The Sun.
London, England, 1835-04-11 00:00:00

GOVERNING BODY.

27. The Government of the existing municipal corpora-
tions in England and Wales is generally vested in a chief
officer, and a council, called the common council, over which
he presides. The chief officer or head of the corporation is
va:iozs!y (I::,siguated as Mayor, portreeve, bailiff, steward,
&c. Sometimes the chief authority is shared between two,
as bailiffs or stewards. In some towns bailiffs co-exist with,
and are subordinate to the Mayor.

In some boroughs the freemen are themselves the go-
verning body, as at Ipswich, Carmarthen, and Berwick-
upon-Tweed.
In Richmond the Government was formerly in a select
body of 24, which has ceased to exist, and the affairs are
now managed by a council, subject to the assent of all the
freemen.

28. The body of the council is often composed of two
classes, the most common distinctive name of the superior
class being that of aldermen, while the others are simply
called common-councilmen. In many places the aldermen,
or those who occupy an analogous station in the corpora-
tion, have real municipal powers beyond those of the other
members of the council ; in others the distinction is merely
honorary. In a few towns there are more than two classes
in the common council.

In many corporations the presence of a majority of each
class of the common council is necessary to constitute it a
legal assembly ; instances rarely occur in which the alder-
men meet also by themselves as a separate deliberative
chamber.

In some corporations, as at Kingston-upon-Hull and Pon-
tefract, the head of the corporation, and the aldermen, or
persons filling an analagous situation, constitute the whole
council.

29. A legal officer, who is found in most corporations with
the title of recorder, is occasionally constituted by charter a
member of the common council.
In some towns other officers also become by their office
members of the common council ; as the bailiffs at Carlisle,
the sheriff at Newcastle, the coroners and chamberlains at
Scarborough : the sheriffs, coroners, and chamberlains, at
Lincoln ; the sheriffs, and all who have served the office of
sheriff in York,

30. The same form of government, by means of a mayor
and common council, has been preserved in the corporations,
consisting of a definite number, and in those in which the
number, though indefinite, has been purposely kept low.
In the former case, the common council generally com-
prises the whole corporation, and nearly the whole in the
latter.

31. There are very few instances in the corporations of
indefinite number, in which, as at Berwick-upon-Tweed

and Iporn ,t e e of the freemen have the
power. of choosing whomsoever they please of themselves as
the .head of the corporation. Sometimes he is &lessen by
the freemen from the aldermen, or from the members Jaf.the......
common council. In some boroughs lie is chosen by the -
body at large from among two or more nominated by the
select body. The most common case is, that he is selected
either from the aldermen or common-councilmen, by the
court of aldermen or common council. In London, and
some other towns, he is elected by a popular assembly from
the aldermen, subject in London to confirmation by the
court of aldermen. In some places, he is presented by the
jurors of the court leet. In several boroughs the same
person is re-eligible only after a given interval. In all
eases the election is for a year.
32. The members of the common council are elected in
the great majority of instances by the common council, or
by that division of it common), comprised under the name
of aldermen. In some cases they are nominated by the
mayor. The election is generally for life. Residence is
sometimes a necessary qualification ; often it is little at-
tended to. The aldermen generally fill up vacancies in
their own body from the other divisions of the common
council ; in other cases, this class consists of all who have
passed the chair. The aldermen, also, are usually chosen
into that class for life. London and Norwich afford in-
stancep, amongst others, of elections by large bodies of
freemen. In both these cities the aldermen are elected for
life, and the common councilmen annually. In London
they are all elected by the freemen, who for a year have
occupied houses of a certain value, and who pay local taxes
to a certain amount. In Norwich all are elected by the
freemen, without any qualification of residence, property,
or local taxation.

33. The charters generally empower the corporations or
the governing bodies to make by-laws for the good rule and
government of the town, and in some instances to tax the
inhabitants for municipal purposes.
This legislative authority is exercised by the common
council ; but in a great number of corporations the power
is disused, and no by-laws are made. In some cases, the
regulations and by-laws are offered for approval or confirma-
tion to a more popular assembly.
Some charters require that the by-laws shall be approved
by the judges of assize. Many corporations have the
power of enforcing their by laws by fine and imprisonment,
but these powers are very little exercised.
The common councils have many other imperrtatt-ilifa
to perform. They often nominate all the freemen ; they
appoint and settle the salaries of the corporate officers ;
they manage the corporate property. In many cases they
elect the borough magistrates, and used to choose the mem-
bers of Parliament for the borough. They dispense the
patronage belonging to the corporation, and distribute the
charities of which the corporations are trustees. They are
often commissioners under local acts. In several boroughs
some or all of the duties here attributed to the common
council are exercised by the aldermen, more rarely by the
mayor alone.
Other duties, which generally devolve on the members
of the common council, independently of their share in the
government of the corporation, belong to such among them
as are judges of the civil courts, or magistrates, and in that
capacity only : the exercise of these functions will be more
conveniently noticed in a subsequent place. In scarcely any
case do they legally receive any salary or emolument, either
as members of the common council or magistrates.
In London, allowances are made for regular attendance
on the committees, in which the great mass of business is
prepared for the consideration of the common council.
The labour incurred by these committees is very great, for
which the small sums so received are a very inadequate re-
compense.