1^' CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 6| DATE DUi 1 4 '38 Cornell University Library JS3141 .P96 Cobden Club essays olin 3 1924 030 543 403 The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030543403 COBDEN CLUB ESSAYS. LOCAL GOYER^MEIfT AND TAXATION. Edited by J. W. PEOBTN. GASSELL PETTEE & G-ALPIN: LONDON, PARIS # NEW YOMK. 1875. CORNELL /ERSITY LIBRARY CONTENTS. liOCAL GOVERSMENT IX ENGLAND. By THE HOSOUEABLE GeORGE C. Brodrick X Local Governmeot and Taxation in Scotland. By Alexander M'Neel-Caihd 97 Local Government and Taxation in Ireland. By W. Neilson Hancock, LL.D. I73 Local Government and Taxation in the Australian Colonies and New Zealand. By Sib C. Dilke, Thojias AVebb Ware, and W. H. AncHER , 233 'The Provincial and Communal Institutions op Belgium - and Holland. By M. Emile de Laveleye 245 Local Government in France. By M. le Comte de Franqueville . 283 ■Local Government and Taxation in Eussia. By Ashton "Went- WORTH Dilke 309 Local Government and Taxation in Spain. By Senor Moeet t Prendergast 337 iocAL Government considered in its Historical Development in Germany and England, with special reference to Kecent Legislation on the Subject in Prussia. By E. B. D. Morier, C.B., H.B.M.'s Charge d'affaires, Munich .... 357 a PREFACE. The Cobden Club believes that it is doing good service in giving to the public a series of Essays on the Local Government and Taxation of differerit countries. Additional light, it is hoped, will be thrown upon these important questions, by exhibiting the origin and character of various systems of Local Govern- ment actually at work, as well as by comparing their merits and defects. The Contributors to this Volume are, in nearly every case, citizens of the respective countries whose local institutions form the subject of their several Essays. They ai'e, moreover, men who have devoted their time and abilities to the careful study of the political and social problems of our day. The Essay on Germany is not, indeed, from the pen of a German ; but it has been written by one whose long residence in Germany has- made him thoroughly acquainted with the language and customs of that great country. So, too, the author of the Essay on Eussia, although not a Eussian,. has resided much in that empire, and has acquired no slight personal knowledge of its people, institu- tions, and language. The brief notice of Local Govern- Ti PBEFACE. nient in our Australian Colonies has been furnished from data given by colonial agents and other qualified ^jersons ; while the paper on Victoria has been written by two of its best known public men. This Volume has one defect, which the Cobden Club is the first to recognise, namely, the absence of any notice of the Local Institutions of some most important •countries, such as the constitutional monarchies of Italy,' the Austro-Hungarian State, and the ScandinaAdan kingdoms; as well as the Eepublics of the United ■States and Switzerland, which are worthy of the most •careful study. But it was found impossible to comprise within a single Volume all the countries whose Local Oovernments deserve investigation. The Cobden Club regrets the omissions it has thus been , compelled to make, but hopes that the opportunity may occur of supplying on a future occasion some of those examples of Local Self- Government which are not contained in ihe present Volume. J. AV. PROBYN. Fehrimry, 1875. N.B. — The first Essay, on "Local Government in England " by Mr. Brodrick, was in print before the commencement of the Session •of 1875, and before the original draft of the BUI for creating a new municipality of London had been altered in several important re- spects.— J. W. P. ESSAYS 0¥ LOCAL GOYERJ^MENT and' TAXATION I. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. By the Honoubable Geobge C. Bkodbick. SYNOPSIS. CHAPTEE I. PAGES 1. Local Government during the Saxon period, in country districts and in towns 4 — 9 2. Local Government under the Norman and Plantagenet kings, in country districts and in towns . • 9 — 18 3. Diversity of Local Institutions in England during the Middle Ages 18 — 20 4. Local Government during the period between the Eeformation and the Eeform Act 20 Growth of the Poor Laws, and extension of magistrates' jurisdiction over country districts ..... 20 — 22 Degeneracy of municipal government in boroughs . . 23 — 25 5. Local Government in the colonies of New England . . . 25—26 CHAPTEE IL MODERN SYSTEM OP LOCAL GOVERNMENT, DATING FBOM THE REFORM ACT. 1. Three main areas of Local Government in country districts — the county, the union, and the parish 27 — 81 2. Distribution of power among Local Authorities in country districts — business of Quarter Sessions — gaols,' police,' and lunatic asylums — licensing — highways — poor relief — sanitary ad- ministration — school administration 31 — 4 B 2 LOCAL GOVEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. Chapter II. — continued, ri.aEs 3. Administration of munioipai boroughs — constitution and func- tions of Town Council — borough magistracy — borough funds and borough rates — distribution of power among Local Authorities in boroughs — variety in the municipal life of , boroughs 44—50 4. Districts under Improvement Commissions and Local Boards . 50 — 53 5. The metropolis — municipal government oflihe City — the vestries — the Metropolitan Board of Works — the Metropolitan Police — Metropolitan Poor Law administration — the London School Board '. 52—59 CHAPTER IIL GENERAL CHAEACTEEIBTICS OP LOeAI. GOVERNMENT AS IT NOW EXISTS IN ENGLAND. 1. Its lack of unity 59-61 2. Vastness and variety of interests embraced by it . . . . 61 — 63 3. Good and bad examples of Local Government in England . . 63—65 4. Weakness of self-government in country districts . . . 65 — 67 5. Influence of centralising tendencies 67 — 70 6. Other influences unfavourable to vigour of Local Government . 70—73 OHAPTEK IV. 1. Principles and limitations to be observed in reforming Local Government in England 73 Every local institution which has life in it to be, if pos- sible, maintained ' 73—75 Reforms of Local |Govemment not to be determined by theories of Local Taxation . . ... . 75 — 77 Constitution ctf electoral and governing bodies . . . 77 — 79 Concentration of Local Councils 80 — 81 Proper sphere of Local and central authority . . , 81 S3 2. Suggestions for a scheme of reconstruction 83 Reform of Local Government in boroughs .... 84 86 Reform of Local Government in country districts and non- corporate towns 86 — 89 Reform of Local Government in the metropolis . . . 89 — 93 No sudden recopstruction of Local Government to be at- tempted 93 Results to be expected from a gradual reconstruction 'ot Local Government 94—95 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. The origin of Local Government in England, like that of our civil liberty, must be sought in the primitive but well-ordered communities of our Saxon forefathers. It is weR observed by Guizot, that in the earlier stages of civilisation, no government but local government can have any practical existence, and that local rights are the most important of all rights for men whose life never goes beyond the boundaries of their fields. The -German nations, as described by Caesar and Tacitus, were nothing but associations of self-governed villages, or larger districts, occupied by separate families or clans, among whom there was not even the shadow of a common national allegiance, except for purposes of war. Such was the organisation of the Saxons, Jutes, and Angles, when they first settled in England, and though petty monarchies were founded in process of time, and ultimately absorbed into one kingdom of England, such continued for centuries to be the essential organisation of the English people. Townships and burghs and even counties were not so much fractions or subdivisions of the whole English commonwealth, as the integral units out of which the English commonwealth was moulded into national life. The history of Local Government in England is, thus, almost co-extensive with constitutional history during the period before the Norman Conquest,/ and fills a very large space in con- stitutional history, until the legislative power of Parlia- ment became ■ firmly established under Edward I. and his two successors. LOGAl GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. I. 1. The broad features of those local institutions^ which formed the basis of English society between the reign of Alfred and that of William the Conqueror, hare at length been identified with sufiicient certainty. The patient researches of English and German students have swept away, so to speak, the overlying crust of Norman workmanship, and revealed to view the original structure in its massive and symmetrical proportion^. If it be well-nigh impossible, for want of contemporary descrip- tions, to realise the inner domestic life Of an English homestead in the tenth or eleventh century, we may yet form a distinct conception of the public duties and privileges, which attached to a thane or country gentleman of that age, when towns were in their in- fancy, and landless men, even though otherwise freemen, were compelled to place themselves under the protection of a lord. Let us, then, imagine the case of a landowner below the rank of king's thane, because not holding directly from the Crown, but possessed, at least, of the twelve hundred acres which secured him a status in the class of the landed aristocracy, and entitled his family to a weregild, or compensation, of six hundred shillings, in the event of his being slain. Such a thane probably lived in a dwelling not unlike the abode of Cedric the Saxon, delineated in " Ivanhoe," but smaller and ruder in its construction, surrounded by dependants, of whom some were humbler freemen duly "commended" to him, and some mere thralls or slaves. Over these last his power was absolute; they were part of his farm or household stock, and if they were slain, the com- pensation was paid to him". With the neighbouring freeholders, gentle and simple, his relations were alto- gether different, though regulated in some degree bv their rank and place of residence. Those of them who "Bkodmck.] LOGAL government IN ENGLAND. 5 inliabited the same townsHp with him would be en- titled to meet him on equal terms in the open village meeting, then called a "town-moot," and now a "vestry," where they would join with him in electing the town- reeve, or viUage-mayor; although, if he should happen i;o be the proprietor of the entire township, he might ■appoint a steward, with the general authority of a "town-reeve. At the town-moot held under the pre- sidency of the town-reeve, he would take part in making by-laws for the little village republic, in adjudicating on petty disputes, in choosing four, men to represent the township with the town-reeve in ^;he higher courts of the hundred and the county, in making assessments of judicial fines, and instituting local ■-enquiries by direction of these courts, in causing nui- sances to be abated, in providing for repairs of bridges, and in preparing tything-lists for "the view of frankpledge," a somewhat obscure method of enrolling freemen, in bodies of ten, as perpetual bail for each other's good iDehaviour. . Perhaps the church of the parish, usually but not always conterminous with the township, had been built and endowed by himself or his ancestors, and, in this case, he would nominate the incumbent, but he would share with his feUow-parishioners the right of ■choosing a church-reeve or churchwarden. Perhaps, in addition to his own private estate, he may have been part owner of meadow and arable lands belonging to all -the members of his township, under that antique form ■of agrarian partnership known as the Mark system; and, in this case, he would share with his fellow-townsmen the right of settling in " mark-moot " the rules by which their common husbandry and pasturage should be •governed, unless, indeed, his township should already liave been merged, for these purposes, in a manor, its •common mark converted into the lord's waste, and its mark-moot superseded by a manorial court. A far wider' jurisdiction, however, was entrusted to -the hundred court, whither (if delegated by his town-, .•ship) he would repair once a month, under pain of a 6 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGIAND. fine, to aid in transacting the judicial, fiscal? and adminis- trative business of the hundred, a territorial division supposed to correspond with the joag'MS of Tacitus and the gau of modem Grermany. . In this court he would sit in judgment on criminals, and try civil suits, partly in the capacity of a magistrate, and partly in that of a juryman, together with the parish priests, town-reeves, and " best men " of other townships, under the presidency of an officer, sometimes called the hundred-man, and some- times the gerefa or reeve of the hundred. He would also be occupied in witnessing transfers of land, in ma- naging the system of frankpledge through officers called tithing men, who then supplied the place of a police force, in distributing the few local burdens then existing among the constituent townships of the hundred, and in accounting for the profits of the hundred, chiefiy arising from mulcts and fines, to some person deputed by the sheriff of the county. For it is needless to say that it was the county-court, and not the hundred-court, or town-moot, which combined and controlled all the powers of self-government in those early times, amercing both hundreds and townships for allowing the escape of prisoners, for not maintaining bridges, and for any other neglect of their corporate duties. There he would find himself associated twice a year with the bishop, the ealdorman, and the sherifi", the representatives of hun- dreds, the representatives of. townships, all public officers of the county, and his fellow thanes, in hearing appeals from the hundred-courts, or 'causes arising be- . tween one hundred and another. As a member of this county parliament, significantly called the folk-moot as well as the shire-moot, he would not only become con- versant with the ealdorman's military administration of the county, with the sheriif's administration of crown lands and collection of royal dues, and with the bishop's administration of chui-ch affairs, but he would also have a voice in the maintenance of water-courses, roads, and bridges over the whole county, in the registration of all acts affecting property within the county, and even, on Bkodkick.] local government IN ENGLAND. 7 rare occasions, in the deliberations of the county on linperial policy. In short, though none but king's thanes were qualified to attend the Witenagemote, or great council of the nation, by virtue of tenure, yet the English country gentleman of lower degree was probably a more influential and not less active personage before the Norman Conquest than he is at the present day. That was not an age in which it was necessary to remind any landlord, great or small, that property has its duties as well as its privileges, for the reten- tion of privileges, if not of rights, was felt to depend on the vigilant performance of duties, and Grovem- ment was no unseen Providence guaranteeing men against the consequences of their own neglect. If justice was brought home to his door, it was by his being prepared to join in a hue-and-cry, to watch th« Conduct of his fellows in the same tything, and to attend regularly in local courts to investigate crimes, and settle disputed claims. If he wished to have a passable road between his own village and the next, he must induce the county to order it, and he must help to keep it in repair by his own labour and that of his servants. If his stream were fouled by his neighbours, or encroachments were made on his land, he must seek redi'ess by making a complaint in person before the popnlar tribunals of the hundred or township. On the other hand, he was spared the vexatious liability to local rates which the exigencies of modem civilisation have substituted for the simpler rule— sec ut^re tuout alienum non ladas. As for state concerns, he knew little of them, except when he might be sixmmoned to fulfil the primary obligation of the trinoda neoessitas, or threefold liability, and to bear arms for the defence of the realm. He seldom felt the pressui-e of general taxation; his daily life was scarcely affected by general legislation; he knew of no Home Ofiice or Local Grovernment Board capable of interfering with his liberty of action, and there were few visible symbols or public acts to remind him of 8 LOCAL. GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. tlie royal authority. To him it made no perceptible difference whether Edmund or Canute wore the Crown of England, and he may well have been content to leave such matters with the Witenagemote, in which he was not represented, so long as peace and order prevailed within the township, hundred, and county by which his cares and ambition were alike bounded. If this be true of the larger class who resided in the country, far more is it true of the smaller class who resided within boroughs. In all states of society towns have exhibited a greater capacity for local self-government than country districts, since the community of interest among townspeople is more strongly marked, their intel- ligence more highly cultivated, and their opportunities of assembling together more frequent. The Saxon boroughs, therefore, whether they occupied the sites of old fortified camps, grew up spontaneously at the mouths of rivers, or clustered round great country-houses and monasteries, have been accurately described as more strictly organised townships, although, in the constitu- tion of the county, they seem to have been reckoned not as townships but as hundreds. Probably the larger boroughs, at least, combined the elements of both organi- sations, the reeve of the borough possessing the joint attributes of a town-reeve and a hundred-man, while the borough-court, held only thrice a year, was at once a town-moot and a hundred-court. Possibly one or two cities, besides London itself, may even have attained a rank co-ordinate with counties, but this cannot be affirmed of other boroughs. They sent no representa- tives to the county-court, yet they were included within the county administration, and were subject to the sheriff's jurisdiction. This circumstance, which might be supposed to derogate somewhat from their municipal independence, really contributed to establish it on a firmer basis. At a. period before the Norman Conquest, and apparently before their privileges were secured by charter, the leading towns of England had succeeded in compounding with the Crown for the uncertain dues formerly collected from them by the sheriff, and this Brodiuck.] local government IN ENGLAND. 9 fixed composition or tax was ultimately converted, by tlie concession of a " firma burghi " into a corporate fee- farm rent. In the meantime tlie infinitely various customs of their burghers had so nearly acquired the force of law as to be formally recorded in Domesday Book, their merchant guilds were assuming the right of making by-laws for the regulation of trade, and their common-lands, which many of them still retain, supplied at once a means of subsistence and a bond of association for the poorer freemen. Upon the whole, English boroughs in the age preceding the Conquest had made great advances in the art of self-gbvemment, notwith- standing that many of them were nominally subject to great nobles, like the villeins of a manor, and thus occu- pied a humble position in the hierarchy of land tenure. Their local institutions could not be more thoroughly popular in principle than those of the surrounding country districts, but they were practically better secured against lawless encroachments, and less easy to mould into harmony with a centralising policy. 2. It was for this reason, as well as because the bourgeoisie were valuable allies of the Crown against the barons, that Local Government in towns was gradually strengthened, while Local Government in counties was gradually weakened, under the Norman and the earlier Plantagenet kings. The power which the Witenagemot had already asserted over the county- courts, and the power which English kings had always possessed in times of invasion, were at once concentrated in William the Conqueror, with or without the advice of his Council. Many of the powers which had been vested in the elective ofiicers of townships, hundreds, and counties, insensibly passed into the hands of great ftudal lords, who exercised them for the most part through deputies. It is true that few organic changes were made in the framework of Local Government, and that it was no part of the Conqueror's design to destroy the ancient liberties of the people. On the contrary, both he and the wisest of his successors professed to be the guardians of these liberties against the arbitrary 10 LOCAL aorEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. usurpations of tteir nobles ; and their repeated promises to maintain the laws of Edward the Confessor were, in reality, promises to maintain the system of Local Grovernment which existed in that king's reign. Such a system, however, could not but languish side by side with the organised anarchy of feudalism, and was further disintegrated by the very reforms which at last broke down the abuses of feudalism, and developed a true national unity. The old town-moots, so far as appears, were never explicitly abolished, but as one township after another became the manor of a feudal lord, its sense of political unity became lost in a sense of agricultural unity, and its town-moot was transmuted into a court baron, wherein the freeholders had still judicial authority, but in the new character of manorial tenants. The hundred- courts were not only not abolished, but were directed to be held regularly, and non-attendance upon them was enforced by fines. Moreover, the sheriffs' tourn and le^t, as it was called, a court which so long exercised the same kind of criminal jurisdiction as that now vested in magistrates, was but the hundred-court under another and less popular name. Yet these courts rapidly lost their importance : partly because they were superseded by the county-courts, now held monthly, and partly because so many franchises, or rights of private jurisdiction, had been attached by grant to lordships, as greatly to reduce and obstruct the business of the smaller popular courts. The county-courts themselves sundved for many cen- turies, and even acquired extended. powers under a series of statutes ; but they were no longer the great represen- tative assemblies of pre-Norman days, when the bishop and the ealdorman attended them as assessors of the sheriff, and all the affairs of the county were brought directly under their control. It is well known that William the Conqueror prohibited the bishops from sitting in secular courts, and removed all temporal matters from the cognisance of ecclesiastics. The effect of this measure, in an age when ecclesiastics were the chief interpreters of law, was to shake public confidence BttoDnicK.J LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. 