Volcano weekly ledger., 1855-11-17
incorporation of the Town.

| N--NN 'NNN~~-s
of Volcano, an article on the subject of town
interpretations generally will be at least inter-
esting and perhaps profitable to our readers.
Volcano may be Incorporated by any one
of three different modes, to wit: as city,
by making proper application to the County
Court; as a town, by making similar applca-
ton to the same authority; or by special
Legislative enactment.
Section one of IAN act to provide for the
incorporation of cities" Compiled laws, page
1Ol reads as follows: Any city in this
State, having a population of more than two
thousand persons, may be Incorporated
according to the provisions of this act,
either by the Legislature or by the County
Court, upon application" In making the
application to the County Court, the peti-
ton must state the county in which such
town or village is situated, setting forth the
metes and boundaries Of the town and COM
mons proposed to be Incorporated, which
shall not exceed four square miles, accompan-
led by plat of the same 1t must be de-
monstrated to the satisfaction of the Court
that the area proposed for incorporation con-
tains population of more than two thou
sand persons, and the petition must be signed
by majority of the qualified electors there
of. Twenty days notice must be given, by
newspaper publication, previous to the appli-
cation and at any time previous to the hear
ing, any qualified elector of the proposed city
may file written opposition, which shall be
heard by the Court If on the hearing the
incorporation is granted, the government of
the city shall be vested in Mayor, Recorder,
and Common Council; the latter body to
consist of not less than seven, nor more than
twenty members. A city Marshal, Atttor-
ney, Assessor and Treasurer shall also be
elected, and the Council shall have power to
establish such other Offices as they may deem
expedient. All salaries to be established
by the Council This general law for the i'm
corporation of cities furnishes the duly con-
stituted authorities with power sufficient for
all ordinary purposes the greatest objection
to it is that the door is left open for the
Council to indulge in extravaganza. As set
forth in the section above quoted however,
town may be Incorporated according to the
provisions of this act" by legislative enact
- @Ioto - 1
easy matter to provide against extrava-
gance.
According to ian act to provide for the
Incorporation of Towns" Compiled laws,
page lI4) a village may be incorporated by
making application to the County Court as in
case of City Interpretations The village
must contain over two hundred inhabitants, a
majority of whom must sign the petition
The area proposed for Incorporation must not
exceed three square miles The town gov
ernment will be vested in Board of TruS-
tees, to consist of five members, who shall
choose one of their number for President of
the Board, and a suitable person for Secrc-
tary. A Treasurer, Assessor and Marshal
shall be elected in every town Incorporated
under the provisions of this act No fine for
any breach of any one ordinance shall eNcsed
one hundred dollars to be collected by JUS |
tice of the Peace and paid over to the town
Ireasuser. This act has been found to af. |
ford to the officers constituted insufficient
powers and we have no idea that after ex-
amining the act, there will be any probabili-
ty of the citizens of Volcano applying for a
charter under its provisions.
Finally, the town may be incorporated by
special enactment of the Legislature, under
such provisions as may be deemed to best |
suit the peculiar wants of this community
the law to embrace nothing, of course, that
is repugnant to the letter or spirit of the con-
stitution. This would probably be the most
advisable course to pursue.
If our town is to be Incorporated, let it be
done properly. Let there be no more officers
than are absolutely necessary let them be
clothed with sufficient, but not too much
power; and above all things, let the proper
barriers be thrown around the door of ex-
trava gance in order that debt and onerous
taxes may be avoided.
CuRloUs.-A company of miners who have
been working on the head waters of the Mid
die Fork of the Cosumnes, sunk shaft into