acquaintance 
 with the work and machinery of administration, 
 will be in reality the directing force. In the 
 last few years French JNIinistries have shown 
 an unwonted stability, owing to the formation 
 of something like ministerial and opposition 
 parties ; but it is as yet too early to estimate 
 either the permanence of this or its effect upon 
 the administrative system. Thirdly, much more 
 use has been made in France than in Great
 
 srocT. 1.1 THE PRESIDENT 73 
 
 liritain of the method of consultative committees 
 of experts attaclied to the various Government 
 departments; most of the offices of internal 
 administration have several such committees. 
 
 The executive chief of the French Republic The 
 
 ^ President. 
 
 is the President, but he acts by and v^^ith the 
 advice of the ministers, given either individually 
 or collectively (for the Council of Ministers, 
 unlike the British Cabinet, has a legal status) ; 
 and under M. Loubet the position of the 
 President came to resemble closely that of a 
 strictly constitutional monarch, in the Enghsh 
 sense of the term. The presidential acts are 
 thus classified by French legists : — * 
 
 A. Constitutional Acts — convocation and 
 
 prorogation of the legislature, issue in 
 some cases of decrees in matters of 
 colonial government, conduct of foreign 
 affairs (negotiation of treaties, declara- 
 tion of war). In these the decision 
 rests solely with the whole body of 
 the President's responsible ministers. 
 
 B. Administrative Acts — issue of decrees 
 
 and regulations (both general and 
 applicable to particular cases only) in 
 the exercise either (1) of the President's 
 general powers as chief of the execu- 
 tive ; or (2) of the authority conferred 
 on him by particular laws. Ordinarily 
 
 ' Cf. BcEuf, Droit Administratif (17th edition), pp. 14 seq.. and Ber- 
 thelemy, Droit Administratif, pp. 87 seq.
 
 74 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 the former class of Acts need only 
 the counter-signature of a responsible 
 minister ; whilst for the latter the 
 Council of State must be consulted 
 {le Conseil d'Etat entendu). 
 The Council This Council of State is the centre of the 
 
 of state. 
 
 whole administrative system of France. It owes 
 its present form to a law of 1872, amended at 
 various times and particularly in 1879, but the 
 institution itself is much older ; it was founded 
 at the same time as the Consulate of 1799. Its 
 function is threefold : it is a consultative body, 
 giving advice upon legislative proposals submitted 
 to it by the ministry, or referred to it by the 
 legislature ; it is an adm'mistrative body, since 
 all questions arising in the conduct of the national 
 administration may be submitted to it by the 
 President and his advisers, and some decrees 
 and regulations would be invalid unless the 
 advice of the council had first been taken, 
 though not necessarily followed ; and it is a 
 judicicd body, acting as the supreme administra- 
 tive court. It is under the presidency of the 
 Minister of Justice (as Keeper of the Seals), and 
 consists (exclusive of the ministers) of thirty- 
 two ordinary paid councillors, appointed and 
 dismissed by the President of the Republic by 
 decree adopted in the Council of JNIinisters, and 
 nineteen extraordinary unpaid councillors, who 
 must be persons actively engaged in the ordinary 
 administration, and are appointed and dismissed
 
 SECT. 1] WORK OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE 75 
 
 by simple presidential decrees. There are also 
 subordinate members — jnaitrcs de.s vequi'teH and 
 auditeurs, whose business it is to prepare reports 
 on the various problems under consideration. 
 
 The council does its work in five sections, 
 of which four are concerned with administrative 
 questions,^ and consist each of a president, five 
 ordinary, and a varying number of extraordinary, 
 councillors. The fifth section deals with matters 
 of administrative law, and consists only of a 
 president and six ordinary councillors ; no extra- 
 ordinary members may be attached to it, since 
 they are engaged in actual executive work, and 
 the same disability extends to the Keeper of the 
 Seals (who may take part in the work of the 
 other sections), as he is a member of the Council 
 of Ministers. The working of the Council of 
 State as a supreme administrative tribunal will 
 be considered in another place ; ^ here we have 
 to do with its action only in respect to general 
 administration. On some matters referred to it 
 the particular section concerned alone decides ; 
 in others, after a preliminary discussion by the 
 section, a resolution of the whole council is 
 required (and this applies to all really important 
 matters). Ordinary councillors may vote on all 
 questions, both in sectional and general meetings ; 
 
 1 The sections are for — (1) legislation, justice, and foreign affairs; 
 (2) home affairs and education ; (3) finance, army, navy, and colonies 
 (4) public works, trade and commerce, post and telegraphs, and agri- 
 culture. 
 
 2 Vide infra, pp. 309-10, 371-G.
 
 76 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINLSTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 extraordinary councillors may also vote in both, 
 but only on matters relating to the particular 
 government department of which they are 
 members ; the imdtres des requetes may vote in 
 both, but only on the particular matters on 
 which they have reported ; and, finally, the 
 auditeurs may vote only in the sections, and 
 there only on the subjects of their reports. 
 Ministers may vote in the general meetings, 
 and the Keeper of the Seals (as President) in 
 all sections except the fifth. 
 
 The organisation thus briefly sketched is 
 very elaborate, and the rules which determine 
 its working are very complex. It is of the 
 utmost importance, for it is not easy for a 
 ministry to run counter to its advice, or to 
 ignore its recommendations ; and although the 
 power of appointment and dismissal possessed by 
 the ministry of the day may seem a peril to 
 the independence of the council, it is not so 
 in practice, partly because of the brevity of 
 ministerial careers hitherto. Further, the council 
 is undoubtedly a conservative force, but it has 
 knowledge ; and the most reforming ministry 
 feels itself bound to give the council a patient 
 hearing, even when it strongly disagrees. On 
 the other side, whilst it is true that the judicial 
 authority of the Council of State in administrative 
 matters is liable to abuse, yet the legal tradition 
 is strong enough, in its adherence to the strict 
 methods of judicial interpretation, to prevent
 
 SECT. 2] THE COURT OF ACCOUNTS 77 
 
 any serious wrestiiifr of the law to tlie advantage 
 of the executive. 
 
 I>astly, in connection with tlie central crovern- cour dea 
 
 •^ " Comptea. 
 
 ment of France it should be noticed that the 
 Court of Accoiuits {Cour dcs Comptes) examines 
 the whole of the accounts of national revenue 
 and expenditure ; it may call for all the evidence 
 it requires ; it may impose penalties on account- 
 ing officers who delay presenting their accounts ; 
 it may surcharge officials and authorise prose- 
 cutions. It reports annually to the President 
 and the Chamber on the results of its work, and 
 makes any suggestions for reform which occur to 
 it. Its members are appointed by the President 
 for life. It thus resembles (so far as the general 
 character of its work is concerned) the office of 
 the Auditor- General in Great Britain. 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 The local administrative areas of France are 
 four in number : — Department, Arrondissement, 
 Canton and Commune ; but only the first and 
 last of these are of real importance. For one 
 matter — education — there is a larger area, which 
 will be described later. It will be observed that 
 in the two important areas of general local 
 government the plan has been adopted of setting 
 up a single responsible, and more or less inde- 
 pendent, executive official, controlled by an advisory
 
 The 
 
 Department 
 
 (a) The 
 Prefect. 
 
 78 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 body of councillors who take no part in the work 
 of actual administration. 
 
 The departments are the arbitrary geographical 
 areas, eighty-six in number, into which France 
 was divided by the reforming zeal of the Con- 
 stituent Assembly.^ They have undergone a 
 number of changes since then, and their present 
 constitution is due chiefly to a law of 1871. 
 
 The department is an area at once of " decon- 
 centrated " central administration, and of local 
 self-government. At its head is the Prefect, who 
 is its sole responsible executive official ; ^ he is 
 appointed by the Minister of the Interior, and 
 is a professional administrator in receipt of a 
 salary of 18,000, 24,000, or 35,000 francs accord- 
 ing to the class of prefecture. The Prefect is 
 first and foremost the local agent of the central 
 government, and as such he is the head of 
 practically the whole of the national adminis- 
 tration within his area — he represents the 
 Ministries of the Interior, Finance, Commerce, 
 Public Instruction, Agriculture, Public Works, 
 and even War. His activity is multifarious ; 
 it includes sanitary administration, the factory 
 laws, education, encouragement of agriculture, 
 highways, registration, state taxes, public lands, 
 elections, conscription, billeting of troops, and 
 all the other miscellaneous matters with which 
 
 ^ Vide infra, p. 247. 
 
 - " Le prefet sera seul charge de radministratiou du departenjent." 
 — Loi du 28 Pluviose, I'an VIII.
 
 HKCT. 2] THE PREFECT 79 
 
 the central government is in any way con- 
 cerned. He controls the " police " — a term 
 which includes many things such as the sur- 
 veillance of the Press, public meetings, aliens, 
 hunting and fishing, theatres, and a good deal 
 of sanitary law. His police authority extends 
 over the whole department, and he may make 
 regulations for the whole or any part of it, but 
 in each separate commune the mayor manages 
 the local police, and the Prefect may intervene 
 only if he deems the mayor's action inadequate. 
 Finally, he has very considerable powers of control 
 over the communes and their financial operations, 
 and over public institutions generally ; he may 
 annul the decisions of a communal council, or 
 refer them to the Minister; he may suspend for 
 a month a mayor or any executive official of a 
 commune ; he may even suspend a whole council, 
 or dissolve it wdth ministerial approval. In some 
 cases he must take the advice of the Prefectoral 
 Council, but he is not bound to follow it. He 
 appoints a large number of the lesser officials, 
 such a:3 the smaller post-masters, letter carriers, 
 highway inspectors, and others, besides his con- 
 siderable clerical staff. His chief assistant is 
 the Secretary-General, appointed by the central 
 authority. 
 
 On the other side, the Prefect is the executive 
 agent of the department, considered as a self- 
 governing corporation ; he is therefore bound in 
 law to carry out the instructions which he
 
 80 FRENCH LOCAL ADMLMSTRATION [chap.it. 
 
 receives from its representatives. But it must 
 be remembered that he is appointed by, and 
 dependent upon, the Ministry, and not the 
 Departmental Council ; that he is the repre- 
 sentative of the central control, and can appeal 
 to the INIinistry against any decision of the 
 council ; that he commonly has no particular 
 interest in the Department, where he normally 
 does not expect to make a long stay. The effect 
 of this is that he is not so much the agrent as 
 the master of the local self-governing authorities. 
 In some matters the Prefect is given a fairly 
 free hand, and can act on his own responsibility 
 and initiative ; in other cases (and these are the 
 majority) he simply carries out the orders and 
 instructions received from the centre. His 
 dependence on the Ministry of the Interior is 
 almost absolute ; when he is not allowed to 
 decide for himself in such small matters as the 
 appointment of prison warders, the grant of 
 leave of absence to inspectors of weights and 
 measures, and the naming of streets by town 
 councils, it is scarcely likely that, whatever the 
 law may allow, he will make much use of his 
 independence in other things. A recent critic 
 has remarked that the Prefect does not administer : 
 " he gives information to the administration ; he 
 supplies the information ; with it the government 
 bureaux do as they please ; sometimes they act 
 on it, often they ignore it."^ The same ^\Titer 
 
 ' Faguet, QuesHonx Politiques, p. 48,
 
 SECT. 2.] DIFFICULTIES OF rREFECT'S POSITION 81 
 
 adds that a Prefect of the 'J'hird Rcpubhc is 
 more closely bound than even his predecessor 
 under the First Empire. His position is com- 
 plicated by the fact that he is expected to act 
 as the political and electoral agent of the govern- 
 ment of the day ; ^ and as ministers change 
 rapidly, his task is not always easy.^ The best 
 appreciation of the position of the Prefect has 
 been recently given by a distinguished French 
 statesman and historian : — 
 
 " He hopes that his stay in that silent and 
 peaceful city ^ will be short ; he thinks that he 
 is in a kind of purgatory, from which his merits 
 and his prayers will enable him to escape to 
 other scenes, and a pleasanter abode. Besides 
 his claims to promotion, he has good reason to 
 hope that his sojourn will be brief, for, since the 
 fall of the Second Empire, fifteen prefects have 
 succeeded each other under the cloisters of the 
 secularised monastery (become the prefecture). 
 Meanwhile, he does his work as well as he can. 
 In our present political and administrative con- 
 ditions that work requires tact, talent, skill, 
 patience, and resignation — qualities which are 
 derived only from an original gift of statesman- 
 ship, and the experience gained in a long series 
 of sub-prefectures. 
 
 The Prefect was originally the chief and 
 
 ^ For an account of the electoral activity of the prefects, see 
 Bodley, France, II., pp. 114 aeq. (edition 1898). 
 
 " " Les fonetions des prefets ont lui caractere politique tres accentue. 
 . . . Quand la majorite ne se dt^place dans les chambres que pour 
 osciller entres les moderes et les avances du meme parti, les fonetions 
 de prefct sont relati vemtnit otablies. Quaud les partis qui se succedent 
 sont do principes o])pc)SL;s, les ehangements de prefets sont frequents." 
 Berth61emy, Droit Administratif, p. 123, n. 
 
 * Laou, regarded as a typical departmental capital. 
 
 F
 
 82 FRENCH LOCAL ADJMINISTRATION [chap. n. 
 
 governor of the department. Agent of a strong 
 power, he obeyed and commanded. To-day, 
 placed between universal suffrage which really 
 rules, and the central power which wishes to 
 govern, he is between the anvil and the hammer. 
 Since he is concerned in everything, he concen- 
 trates in his own person the perpetual conflict 
 of authority and freedom. He reports to the 
 authorities the demands of the crowds, and to 
 the crowds the needs of the authorities. There 
 is no question now of the old high - handed 
 prefects, who led the mayors as a colonel leads 
 his regiment. The Prefect no longer commands ; 
 he simply requests. More than any other official, 
 he must dictate by persuasion. He is at once 
 the agent of the Government, the tool of a party, 
 and the representative of the area which he 
 administers. Yet he must remain impartial, foresee 
 difficulties and disputes, and remove or mitigate 
 them ; conduct affairs easily and quickly, avoid 
 giving offence, show the greatest discretion, 
 prudence, and reserve, and yet be always 
 cheerful, open, " a good fellow " ; he must be 
 always accessible, speak freely, and in his official 
 position be neither affected nor churlish. His 
 marriage is a matter of great importance ; for 
 Madame la Prefete spends her whole time in 
 " Society," that is to say, she is subject con- 
 stantly to a most exacting and thorough scrutiny. 
 All this, however, counts for nothing in com- 
 parison with the Prefect's other anxieties. He is 
 in daily contact with the elected representatives 
 of the department, senators, deputies,^ councillors 
 
 ^ One of the great difficulties of the Prefect is the pressure which 
 senators and deputies can and do exercise upon the central govern- 
 ment offices on behalf of their departments, an influence which is 
 one of the evils of French political life. Thus the Prefect may con- 
 stantly find his representations and proposals overruled by this 
 political influence at Paris.
 
 SECT. 2] THE PREFECTORAL COUNCIL 83 
 
 of the department and arrondissement, mayors, 
 and communal councillors ; lie is assailed by all 
 the various ambitions, claims, demands, frauds ; 
 he is bombarded at short range by the local 
 IVess, much more daring and less indulgent 
 (under the sway of local interests) than the l*ress 
 of Paris ; and he is obliged to pay attention to 
 and conciliate all the opinions, interests, and 
 jealousies, which rage around him or which turn 
 towards or upon him."^ 
 
 The Prefectoral Council exists solely for the (b) The 
 
 Prefectoral 
 
 purposes of the central government, and its task council, 
 is threefold. (1) It is an administrative court of 
 first instance, dealing with disputes between 
 private citizens and the administration, especially 
 in regard to such matters as direct taxes (which 
 supply the great majority of cases), public works, 
 roads, public health, and national lands ; appeal 
 lies from its decisions to the Council of State.^ 
 (2) It is a board of control, examining the 
 accounts of the receivers of taxes, collectors of 
 octroi duties, the various institutions for the 
 relief of the poor, and some others ; and it 
 authorises communes and departmental histitu- 
 tions of various kinds to commence legal pro- 
 ceedings. (3) It is an advisory board ; the 
 Prefect is bound to consult it in many matters 
 (such as taxes, public works, control of the 
 communes), but he is not bound to take its 
 advice. There are a number of cases, however, 
 
 ' Hanotaux, V KnTgie FraiK^aise, pp. 129-131. 
 - Vide infra, i^p. 371-5.
 
 84 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 where he would generally do so, particularly in 
 the annulling of the decisions of municipal 
 councils, or the enforcement of adequate 
 expenditure by the communes upon obligatory 
 public services. 
 
 The prefectoral councillors are either three 
 or four in number ; they are appointed by the 
 central government, and must be lawyers, or 
 have received an administrative training. 
 Membership is incompatible with the exercise 
 of any other public office, or of any profession ; 
 yet the salaries are very small, even for 
 France, as they range only from 2,000 
 to 4,000 francs. The Prefect may pre- 
 side, even when the council sits as an adminis- 
 trative court (and may thus be reviewing some 
 of the Prefect's actions), but commonly then the 
 vice-president takes his place. In some cases the 
 councillors may be required to act as deputies 
 for the Prefect. When the Prefectoral Council 
 sits as an administrative tribunal, its sittings are 
 public. 
 
 The whole institution is unsatisfactory. The 
 smallness of the salaries, and the absence of any 
 prospect of advancement deter able men from 
 accepting the office ; the result of this is that 
 the Prefectoral Councils are said not to be very 
 competent ; and the combination of adminis- 
 trative and judicial work of this particular kind 
 is a hindrance to confidence in their impartiality. 
 Various proposals for reform have been made
 
 RECT. 2] MEETINGS OF COTTNrir.S-GENEHAT. 85 
 
 from time to time, but so tar nothing has been 
 done/ 
 
 We pass now to the representative authorities 'c) The 
 
 ' ^ Council- 
 
 of the department regarded as a self-governing ®«°«^*i 
 community. The chief of these is the Council- 
 General, elected by universal suffrage at the rate 
 of one member for each canton, whatever its 
 population. The members hold office for six 
 years, one-half retiring every third year ; the 
 number varies from seventeen to sixty-seven. A 
 large number of officials of various kinds are 
 ineligible. There are two ordinary sessions a 
 year; the first must begin on the second Monday 
 after Easter, and may not extend over more 
 than fifteen days — which of course does not 
 mean that the Council - General sits for the 
 whole of that period, but simply that all the 
 meetings must be held within it. The second 
 session — which is much the more important, 
 since it is devoted to the consideration of the 
 departmental budget, and the questions con- 
 nected therewith — commences on the first 
 Monday after the 15th August, and may last 
 for a month. Extraordinary sessions may be 
 summoned, either by direction of the central 
 government, or at the request of two-thirds of the 
 councillors. Each council elects its owm president, 
 and makes its own rules of procedure ; its sessions 
 are public. The Prefect can be present, except at 
 the meetings at which his accounts are examined. 
 
 ^ Berthiilemy, Droit Administratif, pp. 870-872.
 
 86 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 The Councils- General were made elective in 
 1833; their powers were extended in the liberal 
 period of the Second Empire in 1866, and con- 
 siderably increased in the first year of the Third 
 Republic. The law of 1871 provided that in a 
 larger number of cases the Councils - General 
 could give a final decision, and for all other 
 matters it established a distinction between 
 decisions which require the formal approval of a 
 higher authority, and those for which approval is 
 assumed, unless the controlling authority takes 
 action within three months of the close of the 
 session. The legislation as to the Councils- 
 General differs from that in regard to most 
 other French authorities in that it is not in 
 general terms, but specifies the powers entrusted 
 to them. 
 
 The Council - General of a department has 
 one political function — its members form part 
 of the electoral college which elects the senators 
 for the department. Its powers in local adminis- 
 tration are varied and extensive ; it is the legal 
 representative of its area, and as such administers 
 all departmental property ; it is entrusted with 
 the assessment upon the various arrondissements 
 of the departmental share of the direct taxes ; it 
 is responsible for the upkeep of certain highways ; 
 it maintains training colleges for elementary and 
 secondary teachers, but is not concerned with the 
 schools, for which there is a special organisation ; 
 it makes provision for destitute, orphaned, and
 
 RKCT. 2] POWERS OF THE COUNCILS-GENERAL 87 
 
 abMiidoned chilfiren ; it may provide lunatic 
 asylums ; it may establish depots de mciidicite, 
 which are roughly equivalent to the English 
 casual wards. For some of these services it 
 may combine with neighbouring Councils-General. 
 The Council has also certain powers of control 
 over the action of the communal authorities ; thus 
 its approval is required for the establishment or 
 suppression of fairs and markets, for changes of 
 boundaries, and for increases in various local 
 taxes, such as the octroi. It has a voice in the 
 distribution of state gi-ants to charitable institu- 
 tions, to the communes for school-houses, and to 
 the agricultural and other societies which the state 
 desires to encourage. It obtains the necessary 
 funds partly by additions (fixed by itself within 
 the limits imposed l)y the annual Budget Law) 
 to the state direct taxes, partly from state 
 subventions for various purposes, and partly 
 from the proceeds of any departmental property ; 
 and it may raise loans repayable in thirty years 
 (for longer periods a special law is required). 
 T''he Prefect is the sole executive agent, and the 
 directions of the Council- General are addressed 
 to him ; he prepares and submits the annual 
 departmental budget; he may attend at the 
 meetings, and speak wherever he pleases. 
 
 The decisions of the Council-General fall into 
 four groups. Some need no approval — such are 
 resolutions relating to assessment, departmental 
 taxes within the legal limits, loans for thirty
 
 88 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. n. 
 
 years, additional taxation in the communes, the 
 management of departmental property and institu- 
 tions for poor relief, and the local roads. Other 
 resolutions are vahd unless annulled within three 
 months by a decree, giving the reasons for the 
 action of the central government — this apphes 
 to most resolutions not included by law in the 
 pre\'ious class. A third group need the express 
 approval of a ministry ; these relate chiefly to 
 financial affairs, and to a few administrative 
 matters such as light railways and tramways. 
 It illustrates the dual character of the Prefect, 
 that whilst he is the official who has to carry 
 out the will of the Council-General, he is also the 
 agent of the central government, responsible for 
 the prevention of any illegal or unauthorised action 
 by the Council. This fact, and the strength of 
 the bureaucratic influence and tradition in France, 
 result in keeping the Councils-General under a 
 tutelage much stricter even than that established 
 by law. Finally, there are resolutions which 
 are simply expressions of opinion, issued by 
 a Council- General on its own initiative, or at 
 the wish of the central government when in 
 quest of information or advice ; instances of the 
 latter are the resolutions passed some years ago 
 on the proposals for an income tax, and the 
 occasional resolutions on educational questions. 
 Committees may be appointed for special matters. 
 (d)The But the Council- General is in session only 
 
 Commission, for a Small part of the year, and there is need
 
 SECT. 2] THE DEPARTMENTAT. COMMISSIONS 89 
 
 for a more constant supervision of the depart- 
 mental administration. For that purpose the 
 hiw of 1871 directed that there should be elected 
 each year, in the August session, a commission 
 of from four to seven members ; it elects a 
 president and secretary, and must meet at least 
 once a month ; the Prefect or a representative 
 may attend and speak at the meetings, which 
 are private. It may discharge any duties 
 specifically entrusted to it by the Council - 
 General, but powers in regard to the levying 
 of taxes and the raising of loans may not be 
 delegated.^ It watches the administration of 
 departmental affairs by the Prefect, receives 
 monthly financial statements from him, examines 
 his budget estimates and reports on them to 
 the Council-General, and it has some other 
 powers in regard to finance. It has also special 
 duties laid upon it by law as an independent 
 body," as for example the classification of the 
 smaller local roads. In the event of a conflict 
 between the Prefect and the Commission in 
 regard to departmental matters, the decision 
 rests with the Council- General ; and otherwise 
 the Commission is subject to the ordinary control. 
 The Councils-General represent in the main 
 the middle class, the hourgeoisie ; JM. Hanotaux 
 describes the Council-General of the Department 
 
 ' Berthelemy, Droit Adminisiratif, p. 1G4. 
 
 - In this respect perhaps the only Enghsh authority with which 
 it can be compared is the Standing Joint Committee of a County 
 Council Quarter Sessions for Police.
 
 90 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 of the Aisne as consisting of ten manufacturers, 
 eight farmers, seven men of independent means, 
 three doctors, six lawyers (three retired from 
 practice), a pubhcist, a contractor, and an 
 architect. He adds : — 
 
 '* The men who form the Council-General, 
 whatever the political party to which they 
 belong, are certainly by intelligence, education, 
 and merit, at the head of the small area which 
 has elected them. The majority of them keep 
 their seats for years, and so acquire valuable 
 experience. These assemblies, if I may judge 
 by the one with whose work I am acquainted, 
 are really excellent in every way, except that 
 a slight oligarchical tendency and a somewhat 
 excessive regard for the interests of the bourgeois 
 class cause them sometimes to close their eyes 
 to the needs and reasonable aspirations of the 
 democracy. However that may be, I do not 
 think that in all our constitutional system there 
 is any assembly in which one can acquire a 
 better or more exact knowledge of public affairs. 
 There the aptitude of the race for self-govern- 
 ment really appears. The praises which we often 
 bestow on certain foreign institutions might be 
 given, at least in part, to these local, reasonable, 
 and unobtrusive assemblies, which in their quiet 
 way are truly an ornament to our politics and 
 constitution."^ 
 
 The office of President is one of distinction, 
 and is frequently held by men prominent in 
 national life. Thus at the August meetings in 
 1905 amongst the presidents elected were a 
 
 1 VEnergie Frangaise, p. 139.
 
 SECT. 3] THE ARRONDISSEMENTS 91 
 
 former I'rinie Minister, some other present and 
 past ministers, about thirty senators, and nearly 
 a score of deputies. The elections to the 
 Councils - General are fought generally on 
 political grounds, and at the commencement of 
 the session political resolutions are frequently 
 passed,^ but after that the councils settle down 
 to their work, and national politics pass into 
 the background. 
 
 SECTION 3 
 
 The second administrative division is of little Tiie Arron 
 
 diBsement. 
 
 importance. Each department is divided into 
 two or more arrondissements, which are divisions 
 in which the Prefect, as the agent of the central 
 government, is represented by a sub - prefect, 
 who may exercise within the area any powers 
 delegated to him by his official superior ; he is 
 of use chiefly in the surveillance of the numerous 
 small communes, and is very valuable as an 
 electoral aide-de-camp. He has just so much 
 initiative as is allowed to him by the Prefect, 
 and no more. 
 
 In each arrondissement there is a council of 
 at least nine members, elected by the cantons by 
 universal suffi-age : its members form part of the 
 college for the election of senators. As the 
 
 ' Thus, at the commencement of the August session of 1905 many 
 resolutions were passed on the proposed separation of Church and 
 State.
 
 92 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 arrondissement does not constitute a corporation, 
 and is not an area of local self-government, the 
 powers of the council are very limited ; it divides 
 between the various communes the share of the 
 direct state taxes imposed upon the arrondisse- 
 ment by the Council - General. It meets just 
 before the August (financial) session of the latter 
 body to make any representations on the subject 
 which it may think desirable ; and just after the 
 session to learn the result of its representations, 
 and to make the necessary assessments. It 
 may also pass whatever other resolutions it 
 chooses in regard to departmental aflFairs. 
 
 The arrondissement is then administratively 
 unimportant and uninteresting. There have been 
 many proposals for the abolition of the sub- 
 prefects,^ and in 1886 the Chamber of Deputies 
 passed a resolution to that effect; the Budget 
 Committee made the same recommendation in 
 1899. But so far nothing has been done, mainly 
 it seems because the sub - prefects are useful 
 electorally.^ 
 The Canton. The ncxt administrative area, the Canton, is 
 
 ^ " Une r6forme profonde devrait etre faite a I'egard des sous-prefets. 
 II faudrait les supprinier. On pourrait les remplacer par un modeste 
 eb actif fonctionnaire qu'on appellerait sergent d'elections : il y 
 aurait uue certaine franchise dans cette reform et aussi dans cette 
 designation." Faguet, Questions Politiqu-es, p. 55. 
 
 - Berthelemy, Droit Administratif, p. 135. Cf. Bellange, Gmiverne- 
 ment locale en France, p. 58: "Simple agent de transmission entre le 
 prefet, qni lui addresse ses instructions pour les munieipalites, et les 
 municipalit^s, qui lui adressent, pour le prefet, leurs deliberations, 
 il fait I'office, eomme Ton dit, de ' boite aux lettres ', et ne se eonuait 
 pas d'autre destination."
 
 SECT. 4.] TFIE CANTONS 1)3 
 
 of even less importance. It consists of a group of 
 comimines ; it does not form a corporate body, 
 and is merely an area for some judicial purposes — 
 the jurisdiction of a jugc de paix — and for 
 elections. It is of interest chiefly because in any 
 real reform of French local government its import- 
 ance must be increased ; ^ it would be the natural 
 means of grouping for many local government 
 purposes those communes, extremely numerous 
 in France, which are really much too small to 
 have a satisfactory independent existence.'^ What 
 is wanted in France is some local area resembling 
 the English rural district ; and this seems to have 
 be6n the original intention of the organisers of 
 the canton under the First Republic, but the 
 idea was speedily abandoned. It has constantly 
 been put forward again, in one form or another ; 
 but hitherto without avail. 
 
 SECTION 4 
 
 The unit of French local government is the The 
 
 T 1 11 • 1 Commune. 
 
 Commune, a term applied equally to towns with 
 nearly half a million inhabitants, and villages with 
 a few hundred. French law does not distinguish 
 between communes of various sizes ; all those 
 areas which in England would form county 
 
 ^ Cf. Bellauge, Gouverncment locale en France — an elaborate argument 
 for the cantonal organisation of local government. 
 
 - " Ce qui existe done en France reellement, c'est la deparlement 
 et le canton, ricn autre." Faguet, Questions Politiqucs, p. 02. Cf. De 
 Lanessau, La Jitjiublique DcmocraU<iiie, c. vii.
 
 94 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 boroughs, boroughs, urban districts, rural parishes, 
 are classed together in France, and have the same 
 organisation, so far at least as the legal form is 
 concerned ; the only exceptions are Paris (which 
 has a special constitution which will be described 
 later) and Lyons, w^hich differs in some details. 
 Tliere are in all about 36,000 communes in France, 
 and of these 18,000 have populations of 500 or 
 less, nearly 10,000 others do not exceed 1,000 
 inhabitants, and over 7,000 of the remainder have 
 not more than 3,000. It has already been remarked 
 that most of the communes are in fact too small 
 to have any administrative usefulness ; in this 
 they resemble the greater number of the English 
 rural parishes. 
 (a) The The municipal law at present in force dates 
 
 from 1884. At the head of the commune is the 
 Mayor, elected by the municipal council from its 
 own ranks for four years, and unpaid : in the 
 rural communes re-election is very frequent, and 
 often the same person holds office for several 
 consecutive periods. His duties are twofold^ — 
 he represents the central government for the 
 publication and enforcement of laws and central 
 regulations, state police, registration of births, 
 deaths, and marriages, recruiting, the preparation 
 
 1 " Le maire exerce ses attributions, tantot coname chef de 
 I'association communale, en vertue des pouvoirs qu'il tient directe- 
 ment de la loi. tantot comme delegue de radministration superieiu'e. 
 Dans le premier cas, il agit, soit sous le controle du conseil municipale 
 et la surveillance de I'administration suijerieure, soit seulement sous 
 cette surveillance. Dans le second cas, il agit sous I'autorite de 
 radministration superieure." Ministerial Cii'cular of May 1884.
 
 8£CT. 4.J POSITION OF THE FRENCH MAYOR 95 
 
 of electoral lists, and some other matters ; and in 
 the discharge of these duties he is subject to the 
 control and direction of the Prefect as his superior 
 officer. Hut he is also the sole responsible execu- 
 tive oflicer of the conmiune ; he is assisted by 
 adioints, who vary in number from one (in (b) The 
 
 •^ -^ adjointG 
 
 communes with populations not exceedmg 2,500) 
 and two (in conmiunes with between 2,500 and 
 10,000 inhabitants) up to twelve, or seventeen in 
 the special case of Lyons. These adjoints are 
 elected by the INlunicipal Council at the same time 
 as the Mayor ; they are merely his lieutenants, 
 possessing only so much independence and initia- 
 tive as he chooses to grant them by decree, though 
 he cannot divest himself of responsibility for their 
 acts. The Mayor is the representative of the 
 comnmne in all legal matters ; he conducts the 
 whole communal administration, including the 
 local police. In these two capacities he is heavily 
 burdened, and it is obvious that a small village 
 cannot always produce men capable of discharging 
 not merely the work of the local self-governing 
 authorities, but also the multitude of detailed 
 duties cast upon them by the central government. 
 M. Paul Deschanel (a recent I'resident of the 
 Chamber of Deputies) writes : — 
 
 " To-day the ^Nlayor is, for those whom he rules, 
 an almost omnipotent master ; his adjoints have 
 no other share in the administration than that 
 which he condescends to give them ; and yet how 
 he is loaded down with responsibilities, with
 
 96 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 innumerable and absorbing duties. He has not 
 only to administer alone all the affairs of the 
 commune, but the State makes him act on its 
 behalf in the execution of a crowd of general laws. 
 . . . Now the law has placed all tliat heavy burden 
 upon the shoulders of a petty citizen in a village, 
 often a man of little education and busy with his 
 own affairs. The actual result is that the majority 
 of the communes are administered by the pre- 
 fectoral or sub-prefectoral bureaux." ^ 
 
 There is one other interesting result — the 
 schoolmaster is often the only man in the village 
 able to find his way through the mass of official 
 documents which the central government showers 
 on the Mayor ; consequently he frequently becomes 
 the Mayor's secretary, and really manages the 
 local administration.^ In his character as agent 
 of the central government the ^Nlayor may be 
 suspended for a month by the Prefect, and for 
 three months by the Minister of the Interior ; or 
 he may be dismissed by Presidential Decree. 
 (c)The The Municipal Council consists of not less 
 
 comiciT* than ten or more than thii'ty-six members, except 
 at I^yons, where there are fifty-four. In communes 
 with not more than 10,000 inhabitants there are 
 no divisions into wards, and in the others there 
 need not be ; where there are wards, each must 
 return at least four members. The suffrage is 
 
 ^ La Decentralisation, p. 7. 
 
 ^ In the arrondissement of Bayeux recently out of ninety- five 
 male teachers ninety-two held such posts ; it is stated that in some 
 cases the office is held even by female teachers. Brereton, in Board 
 of Education Special Eeports, vol. vii., p, 40.
 
 BECT. 4] THE MUNICIPAL COUNCILS 97 
 
 universal, i.e., it is possessed by every man over 
 tv^^enty-one years of age, resident in the commune 
 for six months or paying local taxes there, and 
 not disqualified by any law ; second ballots are 
 frequent. The elections in the large tow^ns are 
 fought generally on political party lines, except 
 where there are combinations against the Socialists 
 — though in recent years the Socialists have 
 presented themselves as supporters of the Ministry. 
 The council must have at least four ordinary 
 sessions a year ; three of these may last for fifteen 
 days, whilst the other (the budget session) may 
 extend over six weeks ; extraordinary meetings 
 may also be held. The Mayor presides at all 
 meetings. A council may be dissolved by a 
 Government Decree ; but its successor must be 
 elected immediately. The composition of the 
 councils varies considerably ; in the greater 
 number of the communes, which are of a rural 
 character, they consist naturally almost solely of 
 small farmers and peasant proprietors ; in the small 
 towns the middle class, trading and professional, 
 is predominant ; whilst in the large towns the rise 
 of socialism, aided by universal suffrage, has 
 brought in a great number of working men or 
 of the young professional men who are drawn so 
 much into the socialist movement in France. 
 
 The combination of executive and deliberate 
 functions in the council, which is so pronounced 
 in England, is unknown in France, where the 
 law draws a sharp distinction between the two.
 
 98 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 The council is the controlhng and advisory body ; 
 it determines poUcy, but the detailed and daily 
 application of its decisions rests with the Mayor and 
 his assistants.^ The English committee system 
 does not exist ; the council may appoint committees 
 to consider particular questions, or to watch any 
 part of the administration, but not to participate 
 in it. Harmony is secured partly by the financial 
 control of the council, and still more by the fact 
 that the Mayor and his adjoints are the nominees, 
 and generally the leaders, of the predominant 
 party in the council. Where this is the case, and 
 the Mayor is a strong man, like M. Augagneur^ 
 at Lyons, he is almost a municipal dictator. The 
 deliberations of the councils are subject to a 
 stringent control by the central government, 
 acting through the Prefect. All its decisions 
 must be reported to this official ; so far as the 
 majority of these are concerned he has merely 
 to see that they are within the law ; for others 
 — finance, highways and streets, markets and 
 fairs, communal property, legal proceedings, his 
 expressed or implied approval is required. A 
 French student of English local government 
 remarks that the concentration of departmental 
 and communal administration in the hands of 
 the Prefect and Mayor produces a feebleness of 
 civic life and public spirit, an inexperience of the 
 
 * It is noteworthy that to a French lawyer, the term municipaliU 
 means only the Mayor and his assistants, i.e., the executive of 
 the communes. 
 
 2 Now (1905) appointed Governor of Madagascar.
 
 SECT. 4.] MUNICIPAL FUNCTIONS 99 
 
 councillors in the conduct of business, and a 
 strict tutelage ("perhaps necessary") by the 
 central government. He adds that electoral and 
 political interests have far too much influence in 
 French local government.^ 
 
 Coming now to the functions of the communes, Powers of 
 
 . . , , . communea 
 
 it will be convenient to begin with the police 
 authority of the Mayor. He organises the 
 municipal police in communes with less than 
 40,000 inhabitants ; elsewhere the organisation 
 is determined by the central government." Under 
 the " municipal police " powers of the Mayor 
 are included the regulation of the streets and 
 buildings, the lighting and cleaning of all streets, 
 protection against fire, and sanitary administra- 
 tion generally. The JNIayor also presides over 
 the school commission, which corresponds in some 
 respects to the old English school attendance 
 committees, but has a much wider range of 
 action : the commune provides and maintains 
 school buildings and equipment, makes grants 
 for scholarships and prizes, provides dinners for 
 the children at low rates in Paris and some of 
 the socialist towns, and contributes to the salaries 
 of teachers ; ^ it also assists technical and art train- 
 ing. The communes may establish art galleries 
 
 ^Arminjon, Le Oouvemement locale en AngUterre. Cf. Taudi^re, 
 Restricti(yds apporties aux liberies locales depuis un quart de siicle, in 
 La lirforme Socialc, November 1904. 
 
 2 Lyons has a special police orgauisation.controlled by the Prefect 
 of the Department of the Rhone. 
 
 '' VUle infra, sec. 6.
 
 100 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 (which are common), libraries (less frequent), and 
 parks and gardens. 
 
 The Municipal Council may establish bureaux 
 de bienfaisance^ for the relief of the poor; but 
 such establishment is not compulsory, and in the 
 greater number of the communes of France there 
 is no provision for poor relief except what is 
 done by the departments. Where a bureau is 
 set up, it obtains its funds from municipal 
 grants, gifts, legacies, and the proceeds of a 
 small tax on tickets for theatres and concerts. 
 Its operations are limited only by its financial 
 resources ; it may give outdoor relief and free 
 medical attendance, provide or contribute to hospi- 
 tals and almshouses, establish night shelters, and 
 in fact do anything for which it has sufficient 
 means, and can obtain administrative approval. 
 One widely-spread institution in France is the 
 municipal pawn-shop. 
 
 ISIunicipal ownership has not gone very far, 
 except in the case of water ; for other services 
 the policy generally adopted has been to grant 
 "franchises" for a term of years in return for 
 annual payments or on other prescribed conditions, 
 such as hours of labour and cheap fares. The 
 rise of the socialists to power in recent years 
 has been accompanied by the appearance of 
 advanced programmes of municipalisation — the 
 
 1 The Mayor presides, two other members are elected by the 
 Municipal Council, and four nonainated by the Prefect. Paris has a 
 special organisation.
 
 8ECT. 1.] TTTRTJC SERVICES IN ERANCE 101 
 
 socialists of Dijon proposed to iipply it to light- 
 ing, means of transit, water, meat supply, bakeries, 
 pharmacies, etc., but although the socialists have 
 captured the government of many towns they 
 have so far been able to do little, largely because 
 of the strength of the adminstrative control. As 
 to French municipal administration as a whole, 
 the explorer of French provincial towns finds 
 himself compelled regretfully to agree with the 
 judgment of an American observer : — 
 
 " The chief French provincial towns, if one 
 may generalise sweepingly, have indeed much 
 more to show the visitor who is attracted by 
 imposing boulevards, by elegance in public 
 architecture, by well kept parks and squares, by 
 interesting and artistic monuments, and by the 
 other externals of municipal aggrandisement, 
 than they can reveal to the enquirer who cares 
 most for the achievements of sanitary science 
 and for kindred social services. In this regard 
 they have much to learn from the large British 
 towns, which, while less attractive in many of 
 their external appointments, have, as a rule, 
 accomplished far better results in the provision 
 of pure water and wholesome drainage, in housing 
 reforms, and in aggressive sanitary and social 
 administration along various lines." ^ 
 
 "& 
 
 That was written in 1895, but in spite of 
 some improvements it remains true, and applies 
 still more to the small towns of 15,000 to 
 25,000 inhabitants, where one commonly finds 
 art galleries, museums, boulevards, and pleasant 
 
 ' Shaw, Municipal Govcmme'iU in Continental Europe, p. 191.
 
 102 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 open spaces, but bad water and insanitary con- 
 ditions. It should be added that as many of 
 the communes are too small to do much alone, 
 a law of 1890 permitted combinations for the 
 purposes of poor relief, schools, local roads, 
 museums, and some other matters. 
 
 The revenues of the communes are derived 
 from (i.) local additions within the limits pre- 
 scribed by law to the state direct taxes; (ii.) 
 proceeds of municipal property, licences of various 
 kinds, and rents from companies enjoying muni- 
 cipal concessions; (iii.) state grants for education, 
 and for other purposes to necessitous communes ; 
 and (iv.) the octroi.^ The latter calls for some 
 special notice, since the system of duties levied 
 upon various commodities (chiefly food and drink) 
 at entrance into the commune produces on the 
 average rather more than one-third of the total 
 communal income of France ; but as it applies 
 only to communes with more than 4,000 inhabi- 
 tants (1,504 in number in 1903), it is in any 
 particular case much larger than this average — 
 thus it provided recently about two-thirds of the 
 whole municipal revenue of Lyons, and consider- 
 ably more than half at Dijon. It is open to 
 many grave objections ; not only does it strike 
 the food supply brought into the commune^ and 
 
 ' For a detailed discussion of French commvuial finances, see 
 Acollas, Les Finances Communales. 
 
 2 The octroi duties are levied upon wine, beer, cider, alcohol, 
 vinegar, meat, poultry, game, fish, cheese, hay, straw, firewood, 
 faggots, charcoal, coal, coke, and building materials.
 
 BECT. 4] THE OCTROI 103 
 
 thereby tend to increase slightly the cost of 
 living, but from the administrative standpoint 
 it is cumbersome and costly. It requires that 
 every commune shall be surrounded by a chain 
 of officials ; and the consequent cost of collection 
 is high, especially in the small towns. In Paris 
 in a recent year it was 6 '8 per cent., but in the 
 same year at Orleans (61,000 inhabitants) it was 
 16-5 per cent., and at Montlu^on (about 30,000) 
 23*6 per cent. ; and instances of 33 per cent, are 
 not uncommon. In rather more than one-fifth 
 of the communes where it exists the octroi is 
 " farmed " to a contractor. The abolition of the 
 system has been constantly advocated, and com- 
 munes may prepare schemes, needing legislative 
 approval, for replacing it by increased or new 
 direct or indirect taxes ; and Lyons has recently 
 even abohshed all the duties except those upon 
 alcohol. But the great difficulty is to find fresh 
 sources of revenue to replace the proceeds of the 
 octroi. Government legislative proposals have 
 constantly been promised ; but so far nothing has 
 been done except, in 1897, to authorise com- 
 munes to remove the duties on " hygienic 
 beverages " and impose instead higher duties 
 on alcohol or certain fresh taxes. ^ In this 
 respect the octroi is like most other matters 
 of French local administration during the last 
 thirty years ; reforms are constantly proposed, 
 
 ^ The best work on the octroi system is Tardit and Ripert, Traild 
 des Octrois Munkipaux, 1904.
 
 104 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 constantly demanded with energy, but scarcely 
 ever realised. 
 
 SECTION 5 
 Paris and the The city of Paris and the Department of the 
 
 Department ^ . . , . . 
 
 of the Seine. Seme, in which it is geographically situate, have 
 an organisation distinct in important respects from 
 that of the other departments and towns of France. 
 The reasons for this are well known : the French 
 Government has always considered itself bound 
 to pay special attention to the capital city, and 
 to spend money lavishly upon it ; and, further, 
 the history of the revolutions of Paris has made 
 every Government (including that of the Third 
 Republic) anxious to keep it under the closest 
 possible control.^ And although there is a party 
 which demands greater autonomy, there can be no 
 doubt that the large majority of the inhabitants 
 of Paris favour the continuance of this strict 
 supervision. 
 
 Paris : (a) The Paris dominates the Department so completely, 
 that it will be convenient to take its municipal 
 system first. At its head are two prefects — the 
 Prefect of the Department of the Seine, who 
 
 ^ Paris has generally been in opposition to the Government of 
 the day, and the municiisality has been the centre of the ojiposition. 
 Until 1870 all the revolutions of France were Paris-made; but the 
 rise of the large manufacturing towns and the growth of rapid 
 means of communication has somewhat diminished its influence. 
 Paris took up the Boulangist and Nationalist movements, but could 
 not induce the rest of the country to follow its lead.
 
 SECT. 5] THE PREFEt;T OF THE SEINE 105 
 
 is practically Mayor of l*aris, and the l*retect of 
 Police, who deals with what in England would 
 be called " state " police (extradition, protection of 
 state authorities, supervision of political offenders 
 and alien suspects), unhealthy and dangerous 
 industries, police des vicmirs, highways, sanitary 
 administration, etc. Both are appointed by the 
 central government. The Prefect of the Seine, 
 so long as he has the support of the JNIinister of 
 the Interior, is practically supreme in the city 
 government, since the law requires that for the 
 validity of almost all decisions of the Municipal 
 Council there must be agreement between the 
 latter and the Prefect.^ Actually conflicts are 
 not very frequent, except when, as occasionally 
 happens, a violently anti - ministerial party gets 
 control of the council and proceeds to harass 
 the Government as much as possible. The great 
 municipal staff of Paris is, however, unaffected 
 by these struggles, and is altogether uninfluenced 
 by party considerations. For subordinate adminis- 
 trative purposes Paris is divided into twenty 
 arrondissements : in each there is a INIayor and 
 three adjoints (or five for any arrondissement 
 with more than 120,000 inhabitants). They are 
 appointed by the President of the Republic, and 
 are merely the agents of the Prefect of the 
 Seine ; they register births, deaths and marriages, 
 prepare electoral lists, collect taxes, conduct the 
 poor relief administration, and are concerned with 
 
 » Law of 1867.
 
 106 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 elementary education, recruiting, and a number 
 of other matters. 
 (b)The The Municipal Council consists of eiffhtv 
 
 Municipal ^ o ./ 
 
 Council. members, elected four by each arrondissement in 
 single-member districts ; they hold office for three 
 years and are unpaid, but receive a substantial sum 
 for expenses. They choose their own president ; 
 the Prefects may attend the meetings and speak 
 whenever they please. The Council's ordinary 
 sessions are four a year, each lasting ten days ; 
 but it has so many extraordinary meetings as to 
 be really permanent. It may appoint committees 
 for the consideration of special subjects, or to 
 watch particular branches of the city administra- 
 tion. Its power lies in its authority over the 
 finances — taxation and loans — which enables it to 
 keep some check upon the Prefect ; but since 
 this official has what is almost a veto upon all 
 administrative proposals of the council, it is evident 
 that the latter does not possess anything like the 
 authority and power of the London County Council 
 or the Town Council of Berlin. 
 The Paris and some suburban districts constitute 
 
 of the Seine, the Department of the Seine. At the head of 
 the administration of this area are the two Pre- 
 fects, and the authority of the Prefect of Police 
 extends over part of the next department also. 
 The Prefectoral Council exercises the ordinary 
 functions of such a body, but as its work is 
 naturally much heavier and more important than 
 in any other department, it is larger — containing
 
 8ECT. 5.] PUBLIC HEAUrii IN PARIS 107 
 
 nine members — and far better paid. The 
 Council-General consists of the eiglity municipal 
 councillors of Paris, and twenty-one members 
 elected by the surrounding districts : as with the 
 Municipal Council, almost all its decisions 
 require Government approval. There is no 
 departmental commission ; there are Arrondisse- 
 ment Councils for the extra-municipal areas, but 
 not for Paris. ^ 
 
 Much use has been made in the French capital commiBBioni: 
 
 (a) Samta- 
 
 of Advisory Boards. There is the great Co7LS-eih^°^- 
 (THygicnc et de Salulmte, under the presidency 
 of the Prefect of Police, and composed of 
 persons nominated by the central government, 
 two members of the Municipal Council, and 
 such ex -officio members as professors of the 
 faculty of medicine at Paris, the director of 
 municipal public works, the president of the 
 Army Sanitary Board, the chief architect, two 
 engineers holding official posts, and others ; it 
 meets regularly, and is consulted upon all 
 branches of public hygiene. It is supplemented 
 in each arrondissement by a small committee, 
 v^^hich meets every month, under the chairman- 
 ship of the JNlayor ; among its nine members 
 there must be two physicians, one veterinary 
 surgeon, one architect, one engineer, and one 
 pharmacist ; its duty is to report on local con- 
 ditions to the central council. There is also a 
 Commission des Logements Inscdubres^ which 
 
 ' Berthelemy, Droit AdministrcUi/, pp. 211-4.
 
 108 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 receives complaints, and reports to the proper 
 authority upon insanitary dwelHngs : it consists 
 of unofficial persons interested in the subject. 
 (b) Public The great system of " Public Assistance " in 
 
 Paris is supervised by a Board, consisting of the 
 two Prefects and eighteen other persons. Five 
 of these are appointed by the President of the 
 Republic, and the remaining thirteen " must 
 include two members of the Municipal Council, 
 two mayors or adjoints of arrondissements, two 
 representatives of the local bureaux de bien- 
 faisance, one representative of the Council of 
 State, one of the Court of Cassation, a hospital 
 physician, a hospital surgeon, a professor of the 
 faculty of medicine, a member of the Chamber 
 of Commerce, and a member of one of the 
 councils of pimdliommes " : they hold office for six 
 years, one-third retiring every second year. The 
 Board administers the hospitals, asylums, homes 
 for the aged poor and for children, lodging- 
 houses and shelters, out- door relief (including 
 medical attendance), and the vast municipal 
 pawnshop. The chief executive official is the 
 Director. 
 
 In each arrondissement there is a bureau de 
 bienfaisance, composed of the Mayor and twelve 
 administrators appointed for two years, half by 
 the Prefect of the Seine, and half by the 
 Municipal Council. This Board reports on the 
 needs of its district to the central authority ; it 
 distributes the grants which it receives, and any
 
 SECT, n.] POOR RELIEF IN PARIS 109 
 
 special contributions from private sources which 
 may come to it ; and it has an attached medical 
 staff. Tlie arrondissement in its turn is divided 
 into twelve districts ; each is under a member of the 
 local bureaux, whose duty it is to know all relief 
 cases in his district, and to distribute relief, with 
 the assistance of a large number of voluntary 
 workers : the purpose of the whole arrangement 
 being " to render it reasonably certain that in 
 the actual relief of the poor the unpaid services 
 of trustworthy neighbours may be secured, rather 
 than those of perfunctory officials. It is also 
 intended that the small districts may insure 
 complete supervision and intimate knowledge of 
 conditions." ^ 
 
 SECTION 6 
 
 The organisation of two public services in Education in 
 
 France. 
 
 France deserves special description. The first of 
 these is National Education.^ 
 
 The modern French educational organisation (a) History. 
 began with the foundation of the " University " ^ 
 by Napoleon I. in 1808 ; but that was intended 
 
 ^ Shaw, Municipal Government in Continentnl Europe, p. 107. See the 
 whole description of Paris, pp. 1-145. Cf. Strauss, VCEuvre. du Conseil 
 Municipal de Paris in La Grande Revue, April 1900. 
 
 - This sketch is concerned solely with the organisation, and not 
 with the educational problems presented by France. For those see 
 Marion, V Education dans V University ; Ribot, La Riforme de V Enseignement 
 Secondairc, and Vol. VII. of the Board of Education's Special Reports. 
 
 ' "University" in this case meant a teaching body for the whole 
 of France,
 
 110 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 only to give an education, which suited the 
 purposes of Napoleon — that is, to produce 
 " officers and functionaries, a middle - class 
 characterised chiefly by its discipline, an obedient 
 nation."^ The faculties of law, theology, medi- 
 cine, science and letters were for the most part 
 ill-equipped ; secondary education was organised 
 as a combination of " the convent and the 
 baiTack " ; and for primary education nothing was 
 done by the central government — it was left 
 entirely to local action. Though a JNIinistry of 
 Public Instruction was created under the Restora- 
 tion, it remained for the Monarchy of July to take 
 the first real steps forward, when Guizot was 
 minister between 1832 and 1834. Every com- 
 mune was bound (either alone or in conjunction 
 with others) to maintain one elementary school ; 
 in large communes higher grade schools were 
 required ; the children w^ere to pay fees, except 
 in the case of the very poor; the departments, 
 and even the central government, were to 
 contribute where necessary ; an inspectorate of 
 elementary schools was created, and minimum 
 salaries for teachers were established.^ The next 
 important enactment was the famous " Loi 
 Falloux " of 1850, which recognised two classes of 
 schools — public, maintained by local authorities 
 and absolutely controlled by the Government ; 
 
 ^ Marion, p. 4. 
 
 2 This legislation was in 1833, the same year as the first Government 
 grant in England.
 
 SKCT. 6] NATIONAL EDUCATION 111 
 
 and private, founded and maintained chiefly by 
 the rehgious associations of various kinds, and 
 inspected only in regard to sanitary conditions 
 and the regulation that notliing should be taught 
 "contrary to the laws, the constitution, and 
 morals." Provision was made for separate girls 
 schools (compulsory in communes with more 
 than 800 inhabitants), and adult and technical 
 classes. Later, France was divided into academies, 
 whose rectors controlled education throughout 
 their areas ; and departmental councils for 
 primary education were created. Under the 
 ministry of Uuruy (18G5-69), the range of 
 elementary education was increased, teachers' 
 salaries raised, and the schools rendered free to 
 all the poorer classes (and to all classes in any 
 communes which chose to make them so) ; 
 and substantial improvements were made in 
 secondary education. In the early days of the 
 Third Republic university education was made par- 
 tially " free," ^ i.e.i universities independent of the 
 state (and chiefly avowedly Catholic) were allowed 
 to give degrees recognised under certain conditions. 
 Then, finally, chiefly under the ministry of Jules 
 Ferry, the central government gave large grants 
 (1878) for school buildings, the departments were 
 directed to provide for the training of elementary 
 teachers (1879), and minimum qualifications were 
 imposed (1881), primary education was made 
 
 ' "Libre" in relation to education always means "independent of 
 state control."
 
 (b) Organisa 
 tiou. 
 
 112 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 obligatory and free (1881-82), public secondary- 
 schools for girls were authorised, and the general 
 schemes of secondary education re-arranged. The 
 state votes for education^ amounted to a little 
 under 10,000,000 francs, in 1870, and had risen to 
 over 223,000,000 in 1902-3. 
 
 The French national system of education 
 includes all three grades -— called primary, 
 secondary, and superior {i.e., education of a 
 i) Ministry, uuivcrsity type) ; and the Ministry of Public 
 Instruction has for each grade a division in 
 charge of a director. The authority of the 
 Ministry over private schools extends only to 
 staffing (no one may teach in France unless 
 possessed of qualifications recognised by the 
 state) and sanitary conditions. At the side of 
 the Minister there is a Conseil Superieur de 
 r Instruction Puhlique, consisting of fifty-seven 
 members including the Minister, who presides ; 
 it contains thirteen persons nominated by the 
 Ministry, and forty-three members elected by 
 the Institute of France, the faculties and various 
 educational institutions such as the Ecole 
 Nationale des Chartes, the Ecole Normale 
 Superieure, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and 
 others, or representative of the teaching staffs 
 of the secondary and primary schools. There 
 are also representatives of the enseignenient 
 libre. The Council, whose members hold office 
 for four years, is an advisory body on a great 
 
 ' lucluding salaries of the Ministry of Public Instruction. 
 
 i
 
 8ECT. G.j OUGANISATION (JF EDUCATION 113 
 
 number of questions — establishment of faculties, 
 normal schools and bjcces, courses of study, 
 general regulations — concerned chiefly with 
 secondary education ; and also a court of 
 discipline (mainly on appeal). Attached to the 
 Ministry are the Inspectors - General, some 
 thirteen in number, who travel about the 
 country to inspect the normal schools and to 
 report on the condition and problems of educa- 
 tion generally,^ and form a valuable medium of 
 communication between the central and local 
 authorities. It should be added that the 
 agricultural education is directed by the Ministry 
 of Agriculture, and technical and commercial 
 schools are controlled mainly by the Ministry 
 of Commerce. 
 
 France is divided for educational purposes (li) univer- 
 sities. 
 into seventeen university " regions," or groups 
 
 of departments." In each there is a Rector of 
 the University, who presides over the general 
 administration of education in all three grades. 
 He is the head of the University, w^hich is a 
 state institution in part, receiving large contribu- 
 tions from the central government, and conferring 
 degrees which are required by the state as a 
 necessary condition of entrance upon various 
 
 ^ There are four women inspectors for infant schools. 
 
 ^ Of recent years there has been a vigorous movement in France 
 towards the recognition of the regions (corresjjonding roughly to the 
 old provinces) as the proper areas of local self-government. Except 
 for education, little has been done in this way ; but many voluntary 
 "regional " societies of various kinds have been formed. See La liemu 
 UniverselU for 1st September 1905. 
 
 H
 
 114 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 DEector. official and professional careers.^ The Rector 
 also directs all public secondary schools within 
 the region ; these are of two kinds — lycees both 
 for boys and girls, founded and maintained by 
 the state with the assistance of the departments 
 or towns, and colleges for both sexes, founded 
 and maintained by the large communes, and 
 frequently subsidised by the central authorities ; 
 there are about one hundred and ten of the 
 former, and about twice as many of the latter 
 class. The Rector also supervises the private 
 secondary schools,^ and controls the training 
 colleges for teachers. This last he does through 
 
 (2) Academy the Acadcmv Inspectors, of whom there is one 
 
 Inspectors. *^ ^ 
 
 for each department, and through them he 
 superintends also the primary schools ; generally 
 they are responsible to the Rector in all matters 
 that relate to teaching, but in respect to pei^sonnel 
 and administration they are left independent 
 except of the prefects. The Rector is assisted 
 
 (3) Academic by a couucil ^ composcd of the deans of faculties. 
 
 Council. 
 
 the Academy Inspectors, representative professors 
 of the University and of the lycees and colleges, 
 and delegates of the departments and muni- 
 cipal councils which contribute to university or 
 secondary education ; membership is for four years, 
 
 ^ The "free" universities (Catholic) have the same privilege, so 
 long as they do not fall below the standard of the state universities. 
 
 ^ These are both for boys and girls; but the "free" secondary 
 schools for girls, usually attached to a religious sisterhood, are inuch 
 the more numerous. 
 
 ^ This body is distinct from the University Council.
 
 SECT. 6] PRIMARY EDUCATION 115 
 
 and the council is an advisory body for secondary 
 education (and to some extent for the highest 
 grade) and a disciphnary court of first instance. 
 
 The department is the administrative unit Primary 
 
 education. 
 
 for primary education, and the real heads of 
 the organisation there are the Prefect and the 
 Academy Inspector.^ The former is the chair- 
 man, and the latter the vice-chairman of a 
 Conscil Depart I) I cut at de teJiscignevient primairc, 
 which is formed of two heads of training 
 colleges, two inspectors of primary schools, four 
 councillors - general, and two male and two 
 female teachers elected by their colleagues.^ It 
 meets every month, and is an advisory and 
 administrative body for all matters connected 
 with primary schools — code of instruction and 
 management, provision of new schools, etc. — 
 and a disciplinary court for primary teachers. 
 The Prefect appoints all the teachers in the 
 public primary schools, usually on the nomina- 
 tion of the Academy Inspector ; ^ there was a 
 
 ^ "The Academy Inspector strikes one as being the real pivot 
 between the central authority and the schools. He is not too far 
 removed from the latter to have a thorough acquaintance with their 
 working and their wants. His intercourse with the central authority 
 is sufficiently close, and liis rank sufficiently elevated, to make his 
 voice listened to and respected. As quasi-independent, for much is 
 necessarily left to his judgment and discretion, he has the ojiportunity 
 of giving an active and steady support to any ideas which ho wishes 
 to encourage." Brereton, in Board of Education Special Ilcports, Vol. 
 VII., p. 20. 
 
 - Berthelemy, Droit Administratif, p. 724. 
 
 * "Pour des raisons de politique generate, la Republique jusqu'ici 
 a cru devoir laisser les instituteurs dans la main des prefets, ou les 
 regimes pr»Jccdents les avaient mis. II s'ensuit que par riminense
 
 116 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. n. 
 
 time when political reasons greatly influenced 
 the appointments, but cases of this kind seem 
 now to be very uncommon. Under the Academy 
 Inspector there are the Inspectors of primary 
 schools, usually one to each arrondissement ; 
 they are selected by competitive examination, 
 whereas the Academy Inspectors are appointed 
 by the Ministry chiefly from the ranks of 
 secondary education. Then in each canton 
 there are delegates, appointed by the Depart- 
 mental Council, to visit the various schools in 
 their canton, and to report on local needs and 
 conditions. Finally, in each commune the 
 Mayor has the right to visit all schools, pubhc 
 and private, and to have them medically 
 inspected, and he presides over a school commis- 
 sion, which answers roughly to our old " School 
 Attendance Committee." 
 