11 in the county-courts ; tlie ealdormen soon ceased to frequent them, and they fell under the paramount sway of Norman sheriffs, or vice-comites, whose office was, in some counties, hereditary. The institution of circuits for merely fiscal purposes hy Henry I., and their com- plete organisation for judicial as well as fiscal purposes hy Henry II., tended still more to undermine the influence of county-courts. These co\y:ts, it is true, were solemnly convened to meet the King's justices in eyre : and the Assizes were originally little more than extra- ordinary sessions of the old county tribunals, held before special commissioners instead of before the sheriff, where pleas of the Crown and important suits were determined by the oath of select witnesses — a mode of procedure rapidly developed into the system of trial by jury. The ordinary constitution of the county-courts was not altered ; they continued, as before, to regulate county administration ; their machinery was freely used by the Conqueror and his successors to obtain local information, or to raise money ; acts of Parliament were published there in later times, and they were still regarded, by virtue of a traditional sentiment, as the " forum plebeise justitise et theatrum comitivse potestatis." But they had practically been ousted of their higher judicial power, both civil and criminal ; large tracts of country had been entirely withdrawn from their jurisdiction by the op- pressive forest-laws ; the vis major of feudal obligations must often have interfered with their requisitions of local dues and personal services ; they were of less and less value as deliberative assembhes after the creation of a national Parliament ; and their general executive functions were beginning to be sub-divided among special officers, Avhose successive appointments mark the first stage of transition from the ancient to the modem form of Local Government. The earliest of these appointments was that of " coroner," which is supposed to date from the instruc- tions issued for a visitation, or " iter " of the King's justices in 1194. It is there ordained that each county shall elect three knights and one clerk to guard pleas of 12 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. the Crown ; and the next article of the same document, forbidding sheriffs to be justices in their own counties, may serve to explain the purpose of, this ordinance. Doubtless it had been found by experience that sheriffs abused their judicial authority by the exaction of exorbitant profits for themselves ; but it is also clear that, in spite of every precaution, there was a growing ten- dency in counties towards personal government by sheriffs, inconsistent both with the rights of the sovereign and with the liberties of the people. From this point of view, it is worthy of notice that, whereas the Articles presented by the barons at Runnymede demanded that no sheriff should meddle with pleas of the Crown " without coroners," the 24th Article of Magna Charta itself declared that coroners, as well as sheriffs, constables, and bailiffs, should be excluded from holding such pleas. It does not appear, indeed, that coroners ever filled a very important place in Local Grovernment ; and their duties, as defined by statute in the reign of Edward I., differ but little from those which they discharge at the present day. Still, the fact of their ofiice being made elective, coupled with the fact of the shrievalty itself being elective during part of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, is a proof that in counties, no less than in boroughs, popular' local insti- tutions were regarded as the proper counterpoise to the spirit of feudal oligarchy. The offices of High Constable, and Petty or Parish Constable, may be dated, with some degree of certainty, from the Assize of Arms issued by Henry III. in 1252. No mode of election is there prescribed, but it is simply enjoined that a high constable shall be " consti- tuted" for every hundred, and a petty constable for every parish, who shall muster the inhabitants to arms against disturbers of the peace, and deliver them over to the sheriff. This provision, which shows how little the law of frankpledge was observed, was extended in 1285 by the famous Statute of "Winchester whereby it was enacted that two high constables should be chosen in every hundred and franchise, and should report to the King's BjiODKicK.] LOCAL GOVEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. 13 justices. In the reign of Edward III., parish constables were directed to be chosen at the court leets of their respective townships, and succeeded the old tithing-men or head-boroughs in the duty of levying the "town- ley," or consolidated parish-rate, hence called the " con- stable's tax." A far more important change was made in the local administration of country districts when a regular commission of the peace was organised in every county. As the King assumed more and mpre responsibility for the peace of the whole realm, and especially after the Statute of Winchester, local officers had occasionally been nominated, under the title of "conservators," to assist the sheriffs, coroners, and constables in putting down riots and disorders. In the first year of Edward III.'s reign, a further step was taken by the enactment that good and lawful men should be assigned to keep the peace in every county, ; and by a series of later statutes one duty after another was cast upon them, until they absorbed most of the authority, both judicial and admini- strative, formerly vested in the county-courts and the sheriff's "toum." These Justices of the peace, as they were soon called, were to be landowners in their respective counties, but some learned in the law were to be associated with them ; and they were armed from the first with very arbitrary powers for the prevention of crime, by arresting thieves, and vagrants even on sus- picion, and taking security for good behaviour. After some years they were commissioned to hear and deter- mine felonies, but only at their general Sessions, and not without the safeguard of trial by jury. It followed naturally that, when the oppressive Statutes of Labour were passed, the justices were ^harged with the invidious task of enforcing them. A protest against the indefinite extent of their jurisdiction was made by the Commons in the reign of Eichard II., but the new machinery was too useful to be discarded ; and before the end of Henry VIII. 's reign their functions must have been almost as multifarious as they are in our own times. It was they who, by an Act of 1530, were empowered, 14 LOOAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. with, the assent of representatives from each township, to lay a direct tax on all the inhabitants of the county for the repair of bridges^ instead of leaving the burden to be apportioned by hundreds and parishes. It was they who, in the following year, were required to make a similar rate for the building of gaols ; and in both instances they were authorised to appoint collectors of their own. They had long been under a statutable obligation to hold sessions four times a year, or oftener if need were, at which Quarter Sessions two justices should form a quorum ; and by another Act of Henry VIII., passed in 1542, they were directed to establish petty sessional districts, each to contain at least two justices, for the better repression of vagrancy and other breaches of the law. Before long, justices in petty sessions were invested with the novel power of exercising summary jurisdiction — ^that is, of trying minor charges without the assistance of a jury. Finally, when the dissolution of monasteries and decay of feudal society had produced a pauperism too wide-spread to be cured by the most rigorous measures agaiast mendicancy, it was the justices who, under the first Poor Law of 1601, were invested with the power of selecting two, three, or four householders to act as overseers with the churchwardens in each parish ; of levying a contributory rate on neighbouring parishes, and even on neighbouring- hundreds ; and of erecting houses of correction for undeserving beggars. In the meantime, the care of all the county records had been entrusted to another high official, entitled the Gustos Botulorum, selected from the body of justices. This dignitary, himself appointed by the Chancellor, had the right of appointing the clerk of the peace ; and probably occupied a position superior to that of a modern Chairman of Quarter Sessions. After the Reformation, too, when no County Palatine existed independent of the Crown, except that of Durham, the ancient miHtary prerogatives of the ealdorman as com- mander of the county militia were revived in the person of Lord-Lieutenants, who, being justices of the peace, often held, in addition, the office of Gustos Botulorum. Bbodrick.] local government IN ENGLAND. 15 The process whereby magistrates have become the chief xalers of country districts was thus nearly complete in the lifetime of Shakespeare; and, however astonishing may have been the subsequent development of Local Taxation, there has been no comprehensive recon- struction or reform of Local Grovemment in English counties since that age. Let us now glance briefly at the parallel history of Local G-ovemment in towns between the Conquest and the end of the sixteenth century. This history is, happily, less open to controversy, for it may be traced by the light of charters and other documents still extant. The great era of borough charters is the later half of the twelfth and early part of the thirteenth century. During this period most of the English cities and county towns obtained a renewal and extension of their old municipal franchises and trade privileges. London, as is well known, was chartered, though not incorporated, by the Conqueror himself, who guaranteed its portreeve and bishop the rights which they had enjoyed in King Edward's days. Henry I. granted its citizens the liberty of electing their own sheriff and justiciar, and relieved them from external jurisdiction, as well as from ZJanegeld and a number of other vexatious imposts. These concessions were confirmed, with various modifi- cations, by succeeding kings, and the Mayoralty of London is traced back to the beginning of JJichard I.'s reign; but it was from John that London first received the royal permission to choose a Lord Mayor annually, and accordingly the Lord Mayor of London appears among the signatories of Magna Charta, by which the customs of the City were expressly secured. Other towns gained their civic independence more slowly, and seldom without the payment of large fines to the King, or bishop, or secular lord, in whose demesne they were situated. Out of more than forty whose customs were considered deserving of mention in Domesday Book, very few besides London had acquired the right of electing their own officers before the reign of Eichard I. or John, whose borough charters are numerous, and 16 LOCAL GOrJEENjilENT IN ENGLAND. more liberal than any that had been granted by his predecessors. If we take as a specimen that of Lincoln, we find that at least two generations before represen- tatives of towns were summoned to Parliament, the representative principle was recognised and carried out in their municipal government. Not only were the citizens of Lincoln enabled to plead an immunity from all foreign jurisdiction, except that of the king's justices, and, moreover, from all the more oppressive liabilities of feudal dependence, but they were expressly empowered to elect two discreet men to act jointly as town-reeves, with four others to keep pleas of the Crown, and to see that the town-reeves performed their duties impartially towards poor and rich. Equally marked peculiarities are to be found in other charters, but in almost all the ratification of ancient customs is most ample, and a highly democratic basis of internal self-government is either laid down or assumed. No doubt, the inhabitants of chartered boroughs, though generally exempted from tolls, were still liable to be tallaged or taxed at will until the year 1297; their right to Parliamentary representation was some- times defeated by the caprice of a county sheriff, and they ranked far below county-freeholders in political and social estimation. But, for all this, an English burgher in the Middle Ages, once within the walls or municipal boundaries of his own borough, found himself in an atmosphere of liberty and equality, such as might have prevailed in the Athens of Pericles or the Florence of Dante, but had ceased to prevail in English counties since the Norman Conquest. However turbulent may have been the mobs of these petty town- republics, however imperfect their police system, and however primitive their arrangements for drainage and water supply, it is certain that municipal public spirit was more active, and that each citizen realised more fully what he owed to his neighbours than would be possible under the present routine of municipal administration. The earliest borough members, if not the knights of the shire, represented communities with a vigorous indi- Bkodeick.] LOGAL GOVBENMENT IN ENGLAND. 1 viduality of their o-wn, proud of their local usages an( traditions, habituated to self-government by daily prac tice under perilous conditions, and by no means inclinec to devolve their share of sovereignty upon the Imperia Legislature, whether assembled at Westmiaster, at Win Chester, or at Oxford. By degrees, however, an oligarchica element was introduced intp the organisation of boroughs chiefly by means of the associations called merchant guilds. In some cases, the original merchant-guild was coextensive or almost coextensive with the whole bodj of burgesses; in other cases, several merchant-guilds ultimately coalesced into one. Sometimes, the guile itself was' incorporated by charter, or the borough was placed under the direct government of the guild ; some^ times, one or more guilds spontaneously grew up side by side with the municipal corporation, and at lasl supplanted it. The process whereby, under various forms, the principle of the guild obtained so genera] an ascendancy in borough-government, and the oper meetings of burgesses convened for all purposes of local government became merged in guild-hall meetiags pro- perly convened for the regulation of trade alone, has never been fully elucida.ted. Sufiice it to say that it was consummated for the most part during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ; the wealthiest burgesses, usually members of the guild, being formed into a Town Council, and usurping the power legally vested in aU the in- habitants, or, at least, in all the resident householders of the borough. So important a revolution in municipal administration was not always effected without violent contests, several instances of which are recorded in the annals of London ; but, on the whole, the popular tenacity of local rights appears to have been weakened as the central executive and legislature became more powerful. Before the end of the fourteenth century, the ancient hustings-court of London itself had delegated its legis- lative authority, first to the trading companies, and afterwards to a select body of aldermen and common councU men; while in other boroughs, the form of popular election was tacitly abandoned, and self-elective boards 18 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. were allowed to monopolise all the powers and emolu- ments of tlie commonalty. Instead of checking this abuse, as their predecessors had done three centuries before, the Tudor sovereigns directly encouraged and propagated it by means of new charters, either conferring or reviving the right of Parliamentary representation. By most of these charters the Mayor and Town Council, nominated by the Crown in the first instance, but after- wards to be self-elected, were expressly constituted the borough corporation, in lieu of the burgesses ; and not only was the entire local government placed in their hands, but, in some cases, they were given the exclusive privilege of returning the borough members. 3. Such was the general state of Local Grovernment in England during the Middle Ages. We are apt to conceive of English institutions as organised with an. almost scientific regularity under the so-called feudal system, and to imagine that, however private wars and other disorders may have interfered with their practical workittg, their legal forms were far simpler and more nniform than in the present day. A closer survey. of the facts, however, leads to a wholly opposite conclu- sion. The most striking and characteristic feature of mediaeval society, in England no less than in other countries, is its marvellous complexity and want of ■uniformity. Difierences of blood, differences of local history, differences of geographical conditions, differ- ences of industrial occupation, and differences of feudal dependence, contributed not only to divide the south from the north, border counties from midland counties, and the sea-coast from the rest of England, but also to stamp every county, almost every borough, and many a country village, with a distinct indiAiduality of its own. Beneath and beside the divisions of classes on which so much stress is laid by legal students, were ■ the deeper forces of local fraternity and loyalty which gave the wars of the Roses their peculiar character and made themselves felt in every insurrection or politi- cal crisis. There can be little doubt that in tliis diversity of municipal constitutions, franchises, customs 13I10DKICK.J LOCAL QOVEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. 19 and sentiments, consisted one of the most potent se- curities for liberty. London would have proved more tractable and submissive in the days before Magna Charta, if it had been under one sjmametrical form of local government, instead of being overspread with a network of public and private jurisdictions, and sub- divided vertically, as well as horizontally, by means ol its " sokes," its wards, and its companies. Counties would have been more easily manipulated by their ■sheriffs, or brought under absolute subjection to the lioyal Curia by the inquisitorial visitations of the king's justices, if the ancient Saxon courts, the more recent undergrowth of seignorial and manorial rights^ and even such anomalies as the extra-legal enclaves created by special franchises, had not, by their verj conflict and intersection, constituted an impenetrable obstacle against the encroachments of arbitraiy power. For it must never be forgotten that, if feudal govern- ment was less popular in its spirit than Anglo-Saxon government, it was not less truly local. The great -bfor- man chieftains, whose castles towered over the lowlj/ ■dweUiugs of burghers and country freeholders, whc could imprison men in their own dungeons, aud agaiusf whom few would have dared to enforce a judgment oj the county court, were, nevertheless, stout champions oJ local independence, and, as such, often succeeded in rallying around them an enthusiasm of local patriotism not unlike that inspired by the cause of State right in America. Neither the feudal levies, nor the paid train- bands led into France by Edward III. and Henry V., were mere casual assortments of recruits held togethei by regimental discipline under royal officers ; they con- sisted of contingents raised by purely local enlistment, ii not by virtue of military tenures, from separate lordships and townships, in which neighbours were associated as comrades in arms, and commanded by gentlemen whom -they had been accustomed to obey. The same necessity of consulting local sentiment, and governing througt local agency, made itself felt in every branch of civil a,dministration. Long before the method of trial bj 20 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. jury was applied to civil suits and criminal prosecutions^ it had been the practice to ascertain local customs, grievances, and fiscal liabilities, by local inquests or " recognitions," upon sworn evidence from inhabitants oi the district. Without such previous investigations, it would have been unsafe and sometimes impossible to- enforce general laws, emanating from a central execu- tive, which had no sufiicient cognizance of local wants or conditions until Parliamentary representation was established. Even Parliamentary representation itself was, originally, little more than an expedient for obtain- ing the consent of local authorities to grants made or enactments passed by the national authority; and, it would be hardly too much to say that, for some genera- tions, the English Legislature was rather Federal than Imperial in its essential character. In later times, when the monarchy had surrounded itself with a venal court-party, the country-party in the House of Com- mons, trained in the school of local self-government, upheld the interests of the nation at large. We learn from the emphatic declarations of Philip de Comines that Lotiis XI., though he succeeded in debauching the ministers of Edwai'd IV., could not debauch the mem- bers sent up to Parliament from the country; the same testimony is recorded by Pepys in the evil days of Charles II. Nor would it be difficult to show that, before a genuine public opinion had been formed by the Press, the vices of corruption and jobbery were less characteristic of Local than of Imperial Grovernijient in this country. 