Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-09-19
RULES OVER ONE SQUARE MILE.

Lora Mayor of London Gets As Much
Salary as President Taft.
No more violent contract is to be
found the world over than that ex-
listing between the various duties Of the
Lord Mayor of London. theoretically,
at least, the king of Great Britain and
Ireland and emperor of India cannot
enter the city of London without his
consent; yet he spends the best part
of hlst mornings dispensing Solomon
like justice upon drunks who have
broken the peace Of the square mile Of
territory over which he rules.
OF course, the mayor Of an American
city is its chief magistrate, but he sell
dom If ever is called upon to waste his
valuable time over such humble du-
ties. In London, the greatest city in
the world, the lord mayor, unless call
ed away on other duties, Is to be found
every morning after II o'clock in the
little justice room of the great Man
sion house, his official residence, deal
ing with the astonishingly small batch
of lawbreakers, taken in the net Of the
great police system that makes old
city Of London proper the safest and
most lawabiding stretch OF territory to
be found in any large city in the
world.
The city Is only a square mile In ex-
tent, the greater part Of it being oc-
cupied by the great business houses
that control the finances Of the world.
There is located the famous Bank Of
England, for instance, behind whose
eight foot walls repose at all times
reserve fund of s1OO,OOO.OOO in gold
Twenty-eight soldiers guard the treas
ure from within, but from without 1t is
even better looked after. Scattered
about the square mile Of London, as
thick as flies about honey pot, are
1000 blue-coated policemen. After 8
or 9 o'clock at night the silence Of the
streets in that part of Greater London
is seldom broken except by the slow
tread of the guardians of the law.
Foolhardly, indeed, would be the burg
lar who attempted to ply his trade In
this well-guarded area.
1t is not strange, then, that crimi-
nails give the city wide berth and the
majority of those who find themselves
in the dock facing the lord mayor OF
London are men and women who have
drunk, mot wisely but too we'll" The
present lord mayor Is himself strict
teetotaler, but he Is possessed OF a de-
lightful broadmindedness that views
with sorrow rather than anger and
severity the weaknesses Of others.
The city of London drunks never had
more lenient magistrate to pass Judg-
ment upon them, and dismissals with
kindly word of reproof and encour-
agement to better deeds far outnum-
ber the fines.
The lord mayor Of London receives
as much as the president Of the Unit
ed States. His yearly pay envelope Is
twice as bulky as that of the prime
minister of Great Britain. Those who
have a leaning toward mathematics
can figure out that he Is the highest
paid magistrate in the world, when one
takes into consideration the proportion
of his waking day that is spent on the
bench. It must not be thought, how
ever, that he has nothing else to do, al
thought it is perfectly true that his
duties, taken as a whole, are largely
ornamental. A recent lord mayor
amused himself by keeping a record OF
his activities during the year he spent
in the high office. He attended l3O
public and semi-public dinners, S5 balls
and receptions, 365 meetings and COM
mittees; he made 1,1OO speeches.; and
he paid 20 state visits to churches. On
occasions when this class of duties
interfere with his more serious magis-
terial ones, a brother alderman takes
his place on the bench.-London Cor.
Denyer Renublican,