 Primary education is compulsory for all 
 children from six to thirteen years of age; and 
 in the public schools it is free. Every commune 
 must have at least one school, either for itself 
 alone or in combination with others ; and any 
 commune which cares to do so may estabhsh a 
 higher grade school. Much interest is taken in 
 
 majorite de son personnel, I'enseignement primaire semble ne pas 
 faire partie de I'universite, dont un caractere essentiel est d'avoir 
 ses chefs propres et d'echapper en grand partie aiix fluctuations 
 politiques ... a cet etat des choses (necessaire ou non) 11 faut 
 attribuer pour une grande jiart un certain manque d'unite entre 
 les parties du corps universitaire . . . Une et coherente par en haut, 
 rUniversite ne Test jjoint pas en bas." Marion, L' Education dans 
 V Universite, pp. 8, 9.
 
 SECT. 6] THE FRENCH TEACHERS 117 
 
 these scliools, and the annual presentation of 
 prizes is in many of the small communes almost 
 the chief event of the year. 
 
 There remain two other matters relatinff to Training and 
 
 position of 
 
 education which require notice. The first of teachers 
 these is the training of teachers and their position 
 in the state. The central government maintains 
 the great Ecole Normale Superieure at Paris, 
 but its pupils (who are training for professorships 
 at the hfcces) " form in their own eyes, and in 
 fact, only a privileged group of students," many 
 of whom take a secondary mastership only as a 
 step towards some higher academic post. Wher- 
 ever possible the various university faculties make 
 arrangements to secure for their students some 
 practical experience in teaching. The central 
 government also maintains two large colleges to 
 provide instructors for the training institutions for 
 elementary teachers. Each department must 
 establish one of these, under the supervision 
 of the Rector of the University ; but the central 
 government pays the salaries of the teaching 
 staff and the keep of the pupils. The state lays 
 down minimum qualifications for all elementary 
 and secondary teachers, both in public and 
 private schools : it fixes and pays a minimum 
 salary to all teachers in public schools, which is 
 supplemented according to the inclination of local 
 authorities and to the varying local conditions, 
 and the teachers have a secure pension.^ 
 
 ' It has been pointed out previously that in the small communes
 
 118 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. n. 
 
 Finance. The other matter is the finance of education. 
 
 It has ah'eady been remarked that the central 
 authority pays the teachers salaries, and 
 maintains certain training institutions and the 
 lycees ; it also makes special grants for such 
 things as technical and agricultural education, 
 and gives subventions for other purposes. The 
 departments maintain the training institutions for 
 elementary teachers, and colleges, and may aid 
 lycees \ they bear the office expenses of Academy 
 Inspectors and the Inspectors of primary schools, 
 and contribute to necessitous communes for 
 building purposes. The communes provide and 
 maintain elementary school buildings and equip- 
 ments ; they may vote money for school prizes, 
 libraries, and special classes ; and they may 
 establish colleges and classes for adults. 
 
 Briefly, then, in France the co-ordinating 
 and controlling authority of the state dominates 
 all three grades of education, which are largely 
 maintained by grants from the central Exchequer. 
 The areas for the administration of education 
 are large, and in each the whole system gathers 
 round the University, which can make its 
 
 the schoolmaster often acts as Mayor's secretary. This adds a 
 trifling amount to his salary; it tends to make the communal 
 government more dependent upon the Prefect, since he can dismiss 
 the schoolmaster at any time, and the latter will therefore carefully 
 avoid any cause of dispute ; and it keeps the schoolmaster in contact 
 with his old pupils, since he meets with them in all those numerous 
 matters in which the French citizen is brought within the reach 
 of the administration. To the extreme clerical party in France this 
 influence of the schoolmaster, who usually represents anti-clerical 
 tendencies, upon local administration is a great grievance.
 
 SECT. 6.] GENERAL CHARACTER OF SYSTEM 119 
 
 influence felt throughout the whole. The state, 
 either directly or through the local authorities, 
 provides a training for all teachers ; it can 
 therefore impose a minimum (jualification (as 
 high as it cares to make it) for all. The com- 
 munes provide the school buildings, but the 
 central government by its agents appoints the 
 teachers and pays them a minimum salary, and 
 this, combined with the influence of the officials, 
 effectually prevents any lowering of its standard 
 owing to local indifference or dislike to expendi- 
 ture. The French system of education undoubtedly 
 has defects — the various grades of education too 
 frequently coincide with social divisions, the 
 administrative system is sometimes too 
 methodical and exacting, the regime of the 
 lycees produces results (in education as distinct 
 from instruction) which are far from satisfactory, 
 and the whole question is still complicated by 
 the struggle between the state schools (absolutely 
 secular) and the denominational schools, with 
 all the connected problems. But this last 
 difficulty is small in France as compared with 
 England ; the general plan of the educational 
 organisation is coherent and intelligible, and it 
 does provide a way of bringing all three grades 
 into their proper relations one with another.
 
 120 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 Highways. 
 
 National 
 roads. 
 
 SECTION 7 
 
 There is one other pubUc service in France 
 which deserves a brief examination, if only for 
 the sake of the contrast which it presents with 
 England; and that is the organisation of the 
 highways. Probably no state in the world has 
 developed so highly as France its plan of internal 
 communication by road, and it is certain that in 
 no country has the actual technical work of road- 
 making reached a higher point of excellence.^ 
 Legislation on the subject commenced in the 
 seventeenth century, under the influence of Sully, 
 and the roads were constructed either by private 
 individuals or companies authorised to levy tolls, 
 or by the state authorities making use of the 
 corvee (a system of compulsory labour). The 
 First Repubhc abolished the toll system, but 
 the corvee, in a modernised form, still continues 
 in part. The nineteenth century witnessed 
 much activity, both legislative and administrative, 
 in the matter of highways of all kinds ; a carefully 
 organised system has been established, closely 
 controlled by the central government, and with 
 a large part of the cost borne directly by the 
 state Exchequer. 
 
 The fundamental principle of French high- 
 way administration is a distinction between la 
 
 1 See the special consular reports on "Streets and Highways 
 in Foreign Countries " issued by the United States Bureau of Foreign 
 Commerce, 1897.
 
 SECT. 7] MAIN ROADS OF FRANCE 121 
 
 grandc voirie and la petite voirie. The first 
 includes the national and departmental roads, 
 together with the streets of any town or village 
 which form a continuation of the main routes. 
 The national roads consist of those which connect 
 Paris with the frontier or with great army or 
 navy stations (the chief military roads), similar 
 roads of less importance and therefore less width, 
 and roads which connect Paris and some of the 
 cities of the interior, or the most important towns 
 with one another. The departmental roads are 
 those which unite the chief town of a department Departmental 
 
 roada. 
 
 with the arrondissements, or which form a main 
 line of communication between two departments. 
 All these roads are under the general control 
 and supervision of the Minister of Public Works, 
 represented in the department by the Prefect. 
 All national roads must be, and departmental 
 roads may be (and commonly are) constructed 
 and maintained by a special office of the central 
 government, le service des ponts et chaussees, and 
 the expenses are borne by the central authority^ 
 and the department respectively. The police of 
 both groups of roads {i.e., the regulation of traffic) 
 is in the hands of the Prefect. The classification 
 of the roads is made by a ministerial order or a 
 vote of a Council-General, but the construction 
 of a new national highway requires a special law. 
 The finances of the departments are limited, and 
 
 * Tbe state spends about £1,500,000 per annum on the 
 maintenance of roads. Berthelemy, p. 416.
 
 122 FRENCH LOCAL ADMLXISTRATION [chap. n. 
 
 there has been a strong tendency for the Councils- 
 General to rid themselves of all responsibility 
 in the matter by simply transferring all depart- 
 mental roads to the charge of the inferior local 
 authorities ; ^ but a movement to denationalise the 
 main roads has met with little encouragement. 
 Local roads. The petite voirie includes urban and rural 
 
 roads. The urban system embraces simply the 
 streets within any city or town which do not 
 form continuations of main roads (national or 
 departmental) ; they are controlled by the town 
 councils, subject to the approval of the Prefect, 
 and are maintained out of the municipal 
 revenues.^ The rural system is much more 
 comphcated; there are two classes of roads, 
 chemins viclnauoc and chemins ruraux. The first 
 consists of {a) chemins vicinaux de grande 
 communication, which unite several communes 
 and commonly connect with main roads ; (b) 
 chemins vicinaux d' inter et commun, smaller roads 
 of the same nature as the last ; {c) chemins 
 vicinaux ordinaires, which join two communes 
 but do not traverse a town or village.^ All 
 these are under the control of the JMinister of 
 the Interior, represented locally by the JNIayor, 
 and in some cases by the Prefect; they are 
 constructed by the communes, and the expenses 
 are met in various ways. The maintenance of 
 
 1 Fifty-seven Councils-General had done this up to the year 1900. 
 
 2 The streets of Paris (owing to the extensive Government 
 grants) are included in the grande voirie. 
 
 s Boeuf, Droit A dministratif (11th. edition), p. 357.
 
 SECT. 7] LOCAL ROADS 123 
 
 the first two classes of the clicmms vicinaux is 
 compulsory, and towards the expenditure the 
 communes generally receive grants-in-aid from 
 the departments. For the petite voirie as a 
 whole they often receive grants, and more 
 frequently loans, from the central government ; 
 but the difliculties of national finances in recent 
 years have diminished the inclination of the 
 legislature to vote subventions for the local 
 roads. Finally, the chemins 7'uraux include 
 simply what in England would be called foot- 
 paths, and would be entrusted to the parish 
 councils. The classification of the roads is made 
 by resolution of the local authorities (for the 
 more important groups by the Councils-General 
 subject to the approval of the Prefect).^ 
 
 Mention has already been made of one 
 interesting survival. Should the ordinary 
 resources of a commune not suffice for the 
 work which it has to do in the maintenance of 
 roads, it may either impose an additional 
 (temporary) rate, or it may make use of " presta- 
 tions," which are simply the survival of the old 
 coi'vee, with the difference that they fall upon 
 all classes of the community alike. Every head 
 of a household can be called on to furnish 
 three days' work by himself and every male 
 between eighteen and sixty years of age 
 resident with him, and the same for every beast 
 
 * The names proposed to be given to any street in a town must 
 be approved by the Pi-efect.
 
 124 FRENCH LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. ii. 
 
 of burden, waggon, or plough ; or he can pay a 
 sum of money in lieu of service.^ Apparently it 
 is common for the peasants to give labour, and 
 for the other classes of the community to com- 
 pound for the service due from them.^ 
 
 The most striking features of the French 
 system are the control exercised by the central 
 government over highway administration, and the 
 network of national roads with which the country 
 has been covered. The tendency seems to be 
 for the department to cease to be a highway 
 authority, and for the work to be divided 
 between only the central power and the small 
 local authorities. The same result would be 
 attained in England if the main roads at present 
 controlled and maintained by the county councils 
 were transferred to the charge of a special Govern- 
 ment department, and the whole cost thrown 
 on the National Exchequer. We may not be 
 ready for such a change, and it might be 
 inadvisable ; but it would be well for us to 
 imitate the French example in estabhshing a 
 strong central control which should give us a 
 satisfactory and intelligible system of internal 
 communication by road, especially now that the 
 development of the motor car and the electric 
 tramways are once again bringing the highways 
 into use for long-distance travelling. 
 
 1 The Prefect must see that the demand is not made at a time 
 when it would interfere seriously with agricultural operations. 
 
 2 In 1898 a proposal for the abolition of the prestations found 
 approval in only nine out of eighty-six departments.
 
 CHAPTER 111 
 
 LOCAL ADMINISTRATION IN PRUSSIA 
 SECTION 1 
 
 The central administration of the Kingdom of Muuatriea. 
 Prussia is conducted by the following nine 
 ministerial departments : — ^ 
 
 (1) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is at 
 
 the same time the Foreign Office of 
 the German Empire : the occupant of 
 the office is at once Minister President 
 of Prussia and Chancellor (that is, sole 
 responsible INIinister) of the Empire. 
 
 (2) Ministry of War. 
 
 (3) Ministry of Justice. 
 
 (4) Ministry of Finance. 
 
 (5) Ministry of the Interior, which is concerned 
 
 with the supervision and control of the 
 various local authorities, the relief of 
 the poor, and many " police " matters. 
 Dependent directly upon the Ministry 
 are the statistical offices of Prussia, and 
 the police authorities of Berlin. 
 
 ' The Navy and Post OflBce are Imperial, aud adiuiuisteied by 
 departments of the Imperial Government. 
 
 125
 
 126 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMLNISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 (6) Ministry of Ecclesiastical, Educational, and 
 Medical Affairs. This is divided into 
 four sections, dealing respectively with 
 (a) ecclesiastical matters and the relations 
 of the state to the religious denomina- 
 tions, especially the Evangelical and 
 Catholic Churches ; (b) higher, technical 
 and art education ; (c) elementary educa- 
 tion ; (d) medical questions. Directly 
 dependent upon it are the univer- 
 sities, technical high schools, national 
 museums, and other educational institu- 
 tions ; and attached to it are Advisory 
 Medical Boards for matters of pubUc 
 health. 
 
 (7) Ministry of Trade and Industry, dealing 
 
 with general questions of trade and 
 commerce, the state control of banks, 
 labour legislation and conditions, mines 
 and quarries, and commercial and trade 
 schools. 
 
 (8) INlinistry of Public Works, which amongst 
 
 other duties has charge of the national 
 railways, and supervises private under- 
 takings. 
 
 (9) Ministry of Agriculture, Public Domains, 
 
 and Forests. It is assisted by several 
 Advisory Boards, and has charge of 
 some agricultural institutions. 
 
 The ministers at the head of these departments
 
 SECT. 1] MINISTERS L\ PRUSSIA 127 
 
 are appointed by the King of Prussia alone, and 
 the Prussian Parliament exereises no influence 
 upon his choice. They are selected not from 
 among the prominent politicians, but from the 
 civil servants of the Crown ; so that whilst in 
 Great liritain and France the Civil Service is 
 headed by the permanent under - secretaries or 
 directors of departments, in Prussia the ministers 
 themselves are included in its ranks. There is 
 nothing in Prussia resembling the close and 
 constant control of the administration which is 
 exercised by the British and French Parliaments ; 
 the ministers are not members of either House, 
 though they may appear and speak as often as 
 they please, either in person or by deputy ; the 
 Houses may appoint committees of enquiry, but 
 ministers may refuse information ; and an adverse 
 vote does not affect them, as long as they retain 
 the support of their royal master and he does 
 not think it necessary, for political reasons, to 
 sacrifice them. This practical independence of 
 the INIinistry from the legislature, and the con- 
 sequent power of the highly trained and organised 
 Prussian bureaucracy are characteristic of the 
 administration of Prussia in all its grades ; the 
 historical development of the kingdom, in com- 
 bination (it may be) with the military system, 
 seems to have made the representative assemblies, 
 both central and local, ready to acquiesce in the 
 system of bureaucratic rule. The control of the 
 finances does, it is true, give the representative
 
 128 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 bodies the deciding voice; but they seldom run 
 counter, for any length of time, to the official 
 policy.^ 
 The Ministry As there is no necessary harmony between 
 the legislature and the executive, so also there 
 is no necessary agreement between the ministers 
 themselves. The Minister - President does not 
 choose his colleagues, though he may influence 
 the choice of the King ; and he cannot control 
 them. It is true that the whole number con- 
 stitute the Ministry of State, over which he 
 presides ; and that in some respects this body 
 is much more definitely organised than the British 
 Cabinet, and corresponds rather to the French 
 Council of Ministers. It meets once a week ; 
 it has its own secretary and staff; there are 
 some state institutions which depend upon it 
 alone, and not upon an individual ministry ; it 
 is a court of appeal in disciplinary cases affecting 
 the higher officials ; all matters of importance 
 must be laid before it ; it decides questions 
 which concern a number of departments, and 
 it may issue decrees in a few special cases. 
 But there is no necessary cohesion ; there is 
 no joint responsibihty ; in most cases it only 
 gives advice, the majority does not bind the 
 
 1 This is aided by the fact that the Prussian Parliament is much 
 less democratic than the Reichstag. In the latter, elected by universal 
 suffrage, the Socialists are a large and powerful body, polling more 
 electoral votes than any other party: in the Prussian Parliament, 
 elected by the " three-class system " which apportions voting power 
 according to the amount of taxation paid, they are hardly represented 
 at all.
 
 SECT. 1.] OTHER CENTRAL INSTITUTIONS 129 
 
 minority and the decision rests with the monarch 
 alone. ^ 
 
 There is a Council of State, which dates The conadi 
 
 . . of state. 
 
 originally from 1G04, and was revived in 1817 to 
 
 be an advisory body, and to exercise some control 
 
 over the executive. It is composed of princes, 
 
 great officers of state, ministers, judges, and 
 
 nominated persons ; thus resembling in form the 
 
 Ikitish Privy Council. It may. be consulted on 
 
 legislative proposals, disputes as to the respective 
 
 spheres of the various ministries, and other matters 
 
 referred to it for consideration either under any 
 
 law or by the monarch. 15ut practically it is no 
 
 more important than the British Privy Council. 
 
 There is one other advisory body which deserves 
 
 notice — the Economic Council — composed partly The Economic 
 
 of members nominated by the Crown, and partly 
 
 of representatives of the Chambers of Commerce ; 
 
 it gives advice on all commercial and industrial 
 
 questions referred to it, such as treaties, tariffs, 
 
 and trade and labour legislation. 
 
 Reference has been made to state institutions The supreme 
 
 1 1 !■»»•• 11 ri-ii Administra- 
 
 dependent upon the Mmistry as a whole. 1 he most tive court. 
 important of these is the Supreme Administrative 
 Court, composed of a President, a number of 
 presidents of sections or " senates," and about 
 forty councillors : it is the final court of appeal 
 in all cases of " administrative law," but it is also 
 a court of first and final instance in a small number 
 
 ^ For the position of ministers see Von SeydeL Preassidus Stoats- 
 recht, pp. 91-101. 
 
 I
 
 The Supreme 
 Court of 
 Account. 
 
 Some prin- 
 ciples of 
 Prussian 
 administra- 
 tion. 
 
 130 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 of cases.^ Half of its members must be qualified 
 for high judicial office, and half for the superior 
 administrative posts ; and they are far more inde- 
 pendent than the French councillors of state, 
 since they are appointed for life. 
 
 There is one other central institution of great 
 importance — the Supreme Court of Account — 
 which resembles closely the French Cour des 
 Comptes. Its members are in the same position 
 as the judges : the President is appointed by the 
 Crown on the nomination of the Ministry of 
 State, and the other members by the Crown on 
 the nomination of the President. It examines all 
 the accounts of state revenue and expenditure, 
 and of the national debt ; it is the guardian and 
 interpreter of all financial legislation. For these 
 purposes, it is armed with extensive powers, and 
 it reports to the Crown the results of its investi- 
 gations, and the reforms which it deems 
 advisable. 
 
 Before we proceed to examinine the local 
 administration of Prussia, it wiU be convenient 
 to notice some of the general principles upon 
 which it is based, since to do so may simplify 
 the examination. The first of these is the 
 careful distinction drawn between those internal 
 affairs in which the central government is thought 
 to be directly concerned, and those which are 
 held to be primarily of only local interest. The 
 
 ' For a detailed account of the working of the Supreme Adminis- 
 trative Court, vide infra, pp. 37G-381.
 
 SECT. 1] ADMINISTRATIVE THEORIES ISl 
 
 former group includes, besides the army, the 
 state taxes and domains, ecclesiastical affairs, 
 police (in the wide Prussian meaning of the 
 term),^ and the supervision of local authorities ; 
 whilst roads, poor relief, and a number of miscel- 
 laneous matters are left to the localities. These 
 two groups are kept carefully separate, even when 
 they are entrusted to the same authority. 
 Secondly, the work of the central government is 
 " deconcentrated," that is, the country is divided 
 into districts (which may or may not be coincident 
 with the areas of local self- government), in each of 
 which there is a delegation of the central authority, 
 doing its work, and thereby lessening the pressure 
 upon the departmental offices in Berlin. Some- 
 thing like this deconcentration is found in the 
 educational organisation of France, and also in 
 the office of the Prefect, but it is far more 
 elaborate, and the machinery much more complex, 
 in Prussia. Thirdly, the comparative independence 
 of the executive from the deliberative authority, 
 and the predominance of the officials, which 
 characterise the central government of Prussia, 
 repeat themselves throughout the whole of local 
 government ; the Prussian ideal is administra- 
 tion by the professional expert, checked by lay 
 criticism and the power of the purse. And, 
 finally, in all except the largest of the Prussian 
 
 ^ "Die nothigen Anstalten zur Erhaltunor der offentlichen Ruhe, 
 Sicherheit und Ordmuif;, uiid zur Abweudung der dem Publiko, oder 
 einzelnen Mitgliedern desselben, bevorstehenden Gefahr zu treflen, 
 ist das Amt der Polizei." Landrecht, II., 17, sec. 10.
 
 132 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 areas of local self-government, the executive 
 agents of the locality, elected by it, are also the 
 representatives of the central government ; as 
 such they are members of the bureaucracy and 
 controlled by it, and in consequence they naturally 
 look to the centre for guidance and direction in 
 regard to local affairs. Therefore, whilst it 
 would be inaccurate to say that local self-govern- 
 ment, as understood in England, does not exist 
 in Prussia, it is true that self-government there 
 is weak, that it is not so much the exercise of 
 the will of the locality within limits prescribed 
 (for the protection of the whole community) by 
 the central power, as the exercise of the will of 
 the latter by the locality.^ In fact, the bureau- 
 cracy rules ; and it is fortunate for Prussia that 
 hitherto the bureaucracy has remained intelligent 
 and respective of new ideas. 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 The areas of As the classcs of administrative areas in 
 
 local admin- -r-» • i i •■ -n i 
 
 iatration. Prussia are somewhat numerous, it will be 
 convenient first to set out the general scheme. 
 The following are the areas : — ^ 
 
 ^ The Prussian term for local government — "Lokal Selbst-ver- 
 waltung" — suggests this idea of the execution of the policy of the 
 central government by the locality rather than the determination of 
 its own policy by the latter. Cf. supra, pp. 3-8. 
 
 2 The most convenient summary of Prussian admmistration is 
 H. de Grais, Handhach der Verfassung wad Verwaltung (12th edition). The 
 text of the chief laws is in Ansehtitz, Organisaticms-Gesetze der inneren 
 Verwaltung-.
 
 SECT. 2.] PRUSSIAN AREAS 133 
 
 (1) The Province. 
 
 (2) The Government District {Rcgierung- 
 
 BezirJx). 
 
 (3) The Rural Circle {Laiidhrcis) and Town 
 
 Circle [Stddtk-reis), the latter being a 
 town which, because of the size of its 
 population, has been made an indepen- 
 dent Circle. 
 
 (4) The Official District {Amt.shez'irk), a 
 
 subdivision of the Rural Circle for 
 administrative purposes. 
 
 (5) The Town Commune (Stadfgefneinde) 
 
 and Rural Commune {Landgeyncinde). 
 The Provinces, Circles, and Communes are 
 areas for the purposes of both central adminis- 
 tration and local self-government, and they 
 form bodies corporate : the Government and 
 Official Districts are areas for central purposes 
 only, and are normally not incorporated. The 
 present territory of the Prussian state was formed 
 only very gradually : the social and economic 
 conditions vary greatly, from the mainly industrial 
 provinces of the west to the agricultural and 
 almost feudal provinces of East and West 
 Prussia : many parts of it had, when acquired for 
 Prussia, their own peculiar institutions. These 
 variations still exist ; there is nothing like 
 absolute uniformity in detail ; but the general 
 plan is almost everywhere ^ the same, and it will 
 be best to concentrate our attention upon that. 
 
 ^ The fact that after luore thau a century Prussia has failed to
 
 134 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 The Province. The largest areas are the Provinces, of which 
 there are twelve, ranging from the Rhineland 
 with 5,760,000 inhabitants in 1900, and Silesia 
 with 4,669,000, to Schleswig - Holstein with 
 1,388,000. Many of these were once indepen- 
 dent areas — Hanover is the old kingdom once 
 united with the Crown of Great Britain, 
 Schleswig - Holstein represents the duchies in 
 personal union with Denmark until 1864, 
 Prussian Saxony is the territory taken from 
 the kingdom of that name at the close of the 
 Napoleonic wars, and Prussian Poland (Posen) 
 represents Prussia's share in the partition of the 
 kingdom at the end of the eighteenth century. 
 The Provinces are organised under the law of 
 1875, which, passed originally for the eastern 
 provinces (except Poland), has been subsequently 
 extended to the others. 
 
 (1) The Chief The authorities of the Province are four. 
 
 President. 
 
 At its head is the Chief President, a professional 
 official of high rank, whose authority is based 
 on a Royal Decree of 1815. He is appointed 
 by the Crown, and is mainly the representative 
 in the Province of the central government ; in 
 this respect he resembles the French Prefect, 
 though he is a far more important and dignified 
 official. As the agent of the Crown he controls 
 the administration of state affairs, so far as they 
 concern the whole of his Province, or extend 
 
 reconcile Prussian Poland to its rule causes a special form of govern- 
 ment to be retained for that Province.
 
 SECT. 2] PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES 135 
 
 beyond tlie sphere of one Government District ; 
 he watches, but does not control the admini- 
 stration of the Government Districts, and reports 
 thereon to the respective ministries ; he presides 
 over the provincial boards for education, ecclesi- 
 astical matters, public health, and inland revenue ; 
 in conjunction with the commanding general he 
 deals with military affairs (recruiting, billeting, 
 supplies, etc.) ; and he represents the Crown 
 over against the Provincial Assembly, at whose 
 meetings he is entitled to be present. In the 
 event of any great emergency, such as war or 
 civil disturbance, he becomes almost autocratic in 
 his Province ; and at all times he represents and 
 advocates the Government policy ; though he is 
 not, like the French Prefect, an electoral agent. 
 
 The Chief President is assisted in his work (2) The 
 by a Provincial Council {Provinzialrath) composed council. 
 of one high professional official, appointed by the 
 Minister of the Interior practically for life, and 
 five lay members chosen by the Provincial 
 Committee^ usually for six years. The Chief 
 President, or a representative, is chairman of 
 the Council, whose approval is necessary for all 
 ordinances issued by him, except in emergencies. 
 It also hears and decides appeals from some 
 subordinate administrative bodies, especially town 
 councils, in regard to orders issued to them. 
 
 For the purposes of local self-government o) Tbe 
 
 Provincial 
 Assembly. 
 ' Except in Hesse-Nassau, whore they are appointed by the 
 
 Provincial Assembl}'.
 
 136 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMLMSTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 the representative authority is the Provincial 
 Assembly {Pi'ovinziallandtag) which is not 
 directly elected, but consists of representatives 
 appointed for six years by the Circle Assemblies 
 in proportion to population.^ It must be 
 summoned by the Crown, through the Chief 
 President, at least once every two years, but 
 may meet oftener ; and the session lasts as long 
 as is necessary for the discharge of business. 
 There is little or no " popular " representation 
 even from the towns ; the members are local 
 administrative officials of the Circles, large 
 landowners and other well-to-do persons ; and 
 the Provincial Assemblies are naturally conserva- 
 tive in character. They choose their o\mi 
 presidents, make their own standing orders, and 
 determine electoral disputes ; they appoint the 
 administrative staff for local affairs ; they 
 maintain and control the provincial roads (the 
 Prussian plan thus being midway between the 
 national highway system of France and the 
 small areas of England) ; they may make light 
 railways, they are bound ^ to establish institutions 
 for lunatics, imbeciles, epileptics, and for bhnd, 
 deaf and dumb persons, and may create labour 
 colonies and houses of correction for vagrants ; 
 they may promote agricultural improvements 
 and agricultural education ; they may establish 
 
 ^ Except in Posen, where the old representation of the three 
 estates (landowners, towns, and country communes) has continued. 
 
 2 Where (as is usually the case) the Province is identical with a 
 Landannenverband. Vide infra, p. 179.
 
 SECT. 2.] CONDUCT OF LOCAJ. AFFAIRS 137 
 
 or assist fire insurance institutions, and land 
 banks ; and they may make bye-laws. They 
 control the provincial finances, and obtain the 
 necessary funds partly from contribution.s from 
 the central Exchequer, and partly from contribu- 
 tions levied by them upon the Circles. For the 
 consideration of these various undertakings they 
 usually appoint conuiiittees, and the full meetings 
 of the Assemblies are concerned chiefly with the 
 discussion of the recommendations and reports, 
 and the necessary resolutions. The Chief-President 
 may suspend any resolution which he believ^es 
 to be ultra vires-, all loans, taxes above a certain 
 amount, bye-laws, and some resolutions require 
 the approval of the Crown or its ministries ; and 
 the Crown may dissolve an assembly at any 
 time. 
 
 The actual conduct of local matters is en- (4) The 
 trusted to a Provincial Committee {Provinzialaus- committw. 
 schuss), consisting of a chairman and not less 
 than seven or more than thirteen persons elected 
 for six years by the Provincial Assembly not 
 necessarily (though practically always) from its 
 own members; one-half retires every third year. 
 This standing committee meets as often as it 
 finds necessary; it prepares the business for the 
 meetings of the Assembly, carries out its resolu- 
 tions, and directs the various provincial institu- 
 tions ; as the sessions of the Assembly are 
 infrequent, it naturally has a fairly free hand in 
 regard to details. Its chief official is the Lcuides-
 
 138 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 (6) The direktor or Landeshanptmann, a salaried official 
 
 Landes- 
 
 dixektor or elected bv the Assembly with royal approval 
 
 Landeshaupt- •' *' j l l 
 
 maun. for six or twelvc years ; he is the head of the 
 
 staff, both administrative and clerical, and repre- 
 sents the Province in all legal matters and in its 
 relations with other authorities and with private 
 persons ; but he is more than the mere servant 
 of the committee, since he is ex-officio a member 
 of it. The Provincial Assembly may entrust 
 particular branches of the administration to special 
 commissions. 
 
 The communal life of a Prussian province is 
 comparatively very small ; little interest is taken 
 in the work of the local provincial authorities, 
 partly because the area is so large, and partly 
 because the method of election is so very 
 indirect.^ The great advantage of the provincial 
 system is that it provides large areas for some 
 branches of administration, such as education, 
 poor relief, and roads ; and also renders possible 
 a real deconcentration of the work of the central 
 government, and regard for local conditions, with- 
 out the consequent variations becoming unduly 
 numerous. 
 
 SECTION 3 
 
 The next area is the Government District, 
 The which exists solely for central purposes, and does 
 
 Government 
 
 District. i jhe A.ssembly is elected bj' the Assemblies of the Circles, which 
 
 in the country districts are elected by a complicated and far from 
 democratic method, and in the towns by the "three class system." 
 It is therefore indirect election at the second stage.
 
 SECT. 3.] DISTRICT AUTHORITIES 1:39 
 
 not form a corporation.^ Each province is divided 
 into two or more Government Districts (there are 
 thirty-five in all), with the exception of Schleswig- 
 Holstein, which forms only one ; the largest 
 number in any one province is six, in Hanover. 
 The organisation dates originally from 1723, and 
 in its present form from 1808 ; and its working 
 is determined by the Lcuidesverwaltujigsgesetz of 
 1883. 
 
 The arrangement is somewhat complicated, oo^^ent 
 At the head is the District President {Regierungs- ^^®"«^®'^^ 
 Prdsident ), a professional official appointed by 
 the Crown. He presides over the Government 
 Board and the District Committee, and in addi- 
 tion there are a large number of matters in which 
 he acts alone, and on his own responsibility. 
 Amongst these are all branches of poUce — which 
 includes public safety and order, the maintenance 
 of prisons, preventive measures against epidemics 
 and the adulteration of foods and drugs, the 
 enforcement of sanitary and building laws, and 
 a multitude of other things. He exercises 
 general supervision over the subordinate local 
 government officials, in so far as they are 
 agents of the central government. To assist him 
 in his work he has his own personal staff of 
 officials. 
 
 The second authority is the Government (2) The 
 
 •' Government 
 
 ^ Except in Hesse-Nassau and Hohenzollern. The latter — the 
 small enclave of Prussian territory in the midst of Wurtteniberg — 
 forms a Government District of a sjiecial kind. II. de Grais, 
 Uamlluch, p. 63.
 
 140 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. in. 
 
 Board {Regicrung) formed by a number of profes- 
 sional officials appointed by the Crown. Normally 
 this Board is divided into two sections, one for 
 church and elementary school matters, and the 
 other for direct state taxes, domains, and forests, 
 etc., but there are local variations.^ Each consists 
 of a number of councillors, presided over by a 
 Director {AbtJieilungsdirigejit) : care is taken to 
 include appropriate technical experts in each. 
 Each section divides its work between its members, 
 but all decisions (except where merely of a routine 
 character) are determined by vote ; if the head 
 of the section is dissatisfied he may appeal to 
 the Government President, who may either decide 
 the matter himself, or call the whole Board 
 together to consider and vote upon the question. 
 All important matters must be so decided in 
 full meeting, but the Government President may 
 suspend the action of any resolution and appeal 
 against it to the higher authorities. 
 (8) The The third body is in some ways far more im- 
 
 committee. portaut and interesting. The District Committee 
 {Bezirksausschuss) has seven members ; three of 
 these are officials — the Government President, and 
 one judicial and one official member appointed by 
 the Crown for life, and four are unofficial members 
 (who must be resident in the district) chosen for 
 six years by the Provincial Committee. This 
 committee controls the poUce administration of 
 the Government President to some extent, since 
 
 ^ H. de Grais, Handluch, p. 66.
 
 SECT. 3] PURPOSE OF THE DISTRICTS 141 
 
 all ordinances made by hini in that department 
 
 require its approval ; and under his presidency it 
 exercises a certain supervision over subordinate 
 authorities. But its most important task is to 
 act as an administrative court of first instance in 
 some cases, and of appeal from the decisions of 
 the Circle Committees ; when it acts in this 
 character the judicial member presides, and the 
 Government President takes no part in the 
 proceedings.^ 
 
 As regards the Government District as a 
 whole, a recent American observer remarks : — 
 
 " The organisation of the RcgierungHhezirk seems 
 to a foreigner needlessly complex, and the division 
 of its functions between the two bodies somewhat 
 unnecessary, especially when we consider that both 
 of them act as agents of the central government 
 and deal only with those matters that are supposed 
 to affect the whole state. But the system is in 
 fiict only the result of a careful and logical 
 application of the modern Prussian theories of 
 administration. In the first place, it was thought 
 . . . that the matters of state taxes, schools, etc., 
 ought to be managed entirely by professional 
 officials, but that the police, in its wider sense, 
 and the supervision of the organs of local self- 
 government, ought to be largely under the control 
 of laymen. Hence the separation between the 
 Regierung and the Bczirkmiisschaus.s. In tlie 
 second place, it was felt that a sharp line ought 
 to be drawn between executive action and judicial 
 decisions, that the Rcg'ierungs - Priisidcnt, who 
 might be concerned with the issuing of police 
 
 * For the working of the administrative courts, vide infra, pp. 37G-381,
 
 142 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 ordinances by the subordinate local authorities, 
 ought not to sit in the tribunal that passed upon 
 their legality. From 1873 to 1875 the same body 
 had exercised both classes of functions, but experi- 
 ence showed the evil of this arrangement, and in 
 the latter year two separate bodies were created. 
 In 1882 they were again united, for the sake of 
 simplicity, and the lay members were suffered 
 to act in both capacities; but it was provided 
 that the professional members should be changed 
 according to the nature of the business to be 
 transacted. " ^ 
 
 It will be seen that the authorities of the 
 Government District constitute a deputation of 
 the central government, exercising within their 
 area very wide powers and bearing a heavy 
 responsibility ; particularly the office of Govern- 
 ment President is one of very great importance. 
 That the arrangement is most convenient and 
 useful from the point of view of the central 
 departments there can be no doubt ; the officials 
 of the Government District are highly trained, 
 and their work is thoroughly well done. The 
 only criticisms which can be made upon it are 
 two — but they are by no means unimportant. 
 First, it renders possible and promotes that 
 minute and detailed regulation of all departments 
 of national life which the ordinary Prussian 
 citizen endures, if not willingly, at least without 
 active opposition, but which would be intolerable 
 to Englishmen. And, secondly, the administrative 
 
 ' Lowell, Parties and Governments in Continental Europe, I., p. 320.
 
 8ECT. 4] THE CIRCLES 143 
 
 work is practically all done by officials, and there 
 is little opportunity for the non - professional 
 citizen, however active and able, to exercise any 
 influence upon policy or to acquire experience 
 in the conduct of large public affairs. 
 
 SECTION 4 
 
 The third area — the Circle (Kreis) — exists, like TUe circle, 
 the Province, for the conduct of affairs both of 
 the central authorities and of local self-govern- 
 ment. The Circle organisation in its present 
 form was determined by the Kreisordnung of 
 1872, issued originally for the six eastern 
 provinces (excluding Poland) and gradually 
 extended to the remainder of the monarchy. 
 Towns of at least 25,000 inhabitants may be 
 formed into separate Circles by ministerial 
 order ; ^ in that case the powers and duties of 
 Circle authorities are exercised within the 
 municipal area by the civic government.^ So 
 that in the present sketch of the organisation 
 we are concerned solely with the Country Circles 
 {Landkreise). 
 
 They are about 490 in number, with popula- 
 tions varying from 20,000 to 80,000. The 
 authorities are three in number — the Circle 
 Assembly {Kreistag), which represents the district 
 
 ' Smaller towns maj' be given the same rank by royal decree. 
 - Cf. the English counties and county boroughs.
 
 144 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 as a self-governing corporation; the Landrath, 
 and the Circle Committee {Kreiscmsschuss), both 
 of which are the executive agents of the locality 
 and also representatives of the central govern- 
 ment.^ 
 (1) The Circle The Circle Assembly contains at least twenty- 
 five members. Where the Circle has more than 
 25,000 inhabitants there is an additional member 
 for every further 5,000 up to 100,000, and beyond 
 that number (which is hardly ever surpassed) one 
 for every 10,000. The method of election is compli- 
 cated. Three " electoral colleges " are formed : the 
 first is composed of the large landowners {i.e., those 
 who pay land and building taxes varying from 150 
 to 300 marks according to the Province ^) and those 
 large manufacturers in the rural parts of the Circle 
 who pay a trade tax of 300 marks ; the second 
 consists of the rural communes, and those land- 
 owners and rural manufacturers who are not 
 included in the previous group ; and the third 
 is composed of the towns. The lando^\Tiers are 
 formed into groups ; so are the rural communes, 
 which appoint electors ; the towns act singly or 
 in groups — in the former case the elections to 
 the Circle Assembly are made by the magistracy 
 and town council, in the latter representative 
 electors are chosen by each town. The 
 numerical representation of each of the three 
 
 ^ This combination resembles that found in the French Prefect, 
 and the result is much the same. 
 
 - Kreis-ordnung, sec. 86. The variations within these limits may 
 be made by the Provincial Assemblies.
 
 SECT. 4] CIRCLE ELECTIONS 146 
 
 divisions is determined thus — the total number 
 of members of the ^Vssembly is divided between 
 town and country in proportion to the popula- 
 tion at the last census, and then the number of 
 members allotted to the country districts is 
 divided equally between the great landowners 
 and the rural communes. But the repre- 
 sentatives of the towns may not exceed one- 
 half, or where there is only one town one-third, 
 of the complete membership of the Assembly. 
 The elections are for six years, one-half of the 
 members from each electoral group retiring every 
 third year. In the elections politics play a very 
 small part — the system gives scarcely any 
 opportunity for them ; and the plan tends 
 generally to give the predominance to the land- 
 owners, or in the industrial provinces to the 
 manufacturers, and to the officials, since both 
 towns and rural communes generally choose 
 their representatives from this last class. 
 
 The Circle Assembly meets usually only 
 three or four times a year, and often only twice. 
 It controls the finances of the Circle, and raises 
 money for its own purposes, and for the Circle 
 share of the provincial expenditure, by means of 
 additions to the direct state taxes ; ^ it is the 
 highway authority for the smaller roads ; it may 
 establish hospitals and other institutions for poor 
 relief, and contribute to charitable associations ; 
 
 ' These surtaxes may not exceed 50 per cent, except with the 
 approval of superior authorities. 
 
 K
 
 146 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 it must provide two - thirds of the cost of 
 maintenance of persons in the institutions for 
 defectives established by the provinces ; and 
 it may undertake anything else for which it can 
 obtain approval from the superior authorities. 
 But its functions in all these things are purely 
 deliberative ; the executive work is done by the 
 Landrath and the Circle Committee. It also 
 elects the representatives of the Circle in the 
 Provincial Assembly. 
 (2) The The Landrath is appointed for life by the 
 
 Crown, usually on the nomination of the Circle 
 Assembly. The office is an ancient one, dating 
 back, in the Mark of Brandenburg, to the six- 
 teenth century : " he was at first appointed by the 
 ' States,' and was necessarily a leading person 
 among the Ritterschaft or holders of knights' fees 
 in the Circle ; but, little by little, he became an 
 officer of the Crown, pure and simple, and by 
 the Constitution of 1850 he was changed into 
 the direct nominee of the Crown." ^ He is a 
 professional official, who must have received a 
 suitable semi - legal training, have had at least 
 four years' administrative experience, and resided 
 in the Circle for one year. His chief duty ^ is to 
 represent the central government ; as its agent 
 he has charge of the police, and may make bye- 
 
 1 Morier, in Cohden Club Essays on Local Governmenl (1875), p. 422. 
 
 2 " Der Landrath fiihrt als Organ der Staatregierung die Geschafte 
 der allgemeineu Landesverwaltung im Kreise und leitet als Vorsit- 
 zender des Kreistages und des Kreisausschusses die Koniminialver- 
 waltung des Kreises. "' Krcis-ordnung, sec. 76.
 
 SECT. 4] OFFICE OF THE LANDRATH 147 
 
 laws ; he superintends edueation, controls sub- 
 ordinate officials, and presides in the administrative 
 court of first instance (the Circle Committee.) He 
 is assisted by one or more assessors, and has a 
 staff of medical officers, inspectors of foods, 
 analysts, school inspectors, and other necessary 
 officials. He is under the control of the Govern- 
 ment I*resident as regards police, and of the 
 Government Board for other matters. Like the 
 French Prefect he is expected to represent always 
 the views of the Government — so much so that 
 some years ago a number of Landriithe, who were 
 members of the Prussian Parliament, were sus- 
 pended or dismissed because, in accordance with 
 the wishes of their constituents, they voted against 
 certain ministerial proposals.^ The Landrath is 
 also the chief executive official of the Circle as 
 a self-governing corporation ; but this function 
 is only secondary with him, for he is entirely 
 dependent upon the central government, repre- 
 sents its views in all things, and is its agent to 
 watch the proceedings of the Circle Assembly 
 and to see that it does not exceed the law, 
 and that its resolutions are submitted, whenever 
 necessary, for the approval of the superior 
 authorities. The net result of this, and of the 
 fact that he presides in the Circle Assembly 
 and Committee, is that the Landrath is the real 
 ruler of the Circle, limited only by the supervision 
 and financial control of the Assembly. That body 
 
 ' The first definite proposals for a Middle-Germau Canal.
 
 148 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 may entrust duties to special commissions, but 
 the Landrath is a member, and practically director, 
 of them all. 
 3) The Circle The Circlc Committee {Kreisausschuss) consists 
 of the Landrath and six unofficial members elected 
 by the Circle Assembly (not necessarily from its 
 own ranks) for six years/ Its functions are three in 
 number : {a) it is the executive committee of the 
 Circle, meeting as often as is necessary for the con- 
 duct of business, but leaving all the routine work to 
 the Landrath ; {b) it exercises supervision over the 
 acts of all lesser local authorities, and is a court of 
 discipline for agents of the central government ; 
 (c) it is an administrative court of first instance. 
 When it acts in this last character, its sittings are 
 open to the public ; otherwise they are private. 
 As a judicial court, its members enjoy the ordinary 
 privileges and immunities of judges ; as a super- 
 visory body they are agents of the central govern- 
 ment and subject to bureaucratic control ; and 
 as the executive committee of the self-governing 
 circle they are more or less independent. To the 
 outsider the arrangement thus described seems 
 very involved, but apparently the members of the 
 Committee do not find it so, perhaps because (like 
 all Prussians placed in any office) they become 
 imbued very quickly with the bureaucratic 
 
 1 In some cases an attempt is made to represent all three classes 
 of the Assembly upon the Committee. Thus the committee of the 
 Teltow Circle (on the outskirts of Berlin) used to consist (and perhaps 
 still does so) of two landowners, two bm-gomasters of small towns, 
 and two headmen of rural communes.
 
 SECT. 5] PURPOSES OF OFFICIAL DISTRICl^S 149 
 
 tradition, and adopt and represent the oiHcial 
 views. 
 
 In the eastern provinces the rural communes The official 
 are grouped into Official Districts {Avitsbezirke), 
 each containing about 1,500 inhabitants, for police 
 purposes. A single commune, if large enough, 
 may form an ylmtsbczirk by itself. For each 
 there is an Amtsvoi^dcher (a term for which there 
 is hardly an English equivalent) who administers 
 the police under the direction and control of 
 the Landrath : ^ he is often the headman of a 
 commune. He is assisted by a Committee {Amts- 
 ausschuss) nominated by the councils of the various 
 communes, which also contribute (in proportion 
 to population) towards the cost of the work, so far 
 as it is not covered by the proceeds of fines and 
 by state grants-in-aid. Its approval is required 
 for various regulations which the Amtsvorstehr 
 may issue.^ Similar police areas, under different 
 names and forms, exist in Prussian Poland, West- 
 phalia, and Rhineland.^ 
 
 SECTION 5 
 
 It will be convenient to take the Rural The Rural 
 
 Commune. 
 
 Commune {Landgcmeiiidc) next : and it must 
 
 ' He is appointed by the Chief President of the Provmce on the 
 nomination of the Circle Assembly. 
 
 '-' For the detailed rules as to the Antsbezirk, see the Kreis-ordnung, 
 sec. 47-73. 
 
 ' H. de Grais, Handhuch, p. 298,
 
 150 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMLMSTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 again be repeated that we are dealing only with 
 the normal type, whose organisation is based on 
 the Landgemeinde-ordiiuiig of 1891/ Where a 
 commune does not contain more than forty voters, 
 there is an assembly which is equivalent to an 
 English parish meeting ; for a larger commune 
 there is a council {Gemeinde-vertretung) with not 
 
 (a) Communal more than twenty-four members." The electors 
 
 Council. 
 
 are all persons resident in the commune, or owning 
 property in it, who pay a certain minimum amount 
 of taxes ; and the election is by the " three-class 
 system," which vnW be described later.^ For the 
 executive work there is in all communes a 
 Headman {Gemeindevorsteher), elected by the 
 assembly or council for six years, and unpaid ; but 
 communes with more than 3,000 inhabitants may 
 (subject to approval) appoint a paid headman, for 
 
 (b) Headman, twclvc ycars. The headman has from two to 
 
 six assistants {Schqffen), and in large communes 
 he and they may be formed into an executive 
 committee {Gemeinde - vorstand) ; elsewhere the 
 assistants act simply under his directions. There 
 are over 36,000 rural communes in Prussia, and 
 the great majority of them are very small, and 
 do little. They may spend money upon poor relief, 
 small roads, protection against fire, drainage, street 
 cleaning, etc., control whatever communal property 
 there may be, and where the local government 
 
 1 Text and notes in Keil, Die Landgenieinde-ordnung (1896). 
 ^ A comnnuie with less than forty electors may have a council, 
 if it so desires and can obtain permission from the Circle Committee. 
 * Vide infra, pp. 154-5,
 
 SECT. 5.] THE RURAI. COMMUNES 151 
 
 communes are coincident with school communes 
 {Sc/iul^cmelnden) tliey have duties in regard to 
 elementary education. Money is ol)tained from 
 the proceeds of any village property ; from taxes 
 on dogs, entertainments and public spectacles, 
 and in some cases (where they existed prior to 
 the Communal Finances Act of 1893) ^ upon the 
 consumption of food stuffs of various kinds ; and 
 from additions to the taxes levied by the state. 
 Unions of communes for specific purposes are 
 permitted, and communes may be amalgamated 
 by royal decree. 
 
 The headman is the chief of the local police, 
 and acts under the direction of the Amtsvorstehcr ; 
 he is to that extent a member of the bureau- 
 cracy. 
 
 In Rhineland and Westphalia the old arrange- 
 ments still exist, whereby the communes are 
 grouped into districts {BiLrgeyineisterei, Amt) ; 
 each commune has its own headman and 
 assembly, but all matters which affect several 
 communes are controlled by the Burgomaster 
 or Amtmann, acting with the advice and 
 direction of an assembly of representatives 
 of the communes. There are other variation 
 in Hesse-Nassau and Hanover.^ 
 
 There still remain throughout Prussia, and The Manors, 
 particularly in the eastern provinces — the 
 region of great estates — a very large number 
 
 * Das Kommunalabgabengesetz, sec. 14. 
 2 H. de Grais, ffarulbuch, p. 103-105.
 
 152 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. m. 
 
 of INIanors {GutsbezirJxe), that is, communes 
 entirely contained within the estate of a single 
 landowner. The internal organisation of these 
 estates is of course not uniform, but so far as 
 the administration is concerned, the Lord of 
 the Manor {Gutsbesitzer) has all the rights and 
 responsibilities of a commune : he is either 
 himself the headman, or appoints a representative 
 to the office.^ 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to add that the 
 greater number of the rural communes are so 
 small that they have neither the administrative 
 ability nor the financial resources to enable them 
 to do much ; in this respect they resemble most 
 of the French communes and English parishes. 
 And so, as in France, they are guided and 
 directed, as far as they do anything at all, by 
 the authorities of the Circle, and hardly move 
 without obtaining the Landrath's advice and 
 approval. Moreover in the east the economic 
 dependence upon the landowner is very great, 
 he is the chief taxpayer, and disinclined to do 
 more than the necessary minimum imposed by 
 the superior authorities. Communal self-govern- 
 ment can prosper only in the provinces where 
 the system of small holdings prevails, or where 
 the population is engaged wholly or partially 
 in industry — and is consequently more or less 
 independent ; but the commune is generally 
 too small for much effective work to be done 
 
 ^ H. de Grais, Handbuch, p. 103.
 
 8KCT. G] MUNICIPAL ORGANISATION 153 
 
 even there, and, as in England and France, the 
 plan of grouping these small areas would be 
 much more satisfactory. 
 
 SECTION 6 
 
 We come now to the towns (Stddte), whose The towhb 
 organisation varies somewhat ; the seven eastern 
 provinces have a uniform system which will be 
 described here, whilst in the remaining provinces 
 there are differences of some importance. There 
 are in all about 1,270 towns in Prussia, and of 
 these somewhere about ninety (mainly those 
 with populations of 25,000 and upwards) form 
 as already mentioned independent Circles. But 
 this affects the actual form of the municipal 
 government only very slightly. 
 
 The rank of a municipality is conferred by (i) Town 
 
 11 1 • T • ^CouncU. 
 
 royal decree ; there is no necessary hmit oi 
 population, and there are a very large number of 
 small municipalities in existence ; but the status 
 is conferred now infrequently and only upon 
 populous areas. The centre of the civic govern- 
 ment is in the Town Council, whose membership 
 ranges from twelve in towns with less than 2,500 
 inhabitants to sixty in towns with 120,000, and then 
 increases by six members for every additional 50,000 
 of population. This council is elected by the 
 remarkable " three class - system," which is so 
 characteristic of Prussia that it must be described 
 somewhat fully.
 
 154 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 The three- The voters for each electoral district are 
 
 class system 
 
 of election, arranged in the list in the order of the amount 
 of direct taxes which they pay for all purposes. 
 The total so paid is divided into three equal 
 parts ; those taxpayers at the head of the list 
 who together pay one-third of the total amount 
 constitute the first class of voters. The next 
 in the list who pay another third form the 
 second class ; whilst all the others, who together 
 pay the remaining third, make up the third 
 class. To this scheme some modifications have 
 lately been made. The general rule now is that 
 a person who in any class pays more than the 
 average for that class is to be placed in the next 
 higher group ; but to this two limitations may 
 locally be made — the required amount may be 
 one and a half times the average, or the division 
 of the amount of taxes may be not into thirds, 
 but into five-twelfths, four-twelfths, and three- 
 twelfths for the three classes. The result of 
 these changes is to increase the number of 
 voters in the first and second classes, and to 
 reduce those in the third. ^ Each class returns 
 one-third of the members to the Town Council, 
 and clearly the effect is to give the large tax- 
 payers the predominance, in spite of the fact 
 that they are generally only a very small pro- 
 portion of the population. In Halle in 1899 
 
 1 It was estimated that in Berlin out of every 1,000 inhabitants 
 there were 180-29 voters, divided thus :— CI. I., 0-39; CI. II., 4-40; CI. 
 TIL, 175-50; under the new plan the numbers would be 0-78, 16-6, 
 162-6.
 
 SECT. 6.] THE TOWN COUNCILS 155 
 
 (before the above niodiHcutions hud been made) 
 there were 140 voters in the first class, 014 in the 
 second, and 1G,G45 in the third; and each group 
 returned eighteen members to the Town Council.^ 
 Of course in the small communes the dispro- 
 portions are not so great ; but in the large 
 towns the number of electors in the first class 
 appears rarely to exceed 5 per cent." In Essen, a 
 town created by the great Krupp works, there 
 were, in 1895, 4 persons in the first class, 353 
 in the second, and 12,197 in the third.^ 
 
 The councillors are elected for six years — one- 
 third retiring every second year. The councils 
 are filled with much the same class as the English 
 town councils, though perhaps there is a larger 
 proportion in Prussia of professional men.* Party 
 politics play a very small part in the elections, 
 and the voting system effectually prevents the 
 socialists, who are very strong in the great towns, 
 from getting control of the town councils, though 
 they are represented there; the re-election of 
 good councillors is as frequent in Germany as in 
 England. The council elects its own president. 
 
 The municipal executive consists of a Burtro- (2) The 
 
 " Burgomaflter 
 
 master and a Board of Magistrates {Magistrate 
 Stadtrath). The burgomaster is a salaried pro- 
 
 ^ James, Municipal Administration in Germany, pp. 25-2G. 
 
 2 For a discussion of the whole question, see Jastrow, Das 
 Dreiklassen-system. 
 
 ^ Shaw, Municipal Oovernmcnt in Continental Europe, p. 308. 
 
 ' There are some curious limitations : a father and son, or two 
 brothers, may nut be members of tlie Council at the same time — 
 iitaUte-urdnung, 1853, sec. 17.
 
 156 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. m. 
 
 fessional official, appointed by the council (subject 
 to approval) and holding office for twelve years/ 
 He presides over the Administrative Board, and 
 distributes the work amongst its members : he is 
 the co-ordinating power in the civic administra- 
 tion ; he discharges many duties analogous to 
 those of an English town clerk. Commencing 
 his career in a subordinate post, he looks for 
 promotion by being called to preside over a 
 larger town, with Berlin as the summit of his 
 ambition. When the office falls vacant, applica- 
 tions for it are usually invited by advertisement. 
 The burgomaster has the social precedence enjoyed 
 by an English mayor, combined with the real 
 direction of the whole city government. 
 (3) The The Magistracy or Administrative Board may 
 
 tivrBoard? bcst be described as a combination of the salaried 
 heads of departments and the aldermen of an 
 English town council. It consists of a number 
 of unprofessional members appointed by the 
 Town Council for six years, generally from 
 among old and experienced members ; and a 
 number of technical experts who are appointed 
 for twelve years and paid by the Council." The 
 number of members of the Board is fixed accord- 
 ing to population, with a minimum of two, and 
 
 ^ Large cities may have two burgomasters, one being the chief. 
 
 ^ There are further curious regulations as to membership. A 
 father and son, father-m-law and son-in-law, brother and brother-in- 
 law, may not be members of the Executive Board, nor may one be 
 in the Board and the other in the Town Council at the same time. 
 A more important limitation is that keepers of hotels, inns, and 
 public houses may not be members of the Executive Board.
 
 8KCT fi] THE MUNICIPAL EXECUTIVE 167 
 
 rising to nearly forty in the ease of Berlin : the 
 proportion of paid members varies according to 
 local requirements — in the small towns the unpro- 
 fessional magistrates form the large majority, but 
 where a city has many technical enterprises (gas, 
 water, electric lighting, tramways, etc.) it naturally 
 has more professional members, though they never 
 exceed one-half of the total. The function of this 
 Administrative Board, under the presidency of the 
 burgomaster, is threefold : — 
 
 (1) It is the agent within the municipal area 
 of the central government, and in this capacity 
 it is independent of the control of the Town 
 Council. The burgomaster manages the police, in 
 the wide meaning already explained, but the regu- 
 lations which he issues require in most cases the 
 assent of the Administrative Board. The Board, 
 where the Town is also a Circle, appoints the 
 Town Committee, consisting of the burgomaster (4) Town 
 and tour members 01 its own body, which dis- 
 charges the same duties as the Circle Committee.^ 
 
 In towns of more than 10,000 inhabitants a 
 special Chief of Police may be appointed by the 
 Crown, with the title of Police - President or 
 Director, and this is commonly done in the large 
 cities. In such a case the cost of the police is 
 divided between the central government and the 
 municipality. 
 
 (2) It is the administrative authority for 
 municipal affairs. As such it conducts the whole 
 executive work of city government, it appoints 
 the municipal civil service, and it may take 
 
 ^ Including the issue of licences foi* the sale of intoxicants, pawn- 
 shops, and public amusements : and the very important work of 
 an administrative court.
 
 158 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 definite decisions in all matters which do not 
 involve expenditure, or are simply the carrying 
 into effect of resolutions of the Town Council. 
 Each member of the Board has a particular 
 department entrusted to him, but except in 
 matters of mere routine resolutions are taken by 
 vote of the whole Board. 
 
 (3) It is on an equality with the Council in 
 the consideration of all questions of policy : "all 
 resolutions of the city council, with comparatively 
 few exceptions (relating to its own constitution, 
 the passing upon the election of its own members, 
 etc.) must receive the approval of the Adminis- 
 trative Board before they can have the effect 
 of local ordinances. The Administrative Board is 
 authorised to make recommendations to the city 
 council upon all subjects relating to city legisla- 
 tion and administration. . . . While the city council 
 has also the right to initiate legislation, as a 
 matter of fact nearly all legislation is initiated 
 in the Administrative Board, and even when the 
 city council desires to pass an ordinance upon 
 any given subject, the form of action usually 
 consists in a request to the Board to submit an 
 ordinance to the city council."^ 
 
 The members of the Administrative Board 
 attend the meetings of the council ; they may be 
 called upon to answer questions, and to explain 
 their actions ; and they may intervene in the 
 discussions as often as they choose. But it 
 must be remembered that the responsibility rests 
 with the whole Board, and not with individual 
 members. 
 
 Though the members are appointed by the 
 
 ^ James, Municipal Administration in Germany, p. 14.
 
 SECT. 6] TOWN COMMISSIONS 159 
 
 Council, it is evident that the Administrativ^e 
 Board is practically independent. The long tenure 
 of office, the position which it holds as an agent of 
 the central government, its exercise of some un- 
 controlled executive powers, its co-equal authority 
 and practical initiative in municipal legislation, 
 and its expert knowledge, all combine to make 
 it the real guiding and determining force in 
 city government ; the Town Coimcil is rather 
 a controlling and checking body, and the Ad- 
 ministrative Board cannot do anything which 
 involves expenditure without its approval. But 
 conflicts between the two bodies are very 
 infrequent. 
 
 But members of the Town Council are not ,51 Town 
 
 . . . . , . . CommissioiiB. 
 
 entirely excluded from participation in the admmi- 
 strative work. Many branches of the town 
 administration are entrusted to commissions com- 
 posed, generally, in part of councillors and in 
 part of other persons interested in a particular 
 subject — education, poor relief, sanitation, tram- 
 ways, waterworks, museums, etc. This arrange- 
 ment has the very great advantage that, whilst 
 retaining the concentration of authority and 
 financial responsibility in the Administrative Board 
 and Town Council, it enables the municipality 
 to make use of the services of large numbers of 
 citizens, and to obtain the benefits which used to 
 be claimed in England for what is known as 
 the ad hoc system. Over each commission a 
 member of the Administrative Board usually
 
 160 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 presides ; and the commission reports to that 
 body, and not directly to the Town Council. 
 Mnnicipai The powcrs of a Prussian municipahty are 
 
 functions. 
 
 very extensive. The law in fact does not 
 confer any specific powers, except in so far as 
 this is done by general enactments for special 
 matters (as education), but simply authorises 
 the local authorities to do whatever they think 
 necessary or advisable in the interests of their 
 localities — subject to the requirement that their 
 proposals shall be submitted for the approval 
 of the central authorities, usually the Circle or 
 District Committee. This plan of general grants 
 of power removes the necessity for that constant 
 recourse to Parliament for legislative approval, 
 which is so striking a feature of English local 
 government. It is the duty of the Administra- 
 tive Board to see that the necessary approval is 
 obtained, and also to reserve and submit to the 
 competent authority any resolution of which it 
 may doubt the legality. 
 