4. The period between the Eeformation and the Eeform Act of 1833 is by no means eventful in the his- tory of Local Government. Its leading features are the foundation and abnormal growth of the Poor Laws ; the progressive extension of magistrates' jurisdiction in coun- ties ; and the decay of municipal institutions in boroughs. By the Poor Law of Elizabeth, every parish was charged with the support of its own poor, and the distribution of poor relief was entrusted to parochial overseers, under the superintendence of justices of the peace. Already, Buobhick.] local 00-VEUNMENT IN IJNOLAND. 21 by an Act of Henry VI., each " village " had been sub- jected to separate assessment for its contribution towards the wages of knights of the shire; and, by an Act of Philip and Mary, it was provided that two surveyors of highways should be appointed for each parish, and the parishioners were required to keep their roads in repair, -either by lending horses and carts, or by the personal labour afterwards known as statute-duty. It is, however, from the Poor Law of Elizabeth that we may date the erection of the parish into the one elementary imit of Local Grovemment within counties, as well as the defini- tive constitution of a non-elective board, consisting of magistrates, for the direction of county affairs. The Act of 1662, which imported into the Poor Law the doctrine of pauper settlement, confirmed both of these principles. By enabling paupers to be sent back from places to which they might have migrated, it rooted the rural population in the soil of their native parishes ; while it not only gave a right of appeal to Quarter-Sessions against any such order of removal, but went on to place the appoint- ment of high constables at the disposal of the Quarter- Sessions, and that of petty constables at the disposal oi two justices, where the requisite court-leets should have ceased to be regularly held. The almost simultaneous abolition of military tenures, with their oppressive inci- dents, destroyed the last semblance of feudal jurisdic- tion; the county courts, though still held for the hearing of small causes in Edward VI. 's reign, at last became obsolete, and all the more important powers of Local Government in counties became centred in the Com- missions of the Peace. When James II. meditated the utter subversion of English Hberties, his first care was to revise these Commissions through pliable Lord Lieu- tenants, and his next to pack the county representation through pliable Sherifis. Happily, neither Lord Lieu- tenants nor Sheriffs could be found base enough to abet his designs, but they could never have been entertained at aU, had not a profound change passed over the demo- cratic county institutions of olden times. So various and so onerous did the duties of magis- 22 LOCAL GOrSBNMENT IN ENOLAJSD. trates become in the course of the next century, thai>' according to Blackstone, v/hose Commentaries appeared in 1766, few then cared to undertake, and fewer under- stood, that office. By Acts of William III. and Anne, they were empowered, more fully than before, to levy rates for bridges and gaols ; by an Act of George II. > they were authorised to make one general county rate for all statutable purposes ; by Acts of George III.,. passed in 1773, they were given a special control over parish highways and turnpike roads ; and by a series of Acts, ending with one of George IV., passed in 1828, they were enabled, but not compelled, to build and maintain lunatic asylums ont of the county rate. In the meantime, the churchwardens and overseers of parishes had been empowered, so far back as 1723, to erect poor-houses, and it was provided that a single poor- house might be erected by three small parishes acting in concert. This principle was carried much further by the permissive Gilbert Act, passed in 1782, under which two-thirds of the ratepayers in any parish might appoint a guardian of the poor, with all the powers of overseers, except that of making and collecting rates ; and unions of parishes might be formed with the sanction and assistance of local justices. Another Act, passed in 1818,, called the Sturges Bourne Act, purported to remedy the chief abuses of irresponsible select vestries, which in many parishes had assumed the entire control of paro- chial taxation and management, but really placed the system of select vestries on a firmer basis, and intro- duced the pregnant innovation of plural voting. The efiPect of these measures, coupled with the gradual decline of the old English yeomanry, the substitution of tenancy at wiU for leases, the indiscriminate allowance of out- door relief, the enclosure of commons, and several other causes, was to impair fatally the spirit and capacity of self-government in rural districts. Such a revolution, may have been to some extent inevitable, and partially compensated by greater national unity. Still the fact remains that by the reign of WiUiam IV. the descend- ants of freeholders, who once sat as judges and lesis- Bkodkick.] local government IN ENGLAND. 2 lators in the courts of their own county hundred an township, had sunk into day-labourers but one degre removed from serfdom, dependent on individual land lords for the humblest dwelling, and on landlord assembled at Quarter or Petty Sessions for the securit of every ci-\dl right. The poUtical degeneracy of boroughs was even moi disastrous, because more directly the result of selfis' interests predominating over the public weal. Th unscrupulous policy of Tudor sovereigns, in narrowin; the municipal constitutions by charters ostensibly de signed to confer the parliamentary franchise, was pei sistently carried out by the Stuarts. It now became common practice for the Crown to appoint high steward of boroughs, for the express purpose of bringing Com influence to bear on their internal government and pai liamentary representation. The attempt was so fa successful that many of the boroughs lost the ver tradition of popular government, and were induced t return members whose servility contrasted unfavourabl with the manlier attitude of country gentlemen electe by the counties. This reactionary process was, c course, arrested by the Civil War, in which the middl classes, both in counties and boroughs, generally espouse the cause of the Commons ; but it was resumed wit' stiU greater energy after the Restoration. Not conten with the insidious method adopted by their prede cessors to secure the subservience of boroughs, the; directly attacked the most powerful and liberal corpora tions by causing informations of quo luarranto to be iile^ against them, and claiming on frivolous pretexts th forfeiture of their charters. Sentence of forfeiture wa actually passed by obsequious judges against severs municipalities, including the Corporation of Londo: itself; many others anticipated a like sentence by volun tary surrenders ; and though new charters were issuec they were framed on an exclusive model, the legality c which had been established by two judicial decisions c Elizabeth's and James I.'s reign. It is true that eve] the civic oligarchies thus created rebelled against th 24 LOCAL GOVEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. daring attempt afterwards made by James II. to " regulate " them under these charters, by instructing a Committee of the Privy Council to cancel the names of municipal officers duly appointed and insert others at their discretion. But this outburst of independence was shortlived,- and the evil of self-elective Town Councils perpetuated itself in spite of the proclamation by which James himself, in his extremity, assumed^ to reverse the proceedings of his Courts. The Ee volution brought no revival of municipal liberty, and Sir Erskine May states that in George III.'s charters the burgesses are as completely ignored as in those of James II. The close local juntas, called Town Councils, which had now got sole possession of the sovereign power in most corporations, were too well pleased with it to solicit or tolerate, if they could help it, any return to a more popular system of government. These town councillors, usually elected for Ufe, and conducting their proceedings ■with closed doors, soon came to regard municipal office, not as a trust, but as a lucrative inheritance, to be employed, not in promoting the good or in guarding the rights of their fellow citizens, but rather as a convenient engine for maintaining trade privileges and ministering to parliamentary corruption. The only control prac- tically exercised over them was exercised by the great noblemen who could bribe them with Gfovernment appointments, for the freemen were generally too small and always too venal a body to resist the overwhelming influences at their command. It would indeed be difficult to believe the extent to which not only the misuse of patronage, but also the misappropriation of public funds, was carried in boroughs which boasted of franchises older than Parliament itself, were they not formally and minutely set forth in the elaborate Report of the Commission on Municipal Corporations. That such a mockery of self-government should have prevailed so widely for more than a century must ever be a re- proach to constitutional monarchy in England, and a warning against a presumptuous reliance on the inherent political virtues of the English people. It could not KOBBICK.J LOCAL aOVEBNMENr IN ENGLAND. 2 liave prevailed, however, unless it had been mitigated ii some degree by the undesigned growth of another forn •of Local Grovernment, whereby the nominal administra "tors of boroughs were relieved from many of their func tions. So far back as 1684, an enterprising speculato: named Hemming had obtained letters patent conferring •on him the exclusive privilege of lighting the metropoU; by placing lamps on moonless nights before every tentl ■door. Upon a similar principle, local Acts were con stantly passed by the Legislature entrusting independ •ent boards or commissions with the management o lighting, drainage, water-supply, and other matters which should properly have fallen within the provinc( ■of town councils, but which town councils had eithei neglected or were incompetent to undertake. In mos' Tjoroughs, however, criminal jurisdiction over mino: offences committed within the boundaries still remaine( vested in the mayor and aldermen or resident justices with or without the assistance of a recorder, and subjec to special provisions in local Acts, letters patent, o: charters. When the Reformed Parliament of 183' opened a new order of things in Local no less than it National Grovernment, the variety of organisation ii English boroughs was therefore very great, though nol so great as it has since become. The one feature com mon to all was the grievous decline in that public spirii which constituted the very soul of municipal life ir olden times. Even the City of London had not escapee ■fche political blight of the eighteenth century, but th( Oommon Council of London is cited by the Commis sioners as a notable example of comparative purity, du( -to its exceptional immunity from the general rule o: self-election. 5. It is a curious and instructive fact that while ■the primitive ideal of self-government had thus become obscured both in English counties and in Englisl boroughs, it not only survived, but acquired a fresl vitality, in the colonies of New England. The contrasi between the local institutions of these communities hefore their separation from the mother-coxmtry, anc 26 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. the local institutions of Great Britain at tlie same- epoch, furnishes a tolerably exact measure of the degree in which the latter had been diverted from their natural course of development. The New England "towns"' were nothing but a reproduction of Anglo-Saxon " town- ships," with a larger average area, and mth a better- defined corporate identity. Their resident inhabitants,, or " freemen," Hke the free suitors of the old to^vn-moot,. constituted the electoral body, which admitted new mem- bers, chose all local town-officers, such as " constables," " tithing-men," and surveyors of highways, regulated all local taxation, and sent deputies to the " Greneral Courts," which corresponded in most respects with county courts in the plenitude of their independence before the Conquest. Like the townships of Old Eng- land, the New England towns were held responsible for their own roads, bridges, and police ; but, in accordance • with more recent principles of English policy, they were also held responsible for their own poor-relief and educa- tion. The example of England doubtless suggested the delegation of jurisdiction to magistrates, instead of to- popular assemblies ; but a novel precedent of e^dl augury was set by making these magistracies elective. Old usages and even old names were carefully preserved; there were grand juries and petty juries, militia regi- ments and district trainbands — nay, even stocks and whipping-posts— just as there were in England under the rule of Cromwell, whose political education and per- sonal views differed little from those of the Pilgrim Fathers. The system thus evo-lved from the results of English experience, modified by the exigencies of a new , settlement, retains its characteristic outlines to this hour in the States of New England; and the study of it may serve to show how little the working of political machinery depends on its outward form, and how muck on its inward spirit. BiiODKicK.] LOCAL GOVERmiENT IN ENGLAND. II. From this point of view, as well as from the pure] juridical point of view, the Eeform Act of 183:2 mui be considered the most important event in the histoi of our Local Government. The ISTorman Conquest i self, though it ushered in three centuries of feudalisri did not leave so deep a mark on the internal economy < English counties and boroughs as has been left by fori years of progressive but unscientific legislation under democratic impulse. During this period, all the loc; institutions of England have been subjected to a moi or less complete process of reconstruction, conducte with an absolute disregard of symmetry, on principle equally remote from the caste-like organisation of feud; tenures, and from the republican autonomy of AngL Saxon village communities. In studying the Englis system of Local Government in its latest developmen it is neither necessary nor desirable to bewilder o\ memories with aU the imperfect and tentative measurt by which it has been wrought out. What is essentii to bear in mind is that few local institutions of tl present day are of indigenous growth ; and that eve those which are framed out of ancient materials ha\ seldom been recast in the original mould, but rath( superimposed upon it, so to speak, by mechanici action. This holds good of county administratioi but it still more emphatically holds good of municip administration, which is -no longer capable of beiri treated under one general view, but must be considers separately, as it regards the metropohs, the corporal boroughs, and the non-corporate urban communities. 1. Of all the numerous territorial divisions upo which the fabric of Local Government now reposes, tl largest and the most fundamental is the area of tl county. In point of antiquity, it is true, parishes, so far i they coincide with townships, must rank before counties but counties have maintained both their independenc and their integrity, with little variation, from the earliei times, while parishes have been merged, for many a( 28 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. ministrative purposes, in unions and otlier artificial •combinations. It is well known that counties differ very mucli botli in population and in size; but it is probably realised by few tbat wbile Eutland, tbe smallest, ■contains but 94,889 acres and 22,073 inhabitants, Yorksliire contaias no less than 3,882,851 acres with 5,436,355 inhabitants, and Lancashire 1,207,926 acres with 2,819,495 inhabitants. The average size of coun- ties is 717,677 acres of land; and the average popula- tion, according to the last Census, is 436,774 ; bul whereas the former is stationary, the latter is ever on -fche increase. The greatest subdivision of the county is that to be found in Yorkshire under the name of Ridings, in Lincolnshire under the name of Parts, in Sussex under the name of Eapes, and in Kent under the name of Lathes. This subdivision, intermediate between the county and the hundred, is not without importance, when it imports a separate commission of "the peace ; but it represents no separate type of Local 'Grovemment, and may therefore be dismissed from our present consideration. The hundred itself, however interesting it may be historically, and however we may jregret that it was ignored in mapping out the Poor Law unions and other administrative districts, is no longer the second unit of county organisation. Hundreds, or "wapentakes," as they are called in the North, are still liable to be rated for damages in case of riot ; but this liability is happily little more than nominal, and the restraint of civil and criminal jurisdiction which they long retained have at last been abolished by .statute. The same may be said of the wards, liberties, and sokes which formerly obstructed and complicated the system of Local Grovernment in counties, and some reHcs of which yet survive in the New Forest and the •Stannaries. It would be equally unprofitable to dwell on such arbitrary circumscriptions as the registration dis- tricts and sub-districts, the various inspection districts, the militia districts, or the police districts. These dis- tricts have no unity or individuality of their own ; they iire mere topographical fractions, marked oiF and Varied Brodmck.] local government IN ENGLAND. 2i from time to time as occasion may require, and in n( respect to be regarded as constituent parts of tlie county The Poor Law Union rests on an entirely difFeren footing. It may be said to derive its "origin from tbi Gilbert Act already mentioned, the principles of whicl were embodied and vastly extended by the Poor La^ Amendment Act of 1834, until the whole of Englanc and Wales has been overspread by a network of 64, unions, three of which are, technically, incorporate( hundreds, and twenty-five single parishes, under sepa rate Boards. The rest are grouped, for the most part round market towns, and consist on an average of twenty three civil parishes, or townships. Not only are thesi unions the basis of modem poor law administration, bu they have been made by a recent enactment, the basi of sanitary administration in rural localities, and havi gradually come to be treated as the main secondar areas of Local Government. They are not, however, a the hundreds were, living and solid links between th county and the parish, nor are they even integral section or departments of counties. On the contrary, thei boundaries must be largely rectified, to bring within th compass of single counties no less than 250 unions which are now situated partly in one county and parti; in another. They do not coincide with the old pett; sessional districts, of which there are 700, exclusiv of boroughs, with a separate commission of the peace neither have they afibrded convenient lines of demarca tion for the new highway districts. Moreover, constan readjustments wiU be necessary, to prevent growing boroughs from overlapping agricultural unions, and though difficulties of this kind are incident to every me thod of associating urban with rural districts, they hav certainly been aggravated in this case by an undue neglec of localties and landmarks. Fortunately, the principl on which unions have been constituted is elastic enoug] to admit of indefinite adaptation to any future reform in Local Government; in the meantime these motle; aggregations of parishes, linked together by their centra workhouses, must be recognised as having become ad ministrative communities of the highest importance. 