Amador ledger., 1905-09-29
Municipal
Corporations.
A Timely Treatise on The Subject
The Danger of Undue Expansion
General Remarks.

General Remarks.
There are 136 incorporated cities
in California;. These cities have a
population varying from $40, 600 to
less than 500. There are now about
forty with population of less than
1000 They are divided into six
classes, according to population. All
towns with a population of less than
5000 belong to the sixth class. There
are S4 cities of this class in the state.
At the present time the only method
for community to become an iucor
porated town is to follow the method
prescribed by the state of 1883,
known as the Municipal 1ncorpor-
alton Act.
Method of Incorporating
A petition must be presented to the
board of supervisors by the electors
of given territory to the number of
at least fifty, showing ID that the
territory sought to be incorporated is
not already Incorporated. ~ That
the territory described contains over
800 inhabitants, and 60 description
of the boundaries of the proposed in
corporation, and then conclude with
prayer that the same be Incorporated.
| This petition. together with notice
as to when this petition will be pre-
:ented to the county supervisors,
must be published two weeks (three
insertions) in a weekly newspaper
prior to the time of It's presentation
to the board of supervisors. Then the
board of supervisors finally fix the
boundaries, determine the number of
| inhabitants and call an election in
the proposed municipality to deter
mine the question of incorporation.
The requirements of the statutes
must be followed with the strictest fl
deity. The proper publication OF the
notice is very essential thing, as it
serves to give the board of supervisors
jurisdiction of the subject-matter.
10 much care cannot be exercised in
this matter, for 1t would be serious
thing to discover after town had
been exercising municipal functions
for several years that its primary in
corporation was of questionable vail
dity. Several towns have found
themselves III this predicament.
In preparing the petition the deter
mination of the territory to be en-
braced in the proposed town frequent
ly requires the exercise of nice
judgment and raany things must be
taken into consideration Herewith.
The safe rule to follow is: Do not
include more territory than is ab-
solutely essential, and yet the future
growth of the town must to some ex-
tent be foreseep. We must consider: :
Is the town growing rapidly? Ii so,
III what direction will it grow? We
do not want populous suburbs just
outside of the corporate limits. They
are frequently unsanitary and a
menace to the public health. So any
territory that is likely to be soon
populated should he included. All
territory not likely to be thus popu-
lated should be excluded. Also ex-
clude as much public highway as
: ossibIe and lay out the city so that
few bridges need be maintained. Ihe
| town should be so situated that one
general sewerage or drainage district
may be formed to include the entire
corporate limits. Include as little
agricultural land and agriculturists
as possible. Those whose occupation
is agricultural have little need tor a
municipal organization. lhey do not
need sewers, or fire or police protect
ion, and if tney are forced to come in
they will prove a source of annoyance
and friction in the future administra-
tion of the town. They will have to
pay taxes, receive no benefit and
will be continually objecting to all
public improvements, kick at all pro-
gress and become general hinder
ance. Some time IN the future you
may wish to issue honds for sewers,
electric light and water works, and
every man who lives out of the reach
of these utilities will be sure to vote
against bonds, and as it requires a
twot thirds vote to accomplish these,
the fellows living on the outskirts of
town are frequently determining
factors in such worthy projects.
Benefits of Incorporation.
The benefits resulting from muni-
cipal corporation are those that flow
from the exercise of certain functions
that cannot be adequately exercised
IN any other way. These functions
may be divided as follows:
l. Those relating to the public
convenience.
.. Those relating to the public
safety.
3 Industrial functions.
4. Social functions.
Functions of Convenience.
These relate to the care, mainten-
ance and use of public streets, which
include sidewalks, bridges and
squares. Streets must be construct
ed, repaired and sprinkled. They
should be drained, and curbs, cutters
and cuIverts maintained. The con-
venience of the people requires also