 The Prussian municipalities are bound to 
 make provision for elementary education by the 
 establishment and maintenance of schools ; they 
 may supply or aid secondary and higher educa- 
 tion, and are especially active in regard to 
 technical instruction of all grades.^ They are 
 the poor law authorities, and have built up an 
 elaborate system of relief which will be described 
 later.^ They usually own the water supply ; 
 
 1 Vide infra, pp. 169-171. * Vide infra, pp. 179-185.
 
 SECT. 0.] MUNICIPAL FUNCTIONS Ifil 
 
 many have their own gasworks and electrie 
 hghting stations ; and the municipalisation of 
 the tramways is gradually taking plaee. Where 
 these services are not owned by the munici- 
 palities, it is customary for stringent conditions 
 as to the supply and prices to be imposed, and 
 a charge to be made in return for the use of the 
 streets. As the public health authority, a town 
 council carries out sewage and drainage works 
 and sewage farms,^ it provides slaughter-houses 
 (of which it may compel the use), and markets, 
 and it may maintain parks and open spaces ; it 
 also maintains hospitals for infectious diseases. It 
 can encourage thrift by the establishment of 
 savings banks (which are municipal or local in 
 Prussia, and not national) ; it may provide 
 municipal pawnshops and other loan institu- 
 tions ; and it may open employment bureaux. 
 Municipal housing has so far made little 
 progress, since the authorities have confined 
 themselves to providing for municipal em- 
 ployes, and to advancing money at low rates 
 of interest to private persons or companies 
 who undertake to build working class dwell- 
 ings at moderate rentals." Fire insurance insti- 
 tutions are frequently municipal. Finally, a 
 town council may make provision for recrea- 
 tion by establishing libraries and museums, 
 
 ' Berlin has turned many liundreds of acres of waste land in the 
 plain round the capital into arable land (market gardens and orchards) 
 by its sewage farms. 
 
 ^ Sinzheimer, Die A rheilerwoknungsfrage, c. iv. 
 
 L
 
 revenueB. 
 
 162 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 art galleries, municipal concerts, and even a 
 municipal theatre.^ 
 Municipal The revenucs of the municipality are derived 
 
 from (a) proceeds of municipal enterprises and 
 property ; {b) fees ; (c) state grants towards educa- 
 tion, etc. ; {d) local licences ; and (e) additions to 
 the direct state taxes, chiefly to the income-tax, 
 vi^hich commences at £45 a year. Most of a 
 town's financial operations, including taxation 
 beyond certain limits, loans, and dealings in 
 municipal property, require administrative 
 approval. 
 
 It will be seen that the activity of the 
 Prussian cities is as great and varied as that 
 of the British municipalities, and in some direc- 
 tions it is even wider. ^ But it is important to 
 remember that all this work has been done at 
 the instigation and under the leadership of the 
 Administrative Boards, that is, of bodies which 
 are in no sense democratic in constitution or 
 feeling, and have not been influenced by the 
 socialist propaganda ; and further, that it has 
 been encouraged and aided by the central 
 departments, that is, by the bureaucracy. Of 
 the work itself it is almost impossible to 
 speak too highly ; vast progress has been made 
 in the last generation ; and Prussian city ad- 
 ministration is, as a whole, probably the most 
 
 ^ -£'.</., At Breslau, Cologne, Barmen, and Diisseldorf. 
 
 ^ Vide Shaw, Municipal Government in Continental Europe, cc. v.-vi. ; 
 and James, Municipal Administration in Germany (a description of 
 Halle a/S).
 
 BECT. G.] THE CAPITAL 1G3 
 
 highly organised and technically skilled in the 
 world. 1 
 
 There is one other type of municipal organisa- The "Burger- 
 
 ... • 1 T • 1 meistereiver- 
 
 tion which must be noticed. It is the so-called fassung." 
 Burgermeistereiver-fassun^ for towns which have 
 no more than 2,500 inhabitants, but yet possess 
 municipal rank. In these, on the proposal of 
 the Town Council approved by the District 
 Committee, the number of councillors may be 
 reduced to six, and the burgomaster takes the 
 place of the Administrative Board. The whole 
 administration is concentrated in his hands, and 
 he also presides in the council ; two or three 
 assistants are appointed by the council, but 
 act entirely under his directions.^ 
 
 Like most European capitals the City of Berlin 
 Berlin occupies a special position — the object 
 being to keep it under an even closer control 
 by the central ministry than the other cities. 
 It is isolated from the other areas of local 
 government, and is assimilated to a Province, 
 a Government District, and a Town Circle. 
 It has its municipal government, but (1) police 
 affairs are in the hands of a special Police- 
 Presidency, which may be compared to the 
 Prefect of Police in Paris ; (2) the administrative 
 supervision is exercised by the Chief President 
 of the Province of Brandenburg, as Chief 
 
 ' There is an association of German cities, corresponding to our 
 Association of Municipal Corporations. 
 
 ^ Stadte-Ch'dninuj, 1853, Part VIII. Cf. Schon, Das liecht der Kommu- 
 nalverbaitde in Preussen, pp. 33G-339.
 
 164 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 President of the City of Berlin ; (3) some of the 
 provincial Boards — for school matters, taxes, 
 medical affairs, and others — exercise authority 
 over Berlin, without the interposition of the 
 officials of a Government District ; and (4) 
 there is a special District Committee for Berlin, 
 consisting of a President appointed by the 
 Crown and four persons elected by the Execu- 
 tive Board and Town Council in common session. 
 
 SECTION 7 
 
 National 
 education. 
 
 (a) History. 
 
 In no other large state of Europe^ has the 
 Government paid so much attention to education, 
 and for so long a period, as in Prussia.^ As early 
 as the year 1717 an edict issued by Frederick 
 William I. directed parents to send their children 
 to school daily in winter, and at least twice a week 
 in summer ; if they could not afford to pay the 
 fee they were to be helped out of the funds for 
 the relief of the poor. In 1736 the Principia 
 Regulativa made the upkeep of the school build- 
 ing a duty of the communes, and allowed them 
 to take timber from the royal forests for that 
 purpose. It also made provision for the support 
 
 ^ Some of the Swiss cantons had taken action earlier. In 1675 
 the Canton of Berne directed that schools should be provided for 
 every cominime out of public funds ; the attendance of children was 
 to be compulsory. 
 
 2 The best critical history is Paulsen, Geschichte des gelehrten Unter- 
 richts in Deutschlajui.
 
 BKCT. 7] EDUCATION IN PRUSSIA 165 
 
 of the schoolmaster, partly from church funds (in 
 return for which he acted as verger), partly from 
 an allotment worked for him by the conmiune, 
 and partly from contri})utions in money and in 
 kind from the parents of the school children. 
 These elementary schools were all under church 
 control, and so were the secondary schools (which 
 were rather the only good elementary schools) ; 
 the sole change in the latter (which existed only 
 in towns) under Frederick William I. was that 
 candidates for teaching posts in them had to be 
 examined before the Consistory.* 
 
 There was much legislation under Frederick 
 the Great ; and it is characteristic of Prussian 
 educational history that the chief edicts (for the 
 Lutheran and Catholic schools) were issued in 
 1763 and 1764, immediately at the close of the 
 Seven Years' War, w^hen Frederick was setting to 
 work to repair the ravages inflicted upon his 
 kingdom by that long struggle. The principle of 
 compulsory attendance was re-affirmed ; plans of 
 studies, lists of school books, methods of discipline, 
 were all prescribed ; and a system of inspection 
 established. By 1778 there were nine seminaries 
 for teachers in the country. The schools formed 
 part of the ecclesiastical organisation which sub- 
 jected all denominations — Lutheran, Reformed, 
 and Catholic — to state control. Just after 
 Frederick's death the AUgemeines LaiidrecJtt laid 
 
 ' For the history of the Prussian secondary schools, and their 
 present condition, see Russull, Ucrman Higher Schools (1899).
 
 166 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. iii. 
 
 the duty of providing and maintaining school 
 buildings upon the " house fathers " of each school 
 commune, which will be described later ; and the 
 Oberschulkollegiimn was established to supervise 
 and improve the whole of national education. 
 Thus a full decade before the close of the eigh- 
 teenth century Prussia had a central organisation 
 and definite plans for compulsory national educa- 
 tion, at least of an elementary kind ; doubtless the 
 reahsation was often very far from complete, but 
 the ideal w^as higher than that of any other 
 European state. 
 
 Then came the French Revolution and its 
 wars, leading to the crowning disaster of Tilsit. 
 But the task of re-organisation was taken up 
 vigorously by Stein and his colleagues, and agree- 
 ing fully with the declaration of Fichte, that 
 " nothing but education can rescue us from all 
 the miseries that overwhelm us," they began at 
 once the reform of national education. The 
 OberschulkoUegium was abohshed as being too 
 clerical ; a Bureau of Education was made a 
 department of the ^linistry of the Interior, and 
 Wilhelm von Humboldt was placed at its head. 
 The University of Berlin was created in 1807 ; 
 school programmes were reformed ; the state 
 certification of teachers was made compulsory ; 
 and Prussian students were sent to Switzerland 
 to study under Pestalozzi, and to prepare for 
 teaching in the training colleges. In the follow- 
 ing years the training institutions were much
 
 SECT. 7.] THE PRESENT SYSTEM 167 
 
 extended and improved, and the secondary schools 
 were strengthened by the estabhshment of the 
 " leaving certificate " system. 
 
 Since then the chief developments have been, 
 first, the growth of the " modern " scliools, and, 
 secondly, the extension of state authority and 
 control. In 1817 an independent ministry for 
 ecclesiastical and educational matters was estab- 
 lished ; in 1825 provincial School Boards {Pro- 
 vinzial-SckulkoUegien) were formed ; in the same 
 year the laws regarding compulsory attendance 
 were re-enacted and made really effective ; and in 
 1850 public school teachers were declared to be 
 civil servants. In 1872, during the long Kultur- 
 kampf, all private schools were brought under 
 state inspection. 
 
 At the foot of the ladder of educational institu- (b) The 
 
 present 
 
 tions ^ in Prussia are the elementary schools organieation. 
 {Folkschulen), supplemented by the Burgerschulen 
 (which correspond roughly to our higher grade 
 schools) and evening continuation schools. 
 Attendance at the elementary schools is free and 
 compulsory between the ages of six and fourteen, 
 and there is no " half-time " system ; whilst attend- 
 ance at the evening continuation schools (trade 
 and other) can be made compulsory up to eighteen 
 years of age.^ The secondary schools are the 
 Gymncmcn (classical schools) and Progymnasien 
 
 ^ A useful short account of the institutions will be found in 
 Stotzner, Das Offend icfuj Untcrrichtswcscn Dcutschlands. 
 • H. de Grais, Handbiich, p. 506.
 
 168 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 (classical schools of a lower standing), the Real- 
 gymnasien (in which Latin is taught), and the 
 Realschulen of various grades, which are entirely 
 "modern." Generally the Gymnasia and Real- 
 gymnasia prepare their students for the uni- 
 versities, and the Realschulen for the technical 
 institutions.^ Tertiary education is divided 
 between the universities and the technical high 
 schools, which are now on the same footing and 
 may grant degrees. The secondary schools and 
 higher institutions are greatly strengthened by 
 the fact that education in them, and the leaving 
 certificate which they give, are necessary pre- 
 liminaries to admission to the universities and 
 technical high schools, and to state employment 
 in any branch of the civil service. 
 (1) MiniBtry. Coming now to the machinery of administra- 
 
 tion, there is at its head the department of 
 the Ministry for Ecclesiastical, Educational, and 
 Medical Affairs, with an under - secretary, two 
 directors, and an advisory council ; it controls the 
 universities and technical high schools directly, 
 and supervises education generally. In each of 
 the twelve provinces there is a provincial School 
 Board [Pf^ovinzial- Schulkollegium), consisting of 
 four or five educational experts (often ex-directors 
 of training colleges) under the chairmanship of the 
 Chief President. This Board manages the state 
 secondary schools, holds the certificate examina- 
 tions for teachers, issues general regulations for 
 
 ^ But the Oberrealschulen prepare also for the tmiversities.
 
 BECT. 7] EDUCATIONAL AUTIIOIUTIES 169 
 
 the province, supervises training colleges, and (2) subordi- 
 inspects all secondary schools not established ^^ ^ ^^*° 
 and maintained by the state. In each Govern- 
 ment District there is a church and school section 
 of the Government Board, which is entrusted 
 with the control of the elementary schools ; it 
 actually inspects them through the Landrath, 
 for buildings and accommodation, and through 
 Circle School Inspectors (usually clergymen in 
 the district), for educational matters. Finally, in 
 every school area there is an inspector, generally 
 the local clergyman of the predominant religious 
 denomination. 
 
 The unit for the provision of elementary schools 0) school 
 
 . Communes. 
 
 IS the School Commune {Schnlgemeinde). In four 
 of the provinces this is usually identical with the 
 local government commune : elsewhere it may 
 be (1) a group of communes; (2) part of a 
 commune ; or (8) an association of inhabitants 
 who desire to have a denominational school. In 
 any case a rate is levied on the " House Fathers," 
 that is, the group of householders who make use 
 of the particular school or set of schools. Religious 
 instruction is given in all schools, but parents 
 who have to make use of schools where the 
 teaching is not according to their creed, may 
 withdraw their children from it on condition 
 that they undertake to provide proper teaching 
 elsewhere. 
 
 In the towns there is a School Deputa- Elementary 
 Hon, composed of town councillors and other
 
 ^ 170 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. m. 
 
 persons interested in education — all appointed 
 by the Town Council ; usually this is under the 
 presidency of a member of the Executive Board 
 (the StadtscJmlrath), who may be compared to 
 the superintendent of education often found in 
 American cities, and is the chief administrative 
 official. The denominational schools of minorities 
 are generally under small separate commissions. 
 In the rural communes there is a School Com- 
 mittee {Sclmlvorstand) elected by the communal 
 council or by the school commune. The duties 
 of both the school deputation and school com- 
 mittee, which deal only with elementary schools, 
 are to see to the adequate supply of school 
 accommodation, to pay the teachers, to provide 
 prizes and generally to do everything to promote 
 the efficiency of the schools. But where these 
 bodies are appointed by the local councils they 
 cannot impose a rate or raise a loan ; all they 
 can do is to submit estimates to the council, 
 which grants so much as it finds possible. It 
 must be admitted that in some instances the 
 schools are alleged to have been cramped as a 
 result of this, but such cases are not numerous, 
 for in the towns there is a real enthusiasm for 
 education, and in the rural districts official pressure 
 is usually strong enough to secure an adequate 
 provision. The central governmervfc gives large 
 contributions, allocated chiefly to teachers' salaries. 
 Secondary The sccoudary schools are maintained in various 
 
 ways. Some are state schools, established and
 
 SECT. 7] HIGHER EDUCATION 171 
 
 directed wholly by the JNIiiiistry ; these are chiefly 
 in the rural districts. Others are municipal or 
 guild schools, founded and administered by some 
 local authority or association, and often subsidised 
 from state funds : they are subject to the state 
 regulations as to organisation and curricula. In 
 the provision of such schools, and especially those 
 of a " modern " character, the great miuiicipalities 
 of Prussia have displayed much activity and 
 enthusiasm. Others are private institutions, which 
 are allowed only when the supply is otherwise 
 inadequate : " they must comply with all the 
 regulations of the state in regard to equipment 
 and the conduct of the work. The course of 
 study, the methods employed, and the teachers 
 must all be approved."^ Usually the municipal 
 institutions are controlled by Boards of Trustees, 
 appointed by the Town Council and containing 
 representatives of that body and of the Executive 
 Board. 
 
 The universities (of which there are nine) and The 
 
 1 1 • 1 1 • 1 I ^ / n ' univerBitiea. 
 
 the technical high schools (hve in number) are 
 financed largely by the central government, which 
 appoints the professors. 
 
 The state lays down a minimum qualification The teachers. 
 for secondary and elementary teachers,'- and fixes 
 a minimum salary towards which it contributes : 
 it provides the training colleges (administered by 
 
 • Russell, German Higher Schools, p. 78. 
 
 2 No one is permitted to teach in Prussia (even as a private tutor 
 or governess) who does not possess the qualifications required by 
 the state.
 
 172 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap, hi 
 
 the provincial school boards) for elementary 
 teachers. The course of training required for 
 secondary teachers is long and elaborate, and 
 there are many complaints as to its excessive 
 length, and the stringent manner in which tlie 
 state controls the whole career and activity of 
 the secondary (and for that matter also the 
 elementary) teacher. Teachers are appointed by 
 the higher authorities always (provincial school 
 board or government board), sometimes on the 
 recommendation of the locality. 
 
 Summarising the system, we find that an 
 attempt has been made to co-ordinate the three 
 grades of education, and bring them all under 
 central supervision. To them all the state 
 contributes largely, and in return the elementary 
 schools are free, and in the higher institutions 
 the fees are very low. The state also imposes 
 a minimum qualification for all teachers, and a 
 minimum salary towards which it contributes : 
 in all schools which it recognises it controls the 
 curriculum, but allows local variations and exten- 
 sions. Finally, by its requirements for entry into 
 various professions and into the civil service it 
 influences the whole educational system. There 
 are many defects in Prussian education, but they 
 do not arise from indifference on the part of either 
 the central government or the localities.
 
 inaurance. 
 
 BRCT. 8] PUBLIC ASSISTANCE 173 
 
 SECTION 8 
 
 The problem of poor relief in I'russia is Poor relief. 
 greatly simplified by the existence of the 
 system of compulsory insurance against sick- 
 ness, accident, infirmity, and old age, which 
 was established (for the whole of the German 
 Empire) by Prince Bismarck between 1883 
 and 1800 ; and a very brief account of the 
 institution is desirable in this place.^ 
 
 Insurance against sickness is compulsory forSicknesB^ 
 all work-people engaged in the building trade, 
 mines, quarries, factories, foundries, railways, 
 shipyards, etc., for all such persons as foremen 
 and clerks in these occupations whose salaries 
 do not exceed 2,000 marks a year, and for 
 employes in any other occupation which may be 
 included by order of the Federal Council. The 
 policy adopted has been to encourage the forma- 
 tion of trade, factory, or voluntary societies ; but 
 if these should not be formed, or should be in- 
 sufficient, then the necessary societies are organised 
 by the local authorities ; all the societies are care- 
 fully supervised by the central government. The 
 employer pays one-third of the contributions, and 
 the workmen two-thirds ; the benefits are: (1) free 
 medical treatment and sick pay (one-half of the 
 
 ' The fullest information as to the laws and regulations of German 
 compulsory insurance, and the most recent statistics are contained ijj 
 Gotze-Scliindler, Jahrlnich tier ArbeUerversicheruny, 2 vols.
 
 174 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. m. 
 
 average earnings) for twenty-six weeks ; or (2) 
 hospital maintenance and one -quarter of the 
 average earnings (the money being paid to the 
 dependents) ; and funeral money. The societies 
 are managed by committees consisting of repre- 
 sentatives of employers and employed in propor- 
 tion to their respective shares of the contributions. 
 In 1901 the adult working-class population of 
 Germany was estimated at 16,500,000, and of these 
 10,320,000 (or 62-5 per cent.) were insured in 
 22,770 societies. 
 Accident Insurance against accident is obhgatory for 
 
 all persons employed in the factories, mines, and 
 metallurgical works, railways and shipping, build- 
 ing trades, agriculture and forestry, and other 
 occupations ; it includes all employes whose annual 
 salaries do not exceed 3,000 marks. The responsi- 
 bility for the insurance rests with the employers, 
 who pay the whole of the contributions, and are 
 organised in "professional associations" of mutual 
 hability, which are controlled by the Imperial 
 Insurance Office. For state or municipal industrial 
 undertakings there are special institutions. For 
 the first thirteen weeks after an accident the 
 injured worker is a charge upon his sickness 
 insurance society (if a member of one) ; if the 
 incapacity for work still continues the burden is 
 transferred to the accident insurance society, and 
 the worker is entitled to (1) free medical aid and 
 a pension amounting to not more than two-thirds 
 of the average salary or wage ; or (2) free main-
 
 sncT. 8] NATIONAL INSURANCE 175 
 
 tenance in an institution, and a smaller pension 
 paid to dependents. In the case of a fatal accident 
 there is funeral money, and a pension to the 
 dependent survivors (including children up to 
 fifteen years of age) ; the maximum total pension 
 is three-fifths of the yearly wage of the deceased. 
 As the employers provide all the funds, they 
 naturally alone administer them ; but the workers 
 appoint representatives to take part in the enquiries 
 into accidents, and to the courts of arbitration 
 which deal with disputes as to pensions. In 1902 
 over 19,000,000 persons were covered by this 
 system. 
 
 The present law as to pensions in cases of infirmity and 
 mfirmity and old age came into force in 1899 pensions. 
 (ten years after the first legislation on the matter), 
 and applies to all workmen and apprentices, 
 ships' crews, and domestic servants, whatever 
 their salaries ; all others engaged in industrial 
 occupations, and all commercial clerks, teachers, 
 and tutors, whose salaries do not exceed 2,000 
 marks ; ^ and it may be extended by order of 
 the Federal Council to other classes. The 
 obligation to insure begins at sixteen years of 
 age. Voluntary insurance in the same institu- 
 tions is allowed to all industrial employes, clerks, 
 teachers, etc., with salaries of not more than 
 3,000 marks a year, and to small tradesmen, 
 
 • In any consideration of the figures as to German insurance 
 the lower standard of wages and salaries (as compared with England) 
 must be borne constantly in mind.
 
 176 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. m. 
 
 farmers, and others, who have not exceeded forty 
 years of age at the time of entry. The pension 
 institutions are either " general " or " special " ; 
 the former (thirty-one in number) are coincident 
 with the great administrative areas, and include all 
 persons bound to insure, with the exceptions of 
 those dealt with by the nineteen special institu- 
 tions formed for such large undertakings as railways 
 and mines. Both classes are under the stringent 
 control of the central government. The con- 
 tributions (where insurance is compulsory) are 
 paid in equal parts by employers and employed ; 
 they vary according to average earnings and 
 range from about Ijd. to 3|^d. a week, in five 
 grades, and forty contributory weeks are required 
 in each year. A pension for permanent incapacity 
 (defined as inability to earn one-third of the current 
 local rate of wages) resulting from ill-health may 
 be claimed at the end of two hundred weeks ; 
 it consists of a state contribution of £2, 10s., 
 together with a fixed minimum sum for each of 
 the five grades, and of from 3 to 12 pfennigs 
 for each contributory week ; the minimum is 
 about £5, 16s. 5d. per annum, and the maximum 
 about £20, 15s. 5d. The old age pension can be 
 claimed first at seventy years of age, and consists 
 of a Government grant of £2, 10s., and a fixed 
 additional sum of from £3 to £9 according to 
 grade — the minimum pension being thus £5, 10s. 
 and the maximum £11, 10s. At the beginning 
 of 1902 there were 675,000 persons in receipt
 
 BECT. 8.] EFFECT UPON POOR RELIEF 177 
 
 of pensions, and about 180,000 of these were 
 for old age. 
 
 The great importance of this system, in relation 
 to the general question of poor relief, hardly 
 needs emphasis. The sickness and accident 
 insurance clearly provides a safeguard against 
 one of the most frequent causes of recourse to 
 the poor law authorities ; and the infirmity and 
 old age pensions, though they are small, may 
 yet be just large enough to enable the recipient 
 to do without public aid, either because of his 
 own additional resources or through the help 
 of relatives who could not undertake his whole 
 support. Certainly the German officials believe 
 that in this way the burden of the poor law 
 authorities has been, if not diminished, at least 
 prevented from increasing in the same ratio as 
 the population.^ The insurance societies con- 
 tribute largely to hospitals and convalescent homes, 
 and maintain entirely a number of institutions of 
 the latter kind ; and they have been particularly 
 active in their support of the sanatoria established 
 for consumptives by a national society." Some 
 
 ^ " The purpose I have in view is to relieve the communes of a 
 large part of their poor law charges by the establishment of an 
 institution having state support and extending to the entire Empire. 
 ... I believe that the parishes — especially those over-burdened 
 with poor — and under certain circumstances tlie Circles also, would 
 exiierience considerable relief ... if all persons requiring aid, 
 from such natural causes as incapacity or old age, were to be 
 received into an insurance institution established by the state." 
 Bismarck, 29th March 1889. Cf. Zahn, Jf'orkynen'ft Insurance and 
 National Economy (prepared by the German Government for the St 
 Louis Exposition, 1904), p. 26. 
 
 - Zahn, p. 24. Cf. Bielefeldt, Workmen's Insurance and Xalional 
 
 M
 
 178 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 of the sickness societies {e.g.^ in Berlin and 
 Magdeburg), inspect workman's dwellings ; and 
 many lend from their funds at low rates of 
 interest for the erection of tenements.^ 
 
 Undoubtedly the schemes thus briefly sketched 
 are far from perfect, and in particular the hmit 
 of seventy years of age for pensions has been 
 much criticised — though the invalidity pension 
 arrangement removes many of the objections. 
 But as a whole there can be no doubt that 
 the Insurance Laws are working well, and their 
 popularity is evinced by two facts — first, that 
 the Socialists who opposed the original legisla- 
 tion now support it, and, secondly, that plans are 
 being prepared to extend the insurance system 
 by enabling provision to be made for widows 
 and orphans. 
 Labour Before we pass now to the poor law proper, 
 
 mention may be made of two pieces of work 
 done by local authorities. One of these is the 
 provision of labour bureaux, founded mainly by 
 the municipalities ; in 1902 there were 276 such 
 offices in Prussia, and through their action places 
 were found for 221,000 workmen.^ And the 
 other is the attempt made in many towns to 
 provide work during the periods of acute economic 
 
 Health (prepared for the same i:)iirpose as Zalin). The Accident 
 Insurance Societies have been very active also in the making of 
 rules for dangerous trades. 
 
 1 Zahn, p. 25. 
 
 2 Zahn, p. 27. Attached to the central registry office at Berlin 
 is a " poor man's lawyer," who gives advice gratuitously. 
 
 bureaux.
 
 8KCT. 8] POOR RELIEF AUTHORITIES 179 
 
 distress, such as tlie winter of 1902-^. The 
 employment was chieHy on puhhc works, road- 
 making, etc., but in some instances there were 
 efforts to provide suitable occupation for skilled 
 artisans.^ 
 
 The local authorities for poor relief in The poor law 
 
 . authorities. 
 
 Prussia are two — the Ldndarinenvcrband and 
 the Ortsaruicnverbdnd; the former is usually 
 identical with the province," whilst the latter 
 consists of a commune (town or country) or a 
 manor. The Landaiinenverhaiid provides or 
 
 ^ _ (1) Landannen- 
 
 assists institutions for lunatics, imbeciles, ^«^^^a^<i- 
 epileptics, and for deaf and dumb or blind 
 persons ; the cost of maintenance is borne by 
 the OrUarmenverhand with contributions of at 
 least two-thirds from the Circles.^ The 
 Lcmdarmenvcrbande may also come to the aid 
 of the smaller local authorities by grants of 
 money, and by the provision of labour colonies, 
 of which some sixteen have been formed by 
 them. The Landarmenverband is administered 
 by a provincial Board, and the cost of the work 
 is divided between the Circles according to the 
 proportion of their shares of state taxation ; and 
 the latter also render assistance often by the 
 establishment of hospitals.^ 
 
 1 Zahn, p. 28. 
 
 - In the Province of East Prussia the Circles, and in Hesse 
 Nassau the Government Districts, form the Landarmenverbdnde. 
 
 ^ H. de Grais, Handhnch, p. 359. 
 
 * This, as the provision of hospitals in towns, is done b}' the local 
 authorities as part of the Public Health Administration (Gesundheits- 
 polizei).
 
 180 PRUSSIAxN LOCAL ADMLMSTRATION [chap. in. 
 
 The Ortsarmenverband has the task of 
 general relief, which is either indoor or outdoor, 
 and is administered by a committee of the 
 Communal Council, or in a manor by the lord 
 or his representative. In the rural districts it 
 appears that the arrangements are still far from 
 satisfactory, and the absence of any groupment 
 of the communes renders effective action almost 
 impossible. The smaller ones have no insti- 
 tutions for indoor relief; the larger ones do 
 possess them, but they often provide for the 
 sick only by arrangement with the local doctors, 
 and have no infirmaries. Hence the action of 
 larger authorities already described becomes 
 absolutely necessary. The funds of the 
 Ortsar^menverband are derived from gifts and 
 legacies, proceeds of some fines, and a local rate 
 which in a small commune produces very little. 
 For children, orphanages may be established, but 
 it is more usual for the communes, both large 
 and small, to adopt the " boarding out " plan. 
 In many of the manors poor relief is apt to be 
 neglected,^ and there is no such strong central 
 control or uniform administration as is found in 
 Poor relief in Eufflaud. It is in the large towns that the 
 
 laxge towns. . 
 
 organisation for the relief of the poor has taken 
 its most complete and instructive form. There 
 is no Umit to the activity of the Town Councils 
 (beyond the occasional necessity for admini- 
 strative approval) ; they can do all that they 
 
 ^ Oertzen, Annenpfiege in Deutschland, p. 37.
 
 SECT. 8.] THE "ELBERFELDT SYSTEM^ 181 
 
 tliiiik desirable or necessary. Tliey may provide 
 or assist hospitals as part of their piil^hc health 
 administration, and frequently do so, and they 
 may establish orphanages and other homes for 
 children ; and they may adopt practically what- 
 ever methods they like both of organisation and 
 relief. For the purposes of the distribution of 
 rehef the plan now commonly used is what is 
 known as the Elberfeldt system. 
 
 The work is controlled and the financial re- d) Poor law 
 
 deputation. 
 
 sponsibility borne by the Town Coimcil, but the 
 administrative work is conducted by a deputa- 
 tion which varies in constitution, but includes 
 members of the Executive Board and of the 
 Town Council, and a number of co-opted persons 
 interested in the problems with which the 
 deputation has to deal; a member of the 
 Executive Board presides. It is the task of 
 this deputation {e.g., in Halle ^) to determine the 
 general principles and methods to be adopted, 
 to supervise hospitals and other institutions, to 
 guide and superintend the district committees, to 
 conduct the negotiations (as to the support of 
 paupers) with other poor law authorities, to 
 purchase all necessary supplies, and to prepare 
 an annual budget for presentation to the Town 
 Council, which votes the necessary funds — or 
 so much as it thinks proper. 
 
 The town is divided into a number of districts (2) The 
 
 District 
 
 (23 in Halle with a population of 155,000, and committee. 
 
 ^ Jaiues, Municipal Administration in Oermany, pp. 40-41.
 
 182 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 over 250 in Berlin) and in each there is a 
 District Committee, composed of citizens 
 (now often including women) appointed by the 
 Town Council ; the number of members varies 
 according to the size of the district. Any 
 citizen may be appointed by the Town Council ; 
 and if appointed he is bound to serve (under 
 penalties ) ; it is probably true that there are 
 cases in which the office is accepted very reluc- 
 tantly, but these do not appear to be very frequent. 
 Each committee has a chairman, who is often 
 (where the committees are not too numerous) a 
 member of the central deputation ; it is his 
 duty to divide the committee work between the 
 various members, to supervise their action, and to 
 keep in constant communication with the central 
 authority. The committee receives applica- 
 tions for relief, makes the necessary enquiries, 
 and determines the amount of assistance to be 
 given ; specially difficult cases it refers to the 
 deputation. The usual plan is for each member 
 to take charge of a gi-oup of streets ; ^ and it is 
 then his duty to enquire into any case arising 
 there, to report on it to his committee, to act 
 as almoner, to keep the case under constant 
 supervision," and to give all the advice and aid 
 
 ^ "Jede Armen-Kommission bestiimnt selbst fur die einzelnen 
 Mitglieder deren Gesehaftskreis, dergestalt, dass die samniliehen 
 einzelnen Strassen-theile des Ai'nien-Kominissions-Bezirks unter die 
 einzelnen Mitglieder, mit Ausnahme des Kommissions-Vorstehers, 
 geograjihisch vertheilt werden." Gesclidftsanweisung fur die Armen- 
 KrymTnififdoTien of Charlottenburg, sec. 4. 
 
 2 " Die Arnienptleger habeu die ihnen iibertragenen Uutersuchung
 
 SECT. 8] VOLUNTARY WORKERS 183 
 
 in his power. The great objects aimed at are 
 the avoidance of hard and fast routine methods 
 of enquiry, security that the investigation shall 
 be made by persons who are not so overburdened 
 with cases as to be unable to give much time 
 and attention to each, and the use of the local 
 knowledge and services of persons who are 
 likely to be regarded by the poor as neighbours 
 rather than as officials. Of course this calls for 
 a great number of voluntary workers (or at 
 least unpaid workers), but these are in most 
 cases readily forthcoming.^ In many towns the 
 local charitable associations combine to establish 
 a central information office, to which each sends 
 a list of its cases, so as to avoid over-lapping, 
 and to spread information as to imposters and 
 their methods ; an4 this union is generally in 
 close communication with the town poor law 
 deputation. 
 
 The aim of the poor law administration is inatitutiona. 
 to deal with the cases of " deserving " poor, so 
 far as possible, by out-door reUef, and to provide 
 
 vorzunehmeu . . , die bewilligten luouatlichen Unterstiitzungen 
 auszuzahlen, und sind verpflichtet, regelniiissig einmal ini Monat iille 
 laufend luiterstntzten Personen ihres Reviers aufzusuehen, und sich 
 iibor ihre Vurluiltuisse unterrichten. Sie habeu deix Ai-ineii luit Rath 
 imd That zur Seite zu stehen." Geschdftsanweisung fur die Anncn- 
 Kommissioacn of Chai'lottenburg, sec. 7. 
 
 ^ There seems no obvious reason whj', in any reform of the English 
 poor law administration, the services of the great number of philan- 
 thropic workers in the English large towns should not be placed at 
 the disposal of the Guardians far more than they are at present. 
 The widespread committees of the Charity Organisation Societj', for 
 example, could render great service in this waj*.
 
 184 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. hi. 
 
 almshouses and infirmaries for the aged and 
 permanently infirm who could not receive proper 
 care (for lack of relatives or other reasons) 
 in their own homes. For the children there 
 are, as already mentioned, orphanages either 
 maintained or aided by the towns, or more 
 usually the boarding-out system, and in some 
 cases {e.g., Dantzic, Berlin, Frankfurt) there are 
 municipal deaf and dumb asylums. The towns 
 may set up asylums for all the same classes of 
 " defectives " as the provinces, if they choose to 
 do so and have the means. Workhouses may 
 be erected, but many of the great towns and 
 provinces (for the rural districts) have established 
 labour colonies,^ and in some of these provision 
 is made for two classes of workers, the genuine 
 workman out of employment, and those who 
 are in poverty clearly through their own 
 misconduct. The latter are kept apart, so far 
 as possible, from the deserving poor, and may 
 be detained for periods usually of not less than 
 six months or more than two years ; when 
 discharged they are given clothing and a small 
 sum of money to start them on their way again, 
 and they are also brought into relations with 
 private benevolent agencies, which undertake to 
 
 1 The first labour colony in Prussia was founded near Bielefeld in 
 1882. Between that date and the end of 1897 the labour colonies had 
 received 98,622 men, and discharged 95,615. The main object is to 
 train what may be called the "shiftless and idle" class in habits of 
 industry, but this end seems scarcely to have been attained — a very 
 large proportion of those discharged come back again and again.
 
 SECT. 8.] I'OOR RELIEF INSTITUTIONS 185 
 
 watch and assist them so fur as practicable. 
 Tlie best known instance of an institution of 
 this kind is the Herlin " House of Correction " 
 at Riimmelsburg ; persistent disorderly persons, 
 beggars, etc., may be drafted there by order 
 of the poor law authorities, and kept there 
 for from six months to two years ; the house 
 is near to the lands gradually being reclaimed 
 by the Berlin municipality in connection with 
 its sewage disposal system, and the persons 
 committed to it are employed partly on those 
 lands and partly in gangs on other farms in 
 the neighbourhood, or on the roads. They are 
 kept under strict supervision ; and receive a 
 small wage of which they may spend a portion, 
 the remainder being retained by the authorities 
 until discharge. For the old or permanently 
 infirm of this class there are special institutions.^ 
 
 The towns also establish night shelters of 
 both the municipal lodging-house and casual 
 ward type ; but in the former there is in some 
 instances (as at Berlin) provision for homeless 
 families. There is generally a restriction on 
 the amount of use which may be made of 
 these shelters, unless reasonable cause can be 
 shown against it. 
 
 On the whole it must be said that the 
 Prussian system of poor relief is admirable in 
 
 ' For a recent and enthusiastic account of the poor law institutions 
 of Berhn, see The Brass IForkers of Berlin and Birmingham ; a Comparison 
 (1905), pp. 56-82.
 
 186 PRUSSIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. m. 
 
 the large towns, obtains excellent results, and 
 might with advantage be copied in some 
 respects by England ; that the work of the 
 provincial organisations is also satisfactory so 
 far as it goes ; but that in the small country 
 districts it is by no means all that could be 
 desired, and is in fact far inferior to the poor 
 law administration in the rural parts of England. 
 It should be added that disputes between 
 areas as to the responsibility for relief are 
 decided by the District Committee sitting as 
 an administrative court, with appeal to the 
 Bundesamt fur Heimatwesen in Berlin, which 
 was established to settle disputes on this point 
 between different states of the Empire, but 
 was recognised by Prussia as a court of appeal 
 for cases arising within that kingdom.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES 
 SECTION 1 
 
 The municipalities of the United States present a some charac 
 
 '- ^ _ ^ teristic 
 
 remarkable diversity of organisation, due mainly features. 
 to the fact that local government is a matter for 
 each separate state, and therefore offers oppor- 
 tunities for the experiments of some fifty distinct 
 legislatures. But in spite of considerable differences 
 in detail, during recent years American city con- 
 stitutions have tended towards a uniformity of 
 type, and show some common characteristics. 
 
 The first of these is the municipal independence d) Legis- 
 
 . lative control. 
 
 of all control except that exercised by the legislature, 
 and enforced by the Courts of Justice. In the 
 separate states of the Union the state executive 
 is very weak, and possesses practically no authority 
 whatever over the " cities " (a term applied to all 
 municipalities in America, whatever their size) ; 
 and the result of the absence of any strong 
 central department is that the legislatures find or 
 think it necessary to try to provide in the 
 municipal law for all possible contingencies, and 
 to work out the minutest details. So in the 
 
 187
 
 188 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chap. it. 
 
 municipal codes of the United States there is 
 not only an elaborate and very detailed specifica- 
 tion of the powers to be exercised by the 
 municipal authorities, but generally the organisa- 
 tion of various branches of the civic administra- 
 tion is carefully determined and regulated.^ As 
 the cities vary greatly in size, it may be 
 undesirable to grant the same powers to all, or 
 to impose an absolutely uniform system through- 
 out a state, and so in most cases the plan has 
 been adopted of dividing the cities of each state 
 into a number of groups according to population, 
 and then legislating for each group separately. 
 But it is impossible to foresee all the possible 
 requirements of urban populations, and all the 
 powers which municipal authorities may find it 
 desirable to possess, and so (as in England, 
 where the same method of "specific grants of 
 power" is employed), the cities constantly have 
 recourse to the state parliaments for fresh legisla- 
 tion. There, however, they are encountered by 
 the frequent prohibition (in state constitutions) 
 of all "special legislation," i.e., legislation affect- 
 ing any one local authority.- The usual method 
 
 ^ Many regulations as to city government, and restrictions upon 
 the powers of miuiicipal authorities, are imposed not in ordinary 
 legislative enactments, but in the state constitutions; and the use 
 of this method of control has rapidly increased in recent years, as 
 the state constitutions are frequently re\'ised. 
 
 2 E.g., Constitution of Pennsjdvania, III., sect. 7: "The general 
 assembly shall not pass any local or special law regulating the 
 affairs of counties, cities, townships, wards, boroughs, or school 
 districts, creating offices or prescribing the powers and duties of
 
 SECT. 1.] MUNICIPAL LAW 189 
 
 of evading this is an adaptation of the classifica- 
 tion system^ — the law courts have shown them- 
 selves ready to accept as a general law (thus 
 coming within the constitution), a statute apply- 
 ing to a class of cities so defined as to include 
 in fact only a single city.^ This constant legis- 
 lation for particular cities far exceeds anything 
 with which we are acquainted in England, since it 
 applies not merely to powers, but to organisation, 
 and is often directed even against the cities. A 
 distinguished American student of civic adminis- 
 tration writes : — 
 
 " Charters and charters amendments are passed 
 [by the state legislatures] not only without public 
 and local discussion, but also, in many cases, against 
 the wishes of the local officials and local members 
 of the legislature. Sometimes such legislation 
 has had, ostensibly at least, the immediate object 
 of remedying some municipal delinquency ; but 
 in many cases the most effective motive has been 
 to secure some partisan advantage for those in 
 control of the state government, when the city 
 officers belong to another political organisation ; 
 whilst in some instances such legislation has been 
 enacted through the worst kind of political 
 jobbery, to confer privileges which could not be 
 secured from the local authoritijs. By such 
 means acts have been passed substituting state 
 
 officers in counties, cities, or boroughs ; . . . . nor indirectly enact 
 such law by the repeal of a general law." A similar clause appears 
 in the constitutions of about half the states. 
 
 1 Vide infra, p. 332. 
 
 - In 1902, however, the Supreme Court of Ohio reversed its 
 previous decisions, and held that enactments applying nominally to 
 a class, but in reality to only a single city, ai'e unconstitutional.
 
 190 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chaj'. iv. 
 
 appointed officials for local officers, compelling 
 cities to carry out expensive and unnecessary- 
 undertakings, and granting franchises in the 
 public streets with little or no compensation to 
 the city. The legislatures of New York, 
 Pennsylvania, Ohio, and ^lissouri, have been most 
 active in these methods of interference; but 
 instances are not lacking in Massachusetts, 
 Illinois, JNlichigan, and other states."^ 
 
 Various attempts have been made to check 
 this kind of abuse, and two of the experiments 
 are of considerable interest. The first is the 
 provision in the constitution of the State of 
 New York, which divides the cities into three 
 classes, and provides that any legislation not 
 applying to all the cities in any class must be 
 submitted to the authorities of the cities con- 
 cerned, and if disapproved by them, can come 
 into force only if passed by the legislature a 
 second time. More important is the plan known 
 as " municipal home rule," whereby cities are 
 allowed to frame their own charters within the 
 limits prescribed by the state constitutions. Thus 
 under the Missouri Constitution of 1875, in cities of 
 over 100,000 inhabitants a Board of thirteen persons 
 may be elected to draw up a charter, which must 
 then be submitted to popular vote, and receive 
 four-sevenths of the votes cast.^ This method 
 
 1 J. A. Fairlie, " Problems of City Government " in Ammls of the 
 American Academy, xxvii. 1, p. 146. The most notorious recent instance 
 is the overthrow of the city government of Pittsburg by the Penn- 
 sylvania legislature in 1901, mainly in the interests of a political 
 party. 
 
 2 Fairlie, loc. ciL, pp. 148-149.
 
 SECT. 1] THE CITY EXFX'UTIVE 191 
 
 has been adopted in several states for much 
 smaller cities, and is recommended by the 
 reforming National Municipal I^eague for all 
 cities with not less than 25,000 inhabitants. The 
 arrangement checks legislative interference, but it 
 tends to make American municipal law still more 
 confused, and might be so used as seriously to 
 diminish state sovereignty.^ 
 
 The next most striking feature in municipal [^^Jn o?^^"* 
 organisation in the United States is the tendency p°^®" 
 to reproduce the principles and methods of the 
 federal and state governments, and particularly 
 that separation of the legislative and executive 
 authorities which is so prominent a feature of 
 American constitutions. The general movement 
 of American civic government in recent years 
 has been to make the Mayor independent of the 
 council, and to entrust to him alone the conduct 
 of the city administration, just as the President 
 is the sole responsible executive officer of the 
 United States. There is another method, by 
 which not only the Mayor, but also the heads 
 of the various executive departments are elected 
 by popular vote ; but this, which is an imitation 
 of the way in which the state executives are 
 commonly formed, produces the same evils of 
 
 1 The " platform " of the Cleveland City Democratic Convention 
 in 1901 contained the demand "that in place of the present legisla- 
 tive interference in matters of purely local concern, we should have 
 municipal home rule, to flie end that bond issues, local taxation, and 
 the granting of local franchises, may be submitted to a direct vote of 
 the people."
 
 192 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chap. iv. 
 
 divided responsibility, and the municipal reformers 
 of America are agreed in advocating the sole 
 responsibility of the popularly elected Mayor, 
 appointing his own subordinates. 
 
 The general line of development is perhaps best 
 illustrated by the municipal history of Phila- 
 delphia.^ Under the charter of 1789 (as amended 
 in 1796), the Mayor was elected by the city 
 councillors from the ranks of the " aldermen " 
 (magistrates appointed by the governor of the 
 state) ; then in 1826 the council's range of 
 choice was extended to include the whole body 
 of freemen; and, finally, in 1839, the right of 
 election passed to the freemen themselves. From 
 1799 to 1839 the Mayor appointed to all salaried 
 municipal offices, but in the latter year the 
 power to make such appointments passed back 
 to the councils ; and in fact up to 1854 the 
 councils were steadily extending their authority 
 over the administration both by the appoint- 
 ment of officers and by the growth of " the 
 committee system," The city councils of Phila- 
 delphia were approximating to the type with 
 which we are familiar in England, but this was 
 a violation of the principles of political science as 
 understood in the United States.^' The Consolida- 
 
 1 Allinson and Penrose, Municipal History of Philadelphia, passim. 
 
 2 " If there is one thing in the history of this period which stands 
 oiit more clearly defined than any other, it is the trend of the ijolicy 
 exercised by councils of vesting more and more the executive duties 
 in the hands of committees of their own body, thus confounding the 
 true theory of rejiublican policy, which should tend to keep the line 
 between these two arms of government sharply defined. . . . All
 
 SECT. 1.] PHILADELPHIA 193 
 
 tion Act of 1854 made the INIayor much more 
 
 powerful, and weakened the councils ; the Mayor, 
 
 elected by general \'ote of the citizens, was 
 
 empowered to veto any resolutions of the city 
 
 councils ; he had control of the police and of the 
 
 general administration ; the councils could appoint 
 
 committees to supervise the work of the various 
 
 departments, and to report on particular matters, 
 
 but under express directions "to perform no 
 
 executive acts." But the councils persisted in 
 
 their efforts to secure complete control ^ until in 
 
 1887 the new constitution (for cities of the first 
 
 class, which includes only Philadelphia) carefully 
 
 confined the councils to deliberative functions, 
 
 and placed the actual administration in the hands 
 
 of the Mayor and officers partly appointed by 
 
 him, and partly elected by popular \ ote.- 
 
 history teaches us that the constant tendency of all legislative bodies 
 is to absorb, when unchecked, executive, and even judicial functions. 
 We see this every daj' at Washington, and the integrity of our 
 political system demands that it be jealously watched and sternly 
 checked." Allinson and Penrose, pp. 124-125. 
 
 ' "It had been already intended by the Act of 1854 that the 
 councils of Philadelphia should confine themselves to their legislative 
 duties ; and they were specially prohibited by Section 50 of the Con- 
 solidation Act from performing any executive duties whatever, 
 whether as committees or as councils. This injmiction was disre- 
 garded in practice. Councils usurped all powers, legislative, 
 executive, and visitorial. The executive arm of government was 
 the sj'stem of "government by committees." . . . The system was 
 thoroughly and inherentlj' bad. As an attempt at oiganisation 
 it was ill-fitted in j^rinciple and outgrown in jiractice. It was 
 contrary to the theorj' of scientific government, against the weight 
 of experience, and in bold defiance of conmion sense." — Allinson 
 and Penrose, p. 169. 
 
 ^ Since 1887 there has been a growing tendency to transfer the 
 appointment of some of the heads of departments from the Mayor 
 to the councils. 
 
 N
 
 194 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chap. iv. 
 
 Another illustration of this development is 
 furnished by Chicago, where 
 
 "the election of the Mayor passed from the 
 council to the people, and became the starting- 
 point in the separation of executive and legislative 
 functions. . . . With each succeeding charter, 
 the position of the Mayor was strengthened by 
 the addition of new powers taken from the council. 
 Although the common council remains to-day as 
 the central fact in the municipality of Chicago, 
 the theory of executive concentration has been con- 
 sistently followed out until the Mayor is possessed 
 of the responsible powers of the direction and 
 supervision of the administration, as well as of 
 appointment and veto. He has been given many 
 financial and legislative powers formerly exer- 
 cised by the council, which places this body in a 
 weakened position. . . . The chasm that separates 
 the Mayor and council is partially bridged on the 
 one hand by the executive veto of the ordinances 
 of the municipal legislature, and on the other 
 hand by legislative confirmation of the appoint- 
 ments of the executive. These checks, designed 
 to create harmony in administration and to restrain 
 hasty action in appointment and legislation, have 
 reared two almost independent organs appeahng 
 for popular favour." ^ 
 
 The reasons for the adoption of this policy 
 seem to be two in number. There is first the 
 strong influence exercised upon American political 
 thought by the federal constitution, which in spite 
 of defects arising from the extreme application of 
 the doctrine of " the separation of powers " does 
 
 ^ Sparling, Municipal History of Chicago, pp. 12-13.
 
 BECT. 1.] EFFECTS OF THE SYSTEM 195 
 
 on the whole work well. But it hardly seems 
 probable that it would have been so closely copied 
 in American municipal <yovernment but for the 
 unfortunate state into which that had fallen. Many 
 of the cities suffered, and continue to suffer, from 
 extremely corrupt and inefficient administration,^ 
 due partly to the undisputed sway of national 
 political parties and the prevalence of the " spoils 
 system " in local affairs, and partly to the con- 
 sequent disinclination of the best class of citizens 
 to enter municipal life. It was believed that the 
 only remedy for both corruption and mismanage- 
 ment was to take the administration away from 
 the councils and entrust it to a single person 
 elected by popular vote, independent of the 
 councils and able to keep them in check, and 
 bearing the whole responsibility before the citizens. 
 It is difficult to say how far the plan has succeeded. 
 In some cases a good mayor has been elected, but 
 he has not always succeeded in carrying out many 
 reforms, and unfortunately the civic enthusiasm 
 which has carried the reformers to power has 
 hitherto been very intermittent, though there are 
 now signs of distinct improvement. When on the 
 other hand the administration of a city is concen- 
 trated in the hands of a representative of a party 
 which is not scrupulous in its methods, the last 
 state of that city is likely to be worse than the 
 
 ^ Corrui^tion and inefficiency, however, do not always go together; 
 a corrupt administration is often astute enough to give a city at 
 least an appearance of good government.
 
 196 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chap. iv. 
 
 first/ But it is noteworthy that the municipal 
 reformers of the United States still support the 
 policy, and that must be taken to mean that on 
 the whole they are satisfied with the results so 
 far obtained. 
 (iii) Influence The parallel between the Federal Constitution of 
 
 of the Federal 
 
 Constitution. United States and the Municipal Constitution of 
 Philadelphia is so curious that it merits a brief 
 summary. The President is elected by popular 
 vote for four years ; so is the Mayor. There are 
 two Houses of Congress — the Senate, consisting 
 of two members for each state of the Union, and 
 the House of Representatives, elected according 
 to population ; the city council of Philadelphia has 
 two chambers, the Select Council composed of an 
 equal number of members for each ward, and the 
 Common Council elected by the wards according 
 to population. The President communicates w^ith 
 Congress by message, and the Mayor communicates 
 with the councils in the same way ; the President 
 may veto any law passed by Congress, and the 
 Mayor has a similar veto upon ordinances passed 
 by the councils — in each case the veto may be 
 over-ridden by a two-thirds vote. The President's 
 appointments to the chief executive offices must 
 be approved by the Senate, and the Mayor's 
 principal appointments (so far as he has that 
 power) require confirmation by the Select Council. 
 Finally, the President can be impeached by the 
 
 ^ Eaton, Government of MvMieipalities, }Dp. 2.57-285. This writer is a 
 strong opponent of the theory of " autocratic mayors."
 
 SECT. 1] PARTY POLITICS 197 
 
 House of Representatives before the Senate, and 
 the Mayor can be impeaclied by the Common 
 Council before the Select Council ; and in each 
 case the only penalty seems to be dismissal from 
 office.^ 
 
 Reference has already been made to one other (iv) influence 
 
 of political 
 
 characteristic feature of American city government parties. 
 — the influences exercised in local affairs by the 
 national political parties. Attempts have con- 
 stantly been made in England to identify national 
 and municipal parties, but they have not been 
 very successful ; in the United States the process 
 has gone very much further, and the party machine 
 rules almost undisputed.^ This is largely due to 
 the application to municipal government of the 
 " spoils system," or rather the existence of a host 
 of municipal services with which they could reward 
 their faithful followers made the party leaders 
 anxious to secure control of the city governments 
 and to turn them into party possessions.^ The 
 
 1 For an account of the organisation of the City of Philadelphia 
 see James (cd.) Municipal Governvicnt of Philadelphia, which needs to 
 be brought up to date by reference to subsequent legislation. 
 
 - The remark of Edmonds on "The Recent Reform Movement in 
 Philadelphia" in the Annals of the American Academy, Vol. XXVII. 1, 
 p. 183, is instructive. The city government was entirely in the 
 hands of the Republican machine, and (sjieaking of the reformers) 
 he observes that "ecpially strong was the ulemunt which had hitherto 
 been deterred from political'" (i.e., municipal) '"action by the fear 
 that in so doing they would unsettle the system of protective tariffp, 
 which has been a potent factor in the development of Pennsylvania's 
 industrial resources. The re-election of Mr Roosevelt, however, 
 convinced many honest Republicans that an attack could be made 
 upon the local machine without in any way disturbing the economic 
 policies of the nation." 
 
 ^ "The organisation is the term popularly applied to the
 
 198 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chap. iv. 
 
 consequences of this have been, however, so disas- 
 trous as to call into existence the numerous non- 
 party organisations which call themselves "municipal 
 leagues" and aim at abohshing the influence of 
 national political parties in civic affairs, and destroy- 
 ing the " spoils system " ; they have a very difficult 
 and uphill task, since they come into conflict with 
 both the highly - organised national parties, but 
 there is now evidence that their work is beginning 
 to bear fruit. ^ 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 The City The head of the city executive is the INIayor,^ 
 
 always elected by vote of the whole body of 
 
 irresponsible governing agency which, unknown to either law or 
 constitution, has absolutely controlled the political destinies of 
 Philadelphia during the past decade. Its backbone consisted of the 
 fifteen thousand office-holders— municipal, state, and federal— who 
 in one way or another draw salaries from the public purse in ex- 
 change for public services. With the election to the mayoralty of 
 the Hon. Samuel H, Ashbridge in 1899, every department was 
 made tributary to its influence; its representatives and agents 
 were to be found in every one of the eleven hundred wards of the 
 city. No one coiild hope to receive public employment unless his 
 application was visid by his division leader and ward boss." 
 Edmonds, loc. cit., p. 180. The similar organisation of "Tammany" 
 at New York is probably more familiar to English readers. 
 
 1 On American city government see Bryce, American Commonwealth 
 cc. l.-lii. ; Goodnow, Municipal Problems and Municipal Home Rule; 
 Eaton, Government of Municipalities ; Fairlie, Municipal Administration ; 
 and the Quarterly Rev-iew entitled Municijxd Affairs, published by 
 the Reform Club of New York. 
 
 2 The "Act for the government of cities of the second class" 
 (Pittsburg, Scranton and Alleghany), passed by the Pennsj'lvania 
 State Legislatm-e in 1901, abohshed the office of Mayor and replaced 
 that officer by a Recorder, who is only the Mayor under another 
 name and armed with larger powers.
 
 8KCT. 2.] POSITION OF THE MAYOR 199 
 
 citizens, and holding office for a term ranging 
 from one year (in many small cities) and two 
 years (in New York, l^oston, Brooklyn, Chicago, 
 San Francisco, and numerous other cases) to four 
 years, as in Philadelphia, St Louis, and Baltimore ; 
 where the JNlayor has the responsibility of con- 
 ducting the whole administration it is obviously 
 desirable that tliere should be a fairly long tenure 
 of office, to enable him to carry out to completion 
 any policy which he may inaugurate. In most 
 large cities, and in many small ones, he receives 
 a salary which varies in amount up to §10,000, 
 or in a very few instances $15,000. In the 
 smaller municipalities it is customary for the 
 Mayor to preside over the meetings of the city 
 council ; and he does so in a few large cities, such 
 as Chicago and Providence. Elsewhere the Mayor (a) The 
 has no such connection with the council, but only 
 communicates with it by message from time to 
 time, reporting on the condition of the adminis- 
 tration and recommending the enactment of such 
 ordinances as he may deem necessary or desirable. 
 In numerous cases, both of large and small cities, 
 the Mayor may veto resolutions passed by the 
 council ; to come into force despite this they 
 must be re-enacted by a two-thirds or even larger 
 vote (in New York a five-sixths vote is necessary). 
 It may be added that the municipal government 
 of the federal capital, Washington, is in the hands 
 of commissioners appointed by the President ; the 
 inhabitants have no voice in it whatsoever.
 
 200 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chap. iv. 
 
 offic?aJs^'^ The mayoral powers of appointment to salaried 
 
 municipal offices vary greatly. On the one hand, 
 " in many small cities, and in some of considerable 
 size (the latter mostly in New England and Ohio), 
 the IMayor has even yet little or no appointing 
 power, and no effective means of controlling the 
 other officials," ^ who are often elected by general 
 vote. On the other hand, in Baltimore the JMayor 
 appoints the heads of all departments except the 
 comptroller, who is elected by the citizens in 
 order that he may be an independent check upon 
 the financial administration ; the appointments 
 must be approved by the Select Council (usually 
 as a matter of course), and are for the same 
 period as the Mayor's tenure of office ; the depart- 
 mental heads themselves appoint their subordinates. 
 In New York, Albany, Boston, Buffalo, Cleveland, 
 and elsewhere the Mayor's appointments do not 
 require even confirmation by the council. Between 
 these two extremes there are many different 
 arrangements; in a large number of instances 
 the Mayor makes some appointments, and others 
 are filled by popular election ; - in a few cases 
 some of the appointments are made by the city 
 councils. The tendency on the whole seems to 
 be towards the concentration in the Mayor of 
 
 1 Fairlie, pp. 140-141. 
 
 2 " In St Louis the following administrative officials are elective, 
 and hold office for four years : the Comptroller, the Treasurer, the 
 Auditor, the Register, the Collector of Revenues, the Marshal, the 
 Inspector of Weights and Measures, the Board of Assessors (consisting 
 of a President and ten District Assessors), and the Coroner." Fairlie, 
 Municipal Administration, p. 402.
 
 SECT. 2.] MUNiriPAI. OFFiriAI.S 201 
 
 all responsibility, and therefore of" all powers 
 of appointment (except in the case of the comp- 
 troller, who is almost everywhere elected); the 
 attempts at l*hiladelphia to transfer appointments 
 from the Mayor to the councils in joint session 
 are apparently exceptional. Wliere the Mayor The 
 
 , , , , . . "mayoral 
 
 has the almost sole power of appointing (and autocracy. 
 generally of dismissing) municipal officers his 
 authority is very great, and if he is the repre- 
 sentative, as is generally the case, of a party 
 organisation, the effect is far from good. In 
 approving a Bill, which in 1905 transferred certain 
 appointments from the Mayor of Philadelphia 
 to the councils, the Governor of the State of 
 Pennsylvania wrote : — 
 
 " The most thoughtful observers, and those 
 most familiar with the practical difficulties of 
 the subject, would probably concede that it would 
 be better for the administration of public affairs 
 in Philadelphia if the power which is given by 
 existing huvs to the JMayor, could be, in certain 
 directions at least, lessened. He has, in effect, 
 absolute control over the contracts for all the public 
 work, over an army of police and attendants, and 
 over all the affairs of the municipality. He, in 
 substance, has the appointment of officials, of 
 greater or less importance, estimated to be in 
 number from seven thousand to tw^ehe thousand. 
 If this great authority could be exercised intelli- 
 gently, and only as a trust for the good of the 
 people, it would undoubtedly be the best system 
 of government ; but if, unfortunately, it should fall 
 into corrupt or even incapable hands it would 
 prove to be the very worst."
 
 202 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chap. iv. 
 
 The unfortunate condition of affairs suggested 
 in this last sentence has not infrequently come 
 about ; but the National Municipal League is 
 nevertheless convinced that the supremacy of 
 the INIayor is the most desirable plan, partly for 
 reasons already indicated, and partly because if, 
 as sometimes happens, a reforming mayor is 
 elected he can carry out his policy unhampered by 
 the councils or by practically independent officials. 
 It is defended also by reformers and anti-reformers 
 alike, on the ground that where the Mayor is given 
 so responsible a position, where he represents the 
 executive over against the councils and the citizens, 
 it is only right that he should have a very full 
 measure of control over all the administrative 
 departments. 
 The 'Mayors j^ order to sccurc in any case some co-ordina- 
 
 cabinet. •' 
 
 tion of the various departments of the municipal 
 administration there has grown up a system under 
 which the various heads meet from time to time 
 in consultation under the presidency of the Mayor. 
 A typical example is furnished by the second-class 
 cities of Pennsylvania, where the law directs that 
 the " city recorder " (as the head of the executive 
 is styled there) 
 
 "shall call together the heads of departments for 
 consultation and advice upon the affairs of the 
 city at least once a month, and at such meetings 
 he may call on the heads of departments for such 
 reports as to the subject matters under their 
 control as he may deem proper, which it shall 
 be their duty to prepare and submit at once to
 
 SECT. 2.] MUNICIPAL DEPARTMENTS 203 
 
 the city recorder, llecords sliall be kept of such 
 meetings ; and rules and regulations shall he 
 adopted thereat for the administration of the 
 affairs of the city departments not inconsistent 
 with any law or ordinance."^ 
 
 The same arrangement has been recently made 
 general for the cities of Indiana and New York 
 State, and seems likely to be widely adopted. It 
 clearly has many advantages, and is in fact an 
 absolute necessity where the JNIayor is not given 
 complete control ; and it will be observed that under 
 such conditions the municipal " cabinet," discussing 
 policy and authorised to make rules and regula- 
 tions, is approximating to the Administrative Board 
 of the German cities. Even where the arrangement 
 has not been carried so far, departments which 
 are in any way connected are often grouped to- 
 gether, and the heads meet at intervals for con- 
 sultative purposes. 
 