30 LOOAL GOrUBNMENT IN ENGLAND. But the parish itself is still, as it has ever been, the primary and simplest area of Local Government _ and taxation in rural districts. In most cases, parishes <;orrespond exactly with townships, or_ " villages " — a popular term, which soon found its way into the Statute 3ook. In some cases, however, the parish contains several townships, and an Act of Charles II. provided that in the northern counties, where parishes were exceptionally large", overseers of the poor should be appointed in every township or village. Hence the number of civil parishes, now amounting to 15,416, considerably exceeds that of ecclesiastical parishes. No doubt this anomaly weakens the claim of parishes, in the ecclesiastical sense, to be treated as the ultimate and im- mutable foundation of local institutions. Moreover, the independence of civil parishes has been rudely infringed •of late years by the creation of unions with superior powers of poor law management, by the subsequent introduction of union chargeability, by the substitution of county police for parish constables, by the gradual subjection of parish roads to highway boards, and by other steps in the direction of centralisation. It would Tiow be too much to say, with Sir Erskine May, that " every parish is the image and reflection of the State," with its miniature aristocracy of the Church and the land, and its miniature democracy of ratepayers assem- bled, as a parochial commonalty, in vestry meetings. Nevertheless, the parish still retains a ' substantial remnant of its old corporate life, clinging, as it were, round the parish church or burial ground. Parochial overseers continue, as ever, to be the authorities mainly responsible for the due collection of rates and the accu- racy of registers on which electoral qualifications depend for their validity, while the habit of common parochial action is kept up by annual vestry meetings, and the choice of various representative officers — not to speak of less formal, but not less popular, conventions of parish- ioners at the village club, or on the village green. How far the parish is fitted to be a self-governing community or even a separate constituency, is a question which must be reserved for a later stage of our enquiry. Meanwhile :Bjiodkick.J local GOVERNMENT JN ENGLAND. 3: at is material to observe that it occupies, with, the counts xind the union, an actual, and not merely historical place in the existing system of Local Grovernment ii •country districts. The relative dimensions of these three areas are sue! as practically to determine, in some degree, the nature o their management. The average size of a county, as wi learn from the evidence of Dr. WilHam Farr, before thi Boundaries Committee, would be represented by a squari about thirty-three miles to a side, or a circle of eighteei miles' radius. The superintendence of areas so extensivi must often involve long and expensive railway journeys as well as familiarity with a great mass of details, am v/ill naturally devolve either upon highly-paid officials ■or upon gentlemen of ample means and leisure. Th average size of the union would be represented by ; ■square of nearly ten miles to a side, or by a circle of abou five miles and a half radius. Such an area, usually com prising a small town in its immediate neighbourhooc miay easily be traversed on horseback or in a carriage without the aid of railways, and most of its administra tive business can be so arranged as to suit the conveni ence of farmers and tradespeople resorting weekly to th same market. The average size of a parish would b represented by a square of two miles to a side, or by ■circle of little more than one mile radius, so that ever part of it can be visited on foot, and the parish office] knowing every family within it, can discharge most c his duties with no great sacrifice of time or labour. 2. We have now to consider in what persons or bodie -the effective powers of Local Government over rurs districts are actually lodged, remembering that, accord ing to the census of 1871, rural districts contain abov 38 per cent, of the whole population. The chaotic dis iribution of these powers among a variety of authoritie appointed by various methods, upon various tenurei and for various terms, has become an almost proverbi^ reproach of English administration. Certainly, if con pactness and symmetry be the highest merits of organ: sation, nothing more defective could well have bee 32 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. devised. But it must be confessed tliat, judged by its results, tlie system thus established, as it were, at hap- hazard, does not compare altogether unfavourably either with that scientifically prepared by feudal lawyers, or with that founded on the ruins of feudalism in so many Continental States. The chief officers of counties are the Lord Lieu- tenant, the Gustos Eotulorum, the High Sheriff, the magistrates in the commission of the peace, and the clerk of the peace. The Lord Lieutenant is nominated by commission for life as the military Tdcegerent of the sovereign in the county, and usually holds the distinct office of custos rotulorum, or keeper of the county records, in which capacity he appoints the clerk of the peace. The high sheriff, nominated for one year by the Crown, is the principal civil representative of the sovereign in the county, the custody of which is specially committed to him by letters patent. He is responsible for the due election of coroners and knights of the shire, as well as for the due execution of all writs issued by the superior courts, and is bound, as of old, to guard the proprietary rights of the Crown within his county. It has already been explained that by successive Acts of Parliament the management of county affairs has been mainly vested in the county magistrates, all of whom are nominated by the Lord Chancellor on the recommendation of the Lord Lieutenant, and are liable to be dismissed by the Lord Chancellor at his own dis- cretion. Being for the most part landowners of ample means, they receive no salary, and a considerable propor- tion of them enjoy the dignity of their position without rendering any public services whatever. The more important functions of county magistrates are performed by them collectively at Quarter Sessions, under the pre- sidency of an unpaid Chairman elected by themselves. Of their minor functions, some can be performed by a single magistrate, others by two magistrates sitting together at petty sessions. But the magistrates as- sembled at Quarter Sessions exercise a general control, by way of appeal or revision, over the action of individual BaoDKicK.] LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. 33 magistrates, or of magistrates at petty sessions, and tlie standing committees of Quarter Sessions, throngh whicli tliey conduct most of their business, are practically so many little departments of State for the Local Govern- ment of counties. [jTlie criminal jurisdiction of the court of Quarter Sessions extends to all offences, except a few of the most aggravated, which,, by an A.ct of 1842, are withdrawn from its cognisance, and reserved for the assizes. In practice, a prisoner charged with a crime is brought tip in the first instance either before a single magistrate sitting iu his own house, or before two magistrates at petty sessions. If the charge be of the lighter class it may be dealt with in a summary way ; if it be of the graver class, and if a prima facie case can be shown against the prisoner, he is committed for trial at the Quarter Sessions, where he is regularly indicted and tried by a j.ury before the Chairman. It may, therefore, be stated broadly that county magistrates in Quarter Sessions have inherited the criminal jurisdiction, to- gether with much of the administrative authority which formerly belonged to the suitors of the old county- courts, while the county magistrates, sitting without a jury in their several courts of petty sessions, have, to a great extent, taken the place of the popular hundred- courts and courts-leet. On the other hand, the civil jurisdiction of the old county-coTirts, having been obso- lete for many generations, was revived by an Act of 1846, not in the court of Quarter Sessions, but in the new county-courts, which are constituted on a wholly different principle. These courts are reaUy nothing more than provincial branches of the Imperial judicature, since their judges need have no quaUfication of county residence, and they are directed to be held in circuits which have no relation to county boundaries. They form, therefore, no part of county government, which in this respect, as well as in others, is far less complete and self-contained than it was in Saxon times. Another important duty of the magistrates at Quarter Sessions is the supervision of the county gaols, the 3i LOCAL GOVEENMENT IN ENGLAND. county police, and the county lunatic asylums, all of which, however, are subject to annual inspection, by order of the Home Secretary. County gaols, as we have seen, were definitively placed under the charge of the magis- tracy in the reign of William III. They are usually managed by a committee of visiting justices, and the maintenance of them is defrayed out of the county rates, supplemented by an allowance from the national Treasury, in respect of certain prisoners. AU the regulations in force within county gaols must be sanctioned by the Home Secretary, to whom also reports on their condition are annually transmitted. The county police force was finally established by a statute of 1856, for which the way had been paved by various permissive or local Acts. For instance, the Lighting and "Watching Act of 1830 enabled parishes to appoint paid watchmen and levy a watch-rate, while an Act of 1831 enabled two justices, on an emergency, to appoint special constables, and make them allowances out of the county-rate. But the County Police Force, under the command of a Chief Constable appointed by the county magistrates, and of district superintendents chosen by Hm, has now entirely super- seded, in rural districts the old elective high constables of hundreds, and petty constables of parishes. It is no longer optional vdth the magistrates of each county whether they shall adopt the new system, inasmuch as the Queen in Council is empowered to enforce its adop- tion ; but it is they who levy the county police-rate, to supplement which the national Treasury contributes an equivalent sum, according to a provisional arrangement made in the session of 1874. The expense of maintain- ing county asylums for pauper lunatics was divided at the same time, on a very similar principle, between the national Treasury and the ratepayers of the county, who are thus relieved of local charges to the estimated amount of £1,250,000. The management of these asylums is legally vested in the whole body of county magistrates, but in most counties the practical regulation of them, as of the county gaols and constabulary, is habitually entrusted to a separate committee of Quarter Sessions. Bbodkick.] local GOVEBNilENT IN' ENGLAND. 35 Another committee regulates county finance and taxation, •of which annual returns must be transmitted to the Local Government Board (hereafter to be described), and must be laid by its President before Parliament. Thus it "will be seen that, while many of the most representative powers of county government, and even the power of im- posing taxes, have been absorbed by a non-elective body ■of county magistrates, they have also been more or less effectually brought under the control of the Central Administration. There are various other powers of Local Government belonging to county magistrates, some of which are exercised independently of the Imperial Executive, and some in subordination to it ; some by magistrates acting with undivided authority, and some by magistrates acting conjointly with elected deputies of the ratepayers. Perhaps the most despotic of these powers, because exercised by magistrates exclusively and irresponsibly, is the power of granting and renewing licenses to houses for the sale of intoxicating liquor. Under the old licensing system, dating from the reign of Edward VI., but mainly regulated by a statute of George IV., public- house licenses for rural districts were granted or refused on annual applications before two magistrates at special Petty Sessions, from whose decisions an appeal lay to the Court of Quarter Sessions. By the recent Act of 1872, the right of refusing licenses without appeal was reserved to the Petty Sessions, but it was provided that every fresh license must come for confirmation before a special committee of the Quarter Sessions, instead of before the whole court. The degree of practical in- fiuence for good or evil involved in the discharge of this single magisterial duty can hardly be overstated. It is a striking proof of the change which has passed over the spirit of Local Government in modem days, that so little discontent should have been excited in rural districts by the spectacle of non-representative, lawgivers determining not only how many public-houses are sufficient for the wants of each locality, but whether each public-house shall possess a local monopoly, or be subjected to depre- 36. LOGAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. ciation by the competition of new licensees. Under the Licensing Act of 1874, it is true, magistrates are ostensibly relieved of the discretional responsibility as to hours of opening and closing which oppressed them for two years ; but they are burdened with the still more onerous responsibility of declaring what is or is not a " populous place," in which publicans and their customers may enjoy greater liberty than is permitted in mere villages. Aiiother instance of imlimited magisterial authority may be found in the statutable powers under which the movements of cattle may be prohibited during the prevalence of cattle-plague. However salutary these powers may have proved in their operation, they are assuredly such as our forefathers would never have con- fided to nominees of the Crown without the assistance of elective officers. It would not be difficult to cite other cases in which the State imposes no check, beyond the liability to dismissal, on the paternal despotism of comity magistrates. As fast as new social wants have arisen, new powers have been accumulated upon them, for want of any other convenient depository, until the magisterial Bench may be said, generally, to act both as the driving- wheel and as the regulator for the entire machinery of Local Government within each county, except in respect of Highway, Poor Law, and Sanitary administration, where it shares its authority with representatives of the people. ■ It was only by slow degrees that counties acquired fuU jurisdiction over the highways within them, from the humblest parish roads up to the great turnpike roads which, before the spread of railways, formed the main arteries of internal communication. Bridges, it will be remembered, have been under county management from time immemorial ; and the obligation to repair them, originally part of the trinoda necessitas, still attaches to counties. On the other hand, at Common Law the obligation to repair all public roads, bridle-paths, and foot-paths attaches, with certain exceptions, to parishes. By_ an Act passed in 1773, the power of enforcing this obligation had been lodged in the hands of justices at ODKICK.J LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. 37 Petty Sessions. By another Act, passed in 1835, fur- tlier provision was made for the annual election of sur- veyors of highways by parish vestries ; but the forma- tion of Highway districts, by order of Petty Sessions, with the consent of the parishes concerned, was ma- terially facilitated. By an Act passed in 1863, this policy was carried much further, and the magistrates of €ach county were enabled to divide it, according to their own judgment, into Highway districts. These districts, however, were to be governed not by magistrates only, hut by mixed boards consisting partly of resident jus- tices as ex-qfficio members, and partly of waywardens returned by the constituent parishes. This Act, under which 724 Highway districts have already been formed, was not made compulsory, and can only be applied to parishes which previously maintained their own high- ways under the care of surveyors, and which are not governed by a local Board of Health. There are a fev/ counties and parts of counties in whi<;h it has not been hitherto adopted, whereas in South Wales it had been anticipated by an earlier statute, under which a special committee of magistrates is associated, for the manage- ment of highways, Avith representatives of the ratepayers. The result is said to be that in South-Welsh counties the selected miagistrates take a more leading part in the oversight of highways than is taken by English magis- trates, as cx-officio members of highway boards, in most counties where the Act is in force. Since the gradual expiration of turnpike trusts is constantly extending the jurisdiction of these boards, and sanitary legislation can hardly be canied out thoroughly without their concur- rence, it is not improbable that a large proportion of ■county business may hereafter be attracted within the sjjhere of their activity. The Board of Guardians, however,' must for the pre- sent rank next to Quarter Sessions as a centre of Local '0 tanto re- duced the parish to a mere factor of the union or high- way district, the Education Act has contributed to reinstate it — not, indeed, in the position which it occu- . pied when it was the cradle and the nursery of English Local Government, but in the position which it occupied relatively to other decaying centres of Local Government in the evU days before the Reform Act of 1832. 3. We must now revert to urban communities, and glance rapidly at the great legislative changes wrought in their municipal administration since that momentous epoch. The Reform Act itself had paved the way for a thorough reconstitution of borough corporations, by disfranchising the smallest and most corrupt of them, by extending the boundaries of man}'- others, by enfran- chising great towns which had remained outside the pale of representation, and by conferring the suffrage, theretofore monopolised by freemen and other privileged classes, on the unprivileged mass of ten-pound house- holders. The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835, pro- ceeding on the same broad lines of policy, imposed upon Beodbick.] local government IN ENGLAND. 45 all borouglis one constitutional form of government, identical in aU its essential features with, that which a few model boroughs already possessed. The governing body established by the Act for all boroughs enumerated in tbe schedule, and all which should afterwards be incorporated under its provisions, consists of a mayor, aldermen, and councillors, who together constitute the Town Council. The councillors are elected directly by the burgesses — ^that is, by the occupiers whose names are on the burgess-roll, or on a separate list to be kept for persons resident within a certain radius, being quali- fied by two years' residence and payment of rates. The prescriptive rights of freemen have been carefully pre- served, but it was provided by the Act that no such rights should be acquired in future by gift or purchase. The councillors must be qualified as burgesses, and must also be occupiers of rateable property to an amount varying with the size of the borough. They hold office for three years, so that one-third of the number retire annually on November 1st, but they are re- eligible, and frequently offer themselves for re-election. The aldermen are elected by the councillors from among themselves for a term of six years, one-half of their number retiring every tliird year, and since they can vote for their successors, it is found in practice that a party which has once been strong enough to return a large majority of aldermen, is not easily dislodged from its supremacy on the Town Council. The mayor is also elected by and from the Town Council ; his term of office is annual, and it commences with the 9th of November. The town clerk, borough treasurer, and other officers are appointed by the Town Council, which is empowered to make by-laws for the government of the borough, to manage the lighting of streets, and to maintain order through a watch committee with a force of borough constables under its command. These elementary powers of Local Grovernment, which had previously been intrusted in many boroughs to separate commissions, were thus replaced in the hands of the recognised borough authorities, subject, hov^rever, to 46 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. special Acts, which in some boroughs still perpetuate a mischievous division of administrative responsibility. By the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835, no magisterial jurisdiction was vested in the Town Council, as such, though an exception was made in favour of the mayor and ex-mayor, who are ex officio justices of the peace. All the judicial attributes claimed by various municipal officers ia various boroughs, under various charters or customs, were entirely swept away, and the Crown now appoints all borough magistrates, except in the Cinque Ports, and one or two other privileged towns. In most boroughs which have a separate commission of the peace the magistracy is unpaid, but in some large towns the town council has exercised its right under the act of moving the Crown to appoint a stipendiary magis- trate, whose salary is paid by the borough. The council of any borough may also petition the Crown to grant it a separate court of Quarter Sessions, which is thereupon invested with all the criminal and much of the civil jurisdiction belonging to courts of Quarter Sessions for counties. This jurisdiction, however, is no longer exercised by the borough magistrates collectively, as it was in boroughs which had a separate commission of the peace before the Act of 1 836. On the contrary, it is now delegated to a paid judge, called a recorder, and, with slight exceptions, the powers retained by the borough magistrates are precisely those which belong to county magistrates at petty sessions. Thus, it is the borough magistrates who, under the Act of 1872, grant public-house licenses, but licenses so granted by two borough magistrates are not valid until they have been confirmed by the whole body. The great advantage enjoyed by those boroughs which have not only a separate commission of the peace, but a court of Quarter Sessions, is the right of maintaining a borough gaol, with an immunity from the interference of county magistrates, and from the county gaol rate. In boroughs which have a separate commission of the peace, but no court of Quarter Sessions, the county magistrates frequently possess concurrent jurisdiction with the borough magis- Bbodkick.] local GOVEBmiENT IN ENCtLANB. 