The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-05-01

| of wharves and landings, but 1t is pos
sible that this city will neglect to fill
| that office.
There is, of course. provision also for
such clerks and assistants as the city
may find IL necessary to have, and it
is likely that unless the city should
come to own it's own water and light
works the superintendents OF the
bureaus of water and public lighting
| would not be chosen.
The mayor is elected for three years
| by the people. His sole duties are to
| review legislation, preserve the peace.
enforce city ordinances and supervise
and pay the city officers. He has
nothing whatever to do with appoint
ments of policemen, fremen, inspect
ors or heads of bureaus or departments.
! His salary is fixed by councils.
THE POLICE POWER.
| The police power of taking informa-
| ton, making arrests and conducting
| hearings, rests in the mayor and FIVE
| police magistrates mot necessarily al
| dermen) to be appointed by the mayor
with the consent of councils, all of
| them not to be of the same political
| party, and their respective districts to
| be fixed by councils.
All the other officers, including comp
| troller (Which corresponds to our pres
ent controlleO, city treasurer, city as
SCISSORS and the like are chosen by
| councils for two-year terms.
The board of assessors consists OF
| five members, a chief and four assist
ants. Real estate is assessed in three
| classes. Farm land is assessed one
| third of the highest rate of tax re-
| qured to be assessed; rural or subur-
| ban property pays two-thirds of the
| highest rate. and city or built-up prop
| erty pays all of the highest rate. The
| highest rate of tax necessary to be as
| sessed is fixed each year by councils
| after the assessors make their return
! of property classification. The actual
cash value of property is the basis of
| taxation.
The city auditor looks after the ac-
counts of all city officers, making
monthly report of his work to councils.
The director of public safety is ap-
| pointed by councils for four years He
| has supervision of the police force, pub
\ lie health. fire department, city tele-
graphs. fire escapes, police stations,
| patrol houses. fire houses and fire ap-
| paratus. He appoints the superintend-
ent of police, superintendent of the
| bureau of fire and all policemen and
| firemen, the building inspector, super
intendent of the bureau of health and
| the like.
The board of health under a second
| class city charter will be supplanted by
| a bureau of health, which shall consist
| OF a superintendent and such employees
| as may be deemed necessary.
PUBLIC WORKS.
| The director of the department of
| public works has charge of the depart
| ments now governed here by the city
| engineer, street commissioner and park
| commissioners and has charge of all
realty owned by the city. He appoints
| the heads of the various bureaus in
| his department, such as superintend-
| ent of engineering and surveys, super
| ntendent of the bureau Of highways
| and sewers. superintendent of the
| bureau of water, superintendent of the
| bureau of public parks, superintend-
| ent of the bureau of public libraries.
| Under the act of June 16 1891, which
| was enacted at the time Allegheny
| passed from a third 10 a second class
| city, the office of director of the poor
in cities of the second class was abol-
| ished and the power OF directing the
| work of charity was vested in de-
| partment of public charities. Scran-
| ton upon becoming a second class city
| would have to accept this law and in
some way or other divorce itself or
| Dunmore from the Scranton poor dis
| trict.
The department of charities is I'M
der the charge of a director and con-
| sists of simply the director and the
| usual employees of a poor district. In
this, as in every other department, the
| appropriate committee of councils has
a supervisory power.
The law governing the appOrtiOn-
ment of common cOunCilmen in cities
of the second class reads as follows:
| 1t shall be the duty of the assessors
of each ward to return under OATH a
true and exact return of resident tax
ahles to the president of the common
| council on or before the first day of July
| in each Qourth) year when an appor-
| tiOnment is 10 be made and a. the first
meeting of the councils thereafter, "a
Joint committee of five, two from the
| select and three from the common coun-
inc the said returns and divide the
| whole number of taXablcs by forty and
| the quOticnt shall be the ratio of repre-
| sentation for the members of common
council: Provided That should any ward
| have an excess OF three-ffths more than
the ratio of taXables. it shall be en-
titled TO an additional member: and pro-
vded further, that each ward shall have
| at least one member of councils.
| NUMBER OF TAXABLES.
The total number of taxable inhabi-
tants in the twenty-one wards of
Scranton is 24,14S Allowing 14S for
the number of nonresident taXables,
and to make round numbers, the ratio
of representation in common council
would be 500 On this basis the difle:.
ent wards would be represented rs fol-
lows:
First ward, g.; Second ward 8; Third
| ward |; Fourth ward, 3; Fifth ward 3;
Sixth ward, 2; Seventh ward /; Eighth
ward. l, Ninth ward, 2; Tenth ward |;
Eleventh ward, 2; Twelfth ward, /; Thr-
| teenth ward, 2; Fourteenth ward, / F'if-
teenth ward, q Sixteenth ward, /; Sew
enteenth ward, 3; Eighteenth ward, !;
Nineteenth ward, 8; Twentieth ward 2;
Twenty-flrst ward, l. Total 3S.
BY the time the law would go into
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