 In some cases the departments are under 
 single directors, in others there are Boards. There 
 is no uniform poHcy in this respect, but though 
 in most cases the Board system is partially in 
 force the other method has gradually become 
 predominant. Thus in Chicago, education, fire- 
 brigade, poHce, public health, water supply, and 
 drainage, were all under elected Boards until 18G7 ; 
 in that year the appointment of the Boards was 
 given to the Mayor; and then in 187G they 
 began to be replaced by single commissioners." 
 
 » Act of 1901, Part I., sec. 1. "^ Sparling, p. 96,
 
 204 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chap. iv. 
 
 In most cases the Boards are small in number, 
 and they seem now to exist chiefly for education, 
 parks, water supply, and charities ; sometimes 
 they are chosen by the Mayor, sometimes by the 
 council, or by popular vote. 
 Education The diversity which is so remarkable a feature 
 
 of American city systems may be illustrated by 
 an account of the various ways in which school 
 authorities are constituted. There is generally a 
 School Board, and in Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, 
 St Louis, Denver, and other cities, it is directly 
 elected. But in New York, Baltimore, Chicago, 
 St Paul, and San Francisco it is nominated by 
 the Mayor ; in New Orleans eight members are 
 appointed by the governor of the state, and 
 twelve by the city council; at Milwaukee the 
 Mayor appoints four commissioners, who then 
 appoint the School Board ; at Charleston six 
 members are directly elected, and four appointed 
 by the state governor; whilst at Philadelphia 
 the Board is appointed by the Judges of the 
 Court of Common Pleas of Pennsylvania, and is 
 assisted by elected local committees. At Buffalo 
 the schools are controlled directly by the City 
 Council. Under the Board there is usually a super- 
 intendent of schools, who is the chief executive 
 officer ; he is commonly appointed by the Board, 
 but at Buffalo and San Francisco he is elected 
 by the citizens. In some instances (Cincinnati, 
 St Louis, Pittsburg, Minneapolis, and elsewhere) 
 the Board levies its own taxes within limits
 
 SECT. 3.] CITY COUNCILS 205 
 
 prescribed by state law ; in others the municipal 
 authorities raise the amounts which the Boards 
 require ; and in still other cases (even where, as 
 in Boston, Detroit, and Rochester, the Boards 
 are popularly elected) they can only expend such 
 sums as the city councils may think fit to vote 
 after consideration of estimates submitted by the 
 Boards.^ 
 
 SECTION 3 
 
 In all the smaller cities the Council consists The city 
 
 Councils. 
 
 of a single chamber, and this is the case also in 
 a number of the larger municipalities, such as 
 Chicago, New Orleans, Cleveland, Detroit, and 
 Milwaukee ; but Philadelphia, St Louis, Boston, 
 Baltimore, St Paul, and a few others have adopted 
 the bicameral system, whilst New York has 
 recently abandoned it.^ The members of the (D organiaa 
 
 '' tion. 
 
 single chamber, or of the lower house, where 
 there are two, are usually elected by wards, and 
 hold their seats for one year in Boston and else- 
 where, two years in most cases, and four years 
 in the exceptional instance of New Orleans. The 
 members of an upper house are elected some- 
 times by the same electoral districts as the 
 ordinary councillors (but in smaller numbers), 
 
 1 Special Reports of Board of Education, Vol. X., pp. 257-261. 
 
 2 The two chambers are usually called "select" and "common." 
 Where there is only one chamber its members are often styled 
 aldermen ; in other cases the title is given to members of the Select 
 Council.
 
 206 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chap. iv. 
 
 sometimes by larger areas, and sometimes on 
 what is known as a " general ticket " ; ^ they are 
 chosen for two, three, or (in St Louis) four years. 
 There is no uniformity of proportion between 
 the numbers in the two chambers ; and the size 
 of the councils varies greatly. Philadelphia has 
 much the largest municipal assembly in America, 
 with forty-two select and one hundred and sixty- 
 one common councillors ; New York, on the 
 other hand, which has a very much larger popula- 
 tion, has only seventy-two members in its single 
 chamber. Generally it is a rule that the members 
 of both chambers must be resident not only in 
 the city but even in the ward for which they 
 are elected, and this restriction is believed by 
 many observers to have exercised a distinctly 
 unfavourable influence upon the composition of 
 the councils ; ^ whilst the widely-accepted doctrine 
 that municipal offices should be enjoyed by 
 as many citizens as possible (of course of the 
 predominant party) has produced in many cases 
 rapid changes of membership and consequently 
 the same lack of continuity as is shown (for the 
 same reasons) by the lower houses of the federal 
 and state legislatures. Occasionally the councillors 
 are paid, receiving either a fixed annual sum or 
 so much for each meeting attended. 
 
 ^ This corresponds to the French scrutin de lisle, as opposed to the 
 scrutin rf' a rrondissement. 
 
 ■^ A plan niuch favoured by some reformers, and adopted in a 
 few instances, is to have, in addition to the ward members, a few 
 elected by the city "at large."
 
 8RCT. 3.] QUALITY OF THE COUNCILS 207 
 
 It is a matter of common repute that the (») Char 
 
 acter. 
 
 city councils of the United States are far from 
 satisfactory, and that their average composition 
 is decidedly lower than is customary in English, 
 l^russian, or French councils.^ But the cor- 
 ruption and inefficiency of tlie councils of 
 American cities as a whole have been somewhat 
 exaggerated ; ^ there are some very bad examples 
 undoubtedly, but they are chiefly in a small 
 number of great cities, and, on the other hand, 
 there are a large number of smaller municipalities 
 where the administration, though far from perfect, 
 is at least not open to the charge of corruption. 
 But it is true that the conditions of American 
 municipal life do give abundant opportunities 
 for the free play of evil influences. Reference 
 has already been made to the rule of the party 
 system and of " machine politics " in municipal 
 elections, and the deterrent effect of this upon 
 many of the better class of citizens. To an 
 English observer, also, it would seem probable 
 that the limitation of the work of the councils 
 to deliberation and control, their exclusion from 
 all share in the actual administration, and their 
 comparative weakness over against the "mayoral 
 autocracy " must tend to restrain able and energetic 
 men fi'om offering their services ; but it may be 
 that this particular argument has little weight 
 
 ^ Cf. Eaton, cc, xii.-xiii. 
 
 - Most of the literature on this subject with which Enfjlish 
 readers are familiar is written by the reformers of various schools, 
 who in making out their case naturally seize upon the weak points.
 
 208 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chap. iv. 
 
 with the ordinary American citizen, accustomed 
 as he is to see the same careful distinction 
 between deUberative and executive functions 
 maintained in the federal and state governments 
 as well as in the cities. However this may be, 
 the dominance of the party organisation, with 
 its not very scrupulous or refined methods, and 
 the frame of mind which regards municipal office 
 of any kind as part of the " spoils," together with 
 the conditions as to residential qualification, do 
 tend to place in the councils a considerable 
 number of members who are susceptible to illicit 
 influences, especially those of commercial companies 
 struggling to get monopolistic concessions within 
 the municipal areas. 
 (iii) Powers. It has already been pointed out that it is 
 
 becoming more and more frequent for the councils 
 to be debarred from any participation in the actual 
 conduct of city administration ; but this is true 
 in the main only of the large cities. In the small 
 municipalities the organisation and working of 
 the councils are much the same as in the English 
 corporate towns ; some of the officials are directed 
 and supervised by the councils as a whole, whilst 
 others are under the control of committees. 
 Very generally the appointment and dismissal 
 of municipal officers (where they are not elected 
 by the citizens) require the approval of the 
 council. Where the separation of administrative 
 and deliberative functions has been adopted, the 
 work of the council is merely legislative; it
 
 SECT. 3.] POWERS OF THE COUNCILS 209 
 
 votes supplies (where there are two chambers 
 financial proposals must usually originate only 
 in the lower chamber) and passes ordinances for 
 the good government of the city ; it may appoint 
 committees and sub-committees, but their duties 
 are simply to watch the work of particular depart- 
 ments, and to consider and report upon matters 
 referred to them by the councils. The exercise 
 of the ordinance power is hampered in various 
 ways ; not only is it confined to subjects specified 
 in the municipal codes, but even in these cases 
 it is often subject to restrictions contained some- 
 times in general laws, but more frequently in the 
 state constitutions themselves.^ Further, it is liable 
 to the Mayor's veto ; and sometimes the ordinance 
 power in important matters is actually withheld 
 from the councils and given to administrative 
 Boards {e.g., for police, parks, charities, etc.) ; and 
 finally, the right to organise administrative depart- 
 ments is often very limited in effect, since the 
 municipal codes contain the most elaborate 
 provisions for these matters. Conflicts between 
 the JVIayor and the council are not infrequent, 
 but the INIayor is commonly in the stronger 
 position, and unless there is a sufficient majority 
 to over-rule him always, or the council is willing 
 to take the responsibility of refusing to vote the 
 necessary supplies, it is apt to sink into compara- 
 tive insignificance. 
 
 A word must be said as to one particular Municipal 
 
 policy. 
 ^ For illustrations of this, vide infra, pp. 330-2 and 359-361. 
 
 O
 
 210 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chap. iv. 
 
 group of municipal activities — known in England 
 as "municipal trading." The policy of municipali- 
 sation has so far made but little headway in the 
 United States. There we find " no city owning 
 and operating its own tramways and street 
 railways, probably less than half-a-dozen manu- 
 facturing gas, a very few engaged in supplying 
 electric light." ^ But, on the other hand, the 
 water supply is usually in the hands of the city 
 councils ; gas is supphed by private companies 
 " at prices generally regulated by the state 
 legislatures " ; and in the case of tramways a 
 system has been adopted in Boston and New 
 York of making subways and then leasing them, 
 "in which cases the municipalities insure them- 
 selves a net revenue for certain undertakings, 
 by leasing to responsible private companies the 
 subways for a series of years at a rate of interest 
 from 1 to 1^ per cent, higher than the city pays 
 for the actual money expended on the undertaking ; 
 reserving as additional security a bond, and the 
 entire equipment, to insure the public treasury 
 against public losses." One reason for the very 
 slow advance of municipal ownership in the 
 United States is the debt limit fixed for 
 municipalities, sometimes by ordinary laws and 
 
 ^ This, and the following quotations, are from a paper read to 
 the British Association by Mr R. P. Porter in 1902. The Fourteenth 
 Annual Report of the U.S Commissioner of Lahour (1900) gives the follow- 
 figures : Water supjilies, 1,539 private, 1,787 municipal: gas under- 
 takings, 951 private, 14 public; electric light undertakings, 2,572 
 private, 460 public.
 
 SECT. 3] MUNICIPAL SERVICES 211 
 
 sometimes by the state constitutions, which 
 commonly make no distinction between renumera- 
 tive and unremunerative enterprises. These 
 enactments were the outcome of the financial 
 mismanagement and disasters, not confined to 
 the cities, of the middle of the nineteenth century. 
 A second cause is the discredit into which so many 
 of the American city governments have fallen, and 
 the consequent disinclination to entrust to them 
 large commercial undertakings and much wider 
 patronage ; and a third cause is the tremendous 
 political power of the private companies. The 
 result has been that hitherto, after a period in 
 which rights and privileges within the municipal 
 boundaries were granted to private enterprises 
 almost without conditions of any kind, the 
 municipal authorities have adopted the policy 
 of granting the " franchises " for varying terms 
 of years on specified conditions — payment of a 
 rental, frequency and quality of service, limitation 
 of charges, etc. ; that is, they have preferred 
 control to ownership wdth financial responsibility. 
 But there is a growing movement in favour of 
 municipalisation, partly on general grounds, and 
 partly because some of the reformers believe that 
 the perils of corruption would be less than they 
 are under the present system when rival companies 
 are strugghng to secure these municipal 
 "franchises," which are in fact monopolies, and 
 are not scrupulous in the methods which they 
 employ to attain their object.
 
 212 GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES [chap. iv. 
 
 Municipal Though the machinery of city government in 
 
 the United States strikes an EngHsh observer 
 as often unnecessarily cumbrous, yet the actual 
 difficulties of working are neither so frequent 
 nor so great as might be supposed. And the 
 stories of corruption and inefficient administration 
 should not be allowed to obscure the fact that 
 the American municipal administrators are doing 
 very much valuable, and in some respects pioneer, 
 work.^ The problems of the government of large 
 urban areas are much the same all over the world, 
 and there are no great differences between the 
 public services required. With all their admitted 
 defects, and in face of considerable indifference 
 (until recent years) on the part of the best classes 
 of the community, the municipal governments 
 of the United States have made substantial 
 progress ; much good work is being done by a 
 great number of students of city organisation both 
 in Europe and America itself; the active propa- 
 ganda of the various reform associations is bringing 
 into existence a strong public opinion and a keen 
 interest in the doings of the municipal authorities, 
 and these are the first essentials of reform. 
 
 ' Cf. Zueblin, American Municipal Progress.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINLSTllATION IN 
 ENGLAND SINCE 1832. 
 
 SECTION 1 
 
 Almost all the historians and writers who have Parliament 
 
 and local 
 
 discussed the constitutional development of institutionj. 
 England have emphasised the fact that our 
 parliamentary institutions have been so success- 
 ful, in comparison with those of other states, 
 mainly because they are the crown of a system 
 of self-government, which in one form or another 
 is as old as the nation itself, and has become 
 an integral part of the national life. But once 
 established. Parliament soon concentrated upon 
 itself the greater part of the attention of the 
 English people ; and the gradual break-up of 
 the old social organisation, resulting from the 
 changes in economic conditions, brought about 
 a steady decline in the effectiveness of the 
 institutions of local government. The work of 
 local administration was carried on, but without 
 arousing any general interest — except in the 
 disastrous instance of tlie Poor Laws — on the 
 part of the community; "self-government" 
 
 213
 
 214 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. v. 
 
 The periods 
 of reform. 
 
 England in 
 1832. 
 U) The 
 Justices. 
 
 came to mean the rule of an ever smaller class/ 
 until in the eighteenth century local institutions 
 were as oligarchic as Parliament itself, and much 
 less representative of public opinion. 
 
 The course of development was now reversed ; 
 political progress was to be made first in regard 
 to parliamentary institutions, and afterwards in 
 the sphere of local government. When the 
 economic and social changes which followed in 
 the train of the industrial revolution of the 
 second half of the eighteenth century made 
 reform absolutely necessary, it was in Parliament 
 that the example was set. The two great 
 constructive periods in the modern history of 
 English local government followed as inevitable 
 consequences upon the parliamentary reform of 
 1832 and the extension of the franchise to the 
 great body of the rural population in 1884-.^ 
 The Reform Act of 1867 did not bring quite 
 such elaborate changes in its train ; but it was 
 followed by the establishment of a system of 
 national education, and a greater activity in local 
 government. 
 
 Up to the year 1832 the rural portions of 
 
 1 " It.s leading features (in the period between the Reformation and 
 the Reform Act) are the foundation and abnormal growth of the 
 Poor Laws; the progressive extension of magistrates' jurisdiction 
 in counties; and the decay of municipal institutions in boroughs." 
 Brodrick in Cobden Club's Load Government in the United Kingdom 
 (1882), p. 8. 
 
 2 " The English system of local administration represents the direct 
 influence of the political and social ideas of democracy upon the 
 organisation and functions of government." Redlich and Hirst, 
 Locai Oovermae'/U in England, I., p. 23.
 
 SECT. 1] ENGLAND BEFORE REFORM 215 
 
 England were ndministered by the country 
 gentlemen and clergy, who served as Justices 
 of the Peace. Under various forms their 
 authority dated back for nearly five centuries, 
 to the reign of Edward III. ; and during that 
 period they had gradually drawn into their 
 hands almost all county affairs. In Petty 
 and Quarter Sessions they exercised judicial 
 functions defined by commissions whose forms 
 had been settled in the reign of Ehzabeth ; 
 and besides this innumerable statutes had 
 entrusted to them nearly the whole administra- 
 tive work of the county. They were appointed 
 by the Crown, chiefly from the ranks of the 
 smaller landowners and rural clergy ; the lay 
 justices were usually men of little education ; 
 they were not very enterprising, but there 
 seems to have been little dissatisfaction with 
 their rule ; and the office provided active men 
 with considerable experience and training in the 
 conduct of affairs. 
 
 The sole important division of the county The parish. 
 was the civil or "poor law" parish, which was 
 usually identical with the ecclesiastical parish,^ 
 though the latter was in some instances di\'ided 
 for poor law purposes. Each parish had its two 
 governing bodies — the vestry and the overseers — 
 definitely established since the enactment of the 
 Poor Law of 1601. The vestry was either 
 " open," in which case all ratepayers of the 
 
 ■ outers, Local Government^ p. 44.
 
 21(3 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. v. 
 
 parish were entitled to attend, or "select," that 
 is, composed of duly elected representatives.^ 
 , The vestry dealt with all general parish affairs, 
 and met under the presidency of the rector, 
 with the churchwardens as its principal officers. 
 But the parish was also responsible for the 
 maintenance of its poor, and for this purpose 
 Poor Law. it had since 1601 elected "overseers of the 
 poor," who were authorised and required to 
 find work for all able-bodied poor in need of 
 assistance, and to provide any other necessary 
 forms of relief; and for these purposes they 
 were empowered to levy a local rate. The 
 churchwardens were overseers by virtue of 
 their office, and the vestry had the general 
 administration of the relief funds, the overseers 
 being the executive agents. Persons refused 
 relief by the overseers, or even without that 
 preliminary, could apply to the Justices of the 
 Peace, and in fact towards the close of the 
 eighteenth century — and particularly after 
 Gilbert's Act of 1782 had authorised the 
 grouping of parishes for poor law purposes, 
 with Boards of Guardians appointed by the 
 Justices 2 — the latter had come to be the real 
 controlling authorities for poor relief, as for 
 most other matters.' 
 
 1 The "select" vestries were in those pari.shes (over 2,300 in 1831) 
 which had utihsed an " Adoptive Act " of 1819. Eedlich and Hirst, 
 I., 162. 
 
 2 Redlich and Hirst, I., 102. 
 
 » RedUch and Hirst, I., p. 102.
 
 SECT. 1] ADMINISTRATIVE FAII.T^RE 217 
 
 15y 18.*J2 the whole runil adniinistration was Condition of 
 
 . . . rural admin- 
 
 111 a most unsatisfactory coiiditioii. The only istration. 
 really serious task imposed upon the local 
 authorities was the relief of the poor, and that 
 task they discharged with the greatest possible 
 inefficiency — in both rural and urban areas, for 
 the poor law organisation was uniform through- 
 out the country. The disastrous policy adopted 
 during the long period of the Revolutionary 
 and Napoleonic Wars had tended to pauperise 
 the working classes completely ; the poor rate 
 had come to be regarded by employers in 
 country and town alike as a source of grants 
 in aid of wages ; the distress after the war had 
 increased the difficulty ; the actual administra- 
 tion of relief was in the hands of small shop- 
 keepers and farmers, untrained in business 
 habits and afraid of unpopularity ; there was 
 no central control ; and the result was general 
 confusion, extravagance, and demoralisation.^ . 
 
 The corporate towns, of which there were The muni- 
 
 ^ cipal 
 
 two hundred and forty-six in England and boroughs 
 Wales in 1832, were in an equally bad plight. 
 Each municipal borough had its mayor, alder- 
 men, councillors and burgesses, who, however, 
 commonly formed only a very small proportion 
 
 ' "It is now our painful duty to report that the fiuid which the 
 forty-tliird of Elizabeth directed to be employed in setting to work 
 children and persons capable of labour, but using no dailj' trade, 
 and in the necessary relief of the impotent, is applied to purposes 
 opposed to the letter, and still more to the spirit of that law, and 
 destructive to the morals of that most numerous class, and to the 
 welfare of all." lieport of Commission to enquire into Poor Law, 1834.
 
 218 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. v. 
 
 of the inhabitants of the town. The burgesses 
 (or fi'eemen) were a close body, enjoying in 
 many cases exclusive rights of trade within 
 the municipal boundaries, or exempt from 
 various dues such as borough tolls ; the 
 remainder of the inhabitants, often the great 
 majority, had no share in the corporate 
 privileges, and no influence upon the municipal 
 administration.^ The Town Council was either 
 elected by the small body of freemen, or 
 recruited by co-optation, and its members held 
 their seats for life ; the aldermen were ex-qfficio 
 Justices of the Peace for the borough. The 
 Commission which enquired into the condition 
 of the municipalties reported in 1835 that, " the 
 corporations look upon themselves, and are 
 considered by the inhabitants, as separate and 
 exclusive bodies ; they have powers and privileges 
 within the to\\Tis and cities from which they 
 are named, but in most places all identity of 
 interest between the corporation and the 
 inhabitants has disappeared." With the town 
 government thus in the hands of an irresponsible 
 oligarchy, confusion and corruption were almost 
 inevitable ; the corporate funds and municipal 
 offices were openly used for the individual 
 
 1 111 Plymouth there were 437 freemen (including 145 non-resident) 
 in a total poj^ulation of 75,000. "In Ijiswich, containing more than 
 20,000 inhabitants, the resident freemen form about one fifty-fifth part 
 of the pejjulation. Of these more than one-third are not rated, and 
 of those who are rated many are excused payment of their rates. 
 About one-ninth of the whole are paui^ers." Report of Commission, 
 p. 32.
 
 SECT. 2.] THE FIRST REFORMS 219 
 
 benefit of members of the town councils, or 
 other freemen ; Httle was spent on actual 
 municipal duties, and the work that was done 
 was usually inefficient, and always gave 
 opportunity for jobbery.^ One result of the 
 inefficiency of the corporations was that powers 
 granted by local ^Vcts of ParUament were 
 frequently conferred upon special Boards of 
 trustees or commissioners, so that the town 
 councils often had little real work to do.^ 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 The policy of reform began with the Poor Reform 
 
 ^ '' ° (i) Of the 
 
 Law Amendment Act of 1834 — the result of Poor Law. 
 an elaborate and startling enquiry into the 
 working of Poor I^aw administration, and the 
 work in the main of Edwin Chadwick. The 
 Act set up the organisation which exists, 
 substantially unchanged, to-day ; relief was no 
 
 ^ " In conclusion, we report to Your Majesty that there prevails 
 among the inhabitants of a great majority of the incorporated 
 towns ... a discontent under the burdens of local taxation, wliile 
 revenues that ought to be applied for the public advantage are 
 diverted from their legitimate use, and are sometimes wastefully 
 bestowed for the benefit of individuals, sometimes squandered for 
 purposes injurious to the character and morals of the people." 
 Report, p. 49. "In general tlie corporate funds are but partially 
 applied to municipal affairs . . . but they are frequently expended 
 in feasting and in paj-ing the salaries of unimjjortant officers." 
 Do. , p. 45. In reading the Report allowance must be made for the 
 political predilections of the authors, but the evidence on the whole 
 bears out their conclusions. 
 
 ^ Report, p. 43. Tliis system led inevitably to conflicts of jurisdic- 
 tion and administrative confusion.
 
 220 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMLNISTRATION [chap. v. 
 
 longer to be given by the overseers except in 
 rare cases, but by Boards of Guardians elected 
 for the purpose by groups of parishes called 
 Unions — to the elected members were added 
 the Justices of the Peace for the district. The 
 duties of the overseers were limited mainly to 
 the making of assessments and the levying of 
 rates. To secure uniformity the work of the 
 Guardians was brought beneath the strict 
 control of a central Poor Law Commission 
 (afterwards Board) in London, armed with 
 power to regulate the administration of relief 
 even in the smallest details. An audit by 
 officials of the central office put a check on 
 illegal expenditure and extravagance, and the 
 executive agents of the Guardians were to be 
 appointed by them, but to be subject to the 
 control of the central authority. 
 (ii) Of the In the next year (1835) there came, also as 
 
 municipal ' i « • i a t • • i 
 
 corporations, the rcsult of an elaborate enquny, the JNlunicipal 
 Corporations Act, which completely changed 
 municipal organisation throughout the country. 
 After the gi-eat extension of the parliamentary 
 franchise to the inhabitants of the towns in 1832, 
 it was impossible to exclude them any longer 
 from a part in the conduct of their own local 
 affairs. The Act made the corporations into 
 the legal personification of the whole local 
 community ; ^ broke down the old oligarchies 
 » by giving the municipal franchise to all rate- 
 
 1 Redllch and Hirst, I., p. 124.
 
 SECT. 2] SUCCESS OF REFORM 221 
 
 payers ; made the councils elective, and 
 abolished life membership ; put an end to 
 trading monopolies and privileges ; provided for 
 a better system of appointment to salaried 
 offices ; secured publicity for all proceedings 
 of the new authorities ; and withdrew all 
 judicial functions from the aldermen as such.^ 
 Care was taken to ensure an honest and public 
 use of the municipal property and revenue, by 
 the establishment of an audit and of central 
 control over the raising of loans and dealings 
 with municipal property. The City of London 
 was not touched by the Act.^ The Municipal 
 Corporations Act of 1882, which amended and 
 consolidated the Act of 1835 and subsequent 
 enactments, made no changes in principle. 
 
 The results of these two great pieces of legis- Effects of the • 
 
 reforms. 
 
 lation were entirely satisfactory. The Boards 
 of Guardians, under the direction of the new 
 central department, speedily got to work, and soon 
 changed the whole appearance of the administra- 
 tion. Whatever may be thought of the principles 
 which influenced them or of the methods adopted, 
 
 ' The Act limited the work of the new town councils almost 
 entirely to the administration of police, and of the corporate 
 revenues; the various bodies of trustees or commissioners existent 
 in the towns prior to 1835 were not abolished, but were authorised 
 to transfer their powers to the new town councils if they thought it 
 expedient. Gradually this was universally done; but the town 
 councils have nx)t yet obtained the administration of poor relief. 
 The councils could also promote Private Bills to obtain any desired 
 additional powers. 
 
 - Sixty -nine of the old corporate towns ceased to be such on 
 account of their insignificance.
 
 222 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. v. 
 
 it is certain that the reUef of the poor thence- 
 forward was orderly, fairly uniform, and free from 
 corruption ; and that the old abuses were swept 
 away. In spite of much early unpopularity the 
 new central and local authorities did their work 
 courageously and well.^ The change was as great 
 in the corporate towns ; the directly elected 
 councils, working in the fullest publicity, were 
 able to appeal to a civic enthusiasm such as had 
 not existed before for several centuries, and local 
 patriotism and the consciousness of popular support 
 induced them to enter upon that course of muni- 
 cipal development which in little more than a 
 generation was to make the English towns a 
 model for the world. 
 Two policies. Thcsc two changcs were only portions of the 
 results of the growth of liberalism and the general 
 awakening which had brought about the Reform 
 Act of 1832 ; there were also the first grants 
 for national education in 1833 and the establish- 
 ment of a central education authority in 1839, and 
 the beginning (in 1838) of the demand for sanitary 
 legislation. But before examining subsequent 
 developments it is important to notice the two 
 different policies represented by the legislation 
 of 1834 and 1835. The new Poor Law admini- 
 stration was highly centralised, and placed beneath 
 a very strict control, in order to secure so far 
 
 ^ " The average annual expenditure on the relief of the poor in the 
 five years preceding the Act of 1834 was £6,754,000, and in the five 
 years succeeding the Act, £4,567,000. Redlich and Hirst, I., p. 110.
 
 8ECT. 3.] FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS 22S 
 
 as possible uniformity and the maintenance of 
 at least a minimum standard of efficiency ; but 
 to the new mimicipal authorities there was given 
 a very full measure of local autonomy, and adminis- 
 trative control by the central departments was 
 reduced to the lowest possible point. There was 
 no contradiction between these policies at the 
 time — they applied to wholly different sets of 
 circumstances ; but a real conflict between them 
 was to arise later. 
 
 SECTION 3 
 
 I.effislation after 1835 was less general and subsequent 
 
 o <=' legislation. 
 
 more detailed ; it was concerned with making 
 provision for special public services, and the 
 customary policy was to lay the new duty upon 
 the councils in the corporate towns, and elsewhere 
 to create a special authority for each particular 
 service, and often to give it a special area. Thus 
 in 1835 the parishes were made responsible for 
 the upkeep of the highways, but the "highway (i) Highways, 
 parish " was not always coincident with the " Poor 
 Law parish"; and when in 1862 and 1864 the 
 Quarter Sessions were empowered to group 
 parishes into " highway districts," these new 
 unions were not always identical with unions for 
 other purposes. 
 
 The most important development of local (H) PubUc • 
 
 ^ , ^ health. 
 
 government after 1835 was in regard to public
 
 224 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. v. 
 
 health. The movement for reform in this direction 
 was started by the Poor Law Commissioners in 
 1838,^ and in the next ten years, under the stimulus 
 of the danger of Asiatic cholera," there were 
 numerous enquiries by departments and a Royal 
 Commission, the formation of voluntary associa- 
 tions for sanitary reforms, and attempts at legis- 
 lation culminating in the PubHc Health Act of 
 1848 — the first of a series of enactments destined 
 to increase enormously the activities of local 
 authorities.^ A central Pubhc Health Board was 
 created, and empowered to direct the estabhsh- 
 ment of local boards in any district with an average 
 death-rate for the preceding seven years of twenty- 
 three per thousand, or on the petition of one-tenth 
 of the ratepayers ; these local boards were to have 
 power to construct and maintain sewers, cleanse 
 and pave streets, supply water, and enforce the 
 sanitary laws generally. But the legislation was 
 not very successful ; the central Board was 
 intended by its founders to exercise a strong 
 control, but it was from the first unsatisfactory 
 and unpopular — partly owing to defects of organi- 
 
 ^ By their letter to the Home Secretary on preventable disease as 
 a cause of pauperism. The moving spirit in this, and in the subse- 
 quent report which they were directed to make, was Chadwick, the 
 Secretary to the Poor Law Board. 
 
 " Simon, English Sanitary Institutions, pp. 168 seq. This w^ork of one 
 of the greatest English sanitary reformers remains the best account 
 of the development of our public health administration. 
 
 3 " The first compulsory measure of public health imposed by 
 Parliament upon local authorities, if we accept an obscure and 
 almost forgotten Act of James I., and the Vaccination Acts." 
 Redlich and Hirst, I., l^iO. It was compulsory, but not universal.
 
 SECTS] PUBLIC HEALTH 225 
 
 sation, and partly to a reaction against central 
 control. Something was accomplished, but not 
 very much, and in 1858 the Public Health Board 
 came to an end, its work being distributed between 
 various departments, especially the Home Office 
 and the Privy Council.^ The absence of any 
 improvement in public health led to fresh 
 legislation in 18G6,- which attempted to restore 
 central control : it declared sanitary inspection, 
 the suppression of nuisances, and the supply of 
 water, to be duties of local sanitary authorities, 
 and provided that where they persisted in neglect- 
 ing their work the Home Secretary might 
 authorise any person or persons to do it at the 
 cost of the local authorities. But there was still 
 lack of uniformity and confusion of authorities, 
 and the necessity for sweeping changes was made 
 apparent by the Royal Commission of 1869-1871. 
 
 There were then three stages of legislation. In The reforma 
 
 -r» 1 Of 1870-1875. 
 
 1871 the Local Government Board was created, 
 in order to " concentrate in one department of 
 the government the supervision of the laws relating 
 to public health, the relief of the poor, and local 
 government." ^ A central supervisory and guiding 
 body being thus set up, the next step was taken 
 in 1872, when the country was divided into urban 
 and rural sanitary districts ; in the former the 
 town councils of municipal boroughs, and else- 
 
 » Redlich and Hirst, I., pp. 144-148. 
 
 - " Under the Act, the graniinur of common sanitary legislation 
 acquired the novel virtue of an imperative niood." Simon, p. 299. 
 ' Preamble to the Act.
 
 tion 
 
 226 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. v. 
 
 where the Commissioners ah-eady existent under 
 local Acts, or Boards of Health, were to be the 
 authorities ; and in the rural districts the vestries 
 ceased to have any duties in the matter, and the 
 whole sanitary administration was transferred to 
 the Boards of Guardians. Then three years later 
 *(1875) there came the PubHc Health Act, the 
 greatest sanitary code ever enacted in any country. 
 aii) Educa- It will be observed that these important changes 
 
 in sanitary law and administration followed closely 
 upon the parliamentary reform of 1867 ; but they 
 can scarcely be described as a consequence of it. 
 The most immediate consequence of the second 
 Reform Act, which was the first to make the 
 parliamentary suffrage really democratic, was the 
 reaUsation of the absolute necessity of a system 
 «>. of national education, if the danger of a vast 
 ilhterate body of electors was to be avoided. The 
 Elementary Education Act of 1870 directed that 
 wherever in any locality (parish or urban district 
 or corporate town), there was not an adequate 
 supply of places in elementary schools provided 
 by voluntary effort, a School Board must be 
 elected to make good the deficiency, and to le\^ 
 rates for that purpose. Other places, which had 
 made the necessary provision, might transfer 
 their schools to such a Board if they thought fit 
 to do so. Where there was no Board, a local 
 authority (Town Council, or Board of Guardians 
 in non-municipal areas) was required to appoint 
 a school attendance committee, to see that all
 
 SECT. 3] CENTRAL AUTHORITIES 227 
 
 children of school age were in receipt of instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 Two other dev^elopments during this period Central 
 require notice. The first of these is the growth , 
 of central control. Reference has already been 
 made to the establishment of the I^ocal Govern- 
 ment Board in 1870 ; it took over all the powers 
 of control of the old Poor Law Board in undi- 
 minished stringency ; and though it was less 
 completely equipped to deal with public health 
 administration, it was authorised to issue direc- 
 tions,^ to take the action necessary to enforce 
 obedience to the law, and to watch the conduct 
 of the local authorities generally ; and subse- 
 quent legislation^ gave large additional powers 
 to the Board. The Education Department was 
 empowered to control closely the new School 
 Boards, and all voluntary schools in receipt of state 
 monies, and the Home Office had secured a strong, 
 though indirect, authority over the police adminis- 
 tration (which in the counties was in the hands 
 of the magistrates, and in the municipal boroughs 
 was under the town councils), partly by the 
 necessity for its approval of police bye-laws, and 
 still more by its power to withhold the central 
 grants-in-aid. 
 
 The policy of contributions from the central orants-in- 
 Exchequer (apart from educational grants) towards 
 
 ^ The Public Health Act, 1875, contains numerous clauses to the 
 effect that "local authority -may, and if required by the Local 
 Government Board, sliall " do particular acts. 
 
 - E.g., the District Auditors Act, 1879.
 
 228 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. v. 
 
 the expenses of local authorities began also in 
 the period now under review. The motives were 
 two — the encouragement of due provision for 
 certain pubhc services on the part of the local 
 authorities, and the relief of the localities and 
 especially of the agricultural ratepayer by the 
 transference of some part of their burden to 
 central funds. The latter was the original motive ; 
 the plan was first adopted by Sir Robert Peel 
 in 1846 to compensate the agricultural classes in 
 some measure for the losses they were expecting 
 to sustain from the repeal of the import duties 
 on corn.^ Since that time the demand for fresh 
 relief has constantly come from the same class ; ^ 
 it has been consistently successful, until the policy 
 culminated in 1896 in the arrangement that the 
 Exchequer should pay annually half the amount 
 of the rates on agricultural land in that year. 
 The first suggestion of grants to encourage local 
 authorities seems to have been made in 1839, 
 when a Royal Commission recommended the 
 establishment of constabulary forces, and that 
 one-quarter of the cost should be defrayed by 
 the central government. Nothing, however, was 
 done until 1856, when, as it had become evident 
 that without more encouragement the local 
 authorities would make little use of the per- 
 mission to establish constabulary forces, the duty 
 
 ^ Hamilton, Memorandum on Imperial llelief of Local Burdens, p. 12 
 (in volume of Memoranda issued by the Royal Commission on Local 
 Taxation, 1899). 
 
 •^ Hamilton, pp. 12-19
 
 8ECT. 4.] CENTRA!. FINANCIAL AID 229 
 
 was made obligatory, and the central government 
 undertook to pay one-quarter (increased in 1874 
 to one-half) of the cost of paying and clotiiing 
 each county or borough force certified as efficient 
 by the Home Secretary. A similar policy was 
 adopted in regard to public health, and in a lesser 
 degree in Poor Law administration; in 1840 the 
 central authority undertook to pay the salaries 
 of teachers in the Poor Law schools, and half 
 the cost of medical relief; in 1872 it agreed to 
 pay half the salaries of medical officers of health 
 and sanitary inspectors, if appointed upon approved 
 terms ; and it made some other contributions. 
 The total amount so paid in 1888, prior to the 
 rearrangement of the system, was £2,000,000.^ 
 
 SECTION 4 
 
 The result of all this piecemeal legislation, ' 
 and of many smaller matters necessarily omitted 
 in the above sketch, was by 1888 a chaos of 
 areas and authorities, uninteUigible to all save 
 a few. - A simplification was absolutely necessary, . 
 
 ' Hamilton, p. 20. 
 
 - See the list of 27,361 authorities in 15,039 areas, in Gomme, 
 Principles of Local Government, pp. 12-13. " The result of such legisla- 
 tion was shown to be that an inhabitant of a borough or local 
 board district lived in a four-fold area for the particular jiurposes 
 of local goveiTiment, and was ordinarily governed and taxed by 
 a six-fold authority, and might be subject to four or live different 
 rates and as many separate debts incurred by different local bodies. 
 The same was in general true of the inhabitant of a rural parish* 
 while both in t-owii and country there were a multitude of minor
 
 230 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. v. 
 
 and the third period of development, which com- 
 • menced in that year, is characterised therefore by 
 the extension of local self-government upon demo- 
 cratic lines, and also by attempts at the reorganisa- 
 tion and CO - ordination of authorities. As a 
 result, something approaching to order and 
 coherence has been attained. 
 Reform of The first Step was the necessary sequel to the 
 
 government, extension, by the Representation of the People Act, 
 » J 884, of the parliamentary franchise to practically 
 the whole rural population. It was impossible 
 to leave the county administration any longer 
 solely to the justices, who, though they did the 
 work entrusted to them fairly well, yet represented, 
 or were supposed to represent, a particular social 
 class. Various schemes for the reorganisation of 
 county government had been put forward fi'om 
 time to time, but the question was now felt to 
 be urgent ; the Local Government Act of 1888 
 withdrew from the Justices almost all their adminis- 
 « trative powers and transferred them to elective 
 bodies — the county councils — and thereby com- 
 pletely changed the whole character of rural 
 government.^ But it was thought necessary to 
 go further, and the Local Government Act of 
 1894 carried on the work. Throughout the 
 
 matters in respect of which the districts, authorities, and rates 
 might be additionally multiplied and complicated in all the above 
 cases." Wright and Hobhouse, Local Government and Local Taxation, 
 p. xi. 
 
 ^ Some of the old counties were divided into '' admini-strative 
 counties," and boroughs of more than 50,000 inhabitants form 
 " counties of boroughs."
 
 SECT. 4] SECOND REFORM PERIOD 231 
 
 country district councils, urban and rural, were 
 established ; they were founded (with some re- 
 adjustments of boundaries) on the urban sanitary 
 districts (not being municipal boroughs) hitherto 
 administered by improvement commissioners or 
 Boards of Health, and the rural districts which 
 for pubHc health matters had been under the 
 Boards of Guardians. More important was the 
 attempt made in this legislation to revive the 
 parish (with parish council and meeting) as the 
 unit of local self-government ; the new parochial 
 authority received all the civil powers of the 
 old vestries, vnth additions. The general result 
 of these two Acts may be described as the 
 establishment of new popularly elected authorities simpufica- 
 
 r r J tion of 
 
 for rural administration, and the immediate or authorities. 
 gradual abolition of all authorities except the 
 County, Municipal, District and Parish Coun- 
 cils, the Boards of Guardians, and the School 
 Boards.^ The processes of simplification, and of* 
 the concentration of powers and duties, were 
 carried still further by the Education xVct of 
 1902, which abolished the School Boards and 
 transferred their work to the County, Muni- 
 cipal, and Urban District Councils. Something 
 still remains to be done in the rectification of 
 boundaries, and in the reorganisation of Poor 
 Law administration by making the areas and 
 authorities identical with the areas and authorities 
 for general local purposes, i.e., by completing the 
 
 > The Act of 1894 abolished some 8,000 authorities. Gomrae, p. 13.
 
 232 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. v. 
 
 abolition of the so - called authorities ad hoc ; 
 but even as it is the legislation of 1888 and the 
 following years has given us a coherent and fairly 
 intelligible system.^ 
 menfSr™" Meanwhile attempts had been made from 
 
 London. time to time to reorganise London, which had 
 been untouched in 1835. The name "London" 
 had a very uncertain application ; strictly it 
 apphed only to the 1 square mile of the city, 
 but it was used loosely for that area and the 
 surrounding belts of more or less thickly populated 
 parishes. In 1855 the MetropoHs Management 
 Act created the metropolis by defining it as the 
 area contained by the City of London and a 
 number of specified parishes. The city was left 
 unchanged: the parishes were divided into two 
 classes. In the first class, each elected a vestry; 
 parishes of the second class were grouped into 
 districts, each with a Board elected by the vestries 
 of the component parishes ; these Vestries and Dis- 
 trict Boards dealt with streets, lighting, and public 
 health administration, and could make use of 
 the Adoptive Acts and any powers which they 
 could obtain under Private Acts. For the whole 
 of London there was a central authority, the 
 Metropolitan Board of Works, elected by the 
 Vestries and District Boards, and not directly 
 elected by the ratepayers ; it was to provide a 
 
 ^ A number of miscellaneous authorities still remain scattered 
 about the country, but only in a few cases are they important. 
 ^ide supra, p. 52, n.
 
 SECT. I.] LONDON REFORM 258 
 
 number ot" public services for tlie metropolis 
 generally. In 1807 the Metropolitan Asylums 
 Board was established, to concentrate some part 
 of the work of the thirty Boards of Guardians 
 in the metropolitan area. Some changes of detail 
 were made subsequently, but nothing of import- 
 ance was done until 1888; by that year the 
 Metropolitan Board of Works, though it had 
 done much valuable work, had fallen into dis- 
 credit. The Local Government Act abolished 
 the Board, and transferred its work to a new 
 central authority, the London County Council, 
 invested with far wider powers, and directly 
 elected by the ratepayers. No further organic 
 change was made till 1899, and to that year 
 London suffered from the confusion from which 
 the rest of the country had been freed ; more 
 than five hundred authorities of various kinds, 
 with doubtful and conflicting jurisdictions in 
 many cases, ruled the metropolis. The London 
 Gov^ernment Act, 1899, was a great measure of 
 simplification; the "central" authorities (County 
 Council, Corporation of the City, Metropolitan 
 Asylums Board) were untouched ; so also were 
 the Board of Guardians ; but all the rest were 
 swept away, and replaced by twenty-eight muni- 
 cipalities, with mayor, aldermen and councillors. 
 The London School Board came to an end 
 under the Education Act, 1903, which transferred 
 its powers and duties to the County Council ; 
 but in the following year an indirectly elected
 
 234 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. v. 
 
 Metropolitan Water Board was established, for 
 an area five times as large as the administrative 
 County of London. 
 
 SECTION 5 
 
 Victory of It has already been pointed out that in the 
 
 control. legislation in regard to local government which 
 followed the Reform Act of 1832, two different 
 . policies were adopted. The municipalities were 
 given a very large measure of independence, and 
 in the main were subordinated only to Parliament,^ 
 and of course to the Courts of Law — the adminis- 
 strative or departmental control over them was 
 very slight; the Poor Law authorities, on the 
 other hand, were placed beneath the strictest 
 supervision, and formed part of a highly centraUsed 
 organisation. These two conflicting policies are 
 apparent at work ever since ; but whilst in the 
 middle of the century it seemed (in the failure 
 of the Board of Health) as if the opposition to 
 central control would be successful, since 1870 
 the authority of the government departments 
 has steadily increased. This has been due to 
 the recognition of the fact that in the interest of 
 the whole nation it is necessary to secure that 
 local authorities shall maintain a minimum 
 standard of efficiency, and that there shall be 
 
 1 That is, their powers are defined bj- Parliament, and at any time 
 they may go to the legislature for fresh powers.
 
 SECT. 5.] CENTRAL CONTROL 23.5 
 
 uniformity in the conduct of at least some public 
 services ; and consciously or unconsciously, we 
 have been endeavouring to obtain this efficiency 
 and uniformity by tlie development of the 
 regulating, inspecting, and enforcing powders of 
 the departments, and by the system of con- 
 ditional grants-in-aid. It is noteworthy that, 
 though the Act of 1888, and a recent amend- 
 ment to it, provide for the transference to any 
 or all of the county councils of any powers, 
 duties, and liabilities of the central departments 
 connected with local administration, practically 
 no use has been made of this provision. Yet 
 it seems to be clear that the central departments* 
 are becoming overburdened, and that it is desirable 
 that there should be some considerable decentrali- * 
 sation, or at least deconcentration, of control. 
 The municipalities and county councils might be 
 left subject to the central departments as now, 
 but tlie limited supervisory powers already 
 exercised by the county councils over the 
 smaller authorities might be gi-eatly extended — 
 the councils acting in this as the agents of the 
 departments. The problem is a difficult one: 
 we have to relieve the pressure on the depart-' 
 ments without lessening the means of securing 
 the minimum standard, and it is of the utmost 
 importance also that in extending central guid- 
 ance and control nothing shall be done tending 
 in any way to diminish that local interest, 
 responsibility and initiative without which the
 
 236 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMLMSTRATION [^^hap. v. 
 
 institutions of local self-government are merely 
 S?angement ^^ empty form. Possibly the solution, or at 
 of areas. jgast a part of it, may be found in some 
 * rearrangement of areas, which is becoming more 
 and more necessary. For many purposes — means 
 of transit (roads and tramways), all services in 
 which electric power is employed, even poor relief 
 ; and education — most of our existing areas are much 
 too small. ^ The growth of greater London has 
 made the boundary of the administrative county 
 into little better than an artificial boundary which 
 has already been ignored for water-supply and 
 police, and is a hindrance to the effective adminis- 
 tration of many important services. The forma- 
 tion, by grouping of authorities or in some other 
 way, of large districts, for the purposes of actual 
 administration or of supervision, would make the 
 maintenance of a standard and the work of control 
 much easier, would assuredly promote economy 
 whilst increasing efficiency, and need not in any 
 way whatever impair that interest in the work 
 of local self-government which is so much more 
 real and general in Great Britain than in any 
 other European state. 
 
 ^ Cf. Wells, MankiTid in the Making, Appendix I.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE HISTORY OF LOCAI- ADMINISTRATION 
 IN FRANCE SINCE 1789. 
 
 SECTION 1 
 
 The history of France since the great Revolution 
 of 1789 has been so varied, and its central 
 political institutions have undergone so many 
 changes, that it would be natural to suppose 
 that the principles and methods of its adminis- 
 trative organisation have been much altered 
 from time to time. Yet it is not so. In spite 
 of the four revolutions since 1815, the funda- 
 mental ideas upon which French administration 
 is based, and many of its forms, are to-day as 
 they were left by the first Napoleon ; and his 
 policy was in many respects a return to the 
 ways of the old monarchy. Republican France 
 is the direct descendant of Napoleonic, and even 
 pre-revolutionary, France ; and during its descent 
 its characteristics have not been greatly modified. 
 
 The Revolution of 1789 was the result of a ^development 
 
 of the French 
 
 century and a half of absolute monarchy. Ever Monarchy. 
 
 since Richeheu had overthrown the political 
 
 power of the Protestants and reduced the 
 
 23?
 
 238 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vr. 
 
 independent authority of the nobles, and his 
 successor Mazarin had crushed the hostile 
 " parliaments " ^ and great lords in the struggle 
 of the Fronde, there had been no institution in 
 France capable of withstanding, from whatever 
 motive, the arbitrary power of the Crown. This 
 unlimited authority, destroying all initiative and 
 responsibility amongst its subjects, led France 
 straight to the Revolution. But, nevertheless, 
 the monarchy had created France. From the 
 time of Hugh Capet, through Philip Augustus 
 and Louis XL, to the reign of Louis XIV., the 
 territories of the French Crown were steadily 
 extended, and within the widening boundaries a 
 united state was slowly created. The struggle 
 against feudalism waged from the foundation 
 of the monarchy, victorious under Philip 
 Augustus and Saint Louis, and again under 
 Louis XI. in his war against the League of the 
 Common Weal, seemed ended in favour of the 
 monarchy at the accession of Francis I. But it 
 began again when the Reformation as a political 
 movement came to arouse the slumbering passions 
 of the nobles ; and it was not until a century later 
 that the monarchy, guided first by Henry IV., 
 then by Richelieu and Mazarin, ultimately 
 triumphed. The States- General, after three 
 centuries of a troubled existence, were no more 
 
 * The French "parliaments " were the Law Courts, become heredi- 
 tary : the Parliament of Paris had the task of registering Royal 
 Edicts, and by protesting, or by the suggestion of amendments, could 
 impose some check upon the Crown.
 
 SECT. 1] BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 239 
 
 convoked, and by IGGO Louis XIV. was absolute 
 master of France. Elis long reign thenceforward 
 falls into two periods : in the first, Colbert 
 strove with some success to reorganise the 
 administration, and to carry out economic 
 reform; in the second, the foreign policy of 
 Louis involved France in a series of wars which 
 left her by 1715 utterly exhausted, financially 
 ruined, and in administrative chaos. In spite of 
 the efforts of a few able men the French state 
 thenceforward simply drifted to the catastrophe. 
 
 What then was the condition of France on, The 'Ancient 
 
 Regime " 
 
 the eve of the Revolution ? ^ The monarchy 
 was absolute, and ruled the country by means 
 of agents drawn, not from the nobility, but from 
 the middle classes of society. It was unapproach- 
 able, irresponsible, ignorant or careless of the 
 true condition of its subjects ; yet it had drawn 
 to itself the immediate control of all administration, 
 central and local. For administrative purposes 
 the old provinces were retained only for military 
 affairs, and their noble governors were only 
 military authorities. The country was divided 
 into thirty - two generalites, each controlled by 
 an Intendant. Tliese officials had been placed 
 by Richelieu at the side of the old provincial 
 governors to act as agents of the Crown, and 
 gradually they had drawn into their own 
 
 1 The best accounts are De Tocqueville, VAncicn Rigime d la 
 Revolution, and Taine, Lcs Origincs de la Fraivce ConUmpiraiTU (ed. 1900). 
 Vols. 1. and 11.
 
 240 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vi. 
 
 hands the whole work of taxation and general 
 administration. Chosen from the middle elasseSj 
 generally lawyers, and moved from one generality 
 to another at the will of the central authority, 
 they were free from all local connection, untouched 
 by local influences, and directly and solely 
 responsible to the Controller - General at Paris. 
 Beneath them were the " sub-delegates," who in 
 smaller districts carried on the work of the 
 Intendants. It should be noticed, however, that 
 there was a distinction between the " Pays d'Etats," 
 and "Pays D'Election." In the "Pays d'Etats," 
 provincial estates still met to vote the provincial 
 share of taxation, and to supervise its assessment 
 and collection ; here the Intendant exercised 
 little more than the authority in matters of 
 police — in the widest meaning of the word. 
 On the other hand the "Pays d'Election" were 
 those where the contribution was fixed simply 
 by the King, and assessed and collected by agents 
 who had once been elected, but had become later 
 the nominees of the Crown ; in these districts the 
 Intendant controlled everything. And it is 
 scarcely necessary to add that these "Pays 
 d'Election" were much the more numerous; 
 they formed three-quarters of France. 
 
 In the towns and communes there were mayors 
 and syndics, councils, and parish meetings. The 
 municipal and parochial offices had been for a 
 long time elective, but shortly before the Revolu- 
 tion they had become hereditary, and could be
 
 SECT. 1] GEiNERAL MISGOVEUNMENT 241 
 
 purchased. In most towns and villages there- 
 fore the local offices had fallen into the hands of 
 a small group of families, which, as they could 
 not be ousted, administered for their own purposes. 
 They had only to keep on good terms with the 
 Intendant; and in fact they had speedily become 
 little more than his agents ; for the tutelage 
 exercised by these agents of the central govern- 
 ment over the communal administration, even in 
 the considerable towns, was exceedingly strict, and 
 extended to the most minute local affairs. 
 
 France was then in the grip of a vast 
 bureaucracy, which could rarely move without 
 authority from the centre, and strove to bring 
 all local administration into line. In itself this 
 was a good purpose — nowhere was its realisation 
 more desirable than in France — but the method 
 adopted crushed all local life, and the extreme 
 centralisation had by 1789 resulted in the utter 
 congestion of all administration. 
 
 Combined with these disastrous administrative The burden of 
 
 taxation. 
 
 methods was an e(jually bad system of finance. 
 A vast number of exemptions, freeing the two 
 wealthiest classes, the nobles and the clergy, from 
 all taxation, threw practically the whole financial 
 burden of the state upon the two lower classes, 
 the bourgeoisie and the populace. They bore 
 the whole (the burden weighing most heavily 
 upon the peasants),^ yet were without political 
 rights ; while, on the other hand, the nobles and 
 
 ^ Taine, La Ori'jincs, 11., pp. 199 scq. 
 
 Q
 
 242 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vi. 
 
 clergy had ceased to earn their exemption by 
 any service to the state. The great nobles did 
 not reside on their estates ; the small nobles did, 
 but had no share in the local administration, 
 except to a slight degree in the extreme western 
 part of France. Not only was the taxation heavy, 
 but it was imposed — as for example in the case 
 of the salt-duty — in the most vexatious and irritat- 
 ing way. Direct taxation was favoured rather 
 than indirect, and the army of financial agents 
 which this required was in constant conflict with 
 the people. Everywhere the agents were regarded 
 as the messengers of evil, and their chiefs, the 
 Intendants, were universally the object of popular 
 hatred. 
 
 And while they were thus harried by the state 
 the agricultural classes were also oppressed by 
 the feudal dues, often heavy and always vexatious. 
 Famine and the failure of harvests brought the 
 lower classes to the verge of utter ruin ; even the 
 Royal Treasury could extort no more from them. 
 The schemes of Turgot (1774-76) and Necker 
 (1776-81) to restore financial order had alike 
 broken down before the opposition of class 
 interests ; less capable men were doomed from 
 the first to failure, and when Necker was recalled 
 it was too late. The final crisis had come ; only 
 heroic measures could succeed, and the meeting 
 of the States- General was summoned. 
 ^iT^"^^^ f It is quite clear that when the States-General 
 
 LwTm rnet at Versailles in 1789, repubhcanism as a
 
 SECT. 1.] THE FIRST REFORM DEMANDS 243 
 
 political force did not exist in France. The 
 vast mass of the people held a creed of Royaliwie 
 irraisonnc'} The complaints against the tyranny 
 of ministers and the harshness of the adminis- 
 tration came from the nobles and the bouTjf^eouic, 
 and they condemned the monarchy only because 
 it did not keep its agents sufficiently in check. 
 The peasantry also, traditionally regarding the 
 Crown as their ally against the nobles, looked 
 to the King and a reformed administration to 
 free them from the feudal dues which weighed 
 so heavily upon them. And so the first effect 
 of the summoning of the States-General was an 
 outburst of enthusiasm for the monarchy : the 
 nation rallied to its support. The national 
 demands as formulated in the Cahiers drawn up 
 in the local assemblies of the various estates 
 preliminary to the despatch of representatives to 
 Versailles, were four in number: (1) a fixed 
 constitution ; (2) a unification of law, and its 
 impartial administration ; (3) reforms in adminis- 
 tration ; (4) the abolition of the feudal dues." 
 The need of the two last of these reforms has 
 already been shown. As to the second, the 
 unification of law, it is necessary only to point 
 out that, broadly speaking, France was divided 
 into the countries of written law and customary 
 law ; but the former was sometimes modified by 
 local usages, and the latter varied greatly, for 
 
 ' Aulard, Histoirc politique dc la RcvolwLion Francaisc, p. 7. 
 * Cr. Champiou, La France d'ajires les Cahiers de 1789.
 
 244 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vi. 
 
 sixty districts and three hundred towns were 
 governed by their own special "customs." And 
 the first demand of all, that for a constitution, 
 sprang inevitably from the other three, for, as 
 the clergy of Provins rightly remarked, "the 
 abuses against which the nation protests have 
 one common origin — arbitrary power. It is only 
 by bringing this power into its proper limits that 
 there can be any hope of re-establishing order 
 in the various departments of the administration." 
 But there was no thought of a i^epublican con- 
 stitution ; in all the lists of local grievances and 
 of necessary reforms, drawn up in the local 
 assemblies in preparation for the great meeting 
 of the States- General, we find no trace of this, 
 but only a universal demand for the four reforms 
 already enumerated. The Revolution in its early 
 stages was simply and solely a movement for 
 economic and administrative changes ; in fact 
 France did not become republican even in form 
 till it was apparent that no help could be found 
 in the monarchy. 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 stages of the Between 1789 and 1804 the movement of 
 
 Revolution. ^^^^^^ -^^ France was tremendously rapid. When 
 
 it appeared certain that, owing to the attitude 
 
 adopted by the monarchy, gradual reforms were 
 
 almost out of the question, the growing violence
 
 SKCT. 2.] CONSTITUTION AI. CHANGES 245 
 
 of the opposition swept every tliinf^ before it. The 
 ground was cleared — but what was to be the 
 nature of the new edifice ? Every kind of theory 
 was in the air ; every sort of scheme was pro- 
 pounded, and change followed change with 
 kaleidoscopic rapidity. But there are three chief 
 periods which can be distinguished between 1789 
 and 1799.^ In the first year of the Revolution 
 a limited monarchy, with a limited suffrage, was 
 established. This was followed in August 1792 
 by a republic based on universal suffrage, and 
 the period of the democratic republic commenced. 
 But again a change came. In 179.5 the people 
 as a whole gave up its power to a particular 
 class ; the republic ceased to be democratic. 
 This is the period of the directory, which 
 endured until 1799. 
 
 By that year France had become utterly weary 
 of faction and of change. Not one of the three 
 forms of government had proved itself able to 
 maintain order, and to reorganise the state in a 
 satisfactory manner. In 1789 (as Taine has 
 remarked) France was on the verge of bankruptcy, 
 and discontented with the old regime ; in 1799 
 she was absolutely bankrupt, and dissatisfied 
 with the Revolution. She needed two things ; 
 an internal reorganisation which should prevent 
 the exploitation of one class for the benefit of 
 the others, as the old recjime had exploited the 
 bourgeoisie and the people for the benefit of 
 
 ^ Aulard, p. vi.
 
 246 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vi. 
 
 the Crown, the nobles and the clergy, and as 
 the Revolution had exploited the nobles and 
 clergy for the benefit of the bourgeoisie and 
 people ; and a strong and single policy in foreign 
 affairs. And so, as in 1795 the power was 
 surrendered to a small group of men, in 1799 it 
 was surrendered to one man, Napoleon Buona- 
 parte. Nominally, the republic endured till 1804 ; 
 practically it had ceased to exist in 1799. 
 
 There was then no real contradiction between 
 the action of France in 1789 and 1799. In 
 neither year had she sought liberty, save in a 
 very limited sense. At both dates she sought 
 chiefly a Government strong enough to reorganise 
 the state, and to maintain order ; she had sought 
 it in a limited monarchy, in various forms of 
 republicanism, and at last she found it in a 
 despotism. A strong Government was needed, 
 but not an arbitrary one ; monarchy and republic 
 were alike weak and arbitrary ; the despotism 
 of Napoleon was, in internal affairs at least, 
 always regular and unquestionably beneficial. 
 
 Here we are concerned chiefly with his 
 changes in the system of local government, and 
 it is necessary, in order to understand them, to 
 notice briefly the experiments made during the 
 earlier stages of the Revolution. 
 Changes in The Condition of affairs has already been 
 
 ministration, described ; France presented an example of the 
 most extreme centralisation. From the first 
 days of the Revolution attempts at wide-reach-
 
 8KCT. 2] LOCAL GOVERNMENT CHANGES 247 
 
 ing reform were made ; but revolutionary legisla- 
 tion had some characteristies which did not 
 promise satisfactory results. It was theoretical 
 and extremely optimistic ; it failed to grasp facts, 
 and to realise the extreme complexity of the 
 problem by which it was faced. 'I'he French 
 people were utterly inexperienced, totally devoid 
 of political training ; and the legislators of the 
 Revolution seem to have believed that political 
 experience was unnecessary — reason alone was 
 needed, and every man had that. The consequent 
 legislation was idealistic, not practical ; and the 
 result was chaos. 
 
 The Constituent Assembly began by abolish- 
 ing the Intendants, who, as already stated, were 
 extremely unpopular. Then it abolished the 
 provincial divisions, and in their stead divided 
 France into eighty-six departments. This may, 
 perhaps, have been desirable as a necessary step 
 towards internal unity, for in the old provinces 
 there were local traditions, local patriotisms, local 
 customs and privileges.^ In their place were 
 henceforward the departments, bearing geo- 
 graphical names, following no traditional 
 boundaries, and often violating them ; they were 
 subdivided into districts. As to the communes, 
 the old classification into cities, boroughs, towns, 
 and villages, was abolished ; henceforward there 
 
 ' All instance of this survival of provincial particularism was 
 seen as late as the war of 1870, when the South of France cared 
 little about the fate of the Xortli.
 