47 trates, and in boronglis which have neither, their juris- diction is as exclusive as it is over rural districts. Nor is it unusual for the police force, in the smaller boroughs, to he amalgamated, as the law already permits, and as it wiU probably soon require, with the police force of counties. All the legitimate expenses of municipal govern- ment in boroughs are defrayed either from the income of corporate property, or by means of a borough rate. In some boroughs, the corporate property is sufficient to cover the whole charge, and it is expressly enacted that, if there be any surplus, it must be devoted, not as of old, to private benefactions and jobbery, but to the benefit of the inhabitants, and the improvement of the town. In most boroughs, however, a borough rate is re- gularly levied, in the same manner as a county rate, and the occupiers of agricultural land have no such partial exemption from it as they enjoy in the case of a " general district rate " imposed by a sanitary authority. The objects to which it is applied in a typical borough are specified in a " demand note " issued in April, 1874, by the overseers of Birmingham, where the borough rate is collected with the poor rate, and happens to be very nearly equal with the cost of poor relief. The borough rate of Birmingham is explicitly stated in this " demand note " to include " the school board rate and the main- tenance of the police force, borough gaol, lunatic asylum, baths and washhouses, public libraries, parks, and cemetery," besides liabihties for " general ex- penses." These " general expenses " comprehend, as a matter of course, the expense of paving, lighting, sewerage, and town improvements of all kinds, whether sanitary or merely conducive to public convenience. Birmingham, it is true, is partly governed under local Acts, and perhaps there are not many boroughs in which so many public institutions are directly supported out of the borough rates. Still, this example may serve to illustrate the multiplicity of items which make up the local budget of a large borough, over and above the simpler necessities of Local Government which are common to large boroughs and small villages. 48 LOGAL GOrEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. In considering the mode in which the business of _ municipal government is conducted by To-\vn Councils, it must be kept in mind that England and Wales con- tains, at present, 227 boroughs, some of v/hich, and especially the smallest, exhibit special complications in their constitution. We have already noticed the [ordinary functions of a Town Council under the Muni- cipal Corporations Act of 1835, but other functions, either permissive or compulsory, have been assigned to - it by subsequent legislation. Such are the powers whereby it can regulate markets and fairs, weights and measures, the construction of buildings, the safeguards against overcrowding, the establishment and maintenance of free libraries, borough parks, and cemeteries. These and similar powers of administration are practically confided, in well-governed boroughs, to separate com- mittees of the Town Council, analogous to committees of Quarter Sessions. The same machinery is naturally employed for the management of municipal gasworks, waterworks, docks, or harbours, in boroughs which, under general or special Acts, have authorised their Town Councils to acquire and superintend any of these concerns on their behalf. It is somewhat remarkable that no special powers for sanitary purposes were con- ferred on Town Councils by the Municipal Corpo- rations Act. But this omission has been more than repaired by the Public Health Act of 1848, the Local Government Act of 1858, and the Public Health Act of 1872, the first two of which permissively constitute, while the last imperatively constitutes, these bodies the sanitary authorities within such boroughs as do not form part of a larger district under an Improvement Commission or a Local Board. In this capacity, they have almost supreme power over main sewerage, the drainage of private dwellings, water and gas supply, slaughterhouses, baths and washhouses, common lodgrug- hduses, ofiensive trades, burial-grounds, and other sani- tary matters. In boroughs which had adopted the Local Government Acts before 1872, all expenses in- curred by the Town Council for these sanitary purposes ' BaoDKicK.] LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. 49 are payable out of a general district rate. In boroughs wHcb bad not adopted tbose Acts before 1872 tbe sanitary expenses of tbe Town Council, tben formally designated as the sanitary authority, are payable out of the borough fands or borough rate. The chief differ- ence is that, whereas in the former case agricultural land is rated, as already explained, at one-fourth of its real value, in the latter case it bears its full share of sanitary burdens. Speaking generally, then, we find two distiuct execu- tive boards within each large borough — ^the borough magistracy, exercising the judicial and quasi-judicial powers of county magistrates, with the aid of a re- corder, and the Town Council, exercising larger ad- ministrative powers than county magistrates possess, or than are required for rural districts, either as the govern- ing body of the municipality, or as the sanitary authority of an urban sanitary district. Sometimes the boundaries of the borough coincide, or nearly coincide, with those of a poor law union, or of a parish so large as to be organised on the same plan as a poor law union. Under these cir- cumstances, there will be a board of guardians, side by side with the magistracy and the Town Council, which may frequently require their co-operation for the efficient discharge of its duties, and must always be in financial contact with them, in so far as the borough rate and poor rate are collected together by the same parochial officers. At the same time, it would be erroneous to i'Bgard urban boards of guardians as having any organic connection with the local government of boroughs, inasmuch as they represent imions in which urban and rural communities are usually intermingled, and administer poor relief on uniform principles, equally applicable to both. If we now compare boroughs with counties, it is mani- fest that boroughs enjoy a much larger share of self- government, legally derived from their ancient corporate franchises, but justified by the exigencies of a crowded population, for which the Legislature has provided by a multitude of incongruous enactments. It is no E 50 LOCAL GOVEBNMSINT IK BNGLAND. less certain, that if we could examine the local institu- tions of these 227 municipalities, one by one, we should discern a much greater diversity in their spirit and operation than exists between the local institutions of Yorkshire and Eutland, or any other two of the fifty- two counties in England and "Wales. Not only does the administration of a borough with some hundred thousand inhabitants differ, of necessity, both in scale and in nature, from the administration of a borough with five or ten thousand inhabitants, but, in spite of the levelling policy embodied in the Mimicipal Corpora- tions Act, differences of local history, of local situation, and of other local circumstances, make themselves sen- sibly felt in the Local Grovemment of boroughs equally large and populous. No anatomical resemblance of out- ward structure can assimilate the inner municipal life of quaint old cathedral cities with that of new and fashion- able watering-places, that of sea-ports with that of in- land towns, that of manufacturing or mining settlements with that of market towns in the midst of agricultural neighbourhoods. The distinctive characteristics of each may be scarcely visible to an official eye, but they are always deeply stamped on its social features, often re- flected in peculiarities of its municipal constitution, and sometimes rudely exposed to view in election enquiries. 4. There are two other classes of urban communities, which are expressly distinguished from boroughs in the Public Health Act of 1872, as possessing a lower degree of corporate organisation. Of these nascent or haJf- developed municipalities, the most rudimentary are towns under so-called "_ Improvement Commissions," established by special Acts of Parliament, which are interpreted and extended by the Greneral Consolidation Act of 1847. Such commissions, as we have a,lready seen, exist in some incorporated boroughs, and continue to exercise the functions originally allotted to them, side by side with the Town Councils. It was stated by Dr. Farr, in his evidence before the Boundaries Committee, that out of eighty-eight towns under im- provement or other commissions, thirty-seven were also "Brodrick.] local GOrHRN'MENT IN ENGLAND. 61 iniiiiicipal borouglis, tlie remaining fifty-one being towns wMcli had not yet attained the dignity of municipal incorporation, and in wliich. the commission was, there- fore, almost the only visible symbol of local authority. Towns of this class, however small, differ from mere rural parishes, not only in having a governing body capable of making effective arrangements for paving, lighting, drainage, and water supply, but in being con- stituted " urban sanitary districts " by the Pubhc Health Act of 1872, instead of being merged in the surrounding unions. But they have no independent magistracy or police, nor would they be exempt from the highway jurisdiction of the county, unless by virtue of express provisions in their local Acts. Hence it sometimes happens that places already under Improvement Com- missions apply for the sanction of the Local Grovern- ment Board, in order to create themselves Local Grovem- ment districts. These districts form the second and more important class of urban communities below the rank of boroughs, and have rapidly multiplied in the northern counties. No less than 721 town populations (including 146 horoughs) were stated to have been placed under local boards up to the year 1873 ; and the last report of the Local Grovernment Board shows that twenty- six were added in the course of that year. Very ample sanitary powers, together with the exclusive manage- ment of highways, were conferred on these boards, originally called boards of health, by the Public Health Act of 1848. The Central Department was to fix a ■certain number of substantial householders to compose each local board ; but the members were to be elected liy .the ratepayers, on the principle of multiple voting, for a term of three years, one-third retiring an- nually. By the Local Grovernment Act of 1858, and supplementary enactments, these boards were further armed with nearly all the general powers of Local Grovernment, except those of judicature, and poHce ; and in those boroughs which have both local boards and Town Councils, the preponderance both of pres- S2 LOCAL GOVERNMUNT IN ENGLAND. tige and of real authority sometimes rests with the- former. In 1858, it is true, the compulsory application, of the Public Health Act was abolished, but in 1866 a far more arbitrary discretion was lodged in the hands of _ the Home Secretary, who might coerce defaulting local" boards of health by appointing some person to perform their duties for them in the last resort, and obtain an order from the Court of Queen's Bench to enforce the payment of costs and expenses. This, with aU other branches of the Home Secretary's jurisdiction over sani- tary matters, is now transferred to the Local Govern- ment Board, which has, in theory, an almost unlimited control of local government districts, and whose in- spectors may attend any meetings of local boards, though not of Town Councils or improvement commis- sioners. In case a local board should persistently re- main in default, the Local Grovernment Board may either enforce its order by mandamus, or cause the necessary works to be executed at the expense of the rate- payers. In fact, however, the Local Grovernment Board has seldom attempted to exert its right of intervention except by way of remonstrance and warning. After local government districts have once been formed, they rate themselves and govern themselves with almost as .much freedom and variety as boroughs, to which they have been assimilated more closely than ever, for all sanitary and quasi-sanitary purposes, by the Pubhc Health Act of 1872. 5. The position of the metropolis among urban com- munities is, in many respects, entu-ely unique. It is weU. known that the City of London was specifically exempted from the operation of the Municipal Corpora- tions Act, partly, no doubt, in deference to its over- whelming capacity of resistance, but partly out of respect for its g^eat historical traditions and compara- tive purity of administration. The consequence is that a district containing but 640 acres, situated in the heart of the metropolis, continues to be governed by a corpo- ration framed on the genuine mediseVal pattern, and retaining an independent civil jurisdiction which is a :Beodmck.] local government in ENGLAND. 53 veritable remnant of tlie private " sokes," or franctises, long since extirpated in other parts of tte kiagdom. It contained in 1871 a "sleeping poptdation" of 74,494, and is divided into 26 wards, and 108 parishes, eleven of whicli lie mthout the walls, but within the liberties. The chief municipal officers of the City are the Lord Mayor, 26 Aldermen, 206 Common Councilmen, exclu- sive of the Aldermen, two sheriffs (who jointly hold the shrievalty of Middlesex), a Eecorder, a Common Ser- jeant, a Chamberlain, and a Town Clerk. The Lord Mayor, who must be an alderman, and must have served in the office of Sheriff, is elected for one year, on the 39th of September, by the Livery— that is, by the members of the seventy-six Livery Companies, amount- ing in aU to about 7,000, who exercise their right by presenting two names to the Court of Aldermen. Of the persons thus designated, the Court of Aldermen nominates one, generally the one 'whose name stands first, and this nomination is further confirmed by the Crown, for which purpose the Lord Mayor proceeds to Westminster Hall on the 9th of November, and re- ceives the royal approval from the Lord Chancellor. The aldermen are elected for life, one in each ward, according to the custom of the City of London, by a body of freemen, amounting in all to about 20,000. Every alderman is a justice of the peace for the City of London, and presides in the assembly of his own v/ard, called the wardmote, by which the Common Councilmen are elected annually on St. Thomas's Day. The Lord Mayor presides over meetings of the Common Council, and the aldermen form part of that assembly. The sheriffs are chosen annually by the Livery, and there is a Sheriff's Court, which has cognizance of per- •sonal actions under the provisions of the London Small Debts Act. But the most important civil tribunal in the City of London is the Lord Mayor's Court, of which the Judge is the Eecorder, who is elected for life by the aldermen, and whose place is usually filled, in his absence, by the Common Serjeant. This Court is so far <;o-ordinate in rank with the Queen's Courts at West- 54, LOCAL OOVEliNMENT IN UNGLANB. minster that writs of error from it are earned directly to the Exchequer Chamber ; and though, under a recent Act, there is an appeal from its legal jurisdiction to one of the Superior Courts, it is said that the appeal from its equitable jurisdiction lies directly to the House of Lords. The Lord Mayor also sits as Chief Magis- trate in the Mansion House police-court, as one of the Aldermen sits in the Gruildhall Police-court, and the Lord Mayor sits with the Aldermen and the Eecorder at the London Sessions, which are held eight times a year, and at which Her Majesty's judges occa- sionally preside. The police force of the City and liberties is distinct from the Metropolitan Consta- bulary, being commanded by a Commissioner, who is appointed by the Common Council, subject to the approval of the Crown. The City has, moreover, a separate Commission of Sewers, the members of which are appointed by the Corporation, and which regulates drainagCi and matters affecting public health, with the assistance of a medical officer, besides super- intending the repairs of streets. Nor is the admini- strative authority of the Corporation limited by the- City boundaries, for the Lord Mayor is ex officio chair- man of the Thames Conservators, six of whom, besides himself, are elected by the Common Council, in whom, by an Act of 1866, was vested a very extensive juris- diction over the river and port of London. The gross revenue of the Corporation from all sources is stated in the last Report of the Local Go- vernment Board as having amounted in the year 1871 to £1,299,767, " of which £756,414 appears to have- been raised by taxation, as rates, rents, tolls, duties, or fees." About £50,000 of this sum was derived from police or ward rates, nearly £200,000 from tolls, or markets, and above £300,000 from coal duties.. As the City of London is specially exempted from' making returns of municipal income and expendi- ture to Parliament, these statistics mainly rest on the authority of abstracts issued by the Corporation, and the Local Government Board has no official cognizance of Bkodkick.] local government IN ENQLANB. 65 its financial administration. We learn, however, from a balance-sheet issued for 1872, that in that year the " ex- penses of civil government" amounted to nearly £40,000, besides above £17,000 awarded in "donations, pensions, and rewards ; " that £1 5,000 was spent in nearly equal portions on education and the administration of justice ; £20,000 on the erection of a new library and museum ; above £170,000 in the construction of a new Foreign Market; above £100,000 in the construction, improve- ment, and maintenance of other markets, and a very large sum on management and collection. The vast area outside the City boundaries, but within the Metropolitan District of the Eegistrar-Greneral, con- tained in 1873 an estimated population of 3,810,744. It extends into four counties, encloses nine Parliamentary boroughs, and comprises ninety-five registration parishes, three of which number collectively more than 600,000 inhabitants. Under an Act passed in 1855, the local government of this immense " province covered with houses " is mainly divided between thirty-eight select vestries, or district boards, and the Metropolitan Board of Works. The smaller London parishes (exclusive of the City) are grouped together under district boards, to which the vestry of each parish returns mem- bers in proportion to population. The larger parishes are distributed, after the manner of boroughs, into seve- ral wards, to each of which members are allotted, accord- ing to its size. The electoral body consists of the rate- payers, and the members of vestries or district boards are elected, like town councillors, for three years, one third retiring annually. The vestries and district boards have the general charge of branch drainage, as distinct from main drainage, of buildings, streets, light- ing, water-supply, and sanitary arrangements, with power to levy parochial rates for these purposes. It was shown by a Eetum printed in 1872 that, during the period from 1856 to 1870, the vestries and district boards had executed works of sewerage, paving, and other improvements, to the amount of £7,212,3 1 9. The main drainage of the whole Metropolis, including the 56 LOCAL GOVERJS/MJUJST IJS jujsuIjAJSU. City, was entrusted by the same Act to a new body, en- titled tbe Metropolitan Board of Works, and this body is responsible for the execution of improvements for the common benefit of all London, with power to levy a " Metropolitan Consolidated Eate ; " besides which it receives above two-thirds of the metropolitan coal duties, and the whole of the wine duties. It is composed of forty-six members, three of whom are elected by the Common Council of the City, and the rest by the vestries and district boards, for the same term, and upon the same conditions of retirement, as the vestrymen. Its meetings are public, and are held on Friday in each week, except during vacations. A great part of its busiaess, however, is transacted through committees, the various titles of which sufficiently indicate the multiplicity of duties, over and above the great work of main drainage and the Thames Embankment, which successive Acts of Parlia- ment have cast upon the Metropolitan Board. Thus, besides the Works and Greneral Purposes Committee and the Appeal Committee (which are committees of the "whole Board), the Finance Committee, and the Parlia- mentary Committee, there is a Fire Brigade Committee, to carry out the duty of protecting the whole Metropolis against fire, which the Board was required to undertake in 1865 ; a Building Act Committee, to enforce the Acts of 1S55, 1860, 1861, and 1869, against overcrowding and dangerous structures ; a Parks, Commons, and Open Spaces Committee, for the preservation or management of public recreation grounds in or round London, under eleven different Acts ; a Cattle Diseases Act Committee, to guard against the importation of infected animals from abroad, imder an Act of 1869 ; and a Special Com- mittee engaged in prosecuting experiments in the venti- lation of sewers. Even this list does not exhaust the responsibilities of the Metropolitan Board, which, like the Privy Council, has been charged with a multitude of miscellaneous powers for which no other convenient trustee could be found — ^having, for instance, the con- trol of metropolitan tramways, and being made arbiter as to such matters as the proportion of parochial contri- 3b,odeick.J LOGAL GOVBUmiUNT IN ENGLAND. 