The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1848-03-27

councils, assembled by order permission of
the project to discuss question, comes to de-
cislon contrary to the views OF the project and
of the government, the preicct ~ authorized TO
quash and annul that decision; and, n the coun-
Gil persists in it's opposition, royal ordinance,
on the demand of the project, pronounces its
dissolution. There are, at this present moment,
many munich alites without councils, on ac-
count Of their having opposed the mode OF re-
censement (the census) ordered by the minister
| OF finance.
| The communal electors, in such clrcum-
stances, are generally disposed to side with the
| municipal councillors; and to reflect them,
| when dismissed for having done their duty to
| their fellow citizens To guard againt such re-
election, the king is authorized to suspend the
municipal elections, and to appoint mayors, i'd
Joints, and counclmen of his own choice Such
is the law passed in March, 1881, eight months
| after the revolution OF July
We must not imagine that it is only when in.
| terferng political matters. that municipal
councils are exposed to the rebukes of the pre-
| tects, to suspension or to dsso luton. They
| have no occasion, no opportunity tor considering
| political questions, and they do not attempt TO
| transgress the prohibitions They attend to the
| interests of their localities The maintenance
or the establishment OF a school; the repairing OF
a church, Of bridge, of a road, at their own ex-
| pcnse, and according TO their own views; the
regulations for keeping the streets In proper or
| der, are the only subjects which they can dis
cuss, and that only after having first asked per-
| mission OF the sub-prefect, who refers the de-
iilduu 10 Tue preIcCt, WHO gTdntS OF Tcluses TIC
| authorization TO summon and assemble the coun-
| ell Not franc can be expended for any pur-
| pose without that authorization.
| The communes, before the revolution, had
| some property IN woods and lands but that pro-
perty has generally been taken from them, and
| now their only revenue is per centage (centimes
| additionally on the direct taxes That revenue
not being sufficient to cover the expenses, in the
| large communes and the towns, they provide tor
the deficiency by the octrois, the duty imposed
upon the provisions introduced into the place,
and by more additional confines; but they can
not do that-they cannot even meet to consider
the necessity or the practlcabi,ity of the mea-
sure, without the assent of the project.
VI course, the representatives OF the projects,
the mayors, scarcely ever fail to execute the
ders transmitted to them, and often go beyond
their instructions. The municipal councils can
not prevent it. They have authority but
when assembled; and the mayors are not inc lined
| to propose their cOnvocatlOn, IN order to have
| their own miscoD duct inquired into.
| The projects can order the assembling OF the
councils when they want their appreciation to
carry any measures; but those measures being
frequently not for the interest OF the communes,
but profitable only to the government, are accord
lngly rejected by the councils VIII ch is generally
the cause of their suspension or dissolution. At
their regular quarterly meetings, the municipal
councils have other power than to receive and
pass the accounts presented by the mayor, OF the
authorized expenditure of the commune during
the preceding three months. Most of the coun-
cilmen, In the rural communes, know very little
OF reading and writing, and still less OF arlthme-
tic. Nsy, many thousands of the mayors them
selves, belong to the uneducated class We
may infer, then, that those accounts, however
satlsfac tory, are hardly ever found fault with.
In the towns and large cities, this IS not the
case There the members of the councils do not
so easily submit to the discretion of the mayors,
and to the will of the projects. They az least re-
sent the abuse of authority the part OF those
| functonarles, and seize every opportunity Of
srigmatizing their acts, when they can do no
more. The fact is, that, of the 200 town coun-
| oil rnnr fhan hundred aro n Al
| ton to the system of the government, I'D IT
principally on that account that the government
has so completely crippled the natural authority
| of those municipal bodies.
The municipal councils are renewed one-half
every three years; and every three years, after
The election OF the new councllmen, the mayors
and adJolnts are appointed. All, however, may
i be, and generally are, reelected
conclude the exposure of this mockery of a
municipal administration by an enumeration of
| the electors and agentsl-
The number of the actve citizens is. s96 900
The communal electors amount to 5000
The communal councilmen $4,000
In this new division OF the population,
have, 1st 6, l01 900 active citizens debarred from
Germs; 2nd, 1876, 900 whose interference is limi
| ted to the election OF councilmen, who are pro-
tessedly chosen to manage the affairs of the
commune; Sd, 426,000 communal councilmen,
| who are, by law, prohibited doing any thing I'M
der any circumstances, but what ,pleases the
| king, the ministers, the projects, the sub-pre-
fecs, the mayors, and the assistants
| Yet is this the only institution which really
| proceeds from any considerable portion OF the
| people, and which can be said to belong to the
| people, from the condition, the habits, the
| occupations, the interests, the feeling, the
amount of property, and the degree of instruction
| or of ignorance of the electors and the elected
Bad as the law is, il does not answer all the pur-
poses of the government. In almost every one
of the municipal councils, there are, at the least
three or four morally independent men, who
lead their colleagues ); and, if they cannot
propose and pass any of those measures which
they consider beneficial to their localities, they
oppose, as far as speaking and voting can do 1t,
the official measures which they deem injurious
or obnoxious TO their fellow citizens. They feel
| their impotency, they claim a real municipal
authority; and, almost every where, the councils
are arrayeed against the authorities which they
are bound to obey Before long, then, the law
of 1881 must be altered; the NUMBER of communal
electors and councilmen must be considerably
educed, as to ensure the submission of all.
The French Revolution o( IsAs-Ths Other
Sldes
"Now poor as to do him reverence"
Mr.. EDIToR--I have been very much sur
cd tha uniyar,al ndan ,,Ct