 248 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vi. 
 
 were to be only " communes." In all three 
 areas — department, district, commune — there were 
 elective councils, and in all three (except in the 
 smallest communes) the administration was in 
 the hands of an Executive Board, and not (as had 
 been the case with the Intendants and their 
 delegates) of a single official.^ These local 
 authorities, though they were charged with some 
 matters which were considered as the functions 
 of the central authority, could be neither con- 
 trolled nor dissolved by the central government; 
 the result was that the local bodies, during the 
 rapid changes of the revolutionary years, were 
 often in opposition to the central power, and a 
 general collapse of local administration soon 
 became inevitable. The Convention, however, 
 was resolved to make itself obeyed, and every- 
 where it appointed agents to watch the local 
 administration, and strove to enforce obedience 
 to the central government, while maintaining 
 the decentralisation established by the Con- 
 stituent Assembly. Its agents were rabid 
 republicans, and the system was that of the 
 Terror. But it failed, and in 1795, at the com- 
 mencement of the Directory, a new experiment 
 was tried. In each department a directory of five 
 was established, with all powers, both deliberative 
 and executive ; the departmental councils had 
 been abolished two years before ; and the divi- 
 sion into districts was abandoned. The communes 
 
 1 Law of 14t.h December 1789.
 
 SECT. 2.] AUTOCRACY RE-ESTABLISHED 249 
 
 were also reorganised : ev^ry one with five thousand 
 inhahitants formed a municipality ; those with 
 more were divided, those with less were grouped 
 together into municipal cantons. The control 
 of the central government was strengthened by 
 its power of suspending and dismissing members 
 of the local directories and municipalities, and by 
 the appointment of representatives of the central 
 government to supervise the local administration. 
 
 
 Thus, after the state had from 1789 practically The return to 
 
 , . . . . autocracy. 
 
 abdicated all its functions to local bodies, and 
 administrative anarchy had been everywhere the 
 result, it found itself gradually forced back to 
 the centralised system of the old monarchy.^ 
 The Directory had gone a considerable way 
 towards re-establishing this system before it 
 surrendered its functions to Napoleon, who 
 immediately completed the work. The depart- 
 ments were retained, and subdivided into arron- 
 dissements ; the communes returned (as regards 
 area) to their condition before the days of the 
 Directory. Everywhere executive and deliberative 
 authorities were placed side by side ; but every- 
 where the executive officials (the prefects, sub- 
 prefects, and mayors) were the direct nominees 
 of the First Consul or Emperor, and absolutely 
 subject to his will ; and the members of the 
 
 ^ "These measures simply revived the centralisation of the ancUn 
 rigitne under a panojily of new names, and with the accompaniment 
 of the modern American spoils system." Young, Administrative Centrali- 
 sation and Decentralisation in France (American Academy of Political 
 Science), p. 29.
 
 250 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap.vi. 
 
 councils were appointed by the central govern- 
 ment from select local lists. In the smallest 
 matters the central control was rigorous, and no 
 local feeling could resist it.^ The new official, 
 the Prefect, was only the Intendant revived, 
 though entrusted with a smaller area ; the 
 centralisation was as elaborate and complete as 
 it had ever been. It will be observed that local 
 government had followed precisely the same 
 evolution as central government during these 
 years ; both had fallen first into utter confusion, 
 and from that they had passed by way of the 
 administration by boards (the Directory period) 
 to " one man rule " and extreme centralisation. 
 
 From the Napoleonic period France derives 
 her whole administrative, judicial, financial, 
 military, ecclesiastical, and educational system of 
 to-day. In spite of parliamentary government, 
 in spite of many revolutions, in spite of the ex- 
 tension of democracy, modern France is in its 
 main features still the Napoleonic state. But it 
 has inevitably been somewhat liberalised ; the 
 ideas which found their expression not in 1789 so 
 much as in 1830, 1848, and 1870, have succeeded 
 to some extent in making their influence felt upon 
 the mechanism of the state, and where the 
 
 ' " Les citoyens n'avaient plus aucune action sur radministration 
 de leur village, de letir ville, de leur departement ; les interets qiii 
 les touchaient de plus j^r^s dependaient du bon plaisir du prefet, 
 agent docile du pouvoir, et dout les maires et les conseils n'^taient 
 que les dociles subordonnes. " Rambaud, Histoirc de la cioilisation con- 
 temporalne en France, p. 71.
 
 SECT. 3.] THE RESTORATION 251 
 
 mechanism has not been changed its working 
 lias been modified. 
 
 SECTION 3 
 The repuljHcan party failed to hold the power subsequent 
 
 i^ i- '' ^ development 
 
 which it obtained in 1792, because it was only a of central 
 
 •^ government. 
 
 minority in the country. Popular support was 
 lacking : the weakness of the central power, and 
 the confusion arising from a system of decentralisa- 
 tion which required much political training where 
 none whatever existed, made the French nation 
 willing to accept the rule of Napoleon. When 
 he fell, the whole administration was firmly 
 established upon the principles of extreme centrali- 
 sation. That remained : the immediate task was 
 to reorganise the central government, for only when 
 a stable constitution had been found could time 
 and attention be given to the local institutions. 
 
 The restoration of the Bourbons was accepted ^^gg^^^tion 
 without enthusiasm, but without active hostility. Monarchy. 
 It was not the restoration of the old monarchy ; 
 there was a formal constitution and something 
 of parliamentary government, though with a very 
 limited franchise ; and there remained the two 
 great results of the Revolution, equality of all 
 before the law, and uniformity of administration.^ 
 
 1 " La restauration de 1814, amende jmr vm accident de politique 
 6trangtNro, ii'a ute qu'une restauration incomplete. EUe a conserve 
 Torgauisation sociale d^mocratique creee par la Revolution et 
 I'organisation administrative centralisee laissee par Napoleon. A
 
 252 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap.vi. 
 
 Louis XVIII. tried to steer a middle course 
 between the extreme royalists on the one side 
 and the revolutionaries (republican and imperialist) 
 on the other. But he failed ; the ultra-royalists 
 came to power, and under his successor, Charles 
 X. (1824-30), who was identified with them, 
 their violence greatly increased. At last the 
 ordinances of 1830, attacking the Parliament, the 
 franchise, and the Press, brought the Revolution of 
 July, and the substitution for the Bourbons of the 
 House of Orleans in the person of Louis Philippe. 
 The change was like that of 1689 in England; 
 Louis Philippe was the head of the younger branch 
 of the Royal Family, but his kingdom was based 
 less on hereditary right than on an agreement with 
 the nation. 
 (ii) The The rising in Paris which had overthrown 
 
 Monarchy of 
 
 July. Charles X. was the work of the republicans, but 
 
 they were not strong enough to take the power, 
 and were compelled to leave it to the moderate 
 Liberals, whose most conspicuous leaders were 
 Guizot and Thiers. The Monarchy of July lasted 
 eighteen years, but at no time during that period 
 was its position at all secure. Louis Philippe 
 relied entirely upon the middle class, and the 
 Government considered only the interests of that 
 class ; its policy was simply to oppose the growing 
 revolutionary and even reform forces at home, and 
 
 cette sooi6t6 democratique et a. cette administration bureaucratique 
 elle a sujaerpose uu m6canisnie politique inonarohique d'importatiou 
 anglaise." Seignobos, Histoire lolUique de V Europe contemporaine, p. 205.
 
 SECT. 3] THE MONARCHY OF JULY 253 
 
 to maintain peace abroad ; beyond that it had no 
 ambitions. It abohshed tlie censorship of the 
 Press, it extended the system of national education, 
 it doubled the electorate ; ^ but it was not inclined 
 for further reform. And consequently it was 
 faced by an ever-increasing opposition, formed of 
 very diverse elements ; the more advanced T liberals, 
 the discontented monarchists, the republicans 
 (rapidly growing in strength) all combined to 
 attack the "bourgeois monarchy." They attacked 
 on three points — the personal power of the King 
 and the ministries chosen by himself alone, the 
 centralised administration and the use of officials 
 for political purposes, and the limitation of the 
 franchise. INleanwhile the agitation of the avowed 
 republicans was becoming ever more dangerous, 
 under the inspiration of the historians, such as 
 Michelet and Lamartine, who idealised the great 
 Revolution of 1789 ; and at the same time men 
 began to seek an economic reorganisation of 
 society, and socialism appeared. The socialists 
 lacked coherence, and the teaching of St Simon, 
 Fourier, and Proudhon had little direct political 
 influence, but the particular form of socialism 
 represented by Louis Blanc was soon to become 
 an active force. The Government made some 
 reforms,^ but in the main clung to the policy of 
 resistance : the result was that it ahenated all 
 
 * But even then the electorate numbered only 200,000, out of a 
 total po]5ulation of about 34,000,000. 
 
 - Sue the list in Guizot, Mevioircs, c. xlix.
 
 254 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vi. 
 
 sections of the population except the wealthier 
 middle classes, who were too weak to give any 
 effectual support. A street riot in Paris in 
 February, 1848, led to its downfall without a 
 single blow being struck in its defence. It was 
 the final failure of monarchy in France. 
 (iii) The The Provisional Government of 1848 set up a 
 
 Second i t i • 
 
 Republic. rcpubhc, but m the ranks of the republicans them- 
 selves there was a division. Though they had 
 tried, they had not in 1830 been strong enough to 
 erect a republic, and they had been forced to 
 accept the " bourgeois monarchy " : now they 
 were strong enough to establish their desired form 
 of government, but not strong enough to main- 
 tain it. For they were hopelessly divided into 
 republicans and socialists : the former, led by 
 Lamartine, sought political reforms ; the latter, 
 led by Louis Blanc, attempted sweeping economic 
 changes. The elections by universal suffrage to 
 the Constituent Assembly gave the republicans 
 a strong majority ; the socialists began to alarm 
 their bourgeois allies, and from the executive 
 commission of government the socialists chiefs 
 were excluded. Then a struggle ensued, followed 
 by street fighting ; the socialists were crushed for 
 a time, and the republicans were free to arrange 
 their own form of government. They decided upon 
 a single chamber, and a President of the Republic ; 
 both were to be elected by universal suffrage. 
 Now the grant of universal suffrage transferred 
 the voting power to the peasants, and the
 
 ire. 
 
 SECT. 3] AUTOCRACY AGAIN 255 
 
 immediate result was an overwhelming majority 
 for Louis Njipolcon. In the new assembly there 
 were numerous parties — imperialists, monarchists 
 of the legitimist and orleanist schools, republicans, 
 democrats or socialists, and moderates. Few 
 cared for the new regime ; and the coup dctat of 
 Napoleon and his subsequent assumption of the 
 imperial dignity were easily accomplished, and 
 were readily ratified by a great majority of the 
 nation in the plebiscites. 
 
 It was the story of 1789 over again. A ^'JJJJ® 
 particular form of government having been over- ^™p 
 thrown, a party which formed only a minority of 
 the nation — much larger and more intelligent in 
 1848 than in 1792, but still a minority — had taken 
 possession of the central power and established a 
 repubhc. In each case the republicans then pro- 
 ceeded to quarrel amongst themselves, and gave 
 no promise of a stable government ; the majority 
 of the nation was hostile or indifferent, and finally, 
 desiring above all things order, turned to im- 
 perialism, and deliberately elected a dictator. 
 The tradition of the great Napoleon and his work 
 carried his nephew to power ; and the institutions 
 of 1852 were those of 1804. All power was in 
 the hands of the Emperor, and he alone could 
 initiate legislation, make war or peace. The 
 legislature met or was dissolved at his pleasure ; 
 the ministers were his ministers, not those of 
 the legislature. The legislature could accept or 
 reject Bills prepared by the Council of State ;
 
 256 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap.vi. 
 
 it could not ordinarily amend them. Thus an 
 autocracy was again established ; but the auto- 
 cracy retained the instruments which had raised 
 it to power — it kept the universal suffrage ; but 
 the elections were always manipulated, as they 
 had been under all the previous Governments, and 
 the extreme centralisation of the administration 
 was maintained for political purposes. 
 
 But the Liberals though overthrown were not 
 crushed, and they soon became again important. 
 From 1860 onward the Empire found itself forced 
 to incline more and more to the moderate Liberals, 
 especially when diplomatic and military failures 
 had greatly diminished its prestige. It yielded 
 more power to the legislature, it gave it the right 
 of initiating laws ; and when the legislature had be- 
 come overwhelmingly Liberal, the Emperor turned 
 to the constitutional Liberals, i.e., those who were 
 prepared to retain the Empire, and to secure their 
 support called their leader, OUivier, to power. 
 But there was another and perhaps stronger 
 section of the Liberals who were resolved to over- 
 throw the Empire, and meanwhile a new form of 
 sociahsm was making rapid progress among the 
 workmen. The doctrines of modern sociahsm 
 had been formulated by INIarx ; by 1864 the 
 " International Association " was at work, and by 
 1870 the new movement had become a political 
 factor which caused the Government serious alarm. 
 Against on the one side the advanced Liberals and 
 the sociaUsts, on the other side the monarchists,
 
 BECT. 3.] THE NEW REPUBLIC 257 
 
 the Empire found support only in the moderate 
 Liberals ; these might conceivably have saved it, 
 with considerable modifications, but there was no 
 time. They had been called to ofiice in 1870, 
 and in that same year the disastrous foreign policy 
 of the Empire brought about its abrupt collapse. 
 
 The Republic estabhshed in 1870 has now (y) The Third 
 
 ^ Republic. 
 
 endured for thirty-five years ; like its two pre- 
 decessors, it originated in a Paris-made revolution, 
 and there was for a time every prospect that it 
 would not endure. But there was absolutely 
 nothing to take its place, and the nation had 
 learned by previous experience. It went to work 
 soberly and steadily, and a set of institutions was 
 established, which were accepted willingly by a 
 very considerable minority, and from necessity, 
 though with reluctance, by the majority. And 
 so time was given for the institutions to make 
 their working felt, and to grow into the life of 
 France ; and it appears to be certain, in spite of 
 the troubled career of the T'hird Republic, that 
 the considerable republican minority of 1870 has 
 become a very great republican majority to-day. 
 One event, however, of the early days of the 
 republic must be briefly noticed, and that is the 
 Commune. The history of that movement is 
 extremely uncertain, but it seems to be clear that 
 the revolt was to some extent at least a protest 
 against over- centralisation — a demand for a greater 
 amount of communal liberty. It was the effort 
 of the socialists ; to most of the towns it would 
 
 B
 
 258 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap.vi. 
 
 have been disastrous. And so, whereas in every 
 previous revolution Paris had imposed her will 
 on France, in the matter of the Commune the 
 provinces imposed their will on Paris. 
 
 SECTION 4 
 
 Changes in We uow have to uoticc briefly what changes 
 
 local adminis- ... . 
 
 tration. havc comc ovcr the local administration during 
 these constant variations in the nature of the 
 central government in France.^ It has already 
 been suggested that these changes have in sum 
 been very small, but the growth of Liberalism was 
 bound to exercise some influence. France still 
 keeps from the Napoleonic period her judicial 
 organisation, and the systems of education and 
 finance ; whilst the ecclesiastical arrangements 
 made by the first Emperor are about to be 
 abandoned. In the local administration she has 
 kept the departments administered by prefects 
 and sub-prefects, and the strict tutelage of the 
 communes ; and she has kept the " administrative 
 courts." The remarkable series of changes in the 
 central government would in fact have been im- 
 possible but for this continued existence of the 
 highly centralised bureaucratic machinery by 
 which France was actually administered ; the new 
 authority had only to secure the central offices, 
 
 ^ There is a useful sketch in Rambaud, Civilisation Contemporaine en 
 Fratice, cc. xvi. and xxvi.
 
 flECT. 4] LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORMS 259 
 
 and the subordinate agents throughout tlie country 
 obeyed it as a matter of course. 
 
 13ut there have been certain changes of a Liberal 
 and decentrahsing nature. The first is that the 
 municipal authorities and departmental councils 
 have become — though very gradually — representa- 
 tive of the localities ; and their powers have 
 been increased under administrative supervision. 
 Under the Monarcliy of July the councils of the 
 communes (1831) and departments (1833) were 
 made elective, but the franchise was confined (as 
 for parliamentary elections) to the limited class 
 of large taxpayers and officials upon whom the 
 government of Louis Philippe relied, and the 
 mayors and adjoints were appointed by the central 
 government from the persons elected as councillors.^ 
 The Second Republic in 1848 retained this arrange- 
 ment for the larger communes, but in those with 
 less than 6,000 inhabitants it permitted the free 
 election of the communal officers. Next, the 
 Second Empire, which owed its existence to the 
 universal suffrage, established that form of election 
 for the councils, and during the last years when 
 it was seeking everywhere for support it increased 
 the powers of these bodies (1866 and 1867), but 
 
 1 Cf. Thiers: "Savez-vous pourquoi la Restauration, en nous 
 faisant un nial moral et politique immense, n'a cependant pas frustre 
 les interets materiels ? C'est qu'elle a respects la vieille administra- 
 tion del'Empire, qui en savait plus qu'elle, etqu'elle a laissealler. . . . 
 Ce n'est pas nous qui sommes retrogrades, c'est nous qui defeudons la 
 Revolution vivante. En affranchissant les grandes communes, vous 
 debruissez I'unite ; vovis portez un coup de hache au pied de I'arbre." 
 Quoted in Kara baud, Civilisation CcnUemporaiiu en France, p. 340.
 
 260 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vi. 
 
 as regards the mayors and adjoint s it returned 
 in 1852 to the methods of the monarchy. Finally, 
 under the Third Republic the mayors were made 
 elective first in the smaller communes in 1871, and 
 then (after a brief return to the old plan in 1874 
 under the reactionary rule of Macmahon) in 1876 
 and 1882 in all the communes ; the municipal code 
 was rearranged and extended (1884); and the 
 departments have become of greater importance. 
 But decentralisation has not gone very far ; and 
 the central control is in reality as strong as ever. 
 The main- One rcasou for this is that for very obvious 
 
 tenance of ,... i . i n in 
 
 centraiisa- rcasous no political party has really cared tor 
 
 bureaucratic decentralisation ; with the highly organised bureau- 
 authority. . O J Q 
 
 cracy any party which can get hold of the central 
 
 offices can control the whole country, especially 
 as it is a recognised thing that administrative 
 officials may be used for political purposes. The 
 machine is too valuable a weapon for any poUtical 
 party lightly to throw it away. Decentralisation 
 has been constantly advocated ; as early as 1863 
 a conference at Nancy urged that the communes 
 should be strengthened, the cantons revived, the 
 tutelage of the departments reduced, and the 
 administrative tribunals abolished ; and the first 
 three of these reforms have been persistently urged 
 by some prominent politicians, whilst a Govern- 
 ment Commission on the subject was appointed 
 in 1895. But there is no sign of any changes of 
 real importance; neither the politicians or the 
 people really want them. The sociahst munici-
 
 SECT. 4.] THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 261 
 
 palities naturally call for a greater amount of 
 autonomy ; they desire to be released from the 
 strict administrative control which hampers their 
 experiments. But their demand is not hkely to 
 be granted until the socialist party is much more 
 powerful than it is at present ; and it must be 
 remembered that it has no hold upon the peasants, 
 who form the great majority of the people of 
 France. 
 
 There seems then every probability that the Growing 
 
 •' ^ . f , strength of 
 
 organisation of local administration will continue tbe Republic. 
 
 in something closely akin to its present form, at 
 
 least for a considerable time. But what of the 
 
 central government? Is the republic to be the 
 
 definitive constitution of France ? The course of 
 
 French history is a warning against prophecy, 
 
 but there are some points which may be noticed. 
 
 The first is the growth of republican sentiment ; 
 
 the party was in a minority in 1870, and also in 
 
 1875 when the constitution was adopted, but in 
 
 every election since its strength has increased, 
 
 until to-day it has undisputed control in all except 
 
 a few districts of France. The second point is 
 
 that its long existence (nearly twice as long as 
 
 that of any previous Government since 1789) has 
 
 enlisted on its side the peasantry, who are the 
 
 great conservative force. Thirdly, the socialists, 
 
 who had long been in constant opposition, have 
 
 recently been banded with the republicans in 
 
 defence of the existing order, though it remains 
 
 to be seen if, in saving the republic, they will
 
 262 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vi. 
 
 not greatly change it. And, finally, one of the 
 most striking things in recent French politics is 
 the decline in the influence of Paris ; up to 1870 
 the capital had for centuries imposed her will 
 upon the provinces, but in 1871, by the repression 
 of the Commune, the provinces imposed their will 
 upon Paris, and they have repeated this since in the 
 cases of the Boulangist and the Nationalist agita- 
 tions. The reasons for this are of course to be 
 found in the growth of the great mercantile and 
 industrial towns, and the improved means of 
 communication ; and the change must assuredly 
 make for the greater stability of the central political 
 institutions of France. Changes in the local insti- 
 tutions will probably come, but the process is 
 certain to be very slow ; France is accustomed to 
 centralised and bureaucratic government, and is 
 not ready for anything else.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION IN 
 PRUSSIA SINCE 180G 
 
 SECTION 1 
 
 The modern Prussian state began with the 
 general reorganisation which followed the 
 military collapse before Napoleon I. at Jena 
 in 1806, and the political disaster at Tilsit in 
 the following year. The administrative system 
 which Frederick William I. had founded, and 
 the great Frederick had wielded with such 
 extraordinary success, had revealed its inability 
 to meet new requirements, and to cope with 
 the new forces set in action throughout Europe 
 by the French Revolution. The necessity for 
 drastic and far-reaching reform could no longer 
 be obscured, and the entry into office of the 
 Freiherr vom Stein in October, 1807, began the 
 second great constructive period of Prussian 
 history. 
 
 The Prussian realm in 180G was a quite The forma 
 
 tion of the 
 
 recent recreation. It had originated in the Prussian 
 
 ° state. 
 
 Mark of Brandenburg, founded between 1134 
 and 1170 by Albert the Bear, as one of the 
 
 263
 
 264 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vii. 
 
 " marks''^ intended to guard the eastern border 
 of Germany against the Slavs. ^ Gradually, and 
 for centuries only very slowly, its rulers 
 extended their territories, but always towards 
 the east. The development became rapid only 
 after the close of the Thirty Years' War, with 
 the reigns of the Great Elector and his successors. 
 The Elector (1640-88) took up vigorously the 
 task of reorganisation after the ravages of the 
 long war, and in particular devoted himself to 
 economic improvements. His son, Frederick I., 
 raised Prussia to the dignity of a kingdom. 
 The next King, Frederick William 1. (1713-40) 
 elaborated an administrative system, highly 
 centralised but extremely efficient, and subordi- 
 nated everything to the maintenance of a powerful 
 army. Frederick the Great (1740-86) and his 
 nephew, Frederick William II. (1786-97), made 
 use of the weapons prepared for them, and by 
 the acquisition of Silesia and part of Poland 
 more than doubled the extent of the Prussian 
 kingdom. But still the gains were chiefly 
 towards the east ; in 1806 Prussia included a 
 few scattered territories west of the Elbe, but 
 its capital, Berlin, was between the Elbe and 
 the Oder, and the great mass of its provinces 
 
 ^ By "mark" in this instance was meant a border-territory 
 intended for defence, and therefore having the whole administration 
 concentrated in the hands of a mihtary ruler. Cf. the English 
 "palatine counties." 
 
 '^ A similar " mark " to the south was the Bavarian " East-Mark," 
 destined to grow into the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
 
 SECT. 1.] SOCIAL CONDITIONS 265 
 
 lay to the cast of the hist-named river. And 
 then suddenly by the Treaty of Tilsit its western 
 possessions, and much else, were torn from it ; 
 it was reduced by almost one-half, and seemed 
 to have sunk into its old unimportant position 
 in Europe. 
 
 It had collapsed, and the task of reconstruc- Sodai 
 
 organieation 
 
 tion was extremely difficult. Prussia was still in isoa. 
 in the feudal stage of society. Nearly one-half 
 of the land was royal domain, that is, the actual 
 private estates of the King ; and in these, 
 as almost everywhere else throughout the 
 kingdom, the manorial system had firm hold. 
 The whole of the social and economic life of 
 the country was determined by a strong caste 
 system, which gave a status to land and 
 prevented its easy transfer — since land once 
 held by a noble could never be alienated to a 
 member of another social class ; and at the 
 same time prohibited the rise of a peasant to the 
 citizen class, and of a citizen to the ranks of the 
 nobles. The towns were controlled by a narrow 
 guild-system which, while it excluded the 
 greater number of the inhabitants from any 
 share in the municipal government, had fallen 
 to the lowest depths of incompetence, so that 
 the real authority had come to be exercised, 
 in fact though not in law, by petty royal 
 officials. At the same time the towns were 
 oppressed by a system of taxation which was 
 based first on a distinction between town and
 
 266 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMLNISTRATION [chap. vii. 
 
 country, and, secondly, on a system of exemp- 
 tions and privileges for nobles and manorial 
 lords ; it laid therefore a most disproportionate 
 burden upon the towns. 
 AdmrniB- The Central government was in the most 
 
 trative . 
 
 organisation complete confusion.^ There was no distinct 
 
 inl806. ^ 
 
 separation of powers ; the King was sole law 
 giver, he was chief of the civil administration, 
 and head of the army, and only a man of 
 exceptional ability could keep control ; just as 
 was the case in France in the eighteenth 
 century, all power was concentrated in the 
 hands of the monarchs, and their task was 
 become impossible. In the local government 
 the old provincial assemblies had fallen into 
 disuse with the groA\i:h of the absolute 
 monarchy, and the chief organs for local 
 administration were the Offices for War and 
 Domains {Kriegs - und Domdnen - Kdmmern), of 
 which each province had one or more. Created 
 in 1723 as local agents of the General Directory 
 {Generaldirektorium), which Frederick WiUiam I. 
 had established as the one supreme adminis- 
 trative body for the whole kingdom, these 
 authorities were originally intended to control 
 only military and financial matters ; but gradually 
 they had drawn to themselves all the more 
 important of local affairs. Beneath them were 
 
 ^ The chief authorities for the administrative history of Prussia 
 are Bornhak, Geschichte des preussUchen Veriocdtungsrechts (3 vols.), and 
 Isaacsohn, Geschichte des preussischen BeamtentuTtis (3 vols. ).
 
 8KCT. 1] THE OLD ADMINISTRATION 207 
 
 the Circles (Krcis-e), which from the reign of 
 Frederick the Great had been the real units of 
 Prussian local government. At the head of 
 each Circle stood the T^andrath, whose office 
 first appears in the Mark of Brandenburg in 
 the sixteenth century. Originally the representa- 
 tive of the landowners, he became about the 
 end of the seventeenth century the chief local 
 administrative official, and under the absolute 
 monarchy he was by 180G the chief agent 
 within the circle of the central power, though 
 still elected by the landowners from their own 
 number. The representative body of the Circle 
 was the Circle Assembly [Kreistag), composed 
 of the owners of manors ; and thus the whole 
 administration was in the hands of the land- 
 owners.^ As regards the communes, the code 
 prepared under Frederick II., and published by 
 his successor,^ drew no distinction between 
 manorial and non-manorial villages, and the 
 free villages of the western part of the kingdom 
 received the same organisation, with Schulz 
 (steward), assessors and assembly, as the unfree 
 villages of the eastern provinces. Finally, the 
 bureaucracy, once the most skilled in Europe, 
 was now become decrepit, and had broken down 
 beneath the burden of over- centralisation. The 
 
 ^ The powers of the Circle Assembly varied according to the 
 provinces ; in some instances it had only advisory ])owers, whilst in 
 others it had some control over local finances. Bornhak, Geschichte des 
 jyreussischen Verwalttcngsrechts, II., p. 289 se^. 
 
 ^ Das allgemeine Landrecht.
 
 268 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vn. 
 
 whole system had failed completely, and the 
 chief reason for this, as Stein and most of his 
 abler contemporaries perceived, was that it left 
 no room for individual or local initiative. The 
 Prussian people was accustomed to be ruled, it 
 was in the habit of looking to the central 
 government for guidance even in small matters ; 
 it had no desire and no ability to rule itself. 
 And in the eastern provinces, that is to say, in 
 far the greater part of Prussia, the rural popula- 
 tion was in a condition of almost complete 
 economic dependence. 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 The Stein had at first advocated administrative 
 
 reformeri. 
 
 reform alone. Finding his ideal of local adminis- 
 tration in the English system at the close of the 
 eighteenth century, he thought to initiate reforms 
 upon that model ; but he speedily perceived that 
 changes of a far more sweeping character had 
 become necessary. His contemporary Hardenberg 
 is as a reformer entitled to a much higher rank 
 than Stein ; he was the first Liberal statesman of 
 Prussia, and almost of Europe, after 1789. He 
 recognised clearly that thorough economic and 
 social reforms would have to accompany, and in 
 some cases to precede, administrative and political 
 reorganisation ; and his schemes were consequently 
 much more comprehensive than those put forward
 
 SECT. 2] THE FIRST REFORM PERIOD 269 
 
 by Stein, who always remained essentially a Whig. 
 But in his attempt to rebuild the state the latter 
 was forced to somewhat the same conclusions as 
 Hardenberg, though he was never ready to go so 
 far. The objects of the reformers were then the 
 abohtion of all that remained of the feudal and 
 caste systems ; the creation of some degree of 
 union between the various classes of society ; the 
 introduction of a system of local self-government 
 which should give all classes an interest in the 
 conduct of local affairs ; the reform of the central 
 government, of taxation, and of the army. As 
 regards the central government, Stein abolished 
 the General Directory in 1808, and divided the 
 work between five departments, each under a 
 single minister ; unity of policy was secured by 
 the establishment of the Ministry of State, com- 
 posed of the heads of departments under the 
 presidency of the Chancellor.^ 
 
 Here we are chiefly concerned with the The Emanci- 
 development of the institutions of local govern- ^* ^°° 
 ment.^ One great economic change had necessarily 
 to come first, and this was brought about by the 
 Emancipation Edict of 1807 and its complement, 
 the Edict of 1811. These estabhshed freedom of 
 sale of land and of choice of occupation, abolished 
 
 ^ The office of Chancellor was not filled after the death of 
 Hardenberg; the head of the Ministry was thenceforward styled 
 Minister- President, and had much less authority over his colleagues. 
 
 ^ Meier, Reform der Veru-altungsorganisation unter Stein und Hardenherg, 
 passim, a useful account is in Seeley, Life and Times of Stein, especi- 
 ally Ft. III. cc. 3-4, and Pt. V., cc. 1-3.
 
 270 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vii. 
 
 serfdom, and made it possible for a peasant to 
 free his holding from heavy duties and turn it 
 into hereditary property. Though only a small 
 number of peasants could avail themselves of such 
 an opportunity at first, yet the legislation as a 
 whole gave personal, and a chance of economic, 
 freedom, and so founded the class of peasant 
 proprietors in modern Prussia.^ 
 The ref9rms. In all this Stciu had no particular share, though 
 cipaiities. he approved of it. Apart from the reform of the 
 central administration, the chief monument of his 
 fifteen months' tenure of office (practically a 
 dictatorship) is the JNIunicipal Edict {Stddte- 
 Ordnung) of 1808. It was the realisation of a 
 mere fragment of his schemes, for he had intended 
 a general reform of all urban and rural communes, 
 but was compelled to limit his work to the towns. 
 Of the condition of these we have already seen 
 something ; for further evidence we may turn 
 to the evidence of a contemporary observer, who 
 writes : — 
 
 " The magistrates in some places filled up their 
 number by co-optation, but for the most part they 
 were nominated by the Government, and since the 
 second half of the eighteenth century the citizens 
 had no influence worth mentioning either in this 
 or in regard to the taxes, accounts, etc. Thus the 
 town fell into two entirely unconnected parts. The 
 completely disfranchised part submitted grudgingly, 
 
 1 But the eastern group of pro'vances remained (and remains) on 
 the whole a land of great estates.
 
 SECT. 2.] MUNICIPAL REFORM 271 
 
 seeing in the magistrates, often quite justly, 
 nothing but partial and interested opponents, and 
 at the same time these apparently unlimited 
 despots did not at all enjoy their power. In the 
 first place, many posts of Burgomaster, Treasurer, 
 Councillor, were treated as comfortable berths for 
 invalid Quartermasters and Sergeants : . . . 
 secondly, these men were under the strictest 
 Government tutelage, scarcely allowed to make 
 or carry out the most trifling decision without 
 its appro\al. Besides this, almost all the towns 
 were subject to the oversight of a Supervisor of 
 Taxes in the neighbourhood."^ 
 
 Stein's Edict set up a complete municipal 
 system, with Burgomaster, Magistracy {i.e., an 
 Executive Board) and Town Council — all to be 
 elective authorities. It swept away the oligarchy 
 of the guilds, w^idened the franchise, and whilst 
 opening office to all citizens laid down the principle 
 that unpaid service to the community was obliga- 
 tory upon every citizen from whom it might be 
 required. In a natural reaction against the over- 
 control of the previous 7Tgime, it gave the towns 
 almost complete independence even in the matter 
 of taxation, only laying down certain general rules, 
 and retaining a modified right of supervision." In 
 general the control of the state over the administra- 
 
 ^ Von Raumer (quoted by Seeley, Life and Tivies of Stein), Pu V., 
 c. II., 3. 
 
 - The administration of justice was separated from municijial 
 affairs, and given to royal officials; and the central government kept 
 control of the "police," either through its own directly appointed 
 agents, or througli niunicii)al officials who in this matter acted 
 under its direction and supervision. Bornhak, III., jjp. 20-22.
 
 272 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMLNISTRATION [chap. vu. 
 
 tion of the towns was unduly weakened, and this 
 was one of the objections to the new system. 
 Another was its want of elasticity, and a third 
 was the absence of any means of ensuring harmony 
 between the Magistracy and the Town Council. 
 In the course of the next two decades these evils 
 became apparent, and an attempt to remedy them 
 was made by the Edict of 1831, which authorised 
 the issue of a special statute (practically a special 
 charter and constitution for each town) at its own 
 initiative, widened the franchise, raised the quali- 
 fication of councillors in order to secure a better 
 class, settled the relations of the various bodies 
 between themselves, and placed the towns beneath 
 a stricter central control. The approval of the 
 central authorities for all local taxation was also 
 made necessary. The new Edict was to some 
 extent reactionary, but it removed most of the 
 previous difficulties ; and though issued only for 
 the province of Brandenburg, it was gradually 
 extended to several of the other produces. With 
 these changes, consolidated and re-enacted in 1853, 
 "the municipal government founded by Stein's 
 great law in 1808 is as yet the only real and living 
 piece of self-government in Prussia. It has, after 
 nearly seventy years of a fruitful existence, driven 
 its roots deep into the soil, and satisfactorily solved 
 the great problem of local government, viz., the 
 combining the administration of afFau's which are 
 partly private, partly public, in the same hands : 
 it has established itself as the type which all future
 
 SECT. 2] FURTHER CHANGES 273 
 
 attempts at creating self - governing institutions 
 must follow." ^ 
 
 T^ either Stein nor Hardenberff touched the '"^ ^°°^- 
 
 " munea. 
 
 constitution of the country communes. But the 
 way for change was prepared by the economic 
 reforms and also by the introduction, during 
 the Napoleonic occupation, of the French 
 communal system into all the Prussian territories 
 west of the Elbe. This survived until the 
 Westphalian and Rhineland Edicts of 1841 and 
 1845. The nearly uniform system which these 
 established was, however, much under the influ- 
 ence of the Napoleonic institutions, and is so 
 to this day. 
 
 Since the reign of Frederick II. the division (iii) circiea. 
 into Circles had been extended into all newly 
 acquired territories. It rested, as did all local 
 administration, on the politically privileged 
 position of the great landed interest, and on 
 the caste system. The Edicts of 1807 and 1811 
 swept away this basis, and some slight further 
 reforms were made. In the reorganisation after 
 the Congress of Vienna the Circle arrangement 
 was imposed on all the conquered or reconquered 
 territories. The most important changes subse- 
 quently made were in the position of the 
 Landrath, who, as chief executive officer of the 
 Circle, was to be at once a royal representative 
 
 ' Sir Robert Morier, in the Cobden Club's Local Oovemment and 
 TaxcUion (1875), p. 424. By "partly private, partly public'" Sir 
 Robert must have meant "partly state, partly local." 
 
 S
 
 274 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vii. 
 
 and the official head of a corporation (for the 
 Circle now for the first time received the 
 position and rights of a body corporate) ; in 
 the reorganisation of the Circle Assemblies 
 (1825-28), which became representative of the 
 three estates of the large and small landowners 
 and the municipalities ; and in taxation, when in 
 1841-42 the Circles received the power of taxa- 
 tion for their own local purposes, and full 
 control of their local finances.^ The system 
 thenceforward remained unchanged until the 
 Bismarckian legislation of 1872. 
 (iv) Govern- The Officcs for War and Domains were 
 
 DiBtricta. displaced in 1808 by the Government Boards 
 {Regierungen), and after 1815 the whole 
 kingdom was divided into twenty-six Govern- 
 ment Districts [Ttegierung-Bezirhe), each with 
 a President and Board of officials appointed 
 by the central authority; and, of these twenty- 
 six, twenty - one remain to-day practically 
 unaltered. In these Boards the coUegial 
 system, under which all matters of any 
 importance must be settled by a majority of 
 votes of members of the Board, was retained; 
 whilst in the lower authorities the bureaucratic 
 system, under which almost all matters may 
 be settled by a single official, also continued. 
 It will be remembered that, with one or two 
 exceptions, these Government Districts do not 
 form corporate bodies; they exist only for 
 
 » Bornhalc, III., pp. 50-71.
 
 BECT.3.] THE PROVINCES 275 
 
 purposes of state control and for general, as 
 opposed to local, matters. "^Fhe plan was after- 
 wards extended to the territories acquired by 
 Prussia between 18G0 and 1870, that is, to 
 Schleswig-Holstein, Lauenberg, Hanover, Elec- 
 toral Hesse, and Nassau. 
 
 The revival of the old provincial organisation (v) ProvinceB. 
 began in 1815, when the kingdom was divided 
 into ten Provinces, each to include two or 
 more Government Districts. In each province 
 a Chief President was appointed to exercise 
 general control over all matters affecting the 
 province as a whole. During the reaction after 
 Hardenberg's death in 1822 the old provincial 
 assemblies, based on the representation of the 
 three estates of nobles, citizens, and peasants, 
 with the first class predominating, were revived 
 and given increased powers ; Hardenberg himself 
 had refused to touch them. But the attempt 
 to galvanise them into life met with small 
 success. 
 
 SECTION 3 
 The reorganisation of local administration The con 
 
 " stitutional 
 
 carried out by Stein and Hardenberg has been Reform move- 
 described at some length, because the system 
 then created remained in its essential features 
 unchanged for half a century. When Hardenberg 
 died in 1822 the constructive period had come
 
 276 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vii. 
 
 to an end. Neither the idea of a general repre- 
 sentative body, as Stein had conceived it, nor 
 of a constitution, for which Hardenberg had 
 persistently toiled, had been realised, although 
 both had been publicly promised by the King 
 in the crisis of the War of Liberation. The 
 government was still an absolute monarchy, 
 working by means of a powerful bureaucracy.^ 
 On the whole, it was probably well that there 
 should be a long delay. After the Vienna 
 Congress the Prussian statesmen had to face 
 the same difficult and complicated task as 
 Frederick II. after the conquest of Silesia. 
 They had to attempt to weld together the 
 various Prussian territories into a solid state, 
 and to introduce some measure of uniformity 
 into their administration. To a considerable 
 extent this task had been accomplished when 
 Hardenberg died ; and it may be, as Treitschke 
 holds, that for the future of Europe this was 
 the most important event in the ten years after 
 Waterloo. Till its accomplishment a system 
 of general representation would have been of 
 little or no use ; when it was completed the 
 forces of reaction had grown too powerful, and 
 the nation had lost its former enthusiasm. 
 
 ^ "Der von alien Schranken befreite absolute Beamtenstaat unter 
 Leitung des allmaehtigen Staatskanzlers stand in seiner liochsten 
 Vollendung da. Keine gesellscliaftlichen Interessen Tvirkten auf 
 das Beamtentum ein, Grundbesitz und Kapitalismus waren gleich 
 einfiusslos auf dasselbe. . . . Es war die zweite Bliitezeit des 
 preussisehen Beamtentums, welche die unter Friedrich Willielm I, 
 noch zu iibertreffen schien." Bomhak, III., pp. 9-10.
 
 SECT. 3.] CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLES 277 
 
 The constitutional movements in Germany 
 and their partial success in the South-German 
 States (Bavaria, Wiirtemburg and others), and 
 the " young German " agitation in the univer- 
 sities, had thoroughly alarmed the well-meaning 
 but weak King. The Court party was hostile 
 to all idea of a constitution, and the powerful 
 influence of the Austrian minister, Metternich, 
 worked unceasingly in the same direction. One 
 result of this has been already noticed — the re- 
 establishment of the provincial assemblies, based 
 on a theory of social organisation which no 
 longer corresponded to the facts. Another was 
 a long period in which the growing commercial 
 and industrial classes, outside the towns, were 
 excluded from all share in tlie government, 
 which remained the monopoly of the land- 
 owners. The hostile forces were only held in 
 check by the rather unreasonable amount of 
 respect inspired by the old King ; and immedi- 
 ately after the accession of Frederick William IV. 
 the agitation began in earnest. The two 
 parties, Liberal and Conservative, were now 
 definitely organised ; between them stood the 
 bureaucracy, a distinct class, dependent solely 
 upon the Ministry. It was the only class which 
 as yet had shown any political ability ; it was 
 disliked equally by both political parties, and 
 was again beginning to break down beneath the 
 immense amount of work and authority necessarily 
 assigned to it by Hardenberg in order to carry
 
 278 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vu. 
 
 out his far-reaching social and economic reforms. 
 The new King desired a constitution based upon 
 the system of provincial estates, and was strongly 
 opposed to the rule of the bureaucracy. But his 
 attempts at compromise were certain to fail. 
 He himself was not strong enough and had no 
 capable adviser ; the Liberals were encouraged 
 and roused to action by the growing weakness 
 of the governments of continental Europe ; and 
 the attempt to realise the King's idea by the 
 summoning of the United Landtag (or general 
 meeting of all the provincial assemblies) in 
 1847 began the struggle which ended with the 
 victory of the Liberals and the publication of 
 The Con- the Constitution of 31st January, 1850. This 
 
 ititution of ■^ 
 
 1850. was, however, preceded by the establishment 
 
 of the "three-class system" of election,. (1849), 
 which, while it accorded with the ideas of 
 the Liberals in that it gave the preponderance 
 of voting power to wealth, whatever its form, 
 and not to land alone, at the same time robbed 
 the new national representation of much of its 
 value. JNIoreover, the new constitution (which 
 is still in force and is almost unchanged) did 
 not give "parliamentary government." The 
 ministers are still the nominees of the monarch, 
 and need not have the support of the legislature ; 
 the latter body is an advisory, informing, and 
 legislative authority, with control over the 
 budget ; but its powers are very smaU compared 
 with those of the British Parhament, for it
 
 SECT. 3.] POLITICAL REACTION 279 
 
 cannot overthrow the ministers, and its con- 
 servative character renders it pecuHarly amenable 
 to royal and official authority. We have already 
 seen how these two features — the conservative 
 nature of the membership and the submissive 
 attitude towards the bureaucracy — repeat them- 
 selves in the local institutions. 
 
 The Prussian Revolution of 1848-50 had been Reaction. 
 a triumph for the industrial and commercial classes, 
 a successful protest against the system by which 
 all the power of the state had been wielded for 
 the benefit of one particular class. When they 
 secured a majority in the new Landtag, and the 
 appointment of a favourable ministry, their whole 
 legislat " efforts were directed towards the aboli- 
 tion of all special rights and privileges of the 
 landowners. In spite of the emancipation edicts 
 and economic reforms, these rights were still very 
 extensive; it was only in 1849, during the con- 
 stitutional struggle, that the manorial courts, both 
 for civil and criminal matters, came to an end. 
 The Liberals had captured the Government for a 
 time, but a strong reaction was certain, for while 
 many of their proceedings were justified, in others 
 they undoubtedly went too far, and popular support 
 fell away. The Conservatives threw themselves 
 into alliance with the bureaucracy ; they soon 
 secured the upper hand, and made their action 
 felt especially with regard to the rural communes 
 in a series of laws and edicts between 1853 and 
 1856. The importance of these lay chietiy in the
 
 280 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vii. 
 
 fact that they avowedly set aside the principles 
 which since the Municipal Edict of Stein had 
 never wholly lost influence, and reorganised the 
 communes so as best to suit the interests of the 
 great landowners. For this very reason they 
 troubled little about the towns, except to 
 strengthen the state control of the municipal 
 administration ; the Municipal Edict of 1853 is 
 till in force for the eastern provinces. In the 
 country communes of the western provinces they 
 also did little, for, as they were modelled upon the 
 French institutions set up by Napoleon I., they 
 were closely dependent upon the bureaucracy. 
 But in the eastern provinces, the peculiar strong- 
 holds of the great landowners, they restored as 
 far as possible the old patrimonial administration, 
 as authorised by the code of Frederick II., and 
 made it almost completely free from state control. 
 As the Liberals had sought to manipulate the local 
 franchise to secure the preponderance of their own 
 particular social classes, so did the Conservatives 
 now. 
 
 Such rapid changes, and the constant struggle 
 of each party to secure advantages for itself at 
 the expense of the other, without regard for 
 national interests, were only possible during the 
 existence of a weak monarchy such as that of 
 Prussia under Frederick WiUiam III. and his 
 eldest son. With the accession in 1861 of 
 William I., who had been the object of violent 
 popular hostility during the struggle for the con-
 
 SECT. 4.1 BISMARCK 281 
 
 stitution, the whole po.sition changed. The first 
 sign of the new era was the appointment in the 
 following year of Otto von l^ismarck to be Minister- 
 President, and the great constitutional struggle 
 of 18G0 to 18G4 over the Army and l^udget 
 questions revealed the strength of the new rulers. 
 They had come to their posts possessed of a 
 distinct poHcy alike in home and foreign affairs — 
 a characteristic lacking in Prussian ministries for 
 more than a generation. The first decade after 
 the accession of William I. was too fully occupied 
 with foreign politics and war for serious attention 
 to be given to matters of home administration ; 
 but immediately after the close of the Franco- 
 German war Bismarck began the task of reform. 
 In the hour of Prussia's greatest triumph he took 
 up the work which Stein had commenced in the 
 time of her severest misfortunes. 
 
 SECTION 4 
 
 The objects which Bismarck and his fellow- The local 
 reformers now set before themselves had been reforms of 
 
 Bismarck : 
 
 learnt in the party struggles of the last twenty its aims, 
 years. ^ The first thing necessary was to put an 
 end, if it were in any way possible, to the system 
 which had allowed the whole machinery of local 
 government to be captured from time to time by 
 a particular social class for its own benefit ; and 
 
 1 Fide Bornhak, III., p. 296 seq.
 
 282 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vii. 
 
 to devise some method by which all classes might 
 participate in the work of local administration. 
 About this time the works of Professor Gneist 
 exercised great influence upon German political 
 thinkers, and gave a theoretic basis to the practical 
 proposals of Bismarck.^ Gneist sought to explain 
 the failure of parliamentary government in Prussia, 
 and its succes'' in England, by the fact that while 
 in Prussia much thought had been given to the 
 new parliamentary institutions, no regard had 
 been paid, except in the one instance of the 
 Freiherr vom Stein, to those local institutions 
 which alone had in England rendered parlia- 
 mentary government possible. To these, and to 
 the organisation of local administrative authorities, 
 elected in the towns and composed in the country 
 districts of unpaid persons drawn from the upper 
 and middle classes, with the landed gentry pre- 
 dominating, Gneist attached the very greatest 
 importance. But at the same time he desired for 
 Prussia a stronger administrative control than 
 existed in England, and he thought it possible 
 to combine in the administrative authorities unpaid 
 lay or non- official persons and paid officials — the 
 laymen to be elected."^ Gneist promulgated that 
 doctrine of self-government which still holds in 
 
 ^ His chief works in this connection are : Geschichte des self-government 
 in England (1863); Verivaltung, Justiz, Rechtsvxg (1867); Die-preussische 
 Kreisordnung (1871) ; and Der Rechtsstaat (1872). 
 
 " Cf. Lowell, Parties and Governments in Co^/itinental Europe, I. pp. 309- 
 310. But Lowell over-estimated the direct influence of Gneist upon 
 legislation.
 
 SECT. 4.] AIMS OF THE REFORMERS 283 
 
 Prussia, that is, that " self - government is the 
 performance by locally elected bodies of the will 
 of the state," not necessarily of the locality which 
 elects them— the local bodies are in the first place 
 agents of the state, and only secondarily of the 
 locality.^ And in these bodies he found a train- 
 ing-school for administrators, and the means of 
 developing a sense of responsibility which seemed 
 altogether lacking at that time m the conduct of 
 Prussian local government and in the Parliament. 
 Led by these ideas the reformers, while retaining 
 the bureaucracy (and in fact Bismarck believed that 
 all development of local government must neces- 
 sarily bring an increase in the bureaucracy) yet 
 sought to carry through an extensive decentralisa- 
 tion of powers. They wished to transfer many of 
 the powers of the central government to local 
 elected bodies, and to weaken the power of the 
 bureaucracy by the introduction of a large class 
 of laymen into local administration. In this way 
 they hoped to develop the political capabilities of 
 the people ; but at the same time the lay element 
 was to be drawn in the main from the landowning 
 classes (or at least from the large taxpayers) and 
 these classes were to be given a more than 
 
 ' " Preussen, wie im wesentlichen auch Deutschland, hat den 
 Mittelweg eingeschlagen zwlschen dem streng zentralisirten Frank- 
 reich, das die Selbstverwaltung nur als genau umschriebenes und 
 eng eingegrentzes Glied der staatlichen Verwaltung kennt, und 
 dem frei gestalteten England, das die gesammte ortliche Verwaltung 
 bis auf die Justiz und eineu Teil der Polizei in Gemeinde und 
 Grafschaft verweist und dem Staate nur eine ergiinzende Tatigkeit 
 belasst." H. de Grais, Handbuchy p. 96/1.
 
 284 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vii. 
 
 numerically proportionate share of representation. 
 For the first time in Prussian history, central ^ 
 and local affairs were to be entrusted to a class 
 of non -professional administrators. 
 
 But it was also necessary to establish some 
 form of judicial control over the bureaucracy and 
 the local administration generally. To this end 
 the reformers proposed to set up a series of what 
 are known as " administrative courts " ; these, in 
 the highest instance, should be composed of lawyers 
 and officials, but in the lower instances should 
 resemble the English Justices of the Peace, in 
 that judicial and administrative functions alike 
 should be entrusted to the same local bodies, 
 consisting chiefly of unpaid laymen. 
 Obstacles to There were gi-eat difficulties in the way : the 
 vast majority of the people were indifferent, the 
 bureaucracy hostile, the Conservatives in violent 
 opposition. Only the steady support of the King 
 availed to break down the resistance, and even 
 then the position of Prussia made it necessary to 
 proceed slowly and with caution. 
 
 For the first time in its history the kingdom 
 of Prussia, after its conquests in the period from 
 1860 to 1870, possessed a connected territory 
 extending from the Rhine to beyond the Vistula. 
 But within this territory the local differences were 
 very great ; the Prussian ministry had again to 
 face the problem of 1815. There Avas as yet no 
 united Prussian nation. In the east, Posen after 
 
 ^ In the Regierung-Bezirke, for example, vide supra, pp. 139-142.
 
 SECT. 4] CHARACTER OF PRUSSIAN STATE 285 
 
 eighty years of Prussian rule still eherished its 
 Polish national feeling as strongly as when it had 
 impressed Heine in 1822;^ and in spite of the 
 settlements made by the German Government in 
 its midst, the hostility there to Prussia and to all 
 things German is to-day exceedingly great, as it 
 is also in a part of Westpreussen. In the north- 
 west, Schleswig-Holstein was newly acquired, and 
 not yet assimilated to the I'russian state ; south 
 of that, in Hanover, whatever the mass of the 
 population felt, there was a noble class which was 
 not inclined to yield its rights without a struggle ; 
 and still further south there was a group of terri- 
 tories, Hesse and Nassau being the chief, newly 
 acquired and not yet organised or fully incor- 
 porated into Prussia. But still greater than the 
 political were the economic and social diversities. 
 Between the provinces of the extreme east where, 
 as in Ostpreussen and Posen, three-quarters of the 
 population were engaged in agriculture, and the 
 whole organisation of society rested on that basis ; 
 and the most westernly provinces, Rhineland and 
 Westphaha, where already the industrial classes 
 predominated and the industrial organisation was 
 fast gaining ground — between these two extremes 
 almost every variety of social and economic 
 organisation could be found. 
 
 It was therefore necessary to proceed slowly. The 
 The first enactments, for the Circles in 1872 and 
 the Provinces in 1875, were issued only for those 
 
 1 Cf. Heine, " Ueber Polen," in Reisehilder. 
 
 new 
 organisation.
 
 286 HISTORY OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [chap. vn. 
 
 territories which had formed the old monarchy — 
 that is, for the eastern group except Posen. In 
 that province the anti-Prussian feeling rendered a 
 strictly bureaucratic administration almost inevi- 
 table. The enactments were gradually extended, 
 with various alterations and additions to meet 
 local peculiarities, to the remainder of the kingdom 
 during the next ten years. Further legislation 
 was necessary to harmonise the system, and after 
 Bismarck's dismissal the work was continued by 
 the great Landgemeinde-Ordnung (which may be 
 described as a Parish Councils Act) issued for the 
 seven eastern provinces in 1891. Finally, the local 
 authorities received their due share of attention in 
 the financial reforms carried out by Dr von Miquel. 
 General In regard to all these administrative reforms it 
 
 character- 
 istics, will be noticed that they have almost always been 
 
 imposed from above. If we except the agitation 
 for the constitution, there has never been in 
 Prussia a strong popular movement for political 
 reform ; and this phenomenon is apparent in local 
 government also. Like its great rival, the Prussian 
 state has been created by its monarchs, aided by 
 a powerful bureaucracy ; and like that rival, over- 
 centralisation has brought it to the verge of ruin. 
 But in both countries the lesson has been only 
 partially learned. In both a system of decentralisa- 
 tion and self-government has been introduced, and 
 in neither is it very real. We have seen the 
 characteristics of France ; of Prussia it must be 
 said that the bureaucracy still rules, and that the
 
 SECT. 4] PRESENT CONDITIONS 287 
 
 ordinary citizen is neither able nor inclined to take 
 much part in the work of local administration 
 except under the guidance and direction of officials. 
 In the towns there is something of a healthy civic 
 spirit, and the work of municipal management is 
 idmirably done, as is in fact the administration 
 generally ; but the fact remains that the initiative 
 comes from the officials. But the mass of citizens 
 seem satisfied, and whatever complaints may be 
 heard regarding the omnipotence of officialdom 
 there is no energetic protest against it, except 
 occasionally from the great cities. The strong 
 socialist party has done little in the matter ; unlike 
 France, Prussia has no examples of socialist 
 municipalities — official control is much too strong, 
 and the " three-class system " is an almost insuper- 
 able obstacle. But it must be said that the 
 bureaucracy does its task extremely well ; it has 
 developed in many matters an almost perfect 
 method of working. It has encouraged municipal 
 activity and enterprise to an extent unsurpassed 
 except in England, and in some things not equalled 
 even there. If it has kept affairs in its own hands, 
 it is because the Prussian people do not care to 
 take the responsibility. They prefer to have 
 something done for them rather than to do it 
 themselves ; they expect to be guided, not to 
 find their own way. Which simply means that 
 tradition is stronger than education, and that the 
 Prussians are acquiring only very slowly the art 
 of self-government and all that it involves.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 
 
 SECTION 1 
 
 "Administra- The English studcnt who undertakes an investi- 
 continentai gation into the administrative organisation and 
 
 countries. 
 
 Its contrast 
 to the "rule 
 of law" in 
 England. 
 
 methods of the countries of continental Europe 
 speedily encounters a definite body of legal 
 principles and enactments, called in France 
 droit administratif, and in Germany Vei^wal- 
 tungsrecM. He also finds that this particular 
 body of law is not entrusted to the guardian- 
 ship of the ordinary courts of justice, but to a 
 set of special tribunals constituted in a quite 
 different manner. He knows that no such courts 
 exist in England, and he will find that no such 
 carefully distinguished system of law is recognised 
 by English legal writers. 
 
 If now he turns to Professor Dicey 's " Intro- 
 duction to the Law of the Constitution " he will 
 read there that one of the chief features of 
 English polity since the Norman Conquest has 
 been "the rule or supremacy of law," and that 
 this involves " three distinct though kindred 
 
 288
 
 BECT. 1] THE lUJLE OF LAW 289 
 
 conceptions." ^ There is first the exclusion of 
 arbitrariness or even of any wide discretionary 
 powers on the part of the Government; tliat is, 
 no man can be lawfully made to suffer "except 
 for a distinct breach of law established in the 
 ordinary le^^al manner before the ordinary Courts 
 of the Land." Secondly, constitutional law is 
 not so much the origin as the result of individual 
 ritrhts defined and enforced by the Courts. And 
 thirdly, there is " the equal subjection of all 
 classes to the ordinary law of the land ad- 
 ministered by the ordinary Law Courts." This 
 supremacy of law in England is contrasted with 
 the conditions prevalent in other European 
 countries, where the state governments have 
 very considerable discretionary powers which can 
 be, and often are, used in an arbitrary manner, 
 unchecked by ordinary courts of justice, or some- 
 times by any courts at all ; where the political 
 rights of individuals are the result of constitutions 
 often granted by governments as an act of grace ; 
 and where an important section of the com- 
 munity (the official class) is to a large extent 
 withdrawn from the control of the ordinary 
 judicial authorities. As a particular instance of 
 these things, and especially of the last, reference 
 is made to France, where "officials are, in their 
 official capacity, protected from the ordinary law 
 of the land, and exempted from the jurisdiction 
 of the ordinary tribunals, and subject in many 
 
 ' Dicey, Law of the Consiiluiion (6th edition), c. iv., passim. 
 
 T
 
 290 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW [chap. vni. 
 
 respects only to official law administered by 
 official bodies." In this respect there is a striking 
 contrast with England, where " every act of 
 public authority, no matter by whom, or against 
 whom it is directed, is liable to be called in 
 question before an ordinary tribunal, and there 
 is no other means by which its legality can be 
 questioned or established."^ 
 
 The system of law thus indicated as existent 
 in France, and in most continental countries, is 
 so little known in England, and a proper apprecia- 
 tion of its true nature is so important in any 
 study of continental administration, and especially 
 of the control of authorities, that it is necessary 
 to try to understand clearly what a foreign jurist 
 means by the term " administrative law." ^ With- 
 out entering unnecessarily into detail, and with- 
 out discussing the numerous problems which arise 
 both in theory and practice, it will be sufficient 
 here to state the general principles on which 
 administrative law is based. 
 Definitions. We may take first two definitions, one from a 
 French, and the other from a German, authority. 
 Aucoc writes : 
 
 " Le droit administratif determine : 1. La con- 
 stitution et les rapports des organes de la societe 
 
 ^ Kedlich and Hirst, II., p. 365. 
 
 2 Dicey remarks (p. 323) that the exjDression "administrative 
 law," 'wrhich is the most natural rendering of droit administratif, 
 is unknown to English judges and counsel. This seems to be true, 
 mainly because of the absence in England of any scientific cla.'?sifica- 
 tion of law, in which the term must take its place. Cf. Holland, 
 Elements of Jurisprudence (3rd edition), pp. 305 seq.
 
 8ECT. 1] DEFINITIONS 291 
 
 charges du soin des int^rets collectifs qui font 
 robjet de radmiiiistration publique, c'est-ii-dire 
 des differentes pcrsoiinifications de la societe, dont 
 I'Etat est la plus importante; 2, les rapports des 
 autorites administratives avec les citoyens."' 
 
 And the German jurist, von Ronne, writes : 
 
 " Die Reclitfrrundsatze, welche sich auf die 
 Bildung jener Einrichtungen, sowie auf die Bestel- 
 lung und Instruktion jener Organe beziehen, also 
 der Inbegriff der Normen iiber die Ausiil)ung der 
 Staatsgewalt und der einzelnen Hoheitsrechte 
 innerhalb der Grenzen der Verfassung, bilden das 
 Verwaltungsrecht." - 
 
 The constitutional laws of a country do not 
 ordinarily do more than formulate the general 
 principles on which the political system of that 
 country is based, and draw its main outlines. 
 They define the relations to one another of 
 the three branches of government — the legis- 
 lative, the executive, the judiciary; they may 
 also indicate in detail the methods by which 
 these three are to be formed, and they establish 
 certain political rights of the individual citizens. 
 But there remains after that a multitude of 
 further details to be settled — the application of 
 the principles of the constitution, and provision 
 for the realisation of the aims of the state, amid 
 the ever-changing economic and social conditions 
 of national life. The laws which do this are 
 
 ^ Conferences sur le droit adininistratif, I. , p. 6, 
 - Freussisclus StaalsrecJU.
 
 292 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW [chap. vm. 
 
 subsidiary to the constitutional laws, and are 
 their necessary complement, since they prescribe 
 the manner in which the institutions created by 
 the constitutional laws are to work from day to 
 day.' 
 
 But this is the widest possible meaning of the 
 term ; used in this way it would include all the 
 rules of procedure adopted by the legislature and 
 the courts of justice, whether determined in the 
 latter case by the judges themselves or imposed 
 upon them by the legislature. But the term has 
 come to be employed generally in a more limited 
 sense, and to be applied only to those laws and 
 regulations, enforceable in some court of justice, 
 which relate to the organisation and working of 
 the national executive, both central and local. 
 Thus the laws concerning the formation and 
 powers of government departments, the whole 
 body of laws which establish local authorities 
 and direct their working, enactments concerning 
 the civil service, the regulations issued by various 
 authorities under any legal sanction — all these are 
 part of administrative law.^ 
 
 1 Holland (p. 305) remarks that constitutional law describes the 
 organs of the sovereign power at rest, whilst all laws which pre- 
 scribe the manner of their action form administrative law in its 
 widest sense. Cf. Berthelemy, p. 2: "Comment rajopareil est con- 
 struit, c'est le droit constitiitionnel qui nous apprend; comment il 
 travaille, comment fonctionne chacune de ses pieces, c'est la matiere 
 du droit administratif." 
 