57 TjTitioiis towards ordinary roadways in more tlian one parish., and tlie adjustment of parocliial divisions. The annual expenditure of the Board on these various ac- -counts has averaged about £350,000, during the last seven years, and its net actual debt at the end of 1873 was nearly £9,000,000, or, allowing for prospective re- ■coupments, £7,728,374. The Metropolitan Police District, which compre- hends the whole Metropolis, exclusive of the City, was formed by an Act of 1829, a year before the Lighting and Watching Act was passed for the country at large. The effect of this Act is to place the Metropolitan Police under the command of a commissioner nominated by the Home Secretary, and responsible to him alone. The Home Secretary also nominates the stipendiary poHce- magistrates for London and Middlesex, who exercise a petty-sessional jurisdiction in the thirteen police-courts •of the Metropolis, exclusive of the City. It is needless to point out that, ia these respects, London enjoys a less degree of independence than provincial boroughs, whose Councils regulate the borough police, and whose magistrates, iastead of being appointed by the Home Secretary, as head of the Imperial Executive, are ap- pointed by the Lord Chancellor, as head of the law. For the purposes of Poor Law administration, London ■consists of thirty divisions, fourteen of which are old parishes, and sixteen unions of parishes. Any of these •divisions, however, may be associated, by the authority of the Local Government Board, under an Act of 1867, for contribution to certain special objects. The " Metropolitan Asylum Board," which provides for the accommodation of imbeciles and of smaU-pox or fever patients, actually represents all the divisions, while there are several common infirmaries and district workhouse schools for smaller groups or divisions. A somewhat exceptional discretion in respect of ordinary out- door xelief is allowed to metropolitan guardians, as to other guardians of very large urban unions, by the Local Government Board, but, on the other hand, an excep- iionally powerful hold upon their action is retained by 58 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENQLANB. that Board in respect of medical relief, both out-door and in-door. A Common Poor Fund was formed in 1867, to which, all the divisions contribute rateably, upon which the whole cost of drugs is charged, and out of which each division is entitled to receive a grant of fivepence a day for the maintenance of each indoor pauper, if its guardians have, in the judgment of the Board, fulfilled aU their legal obligations. The leverage afforded by this provision has enabled the Local Grovemment Board to insist upon many improvements in workhouse infirmaries which they might otherwise have been powerless to enforce, and the same principle extends to the establish- ment of dispensaries and the payment of school fees for pauper children. It appears from the last report of the Local Government Board, that during the year ending at Michaelmas, 1872, no less than £661,889 was paid, under various heads, out of the Common Poor Fund, which, so far, represents an equalisation of poor rates over the whole metropolitan district. There is another marked peculiarity in the Poor Law system of the Metropolis which brings it still more directly under im- perial influence. In non-metropolitan unions the attend- ance of resident magistrates, as ex-officio guardians, is generally sufficient to balance in some degree the preju- dices of parochial representatives, but in London unions, many of which, and especially the poorest, have few active magistrates residing within them, the Grovemment is empowered to nominate guardians not exceeding in number one-fourth of each Board. A similar element has been introduced into the constitution of the Metro- politan Asylum District Board, of whose sixty members three-fourths are elected by the several Boards of (xuardians united for this purpose, and one-fourth are appointed by the Local Government Board. By the Education Act of 1870, the whole Metro- polis, including the City, was constituted a school district by itself, and the Metropolitan School Board now occupies a conspicuous place among the local in- stitutions of London. It consists of forty-nine members, elected by constituencies which coincide, in respect of Bkodrick.] local government IN ENGLAND. 59- area, with those of the Parliamentary boroughs in the Metropolis, by the method of cumulative voting, which, strange to say, must be conducted secretly outside th& City, but" openly within the City. Moreover, in the City the electoral body is the same as for the election of Common Councilmen; whereas, in the rest of London, it includes all the ratepayers. The publicity which has been given, from the first, to all the proceedings of the London School Board, the magnitude of its task, and the extent to which it has exercised its rating powers for the erection of new schools, combine to make its operation one of the most instructive experiments in urban self-government that has yet been tried, since the Municipal Corporations Act was passed. Hitherto, it has not failed to attract the services of able and public-spirited men in sufficient numbers to leaven th& mass of its members, and to obtain an ascendancy in shaping its educational policy. It could scarcely have succeeded, however, in bringing accurate local knowledge and minute superintendence to bear on every parish, had it not been aided by district committees, informally constituted, each of which has a member of the Board for its chairman, and acts under the directions of that body. How far the excitement of novelty, the struggle- for the mastery between two religious parties, the in- trinsic value and permanent interest of popular educa- tion, or the cumulative method of voting, may have- contributed to produce these satisfactory results, is a question which time alone can determine. III. 1. In reviewing the present system of Local Grovern- ment in England, the bare outlines of which have been sketched, the feature which first arrests our attention is its striking, and almost obtrusive, lack of unity. The- perception of this salient fact would not be weakened,, but strengthened, by a minuter examination of details. For instance, not merely is there one sanitary code for urban and another for rural districts, one for the Metro- 60 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. polis, and anotlier for provincial boroughs, one for borouglis, and another for non-corporate towns, and so forth; but, for sanitary purposes, the boroughs of Oxford, Cambridge, Blandford, Calne, Wenlock, and Newport in the Isle of Wight, are not deemed boroughs; and some very large towns,, such as Birkenhead and Cheltenham, are neither municipal boroughs nor Local Board districts, but governed by Improvement Commissioners, whose powers, under their several local Acts, may range from despotism to impotence, and are probably quite unknown to nine-tenths of the inhabitants. Even the Public Health Act of 1872, which purports to consolidate previous enactments, has really done no more than in- corporate them by reference; and the official digests of statutes relating to Sanitary Authorities, urban and rural, which have been compiled since that Act, are copious enough to fill two moderate-sized volumes. A certain degree of diversity, it is true, must be ascribed to natural and inevitable causes, which no legislation could have eliminated, and which it is no part of sound policy to ignore. The Dock Board, which regulates the navigation of the Mersey, at Liverpool, could have no place at Manchester. Villages separated by a mountain chain from the rest of their own county, must sometimes, perhaps, be linked with neighbouring villages in another county ; and venerable cities, with customs older than the common law itself, should not be compelled, on light grounds, to surrender them. StUl, after making every allowance for such considerations, we cannot but acknowledge that a reckless neglect, both of scientific principles, and of practical- convenience, on the part of successive Parliaments, could alone have brought about that portentous confusion of all the elements in Local Government which Mr. Goschen justly described as a chaos of authorities, a chaos of rates, and a chaos, worse than all, of areas. He might have added that a chaos of local elections and local franchises aggravates the cliaos of authorities, rates, and areas, since the method and time of recording votes for various local officers, as well as the qualifications of the various local electorates. Brodrick.] local government IN ENGLAND. 61 differ so widely as to defy analysis and generalisation. True it is that less collision and friction results fr'om this lack of unity than it would surely produce in a nation with less capacity for self-government. Common sense tells us, however, that it must involve, as it does palpably involve, an enormous waste of power and materials. It has been calculated that more than 7,000 persons, mostly fathers of families, are engaged in various official positions, without salary, administering the local affairs of the Metropolis. Now, it is certain that half this number of persons might do the same work more efficiently, if it were properly distributed among them, in respect of place and time, and that half the salaries of clerks, and other paid officers who assist them, might be saved by a similar re-adjustment. 2. Another reflection, forced upon us by a study, however imperfect, of Local Government in England, is, that much vaster and more various interests are prac- tically subjected to it than is commonly realised, or than were subjected to it in the last generation. Let us take as an example the municipal government of Liverpool, which has been well likened to that of a maritime state, and let us, for the sake of convenience, adopt a financial standard- of measurement. A concise account of Liver- pool finance has been lately embodied in a paper by Mr. William Eathbone, M.P., on " The Growth of Local Taxation in Liverpool." From this it appears that, in the year 1871, £284,738 was raised in rates by the Cor- poration of Liverpool, for lighting and fire-police, scavenging, paving, sewerage, watering, public parks, and general purposes. This sum, however, by no means covered the whole expenditure out of the borough-fand, since Liverpool is fortunate enough to possess a cor- porate estate, worth more than £600,000 a year if let at rack rent, and actually yielding more than £100,000 a year, besides large profits derived from market fines, legal fees, and other sources, so that no rate is n^ded to main- tain the ordinary pohce. Moreover, the poor rates, other parochial rates, and a museum rate, were levied separately by the parish authorities, and amounted in the aggregate «2 LOCAL GOVSBNMENT IN HJNGLAND. to £196,360 for the year 1871. Altogether, Mr. Bath- bone states the whole receipts from rates at £481,089, besides the rent paid for watpr supply, which he reckons at £75,000, and the income of the Corporation from all •other sources, which he reckons at £260,000. It follows -that Liverpool had in 1871 a local revenue of more than £800,000, over and above the proceeds of loans, and other receipts on capital account. Of the municipal -debts thus contracted by municipal boroughs full returns are laid annually before the Local Grovernment Board. Those just issued, for the year 1873, show that loans to an aggregate amount of £761,586 were effected, on the security of rates or property, by 223 municipal boroughs of England and Wales, exclusive of London. The whole outstanding debt of these boroughs, up to Michaelmas, 1873, is stated in the same report at £6,613,095, their xateable value at £28,522,518, their total receipts for the year, including loans, at £3,436,834, and their total -expenditure, including interest on loans, at £3,742,563. Of course, these " Municipal Borough Accounts," as submitted to Parliament, by no means represent the ■entire cost or range of Local Grovernment within the places to which they refer, since they make no mention ■of poor rates or sanitary rates, except in one or two •cases. Still less do they aflFord any basis for an estimate of the whole sum raised by Local Taxation, and ex- pended for purposes of Local Grovernment in England and Wales. This information, however, is supplied in the last report of the Local Grovernment Board, whence it appears that, during the year 1872-3, the sum of £18,571,538 was levied by rates falling on rateable property, the sum of £4,056,752 was levied by tolls and dues falling on trafl&c, and the sum of £328,741 was levied by duties falling on consumable articles — ^in other words, by the coal and -wine duties payable in the port of London. The aggregate yield of Local Taxation in 1872-3 was, therefore, £22,957,031, exclusive of £8,106,457, placed under the head of Bates, as derived from loans contracted on the security of rates and "other sources," and of £1,765,088, placed under the 3jiODKiCK.J LOCAL QOVEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. 63 head of Tolls and Dues, as derived similarly from loans and other sources. Including these items, the total revenue for purposes of Local Grovernment reached £32,829,076, exceeding the total .expenditure by about ^164,000. The whole amount of loans outstanding at the close of the respective accounts for the same year was no less than £72,000,000, exceeding the whole amount for the previous year by £2,500,000. These figures, which dwarf the proportions of many national budgets and debts, may be left to speak for themselves, and do not require to be supplemented by instances of the manifold ways in which local taxation and ex- penditure, especially in great towns, come home to every ratepayer. It may be said, in a word, that Imperial finance, even when it deals with larger totals, does not deal with more important items than Local finance, and that Imperial Grovernment, though it afiects the destinies -of nations more sensibly, is less closely bound up with daily life than Local Grovernment. 3. If we here pause to ask ourselves .how far Local •Grovernment in England can be said to work well, as a 'whole, and which are the strongest or weakest parts of ithe machinery, we are at once confi:onted with an almost insuperable difficulty. In aU government efficiency ■depends more upon individual action than upon consti- tutional rules ; but in Local Grovernment of the English type almost everything depends on the character and abilities of the men who may be induced by various motives to engage in it. The well-known case of the Atcham Union, in Shropshire, where pauperism was reduced to well nigh incredible minimum by the devoted personal exertions of a single landlord, shows how admi- rable an instrument of Local Gl-overnment even a rural board of guardians may become under the leadership of an enlightened chairman. Nor would it be impossible to pick out small parishes, both in towns and in country districts, whose local administration, owing to similar causes, would compare favourably with that of some great municipalities. Speaking generally, however, we cannot but recognise the superiority of large to small boroughs 64 LOCAJj aOVEJlNMENT IN BNGLANB. in all the cardinal virtues of Local Grovemment; nor shall we fail to observe that a local governing body usually discharges its functions the better, the higher those functions are in their own nature. The way in which business is done in several of the more important Town Councils, by men thoroughly conversant with every detail of local affairs, stimulated to industry and fortified against jobbery by the vigilance of their col- leagues, raised above personal jealousies by a sense of corporate dignity, and made to feel the full weight of individual responsibility by a careful division of labour, is certainly not surpassed by the conduct of business in the House of Commons, or in most of the public offices. It is in such boroughs, moreover, that ratepayers are most readily induced to sanction expenditure on non- utilitarian objects, like free libraries and public museums, in which England is as yet so far behind the United States. A recent publication shows that Manchester has already established six free libraries, and Birming- ham five, closely followed by Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, and Leicester; while, for want of a sound municipal spirit, the only London district that has adopted the Public Libraries Act is "Westminster, and St. Pancras has lately recorded a vote against doing so. But the School Boards of London, and a few pro- vincial capitals, may probably be cited as the best speci- mens of Local Grovemment to be seen in England, inasmuch as they have succeeded in attracting the most educated members of the community for the performance of the highest local duty, thereby fulfilling two main conditions of efficiency. For somewhat different reasons, the Metropolitan Asylum District Board is second to no other local governing body in London in reputation for administrative capacity. Here the fifteen members nominated and carefully selected by the Grovemment not only take a leading part in the work, by virtue of their education and standing, but set a standard of honesty and ability to which the representative mem- bers, themselves picked men, cannot but approximate. On the other hand, the cardinal vices of Local Grovern- Bbodkicic] LOOAL GOVEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. 65 ment are too often illustrated in tlie municipal economy of decayed or decaying boroughs, in the sanitary economy of localities where an educated class is wanting, and in the management of pauperism under boards of, guardians mainly consisting of farmers and tradespeople. In such cases, even if there is no very gross venality, there is almost sure to be an inclination to short-sighted extravagance, alternating with short-sighted parsimony, and a more or less extensive prevalence of corruption in that subtler form known in America as " log-rolling." The contractor or builder has not merely private am- bition to gratify, but private interests to serve, by getting into the Town Council when a scheme of drainage or street improvement happens to be on foot. The petty cottage proprietor and the petty shopkeeper are tempted, as guardians of the poor, to keep their debtors or cus- tomers afloat by reckless out-door relief; and are, perhaps, tacitly in league with the farmer, who dreads above all things a migration of able-bodied labourers. The self^ complacent member of an obscure School Board, like the churchwarden of past generations, likes to lay out large sums on bricks and mortar, with a chance of beholding his own. name engraved on a tablet, and sees his advan- tage in giving handsome orders to architects and deco- rators ; but, as a representative of ratepayers, he grudges the schoolmaster his well-earned salary, and will cut down the most legitimate items of annual expenditure to put a good face on the balance-sheet. This strange combination of penny-wisdom in the disposition of income, with pound-folly in the disposition of capital, is indeed a besetting weakness of English Local Grovern- ment in its lower gradations. Whatever else may be said in favour of it, we cannot say that it is cheaply worked ; and notwithstanding that economy is both the boast and the reproach of local elective boards, it may well be doubted whether, in this respect, they have not much to learn from the non-elective magistrates who manage county finance. 