Arizona silver belt., 1895-08-10
LOND0N'S ALDERMEN.
Councilmen Who Arc of Exoep-
 tional Mental Attainment
sharp Contrast Between Municipal Gov ernmcnt in America and Eugland-
 Personnel of the English

The organization of the council is of type quite familiar to English citizens threngh their city charters, but strange to Americans. Of its one hundred and thirty-seven members one hundred and eighteen are councillors, elected by the parliamentary constituencies of Lon- don, twoo from each constituency and
 four from the ancient city. The nineteen remaining members, or about one-sev- enth of the whole body, are of the so-
 called aldermanic rank. These alder men, writes c. l.. Fox in the Yale Re-
 view, are chosen in two divisions trien-
 nially for Q term of six years, by the
 council elected itself only for three
 years, and in this matter acting as an
 electoral college. The electorate which
 chooses the council differs from that of
 the same area whose representatives
 sit in the house of commons Peers or
 women who are householders or rate
 payers may vote for councillors, while q
 certain class of parliamentary voters
 are excluded from the council register,
 and plural voting, that is, voting in
 different electoral districts by the same
 c.cctor-a system which prevails iu the
 elections for the house of commons-is
 forbidden in council elections. The main basis of suffrage for the council is
 the payment of an annual rate, that is, local taxes, which are paid by oeeupiers to overseers of the poor, while those in service and lodgers, although they vote at parliamentary elections. are ex- cluded from the council electorate.
 Practically all legally qualified electors arc eligible to membership ip the coun- cil except women.
 The particular features of the council which impress an American as in sharp contrast with our own forms of munic- ipal government are these: The alder. manic rank; the fact that all elected councillors are elected for three years and go out of office at one time: the absence of any qualification requiring residence in constituency on the part of g councillor; and the concentration of all power in single body, which. within the limited sphere of it's functions, exercises both executive and legislative powers combined, The per sonncl of all the councils thus far has been notable and of high quality. The success of the first council in organizing the machinery and in starting tho wheels of municipal government iu London was largely due to the abilities and laborious devotion of Lord Rose bery He was chairman of the first council during most of it's existence. His successor was Sir John Lubbock. the eminent banker, writer and mem ber of parliament. The next chair. man, Sir John Hutton, presided over the council longer than his predcccs. sors, He devoted all ms time to the work of tho council and was an admir-, able, businesslike chairman. The chairman of the new council, Arthur Arnold, i3 a brother of Sir Edwin Arnold, a former member of parliament and writer on economic topics, whose books on Through Persia by Caravan" and "Soeial Poli- ties are known little in this country. He is not at present 6 mcm- bcr of the council, but was alderman ia the first two councils Frederic liar. riSon was un alderman for several years, and his brother, Charles Harri son, prominent solicitor, is one of the most tircless workers of the council and was vice chairman of the last one. The council soon after its organization divided into two parties. namely, Che progrcssives, who favor radical reform, and the molerates, who opposed most of the measures Of the progressiyes. Naturally, most of the members are from the middle and upper classes of London, but the wage-earncrs aud la- borers are also represented. In the first council John Burns was about thc only labor member, but in the second he had dozen colleagues in the labor interest. In each council there has been an average of 0 half dozen peers, usually peers of the right sort. namely, those who have won their title and DO. sition in the house of lords by their own brains and energy and have not had the 1 distinction thrust upon them by the ac. cident of birth. The moderate victory in the last election has brought into the council chamber some peers of the | latter sort, and it remains to be seen whether the carl of Dunraycn and | Lord Montmorries will give to London, 1 needs as much able and devoted effort | as Lord Farrar and Lord Welby have done.
 About one-sixth of each council have | been graduates of Oxford or Cam bridge. In occupation Q large majority l of the members are active or retired | bankers, lawyers, including both bar risters and solicitors, merchants, man. ufac turers and doctors, with some | young men of the Arnold Toynbee ! type, who, interiors of wealth and i leisure, find their pleasure in the serv- ice of the municipality, The member | ship of the council is not only for those | who sit in the chamber at spring gar dens, but for those who are conspicu- ous for their absence. That bane of | municipal governments in America, the l saloon keeper, who is known in Eng | land as the publican, is rarely found | there as . municipal legislator Of the whole humber of one hundred and | thirty the liquor interest was os- tcnsibly represented in the first council by one stray brewer, and in the second | by only one whisky distiller and two eX-publicans. To the London moder- ates or conservatives belongs the dis creditable distinction of ha ying put for ward seven candidates representing the i liquor interest in the last election. Fortunately only three of these were elected, and it is to be hoped in the future that the London nominating | committee and constituencies will taI,a warning of the experience of American cites, and always look upon repre- sentative of the liquor interest as a per soma non grata in the council.
 CRIMINAL NOTES.