 2 Administrative law is then " that part of the public law which 
 fixes the organisation and determines the comiDctence of the adminis- 
 trative authorities, and indicates to the individual remedies for the 
 violation of his rights " by them. Goodnow, Coinpurative Administra- 
 tive Law, I., pp. 8-9,
 
 SECT. 2.] CONSTITUTIONAL LAW 293 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 As it is evident that such a body of law docs Reaaoaa for 
 
 . , the abaence 
 
 exist in Ji.n<>iand, tliere arises the question why of any such 
 
 ^ 1 J definite body 
 
 it docs not occupy so distinct and separate a ^^Y !? 
 phice, in the minds of lawyers and ordinary 
 citizens alike, as it does upon the Continent of 
 Europe. The answer is to be found in a number 
 of facts, all closely related to one another. 
 
 The first is that, owinff to the peculiar course 'D no formal 
 
 . o i constitution. 
 
 of our national development, we have no definite 
 body of constitutional laws, no formal con- 
 stitution such as is possessed by almost every 
 other civilised state ; we have no one law, or 
 even small group of laws, regulating the three 
 branches of the national government ; and much 
 of our constitutional practice is based on custom 
 which no court of law could enforce. One result 
 of this is that many writers on the English 
 Constitution^ include in their survey a large 
 number of matters which would certainly be 
 omitted by a foreign jurist writing on the con- 
 stitution of his own country ; and it is extremely 
 hard here to say what is, and what is not, to 
 be included under the term " constitutional law." 
 But if we examine the constitutional laws of 
 another country {e.g., the LTnited States, Switzer- 
 land, Prussia, or the German Empire) we shall 
 
 ^ E.g., Ansou, in his Law and Custom of the Constitution, Part IL 
 ("The Crown").
 
 §94 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW [chap. vm. 
 
 find that they are comparatively few in number, 
 often contained in a single document of very 
 limited size, and that they do not do much more 
 than has already been indicated ; they announce 
 a number of general principles, especially the rights 
 of individual citizens ; they organise, in outline, 
 the legislature, the executive, the judiciary ; but 
 they leave the arrangements for practical working 
 to be made, sometimes by each branch of the 
 government for itself, or else (and most usually) 
 by the legislature for all three. This distinction 
 between fundamental and subsidiary laws is 
 rendered still more emphatic by the fact that 
 the latter can be changed by ordinary legislative 
 processes, whilst constitutional laws often require 
 for their enactment and amendment a special and 
 sometimes very elaborate procedure. 
 (2) No codifi- Secondly, this difficulty of distinguishing 
 
 cation of 
 
 laws. between the two sets of laws is enhanced for 
 
 the English student by the absence of any 
 scientific codification of the law, and the in- 
 difference towards questions of classification shown 
 by most of our ordinary legal writers/ If, how- 
 ever, we take the scheme adopted by French 
 jurists, the place of administrative law, and its 
 general character, at once become clear.^ All 
 law is either private or public. Private law 
 regulates the relations of individuals between 
 themselves; they may be members of the same 
 
 1 Gooduow, I., pp. 6-7. 
 
 '■^ Cf. Boeuf, Droit AdministratiJ, p. 1.
 
 SECT. 2.1 PLACE OF ADMIXISTRATIN E LAW 295 
 
 state, in which case their relations are governed 
 by private (national or civil) law ; or they may 
 be members of different states, and then they are 
 subject to private international law. Public law, 
 on the other hand, regulates the relations between 
 the individual citizens in a state and the state 
 itself, or between different states. In the latter 
 case it is public international law, and is said 
 to be external to any particular state ; in the 
 former case it is internal, and falls into three 
 divisions. The first of these is constitutional 
 law, which is concerned with the establishment 
 of the principles and forms of government ; the 
 second is administrative law, which is the supple- 
 ment and detailed application of the first ; ^ and 
 the third is criminal law, which deals with the 
 definition and punishment of criminal acts.-^ The 
 general classification adopted by German writers 
 is much the same.^ 
 
 ^ " Le droit constitutionnel pose les grands principes de Torgani- 
 sation sociale et iiolitique, fixe la constitution de I'etat, la foime de 
 son gouvernement, les conditions de I'exercise de la souverainete, et 
 organise les grands pouvoirs publics qui president sur la marclie de 
 la societe. . . , Le droit adniiuistratif, reglementant et developpaut 
 les principes du droit constitutionnel, fixe les rapports des particu- 
 liers avec les diverses autorites administratives, qui relevent du 
 pouvoir executif, et determine les sacrifices qui I'interet public 
 reclame de I'interet prive pour la satisfaction des besoins generaux. 
 . • . Le premier se preoccupe surtout des droits garautis aux 
 citoyens . . . le second a principalement pour le but de determiner 
 les devoirs des citoyens." Boeuf, loc. cit. 
 
 2 Ecclesiastical law — enforceable in the state courts — is onlj' a 
 part of administrative law. 
 
 ' Cf. Kahl, in his Grundriss zu Vorlesungen iiber Verwaltungsrccht : 
 "Innerhalb des Rechtssystems dem off'entliehen Rechte, innerhalb 
 dieses dem Staatsrecht im weitesten Sinne angehorig imd von ihm 
 als wisseuschaftliche Disziplin uur aus den Bediirfuisseu geistiger
 
 296 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW [chap. vni. 
 
 (3) No special Thirdly, a practical reason for the non- 
 
 tribunals.- . . „ . . 
 
 recognition of administrative law, as a separate 
 branch, is the fact that we do not possess any- 
 special tribunals to which it is entrusted. For 
 in this country all disputes in any branch of law 
 go to one set of courts of justice ; controversies 
 between two individual citizens, between two 
 public authorities, or between a public authority 
 and a private person, are all determined by the 
 same courts. The ordinary practice of the courts 
 applies generally, though with some exceptions, 
 to all three kinds of cases ; consequently, as the 
 legal remedies for the infringement of rights are 
 almost identical, there is nothing to mark off 
 the rights of citizens against public authorities 
 from their rights against each other. In countries 
 which have adopted the system of administrative 
 law, that is not the case ; it may be stated, 
 in general terms, that there disputes between 
 public authorities, and still more conflicts between 
 authorities and ordinary citizens, are decided by a 
 special set of courts, and that the remedies given 
 by these courts for the infringement of individual 
 rights by the authorities are quite different 
 from those given in other cases by the ordinary 
 tribunals. 
 
 Arbeitsteikuig getrennt, unifasst das Verwaltungsrecht die Kechts- 
 regeln iiber die Organisation dei' Verwaltungsbehorden, sowie iiber 
 wesentlich diejenigen Firnktionen des Staats und der Komrnunal- 
 verbaude, welclie iin spezifisclien, wiewohl nicht aussehliessendem 
 Gegensatz zu Gesetzgebung vind Gerichtsbarkeit den Inhalt 
 der regjerenden Tiitigkeit der offentlichen Gewalteu iin Staate 
 bilden."
 
 SECT. 3.] SOME PRINCIPLES 297 
 
 And this brings us to the last reason for (4) Different 
 
 . . . principlea aft 
 
 the absence of any distinction here between the to the legaj 
 
 '' relations 
 
 two kinds of law. Administrativx' law, as tlic between the 
 
 adminiatra- 
 
 term is understood upon the Continent, is in fn°^viS^\^® 
 fact, as Dicey points out, something more than 
 the legal enactments as to the powers of public 
 authorities ; it includes also a number of principles 
 as to the nature of the relations between the 
 administration and its agents on the one side, 
 and the private citizen on the other. We have 
 next to examine the precise nature of the dis- 
 putes which are withdrawn from the cognisance 
 of the ordinary judicial tribunals ; to point out 
 the reasons advanced in defence of this with- 
 drawal, and for the existence of the special 
 courts, and to show how this contrasts with the 
 English rule. 
 
 SECTION 3 
 
 The acts done by a public authority may be The sphere 
 
 •^ ^ "^ -^ of the admin- 
 
 of two kinds. There are some which can be^^^^^i^i^^ 
 
 courts. 
 
 done only by an administrative authority as such, 
 and others which could equally well be done by 
 private persons. For example, the making of 
 bye-laws, or the assessment of taxes — these acts 
 are possible only to the central administration 
 or one of the local authorities acting in accord- 
 ance with powers definitely conferred upon it ;
 
 298 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW [chap. viii. 
 
 they are acts of authority {actes de puissance 
 publique, Ausubung der Staatsgewalt). But there 
 are also a number of actions of an altogether 
 different kind, taken by a local authority or even 
 by a central department as agents of a corporate 
 body. Thus a town may own land, houses, or 
 other property, and its council (as its agent) may 
 let or buy or sell such property ; these are acts 
 which any private person could do, and are un- 
 official (actes du person prive). Now, in general 
 it is the principle, in both France and Prussia, 
 that all actions which are possible to an authority, 
 because it is an authority, are removed from the 
 competence of the ordinary courts of the land ; 
 the judges in these can take cognisance only 
 of the business acts which arise from the fact 
 that the authorities — representative either of the 
 locality or the state — form bodies corporate, and 
 have a certain amount of corporate business.^ 
 There are some exceptions to this, some matters 
 which under it would come before the ordinary 
 courts have been transferred to the administrative 
 courts by legislative enactment, and, on the other 
 hand, disputes in regard to the expropriation of 
 land for public purposes, which is clearly an 
 acte de puissance puhlique, go in France to 
 
 ^ "On ne doit pas considerer comme ecliappant de plein droit 
 de la competence judiciaire tout acte emane de I'administration, touts 
 operation accomplie ou prescrite par elle en vue d'un interet general, 
 mais seulement les aetes ou les operations qui se rattaehent a 
 I'exercise de la puissance publique, et qui excedent,. a ce titre, les 
 facultes des citoyens." De Laferriere, La Jurisdiction Administraiive, I. 
 p. 199.
 
 SECT. 3.] OFFICIALS IN ENGLAND 299 
 
 the ordiiuiry judicial tribunals. But the rule 
 which governs the division of cases, as a whole, 
 is the one just stated. 
 
 It should be observed, however, that penalties 
 for the infringement of the law by the citizens 
 are enforced by the ordinary police tribunals, 
 and not by the special courts ; and this may mean 
 that one of these ordinary courts may find itself 
 called upon to determine the validity of an order 
 or bye-law issued by a central or local authority. 
 It can do so, and if it considers the order or 
 bye-law invalid, it will refuse to impose any 
 penalty for disobedience. But it cannot formally 
 annul the order or bye-law — that can be done 
 only by an administrative court. ^ 
 
 One very important result of this distinction 
 is a difference between England and continental 
 countries in the legal position of authorities and 
 officials over against the citizens. Here, if a 
 private individual suffers damage from an official 
 in the execution of an order which is illegal, 
 or in consequence of an act which is beyond 
 the official's authority, he has a remedy in the 
 ordinary courts, and against the particular official 
 concerned ; he may sue him for damages, or, in 
 certain cases, prosecute him. It may be that the 
 official acted in obedience to orders, but that fact 
 does not enable him to escape responsibilty — it 
 only causes him to share responsibility with his 
 superiors. And the ordinary courts of justice, 
 
 ' Berthdlemy, pp. 33-34.
 
 300 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW [chap. vm. 
 
 in deciding upon the liability of the official, really 
 
 decide upon the validity of the order or act in 
 
 question. That is to say, the English principle 
 
 makes the official personally responsible, though 
 
 he may have acted in perfectly good faith, from 
 
 a mistaken idea of duty or even in obedience 
 
 to orders from his superiors, and his liability is 
 
 determined by the ordinary courts.^ But in 
 
 continental countries the case is different, and 
 
 we may take France as the best example. 
 
 de^*foS?n'' ^^^^ the year 1799 French officials were 
 
 naires." protected by the so-called garantie des fonc- 
 
 tionnaires, which forbad the bringing of any 
 
 action against any administrative official except 
 
 with the consent of the Council of State.- With 
 
 1 "In England the idea of legal equality, or of the universal 
 subjection of all classes to one law administered by the ordinary 
 courts, has been pushed to its uttermost limit." Dicey, p. 185. 
 "There is no exception in England to the rule that every public 
 proceeding, be it the issvie of a warrant to arrest, or a demand for 
 rates, or a summons to jjay money due to a public authority, or an 
 order of justices, is just as much a matter of ordinary law, and is 
 liable to be questioned in the same waj-, as a private suit or action 
 brought by one individual against another. In either case the 
 question as to what is lawful has to be decided by the ordinary 
 courts." Redlich and Hirst, II., p. 365. 
 
 ^ " All servants of the State, below the rank of a minister, may be 
 taken before an ordinary court of law to answer for an official act 
 only by a decree of the Council of State." Art. 75 of Constitution of 
 1799. Dicey (pp. 347-48) compares this with the old English writ De 
 nan procedendo rcge inconsultu, obsolete already in the sixteenth century, 
 of which Bacon wrote : " The writ is a mean provided by the ancient 
 law of England to bring any case, that may concern your Majesty in 
 l)rofit and jDowei', from the ordinary Benches to be tried and judged 
 before the Chancellor of England. . . , And your Majesty knoweth that 
 your Chancellor is ever a principal counsellor and instrument of monarchy, of 
 immediate dependence upon the King ; and therefore likely to he a safe and 
 tender guardian of the regal rights."
 
 SECT. 3.] OFFICIALS IN FRANX'E 301 
 
 the permission of that body the action could 
 be brought before the ordinary courts. The 
 guarantee did not apply to acts committed by 
 officials not in the exercise of their authority ; 
 if the act complained of was a personal fault 
 of the official — that is, if it was the result of 
 a malicious use of lawful powers or of a malicious 
 excess of powers — the Council of State would 
 authorise the action ; but if it was a faiiic cle 
 service — that is, an unintentional excess of the 
 legal authority possessed by the official, or a 
 mistaken application of that authority — then the 
 administration was responsible, but not the official 
 personally, at least so far as the aggrieved citizen 
 was concerned, though of course he would be 
 subject to the disciplinary control of his superiors. 
 But this power of the Council of State to prevent 
 actions against officials was liable to abuse, and 
 was abolished in 1870. There has been much 
 discussion as to the exact effisct of the abolition ; 
 but it appears now to be definitely established 
 that, without any permission, actions can be 
 brought against officials in the ordinary courts ; 
 but if the administrativ^e authority hold that the 
 act was not a personal one on the part of the 
 officer concerned, but was committed by him in 
 pursuit of his duty and as a part of his duty, 
 then they can invoke the Tribunal of Conflicts 
 and have the matter removed to the administra- 
 tive courts, where it may be that the complainant 
 has no very satisfactory remedy. But for personal
 
 view. 
 
 302 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW [chap. vin. 
 
 faults the official remains liable in the ordinary 
 courts. Thus if an officer commits an illegal 
 act in the supposed execution of his duty, or 
 in obedience to orders, he is answerable to the 
 administrative tribunals only; but should the abuse 
 of power have been conscious and deliberate, and 
 not in obedience to orders, then the case falls 
 within the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts. 
 The^German The sketch just givcu summariscs the general 
 doctrines of the French jurists, and is based 
 upon French authorities ; it will be well to 
 set beside it an outline of the general position 
 in Prussia. The laws and regulations relative 
 to the public administration may be violated 
 by subjects or officials, and they are pro- 
 tected therefore in two different ways. Against 
 violation of the law by the subject, there are 
 the ordinary police powers to enforce obedience, 
 and these, as in France, can be exercised 
 usually only by the ordinary courts.^ But in 
 the case of officials the remedies differ, according 
 as the act is a conscious neglect of duty, or a 
 mistaken or illegal use of authority. The first 
 of these is clearly a matter of discipline — the 
 official is subject to the customary bureaucratic 
 control. For the other cases there are three 
 remedies. The first is the right which one 
 authority has to supervise the actions of another ; 
 
 1 The administrative courts then are not concerned with the action 
 taken by local authorities against jjrivate citizens to compel them to 
 obey the law, but solely with actions against the authorities them- 
 selves. This rule applies alike in France and Prussia.
 
 SECT. 3] THE PRUSSIAN SYSTEM 303 
 
 for example, a Landratli may interfere on his 
 own initiative with the acts of an Amtsvorsteher 
 within his Circle. Secondly, a complaint may 
 be lodged by the person aggrieved with the 
 superior authority, which then hears and decides 
 the matter. And thirdly, an action may be brought 
 against the official or officials whose conduct is 
 challenged ; and such action comes before the 
 administrative courts.^ The control in the first two 
 cases is administrative ; in the third it is judicial. 
 As a rule, where one of these last two remedies 
 can be employed, recourse may not be had to 
 the other ; but in some cases an option is allowed, 
 and in others an action can be brought only 
 when a complaint has been lodged and the com- 
 plainant is dissatisfied with the result. The basis 
 of a complaint may be either that the act which 
 is challenged is not adapted to the end in view,*^ 
 or is not in accordance with the law ; an action 
 may be brought only on the ground of illegality. 
 But in a large number of instances the particular 
 remedy to be employed is settled by the Com- 
 petence Law,^ which states positively in what 
 cases the action may be brought, and, therefore, 
 negatively in what cases the complaint is the 
 only remedy. Beyond this the doctrine of 
 
 ^ The technical German terms for the three forms are : (1) das 
 Aufsichtsrecht ; (2) die Verwaltungsbeschwerde ; (3) die Verwal- 
 tungsklage. 
 
 ^ Unzweckmdssig. 
 
 3 Das Zustandigkeitsgesetz. The text of this will be foimd in 
 Anschiitz, Orgmiviatioiisijesetze dcr mwTcn Vcrwaliuvg in J'nussen.
 
 304 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW [chap. viii. 
 
 Prussian administrative law agi'ees with that 
 held in France, that actions against officials for 
 anything done by them in the real or intended 
 exercise of their authority can be brought only 
 in the administrative courts ; but that those acts 
 done by public authorities, which are equally within 
 the power of private individuals, and deliberate 
 excesses or abuses of power, are normally within 
 the sphere of the ordinary tribunals. 
 
 There must of course constantly be cases where 
 it is very uncertain which set of courts has juris- 
 diction, the more so as the content of adminis- 
 trative law is perpetually changing. Therefore in 
 both France and Prussia special courts have been 
 set up (" Tribunal des Conflits," " Kompetenz- 
 gerichthof") on which both the ordinary and 
 administrative courts are represented ; their task 
 is to settle all doubtful questions of jurisdiction. 
 
 SECTION 4 
 
 Theargu- There remains the question as to the reasons 
 
 ment for , , 
 
 administra- allesTed in support of this system. \ lewed from 
 
 tive courts. ° . 
 
 one standpoint, it is simply an extreme application 
 of the theory of the separation of powers, which 
 holds that the three branches of the state govern- 
 ment must be absolutely distinct, each confined 
 within its oAvn particular sphere of action. A 
 (i) separa- ncccssary consequence is that the judiciary may 
 powers. not interfere with tlie executive in the exercise
 
 SECT. 4] BASIS OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 305 
 
 of the latter's authority, which is based only 
 partially on legislative enactment ; and is largely 
 discretionary. But there must be some restraint 
 on the executive, some way of preventing 
 merely arbitrary action ; therefore within the 
 executiv^e a special judicial authority should be 
 established. The principle was not necessarily 
 bad in itself; the danger lay in the fact that the 
 special courts might become the creatures of the 
 administration. In modem Prussian legislation 
 an attempt has been made to guard against this 
 peril by a system of popular (though indirect) 
 representation upon the lower administrative 
 courts, and by security of tenure for the judges 
 in the highest court ; and, on the whole, the effort 
 has met with considerable success. In France 
 the composition of the courts tends to place them 
 much more under the control of the executive, or 
 at least less likely to take an independent line, than 
 in Prussia ; but, nevertheless, there does not appear 
 to be any serious complaint as to their working. 
 
 Professor Dicey has observed that the funda- 
 mental idea of continental administrative law — 
 that " affairs or disputes in which the Government 
 and its servants are concerned are beyond the 
 sphere of the civil courts, and must be dealt with 
 by more or less official bodies " — is " alien to 
 modern Englishmen." Whilst this is in the 
 main undoubtedly true, it must be remembered 
 that even in England the citizen is not entirely 
 unhampered in any dispute with a public authority.
 
 306 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW [chap. viii. 
 
 He cannot sue the Crown except on the grant of 
 a petition of right, and that petition is granted 
 by the Crown on the advice of the Attorney- 
 General, who is himself a political officer. There 
 are cases also in which a department, for example 
 the Local Government Board, is authorised to 
 determine disputes as to the powers and duties 
 of local authorities, and in so doing may have to 
 decide doubtful legal questions/ These exceptions 
 to the general rule in this country are indeed few 
 in number, but they should help to make the line 
 of argument which has prevailed elsewhere in 
 Europe intelligible to English students. 
 (ii) Discre- The statc exists for one general purpose in 
 
 tionary . r. i • i • • i 
 
 powers of the the Dursuit of which it engages m a number 
 
 administra- ^ 
 
 tion. of diverse activities. Now in regard to these 
 
 activities two things must be recognised. The 
 first is that to the administration, that is, to the 
 recognised executive agents of the state, a greater 
 or smaller amount of discretion must often be 
 allowed as to the exact course to be adopted to 
 obtain a desired result. The legislature may 
 attempt to regulate the action of the executive 
 in every detail, or it may be content to authorise 
 the executive to take whatever action may seem 
 to it advisable under particular circumstances. It 
 
 ^ These " quasi-judicial " functions of the Local Government Board 
 " do not really encroach upon the unity and sovereignty of the law. 
 Nevertheless they have been sufficient to cause uneasiness to English 
 jurists and statesmen, who have bestirred themselves to throw 
 obstacles in the way of the extension of these functions." Eedlich 
 and Hirst, II., p. 365.
 
 SECT. 4.] DISCRETIONARY PO\\rERS 307 
 
 may give departments power to issue rules, regula- 
 tions, and orders, or to make bye-laws, or to 
 elaborate legislative outlines, and to decide the 
 manner in which enactments shall be applied in 
 detail. All this is discretionary power. This 
 executive discretion is comparatively small in 
 England, though more extensive than is commonly 
 supposed ; it is much greater in Prussia, and 
 perhaps greatest in France (of the countries now 
 under discussion). The second consideration is 
 that the state, in whatever it undertakes, cannot 
 be regarded as engaged in ordinary business, or 
 as holding the same relation to the citizens as 
 they hold to one another ; it has special rights 
 and responsibilities, it has the discretionary power ; 
 the officials, being its agents, are more than the 
 agents of a private individual, as the state itself 
 is more than a private individual, and cannot be 
 subject to the same rules of law. A distinguished 
 American authority writes : — 
 
 " The result of the position of the administra- 
 tion as the representative of the sovereign is that 
 the law which governs the relations into which it 
 enters as such representative is quite different in 
 many respects from the private law. In this law 
 contract and tort play a very subordinate role. 
 While contract and tort lie at the basis of a large 
 part of the private law, in public law, and there- 
 fore in administrative law, there is hardly any 
 room for them at all, it may be said, except 
 where the government is treated as /locus — i.e.. 
 as a subject of private law. For the relations 
 into which the admiiiistration enters ai'e not as
 
 308 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW [chap. vm. 
 
 a rule contractual relations, but find their sources 
 and their limitations rather in obligations or 
 powers conferred by the sovereign power through 
 its representative, the legislature ; nor are the 
 injuries which the administration as administra- 
 tion commits often torts, but are rather to be 
 classed as damna absque injuries' ^ 
 
 The relations between the administration and 
 the citizens being then different from those which 
 exist between the citizens themselves, it is not 
 unreasonable that the rules governing them should 
 also be somewhat different, and in that case it is 
 well that cases arising under them should be 
 decided by special judges. For the ordinary 
 judges are engaged chiefly with cases arising out 
 of private law, and they will be inclined to 
 apply, as they have applied in England, the same 
 principles in cases of public law ; and this may 
 be harmful in some cases to the effectiveness of 
 the administration and the realisation of the very 
 purposes for which it exists.^ 
 
 ^ Goodnow, I., pp. 11-12. 
 
 2 For a general summary (from a sympathetic standpoint) of the 
 whole argument see Goodnow, I. Bk. I. Of. Sidgwick, Elements of 
 Politics (edition 1891), p. 482. "My fear is that a tribunal, not 
 specialised by containing as one element persons who have had 
 experience of executive work, will hardlj' be well qualified to 
 interpret the limiting rules of law wherever a somewhat indefinite 
 standard has to be applied. There is, however, a considerable 
 difficulty in constructing a tribunal of this kind that will com- 
 mand general confidence and not be widely suspected of undue 
 bias in favour of the executive. If this difficulty be found 
 insuperable, it may be necessary for the effective performance of 
 governmental work, to give the executive somewhat wider powers 
 than it ordinarily i-equires, trusting to public opinion and parlia- 
 mentary criticism to keep the exercise of those powers within some- 
 what narrower limits than those enforced by the judiciaiy."
 
 SECT. 4] THE ACTUAL RESULTS 309 
 
 Such is, briefly, tlie argument ; and the result The working 
 
 •^ " , . of the Courts. 
 
 is the erection in France and I*russia of the special 
 administrative courts, which apply a distinct set 
 of principles to cases arising under the laws 
 regulating the action of the executive. Such 
 courts would not be alarming to Englishmen if 
 they were established as a separate branch of the 
 Supreme Court of Judicature ; they are alarm- 
 ing chiefly because they bear a name which 
 suggests that they are the servants and tools 
 of the executive, that they are used often to 
 give a false appearance of legality to arbitrary 
 acts, and that they are inchned to wrest the 
 law to the purposes of the administration. It 
 is true that the remedies given to the citizen 
 under the English system are in some ways 
 more effective, but apart from that it cannot 
 now be said (whatever may have been the case 
 originally) that the administrative courts show 
 any marked tendency to favour the executive 
 unduly. Everything depends on the principles 
 guiding the action of these special courts ; if 
 they attempt to decide not merely upon the 
 legality, but also upon the policy, of any 
 particular act which comes before them, or if 
 (to put it in another way) they are inclined to 
 declare any act legal because the administration 
 deems it expedient, then it is evident that they 
 may become instruments for the support of 
 arbitrary action and the oppression of the 
 citizens. But, though they unquestionably have
 
 310 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW [chap. vni. 
 
 in the past sometimes been so used, they are 
 coming more and more to limit themselves to 
 the consideration of the legality of any act 
 brought before them ; and in both France and 
 Prussia the courts and the jurists together have 
 built up an elaborate system which is based 
 upon the strictest principles of legal interpreta- 
 tion, and upon a regard for precedent (for 
 administrative law is largely " case law ") as 
 strong as that entertained by the civil tribunals. 
 The remedies which they give may not be 
 completely satisfactory, viewed from the English 
 standpoint, but their action is regular and very 
 little influenced by any special regard for the 
 convenience of the executive. Professor Dicey 
 writes of France (and his remarks would apply 
 with even more force to Prussia) : 
 
 ''Droit administraf if with all its peculiarities and 
 administrative tribunals with all their defects have 
 been suffered to exist because the system as a 
 whole is thought by Frenchmen to be beneficial. 
 Its severest critics concede that it has some great 
 practical merits, and is suited to the spirit of 
 French institutions. Meanwhile d?^oit administratif 
 has developed under the influence of lawyers 
 rather than politicians ; it has during the last 
 half century more and more divested itself of its 
 arbitrary character, and is passing into a system 
 of more or less fixed law administered by real 
 tribunals. . . . These tribunals are certainly very 
 far indeed from being mere departments of the 
 central government."^ 
 
 ' Lk>c. ciL, pp. 500-1.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND THE LEGISLATURE 
 
 SECTION 1 
 
 In the previous chapters an attempt has hecn The grant of 
 
 ^ •_ ^ ^ powers to 
 
 made to descrihe briefly the organisation and i?cai authori- 
 principles of local administration in England, 
 France, and Prussia, and to sketch its develop- 
 ment in relation to the constitutional changes 
 which each state has imdergone. An account 
 has also been given of some characteristic 
 features of American city government. It 
 remains for us now to consider somewliat more 
 in detail the general nature of the relations 
 between the elected authorities of the local self- 
 governing communities and the representatives 
 of the central power ; and it will be convenient 
 to commence by examining the ways in which 
 the powers possessed by the localities are con- 
 ferred upon them. 
 
 There are two possible policies which a 
 legislature may adopt towards local authorities, 
 apart from the imposition of compulsory duties 
 upon them. There is first the plan of grants of (a) General 
 general power to all local bodies of a particular 
 
 311
 
 312 LEGISLATIVE CONTROL [chap. ix. 
 
 class — that is, the legislature may establish a 
 set of authorities and empower them to do 
 anything which in their judgment will tend 
 to promote the satisfactory administration and 
 general well-being of their areas, so long as any 
 particular powers which they may propose to 
 use are not expressly prohibited or reserved to 
 other authorities. But as this liberty might 
 easily in some cases be abused, there is 
 necessarily the restriction, of greater or less 
 extent according to the country and the nature 
 of the authorities in question, that the actual 
 exercise of these general powers shall be subject 
 to the approval of an administrative department 
 of the central government, or its agents. Or, 
 on the other hand, the legislature may grant 
 (b) Specific, only specific powers to local authorities — that is, 
 it may give them permission to do all or any 
 of a number of enumerated things, with or 
 without the approval of central departments; and 
 then nothing else may be done by the local 
 authorities unless permitted by fresh legislative 
 enactments. 
 Contrast be- Now, Speaking in general terms, it may 
 andcontinen be Said that Continental legislatures have been 
 
 tal methods. . , . p 
 
 inclined to adopt the first of these two methods, 
 and to give the local self-governing communities 
 power to do anything for which they can get 
 administrative approval. In Great Britain, the 
 British self-governing colonies, and the United 
 States, the practice has been the opposite one — 
 
 I
 
 8KCT. 1] ENGT.ISH AND FOREIGN METHODS 313 
 
 local authorities may do only specified things; 
 but in order, in spite of this, to allow free play 
 to local initiative and enterprise, provision has 
 })een made to enable local authorities to obtain 
 additional powers by means of special legislation 
 promoted by themselves. This difference })etween 
 what we may conveniently call the English and 
 continental methods has this very import^mt 
 result, that in England and the United States 
 the development of the activities of local 
 authorities is conditioned and controlled by the 
 temper and ideas of Parliament — that is, of the 
 elected representatives of the nation ; ^ whilst in 
 France and Prussia the deciding influence is 
 exercised by a bureaucracy whose general ideas 
 of policy in these matters may or may not be 
 coincident with those of the majority of the 
 nation. It is impossible to generalise as to the 
 effect of this in practice : it may fairly be 
 doubted if, under a system of bureaucratic con- 
 trol, there would have been so great an extension 
 of some branches of local, and especially muni- 
 cipal, government, as we have witnessed in 
 England in the last thirty years ; though there 
 is the example of Prussia to show that bureau- 
 cratic rule may be very enlightened, and ready 
 to encourage and aid, in every way, the growth 
 of local action and experiment. But against this 
 there is the case of France, where (rightly or 
 
 ^ There are some modifications of this, but they are not sufficient 
 to afl'ect the principle seriously.
 
 314 LEGISLATIVE CONTROL [chap. rx. 
 
 wrongly) the bureaucracy has steadily resisted 
 most of the schemes put forward by the more 
 enterprising municipaUties. 
 Private Bill A further consequence is the existence in 
 
 legislation- 
 England of an elaborate system of Private Bill 
 
 legislation, not confined to local authorities but 
 
 very largely used by them, and with a procedure 
 
 quite different from that followed by Public Bills. 
 
 The distinction between the two classes of Bills 
 
 has been thus defined by an eminent authority : * 
 
 " A Public Bill is introduced as a measure of 
 public policy in which the whole community is 
 interested, and originates on the motion of some 
 member of the House in which the Bill is intro- 
 duced. A Private Bill is a measure for the 
 interest of some person, or class of persons, 
 whether an individual, a corporation, or the 
 inhabitants of a county, town, parish, or other 
 locality, and originates on the petition of the 
 person or persons interested. The object of a 
 Private Bill is, in fact, to obtain a jjiivileghim, 
 that is to say, an exemption from the general 
 law, or provision for something which cannot be 
 obtained by ineans of a general law, whether that 
 general law is contained in a statute or is common 
 law." 2 
 
 This system of Private Bill legislation em- 
 ployed here, which, as will be seen later, is 
 partly legislative and partly judicial, is peculiar 
 
 ' Ilbert, Legislative Methods mid Forms, p. 28. 
 
 2 The "petition" character of a Private Bill is marked by the 
 words in which the royal assent is given — soit fait comme il est disire 
 as compared with Le roi le veut for Public Bills.
 
 8KCT. 1] MERITS AND DEMERITS 315 
 
 to this country and its self-governing colonies. 
 In continental countries the grant of general 
 powers renders it unnecessary for local authorities 
 to have recourse to the legislature, and the 
 wide discretionary power of the administration 
 is substituted for parliamentary control in the 
 case of proposals both by local bodies and 
 private individuals or companies.^ Consequently 
 any foreign local authorities who may be desirous 
 of extending the sphere of their activities, arc not 
 troubled by the necessity of a costly, cumbrous, 
 slow and somewhat doubtful procedure : and the 
 time of the legislature is not occupied so much 
 as in England by questions of purely local interest. 
 That the British Parliament could be made more 
 effective for dealing with imperial and national 
 questions by relieving it of the burden of Private 
 Bill legislation may be doubtful, and it is certainly 
 not desirable to substitute a merely official control 
 over the development of local action for that 
 which now exists ; but it should not be impossible 
 to devise an arrangement which would combine 
 the advantages of un-bureaucratic control with 
 the rapidity and cheapness of the continental 
 system, and an account of the present methods 
 may serve to suggest some of the lines on which 
 this object could be attained. The experience of 
 the States of the American Union in regard to 
 
 1 In a few cases relating to finance French local authorities 
 promote Bills, wliich proceed, however, in the same way as other 
 lejiislatiou in the French Parlianiunt.
 
 316 LEGISLATIVE CONTROL [chap. ix. 
 
 Private Bills, or what is there called "special 
 legislation," is so instructive as also to deserve 
 a brief examination. 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 Legislative 
 
 enactments 
 
 concerning 
 
 local 
 
 government. 
 
 (1) Consti- 
 tuent Acts. 
 
 (2) General 
 Acts. 
 
 (3) Adoptive 
 Acts. 
 
 English local authorities exercise their powers 
 under legislative enactments of various kinds. 
 There are first what may be called the " Con- 
 stituent Acts," which create the various classes 
 of local government authorities, and arm them 
 with the powers necessary for the fulfilment of 
 the duties intended to be discharged by them. 
 Secondly, there are " General Acts " dealing 
 with one special subject or group of subjects of 
 administration (such as the Public Health Act, 
 1875, and the Education Act, 1902), and giving 
 powers for that particular service either to all 
 authorities or to all of a class. Thirdly, there 
 are the "Adoptive Acts," a favourite device of 
 British legislators ; they are laws conferring on 
 all or specified local authorities powers which, 
 if they wish to do so, they become entitled to 
 exercise simply by formally "adopting" them, 
 with, in some cases, the approval of a Govern- 
 ment department. Instances of this are the 
 Tramways Act, 1870, the Burial Acts, 1852-1885, 
 and the Pubhc Libraries Acts, 1892. In some 
 cases parts of Acts are mandatory, imposing 
 duties on the authorities, and other parts are
 
 SECT. 2] ENGLISH LEGISLATIVE FORMS S17 
 
 '* adoptive," with or without special forniahties. 
 It also frequently happens that laws in all these 
 three groups prescribe the particular machinery 
 by which the powers shall be exercised, the 
 commonest plan being to direct, in the Act 
 itself, the establishment of a committee (called 
 therefore " statutory ") of each local council 
 concerned, and to lay down regulations as to 
 its methods of working, and its relations to the 
 council as a whole.^ 
 
 All these three groups of laws are Public Acts, 
 and are paralleled more or less in all countries 
 which have parliamentary and local government 
 institutions. But there are also two other groups : 
 Private Acts, the outcome of a partly legislative 
 and partly judicial process ; and Public Local 
 Acts, which are the product of a peculiar semi- 
 legislative, semi-administrative procedure. 
 
 Private Bills, as already pointed out, still (*) Private 
 formally originate on the petition of the promoters, 
 which is incorporated in the preamble of each 
 Bill.^ They may be promoted by the councils of 
 municipal boroughs and urban districts, which have 
 always been active in acquiring additional powers 
 by this means, and by county councils only since 
 
 ' The most recent example of this is the Education Committee 
 (with co-opted members), required to be appointed by authorities 
 under the Education Act of 1902. 
 
 ^ On Private Bill legislation see Clifford, History of Private Bill 
 Legislation ; Wheeler, Practice of Private Bills ; and Redlich and Hirst, 
 IL, pp. 338-351. Cf. also Lord Onslow, Pise arid Developvicnt of Local 
 Legislation by Private Bill, in Journal of lloyal Statistical Society, 
 March 1906.
 
 318 LEGISLATIVE CONTROL [chaimx. 
 
 1903. In the case of municipal boroughs and 
 urban districts the approval of the ratepayers is 
 required, either at a town's meeting or by poll, 
 for spending public money on a Bill ; ^ and this, 
 though often a mere form, yet sometimes (if 
 there is any strong opposition in the town to 
 any of the proposals contained in it) amounts 
 to a referendum? The consent of the Local 
 Government Board to the promotion of the Bill 
 is also necessary, but is withheld only if the object 
 could be obtained in other and simpler ways, e.g., 
 by Provisional Order. The contents of a Private 
 Bill may relate to either the general business of 
 local government, e.g., authority to make bye- 
 laws dealing with particular matters, additional 
 public health powers, markets, expropriation of 
 land for various purposes, etc. ; or to public 
 works, such as sewerage, waterworks, tramways, 
 ferries, electric light and power works, gas works, 
 and similar undertakings. There is, however, a 
 growing tendency to deal with this second group 
 of proposals by the simpler method of Provisional 
 Orders. And there are certain limitations as to 
 the subject matter — no Bill imposing any duties 
 upon a Government department may be introduced 
 as a Private Bill ; and it is open to the principal 
 
 ^ Under the Borough Funds Act, 1872 (as amended in 1903). 
 By the amending Act provision was made for the rejection by the 
 ratepayers of part of a proposed Bill without rejecting the whole. 
 
 2 Recent examples of the refusal of the ratejiayers to allow the 
 Town Council to proceed with a Bill are furnished by Birmingham 
 (1902) and Oxford (1900).
 
 SECT. 2] PRIVATE lilLLS PROCEDURE 319 
 
 authorities of the Houses of ParUamcnt who deal 
 with Private Hill legislation (the I^ord Chairman 
 of Committees in the Lords and the Chairman of 
 Committees in tlie Commons), or for either of the 
 Houses themselves by resolution, to deelare that 
 the proposals contained in tlie liill arc of such 
 importance, either in extent^ or in the princi])les 
 involved, that they must be introduced only as 
 public measures. 
 
 The Private Bills must be deposited about two Procedure. 
 months before the commencement of the parlia- 
 mentary session, and copies must be sent to any 
 Government departments interested or concerned 
 in any way with their contents. The Bills must 
 comply with the Standing Orders fixed by each 
 house, which relate partly to procedure (notice to 
 persons and authorities affected, deposit of plans, 
 estimates of expenditure, etc.), and partly to 
 clauses which must be included in each Bill of 
 a particular class. ^ Non - compliance with the 
 Standing Orders of either House (unless excused 
 by the Select Committee on Standing Orders of 
 that House) prevents a Bill from proceeding 
 further. The Bills are considered by the Lord 
 Chairman and the Chairman of Committees in 
 the Commons, with their legal advisors, and any 
 clauses to which they object are discussed with 
 
 ' Bills affectinpj tlie whole of London are therefore often intro- 
 duced as Public Bills. 
 
 - Tlie Standing Orders of Lords arid Commons relative to Private Bills are 
 published sessionally.
 
 320 LEGISLATIVE CONTROL [chap. n. 
 
 the promoters, who practically must give way on 
 the various points. The Bills are then divided, 
 for the sake of convenience ; some commence in 
 the Commons, and the remainder in the Lords. 
 They then follow the ordinary course of first and 
 second readings, committee stage, and third 
 reading. 
 
 Persons, companies, or authorities interested in 
 a Bill, may petition to be heard in opposition to it, 
 and the course taken by a Bill, after the second 
 reading, depends on its being opposed or un- 
 opposed. Unopposed Bills go in the Lords to a 
 committee which consists solely of the Lord 
 Chairman ; in the Commons they are referred to 
 a committee consistmg of the Chairman of Com- 
 mittees or his Deputy, the member introducing 
 the Bill,^ and one other member not personally 
 interested. 
 The Select In the casc of opposed Bills, there is not 
 
 Committees. in, i t 
 
 usually any contest on the nrst or second readmgs, 
 though sometimes there is opposition at the second 
 stage in the House of Commons. Each Bill then 
 goes to a Select Committee, consisting of four 
 members in the Commons and five in the Lords — 
 the members are chosen in each House by a 
 Committee of Selection, and may not have any 
 especial interest in the Bills which they are to 
 consider. The committee stage is of the nature 
 of a semi -judicial enquiry ; counsel are heard and 
 
 ^ The petition being allowed, some member is "ordered to prepare 
 and bring in the Bill " — often as a mere formality.
 
 SECT. 2.] SELECT COMMriTEES 821 
 
 witnesses examined.^ A committee may reject the 
 whole Hill, usually by finding the preamble not 
 proven ; if they accept the principle they may 
 make whatever amendments they think desirable, 
 and the promoters must either accept the amend- 
 ments or abandon the I^ill." After successfully 
 enduring this ordeal the Hill is reported back to 
 the House, passes the third reading formally, and 
 goes then to the other House. In that House it 
 is possible for the opposition to be renewed at 
 the committee stage, but this rarely happens.^ 
 The Government departments are required to 
 report on all Private Bills with which they are 
 concerned in any way ; these reports go to the 
 Select Committees, and the Commons' Com- 
 mittees are required to inform the House in 
 what manner the recommendations in the reports 
 have been dealt with by them. 
 
 There is, of course, danger that the Select 
 Committees may not adopt a uniform line of 
 action in regard to Bills of the same kind, 
 and attempts have been made to obviate this 
 difficulty in various ways, by instructions in the 
 
 ^ Each committee of the Lords decides for itself what persons or 
 authorities shall be permitted to appear in opposition to a Bill ; the 
 coiujiiittees of the Commons have the matter decided for them by a 
 special Committee of Referees. 
 
 '■^ In the years 1891-95, 746 Private Bills aftectuig England and 
 Wales (exclusive of purely Personal Bills and Provisional Orders 
 Confirmation Bills) were introduced, and 580 passed; for the period 
 189G-1900 the numbers were 1,028 and 861 ; and for 1901-05, 989 and 
 807. Vide Onslow, loc. cit. 
 
 ' Courtney, Working Constitution of the United Kingdom (edition 1901), 
 p. 206. According to Lord Onslow, loc. cit., about 7 per cent, of 
 Private Bills are so opposed iii both Houses.
 
 322 LEGISLATIVE CONTROL [chap. ix. 
 
 Standing Orders to the Committees as to the 
 points which they are specially to consider, and 
 the course to be taken about them, and by 
 referring several Bills of a kindred character to the 
 same committee. Particularly all Bills contain- 
 ing sanitary or police clauses go — so far as those 
 clauses are concerned — to a Special Standing 
 Committee of the Commons, appointed annually. 
 Probably, however, the most effective guarantee 
 for something like uniformity, without unduly 
 checking local experiments, and also against 
 the authorisation, by Private Acts, of anything 
 contrary to public policy, is the examination of 
 Bills by the Government departments, which has 
 become more complete and careful in recent 
 years, and the attention which their reports 
 receive from the Select Committees. 
 Defects. This system of Private Bill legislation is slow 
 
 and costly : a Bill resolved on in March of one 
 year {i.e., after the commencement of one session) 
 could not be introduced till the next year, and 
 probably would not have passed through all its 
 stages until from fifteen to eighteen months after 
 the local authority had decided to promote it. 
 Parliamentary agents must be employed ; there 
 are fees required to be paid to Parhament ; if 
 there is opposition, councillors and officials must 
 be in London during the progress of the Bill, 
 counsel employed, and expert witnesses engaged, 
 and if the contest is a long one the sums expended 
 may be very large. Moreover, much time of
 
 SECT. 3.] SOME MODIFICATIONS 323 
 
 members is taken up by the work of tlie Select 
 Committees, and, in some cases at least, might 
 perhaps be more profitably employed in other 
 ways. Consequently attempts have been made, 
 in two ways, to lighten the burdens which Private 
 Bill legislation casts upon both local authorities 
 and I'arliament itself. 
 
 SECTION 3 
 
 The first of these plans is the system of (5) Provi 
 
 . . . *^ sional Orders 
 
 Provisional Orders, which are orders granted by 
 a Government department, but requiring the 
 approval of Parliament before they can come 
 into force ; the method was first adopted in 
 1845, and is now very extensively employed. 
 The cases in which the departments may issue 
 such orders are all specified by Parliament in 
 various enactments ; they relate partly to local 
 government in the old and narrower sense, and 
 partly to industrial enterprises of various kinds, 
 whether promoted by local authorities or by 
 trading companies. Thus the Local Government 
 Board may, by Provisional Order, combine 
 sanitary districts for the purposes of water 
 supply ; ^ confirm improvement schemes made 
 by local health authorities for insanitary areas ; 
 authorise county councils to incur debt amount- 
 
 ^ For regulations as to the grant of Provisional Orders by the 
 Local Government Board, see the Public Health Act, 1875, sees. 
 297-298.
 
 324 LEGISLATIVE CONTROL [chap. ix. 
 
 ing to more than one -tenth of the rateable value 
 of the county ; transfer to all or any of the 
 county councils such of the powers, duties, and 
 liabihties of certain Government departments as 
 relate to matters arising within the areas of the 
 councils ; ^ authorise the purchase of gasworks ; 
 make alterations in the boundaries of local govern- 
 ment areas ; and do many other similar things. 
 The Board of Trade grants Provisional Orders 
 for the erection of electric light and power works 
 by municipalities or private companies, for docks 
 and quays, tramways, light railways, waterworks, 
 etc. Other departments also may issue Orders 
 upon matters within theu' spheres. 
 
 The Orders are granted after an enquiry (held 
 locally if the department thinks it necessary), of 
 which public notice must be given, and at which 
 evidence is taken and opponents heard. If the 
 Order is refused, there is no appeal ; if it is 
 granted, it is incorporated in one of the several 
 Provisional Orders Confirmation Bills which are 
 introduced in Parliament every session by the 
 departments. Any particular Order contained in 
 such a Bill may be again challenged, and in 
 that case the Bill goes to a Select Committee, 
 as if it were an opposed Private Bill. But 
 opposition is seldom of much use, though it 
 may secure some modifications of the Order in 
 question ; Parliament has always shown itself 
 extremely ready to accept the decisions of the 
 
 ^ Local Goveruuient Act, 1888, sec. 10 (1).
 
 SECT. 3.] THE SCOTCH SYSTEM 525 
 
 Government departments.^ The method of Pro- 
 vi.sional Orders is much quicker and cheaper than 
 Private IJill legislation, but though the supremacy 
 of Parliament is maintained, the sub.stitution of 
 an administrative for a parhamentary enquiry, and 
 the wiUingness of the legislature to accept the 
 decision of the department based upon the results 
 of that enquiry, combined with the absence of 
 appeal again.st the refusal of an order, all tend 
 somewhat to the substitution of administrative 
 for legislative control. 
 
 In 1899 an Act was passed which made a sweep- Private 
 
 , . . , , . T . legislation 
 
 mg change m the procedure m regard to private for Scotland. 
 legislation for Scotland, by substituting Provisional 
 Orders for Private Bills, but modifying the English 
 system by giving the task of enquiry to a committee 
 of Members of Parliament or unofficial persons 
 instead of a department.- A draft order is pre- 
 sented by the petitioners to the Secretary for 
 Scotland, and to any Government offices concerned 
 in its contents ; the draft is referred to the Lord 
 Chairman and the Chairman of Committees, and 
 if the proposal relates only to Scotland, does not 
 raise large general questions of policy, and is not 
 of great magnitude, they authorise procedure by 
 Provisional Order; otherwise a Private Bill becomes 
 necessary. If there is no opposition the Secretary 
 for Scotland may grant the Order, either without 
 
 ' In 1903-4 the Local Government Board granted .seventy-two 
 Orders : only seven of these were challenged, and all were confirmed 
 by Parliament. 33?'<:? 7?«por<, pp. cxxxvii.-cxxxviii. 
 
 - Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act, 1899.
 
 S^6 LEGISLATIVE CONTROL [chap. ix. 
 
 or with enquiry, as he may think fit. If there is 
 opposition, the proposal is referred to a committee 
 drawn from a body of commissioners consisting 
 of fifteen members from each House of Parha- 
 ment, and twenty other persons who are, 
 " qualified by experience of affairs " and appointed 
 by the Lord Chairman and the Chairman of 
 Committees in conjunction with the Secretary 
 for Scotland. The enquiry is held in Scotland 
 at a place selected with due regard to the 
 subject matter of the proposed order and the 
 locahty to which it relates ; ' and in the report 
 presented to the Secretary for Scotland notice 
 must be taken of the recommendations made by 
 the parliamentary authorities or any pubHc depart- 
 ment. The committee may suggest the grant of 
 the order as proposed, or its modification, or its 
 complete refusal. If the last course is adopted 
 by the Secretary of State there is no appeal from 
 his decision ; if he decides to grant the order, 
 either as proposed or as amended, he introduces 
 a Confirmation Bill into Parhament, and it may 
 be challenged in the manner previously described. 
 The plan, which seems to have given satisfaction 
 in Scotland, has the advantages of the Enghsh 
 Provisional Order system, with the additional 
 merit that it does not leave the enquiry (and 
 practically the decision) solely to the permanent 
 
 ^ The "extra-parliamentary panel" is to be drawn upon only 
 when the necessary committees cannot be formed from the parlia- 
 mentary members of the Commission; but the requirement that the 
 enquiry shall be held in Scotland causes them to be much used.
 
 SECT. 4.] THE UNITED STATES 327 
 
 officials of a Government department. There 
 seems to be no obvious reason why, in any con- 
 siderable extension of the Provisional Order 
 system for tin's country, this device of enquiry 
 by a committee, drawn from a commission attac^hed 
 to a department but composed of unofficial persons, 
 should not be widely used. 
 
 SECTION 4 
 
 Reference has already been made, in a previous Legislatures 
 
 and local 
 
 chapter, to the fact that in the States of the authoritiea 
 
 ^ ^ in the United 
 
 American Union the control of the central states. 
 governments over the local authorities is exer- 
 cised only by the legislature and the courts of 
 justice, in the absence of strong state executive 
 departments which could be entrusted with the 
 task, even if the strength of the feeling for local 
 independence allowed it. The state - executives 
 are ill-organised and weak ; and local self-govern- 
 ment has been carried to its extreme limits. 
 Professor AVoodrow Wilson writes : ^ 
 
 " The governor, therefore, is not the ' exe- 
 cutive ' ; he is but a single piece of the executive. 
 There are other pieces co-ordinated with him over 
 which he has no direct official control, and which 
 are of less dignity than he only because they have 
 no power to control legislation, as he may do by 
 the exercise of his veto, and because his position 
 is more representative, perhaps, of the state govern- 
 
 ' The State (edition 1899), p. 500.
 
 328 LEGISLATIVE CONTROL [chap. ix. 
 
 ment as a whole, of the people of the state as a 
 unit. Indeed it may be doubted whether tlie 
 governor and other principal officers of a state 
 government can even when taken together be 
 correctly described as 'the executive,' since the 
 actual execution of the great majority of the laws' 
 does not rest with them but with the local officers 
 chosen by the towns and counties and bound to 
 the central authorities of the state by no real bonds 
 of responsibility whatever. Throughout all the 
 states there is a significant distinction, a real 
 separation, between ' state ' and ' local ' officials ; 
 local officials are not regarded, that is, as state 
 officers, but as officers of their districts only, 
 responsible to constituents, not to central 
 authorities." 
 
 As there are no central offices which can be 
 armed with the supervising, directing and author- 
 ising powers possessed in respect of local admini- 
 stration by the English Government departments, 
 and as therefore it would be impossible, without 
 producing undue varieties particularly of municipal 
 organisation and action, to give the local authorities 
 wide grants of general powers, the American state 
 legislatures have found it necessary to make laws 
 dealing with the details of local government to an 
 extent never attempted by the British Parliament.^ 
 
 1 ' ' We are just beginning to grasp the idea that the municipality 
 is an agent of the state and also an organisation for the satisfaction of 
 local needs. Our past faihu'e to comprehend the truth has led us to 
 adopt a legislative system ofcontrol, and although instances may be 
 found of a tendency to substitute central administrative for legis- 
 lative control, the regulation of local authorities, whether dealing 
 with state or local needs, has been almost entirely through judicial 
 action or legislative statutes. As to questions of legislative policj'^ or
 
 SECT. 4.] EXCESSIVE LEGISLATION 329 
 
 This they do alike by (rencral and " special " Extent of 
 
 ... legriBlative 
 
 legislation, corresponding to I^ritish Public and interference, 
 Private Acts. In general laws the smallest 
 matters of municipal administration are provided 
 for, whilst "special" Acts are passed every year 
 in vast numbers, and often dealing only with 
 comparatively trivial points. All this would not 
 necessarily be bad in itself, though it is a cumbrous 
 method to adopt ; but the unfortunate conditions 
 of so many American municipalities, and the 
 unsatisfactory character of most of the state 
 legislatures^ have made it into a serious evil. 
 The irresponsibility of the legislative bodies, 
 which have little or no effective control over the 
 executive, the fact that the party system has 
 almost complete sway in municipal affairs also, 
 since the " spoils system " makes the control of 
 a city government a means whereby a party may 
 strengthen its general position, the pressure exer- 
 cised by private interests upon legislators, all these 
 have led to the serious abuse of legislative control and its abuse. 
 and intervention in the affairs of the cities. This 
 extends to form and functions alike. The British 
 Parliament, when it has established local authorities, 
 is slow to change their constitution, and gives them 
 an almost free hand in the organisation of their 
 
 administrative expediency, we have either left the local authorities 
 to do as they pleased or undertaken to direct them by general or 
 special acts. Beginning with the granting of charters or the con- 
 ferring of powers by special acts, we soon fell into the habit of 
 regulating everj-thing by special act." Malbie, English Local Govern- 
 ment of To-daij, p. 212, speaking of the United States. 
 ' Bryce, American Commonwealth, cc. xliv.-xlv.
 
 330 LEGISLATIVE CONTROL [chap. ix. 
 
 work and the formation of their official staffs. 
 But the American state legislatures are constantly 
 making changes in municipal organisation, partly 
 from a mere desire to try experiments (often with- 
 out regard to the interests or wishes of the cities 
 concerned), and, what is far more serious, the 
 forms of city government are often manipulated 
 in particular cases for the purposes of the party 
 which chances to be predominant in the legis- 
 lature.^ The result is that municipal law is 
 constantly being changed, and it is therefore 
 very confused and uncertain. Further, there is 
 much interference with the functions of municipal 
 authorities ; " franchises " in the cities are granted 
 to private companies without any regard to the 
 wishes of their inhabitants, whilst on the other 
 hand proposals of the city councils are often 
 rejected not on their merits, but owing to the 
 pressure of private interests, or the hostility of 
 a political party, or the mere jealousy felt among 
 the rural population towards the growing power 
 of the cities. 
 Attempted The rcsults of tliis interference have been so 
 
 remedies. ^ -, ■, i i i • • 
 
 bad that attempts have been made m various ways 
 to check it. One plan widely adopted is to deal 
 with the organisation of municipal government, 
 and to lay down its main lines in greater or less 
 detail, not by ordinary general laws but in the 
 actual state constitutions, which can be changed 
 (DConstitu- only by a slow and elaborate process. This does 
 
 tional Laws. 
 
 ^ Fide supra, pp. 189-190,
 
 SECT. 4.] ATTEMPTED REMEDIES 331 
 
 prevent the frequent changes, hut it is impossihle 
 to anticipate all the wants of a developing city, 
 or the particular needs which may arise in regard 
 to its official machinery ; and consequently this 
 device frequently means either that the cities are 
 unduly hampered, or that it is necessary to revise 
 the constitutions at frequent intervals. To quote 
 again a distinguished vVmerican authority : ^ 
 
 " Not only do the constitutions of the states go 
 very much more into detail in their prescriptions 
 touching the organisation of the Government ; they 
 go far beyond organic provisions and undertake 
 the ordinary, but very different, work of legislative 
 enactment. . . . The motive is dissatisfaction with 
 legislation, distrust of legislators, a wish to secure 
 for certain classes of law a greater permanency and 
 stability than is vouchsafed to statutes, which 
 stand in constant peril of alteration or repeal. A 
 further motive is the desire to give to such laws 
 the sanction of a popular vote. . . . The practice 
 perhaps discovers a tendency towards devising 
 means for making all very important legal pro- 
 visions dependent upon direct popular participation 
 in the process of enactment. 
 
 The objections to the practice are as obvious as 
 they are weighty. General outlines of organisation, 
 such as the Constitution of the United States 
 contains, may be made to stand without essential 
 alteration for long periods together ; but in pro- 
 portion as constitutions make provisions for interests 
 whose aspects must change from time to time with 
 changing circumstance, they enter the domain of 
 such law as must be subject to constant modifica- 
 tion and adaptation. Not only must the distinctions 
 
 ' Wilson, The State, pp. 474-475.
 
 332 LEGISLATIVE CONTROL [chap. ix. 
 
 between constitutional and ordinary law hitherto 
 recognised and valued tend to be fatally obscured, 
 but the much to be desired stability of consti- 
 tutional provisions must in great part be sacrificed. 
 Those constitutions which contain the largest 
 amount of extraneous matter, which does not 
 concern at all the structure or functions of govern- 
 ment, but only private or particular interests, must 
 of course, however carefully drawn, prove subject 
 to most frequent change. In some of our states, 
 accordingly, constitutions have been as often 
 changed as important statutes. The danger is 
 that constitution-making will become with us only 
 a cumbrous mode of legislation." 
 
 (2) Prohibi- Another scheme of reform was the prohibition 
 
 le^siatE^^ (by chmses in the constitutions of many of the 
 states) of all special legislation affecting local 
 bodies.^ But this was quite impracticable ; cities 
 are of all sizes and conditions ; there is the utmost 
 variety of needs ; and to deal with them by general 
 law, especially in regard to functions, soon proved 
 to be impossible. The result was elaborate 
 manoeuvres to escape the restriction, and they 
 were soon easily successful. The plan of classi- 
 fying cities according to population, and of legis- 
 lating separately for all the cities of any one class, 
 was introduced, and in itself was a thorouglily 
 
 1 For an example, see the clause from the Constitution of 
 Pennsylvania quoted above, i^p. 188-9. Cf. the Constitution of 
 California (1879), Art, IV: " The legislature shall not pass local or 
 special laws in any of the following enumerated cases: ... (9) 
 regulating countj^ or township business or the election of county 
 or township officers . . . (28) creating offices, or prescribing the 
 powers and duties of officers in comities, cities, townships, election, 
 or school districts."
 
 SECT. 4.] CONTINUED EVILS 333 
 
 sound and desirable arrangement. But it was 
 soon realised that the device could be used for 
 much more than this — that it was possible to 
 enact that the cities should be classified in such 
 a way as to put only one city in a particular class, 
 and then in the same law to confer powers upon 
 the governments of " all cities " in that class, or 
 grant franchises in them, or modify their organisa- 
 tion. In this way what were practically special Failure of the 
 
 -^ ^ 111 attempts. 
 
 laws were passed in the form of general laws, and 
 the courts of justice held that they were valid. 
 Another evasion was by means of Bills which, in 
 the interests of single cities, professed to amend a 
 general act, and were therefore held to be them- 
 selves general. Consequently legislation of this 
 kind became extremely abundant, and the results 
 were much the same as if the constitutional 
 prohibition had not existed.^ There is a growing 
 dishke of this special legislation and the abuses 
 which in America seem inseparable from it, but 
 none of the schemes for reform are really satis- 
 factory.'^ Special legislation must continue, unless 
 state boards of control (with considerable powers 
 over against the local authorities) can be estab- 
 lished, and of that there is little probability. That 
 being so, the United States are in an unfortunate 
 position. The distrust felt of the state legislatures 
 has resulted in the incorporation in the constitu- 
 tions of provisions relating to the details of local 
 
 1 Maltbie, loc. cit., p. 213. 
 
 2 For examples see Bryee, loc. cit., cxlv.
 
 334. LEGISLATIVE CONTROL [chap. ix. 
 
 organisation and functions, and this tends to 
 inelasticity ; so long as there are not strong central 
 offices with powers of control, grants of wide 
 powers seem undesirable ; and with the present 
 political conditions both general and special legis- 
 lation are liable to abuse. Much could be done 
 by the adoption of a procedure modelled on that 
 which, on the whole, has been so successful in 
 England ; but any reform, to be really effisctive, 
 must commence with the composition and character 
 of the legislative authorities themselves.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL OF 
 LOCAL AUTHORITIES 
 
 SECTION 1 
 
 Under the term " administrative control " are character of 
 
 'adminiBtra- 
 
 included all the various powers possessed by the *i^e control." 
 departments of the central government in any 
 country for the general direction and supervision 
 of the action of the authorities for local self- 
 government, with the exception of the powers 
 relating to finance, which are sufficiently numerous 
 and important to be considered separately. There 
 is the further limitation that the term applies 
 only to those powers of the central offices which 
 are complete in themselves, and are exercised 
 subject only to the surveillance of the legislature ; 
 it therefore does not include that part of the work 
 of control which, though it may originate with the 
 departments, yet in order to be effective requires 
 the co-operation of the courts of justice. 
 