4. At the same time, it is impossible to survey county administration in its entirety, without being struck with m LOCAL aOVEBNMJUJST IJSI OIJUULAMU. the extraordinary absence of self-government in rural communities. "We are wont to look back on Saxon times as barbarous, and on the feudal system as oppressive ; but the simple truth is that nine-tenths of the population in an English country parish have -at this moment less share in Local Grovernment than belonged to all classes of freemen for centuries before and for centuries after the Norman Conquest. Again, they have not merely less share in Local Grovernment than belongs to French peasants of the present day, but less than belonged to French peasants under the eighteenth century mon- archy, though more, it must be allowed, than belonged to their own ancestors of the same age, as described by Fielding. They are protected, it is true, against arbi- trary injustice by Imperial laws, enforced, or supposed to be enforced, through Imperial officers, and the coimty magistrates, who possess a legal authority more patri- archal than could be claimed by Norman barons of the second order, exercise that authority under the searching eye of public opinion. But while the purity of magis- terial decisions is rarely impeached, they not unfire- quently bear traces of subservience to local or class prejudices, even when they are not indefensible enough to be reversed. If the sentences of borough magistrates on ruffians convicted of wife-beating, and other violent outrages, are apt to be unduly light, because popular sentiment does not regard such crimes with adequate abhorrence, the sentences of county magistrates on poachers and turnip stealers are apt, for a converse reason, to be unduly severe. If the propensity of borough magistrates to favouritism in the regulation of public-house licenses was one principal ground for an alteration of the law, the exercise of the same dis- cretional jurisdiction by county magistrates sometimes laid them open to a suspicion of seeking the benefit of their own properties rather than of the population con- cerned. If a clique of shopkeepers occasionally succeeds in pulling the wires of municipal elections in boroughs so as to keep patronage and profits in its own hands, county magistrates have been known to support each Bbodrick.] LOGAL government IN ENGLAND. 67 other on assessment committees in rating splendid mansions at a preposterously low valuation. Yet few wiU deny that more intelligence and public spirit is to be found in the county magistracy, whether assembled at Quarter Sessions, or acting ex-officio on various mixed boards, than is manifested by the elective delegates of parishes. It is generally felt that an ordinary body of parochial ratepayers could not be safely trusted with judicial authority of any kind, with the control of licenses, or with the management of schools ; and the Legislature still treats them as incompetent to use the Parliamentary franchise aright, for want of proper training in the old English art of local self-government. !N^or is this degeneracy of rural districts in the capacity of democratic action redeemed by a thoroughly vigorous and complete organisation of counties on the depart- mental ' system. On the contrary, whereas elective mayors of boroughs may be and have been held respon- sible at law for the peace of their respective precincts, there is no individual or permanent representation of Government, either Local or Imperial, in counties. The prerogatives of the Lord Lieutenant are becoming more and more shadowy ; the Court of Quarter Sessions is a fluctuating body whose meetings are intermittent ; and the magistrates, though responsible in theory for the maintenance of order, are subordinate to no head or department of State, and are left to do what is right in their own eyes. Let it be granted that small farmers and cottagers, however impatient of Local Taxation, are by no means disposed to grudge their landlords the burdensome privilege of conducting Local Grovernment on their behalf; stiU, the fact remains that in the rural districts of England many of the powers which properly belong to village communes are either quite extinct or have passed into the hands of non-elective magistrates. 5. It would not, however, be correct to measure the whole amount of self-governing energy in the rural districts of England by the standard of parochial or county organisation. The same process which has im- paired the organisation of counties and of parishes has 68 ' LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. also, as we tave seen, created new centres, as well as- new modes, of Local Government ; and, moreover, as we- are about to see, has diverted a large amount of self- governing energy from Local to Imperial legislation. A due appreciation of these and other centralising ten- dencies is doubly necessary, for it is here that we must seek both an explanation of the changes that have been wrought in English local institutions, especially during- the present reign, and a startiug-point for their future reform. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of English Local Grovemment in modern times, is the system which enables the Imperial executive to exercise an indirect control over many of its functions by means of State inspection, and State grants dependent on efl&ciency. No sach expedient was known to our ancestors, whose only device for enforcing the performance of their duties by local authorities in counties, hundreds, townships, or boroughs, was the imposition of pecuniary fines, which it was not always easy to exact. But State influence in the present day is not limited to indirect pressure. It extends also to a direct interference by Parliament, and the central departments of Government, with matters previously left to local or private regulation, such as the hours of labour, the working of mines, and even domestic arrangements, so far as they may bear upon health. The demand for this kind of interference, which is as old as sumptuary laws, has not arisen so much from any despotic or bureaucratic jealousy of local independence, as from a popular eagerness to employ the powerful machinery of central legislation and administration to compass some end which is ardently desired. Those who advocate the nationalisation of poor-law relief, of educational management, and even of land-tenure — ^who clamour for a State guai'antee of sea-going vessels, and of friendly societies, or who maintain that Government should test not merely weights and measures, but the quality of every article sold — are not consciouisly oppo- nents of local or individual liberty, but simply anxious to attain beneficial objects by the shortest possible ■Brodmck.] local GOVUBNMENT IN ENGLAND. 69 metliod. This anxiety may, and sometimes does, lead i;o legislative mistakes, which a wise respect for local' and individual liberty would have rendered impossible. But, after aU, it must be confessed that English civilisa- tion should not be retarded until the more backward p^rty of the country have placed themselves on a level Avith the more advanced ; and the example of municipal -corporations shows both how little self-reform can be trusted, and how much self-government may gain by Imperial intervention. Other "centralising tendencies have sprung from a patriotic craving for a higher national life, from a bitter experience of the abuses and disorders incident to an excessive subdivision of local powers, from a legitimate expansion of social ambition and political energy, chiefly ■due to such irresistible agencies as printing, steam, and ■telegraphy. In the olden times, when people were far more rooted in the soil, and seldom thought of changing "their residence, or buying land in another county, there was an instinctive attaclunent to local institutions, and a readiness to serve in local offices, which it would be :absurd to expect in days when men are more familiar with national, and even international, interests ; when ■county families, and the burgher aristocracy, look upon London as a second home; when the rural labourers "themselves have become migratory ; and when smaller are attracted towards larger masses of population, as by a fixed law of political gravitation. It must not be for- gotten that men who cheerfully spent their lives in .gratuitous exertions on behalf of their own neighbour- hoods had to be remunerated for transacting the affairs ■of the nation in Parliament, and would have thought it an intolerable hardship to be impressed into any unpaid -commission, such as those which nowadays perform so much useful work for the public. Nor must it be for- gotten that, putting aside all those persons who live only for sport or self-indulgence, a very large proportion ■of the leisure and brain-power otherwise available for Local Groverninent is actually devoted to semi-public •duties of a commercial or a philanthropic nature, which TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. had no place in earlier states of society. If we could lay our hands on all tlie directors of railway and other joint stock companies, all the governors and trustees of schools and other educational institutions, all the managers of religious and charitable societies, and if we could employ their undivided powers on Local Government, we should no longer have reason to lament a dearth of materials, whatever difficulty we might have in organising and applying them. In fact. Local Grovernment has been to a considerable extent sup- planted by voluntary association; and though it may well be doubted whether voluntary association fosters so. active and conscientious a sense of citizenship, it cer- tainly has merits of its own to which the old English squire or burgher was altogether a stranger. 6. But centralising tendencies are not the only forces antagonistic to effective Local Grovernment in modern England. The unequal distribution and exorbitant influence of wealth, especially in the form of landed property, would be a formidable counterpoise to locali institutions of a popular character, even if the social current did not set in the direction of centralisation. A foreigner might, perhaps, imagine that in every county the great landowners and their eldest sons would be the natural champions of such institutions, from which the country party drew its very life-blood in olden times. So, too, a foreigner might imagine that municipal inde- pendence should be cherished by the leading citizens of great towns with as much jealousy and pride as in the days of which Macaulay tells us, when "London was- to the Londoners what Athens was to the Athenians in the age of Pericles ; what Florence was to the Floren- tines in the sixteenth century." Experience, however, teaches iis that a revival of self-government in counties- is not ardently desired, if it be not discouraged, by the landed aristocracy, and that no class has less concern for self-government in towns than the commercial aristo- cracy. The reason in both cases is obvious enough.. The power which a great landowner might acquire as- chairman of a parochial council, or even as member of a^ BfiODBiCK.] LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. 71 county parliament, would be as nothing compared with the power which he already possesses, as lord of all the farms, cottages, and allotments round his own domain ; as the chief employer of labour in the locality, and as a resident magistrate. Such a man will often attend a board of guardians, because he has a seat there ex officio; but why should he care to obtain an elective office by the votes of his own dependants, whose unanimous resolutions in any communal assembly which could be constituted would be practically outweighed by the ex- pression of his own individual will ? The merchant- princes of the City, and the richest capitalists in manufacturing towns, are deterred by similar motives from aspiring to civic dignities. Their sense of self- importance and their sense of responsibility find a far more complete gratification in the colossal operations of trade, and in the management of country estates far removed from their place of business, than is ofiered by a career of municipal statesmanship crowned with knight- hood, or baronetcy itself. The one municipal distinc- tion which is generally coveted by them is that of being placed on the commission of the peace of the borough ; and those who have once become magistrates too often decline any other municipal duty which they may pre- viously have been persuaded to discharge. Nor is this indifierence to Local Grovernment among the highest classes — both in towns and rural districts — compensated by a corresponding zeal for it among the lower classes. "With all its advantages, the parochial system, as it exists in EngUsh country parishes, is singularly ill-calculated to supply any democratic train- ing for self-government, or to promote the recognition of common interests and mutual duties in village com- munities. The humblest member of a Presbyterian con- gregation, by virtue of his spiritual independence, is made to realise that he^is a citizen; but the ordinary- English farm-labourer, accustomed to depend on the clergyman in spiritual matters, as he depends on the squire for his cottage and the farmer for his wages, does not yet feel himself to be a citizen, and wiU not be made to feel it by ttie mere acquisition of a Parlia- mentary vote. When lie is roused into a belief tbat lie is deprived of his rights, his first instinct is to combine with his fellows, and his next to demand protection from Parliament. He scarcely dreams of claiming a share in Local Grovemment ; and even trade-unionists in towns, with all their capacity for organisation and agitation, have seldom put forth their strength in muni- cipal elections. The consequence is that, whereas the Local Government of rural districts is chiefly in the hands of magistrates, but partly in the hands of tenant farmers, the Local Grovernment of towns is almost en- tirely in the hands of shopkeepers and struggling pro- fessional men, engaged in busy callings, and with few hours to spare for public business. The mass of the population take little part iu political life of any kind, except when called upon to vote, to attend a town- meeting, or to sign a petition ; and so far as they read the newspapers, they probably gain more knowledge of national than of local affairs. Neither in rural districts nor in towns can it be said that activity in local ad- ministration is an avenue to Parliament ; and persons who could speak with authority on local affairs, are often set aside by constituencies in favour of successful money makers or political adventurers. At the same time, it is notorious that contests for municipal office are mostly determined by the same political considera- tions, and managed by the same agents, as Parliamentary elections. This partisanship is manifestly an evil, for it may involve the rejection of a good alderman or councillor, solely because he is on the less popular side in Imperial politics ; but it is not an unmixed evil, for it helps to clear the atmosphere of jobbery in its worst forms', and may stimulate men of a higher stamp to accept municipal office. Moreover, the prevalence of keen political interest in a borough, is a potent security for a vigilant and searching criticism of its Local Grovern- ment. It is one great advantage of Imperial over muni- cipal administration, that it is conducted in the fierce glare of publicity — under the scrutiny of a metropolitan Bkodeick.] local GOVEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. 73 press, which no blunder can escape, and no bribe or soHcitation can silence. The same can hardly be said of local journalism, except in one or two provincial towns of the first order ; but it is certain that where local party spirit runs high, there is much less danger of public interests being neglected than where a non- political local oligarchy rules supreme. IV. 1. Such are some of the general conditions under which any system of Local Grovernment must be worked in this counfary. It remains to consider the principles and limitations to be observed in framing a legislative scheme for the reform of Local Grovernment in England. Several of these have been admirably laid down and illustrated by Mr. J. S. MiU, in his treatise on Eepresentative Government ; but there are others, no less deserving of attention, which are suggested by our previous review of the subject. The very first rule which a statesman would set before himself in attempting so difficult a task, would be a rule against destroying any local institution which has real life in it. There is real life in county institu- tions, not merely by virtue of the many historical asso- ciations belonging to counties, but also by virtue of the many common ties and interests of which county towns are the centre, and of the vast administrative business actually transacted by magistrates and other county authorities. However great the disparity in size between the smallest and largest counties, even the smallest contains all the elements requisite for an in- dependent organisation ; nor is there any virtue in uni- formity of size, if the parts of each organisation be duly proportioned. For similar reasons, there is real life ia borough institutions, the vitality of which is stiU further strengthened by a community of sentiments, wants, and occupations, such as can only exist in a town-population. There is real, though less vigorous, life in the institu- tions of parishes, due to causes already explained, as 74 LOOAL OOVBRNMENT IN ENGLAND. well as to a frequent connection between parochial and territorial franchises. Even in Unions tliere is real life, inasmucli as most of them have possessed, for a whole generation, a local council, a local staff of officers, and a local system of taxation, to which many other local arrangements have heen adapted. But there is no real life in the institutions of Parliamentary or lieutenancy divisions of counties, and very little real life in those of petty-sessional divisions or highway districts, which may be altered to suit the convenience of magistrates, without much disturbance of other local arrangements. As for local boards, and the institutions still more recently created for purposes of sanitary administra- tion, they are essentially provisional in their character, being, in fact, expressly made liable to variation on the motion of the central board. It does not foUow that it would be wise to uproot them hastily, or without full consideration ; but where a country is found to be over- crowded with local institutions, it is the less vigorous and deeply rooted which must be first weeded out.. The same distinction applies with equal force to a re- adjustment of existing boundaries, some of which deserve the utmost respect, because determined by geographical or political landmarks of a permanent kiad; while others rest on lines of demarcation which have either been obliterated or are constantly fluctuating. A river may be the best of natural boundaries until it is bridged over ; but it cea^BS-to be a natural boundary at all, when its two banks are connected by as many thoroughfares as those which cross the Thames from London and Westminster to Southwark and Lambeth. A river, too, may be the worst possible boundary to select for a sanitary district, if the object be to subject the whole river basin to a common system of drainage. In other words, local boundaries are made for Local Grovemment, and not Local Government for local boundaries. What is im- portant is to preserve all the liAdng forces and sympa- thies which bind men together, not all the Hnes which may have been traced on official maps for transient administrative purposes. But no re-adjustment of boun- daries can be satisfactory which ignores the manifold BEODRICK.J LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. 