Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1896-08-14
LONDON'S ALDERMEN.
Councilmen Who Are Of Exoep.
tional Mental Attainment.
sharp Contrast Between Municipal Gsv-
srnment in America and Engiand-
Personnel of the Ensiish
Board.

Board.
The organization of the council is O,
. 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, twos 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 G. L. Fox in the Yale Re-
view, are chosen in two divisions trien-
nially for n 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 a
certain class of parliamentary voters
are excluded from the council register,
and plural voting, that is, voting in
different electoral districts by the same
elector-a system which prevails in 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 occupiers
to overseers OF the poor, while those in
service and dodgers, although they vote
at parliamentary elections, are ex-
cluded from the council electorate.
Practically all legally qualified electors
are eligible to membership in the coun-
Gil except women.
The partic ular features of the council
which impress an American as in sharp
contrast with our own forms of munic-
1pal 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 councillor; and the concentration of
all power in single body, which,
within the limited sphere of its
functions, exercises both executive and
legislative powers combined. The per.
sonnet 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 the
wheels of municipal government in
London was largely due to the abilities
and laborious devotion of Lord Rose.
berry. He was chairman of the first
council during most of its existence.
lis successor was Sir John Lubbock.
the eminent banker, writer and mem
Der Of parliament. The next chair
man, Sir John Hutton, presided over
the council longer than his predeces-
sors. He devoted all his time to the
work of the council and was an admir-
able, businesslike chairman. The
chairman of the new council, Arthur
Arnold, is q brother of Sir Edwin
Arnold, a former member Of parliament
ana writer on economic topics
whose books on Through Persia
by Caravan" and Social Poll.
tics" are known little in this
country. He is not at present a men,
Der of the council, but was alderman in
the first two councils. Frederic Har-
rison was an alderman for several
years, and his brother, Charles Harri.
son, prominent solicitor, is one of the
most tirclcss workers of the council
and was vice chairman of the last one.
The council soon after it's organization
divided into two parties, namely, the
progrcssivcs, who favor radical reform.
and tho moderatcs, who opposed most
OF The measures of the progressivcs.
Naturally, most of the members are
from the middle and upper classes of
London, but the wage-earners and Ia
borers are also represented. In the
first council John Burns was about the
only labor member, but in the second
he had dozen colleagues in the labor
interest In each council there has
been an average of 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
distinction thrust upon them by the &C.
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 earl of Dunraven and
Lord Montmorries will give to London,
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 large majority
OF the mem bers are active or retired
bankers, lawyers, including both bar
risters and solicitors, merchants, man
ufae turers and doctors, with some
young men of the Arnold Toynbee
type, who, inhcritors of wealth and
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-
GUS for their absence. That bane of
municipal governments in America, the
saloon keeper, who is known in Eng
land as the publican, is rarely found
there as n municipal legislator. OF the
whole plumber of one hundred and
thirty-seven the liquor interest was os-
tensibly 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 wing put for
ward seven candidates representing the
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 take