 It will be apparent from what has been said its greater 
 
 ^ ^ extent abroad 
 
 in previous chapters that this administrative g^an in^ 
 control is much greater abroad than it is here, 
 since the continental conception of local self- 
 government is in many respects very different 
 
 335
 
 ^36 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL [chap. x. 
 
 from our own. Perhaps the most striking illustra- 
 tion of this is furnished by the position of the 
 professional officials in local administration, and 
 their relations to the central departments. In 
 England the conduct of local affairs is absolutely 
 and solely in the hands of the elected and unpaid 
 representatives of the locality, and the salaried 
 permanent officials are merely their agents and 
 serv^ants ; the central offices have to deal with 
 the councils, and cannot normally interfere with 
 the local officials, who are in no way responsible 
 The position to them. There is, it is true, one striking 
 sionai local cxccptiou to tliis rulc ; in the administration of 
 
 oflBlcialB. 
 
 the Poor Law not only do the appomtments and 
 dismissals made by the boards of guardians require 
 the approval of the Local Government Board, 
 but the latter authority can also dismiss any paid 
 agent of the guardians even against their wishes. 
 This central power is, however, like so many others, 
 quite peculiar to the Poor Law, and is now used 
 only very infrequently ; and apart from this there 
 is no instance in English local government of the 
 permanent officials being dependent for the re- 
 tention of their posts upon the goodwill of the 
 central department alone. Confirmation by the 
 Local Government Board is necessary for the 
 appointment and dismissal of those medical 
 officers and sanitary inspectors whose salaries local 
 authorities wish to be borne partially by the 
 Exchequer Contribution Account ; but this is 
 solely as a guarantee that the persons appointed 
 
 (1) In 
 England.
 
 SECT. 1] POSITION OF LOCAL OFFICIALS 337 
 
 shall be properly cpialificd and have something 
 like security of tenure in the discharge of their 
 very difficult work, which may often bring them 
 into conflict with influential local interests. The 
 appointments of chief constables must be approved 
 by the Home Secretary, and of public analysts by 
 the Local Government 15oard. But in none of 
 these cases is there, as in the Poor T^aw, any 
 central control over the action of the permanent 
 officials ; that is directed solely by the elected 
 councils, who alone bear the responsibility. 
 
 When we turn to continental Europe the <2) in France 
 
 ^ and Prussia. 
 
 situation is very different. The central offices 
 have naturally complete control over their local 
 delegations, whether paid or unpaid, professional 
 or lay; but it will be remembered that in many 
 cases the local delegates of the central govern- 
 ment are also the executive agents of the local 
 governing corporations. They may be origin- 
 ally central officials, with the character of local 
 executive agents superimposed upon them, as is 
 the case with the French Prefect ; or in other 
 instances the chosen agents of the locality have 
 been entrusted with certain powers and duties by 
 the central government and act as its representa- 
 tive within their area — this is so with the 
 Prussian Landrath, Circle Committee, and Town 
 Magistracy, and to a lesser degree with the French 
 Mayor. Now in so far as they are central agents 
 they are under bureaucratic control, and, even if 
 they are not (as the P^rench Prefect) entitled in 
 
 Y
 
 338 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL [chap. x. 
 
 some cases to ignore orders from the local councils 
 of which they disapprove, their position as central 
 officers subject to disciplinary action inevitably 
 reacts upon their attitude towards local affairs. 
 The Prefect is primarily a central agent ; his con- 
 currence is required for the validity of many 
 resolutions taken by the departmental Council- 
 General, or he must reserve them for consideration 
 by the ministry at Paris ; he has to decide, or 
 obtain a decision, upon questions not merely of 
 legality, but of expediency, and his own view of 
 expediency will naturally be determined by the 
 views of the ministry, upon whom his position 
 depends. A more curious situation is that 
 occupied by the Prussian Landrath. He is 
 appointed by the Crown on the nomination of 
 the Circle Assembly, which pays his salary ; but 
 in his added character of a central agent he can 
 be suspended or dismissed by his superiors in the 
 bureaucratic hierarchy. Consequently, as his career 
 and chances of promotion are determined mainly 
 by the approval of these superiors, he is anxious 
 to avoid any conflict between the two masters 
 whom he has to serve ; and should a dispute arise 
 he will naturally side with the central government 
 — in fact, it is understood to be his duty to do so. 
 The indirectly-elected lay members of the Circle 
 Committee also, so far as they are entrusted with 
 " central " functions, are subject to the same 
 administrative control ; but as they are not 
 members of the bureaucracy, they cannot be dis-
 
 SECT. 1] CONTROL OF ELECTED AUTHORITIES SS9 
 
 missed from office save by the decision of an 
 administrative court. ^ In the same way the 
 burgomaster and other members of a town 
 magistracy, and the headman (Vorsteher) of a 
 country commune, in Prussia can be removed from 
 their posts only by a simihu* decision. On the other 
 hand, a French mayor, if he fails to caiTy out 
 properly any duty devolving upon him at law or 
 laid upon him by the central government, can be 
 suspended for one month by the Prefect, or for 
 three months by the Minister of the Interior, or 
 finally dismissed by presidential decree. He is 
 therefore much less protected than his Prussian 
 colleague against arbitrary action by the central 
 offices. 
 
 In England if the elected councils come into central dia- 
 
 . . solution of 
 
 conflict with the central departments in any way, elected 
 
 ^ '' '' authorities. 
 
 either for exceeding the law or for neglecting or 
 deliberately refusing to carry out its requirements, 
 almost the only thing which the central authority 
 can do is to call in the aid of the courts of justice. 
 Under the Elementary Education Act, 1870, if 
 an elected school board refused to act, or was 
 negligent or incompetent in its work, the Board 
 of Education could dissolve it, and either order 
 a new election to take place or nominate persons 
 to whom all the rights and duties of the dissolved 
 board should be transferred. These powers were 
 
 ' This applies also to the unprofessional memhers of the provincial 
 councils, since, thon<jli char/red with purely centi-al functions, they 
 are elected and unpaid.
 
 340 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL [chap. x. 
 
 used with some frequency in the early years after 
 1870,^ but they gradually fell into disuse and were 
 abandoned by the Education Act of 1902. The 
 same power of dissolving elected authorities exists 
 in France and Prussia, and is still occasionally 
 employed. In the former country the depart- 
 mental councils and commissions may be dissolved 
 for persistently refusing to discharge their legal 
 duties. A communal council may also be dissolved, 
 but its successor must be elected within two months, 
 and although during the interregnum a temporary 
 commission is appointed to carry on the municipal 
 administration, it may deal only with urgent 
 matters, and may not prepare the local budget.^ 
 These dissolutions must be by presidential decree, 
 and are on the whole very infrequent, though they 
 occur occasionally in small communes, and have 
 sometimes been talked of as possibilites in a large 
 town when its council has shown (as is often the 
 case) marked political hostility to the government 
 of the day. But the step of dissolution is rarely 
 taken on political grounds, since, should the fresh 
 election in a large town return the same anti- 
 government majority, the position of the ministry 
 (under the present conditions of French politics) 
 would become extremely difficult. In Prussia 
 provincial and circle assemblies, and town and 
 
 ^ In the first fifteen years (1871-86) there were thirty-two eases 
 of boards dissolved and substitutes appointed bj^ the Board of 
 Education, and eight of boards dissolved and fresh elections ordered. 
 Maltbie, English Local Government of To-day, p. 168. 
 
 2 Municipal Law, 1883, see. 43-45.
 
 SECT. 2.] CENTRAL AITROVAL 841 
 
 communal councils, are all liable to be dissolved 
 by royal edict ; elections must then be held within 
 three months for the provincial assemblies, within 
 six months for the circle assemblies and town 
 councils, and within six weeks for the councils of 
 the rural communes.^ But the use of such drastic 
 measures is even less frequent than in France, for 
 usually the desired end can be attained in other 
 ways. 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 Reference has already been made in a previous central ap- 
 proval of 
 chapter to the very large extent to which the local action. 
 
 approval of the central departments is necessary 
 
 for action proposed to be taken by local authorities 
 
 in France and Prussia, and it has been pointed out 
 
 that this is due in the main to the w^ay in which 
 
 powers are conferred upon the locahties. English 
 
 legislators have attempted to specify all the powers 
 
 which a local authority may require, and to permit 
 
 their use under various conditions ; whilst abroad 
 
 the plan has been adopted of avoiding incessant 
 
 legislation for local government matters by giving 
 
 very wide powers to the locahties, but with the 
 
 requirement that in the great majority of instances 
 
 they must obtain administrative approval for any 
 
 exercise of these general powers. It would be 
 
 troublesome and imnecessary to require that all 
 
 * Stjidte-Ordnuug, 1853, sec. 79; Landgeraeinde-Orduuug, 1891, 
 sec. 42.
 
 342 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL [chap. x. 
 
 proposed actions should be formally authorised ; 
 and so the method generally employed is to specify 
 a few matters in which central approval shall not 
 be necessary at all, and to direct that the resolu- 
 tions on all other matters shall be valid in some 
 cases only after formal sanction (this applies chiefly 
 to resolutions in regard to finance, or subjects 
 in which the central government has a particular 
 interest), and in others unless disallowed within 
 
 (a) In France, a fixcd timc.^ In France this approval is purely 
 
 bureaucratic — that is, it is given by the prefect 
 on his sole responsibiUty (in only a very few cases 
 does the decision rest with the prefectoral council), 
 
 (b) In or by the central ministry. In Prussia the control 
 
 Prussia. *^ "^ . , . 
 
 is exercised (according to the authority seeking 
 approval) usually by the district committee or 
 circle committee, on both of wdiich lay members 
 predominate ; and only in provincial affairs does 
 the ministry concerned decide. From the circle 
 committee an appeal is generally allowed to the 
 district committee, and from the latter (when it 
 decides in first instance) to the ministry. 
 
 (c) In In England the impossibility on the one hand 
 
 of legislating for every separate authority, and on 
 the other of allowing all authorities of the same 
 class to exercise the same powers — since authorities 
 identical in form often differ greatly in circum- 
 stances, financial resources and administrative 
 
 1 Cf. the Provinzial - Ordnung, 1875, sec. 118-121, and KreiB- 
 Ordnung, 1872, sec. 176, with the French Municipal Law, 1883, sec. 
 61-69, and Law of 1871 on the Councils-General, sec. 46-48.
 
 SECT. 2] POWERS OF ENGLISH DEPARTMENTS 343 
 
 ability — has led to the grant by Parliament of 
 the same authorising power to the central depart- 
 ments, though it springs from other motives and 
 has a quite different character, since the cases in 
 which it may be exercised are all mirmtely 
 specified. Thus the bye-laws made by local 
 authorities under the various Public Health Acts 
 need to be confirmed by the Local Government 
 Board,^ and bye-laws relating to police matters 
 must be confirmed by the Home Secretary. For 
 many other things connected with public health 
 administration, such as the formation of special 
 drainage districts, joint burial boards, housing 
 schemes, the acquisition or establishment of 
 water-supplies, authority must be obtained from 
 the Local Government Board, which also may 
 grant to a rural district council all or any of the 
 special powers of an urban sanitary authority. 
 Rural authorities are generally required to obtain 
 the consent of the same office for the use of 
 the various Adoptive Acts ; and practically the 
 issue of Provisional Orders by the central depart- 
 ments to local councils may be classed under this 
 same head, since, as we have seen, their decision 
 in any case is almost always accepted, and indeed 
 unquestioned, by I'arliament. The Local Govern- 
 ment Board may combine or divide parishes, or 
 
 ^ In 1903-4 the Local Government Board approved 500 series of 
 bye-laws issued under General Acts, and 36 series under Local Acts. 
 They applied to such diverse matters as lodging-houses, recreation 
 grounds, locomotives, pleasure-boats, slaughter-houses, shooting- 
 galleries, hop and fruit pickers, and hackney-cairiages.
 
 344 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL [chap. x. 
 
 readjust boundaries, generally by Provisional Order, 
 All public works under General Acts, and not 
 infrequently those under Private (local) Acts also, 
 need the sanction of the Local Government Board 
 or the Board of Trade ; but this, as it is concerned 
 chiefly with expenditure out of loans, will be 
 considered in the next chapter. 
 Central direc- The powcrs of directing action possessed by 
 action. our central departments are also very large. The 
 
 Board of Education has wide discretionary powers 
 in regard to most things connected with elementary 
 education, and deals with them in great detail in 
 the code. The Local Government Board may 
 direct any local sanitary authority to undertake 
 services not otherwise compulsory, though the 
 services which may thus be commanded are all 
 carefully specified in legislative enactments ; ^ and 
 in case of plague or epidemics it can issue orders 
 which are immediately binding on all authorities 
 concerned. The local councils which are authorities 
 for dealing with outbreaks of diseases amongst 
 animals must carry out all instructions received 
 from the Board of Agriculture in that matter. 
 But the greatest example of the directing powers 
 of a central department is supplied in England by 
 the Poor Law administration, where the Local 
 Government Board can issue orders — "general" 
 or " special," according as they are sent to all the 
 boards of guardians or to a single one — dealing 
 with every conceivable detail of the work ; in the 
 
 ' Cf. Public Health Act, 1875, sec. 42 and 141.
 
 SECT. 2] ENFORCEMENT OF ACTION 345 
 
 year 1003-4 alone no less tlian eight hundred and 
 fifty-two orders of one kind or another were thus 
 issued. This very wide direeting power, comhined 
 with the control of officials already mentioned, 
 makes the Poor Law administration of this 
 country into as highly centralised a service as can 
 he found in any state of Western Europe. The 
 direction hy central departments ahroud of the 
 action of local self-governing authorities is not 
 quite so extensive as in England, since the services 
 in which foreign central governments are at all 
 keenly interested are generally classed as " state " 
 matters, and therefore entrusted to agents who 
 are subject to the (more or less ordinary) bureau- 
 cratic control. 
 
 A more difficult matter is the enforcement of central en- 
 forcement of 
 action — that is, the task of compelling local local action. 
 
 authorities to discharge the duties laid upon them 
 
 either immediately by the legislature or by the 
 
 central offices under Parliamentary sanction. In 
 
 England the powers of the departments in this (a) in 
 
 ° ^ ,. . . England. 
 
 respect are comparatively limited, and a distinction 
 must be made between the actual neglect of work 
 by local authorities, and its inefficient performance. 
 In the former case, in matters of Pubhc Health 
 administration the Local Government Board may, 
 if it chooses to do so, authorise other persons to 
 act, at the cost of the defaulting authority ; ^ but 
 
 1 Public Health Act, 1875, sec. 299 and 106. In case of default 
 by a Rural District Council, its County Council may intervene and 
 do the work.
 
 346 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL [chap. x. 
 
 it usually prefers to take the alternative course, and 
 to go to the High Court of Justice for a writ of 
 Mandamus directed to the recalcitrant authority. 
 This is its sole available course in other matters ; 
 the Board of Education is armed now only with 
 the same weapon/ For inefficient performances 
 of some services (police and education) there is 
 the possibility of withholding the Government 
 grants, wholly or in part; and, since the local 
 authorities have usually spent money in the 
 expectation of receiving the grant, this amounts 
 to the imposition of a fine upon the locality. 
 But it is not a very satisfactory method, though 
 the threat that the grant, though not withheld at 
 the time, may not be given in the ensuing year 
 unless an improvement takes place is sometimes 
 effective. Where such a grant, conditioned by 
 efficiency, does not exist, almost the only thing 
 which a central department can do is to hold an 
 enquiry, urge reforms upon the local authorities, 
 and endeavour to shame them into action by 
 publishing their deficiencies abroad. 
 (b) Abroad. An unsatisfactory local council in France or 
 Prussia may be dissolved, as we have seen, by the 
 superior authority, or the latter may in some cases 
 step in and do the work itself. But there is one 
 curious power employed in both countries which 
 calls for special mention. In France, if a local 
 council does not make sufficient provision in its 
 
 1 Cf. Public Health Act, 1875, sec. 299, and Education Act, 1902, 
 sec. 16.
 
 8ECT. 3] THE INSCRIPTION UOFFICE 347 
 
 annual budget (which is submitted for admini- 
 strative approval at the commencement of the 
 financial year) for various compulsory services, the 
 supervising authority (Prefect or Ministry of the 
 Interior) may insert in the budget the necessary 
 additional expenditure — this is the so-called In- 
 scription d'ojjice — and, if necessary, impose extra 
 taxation to meet it.^ The same power is exercised 
 by the various supervising authorities in Prussia.^ 
 
 SECTION 3 
 
 It is obvious that to carry on properly this The 
 
 machinery of 
 
 work of superintending and directing the action control. 
 of the local authorities, and also to be able to 
 give them any guidance and advice of which 
 they may stand in need, the central departments 
 
 ^ Or the superior authority may order a sale of communal 
 property for this purpose (in the case of a debt). Berth^lemy, Droit 
 Administralif, p]?. 158 and 511. 
 
 - Das Zustandigkeits-Gcsetz, sec. 19. Cf. the power given to the Local 
 Government Board (though never used) by sec. 300 of the Public 
 Health Act, 1875: "Any sum specified in an order of the Local 
 Government Board for payment of the expenses of performing the 
 duty of a defaulting local authority . . . shall be deemed to be 
 expenses properly inciu-red by such authority, and to be a debt due 
 from such authoiity, and payable out of any monies in the hands of 
 such authority or of their officers, or out of any rate apjjlicable. . . . 
 If the defaulting authority refuses to pay any such sum . . . the 
 Local Government Board may by order empower any person to levy, 
 by and out of the local rate, such sum. . . . Any person or persons 
 so empowered shall have the same powers of levying the local rate 
 ... as the defaulting authority would have." As a result of 
 the recent action of some of the Welsh County Councils an Act was 
 passed in 1905 authorising the Board of Education to make to the 
 managers of elementary schools payments to which they may be , 
 
 legally entitled, but which are witliheld by the local education 
 authorities, and to deduct such amounts from the central grants 
 payable to the authorities.
 
 348 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL [chap. x. 
 
 must have some means of keeping a constant 
 watch upon them and of maintaining an intimate 
 acquaintance with the conditions and needs of 
 their areas. In England the attempt to attain this 
 result — an attempt not altogether successful — is 
 (a) The made chiefly by means of the inspectorate, which 
 
 inspectorate, is a peculiarly English institution. Attached to 
 each of the Government offices concerned in local 
 administration is a staff of inspectors, who may 
 be divided into two groups according as the 
 inspection which they conduct is regular or 
 occasional. In the first group are (1) the Poor 
 Law inspectors, who have power to visit all 
 institutions for the rehef of the poor, may attend 
 the meetings of all boards of guardians and their 
 committees, and are expected to make themselves 
 thoroughly acquainted with the general conditions 
 of their areas so far as they affect Poor Law 
 administration; (2) the auditors, who examine 
 once or twice a year tlie accounts of all local 
 authorities except town councils (whose educa- 
 tion accounts are alone subject to this central 
 inspection) ; (3) the inspectors of the Board of 
 Education, who visit and report on all schools 
 which are in receipt of public money; and (4) 
 the small number of inspectors of constabulary 
 forces, who are attached to the Home Office. 
 To each inspector of the first three of these 
 classes a particular district is assigned. The 
 second group includes (5) the medical inspectors 
 of the Local Government Board, who are sent
 
 SECT. 3] THE ENGLISH INSPECTORATE 349 
 
 down from time to time to hold enquiries into 
 the causes of the outbreak of disease, or into 
 complaints as to local sanitary administration ; ^ 
 (G) the engineering and other inspectors of the 
 I^ocal Government lioard and the 15oard of 
 Trade, who hold enquiries into proposed public 
 works which necessitate loans, or for any other 
 reason require central approval ; and (7) the 
 inspectors of the Board of Agriculture. These 
 inspectors have no authority of their own, and 
 cannot decide matters (except the auditors, from 
 whom there is an appeal) ; their function is simply 
 to inspect, observe, make enquiries, and report 
 to their respective departments. 
 
 It will be noticed that except in the case of the 
 Poor Law — and there only by chance discoveries 
 on the part of the inspectors — the central depart- 
 ments in England have no machinery for detect- 
 ing any proposals for illegal action made by the 
 local authorities, or for the discovery of illegal 
 action when actually taking place ; the audit 
 finds it out only after it has occurred, and not 
 then unless it involved special expenditure. For 
 the prevention of any transgression by a local 
 authority of its legal limits we depend then 
 almost solely upon individual initiative, on pro- 
 ceedings taken in a court of justice either by a 
 private citizen having a legally recognised interest 
 in the locality concerned, or by a central authority 
 
 1 The medical inspectors may attend the meetings of local sanitary 
 authoi'ities only if directed to do so by the Local Government Board.
 
 350 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL [chap. x. 
 
 actinfif at the instig-ation of such a citizen. In 
 (b) Local France and Prussia, on the other hand, the 
 
 delegations of 
 
 central detection of any proposals for action beyond the 
 
 departments. j s. ±. 
 
 sphere of a local body is rendered comparatively 
 easy by the deconcentrated central control. The 
 central agents are bound to watch the proceedings 
 of all local authorities within their areas, and 
 they are able to do so partly because those 
 areas are fairly small ; partly because the central 
 agents are also, in the larger areas, the executive 
 agents of the localities, and are required in their 
 former character to report to their administrative 
 superiors any order received by them from the 
 local councils ; and partly because it is customary 
 in any case to require that a full report of the 
 proceedings of any local council must be trans- 
 mitted to the supervising authority. 
 Deconcen- This systcm of dcconcentratcd central control, as 
 
 control : its carried out in Prussia, has some distinct practical 
 
 advantages. •^ •->• 
 
 advantages. It secures first that the responsibility 
 for the supervision of a host of local government 
 authorities shall not rest only upon two or three 
 departments consisting chiefly of officials stationed 
 at the national capital ; but that the work shall be 
 done by delegations scattered about the country 
 and able to acquire a more detailed knowledge 
 of local conditions than a department can obtain 
 in any other way. Secondly, the supervision is 
 not solely by officials, but also by responsible 
 and experienced persons who command local 
 confidence. The general results are, first, that
 
 SECT. 3] DECENTRALISATION OF CONTROL 351 
 
 the actual " headquarter's staff" of a govern- 
 ment department is relieved of much of that 
 minute and detailed work which falls upon the 
 English Local Government Board, and therefore 
 can give more time to the study of administrative 
 problems and the consideration of questions of 
 policy ; ^ secondly, that the control is rendered 
 much less purely bureaucratic ; and thirdly, that 
 it is much more expeditious. 
 
 In England it is beyond question that the Local Decentraiiaed 
 
 . control in 
 
 Government Board is greatly overburdened with England. 
 detailed work relating to all authorities, even the 
 very smallest ; with the natural result that the 
 office tends to become stereotyped alike as to 
 aims and methods. The Board of Education, 
 also, seems to be occupied excessively with 
 minute matters of administration. The attempts 
 hitherto made at the decentralisation of control 
 have been very slight. The county councils have 
 been given some powers over the rural district 
 councils in respect of sanitary administration, and 
 over the parish councils in regard to a consider- 
 able number of matters of general local govern- 
 ment (boundaries, loans. Adoptive Acts, etc.) ; 
 whilst in the Metropolis the consent of the 
 London County Council is required for the raising 
 of loans by the borough councils. But beyond 
 this little has been done, and the transference to 
 the county councils of powers exercised by the 
 
 ^ The same deconcentration, and the liberation of the central oflRce 
 from much bin'densonie detail, is the aim of the French organisation 
 of education.
 
 352 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL [chap. x. 
 
 central departments, which was contemplated by 
 the Local Government Act of 1888,^ has been 
 scarcely attempted in fact. Yet that some decon- 
 centration of control — or at least something to 
 Possibility of relieve the pressure upon the Local Government 
 
 further de- 
 concentration Board — -is desirable is generally asn-eed ; and the 
 
 of control . , ° j & ' 
 
 in England, only possible policy appears to be an extension 
 of the supervisory powers and duties of the 
 county councils. The municipal boroughs cling 
 jealously to their privileged position, and would 
 strongly oppose anything tending to give the 
 county councils greater authority in their areas ; 
 the larger urban districts would also resist. But 
 there seems no adequate reason why the county 
 councils should not be entrusted with the control 
 of the parishes and rural districts, and the smaller 
 urban district councils ; and the Local Govern- 
 ment Board itself would then be left to deal 
 with the Poor Law authorities, the county and 
 borough councils, the ordinary municipalities and 
 the larger urban districts. This, though not a 
 great step, would yet be a distinct improvement ; 
 and something further could be obtained by 
 the abolition of the separate boards of guardians 
 and the transference of their functions to other 
 authorities. In the case of the Board of Educa- 
 tion it is possible also that something might be 
 done, by getting rid of the system of separate 
 grants to, and therefore separate reports upon, 
 each individual school. 
 
 ' Section 10;
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE CONTROL OF LOCAL FINANCES^ 
 SECTION 1 
 
 The control exercised by the central governments Nature and 
 
 •^ . " . . objects of 
 
 over the financial operations of local authorities tbe financial 
 
 ^ ... control. 
 
 is partly legislative and partly administrative, for 
 it consists of the enforcement of two sets of limita- 
 tions — one imposed by statutory enactments, and 
 the other by administrative discretion. The legis- 
 lature may indicate, as in England, the objects 
 upon which alone local money may be expended ; 
 but whether it does that or not, it often sets limits 
 to local taxation and indebtedness, or leaves a 
 certain discretion to be exercised in the case of 
 each separate authority by a government depart- 
 ment. It is then the task of the central adminis- 
 trative offices to watch the finances of the local 
 authorities, in order to detect the employment of 
 public money for illegal purposes, and to decide 
 upon any proposals for local expenditure in regard 
 to which a discretion is allowed them. 
 
 In England, for the detection of illegal ex- central audit 
 
 • 1 IT of accounts. 
 
 penditure we depend mainly upon the audit of 
 
 ^ Some passages in this chapter are quoted from an article by the 
 present writer iu the Economic Journal, June 1902. 
 
 353 Z
 
 354 CONTROL OF LOCAL FLNANCES [chap. xi. 
 
 the accounts of the local authorities by agents of 
 the central government. The auditors of the 
 Local Government Board examine yearly, or half- 
 yearly, the accounts of all local bodies except 
 municipal councils, and the education accounts of 
 such municipal boroughs as are authorities for 
 that purpose, and they have power to disallow 
 illegal or improper expenditure, and to surcharge 
 it upon the individual members of the offending 
 authority. From the decision of the auditor there 
 is an appeal either to the Board itself (which may 
 involve a departmental interpretation of the law), 
 or to the High Court of Justice.^ The general 
 policy of the Board, where it upholds the auditor's 
 decision (as is generally the case), is to relieve 
 the members of the local authority from the con- 
 sequences of their illegal action in the particular 
 instance, but to warn them that such relief will not 
 be given again.^ The Local Government Board 
 may, however, in certain cases, on the applica- 
 tion of local authorities, authorise in advance 
 expenditure which otherwise the auditors would 
 be compelled to disallow ; and it does this in a 
 fair number of cases each year.^ This central 
 
 1 The use of this second alternative by persons surcharged is, 
 however, now very infrequent. 
 
 - In 1903-4 3,809 disallowances and svu-charges were made by the 
 auditors, nearly one-half being in respect of items of Poor Law 
 expenditure. There were appeals to the Board in 1,042 cases; in 
 52 the auditors' decisions were reversed, in 907 the decisions were 
 confirmed, but the surcharges remitted, and in 63 the decisions were 
 confirmed, but the surcharges not remitted. The remaining 20 were 
 "dealt with according to merits." 
 
 ' Local Authorities' Expenses Act, 1887.
 
 SECT. 1.] THE CENTRAL AUDIT 355 
 
 audit is a very useful institution in many ways, 
 but it has eertain distinct defects. Experience 
 has shown that the auditors may continue for 
 years to pass items which are clearly illefral, 
 simply because their attention is not specially 
 drawn to them. Secondly, the audit does not 
 prevent illegal expenditure, but only stops its 
 recurrence ; and, finally, it would be a great 
 improvement if the audit were to be made not 
 merely a search for illegalities, but also a real 
 consideration of the whole financial position of a 
 council and of its various separate undertakings. 
 The Local Government l^oard may prescribe the 
 way in which the accounts of local authorities — 
 other than municipal boroughs — must be kept, 
 and the forms in which all authorities must make 
 returns to the Board for the purpose of the annual 
 summaries which it publishes. 
 
 The accounts of English municipal boroughs Audit of 
 
 municipal 
 
 (except those relatmg to education) are exempted accounts. 
 from the governmental audit, and are examined 
 by three persons, of whom one is appointed by 
 the Mayor from the members of the town council, 
 and the other two are elected burgesses. Their 
 powers are considerably smaller than those of the 
 Local Government Board auditors, since they 
 have no power to disallow or surcharge, and can 
 only draw attention to doubtful items ; their 
 examination is generally not very efficient ; ^ very 
 
 1 But most of tlie important councils voluntarily have their 
 accounts examined and certified by competent accountants.
 
 356 CONTROL OF LOCAL FINANCES [chap. xi. 
 
 little interest is taken, as a rule, in the election 
 of the auditors, and they need not possess any 
 appropriate qualifications whatsoever. The town 
 councils are opposed to the introduction of the 
 government audit of their accounts, partly because 
 of their jealous regard for the maintenance of 
 their independence, and partly on the ground 
 that the official auditors are not properly trained 
 accountants, and, further, are inclined to take 
 too narrow a view of the law, and tliereby to 
 check desirable experiments/ The ratepayers of 
 a municipal borough are, however, to some extent 
 protected by the fact that an order for any pay- 
 ment made by a town council may be taken (on 
 the application of any person interested) by the 
 writ of certiorari before the High Court, and 
 there quashed if invalid.'- 
 Theexamina- In France, the accounts of local authorities are 
 
 tion of 
 
 estimates. examined at the end of the year, but that opera- 
 tion is less important than in England, because 
 the French local authorities are required to 
 prepare a budget for each financial year, and to 
 secure approval for it either from the Prefect, or 
 from the Ministry of the Interior. The budgets 
 of the councils of all the large towns, and of the 
 departments, must go directly to the Ministry. 
 
 ^ There are about three eases of boroughs subjected to the Local 
 Governmeut Board Audit, Select Committees of the Houses of 
 Parliament having made this a condition of the grant of additional 
 powers. 
 
 2 Municipal Corjiorations Act, 1882, sec. 141. The same coiu'se is 
 possible in cases of expenditure by county councils (Local Govern- 
 ment Act, 1888, sec. 80 (2)), but is rarely taken.
 
 SECT. 2] FINANCIAL RESTRICTIONS 357 
 
 This presentation of the local budget in France 
 (and also in l*russia, where the same system 
 prevails) gives the controlling authority an oppor- 
 tunity, not merely to strike out illegal expenditure, 
 or expenditure wliich it deems inadvisa])le, but 
 also, as was pointed out in the previous cliapter,^ 
 to enforce proper provision for all compulsory 
 services. English county councils are required 
 to prepare estimates of receipts and expenditure 
 at the commencement of each financial year,^ and 
 this is done by many other authorities voluntarily ; 
 but the estimates so prepared are not submitted 
 to any higher authority for approval. 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 The legislature has often deemed it necessary Legislative 
 
 T'fiStjTlCtiioIlS 
 
 to place restrictions upon the amount of taxation upon locai 
 
 . . . taxation and 
 
 which may be levied, or debt incurred, by local debt. 
 authorities for purposes which in themselves are 
 recognised as altogether desirable — such restric- 
 tions being sometimes absolute and sometimes 
 capable of modification by the central depart- 
 ments. Almost the only example of the restriction 
 of rates levied for general purposes m England 
 is supplied by the parish councils, who may not 
 levy rates (exclusive of those under the Adoptive 
 Acts) of more than threepence in the pound except 
 
 ^ Fide supra, pp. 346-7. 
 
 - Local Goveruineiit Act, 1888, sec. 74 (1).
 
 Legislative 
 
 restrictions 
 in the 
 United 
 States. 
 
 358 CONTROL OF LOCAL FINANCES [chap. xi. 
 
 with the consent of a parish meeting, and even 
 then may not go beyond sixpence. The hmita- 
 tion of rates for special purposes is much more 
 common ; there are maximum amounts fixed for 
 most of the Adoptive Acts. As regards debt, 
 a board of guardians may not borrow beyond 
 one-fourth of the rateable value of their union, 
 though this limit may be raised to one-half by 
 Provisional Order ; the loans raised by county 
 councils for general purposes may not exceed one- 
 tenth of the rateable value of their areas except 
 by Provisional Order or Act of Parliament; 
 and there are other instances. The same kind of 
 restrictions is frequent upon the Continent, the 
 customary plan in the case of taxation being to 
 fix a rate beyond which the local authority may 
 not go without approval. Thus a town council 
 in Prussia may not for local purposes impose an 
 addition of more than 100 per cent, to the state 
 income tax without the permission of the super- 
 vising authorities. In France the maximum of 
 the ordinary additions which may be made by 
 local authorities to the state direct taxes is fixed 
 by the annual Budget Law, and for some further 
 increases {'^centimes eoctraordinai7'cs'') made by 
 the communes the councils - general fix limits, 
 each for its own area. 
 
 The most elaborate attempts at the legislative 
 restraint of taxation and indebtedness have been 
 made in the United States, where administrative 
 control does not exist. But the desire to impose
 
 SECT. 2.] RESTRICTIONS IN UNITED STATES 359 
 
 some check upon the often reckless expenditure 
 of the cities has not always been quite satisfactory 
 in its results. To such regulations as that imposed 
 by the constitution of the State of Pennsylvania, 
 that " every city shall create a sinking fund, which 
 shall be inviolably pledged for the payment of its 
 funded debt," there can be no possible objection ; 
 the obligation to establish a sinking fund is fre- 
 quently imposed in this way in England. But 
 the tendency is for many of the regulations to be 
 inelastic. Thus an Act of 1885 in Massachusetts 
 orders that " the taxes assessed on property,^ in 
 any city, except the city of Boston, exclusive of 
 State Tax, County Tax, and sums required by 
 law to be raised on account of the city debt, 
 shall not exceed in any year twelve dollars on 
 every one thousand dollars of the average of the 
 assessors' valuations of the taxable property therein 
 for the preceding three years," and "the limit of 
 indebtedness of cities shall hereafter be two and 
 one-half per cent, on the average valuation" pre- 
 scribed above. Such limits can only be exceeded 
 by legislative authority, which is not always easy 
 to obtain. But it is a simple task in comparison 
 with the difficulties encountered when the limits 
 of taxation and indebtedness are imposed not 
 merely by ordinary legislative enactments, but 
 by the constitutions of the States, which can only 
 
 ^ All American city (as all internal) taxation is raised bj' Taxes on 
 the total (not annual) value of real and personal pixjperty. Vide Ely, 
 Taxation in American Cities.
 
 360 CONTROL OF LOCAL FINANCES [chai . xi. 
 
 be iimended by a very complicated process. The 
 failure of the legislatures and state constituent 
 conventions to distinguish between remunerative 
 and unremunerative expenditure also tends to 
 hamper municipal enterprise in the direction of 
 the ownership of public services, though in view 
 of the general want of confidence in American 
 city councils this is perhaps not unreasonable. 
 
 Perhaps the most satisfactory piece of legislation 
 in this matter, avoiding inelasticity and allowing 
 for municipal ownership within limits, is to be 
 found in the constitution adopted in 1889 for 
 the State of Washington, which may be quoted 
 in full: 
 
 "No county, city, town, school district or 
 other municipal corporation shall for any purpose 
 become indebted in any manner to an amount 
 exceeding one and one-half per cent, of the tax- 
 able property in such county, city, town, school 
 district, or other municipal corporation without 
 the assent of three-fifths of the voters therein 
 voting at an election to be held for that purpose, 
 nor in cases requiring such assent shall the total 
 indebtedness exceed five per cent, of the value 
 of the taxable property therein . . . provided that 
 no part of the indebtedness allowed in this section 
 shall be incurred for any purpose other than 
 strictly county, city, town, school district, or 
 other municipal purposes," and "that any city 
 or town with such assent may be allowed to 
 become indebted to a larger amount, but not 
 exceeding five per cent, additional, for supplying 
 such city or town with water, artificial light or 
 sewers when the works for supplying such water.
 
 sKCT. 3] THE REFERENDUM 3G1 
 
 light and sewers shall be owned and controlled 
 by the municipality." 
 
 The reference in this clause to a poll of tax- The 
 
 ^ referendum. 
 
 payers on proposals for loans suggests another 
 means of control, and that is the referendum. 
 It is fairly common in the cities of the United 
 States, and in the Canadian city of Toronto, 
 resolutions involving expenditure out of loans 
 can be passed finally by the city council only 
 after they have been approved by the ratepayers 
 at a poll — and the approval is by no means 
 always given. T'he nearest approach to this in 
 England is the poll of the ratepayers taken under 
 the Borough Funds Act, on proposals to promote 
 bills in Parliament.^ 
 
 SECTION 3 
 
 We pass next to the second object of the AdminiBtra- 
 
 tive control. 
 
 control which is the restraint of legal expenditure 
 within reasonable limits — reasonable, that is, in 
 view of local conditions and the nature of the 
 particular undertakings concerned. This has 
 already been touched upon slightly, so far as 
 there are restrictions imposed by statute, but there 
 remains the large number of cases in which 
 the only limitations are those imposed upon an 
 authority by the discretion of a higher adminis- 
 
 ^ Vide supra, p. 318.
 
 362 CONTROL OF LOCAL FINANCES [chap. xi. 
 
 trative body whose approval it must obtain. We 
 have seen that the legislature has in some cases 
 fixed limits to the debts which may be incurred 
 by local councils, but even within these bounds 
 the borrowing power of the local authorities is 
 far from being unrestrained. All loans proposed 
 to be raised by them under general Acts need 
 the sanction of the Local Government Board, 
 and if that body (after holding a local enquiry, 
 if it thinks necessary, and hearing evidence) 
 authorises the loan it may impose any conditions 
 as to repayment, etc., which it believes to be 
 desirable. A Parliamentary Committee on Local 
 Loans reported in 1902 that : 
 
 " Each general statute which confers borrowing 
 powers upon local authorities specifies a maximum 
 period for the repayment of loans raised under 
 such powers. Within the limits thus estabhshed 
 a discretion is ... as a rule, left with the 
 government department specially concerned with 
 the matter for which the loan is required, to 
 decide the exact term for the redemption of each 
 particular loan. ... It is obvious that the dis- 
 cretion left to the government departments which 
 fix the actual period for the repayment of each 
 loan is a very wide one. . . . The Local Govern- 
 ment Board, being charged with the general 
 supervision of local finance, takes into account 
 in fixing the period for redemption, not only the 
 probable useful life of each part of an undertaking 
 for which a loan is desired, but also the probable 
 future condition of localities with regard to debt, 
 in order that the ratepayers of the future may 
 not be unduly burdened, and so unable to
 
 BECT. 3] LOCAL LOANS 363 
 
 discharge efficiently the duties that may come 
 upon them." 
 
 The ideal thus set forth has not always been 
 attained by the Local Government JJoard, but 
 the department has seldom been willing to allow 
 to local authorities so long a period for the repay- 
 ment of loans as Farliament itself would permit ; 
 the maximum period allowed by the latter's 
 Standing Orders is sixty years (or eighty for 
 housing schemes), but the Board generally pre- 
 scribes a much shorter period. In the exceptional 
 case of London the metropolitan borough councils 
 can raise loans only by permission of the London 
 County Council, subject to appeal to the I^ocal 
 Government Hoard ; and the Council itself lends 
 the money if it approves the purpose. 
 
 One result of the moderately strict action of 
 the I^ocal Government Board has been that local 
 authorities have preferred, whenever possible, to 
 go direct to the legislature by means of Private 
 Bills, since the Select Committees w^ere much 
 less strict in their dealings with the financial 
 provisions. 1 Recently, however, there have been Borrowing 
 
 T . . • , 1 • i 1 1 under Local 
 
 distmct improvements m this respect, partly Acts. 
 because of the growing strictness of the legisla- 
 ture itself, and partly owing to the greater atten- 
 tion which is given by the Committees to the 
 reports of government departments upon the Bills. 
 
 ' The Committee of 1902 admitted its inability "to discover any 
 general principle by which the periods allowed by Local Acts are 
 fixed."
 
 364 CONTROL OF LOCAL FINANCES [chap. xi. 
 
 Moreover the actual amounts and conditions of 
 loans authorised by Local Acts are now often left to 
 be settled by the Local Government Board as the 
 need for them arises ; and must be so left unless 
 detailed estimates are set forth in the Bill itself 
 Restraints The abscucc of " SDCcial " legislation of this 
 
 upon borrow- j. o 
 
 ing abroad, kmd upon the Continent, and the necessity for 
 administrative approval of proposed action, leaves 
 the control of loans entirely to the supervising 
 authorities, and it is generally much more stringent 
 than in England. In France, communal loans 
 which exceed a milhon francs, or which raise the 
 outstanding debt beyond that amount, require a 
 special law, which proceeds as an ordinary Bill 
 in the French Parliament. But with this excep- 
 tion loans need only the consent of the higher 
 authorities — Prefect or JNlinister — and this is also 
 the rule in Prussia. 
 
 Administra- In Fraucc and Prussia the levying of taxes 
 
 tive approval , , , . ^ „ . . ., 
 
 of taxation, bcyond a certain amount generally requires similar 
 consent, as already noticed ; but this practice is 
 very infrequent in England, though it exists for 
 the rate for higher education in counties, which 
 may not exceed twopence in the pound except with 
 the consent of the Local Government Board. In 
 view of the very rapid increase of local rates in 
 England, mainly in the urban areas, some sort 
 of check appears to be desirable, but it is by 
 no means easy to see how one can be applied ; 
 legislative limitation is unsatisfactory in practice, 
 where large and important authorities, with varying
 
 8ECT. 3] THE ULTIMATE CHECK 365 
 
 and growinfT needs, are concerned ; and it is in 
 those cases that there would also be the greatest 
 opposition to merely administrative checks. It 
 may be that the only remedy is the pressure of 
 the ratepayers upon the councils, a consequent 
 change of financial policy on the part of the 
 latter, and their acquiescence in a slower rate of 
 municipal development.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE COURTS OF JUSTICE AND LOCAL 
 ADMINISTRATION 
 
 The task of 
 the Courts. 
 
 (i) The Civil 
 Courts in 
 England. 
 
 SECTION 1 
 
 The task of the Courts of Justice in regard to the 
 administration in any country is two-fold. They 
 have to interpret the enactments of the legislature, 
 or the rules of the common law, as to the powers 
 and duties of the various public authorities ; and 
 also to enforce obedience to the law thus inter- 
 preted, either by compelling the authorities to 
 carry out its positive commands or by restraining 
 them from exceeding the powers which it has 
 conferred upon them. The courts entrusted with 
 this duty may be either the ordinary civil and 
 criminal courts of the land, or special tribunals 
 established to deal solely with a particular class of 
 cases affecting the administration. 
 
 In England, where " the axiom of the 
 equality and identity of all law, whether pubhc 
 or private, is rooted in the common law,"^ this 
 control of the action of public authorities, both 
 central and local, is exercised by the ordinary 
 
 1 Redlieh and Hirst, II., p. 3G0. 
 366
 
 SECT. 1.] ENFORCEMENT OF ACTION 3G7 
 
 courts of justice. As we have seen already, the 
 central departments hav^e very httle power of com- 
 peUing local authorities to obey either the enact- 
 ments of the legislature or departmental orders 
 made under legislative sanction, by administrati\e 
 action ; and such small power as they have is 
 mostly left in abeyance. All they can do is to 
 apply to the King's Bench Division of the High 
 
 Court of Justice for a writ of Mandamus, which The " Man- 
 damus. " 
 
 is "a command, issuing in the King's name, and 
 directed to any person, corporation, or inferior 
 court of judicature within the King's dominions, 
 requiring them to do some particular thing tlierein 
 specified, which appertains to their office and duty." 
 The writ is granted on the application only of some 
 person or persons having a special right to call for 
 the duty in question ; and this in practice means 
 the particular government department concerned, 
 acting either on its own initiative or at the instiga- 
 tion of interested citizens. The writ will be issued 
 only to compel the performance by a local authority 
 of an absolutely obligatory duty, and when there 
 is no other adequate remedy available.^ l^efore 
 the writ is issued an opportunity is given to the 
 local authority whose conduct is in question to 
 show cause against it ; and this enables any point 
 of law involved to be duly argued and determined, 
 
 1 Thus application may not be made by a private citizen for a 
 Mandamus directed to a local authority under the Public Health Acts, 
 since sec. 299 of the Act of 1875 <2;ives liini the remedj'^ of an api^eal 
 to the Local Government Board, which can then take whatever 
 action it thinks necessary.
 
 368 THE COURTS OF JUSTICE [chap. xii. 
 
 and thereby provides an effective safeguard against 
 the giving of arbitrary directions by the central 
 departments to the local authorities. If the 
 Mandamus is issued and the local authority, to 
 whom it is directed, still resists, the members 
 become guilty of contempt of court, and may be 
 imprisoned until they become willing to obey the 
 law. It is not often necessary for the central 
 departments to have recourse to this weapon — 
 since the knowledge that it is in reserve is usually 
 sufficient to induce the local council to yield to 
 departmental representation ; but cases of its use 
 do occur from time to time.^ 
 
 Against illegal action the remedies are more 
 
 numerous, and are provided by both the civil 
 
 and criminal courts.- The former act firstly by 
 
 me writ of mcaus of two writs. The writ of Prohibition, as 
 
 tion." * its name implies, is an order issued by the King's 
 
 Bench to inferior authorities directing them to 
 
 refrain from doing particular acts which are 
 
 beyond their competence ; its use is, however, 
 
 very infrequent, since the desired result can usually 
 
 The writ of be obtained in other ways. The A\Tit of Certio7'ari 
 
 is a means of bringing up before the same tribunal 
 
 the decision of any inferior court for review, in 
 
 order that it may be either confirmed or quashed, 
 
 and its use has been extended to all orders for 
 
 1 Cf. the cases of the Leicester Board of Guardians, 1899 (as to 
 the appointment of vaccination officers), and the Council of the West 
 Riding of Yorkshire, 1906 (as to salaries of teachers in voluntary 
 schools). 
 
 2 Cf. Goodnow, II., pp. 148 seq.
 
 SECT. 1] LIABILITY OF OFFICIALS 369 
 
 payment out of the county or borough fund by 
 a county or town council. For the detection and 
 future prevention of illegal action there is the 
 Local Government Boards audit, previously 
 described ; but where there is any doubt as to 
 the validity of any allowance or disallowance 
 made by the auditor the writ of Certiorari can be 
 used to enable a decision to be obtained from the 
 King's Bench. ^ 
 
 Secondly, the civil courts exercise a check Actions 
 
 against 
 
 upon arbitrary action on the part of authorities, officials. 
 both central and local, by their power to entertain 
 suits against administrative officials for any damage 
 (however nominal) caused by them in the doing of 
 illegal acts. The theory of the English law, as 
 previously pointed out, is that any official who in 
 the discharge of his public functions does anything 
 for which he has not lawful authority, is in respect 
 of that particular action to be treated as an 
 ordinary private citizen — however much he may 
 have believed himself to be fulfilling his duty, 
 either in obedience to orders or upon his own 
 responsibility — and is therefore liable in the 
 ordinary courts. In the civil courts an action 
 for damages may be brought against him ; 
 
 1 The Poor Law Ainendmeut Act, 1844, directs that " any person 
 aggrieved by any allowance, disallowance, or surcharge by an 
 auditor of any union, district, or jjarish can make the auditor state 
 his reasons in the book of account in which the allowance or dis- 
 allowance was made and . . . may apply to the Court of the King's 
 Bench for a writ of Certiorari to remove into the King's Bench the 
 said allowance, disallowance, or siu-eharge in the same manner as if 
 it were an oi'der of the justices of the peace." 
 
 2 A
 
 370 THE COURTS OF JUSTICE [chap. xii. 
 
 or alternatively he may be prosecuted in the 
 criminal courts/ 
 (ii) The The Criminal courts act as a restraining power 
 
 criminal ^ ^ ^ 
 
 courts. both in this way, and also by the very important 
 
 fact that they alone are empowered to impose 
 penalties upon citizens guilty of any violation of 
 the law. Obedience to the law, whatever the 
 matters may be to which it relates, is in England 
 enforceable almost solely in the police courts, by 
 fine or imprisonment ; and therefore if a private 
 citizen regards a bye-law or other order made by 
 a local authority as being in any way ulfjri vires, 
 he can simply dechne to obey it, and then wait 
 for the local authority to try to enforce it either 
 by means of their own officials (in which case he 
 could bring an action against those officials, or 
 prosecute them), or by proceedings against him 
 in the police courts or in petty cessions, where he 
 can challenge the validity of their action. From 
 the decision of the court he can appeal to Quarter 
 Sessions, or by means of the writ of Certiorari to 
 the Court of King's Bench. This writ is, however, 
 now seldom employed, owing to the adoption of 
 the simpler method of appeal to the same tribunal 
 by means of a case stated by the pohce magistrate 
 or bench of justices for the consideration of the 
 High Court. It is an understood rule that the 
 
 ^ The Public Authorities Protection Act, 1893, consoUdating pro- 
 visions contained in previous statutes, simply directs that no action 
 or prosecution against any person for any act done in the intended 
 execution of his public duty may be instituted after six months have 
 elapsed.
 
 SECT. 2.] THE FRENCH COURTS 371 
 
 magistrates will "state a case" whenever tliere 
 is any reasonable doubt ; and, should they refuse, 
 application may then be made for the writ. 
 
 Thus the general situation in England, as 
 throughout the British Empire, is quite simple. 
 The private citizen is protected against unlawful 
 action on the part of any public authority, what- 
 ever that autliority may be, by the ordinary courts 
 of justice, which give him the same remedies as 
 he could obtain against any other citizen ; the 
 powers and duties of public authorities as between 
 themselves are decided, in cases of doubt, by the 
 same tribunals, and the local councils are rendered 
 secure from the tyranny or arbitrary action of the 
 central departments by the fact that the latter 
 are almost powerless without the aid of these 
 same ordinary courts, which are concerned solely 
 with questions of law, and are not influenced by 
 what the departments may consider to be adminis- 
 trative expediency or political necessity. 
 
 SECTION 2 
 
 In France the judicial control of the adminis- The courts in 
 
 France. 
 
 tration is exercised not only by the ordinary civil 
 and criminal courts as in England, but also by 
 the special administrative tribunals. On the 
 general nature of administrative law, with its 
 admitted vagueness of content, enough has been 
 said in a previous chapter ; here it is necessary
 
 372 THE COURTS OF JUSTICE [chap. xii. 
 
 only to endeavour to indicate briefly the way in 
 which the various sets of courts act in this matter. 
 For the enforcement of obedience to the law on 
 the part of the local authorities there is little or 
 no judicial machinery — the power possessed by 
 the central government of dismissing prefects and 
 mayors, and of dissolving local councils, for non- 
 fulfilment of their obligatory duties, does away 
 with many of the difficulties which the Mandamus 
 Thepreven- remedies in England. But for the prevention of 
 
 tion of illegal .,,,. . i-ini.-. 
 
 action. illegal or improper action the aid oi the Courts oi 
 
 Justice becomes necessary. 
 
 (i) The civil The Ordinary civil or criminal courts may 
 
 take cognisance of conscious violations of the 
 law or deliberate abuse of powers by officials, 
 just as the English courts may ; but the action 
 of these courts does not extend in France, as it 
 does in this country, to unlawful acts done by 
 officials in what they consider to be their duty 
 {fautes de service). It may, of course, frequently 
 be extremely difficult, and in fact almost im- 
 possible, to prove that an official was knowingly 
 exceeding his legal authority, or making an im- 
 proper use of it ; and in any case such intentional 
 faults must be comparatively rare. The most 
 frequent faults are unconscious illegalities — 
 mistakes by an authority as to the extent of 
 its powers, or a mistaken application of them. 
 These are checked first by the criminal courts. 
 Just as in England, so also in France is it the 
 general rule that the imposition of penalties for
 
 SKCT. 2] THE FRENCH COURTS 373 
 
 disobedience to bye-laws or other regulations 
 made by local authorities, is a matter only for 
 the police courts ; and these, in decidinij upon '"' The 
 
 ^ . . police courts. 
 
 a case, may take into consideration the validity 
 of the bye-law or regulation in question, and 
 may overrule it.' So that the citizen is protected 
 against arbitrary action (to this extent at least) 
 in the same way in both countries. 
 
 A further remedy against unlawful action is fiii) The 
 
 .' . , adminietra- 
 
 provided by the administrative courts, w^hose tive courts. 
 jurisdiction tails into two divisions. These are : — 
 (1) the cojitenficUiV (uhniiiistratifs, which are com- 
 plaints as to the acts of authorities ; in dealing 
 with these the courts are concerned with questions 
 of both law and expediency, and may ov^errule the 
 decisions of an authority, or amend them. (2) The 
 recours pour t execs de pouvoir — actions for the 
 annulling of the acts of any authority on the 
 ground that they are ultra vires : in this group of 
 cases, which go direct to the Council of State, the 
 question is simply one of law, and the act of the 
 authority must be either affirmed or annulled — 
 there is no third alternative. In some instances 
 there may be a difference of opinion between the 
 police tribunals and the administrative courts ; a 
 police tribunal may decline to impose penalties for 
 disobedience to a bye-law on the ground that the 
 local authority had no power to make it, whilst an 
 
 ^ " Nou pas en ce sens qii'ils pourront les annuUer pour illegality, 
 mais en ce sens qu'ils pourront refuser de les api^liquer s'il les jugent 
 illegaux." Berthelemy, p. 856.
 
 374 THE COURTS OF JUSTICE [chap.xii. 
 
 administrative court, on an application that the bye- 
 law be annulled, may hold that it is perfectly valid. 
 In such a conflict there seems to be no means, short 
 of parliamentary enactment, of actually compelling 
 a settlement of the question ; and unfortunately 
 for the citizens the various pohce courts may not 
 take a uniform line. Usually, however, an agree- 
 ment is reached as to the rule to be adopted, 
 without recourse to the legislature/ 
 (a) The The lowcr administrative courts are the Pre- 
 
 Prefectoral 
 
 Councils. fectoral Councils, whose composition and other 
 functions have already been described.'- They deal 
 with appeals against assessments, disputes under 
 the election laws, cases arising from the sale of 
 domains and in connection with public works, some 
 questions as to indirect taxes, and many other 
 matters. In one case only — highways — do they 
 act as police tribunals, with power to impose 
 penalties for infractions of the law. There is an 
 almost unlimited right of appeal (within two 
 months) to the Council of State. The main defect 
 of the Prefectoral Councils is that the members 
 are badly paid, and consequently the standard of 
 ability is not high ; with the natural result that, 
 whilst not under suspicion, they yet fail to 
 
 1 "Comment sortir de cette impasse? En fait, on transigera : ou 
 bien I'administration reformera son acte dans le sens reclame par les 
 tribimaux judiciaires, ou bien la jurisprudence des tribunaux 
 judiciaires se reformera dans le sens indique par le conseil d'Etat ; 
 mais, en droit, il n'y a pas moyen d'exiger cette transaction. Les 
 deux autorites demeurent maitresses de leurs appreciations contra- 
 dictoires, lesquelles valent chacune pour leur objet." Berthelemy, 
 p. 857n, 
 
 ° Vide supra, pp. 83-4.
 
 SECT. 2.] THE FRENCH SUPREME COURT 375 
 
 command any pronounced public confidence. But 
 the great freedom of appeal to the Council of State 
 avoids many dangers which otherwise might arise. 
 
 The Council of State itself— or rather that 'b) The 
 
 Council of 
 
 section of it which acts as an administrative court state. 
 — has a three-fold character.^ It is a tribunal de 
 cassation, hearing appeals against final decisions of 
 administrative courts,- which it may annul on the 
 ground of the incompetence of any court to deal 
 with a particular case, and also deciding disputes 
 between administrative authorities as to their 
 respective spheres of action ; it is a trihuual (Tappel, 
 hearing appeals from the prefectoral councils and 
 from the administrative courts of French colonies ; 
 and it is a tribunal de premier et dernier ressort, 
 on applications for the annulling of administrative 
 acts (including presidential decrees, decisions of 
 prefects refusing consent to resolutions of com- 
 munal councils, etc.), and for disputes in regard to 
 elections to the councils-general. An adminis- 
 trative act may be annulled for execs de pouvoir, 
 when one administrative authority encroaches upon 
 the sphere of another, or when the formalities 
 required by law have not been observed, or when 
 an authority, acting within its competence and 
 with due formality " uses its discretionary power 
 for purposes other than those for which the 
 power was granted."^ 
 
 1 Bceuf, pp. 48-52. 
 
 - lucludinj^ the C'our des Comptes and the Courts of Revision for 
 matters connected with recruitmg. 
 » Goodnow, II., 229-30.
 
 376 THE COURTS OF JUSTICE [chap. xir. 
 
 The Tribunal Foi' the Settlement of disputes as to whether 
 
 of Conflicts. ^ ^ 
 
 a particular case should or should not go to the 
 ordinary courts or to the administrative courts there 
 is a tribunal des confllts, consisting of the Keeper 
 of the Seals (who is also Minister of Justice), three 
 ordinary Councillors of State elected by their 
 colleagues, three members of the Supreme Court 
 of France {Cour de Cassation) also chosen by 
 their colleagues, and two persons elected by the 
 other seven. They all hold office for three years, 
 and five members form a quorum. The " conflict " 
 may be raised only by the Prefect in each depart- 
 ment ; if he finds that any case touching the 
 administration, unless specifically left to the 
 ordinary courts by legislative enactment, is being 
 taken to them, it is his duty to draw the attention 
 of the courts to the fact, and, if they persist in 
 hearing it, to appeal to the trihuual des conjiits. 
 
 SECTION 3 
 
 The courts In Prussia the general position, and the part 
 
 in Prussia. . . . , . . 
 
 played by the ordinary civil and criminal courts 
 in the restraining of public authorities from 
 unlawful action, is much the same as in France, 
 and does not call for any special description. But 
 the working of the administrative courts is some- 
 what different.^ There are three grades — the 
 
 ^ For a detailed account see Von Seydel, Preussisches Stcmtsrecht 
 (1894), pp. 199 seq. The general rules are laid down in the Landesver- 
 waltungsgesetz, of 1875, amended in 1880.
 
 SECT. 3.] THE PRUSSIAN COURTS 377 
 
 Circle Committees, the District Committees, and 
 the Supreme Administrative Court ; their com- 
 position has akeady been described,^ and it will 
 be remembered that in the two lower courts the 
 unprofessional and indirectly elected members 
 predominate, whilst the members of the Supreme 
 Court hold office for life. These arrangements 
 undoubtedly give the Prussian courts a far greater 
 feeling of independence than is possessed by the 
 French tribunals, and also enable them to secure 
 a larger amount of public confidence. The 
 ordinary members of the lower courts are — so far 
 as they act as judges — altogether independent of 
 bureaucratic control, and so are the Landraths and 
 Government Presidents ; though the fact that all 
 the members are subject to that control in their 
 other character of agents of the central govern- 
 ment probably tends somewhat to make them 
 take the official view. But the members of the 
 French Prefectoral Councils are in the same 
 position, and probably the ability of the Prussian 
 administrative courts as a whole, and certainly 
 of the District Committees, is superior to that 
 found in the corresponding tribunals in France. 
 IJoth have the theoretical defect, which is also 
 to some extent a real one, that in the low^er 
 courts administrative and judicial functions in 
 regard to the same matters are combined in 
 the same hands : the " representative " element 
 in the Prussian courts, however, makes this less 
 
 » Fide mpra, pp. 129-30, 140-2, and 148-9.
 
 378 THE COURTS OF JUSTICE [chap. xii. 
 
 important and much less likely to be harmful than 
 in France. 
 (i) The Circle The Circle Committee deals with disputes 
 
 Committees. 
 
 arising out of official-district and communal 
 elections, boundaries, communal taxation assess- 
 ments, the apportionment of circle expenses 
 between the communes, education, highways, 
 waterways, building laws, sanitation, etc. The 
 cases in which these matters can give rise to 
 actions before the administrative courts are all 
 indicated in the various laws, and notably in the 
 great " Competence Law," ^ which states positively 
 a large number of cases in which an action 
 (Klage) may be brought against an authority, 
 and therefore negatively that in all other cases 
 the only remedy is a complaint (Beschwei'de) to 
 the appropriate controlling authority. In some 
 instances, however, when a complaint has been 
 unsuccessful, but not before, an action may be 
 brought.^ Where there is doubt as to which of 
 the two courses is to be taken, the Supreme 
 Administrative Court decides. 
 (11) The From the decisions of the Circle Committees 
 
 District , . . 
 
 Committees, appeal lics (in all cases where it is not expressly 
 prohibited by law) to the District Committees. 
 These are also courts of first instance for similar 
 controversies arising in the Circles themselves ; 
 for "police" matters in communes of more than 
 10,000 inhabitants or in Town Circles; and also 
 
 ^ Das Zustandiglceitsgesetz. 
 
 2 Cf. the Zustandigkeitsgesetz, sees. 10, 11, 18, 19, etc.
 
 SECT. 3] WORKING OF THE COURTS 379 
 
 for actions brought by a I^aiidnitli cliallcnging (on 
 the ground of incompetence or illegality) the 
 resol'itions passed by the Assembly or Committee 
 of his Circle. 
 
 The Supreme Administrativ^e Court (O/jervcr-^iii)'^^^ 
 
 ^ .... Supreme 
 
 waltungsffCiicJif) is (i) a court of revision, reviewing Aciministra- 
 the decisions of the District Committees given 
 in second instance ; (ii) a court of appeal from 
 the decisions of those tribunals given in other 
 cases; (iii) a court of first instance, hearing and 
 determining complaints by Circles against their 
 assessed shares of provincial taxation, by the 
 Chief Presidents against the decisions of the 
 Provincial Assemblies, Committees, and com- 
 missions of various kinds. The Supreme Court 
 has also power, if adequate cause is shown, to 
 order a new trial of a case in the court in which 
 it originated. 
 
