The Sun.
London, England, 1835-04-14 00:00:00

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.

FIRST REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS AP-
POINTED TO INQUIRE INTO.THE MUNICIPAL
CORPORATIONS IN ENGLAND AND WALES.

(Continued from our paper of Saturday.)
CORPORATE BODY.
71. The most common and most striking defect in the
constitution of the municipal Corporations of England and
Wales is, that the corporate bodies exist independently of
the communities among which they are found. The Cor-
porations look upon themselves, and are considered by the
inhabitants, as separate and exclusive bodies; they have
powers and privileges within the towns and cities from which
they are named, but in most places all identity of interest
between the Corporation and the inhabitants has disap-
peared. This is the case even where the Corporation in-
cludes a large body of inhabitant freemen, it appears in a
more striking degree, as the powers of the Corporation have
been restricted to smaller numbers of the resident popula-
tion, and still more glaringly, when the local privileges have
been conferred on non-resident freemen, to the exclusion of
the inhabitants to whom they rightfully ought to belong.
72. Some corporations are occasionally spoken of as ex-
ercising their privileges through a popular body, but in the
widest sense in which the term " popular" body is used in
regard to corporate towns, it designates only the whole
body of freemen ; and in most towns the freemen are a
small number, compared with the respectable inhabitants
interested in their municipal government, and possessing
every qualification, except a legal one, to take a part in it.
In Plymouth, where the population, including Devonport,
is more than 73,000, the number of freemen is only 437,
and 145 of these are non-resident. In Norwich, the great
majority of the inhabitant householders and rate-payers are
excluded from the corporate body ; while paupers, lodgers,
and ethers, paying neither rates nor taxes, are admitted to
the exercise of the functions of freemen, and form a con-
siderable portion of the corporation.
In Ipswich, containing more than 20,000 inhabitants, the
resident freemen form about 1-55th part of the population.
Of these, more than 1-3 d are not rated ; and of those who are
rated, many are excused the payment of their rates. About
1-9th of the whole are paupers. More than 11-12ths of all
the property assessed in this borough belong to those who
are excluded from the corporation. All the inhabitants
whose rent exceeds 41. per annum are taxed under a local
act for municipal purposes. Of those who are -so taxed,
less than 1-15th are freemen. The assessed taxes paid in
the borough exceed 5,0001. per annum. The amount paid
by all the corporate body is less than 1-20th of the whole.
The condition of these freemen exposes them to bribery
and undue influence, and advantage is taken of that con-
dition to establish the most demoralizing practices.
The following table contains the population compared
with the number of freemen, resident and non-resident, as
nearly as it could be learned, in several large towns. The ta-
bles annexed to this report show the populatioi
number of freemen, as far as it could be ascei
most of the corporate towns of England and We

n, and the
rtaincd, of
les :

POP U.

LATION.
~.

Municipal
Borough.

IParliamentary
Borough.

Cambridge
Chester ...
Exeter
7rswich
"Xingston-upon-111,11
Leicester
Liverpool ...
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Norwich
Nottingham
Oxford
Plymouth
Portsmouth •
Wigan . .
Worcester
York

20,917
21,363
28,255
20,454
30,293
40,512
165,175
42,760
61,095
50,220
19,370
31,030
46,232
20,774
13,590
25,260

20,017
22,263
33,552
20,454
49,727
40,512
155,000
53,613
61,093
50,220
21,145
31,030
50,339
20,774
27,000
27,760

jTctal or the 16 tomts.

059,431