 As to the general working of these courts there The working 
 
 , .of the courts 
 
 are several points which are worthy of notice. 
 The first is that any dispute between two courts of 
 equal rank as to jurisdiction is decided by the next 
 higher tribunal. Secondly, in the lower courts it 
 is not necessary for any formal trial to take place ; 
 the parties may agree on the facts, and submit 
 them to the court for a legal ruling ; and this 
 method, which is almost without cost and is also 
 very rapid, is greatly used. If either party, or 
 the court itself, so wishes, there must be a formal 
 hearing. Thirdly, it is a rule that the courts are 
 not limited to the evidence tendered by either
 
 380 THE COURTS OF JUSTICE [chap. xii. 
 
 party, but may call for such other evidence as 
 they may think desirable ; and in coming to their 
 decisions they are directed to take a broad view, 
 and may consequently bring into account con- 
 siderations which have not appeared at all in the 
 arguments. Finally, not only may either of the 
 parties to a case appeal against a judgment, but 
 a Landrath or Government President may appeal 
 "on the ground of the public interest," against 
 the decisions of the very court over which he 
 presides. The general aim of the rules of 
 procedure is to secure that the cases shall be 
 disposed of as rapidly as possible, and with the 
 minimum of cost and trouble, to the parties con- 
 cerned ; and, so far as a foreign observer can judge, 
 the arrangements seem to meet with general 
 approval. 
 Conflicts of For the settlement of conflicts of jurisdiction 
 
 jurisdiction. .,,.. 
 
 between the ordmary and the special admmistrative 
 courts there is the Court of Conflicts at Berlin 
 {Kompetenzkonfiikts - Gerichtliof). It consists of 
 eleven persons appointed by the King on the 
 nomination of the Ministry of State ; six of them 
 must be members of the Supreme Civil Court 
 {Oberlandesgericht), and the other five must be 
 qualified for high administrative positions. They 
 hold their post for life, or for the term of the 
 office which they held at the time of appoint- 
 ment to the Court of Conflicts. There is only 
 a single tribunal — seven members forming a 
 quorum.
 
 8ECT. 3.] CONCLUSION 381 
 
 Finally it may be worth while to repeat here General 
 
 111 -1 -11 11- character of 
 
 what has been said previously, that the adminis- the adminis 
 
 •^ trative 
 
 trative courts of both France and l*russia are courts. 
 Ic^dl tribunals. That means that under the 
 direction and guidance of the Supreme Courts 
 in particular there is being built up, in the two 
 countries, a system of law relating to the public 
 administration which, though very different in 
 many respects from private law, is yet regular 
 and definite, is as a rule (especially in the highest 
 courts) little influenced by considerations of mere 
 administrative expediency, or by any particular 
 regard for the wishes of the executive authorities, is 
 animated by the true legal spirit, and does on 
 the whole give general satisfaction. The English 
 student will probably still prefer his own national 
 system, but that need not blind him to the merits 
 of some at least of continental methods and ideas ; 
 and in the actual working of the administrative 
 courts he may find some incidental advantages.
 
 INDEX 
 
 AcADKMiKs, sec Education in France, 
 primary 
 
 Academy inspector, see Education 
 in FnincL', primary 
 
 Actes de pers()nne prive, 298 
 
 Actes de puissance publi(|ue, 298 
 
 Adjoints, see Communes 
 
 Administrative Areas of England, 
 236, 344 ; see also Adminis- 
 trative County, Ancient County, 
 Urban Areas 
 
 in France, 77 seq. ; see 
 
 also Dejjartmeut, Arrondissement, 
 Canton, Commune 
 
 in Prussia, 132 - 86 ; sec 
 
 also Province, Regierung Bezirk, 
 Landkreis, Stadtkreis, Amts- 
 bezirk, Stadtgemeinde, Land- 
 gemeinde 
 
 Administrative County, 3, 23-35, 
 230;t ; see also Non - County 
 Boroughs, Rural Districts, Rural 
 Parishes, Urban Districts 
 
 Adniiuistrative Courts in England, 
 307 
 
 in France, 13, 258, 297, 
 
 301, 302, 304, 305, 307, 309, 371-3, 
 381 
 
 in Prussia, 13, 284, 297, 
 
 302?i, 305, 307, 309, 376 seq., 
 381 
 
 law in England, 293, 294, 
 
 296, 297 
 
 abroad, 288 - 97 ; see 
 
 also droit adniinistralif ; Verwal- 
 
 tungsrecht 
 Adoptive Acts, 31, 34, 35, 37, 40-4, 
 
 45, 46, 51, 232, 316, 343, 357, 
 
 358 
 Agricultural rates, 228 
 Act, 29, 32 
 
 Agriculture, Board of, in relation 
 to Diseases of Animals, 18, 344 ; 
 Inspectors, 349 ; Markets, 18 
 
 Albany U.S., Mayor of, 200 
 
 All)ert the Bear, 263 
 
 Allgemeines Landrecht, see Educa- 
 tion in Prussia 
 
 Allinsou and Penrose (quoted), 192, 
 193?i7i 
 
 Allotments in England, 26, 31, 34, 
 35 
 
 Amtmann, 151 
 
 Amtsbezirke, 149 ; Amtsaus.schuss, 
 149, 342 ; Amtsvorsteher, 149, 
 151, 303 
 
 Ancient County, 22 ; Lord Lieu- 
 tenant of, 23 ; Sheriff of, 23 
 
 Areas and Ijoundaries in England, 
 3, 17, 28, 324 
 
 in France, 87 
 
 in Prussia, 378 
 
 Arrondissement, 77, 105, 249 ; 
 Council of, 91 ; power of the 
 Prefect, 91; sub-prefect, 91-2 
 
 Art galleries in France, 99 
 
 Asylums for defectives in Prussia, 
 184 
 
 Aucoc (quoted), 290, 291 
 
 Aufsichtsrecht, 303 
 
 Augagneur, M., Mayor of Lyons, 
 98 
 
 Austibung der Staatsgewalt, 298 
 
 Bacon, Sir Fraxcis (quoted), 300n 
 Baltimore, City Council of, 205 ; 
 
 Comptroller, 200 ; Education, 
 
 204 ; :\Iayor of, 199, 200 
 Bauks, savings, in Prussia, 161 
 Baths and washhouses in England, 
 
 34-40 
 Bavaria, 277 
 
 383
 
 384 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Bellange (quoted), 92n 
 
 Berlin, 157, 163-4, 264, 380; 
 Bezirksausschuss, President of, 
 164 ; Chief President, 164 ; Exe- 
 cutive Board of, 164 ; Police 
 Presidency, 163 ; Provincial 
 Boards of, 164 ; University of, 
 166 
 
 Berne, education in, 164/1 
 
 Berthelemy (quoted), 8ln, 292?;, 
 373n, 374n 
 
 Beschwerde, 378 
 
 Birmingham, 3l8n 
 
 Bismarck, 173, 274,281, 286 (quoted), 
 177 
 
 Blanc, L., 253, 254 
 
 Board of Agriculture, see Agriculture, 
 Board of 
 
 of Education, see Education, 
 
 Board of 
 
 of Guardians, see Poor Relief in 
 
 England 
 
 — of Health, see Public Health, 
 Board of 
 
 of Trade, see Trade, Board of 
 
 Bceuf (quoted), 259/i 
 Bornhak (quoted), 276n 
 Borough Fund, 43 
 
 Act, 1872, 3l8n, 361 
 
 Boston, City Council, 205 ; educa- 
 tion, 204, 205 ; Mayor, 199, 200 ; 
 
 taxation, 359 ; tramways, 210 
 Boulangists, 262 
 Boundaries, see Areas 
 Boutmy (quoted), in, bn 
 Brandenburg, Chief President of, 
 
 163 ; Mark of, 263, 267, 272 
 Brereton (quoted), 115« 
 Bridges in England, 48, 50 
 British and Foreign Schools Society, 
 
 6bi 
 Brodrick (quoted), 214w 
 Brooklyn, Mayor of, 199 
 Budget Law in France, 87 
 Buffalo, education in, 204 ; Mayor 
 
 of, 200 
 Bundesamt fiir Heimatwesen, see 
 
 Poor Relief in Prussia. 
 Bureaux de bienfaisance, 100, 108 
 Burger meistereiverfassung, see 
 
 Stadte 
 Burial Acts, 16. 316 
 
 Boards, 343 
 
 grounds, 34, 35, 40 
 
 Cabinet, supervision by the, 19 
 
 Cahiers of 1789, 243 
 
 California, Constitution of (quoted), 
 
 332ri 
 Cantons, 77, 92, 93, 249 
 Casual Ward, see Poor Relief in 
 
 England and Prussia 
 Centralisation in France, 241, 246, 
 
 260, 261 
 Certiorari, writ of, 369, 370 
 Chadwick, E., Secretary to the Poor 
 
 Law Board, 219, 224?i 
 Chairman of Committees, 319, 325, 
 
 326 
 Chamberlain, J., on the purchase of 
 
 the gasworks of Birmingham 
 
 1874. (Quoted) 42re 
 Charities in England, 34, 35 
 
 in United States, 204 
 
 Charles X., King of France, 252 
 Charleston, education in, 204 
 Chicago, Boards, 203 ; City Councils 
 
 205 ; Commissioners, 203 ; 
 education, 204 ; Mayor, 194, 199, 
 203 ; municipal history of, 194 
 Children, destitute, in France, 87 
 Cincinnati, education in, 204 
 Cities in England, 37 
 
 counties of, 38 ; see also 
 
 Municipalities 
 
 City Corporation, see London. 
 Civil Courts in England, 366 
 
 in France, 372 
 
 Cleveland, City Council of, 205 ; 
 
 City Democratic Convention of, 
 
 191 ?^ ; education in, 204 ; Mayor, 
 
 200 
 
 Colleges, see education in France, 
 
 secondary 
 Colbert, administration of, 239 
 Commission of the Peace, 23, 38, 
 
 39 
 Committee system in England, 22, 
 26 
 
 in France, 73 
 
 in Philadelphia, 192 
 
 Communal Finances Act, 1893, 151 
 Communes of France, 77, 104, 247, 
 249, 257, 258, 262, 267 ; adjoints, 
 95, 260 ; Mayor, 7, 94, 96, 260, 
 337, 339 ; suspension of Mayor, 
 96 ; Municipal Council, 94, 95, 
 96-9, 259, 340 ; sessions of, 97 ; 
 in relation to art galleries 99 ;
 
 INDEX 
 
 385 
 
 Communes of France — continued. 
 bureaux de bienfaisance, 100, 
 dinners for school children, 99 ; 
 highways 122; jiawnshops, 100; 
 parks, 100 ; revenues, 102 ; 
 socialists, 97 ; universal suffrage, 
 96 ; nmniciijal law, 94 ; school- 
 master as Mayor's secretary, 96 
 
 Communes, see also Gemeinde 
 
 Conij)etence Law, see Zustandig- 
 keitsgesetz 
 
 Conseil d'Etats, see Franco 
 
 Consistory, see Education in Prussia, 
 secondary 
 
 Constabulary forces, see Police 
 
 Constituent Acts, 316 
 
 Assembly, see France 
 
 Constitutional law in England, 289, 
 
 293, 295 
 
 abroad, 293 
 
 Contentieux adniinistratifs, 373 
 Controller-General, see France 
 Corvee 120, 123 
 Council-General, see Departments 
 
 of France 
 Counties, see Administrative Areas 
 
 of boroughs, 230h 
 
 of cities or towns, 38 
 
 County boroughs in England, 24, 
 
 38 
 
 councils, constitution, 
 
 functions, etc., 24-9, 230, 231, 235, 
 345/t, 351, 352 ; chairman of, 24 ; 
 committees, 26 ; officers of, 29 ; 
 representatives, 38 ; Standing 
 Joint Committee, 23, 27, 28 ; in 
 relation to allotments, 26 ; 
 areas, 28 ; diseases of animals, 
 
 26, 27 ; education, 26, 27, 66 ; 
 elections, 25 ; finances, 26??, 28 ; 
 foods and drugs, 27 ; highways, 
 27 ; isolation hospitals, 27 ; light 
 railways, 27 ; Local Government 
 Board, 24, 324 ; local loans, 28, 
 358 ; lunatic asylums, 26, 28 
 Private Bills, 28"; public health 
 27 ; reformatory schools, 28 
 river pollution, 27 ; rural district 
 30 ; rural parish, 30, 34 ; sauita 
 tion, 27 ; weights and measures, 
 
 27. See also London County 
 Council 
 
 Countv Government, reform of, 
 230"^ 
 
 Courts of Ju.stice and local admini.s- 
 tration in Plngland, 3, 8, 10, 11, 
 12, 20, 22, 366 
 
 in Franco, 371 seri. 
 
 in Pru.ssia, 376 seq. 
 
 in United States, 187 
 
 Court of King's Bench, 367, 369, 
 
 370 
 Criminal Courts in England, 370 
 
 in France, 372 
 
 in Prussia, 376-81 
 
 DECt;NTRALiSATiON, generally, 1-3 
 
 in England, 235, 351 
 
 in France, 6, 78, 131, 248, 
 
 251, 259, 260, 261 ; Government 
 Commission on, 260 
 
 in Prussia, 6, 131, 283, 350 
 
 Deconcentrat ion, .-.te Decentralisation 
 
 De Laferriere ((pioted) 298« 
 
 Denver, education in, 204 
 
 Departments, central, concerned 
 with local government in 
 England, 3, 16-22 ; growth of 
 central control, 227 ; control over 
 local finance, 353 seq. ; courts of 
 law, 371 ; department inspectors, 
 21 ; methods of administrative 
 and judicial control, 10, 18-21, 
 335-47, 367 ; in relation to 
 Private Bills, 321-2; to Pro- 
 visional Orders, 323 ; sub-legis- 
 lative powers, 19 
 
 central concerned with local 
 
 government in France, 11, 69-78, 
 131, 247, 249, 251, 259, 335, 342, 
 346-7, 350 
 
 central, concerned with local 
 
 government in Prussia, 125-32, 
 335 
 
 — of France, Budget of, 85 ; 
 Commission, 89 
 
 Council General, constitution 
 
 and functions, 80, 85-91, 338, 
 340 ; control by central govern- 
 ment, 88 ; delegation of powers 
 to the Commission, 89 ; dissolu- 
 tion of elected authorities, 339 ; 
 President, 90 ; sessions ordinary 
 and extraordinary, 85 ; in relation 
 to areas, 87 ; arroudissements, 
 92 ; depots de mendicite, 87 ; 
 destitute children, 87 ; education, 
 86 ; finance, 87 ; highways, 86, 
 
 2 B '
 
 386 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Departments, Council - General 
 — continued. 
 121 ; local loans, 87 ; lunatic 
 asylums, 87 ; markets, 87 ; octroi, 
 87" ; taxation, 86, 92 
 
 Prefect of, 6, 13, 78, 80, 85, 
 
 250, 337-9, 347, 356, 376; as 
 executive agent, 79, 87 ; in 
 relation to arrondissements, 91 ; 
 the commission, 89 ; communes, 
 79, 95 ; education, 78, 115 ; high- 
 ways, 78 ; municipal councils, 
 98 ; officials, 79 ; police, 79, 121 ; 
 sanitation, 78 
 
 Prefectoral Council, functions, 
 
 83, 84, 374, 377 ; as an adminis- 
 trative tribunal, 84, 374; in 
 relation to assessments, 374 ; 
 disputed election laws, 374 ; high- 
 ways, 374 ; sale of domains, 374 ; 
 taxation, 374 
 
 Department of the Seine, 104, 106, 
 107 
 
 Depots de mendicite, 87 
 
 Deschanel, P. (quoted), 95 
 
 Detroit, City Council, 205 ; educa- 
 tion, 204-5 
 
 Dicey (quoted), 305, 310 
 
 Dijon, municipalisation at, 101 ; 
 revenue, 102 
 
 Direction des Beaux Arts, see France 
 
 Directory, see France 
 
 Diseases of Animals Acts, 18, 26, 27, 
 43, 344 
 
 Distress Committees, 59 
 
 District Covmcils, see Rural 
 District Councils, Urban District 
 Councils 
 
 Drainage in England, 48 
 
 Droit Administratif, 288, 310 
 
 Duruy, Minieter of France, 111 
 
 Ecclesiastical Law, 295n 
 Ecole Normale Superieure, 117 
 Edmonds (quoted), 19872- 
 Education Act, 1902, 37, 66, 231, 
 316, 340, 346?^ 
 
 1903, 233 
 
 Board of, constitution and 
 
 functions, 18, 64, 339, 344, 346, 
 351-2 ; inspectors of, 348 
 — Department, functions, 20, 
 63, 227 ; Lord President of the 
 Council, 63 ; Vice-President, 63 
 
 Education in England, 26, 27, 40, 
 43, 48, 64-8, 228 ; development 
 of central action, 61-8 ; expendi- 
 ture by central government, 44, 
 
 61, 68, 227 ; Intermediate Educa- 
 tion Act, 1889, 63 
 
 Primary, 18, 29, 34, 35, 41, 
 
 62, 64, 66 ; certification of 
 teachers, 62 ; compulsory attend- 
 ance, 62 ; Elementarv Education 
 Act, 1870, 62, 226, 339 ; higher 
 grade schools, 65 ; religious 
 instruction, 67 ; School Attend- 
 ance Committee, 226 ; School 
 Board, 62, 226, 227, 231 ; training 
 colleges, 61 
 
 Secondary, 62, 68 ; Technical 
 
 Education Committee, 65 
 
 — Tertiary, 18, 63, 65, 67 ; 
 University Colleges, 65, 67 ; 
 " whisky money," 63, 67 
 
 — in Wales, 63, 65 
 in France, 6, 78, 109-19, 253 
 
 agricultural, 113 ; areas for, 77 
 dinners for school children, 99 
 finance, 112, 118 ; history of 
 University founded by Xapoleon 
 I., 109 ; under the Eestoration, 
 110 ; under Guizot, 110 ; imder 
 the Monarchy of July, 110 ; the 
 Loi Falloux, 110 ; under the 
 Third Republic, 111 
 
 Primary, 86, 109-19 ; 
 
 Academies, 112 ; Academic 
 Coimcil, 114 ; Academy in- 
 spectors, 114, 115, 116 ; Cantonal 
 delegates, 116 ; Communal 
 School Commission, 99, 116 ; 
 Conseil departemental de I'en- 
 seignement primaire, 115 
 
 Secondary, 86, 109-19 ; 
 
 colleges, 114; £cole Xormale 
 Superieure, 117 ; Ivcees, 114, 
 118 
 
 Tertiary, training insti- 
 
 tutions, 117 ; L'niversity regions, 
 113 ; University Rector, 113-17. 
 Education in Prussia, 6, 147, 164- 
 72, 378 ; agricultural, 136 ; 
 bureau of, 166 ; history of, 
 under Frederick the Great, 165 ; 
 under Stein, 166 ; Kreis School 
 Inspectors, 169; Kulturkampf, 
 167 ; modern schools, 167 ;
 
 INDEX 
 
 387 
 
 Education in Prussia — continued. 
 religious instruction, 109 ; state 
 control, 167 
 
 Primary, If)!, IGO, 1G5 ; 
 
 Eurgerscliulen, 107 ; coiupul.sory 
 attendance, 164, 167, 168 ; house- 
 fathers, 166, 169; Oherreal- 
 schuleii, 168/; ; Oljerschul- 
 
 kollegiuin, 166 ; Principia Kegu- 
 lativa, 164 ; Provinzial-Schulkol- 
 legiuni, 168 ; School Boards, 
 167 ; School Committee, see 
 Schulvorstand ; School Deputa- 
 tion, 169 ; Schulgemeinde, 151, 
 169; Schulvorstand, 170; Stadt- 
 schulrath, 170; V'olksschulen, 
 167 
 
 Secondary, 160, 165, 
 
 170, 171 ; the Consistory, 165 ; 
 Gymnasien, 167 ; Progymnasien, 
 167 ; Realgymnasien, 168 ; Real- 
 schulen, 168 
 
 Tertiary, 160, 168, 171 ; 
 
 Training College, 171 
 Education in the United States ; 
 
 authorities for, 204 
 Educational Estal)lishment of the 
 
 Privy Council Oltice, 63 
 Elberfeldt system, ISl 
 Elections in Enghind, 17, 25, 39 
 
 in Prussia, 136, 144-5, 153-5, 
 
 378 
 
 Electricity supply of, in England, 
 18, 45, 324 
 
 in Prussia, 161 
 
 in United States, 210 
 
 Elementary Education Act, 1870, 
 62, 226, 339 
 
 Ely, not a muucipal l»orough, Win 
 
 Employment bureaux in England, 
 60 
 
 Prussia, 161 
 
 Equalis<ition of Rates Act, 1894, 
 52 
 
 Essen, 155 
 
 Estalilishment for the Encourage- 
 ment of Science and Art, 63 
 
 Excheiiuer Contribution Account, 
 28, 32, 58, 336 
 
 grants, 16, 20, 28, 227, 346 
 
 Faguet (quoted), 80, 92h, 93/1 
 Fairlie, J. A. (quoted), 189, 190 
 Farm colonies in England, 60 
 
 Farm colonies in Prussia, 179 
 Ferry, Jules, and eduf:ation. 111 
 Feudal dues in France, 242, 243 
 Fichtc (quoted), 166 
 Finance, local, in England, 17, 20, 
 26, 32, 43, 46, 58, 353, 361-5 
 
 in France, 77, 87, 102, 
 
 356-7 
 
 in Prussia, 130, 137, 147, 
 
 151, 357-81 
 
 Fire, protection against, in England, 
 34, 48 
 
 in Prussia, 150, 162 
 
 Fire insurance institutions in 
 Prussia, 161 
 
 Food and Drug Acts in England, 
 27,41 
 
 Fourier, 253 
 
 France, Budget law, 356-8 ; Cahiers, 
 243 ; Chamber of Deputies, 92 ; 
 Civil Service, power of, 72 ; Con- 
 stituent Assembly, 78, 247, 254 ; 
 Constitution of 1799 (quoted), 
 300?t ; Consultative Committees, 
 73 ; Controller - General, 240 ; 
 Council of Ministers, 73 ; Council 
 of State, constitution and func- 
 tions, 74-7, 83, 255, 300, 301, 
 373-6 ; as a Tril)unal de Cassa- 
 tion, 375 ; as a Tribunal d'Appel, 
 375 ; as a Tribunal de premier et 
 dernier ressort, 375 ; Cours de 
 Cassation, 376 ; Cours de Comptes, 
 77 ; Courts of Justice, 371 seq. ; 
 Direction des Beaux Arts, 70 ; 
 Executive Boards, 248 ; Gener- 
 ality's, 239 
 
 History of local administra- 
 tion, 237 seq. ; during the 
 French Revolution, 237-51, 253, 
 263 ; Ancien Regime, 239 ; 
 Secimd Republic, 254, 259 ; 
 Second Empire, 86, 255, 259 ; 
 Directory, 248 ; Third Republic, 
 104, 257, 260, 261 ; Napoleonic 
 period, 250 - 1 ; Restoration 
 ^lonarchv, 251 ; Monarchy of 
 July, 252, 259; Revolution of 
 July, 252 ; Provisional Govern- 
 ment, 1848, 254 
 
 International Association, 
 
 256 ; ;Miuister of Justice, 74, 76, 
 376 ; Minist6re des Cultes, 70 ; 
 Ministerial Circular (quoted)
 
 888 
 
 INDEX 
 
 France — continued. 
 
 94n ; Ministries, 69-72 ; Ministry 
 of Agriculture, 70, 113 ; Ministry 
 of Commerce and Industry, 70, 
 113 ; Ministry of the Interior, 
 
 69, 78, 80, 339, 347 ; in relation 
 to local tinance, 356 ; Prefect of 
 the Police, 69 ; local roads, 122 ; 
 Ministry of Public Instruction, 
 
 70, 112 ; in relation to the 
 Conseil Superieur de I'instruction 
 publique, 112 ; finance, 118 ; 
 Inspectors-General, 113 ; Ministry 
 of Public Works, 70; in relation to 
 highways, 120, 124 ; le service des 
 ponts et chaussees, 121 ; Ministry 
 of Public Worship, 70 ; Pays 
 d'Election, 240; Pays d'Etats, 
 240 ; President of the Republic, 
 73, 254 ; Presidential Acts, 73-4 ; 
 States General, 238, 242-4 ; Sub- 
 delegates, 240 ; Supreme Court, 
 see Cours de Cassation ; Tribunal 
 des Contlits, 301, 304, 376 
 
 Franchises in the United States, 
 
 330 
 Francis I., King of France, 238 
 Frederick I., King of Prussia, 264 
 
 William I., of Prussia, 263, 
 
 264 
 
 the Great, 263, 264, 267, 273, 
 
 276, 280 
 
 William II., 264 
 
 William III., 280 
 
 William IV., 277 
 
 Fronde, 238 
 
 Gaeantie des fonctionnaires, 300 
 Gas supply in England, 18, 45, 324 
 
 in Prussia, 161 
 
 in the United States, 
 
 210 
 Gemeinde, centimes extraordinaires, 
 
 358 ; loans, 364 ; property, 150 ; 
 
 Vertretung, 150, 341 ; school 
 
 buildings, 164 ; Schoffen, 150 ; 
 
 Vorstand, 150 ; Vorsteher, 150, 
 
 151, 339 
 General Acts, 316 
 Gesbhaftsanweisung fur die Armen- 
 
 Comniissionen of Charlottenburg 
 
 (quoted), l82-3nn. 
 Gilbert's Act, 1782, 216 
 Gneist, influence of, 282 
 
 Goodnow (quoted), 292n, 307-8 
 De Grais, H. (quoted), 2n, 283?i 
 Grande voirie, see Highways in 
 
 France 
 Guizot, Minister of France, 110, 252 
 Gutsbesitzer, 152, 180 
 Gutsbezirk, 152 
 
 Halle, 154, 181 
 
 Hanotaux (quoted), 81-3 
 
 Hanover, 134, 139, 151, 275, 285 
 
 Harbours, docks, and piers in 
 England, 18, 324 
 
 Hardenberg, 268, 269, 273, 275, 
 277 
 
 Hedon, population of, 36 
 
 Heine, 285 
 
 Henry IV., King of France, 238 
 
 Hesse-Nassau, 135w, 139n, 151, 205, 
 275 
 
 High Court of Justice, 346, 354, 
 356, 367, 370 
 
 Highways in England, 27, 31, 45, 
 51, 223 
 
 in France, 78, 86, 120-4, 374 
 
 under Sully, 120 ; the 
 
 First Reijublic, 120 ; chemins 
 ruraux, 122 ; chemins vicinaux, 
 122 ; corvee, 120, 123 ; la grande 
 voirie, 121, 122 ; la petite voirie, 
 121-3 
 
 in Prussia, 136, 145, 150, 378 
 
 Hohenzollern, 139/t 
 
 Home Office, constitution and func- 
 tions of, 16 ; in relation to Burial 
 Acts, 16; police, 16, 227, 337, 
 343, 348 ; reformatory schools, 
 17 ; i^ublic health, 225 ; sanita- 
 tion, 16 
 
 Hospitals in England, 56?i 
 
 in Prussia, 161, 177, 179, 181 
 
 House fathers, see Education in 
 Prussia, primary 
 
 Housing schemes in England, 19, 
 31, 40, 48, 343, 365 
 
 in Prussia, 161 
 
 Hugh Capet, Mayor of France, 238 
 
 Humboldt, W. von, Head of the 
 Bureau of Education, 166 
 
 Ilbert (quoted), 314 
 Imbecile Asylums in England, 50 
 Improvement Districts, 44 
 Indiana, Mayor's cabinet, 203
 
 INDEX 
 
 389 
 
 Inebriate Homes in England, 23 
 Infirinary,.s«cPoor Relief in England 
 In-relief, nee Poor Kelief in England 
 Inscription d'Ottice, 347 
 Inspection in England, 21, 330,348-9 
 Insurance, accident, in Prussia, 174 
 
 compulsory in Prussia, 173-5 
 
 sickness in Prus.sia, 173 
 
 Intendants, 239-42, 247, 248, 250 
 Intermediate Education Act, 1889, 
 
 63 
 International Association, 256 
 Islington, jtopulation of, 51 
 Isolation hospitals in England, 27, 
 
 41,49 
 
 James (quoted), 157, 158 
 Jena, 263 
 
 Juge de paix (in France), 93 
 Justices of the Peace, 23, 25, 215, 
 216, 220, 230 
 
 Kahl (quoted), 295?i, 296n 
 
 Klage, 378 
 
 Kompetenzgerichthof, 304 
 
 Konipetenzkonflikts-Gerichlliof,380 
 
 Kriegs — und Domimen — Kiimmern, 
 274 
 
 Kreis, 143-49, 153, 109, 2G7, 273, 
 285, 303 
 
 Kreisausschuss, 7, 144, 148-9, 160, 
 337, 338, 342, 379 ; as an adminis- 
 trative court, 377 ; in relation to 
 areas, 378 ; communal taxation, 
 378 ; education, 378 ; elections, 
 378 ; highways, 378 ; sanitation, 
 378 ; waterways, 378 
 
 Kreisordnung, 1872, 143 ; quoted 
 146« 
 
 Kreistag, constitution and functions 
 of. 136, 143-6, 267, 274, 338, 340, 
 379 ; in relation to defectives, 
 146 ; highways, 145 ; local 
 finance, 145 ; poor relief, 145 
 
 Krupj) works, 155 
 
 Kulturkampf, see Education in 
 Prussia 
 
 Labour bureaux in Prussia, 178 
 
 colonies in Prussia, 136, 179, 
 
 184 
 
 Lady guardians, 54 
 
 Lamartine, influence of, 253, 254 
 
 Landesdirektor, 137-8 
 
 Landeshauptmann, 138 
 
 Landesverwaltungsgesetz, 1883, 139 
 
 Landgemeinde, 149-53, 279 ; in 
 relation to highways, 150 ; local 
 finance, 151 ; police, 151 ; jioor 
 relief, 150 ; protection against 
 fire, 150 ; sanitation, 150 ; Schul- 
 vorstand, 170 ; street cleaning, 
 150 
 
 Ordnung, 1891, 150, 286 
 
 Landkreis, 143, 339 
 
 Landrath, 7, 144, 146-9, 152, 169, 
 267, 273, 303, 337-8, 377-80 
 
 Landreclit 11. (i^uuted), 131n 
 
 Lauenberg, 275 
 
 Law courts, 234 
 
 League of Common Weal, 238 
 
 Legislative enactments concerning 
 local government, 316 seq. 
 
 Legislature in England, 312 
 
 abroad, 312 
 
 in the United States, 312, 327- 
 
 34 
 
 Leicester, Board of Guardians, 368rj 
 
 Licensing in England, 23, 48 
 
 in Prussia, 157r/ 
 
 Lighting supply in England, 34, 35, 
 40, 232 
 
 Liverpool, population of, 36 
 
 Local Acts, 9, 46 
 
 Authorities Expenses Act, 
 
 1887, 35471 
 
 Board of Health Districts, 44 
 
 Government Board Act, 1871, 
 
 (quoted), 17?i 
 
 Act, 1888, 46, 230, 233, 
 
 235, 264 (quoted); 352, 356?;, 
 357» 
 
 1894 (quoted), 30-bi, 
 
 35, 44, 230 
 
 Board, constitution and 
 
 functions, 17, 225, 306, 351, 
 352 ; in relation to areas, 17, 
 324; audit, 17, 20, 46, 51, 354, 
 355, 356«, 357, 369 ; Board of 
 Guardians, 54, 58 ; Borough 
 Councils, 352 ; Burial Boards, 343 ; 
 County Councils, 24, 28, 324 ; 
 elections, local, 17 ; engineering 
 inspectors, 349 ; gasworks, 324 ; 
 housing, 343 ; loans, 362-64 ; 
 medical inspectors, 349 ; poor 
 relief, 17, 19, 20, 225, 227, 336, 
 314, 352; Private Bills, 318;
 
 390 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Local Government Board — co7i- 
 tinued. 
 provisional orders, 323 ; public 
 analyst, 337 ; public health, 17, 
 225, 227, 343, 345, 367 ; ])ublic 
 works, 344 ; Rural District 
 Councils, 31 ; sanitation, 323, 
 343, 344; Toavii Councils, 44; 
 urban districts, 44 ; water supply, 
 323, 343 
 
 Local loans, in England, 19, 26, 28, 
 44, 48, 344, 358 
 
 , Parliamentarv Committee on, 
 
 1902 (quoted), 362n 
 
 in France, 87-9, 364 
 
 in Prussia, 137, 364 
 
 LoiFalloux 1850, 110 
 London aldermen, 38n 
 
 , areas of, 236 
 
 Central Committee for Un- 
 employment, 60 ; corporation of, 
 
 49, 50, 221, 232-4; in relation 
 to bridges, 50 ; markets, 50 
 
 London County Council ; constitii- 
 tion and functions of, 47-8, 233 
 in relation to bridges, 48 ; edu 
 cation, 48, 233 ; elections, 47 
 expenditure, 1905-6, 48» ; fire 
 protection, 48 ; housing, 48 
 licences, 48 ; loans, 48, 51, 363 
 local rates, 52 ; lunatic asylums, 
 48 ; main drainage, 48 ; parks 
 48 ; public health, 48 ; river 
 embankments, 48 ; sanitation, 48 
 streets, 48 ; tramways, 48 
 
 London District Boards, 232 
 
 Government, 46-52 
 
 London Government Act, 1899, 43, 
 
 50, 233 
 
 School Board, 233 
 
 Lord Chairman of Committees, 319, 
 
 325, 326 
 
 Mayor, 37, 50 
 
 Loubet, French President, 73 
 Louis IX. of France, 238 
 
 XL of France, 238 
 
 XIV. of France, 238, 239 
 
 XVIII. of France, 252 
 
 Philippe of France, 252, 259 
 
 Lowell (quoted), 141-2 
 
 Lunatic Asylums in England, 23, 
 
 26, 28, 41,' 43, 48, 55, 58 
 
 in France, 87 
 
 in Prussia, 136, 179 
 
 Lycees, see Education in France, 
 
 secondary 
 Lyons, 94 ; adjoints, 95 ; Municipal 
 
 Council, 96 ; octroi, 103 ; police, 
 
 99n ; revenue, 102 
 
 Macmahon, 260 
 
 Magistrat or Stadtrath, 155 
 
 Maltbie (quoted), S28-9nn 
 
 Mandamus, Writ of, 346, 367, 368, 
 372 
 
 Marion (quoted), 110, 115n, 116w 
 
 Markets in England, 18, 40-50 
 
 in France, 87 
 
 in Prussia, 161 
 
 " Marks," 264 
 
 Marx, Karl, 256 
 
 Massachusetts, 359 
 
 Mayor, election and duties, 39 
 
 of metropolitan boroughs, 51 
 
 see also Communes in France 
 
 Mazarin, 238 
 
 Metropolis Management Act, 1855, 
 232 
 
 Metropolitan Asylums Board, 49, 
 233 ; in relation to hospitals, 
 5671 ; hosjjitals for Poor Law 
 children, 50 ; imbeciles, 50 ; isola- 
 tion hospitals, 49 
 
 Metropolitan Boards of Guardians, 
 50 
 
 Board of Works, 232, 233 
 
 Boroughs, 50-2 
 
 Borough Councils, constitution 
 
 and functions 50-2 ; in relation 
 to Distress Committees, 59 ; high- 
 ways, 51 ; loans, 363 ; local rates, 
 51 ; pultlic health, 51 
 
 Metropolitan Common Poor Fund, 
 52 
 
 Police, see Police 
 
 Water Board, 49, 234 
 
 Metternich, 277 
 
 Michelet, 253 
 
 Military affairs in Prussia, 135 
 
 Milwaukee, education, 204 ; City 
 Council of, 205 
 
 Minneapolis, education, 204 
 
 Missouri, constitution of, 1875, 190 
 
 Monopolies in England, 42 
 
 United States, 211 
 
 Montlugon, octroi, 103 
 
 Morier, Sir Robert (quoted), 146, 
 272-3
 
 INDEX 
 
 391 
 
 Municipal boroughs in England, 3, 
 
 36, 37, 217 
 
 Vjurgesses, 218 
 
 Charter, 36 
 
 Commission, 1835, 218n, 219?i, 
 
 220 
 
 Corporations, reform of, 220-1 
 
 Act, \S3r>, 220 
 
 1882, 36, 37, 43 ((luoted), 
 
 221, 3.")6n 
 Municipal elections in England and 
 
 United States, 39 
 home rule in the United 
 
 States, 190 
 
 law in France, 94 
 
 leagues in the United States, 
 
 198 
 
 41 
 
 ownership in England, 18, 
 
 in France, 100 
 in Prussia, 42 
 in United States, 42, 
 
 210-1, 360 
 
 reform in the United States, 
 
 212 
 
 suffra<,'e in France, 96 
 
 Municipal i.sation in France, 100 
 Municipalities in England, inde- 
 pendence of, 234 
 
 control by central 
 
 departments, 235 
 
 Museums in England, 40 
 Music hall licences in England, 
 48 
 
 Nancy, conference on decentralisa- 
 tion, 1863, 260 
 
 Napoleon I., 237, 246, 249, 251, 255, 
 258, 263, 280 
 
 Napoleon III.. 255 
 
 Na.ssau, 275, 285, see also Hesse- 
 Nassau 
 
 Nationalists in France, 262 
 
 National Municipal Leagiie, 191, 
 202 
 
 Society, 61 » 
 
 Necker, financial schemes of, 242 
 New England, Mayors in, 200 
 New Orleans, City Council, 205 ; 
 
 education, 204 
 New York, City Council, 205, 206 ; 
 
 education, 204 ; Mayor, 199- 
 
 200 ; " ^layer's Cabinet," 203 ; 
 
 Tammany, 198n ; tramways, 210 
 
 New York, States, municipal legisla- 
 tion for, 190 
 
 Non-county Ijoroughs in England, 
 38 
 
 Obeulaxdesgericht, 380 
 Oberschulkollegium, see Education 
 
 in Pru.ssia 
 Olierverwaltungsgericht, 129, 377-9 
 Octroi, 87, 102, 103 
 Official.s, position and Icgi.slative 
 
 protection of, in England, 12, 
 
 336, 369 
 in France, 12, 13, 289, 
 
 299, 300, 337 
 
 in Pru.s-sia, 12, 13, 302 
 
 in United States, 12 
 
 Ohio, Mayors of, 200 y Supreme 
 Court of, 189n 
 
 Old age pensions in Prussia, 
 175-7 
 
 Ollivier, 256 
 
 Orleans, octroi of, 103 
 
 Ort.s;irmenverband, see Poor Relief 
 in Prussia 
 
 Ostpreu.s.sen, 134, 285 
 
 Out-relief, see Poor Relief in Eng- 
 land 
 
 Oxford, Private Bill, 318;t 
 
 Paris, 94; adjoints, 105; arron- 
 di.ssements of, 105 ; Commission 
 des Logements Insalubre.s, 107 ; 
 Commune, 257-8, 262 ; Conseil 
 d'Hj-giene et de Salubrite, 107 ; 
 dinners for school children, 99 ; 
 Mayors, 105 ; Municijial Council, 
 106-7 ; Municipal .system of, 104- 
 9 ; Parliament of,' 238n ■ Poor 
 Relief, 108 ; Prefects of, 106 ; 
 Prefect of the Dept. of the Seine, 
 104-5 ; Prefect of the Police, 69, 
 105, 107 
 
 Parish, constitution of, 3, 215, 
 231 
 
 Council, 33, 231, 351, 357 
 
 Meeting, 33 
 
 Vestrv, 215, 216 ; overseers 
 
 of, 215 
 
 Parks, etc., in England, 40, 48 
 
 in France, 100 
 
 in Pru.'ssia, 161 
 
 in United States, 204
 
 392 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Parliament in England, 19 ; and 
 local institutions, 213, 214 ; 
 Chairman of Committees, 319, 
 325, 326 ; Commons' Committees, 
 321 ; Lord Chairman of Com- 
 mittees, 319, 325-6 ; Select Com- 
 mittees on Private Bills, 320, 363 
 
 in France, 238 
 
 Parliamentary reform, 214 
 
 Pawnshops, municipal in France, 
 100 
 
 in Prussia, 161 
 
 Pays d'Election, see France 
 
 Pays d'Etat, see France 
 
 Peel, Sir Robert, and agricultural 
 rates, 228 
 
 Pennsylvania, constitution of, 
 (quoted) 188?j, 332??.; Court of 
 C\)mmon Pleas, 204 ; Governor 
 of (quoted), 201 ; second class 
 cities, 202 ; sinking funds, 359 
 
 Pestalozzi, 166 
 
 Petite voirie, 
 
 see 
 
 Highways in 
 
 France 
 
 Petty Sessions, powers of, 23, 215 
 
 Philadelphia, City Council of, 192, 
 205, 206 ; Committee system of, 
 192 ; Common Council, 196 ; 
 Consolidation Act, 1854, 193 ; 
 Education, 204; Maj'or of, 192, 
 193, 196, 199, 201 ; Mayor in 
 relation to police, 193 ; IMunicipal 
 Constitutions, 196 ; Municipal 
 history of, 192-3 : Select Council, 
 196 ; Spoils system, 198n 
 
 Philip Augustus, King of France, 
 238 
 
 Pittsburg, overthrow of city govern- 
 ment, 190?i 
 
 education in, 204 
 
 Poland, Prussian, see Posen 
 
 Police in England, 16, 23, 27, 28, 
 
 40-3, 44, 48, 50, 221n, 227, 228, 
 337, 343, 348 
 
 Roval Commission on Con- 
 
 stabularv forces (1839), 228 
 
 Police in JFrance, 6, 69, 79, 99, 105, 
 121, 240 
 
 Prussia, 6, 125, 131, 139, 140, 
 
 146, 149, 151, 157, 163, 378 
 
 Police in the United States, 193 
 
 courts in England, 373 
 
 tribunals in France, 299, 373, 
 
 374 
 
 Poor Relief in England, 17, 19, 20, 
 30, 52-60, 222, 225, 234, 344, 345, 
 352 ; apprenticeship, 56 : Board 
 of Guardians, 30, 54, 55, 58, 59, 
 216, 220, 221, 226, 231, 233, 352, 
 358 ; burial, 56 ; casual wards, 
 56 ; children's hospitals, 50 ; 
 expenditure, 354 ; in relief, 56-7 : 
 inspectors, 348 ; lady guardians, 
 54 ; lunatics, 28 ; medical assist- 
 ance, 56 ; out relief, 55, 56 ; over- 
 seers, 216 ; Poor Laws, 213, 216, 
 219, 229, 231, 336; Poor Law, 
 1601, 53, 215 ; Poor Law Amend- 
 ment Aqt, 1834, 53, 219, 369h ; 
 Poor Law Board, 19, 227 ; Poor 
 Law Commission, 217-19?i, 220 ; 
 Poor Law Commissioners and 
 public health, 224 ; Poor Law 
 Parish, 32, 33, 223 ; Poor Law 
 Schools, 229 ; Poor Law Unions, 
 30, 53, 220 ; Poor Law Unions 
 of London, 50, 51n ; Relief Com- 
 mittee, 57 ; schools, 57 ; Poor 
 Relief in England, weekly allow- 
 ance, 55 ; workhouses, 56 
 
 France, bureaux de bien- 
 
 faisance, 100 
 
 Paris, 108-9 
 
 Prussia, 145, 150, 160, 173- 
 
 86 ; asylums for defectives, 
 184 ; boarding - out system, 180, 
 184 ; Bundesamt fiir Heimat- 
 wesen, 186 ; casual wards, 185 ; 
 infirmaries, 184 ; labour colonies, 
 184 ; Landarmenverband, 179 ; 
 orphanages, 184 ; Ortsarmen- 
 verband, 179, 180; out -door 
 relief, 183 ; workhouses, 184 
 
 Port of London, sanitation of, 50 
 
 Porter, R. P. (quoted), 210 
 
 Posen, 131, 136n, 149, 264, 284-5, 
 
 286 
 Powers, grant of, to local authorities, 
 
 in England, 8, 311-2 
 
 in France, 9 
 
 in Prussia, 9 
 
 -, separation of, 14 
 
 Prefect, see Departments of France 
 Press, censorship abolished in 
 
 France, 253 
 Prison visitors, 23 
 Private Acts, 37, 45, 232, 317, 
 
 329
 
 INDEX 
 
 89^ 
 
 Private Bill Legislation, 28, 40-51, 
 314, 317-24, 3(J3 
 
 in L^nited States, 316 
 
 for Scotland, 320 
 
 Procedure Act (Scotland) 
 
 1899, 325/? 
 
 Law, 294, 308 
 
 Prixy Council, Committee on Edu- 
 cation, 61 
 
 , Public Health, 225 
 
 Proliibilion, writ of, 368 
 
 Proudhon, 253 
 
 Provinces of Prussia, 133, 275, 285 ; 
 Lande.sdirektor, 137 ; in relation 
 to education, 136 ; finance, 137 ; 
 highways, 136 ; labour colonies, 
 
 136 ; light railways, 136 ; loans, 
 
 137 ; lunatic asylums, 136 ; Lan- 
 deshaui)tmann, 138 ; President 
 of, 134, 137, 275 ; Provinzial- 
 landtag, 136, 138, 275, 277, 340_; 
 Provinzialausschuss, 135, 137, 
 
 138 ; Provinzialrath, 135 ; Pro- 
 vinzialschulkollegium, see Educa- 
 cation in Prussia 
 
 Provisional Orders, 315, 323, 343, 
 358 
 
 Orders Confirmation Bills, 324 
 
 Prussia, administrative courts, 
 284; organisation, 11, 130-2, 
 263 seq., 302 seq. ; Advisory 
 Medical Boards, 126 ; Biirger- 
 meisterei, 151 ; Chancellor, 269 ; 
 Circle, 6-e« Kreis ; Circle Assembly, 
 see Kreistag ; Circle Committee, 
 see Kreisausschnss ; Civil Service, 
 127 ; Communal Council, see 
 Gemeindevertretung ; Communal 
 Executive Committee, see Gemein- 
 devorstand ; Communal Head- 
 man, see Gemeindevorsteher ; Con- 
 stitutional Reform movement, 
 275 seq. ; Constitution of, 1850, 
 278; Council of State, 129; Court 
 of Conflicts, see Komptetenzkon- 
 flicts - Gerichthof ; Departments, 
 central, control over local action, 
 342, 347 ; local delegations, 350-1 ; 
 Economic Council, 129 ; Edicts, 
 Emancipation, 1807, 269, 273 ; 
 Mnnicipal, 1808, 270 ; Emancipa- 
 tion, 1811, 269, 273; Municipal 
 1831, 272 ; Westphalia and Rhine 
 land, 1841 and 1845, 273 ; Federal 
 
 Council, 173, 175 ; Generaldirek- 
 torium, 266, 269 ; Government 
 Board, see Regierung ; GovL-ni- 
 nient Director, see Abtheilung- 
 diri^ent ; Government District, see 
 Regierung-Bezirk ; Government 
 District Committee, ste Bezirks- 
 ausschuss ; Imperial Insurance 
 Office, 174; Kriegs-und Domanen- 
 Kiimmern, 266 ; Landrath, see 
 Kreis ; Landtag, 127, 279 ; Lord 
 of the Manor, see Gutsbesitzer ; 
 manorial system, 265 ; Manors, 
 see Gutsbezirke ; Minister Presi- 
 dent, 269?i ; ^linistry of Agri- 
 culture, Public Domains and 
 Forests, 126 ; Ministry of Ecclesi- 
 astical, Educational and Medical 
 Affairs, 120 ; Ministry of the 
 Interior, 125; police, 166 ; Bureau 
 of Education, 166 ; Ministry 
 of Public Works, 126 ; Ministry 
 of State, 128, 269, 380 ; Ministry 
 of Trade and Industry, 126 ; 
 Official District, see Amtsbezirk ; 
 Official District Committee, see 
 Amtsausschuss ; Provinces, 134; 
 Provincial Assembly, see Pro- 
 vinziallandtag ; Provincial Com- 
 mittee, see Provinzialausschuss ; 
 Provincial Council, see Pro- 
 ^^nzial^ath ; Reformers, 268 seq. ; 
 Reforms, municipal, 370 seq. ; 
 Reichstag, l2Sn ; Rural Circle, 
 see Landkreise ; Rural Commune, 
 see Landgemeinde ; Schulge- 
 meinde, see Education in Prussia ; 
 Social organisation in 1806, 265 ; 
 Supreme administrative court, 
 see Oberverwaltungsgericht ; 
 Supreme Civil Court, see Ober- 
 landesgericht ; Supreme Court 
 of Account, 130; Three -class 
 system, 153 - 5 ; Towns, see 
 Stadte ; Town Circles, see Stadt- 
 kreise ; Town Communes, see 
 Stadtgeraeinde ; United Landtag, 
 278 : War of Liberation, 276 
 Prussian Poland, see Posen 
 
 Saxon V, 134 
 
 Public Acts,'^ 317, 329 
 
 Authorities Protection Act, 
 
 1893, 370/i 
 
 Bill Legislation, 314
 
 394 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Public Heal til in England, 17, 23, 
 27, 31, 40, 45, 48, 51, 223-5, 
 227, 229, 232, 345, 367?i 
 
 Act, 1848, 224 
 
 1875, 37, 226, 227n, 316, 
 
 343, 345?i, 346n, S47n (quoted) 
 
 Board, 224, 225, 231 
 
 Royal Commission on, 
 
 1869-71, 224-5 
 
 — in France, Conseil 
 
 d'Hygiene et de Salubrite, 107 
 in Prussia, 161 
 
 Law, 295, 308 
 Libraries Acts, 1892, 316 
 Works, 344 
 
 Quarter Sessions, 23, 25, 26n, 38, 
 41, 215, 223, 370 
 
 Railways, light, in England, 27, 
 
 324 
 
 in Prussia 136 
 
 Rambawd (quoted), 250n 
 
 Rates, see Taxation 
 
 Recorder in England, 38 
 
 Recours pour I'excbs de pouvoir, 
 
 373 
 Recreation grounds in England, 34 
 
 in Prussia, 161 
 
 Redlicli and Hirst (cpioted), 4??, 25- 
 
 Gnn, 2Un, 222ji, 224?t, 290, 300?!,, 
 
 306/i 
 Referendum, 318 
 
 in Toronto, 361 
 
 in United States, 361 
 
 Reform Act, 1832, 4, 222, 234 
 
 1867, 214, 226 
 
 Reformation in France, 238 
 Reformatory schools in England, 17 
 
 28 
 Regierung, 6, 140, 147, 274, 275, 
 
 378 ; Abtheilungsdirigent, 140 
 Bezirk, 138-43, 164, 274; 
 
 Ausschuss, 7, 140-2, 160, 163, 
 
 186, 377 ; President, 139, 140, 
 
 142, 147, 377, 380 
 Reichstag, see Prussia 
 Representation of the People Act, 
 
 1884, 230 
 Rhineland, 134, 149, 151, 285 
 
 , edict for, 1845, 273 
 
 Richelieu, 237, 238, 239 
 
 Rights of way and common, 31, 
 
 34-5 
 
 River embankments, 48 
 
 pollution, 27 
 
 Rochester, U.S., education in, 205 
 Rule of Law in England, 228 
 Rummelsburg, House of Correction, 
 
 185 
 Rural administration in 1832, 217 
 district, constitution of, 3, 30, 
 
 32, 35 
 
 council, 231, Zion, 351 ; 
 in relation to allotments, 31 ; 
 committees 30 ; finance, 32 ; 
 highways, 31 ; housing, 31 ; 
 Local Government Board, 31 ; 
 officials, 31 ; property, 32 ; public 
 health, 31 ; rights of way, 31 ; 
 sanitation, 31, 32 
 — parish, 32-5 
 
 Council, 33 ; in relation 
 
 to allotments, 34-5 ; baths, 34 ; 
 burial grounds, 34-5 ; ci\'il 
 charities, 34-5 ; County Councils, 
 34 ; education, 34-5 ; elections, 
 34 ; finance, 34 ; fire protection, 
 34 ; lighting, 34-5 ; meetings, 33 ; 
 overseers, 33 ; parochial jiroperty, 
 34 ; recreation grounds, 34 ; rights 
 of way, 34-5 ; sanitation 34 ; 
 water supply, 34 
 
 Sanitary District, Boards of 
 
 Guardians, 225 
 
 St David's, 37?i 
 
 St Louis, city council, 205-6 ; educa- 
 tion, 204 ; Mayor, 199 
 
 St Paul, city coimcil, 205 ; educa- 
 tion, 204 
 
 St Simon, 253 
 
 Salt duty in France, 242 
 
 San Francisco, education, 204 ; 
 Mayor, 199 
 
 Sanitation in England, 16, 27, 31, 
 32, 34, 40, 44, 48, 50, 222, 225, 
 323, 343, 344, 349, 351 
 
 in France, 6, 78, 101, 107 
 
 in Prussia, 6, 139, 150, 161, 
 
 378 
 
 Schleswig-Holstein, 134, 139, 275, 
 285 
 
 Schoft'en, 150 
 
 School Board, see Education 
 
 Schulz, 267 
 
 Secretary General, see Depart- 
 ments
 
 INDEX 
 
 395 
 
 Secretary, for Scotland, 325-6 
 Seignolxj.s (quoted), 2'A-2n 
 Separation of ])0wers, see Powers 
 Shaw, A. (((uoled), 101, 109 
 Sidgwick ((Rioted), 308m 
 Silesia, 134, 264, 276 
 Simon ((lunted), 225n 
 Slaughter-houses in Prussia, IGl 
 Socialists in France, 97, 256, 261 
 
 in Prussia, 287 
 
 Sparling (([uoted), 194 
 
 Special legislation, see United 
 
 States 
 sessions, ])owers of, 23 
 
 Standing Coniniittee of the 
 
 Commons, 322 
 
 Spoils system in the United States, 
 195, 197-8, 208 
 
 Stiidte, 153-04 ; Administrative 
 Board, 156-GO ; burgomaster, 
 155, 1(!3, 271, 339 ; burgermeis- 
 terciverfassung, 163 ; committee, 
 157 ; commissions, 159 ; councils, 
 153-55, 163, 181, 271, 277; 
 education, 160, 169-70 ; Execu- 
 tive Boards, 156, 271, 272, 337 ; 
 fire insurance institutions, 161 ; 
 gas supply, 161 ; hospitals, 161 ; 
 housing, 161 ; kreisausschuss, 
 160 ; licences, 157n ; markets, 
 161 ; parks 161 ; pawnshops, 
 161 ; Police President, 157 ; Poor 
 Law Deputation, 181 ; j^oor relief, 
 160, 180-1, 182 ; public health, 
 
 161 ; recreation, 161 ; revenues, 
 
 162 ; sanitation, 161 ; savings 
 banks, 161 ; school deputation, 
 169 ; slaughter-houses, 161 ; tram- 
 wavs, 161 ; M'ater supplv, 160 
 
 Stadtkreise, 133, 378 
 Standing Joint Committee for 
 Police, 23, 27-8 
 
 Orders, 319, 322 
 
 Statutorv Committees, 26, 43, 317 
 Stein, 166, 263, 268, 270, 272, 273, 
 
 275, 280, 281, 282 
 />tii)endiary Magistrates, 38 
 Stoke Newington, 51. 
 Street cleaning in Prussia, 150 
 
 improvements in England, 40 
 
 48, 233 
 
 railways in United States, 
 
 210 
 Sully, and highways, 120 
 
 Surrey County Coiincil Committees, 
 
 2~fi 
 Supreme Court of Judicature, 309 
 
 Tammany, 198?t 
 
 Taxation, in England, 23, 26, 28, 29, 
 
 32, 35, 43, 46, 51, 52, 54«, 216, 
 
 228, 357, 364-5 
 in France, 86, 89, 240 - 2, 
 
 358, 364, 374 
 
 in Prussia, 145, 154, 265, 271, 
 
 272, 358, 364, 378 
 
 in the United States, 358- 
 
 61 
 Taxes, Supervisor of, in Prussia, 
 
 271 
 Teltow Kreis, 148n 
 Thames Conservancy, 50ra 
 Theatre licences in England, 48 
 Thiers and the Monarchy of July, 
 
 252 ; (quoted) 259;t 
 Three-class system in Prussia, 150, 
 
 153-5, 278, 287 
 Tilsit, 263 ; treaty of, 265 
 Toronto, referendum in, 361 
 Town Councils in England, con- 
 stitution and functions of, 9, 38- 
 44 ; in relation to asylums, 43 ; 
 baths, 40 ; burial grounds, 40 ; 
 committees, 43 ; diseases of 
 animals, 43 ; education, 40, 43, 
 226 ; finance, 43 ; housing, 40 ; 
 isolation hospitals, 40 ; lighting, 
 40 ; markets, 40 ; municipal 
 trading, 41 ; museums, 40 ; 
 officers, 40 ; parks, etc., 40 ; 
 police, 40, 43 ; Private Bills, 40 ; 
 property, 40 ; public health, 40 ; 
 streets, 40 ; water supi)ly, 40 
 Trade, Board of, constitution, 17-8 ; 
 in relation to electricity supply, 
 18, 324 ; Engineei'ing Inspectors, 
 349 ; gas supply, 18 ; harbours, 
 18, 324 ; municipal trading, 18 ; 
 Provisional Orders, 324 ; public 
 works, 344 ; light railways, 324 ; 
 tramways, IS, 324 ; water supply, 
 18 ; "Weights and Measures Acts, 
 18 
 Tramwavs in England, 18, 45, 48, 
 324 
 
 Act, 1870, 316 
 
 in Prussia, 161 
 
 in United States, 210
 
 396 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Treitsclike, 276 
 
 Tribunal ties conflits, see France 
 
 Turgot, finance of, 242 
 
 Unemployed Workmen's Act, 1905, 
 59 
 
 Unemployment in England, 59-60 
 
 distress and Central Com- 
 mittees, 59 
 
 United States, Congress, Senate, 
 196 ; constitution of, 331 ; con- 
 stitutional laws of, 330 ; depart- 
 ments, central — their control over 
 local authorities, 11, 327 ; House 
 of Representatives, 196 ; legisla- 
 tion, general, 329 ; special, 9h, 
 313, 316, 329, 332-4; muni- 
 cipalities, character of city 
 councils, 205-8 ; corrupt adminis- 
 tration, 195 ; evil intluences, 
 196-8; "general ticket," 206; 
 legislative control, 187 - 91 ; 
 mayoral autocracy, 207 ; policy 
 of, 209-11 ; Spoils system, 195, 
 197-8, 208 ; President, 191 
 
 University education, see Educa- 
 tion, tertiary 
 
 Urban districts, 44-6 
 
 Urban district councils, 45, 46, 
 231 ; in relation to electricity, 45 ; 
 finance, 46 ; gas, 45 ; highways, 
 45 ; Local Government Board, 
 46 ; municipal trading, 41 ; 
 Private Acts, 45 ; public health, 
 45 ; tramways, 45 ; water, 45 
 
 Urban sanitary district, 225 
 
 Vaccination in England, 23, 54?i 
 Verwaltungsbeschwerde, 303n 
 Verwaltungsklage 303??- 
 Verwaltungsrecht, 288 
 Vienna Congress, 176 
 
 Von Miquel, 286 
 Von Raumer (quoted), 271 
 Von Ronne (quoted), 291 
 Vorsteher, see Gemeinde 
 
 Washington, constitution of State, 
 
 1889 (quoted), 360-1 ; taxation, 
 
 legislative restrictions on, 360 
 Washington (D. C), municipal 
 
 government of, 199 
 Watch Committee, 43 
 Water supply in England, 18, 31, 
 
 34, 40, 45, 49, 225, 323, 343 
 
 in France, 100-1 
 
 in Prussia, 160, 378 
 
 in the United States, 204, 
 
 210 
 Weights and Measures Acts, 18, 27, 
 
 41 
 Westphalia, 149, 151, 285 
 
 Edict of, 1841, 273 
 
 Westpreussen, 285 
 
 West Riding of Yorkshire, 368« 
 
 Whisky money, see Education in 
 
 England, tertiary 
 William I., King of Prussia, 280 
 Wilson, Woodrow (quoted), 32 -8, 
 
 331-2 
 Winchelsea, ZSn 
 Workhouse, see Poor Relief in 
 
 England 
 Wright and Hobhouse ((quoted), 33/< 
 
 229?2, 230w 
 Writs, see Certiorari ; Mandamus ; 
 
 Prohibition 
 Wtirtemburg, 277 
 
 Young (quoted), 249n 
 
 Zustandigkeitsgesetz, 303?i, 347?;, 
 378 
 
 PRINTED AT THE EDINBURGH PRESS, 9 AND II YOUNG STREET.
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 m i ^ ,m 
 
 h?^ 
 
 ^ 7 192^ 
 
 JUL 1 8 1929 
 
 m 3 ^ ^^ 
 
 !■■■ M 
 
 •'AM 1 6 1947 
 
 WOV 2 4ft94V 
 
 M/\/? 2 7 1950 
 
 (Q/CT2 8 1>9Ki 
 
 
 *K< 
 
 
 rt) 
 
 #* 
 
 iJ!i/f.',st 
 
 '41 
 
 NOV 24 1964 
 
 .^|j^|Ct,IO|llH2|ll2l3l4 
 
 Form L-9-10to-5,'28 
 
 f J( 
 
 i 
 t 
 I 
 
 } 
 
 OK 
 
 E D tS6f 
 URL 
 
 P.M. 
 5 ' 
 
 »a y 
 
 J^ 
 
 of CALIFOM'. 
 
 LOS ANGEI423 
 LIBRARY
 
 . cr. .TucQtj RFninriAL library facility 
 
 
 » 
 a 
 at 
 as 
 
 
 AA 000 515 544 5 
 
 i 
 
 PLEA^^r DO NOT REMOVE 
 THIS BOOK CARD 
 
 
 University Reseorch Librar, 
 
 X9 
 
 8 
 
 
 .J a