75- and increasing differences between urban and rural dis- tricts. Whatever areas be adopted, they must not be- so geometrically described as to force straggling villages- into a Mezentian union with populous towns, and they must be elastic enough to provide for the spontaneous- process whereby the former are ever being converted into the latter. The greatest difficulty connected with a general rec- tification of local boundaries, and that which has mainly deterred the Legislature from attempting it, is that it. involves a change in the incidence of local taxation. This is a difficulty of a kind which is very apt to be unduly magnified. The Union Chargeability Act of" 1865, and the Act of 1867, whereby poor rates were equalised throughout London for certain purposes, in- volved serious changes in the incidence of local taxation ; yet the beneficial results of these measures have out- weighed any inconvenience or hardship which may thus have been inflicted on individuals. But the supposed hardship is for the most part imaginary. No man settling in a parish or a town has the smallest right ta> presume that its population wiU. remain constant in. quantity and quality, or that his rates will always be as- Hght as when he took possession of his premises. With proper reservations for extreme cases, and with a proper- discrimination between general and special rates, any reform of local areas which should render Local Grovem- ment more efficient, would amply justify itself, even though it did not, as it assuredly would, facilitate an enormous reduction in the cost of management. The- prospect of this reduction is, in fact, one of the strongest but least avowed, obstacles to its adoption. There are- few clerks whose offices might be extinguished, or whose- salaries might be diminished, by a comprehensive recon- struction of Local Grovemment, who are not strenuous; opponents of it ; and no one can estimate beforehand the- obstructive power of this class, mostly composed of legal practitioners, and other professional agents, intimately- acquainted with the hidden springs of local action. Another financial difficulty which has greatly obscured the question of Local Government, is the difficulty of 76 LOGAJj GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. making all descriptions of property contribute equally to local taxation. Now, whatever this difficulty may be, and however necessary it may be to surmount it before reforming local taxation, a little reflection will show that it has no direct bearing on a reform of Local ■Grovemment. Whether or not the rich fundholder •ought to bear as large a proportion of local burdens as i;he occupier of lands and houses, and whether his pocket can be reached more effectually by a local income-tax or by increased subsidies from the Consolidated Fund to local treasuries, neither the proper basis "nor the proper organisation of Local Grovemment is determined thereby in any material degree. No doubt, if personalty is to 'he rated as well as realty, its owners will be entitled to votes at local elections in respect of it; and it is quite 3)ossible that, in some places, they may concern them- selves more actively than heretofore in local affairs, with great advantage to their neighbours. The same argu- Tnent has been used, with equal force, in favour of what is called the half-rating system, under which the im- mediate liability to rates would be equally divided, as to real property, between owners and occupiers. This was ^;he proposal made by Mr. Goschen in 1871, and it is strongly recommended by the experience of Scotland, where landowners, having formerly paid all the rates,, ^nd still paying half the rates, have brought au en- lightened interest to bear on Local Government. But it would be worse than idle to complicate the question -of Local Government with speculations on rival schemes of local taxation. There are as many points of contact between Imperial Government and Imperial Taxation, ^s between Local Government and Local Taxation ; but, no reasonable man would seek to make his views of national policy mainly depend on his views of national ^finance. It is not even necessary, though it may gene- rally be convenient, that ai*eas of Local Government ■should correspond exactly with areas of Local Taxa- tion, and much confusion of thought might have been avoided, had this distinction been more fully realized. Let us, then, prosecute our inquiry unmoved by the •controversy which prevails respecting the principles of Beodkick.] local government IN ENGLAND. 77 rating, and assured that no conclusions to which, it may- lead can shake those legitimately founded on a careful study of Local Grovemment, from its historical and poli- tical side. The constitution of electoral and governing hodies is^ a problem of still greater delicacy, because the facts to be considered are more complex, and the possible modes of dealing with them more various. HappUy, there is. little dispute as to the expediency of making the electoral franchise at least as wide as the liability to rates, and,, by the existing law, all ratepayers are quaUfied to vote for the majority of those local offices which are elective. It has been much disputed, however, whether all rate- payers should have equal voting power, whether all local offices should be elective, and, if not, how the elective should be distinguished from the non-elective offices. It is remarked by Mr. Mill, that, inasmuch as Local Government is maiuly concerned with the disposition of local taxation, there is the less to be said against pro- portioning electoral power to pecuniary contribution, as in the case of elections for poor law guardians and local boards. It may be added, that, inasmuch as the educated classes have much less influence over Local than over Imperial Grovemment, by virtue of their education, there are stronger reasons for giving them an advantage by means of plural or cumulative voting, especially as their active participation in local affairs is for the common good of all. But it must not be for- gotten that, of all classes in the community, the working classes are the most directly interested in Local Grovem- ment, and, above all, in sanitary regulation, upon which their health and domestic comfort so vitally depend. Tet vast numbers of the working classes are disabled, for want of a ratepaying qualification, from voting either for town councillors in boroughs, or for vestrymen in London, or for guardians of the poor. There are dis- tricts in the Metropolis where petty tradespeople pre- dominate in the local constituencies, and absolutely rule the vestries, unchecked by any resident gentry, and practically uncontrolled by the Local Government Board 78 LOOAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. Many of tlie vestrymen in sncli districts are themselves •owners of the miserable tenements in which the poor are huddled together, or the retailers of articles peculiarly liable to fraudulent adulteration. The mockery of •entrusting such persons with the duty of enforcing remedial measures against themselves would be quite flagrant enough, even if it were not aggravated by the i'act of their lodger-tenants and poorer customers being ;actually unrepresented. This is an anomaly which it is by no means easy to remedy, inasmuch as lodgers seldom reside long in any one locality ; but it is an anomaly which cannot be overlooked in discussing any plan for extending the system of plural voting, so as to multiply the electoral power of the rich. It may be most desirable to assimilate aU local franchises to each other, •establishing one uniform qualification, as weU as one mode and one day of election for all local offices. Biit it is an object of still higher importance to bring as many as possible of those over whom Local Grovernment is almost omnipotent, for good or evil, within the pale •of local representation. It by no means follows that all local offices should be representative, in the sense of being filled by direct, or even by indirect, election. On the contrary, there are many reasons for preferring nomination to election in appointments to purely executive offices, and some reasons for preferring indirect to direct election in ap- pointments to certain representative offices. "It is ridiculous," as Mr. MiU says, " that a surveyor, or a health officer, or even a collector of rates, should be .-appointed by popular suffirage." A large mass of electors, who may have sufficient means of estimating the claims of candidates for the office of town councillor or vestry- man, can rarely have sufficient means of estimating the claims of candidates for offices requiring special ability ■of a kind which has nothing to do with popular qualities. Such offices, if fiUed up by the choice of ratepayers or large representative boards, inevitably become the prizes of persistent canvassing, or shameless appeals to sympathy ; whereas, if they are filled up by small repre- sentative boards, they are very apt to be distributed :Brodeick.] local GOVEBNMENT m ENGLAND. 79 -within a narrow circle of selection. Experience shows that, on the whole, the best security for executive offices being fiUefd up wisely and honestly is individual responsi- bility; and, if this principle were judiciously carried ■out in a complete reform of the local Civil Service, its efficiency and tone would be raised to a much higher level. Again, a large mass of electors, who may be quite fit to choose persons to be charged with the ordinary powers of vestrymen or guardians, may be quite unfit to choose persons to be charged with extra- ordinary powers ; as, for instance, members of the Metro- politan Asylum District Board, or of the MetropoUtan Board of Works. Accordingly, these are chosen by the IBoards of Guardians and Vestries respectively, with •excellent results ; and, if the same principle of double election were judiciously carried out in a complete reform of Local Groverning Bodies, it might be safe to combine a democratic suffi-age with a considerable extension of the functions which are sometimes found too arduous for the immediate- representatives of rate- payers. It would also be highly desirable, were it possible, to provide for the better conduct of public t)usiness on boards which are partly deliberative and partly administrative. In the Imperial Parliament, the Prime Minister and his colleagues are virtually responsi- ble for all necessary measures of administration, and for the initiation of legislative policy; but in a Town Oouncil, or Court of Quarter Sessions, no one is responsi- ble for either duty, though an energetic mayor or chairman may take them upon himself. Perhaps a standing ■executive committee, elected by these bodies from their own members, and invested with definite legal attributes, might be trusted both with the distribution of their patronage, and with the general direction of their proceedings — subject, of course, to such control as Par- liament exercises over the Imperial Ministry. But, however perfect may be the system of election on which Local Grovemment is based, and however admirably its legislative may be separated from its executive department, it wiU fail to attract the highest capacity, or to perform its allotted work successfully. 80 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. without a vigorous concentration of local councils. If a borougli hardly contains within itself good materials for one municipal board, how can good materials be procured for the town council, for the board of guardians, for the improvement, commission or local board, if any, and for the school board ? We are here supposing, be it observed, " that eligible candidates are equally ready to solicit a gratuitous office, whatever degree of power or influence be attached to it. The case is very much stronger if we take into account the natural motives of local ambition and public spirit. It is morally certain that if, as Mr. Eathbone has lately proposed, there were but one body in each borough or rural district, entrusted with all the powers of Local Government, including the management of schools, men of education, independence, and leisure, would be far more disposed to serve on it than on some one of half-a-dozen boards, whose relations no one understands except the local attomies. It is not so certain that men of this class are to be found at all in every borough and rural district, or that school boards, in particular, would not suffer in character and influence, if they ceased to be elected by a special mode of voting for a special duty. But the great mass of local business now done by a multiplicity of co-ordinate boards, composed of busy men, would surely be done better if it were subdivided among com- mittees, under the direction of a, single board. This concentration, too, might be effected without enlarging the average size of the areas selected for the groundwork of it — as, for instance, without enlargiog the average size of urban or rural sanitary districts — ^though it would be far more beneflcial if accompanied with a revision of areas. Nor is it open to any objections that can be urged against Imperial centralisation. It is the weak- ness, and not the strength, of local institutions in England that has favoured and almost justified the growth of Imperial centralisation in late years. If many of these institutions resemble detached fragments of Imperial Grovemment rather than organic parts of Local Grovemment, the evil is to be cured, not by a Beodmck.] local government IN ENGLAND. 81 further dispersion, but rather by a wbolesome consolida- tion, of local forces. In attempting to define the proper sphere of Local GoYernment, we must be quite as careful to guard against encroachments on individual liberty and duty, as to guard against encroachments on Imperial, authority. The province of law is not to punish the violation of moral obligations, as such, but to protect society against injury. Sometimes this protection may be given most effectually by a direct public regulation of matters, like sanitary arrangements, which, in more primitive times, each citizen was left to manage at his own discretion. In other cases, the object will be more surely and safely attained by recognising and enforcing individual respon- sibility. It is possible for Local Grovernment to become too meddlesome and inquisitorial, though at present the danger may rather lie on the opposite side, and Local Government may need to be strengthened at once against the selfishness of individuals or companies, and the bureaucratic aggressions of State ofl&cials. The broad line which should divide the sphere of Local from that of Imperial- Government is clearly drawn by Mr. Mill. " The authority which is most conversant with principles should be supreme over principles, while that which is most competent in details should have details left to it. The principal business of the central autho- rity should be to give instruction, of the local authority to apply it. Power may be localised, but knowledge, to be most useful, must be centralised." Thus, Parliament has laid down fixed principles for the assessment of property to local rates, so that no local authority could either levy a graduated rate or rate personalty at all ; but the assessment is actually made by the overseers of each parish, and it is well known that rates so assessed are collected with less difficulty than Imperial taxes. But the degree of power which it may be wise for ParKament to vest in local governing bodies must evidently depend very much on the capacity of those bodies. Even country parishes have been treated as competent to decide for themselves whether they shall have a school 8-i LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. board, and school boards have been treated as competent to decide for tbemselves wlietlier scbool attendance sh-ould or should not be made compulsory ; but no local authority has yet been treated as competent to superin- tend the redistribution of educational endowments. The formation of county boards for this purpose was sug- gested thirteen years ago by the Duke of Newcastle's commission, and a similar proposal for the formation ol county boards of health was made by Sir Thomas Acland, as a member of the sanitary commission. No one can deny that much is to be said for both schemes, neither of which conflicts with Mr, Mill's conception of the functions belonging to Local Grovemment, hut no one can afiirm that Local Grovernment as now organised in counties is strong enough to bear such an additional weight. In short, a* thorough reform of Local Grovernment must needs precede any legislative extension of its sphere, and any legislative extension of its sphere must be founded on a policy very different from that which inspires most Permissive Bills. It may be desirable to give a borough the power of buying up gas or water companies without compelling it to do so, but the great majority of powers which it is desirable to confer on a local governing body are powers which involve im- portant duties. Such duties are left to it by the Imperial Grovernment, not because it does not concern the nation whether they are done or not, but simply because they can be done better, more cheaply, or more conveniently by local authority. It is, therefore, not enough to arm the Imperial Government with the right of advising, inspecting, and reporting ; a right of coer- cing must also be reserved, and occasionally exercised. Even Mr. Mill would allow the central executive, in " extreme cases," to dissolve the local representative council, or to dismiss the local executive, and if a safe- guard were needed against the abuse of this prerogative, it might be made necessary that a mandamus against the defaulting local governing body should previously have been obtained in the Court of Queen's Bench. Nor Seodmck.] local government IN ENGLAND. 83, ■does there appear to be any good reason why, in the last resort, local institntions should not be suspended altogether, just as inveterate corruption in a con- stituency is punished by temporary or permanent dis- franchisement. The effect of this penalty would be to deprive the contumacious district of its self-governing privileges, and to place it under the direct administra- tion of county or imperial authority, as the case might be. Short of these high-handed measures, there are many expedients whereby salutary pressure can be applied to local governing bodies, from a central office. Such is the power of refusing subsidies from the Consoli- dated Fund, or from other funds, like the Common Poor Fund of the metropoUs, under the control of a State Department. Such, too, is the exceptional power by virtue of which Mr. Groschenwas enabled to amalgamate the guardians of Holborn, Clerkenwell, and St. Luke's into a single board, and that habitually exerted by Poor Law auditors in the disallowance of questionable items and the " surcharging " of accounts. There is a vital difference between interference of this kind, however constant, and interference which takes the form of sub- stituting imperial for local administration. If the latter be ever admissible, it is admissible only where the whole nation is interested in the due performance of the local duty. It is possible to conceive the corruption of local tribunals laecoming so flagrant as to warrant the pro- visional transfer of their jurisdiction to a special com- mission, but it is not possible to imagine the paving or lighting of a town becoming so bad as to warrant the improvement of it by a similar method. 2. It is now time for us to inquire what kind of change the. gradual and discriminating adoption of these principles would involve in the existing Local Grovern- menlof this country. It is self-evident that it would in- volve an exhaustive reconstruction of boundaries and areas, hut it does not follow that any violent derangement of local associations would be necessary. Ea«h county might retain its integrity, with slight variations, such as the annexation of its detached portions to other 84 LOCAL aorUBNMENT IN ENGLAND. counties, and the revision ot its frontier-line. Muni- cipal boroughs might also retain their integrity in all essential respects, though more alteration of boundaries would here be necessary to make their circuits identical with those of Parliamentary boroughs, to prevent borough areas overlapping union areas, and to briag within the former any purely suburban districts which happen to be outlying parts of rural parishes. This would of course imply a corresponding disturbance ot parish boundaries, and it would, oh other grounds, be expedient that parish boundaries, of which the import- ance has been much diminished by union chargeability, should be thoroughly rectified. There remain Poor Law Unions, districts under local boards, districts under improvement commissions, petty sessional divisions, and districts created for special purposes under recent Acts, like the school board district and the highway dis- trict. Among these, districts under local boards and districts under improvement conamissioners have already been designated as self-goveming urban communities by the Public Health Act of 1872, and armed with powers for the regulation of building, which presuppose a dense population. Having advanced bo fax in municipal inde- pendence, they — or at least the more populous of them — might well be invited to advance a step further and to accept the position of corporate boroughs, unless their inhabitants should object to incorporation, and prefer the alternative of falling within the circuit of county organisation, which should embrace all non-corporate communities, both urban and rural. The whole ot England, excluding the metropolis, would then exhibit, as of old, but two principal forms of Local Government, presently to be described, the one applicable to boroughs and the other to counties. It would next be requisite to reduce all the heterogeneous sections of counties to a common measure, so as to make Poor Law Unions coincide with highway districts and petty sessional divisions, and to obtain one secondary area intermediate, like the ancient hundreds, between the parish and the county. In most instances, the Poor Law Union would Bkodeick.] local QOVEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. 85 probably be taken as tbe approximate basis for tbis new area, because of tbe large establisbments and com- plex machinery wbicb belong to it. But it migbt often 1)6' convenient tbat union boundaries should conform- to boundaries of bigbway districts, wbicb bave tbe advan- tage of not encroaching on towns, and sometimes the Petty Sessional divisions migbt indicate the natural watersheds, so to speak, of Local Grovernment, better than either unions or highway districts. It is needless to add that whatever lines of demarcation might be selected, aU. cross-divisions would be absolutely ehmi- nated. Every parish would be wholly included within one secondary area, be it what it might ; every secondary area would be wholly included within one county, and no imperium in imperio, except the municipal precincts •of corporate boroughs, would discolour a map illus- trative of Local Grovernment in England. In corporate boroughs, the sphere of municipal au- thority would scarcely need to be enlarged. The Town Council would continue to possess all the powers as- signed to it by the Municipal Corporation Act and the Public Health Act of 1872, and it is possible that in some of the largest boroughs no considerable extension of these powers may be expedient. In the great ma- jority of boroughs, however, it would be well if the board of guardians or select vestry could be transformed into a committee or independent delegacy of the Town Council, whose numerical strength would have to be proportionably increased. A seat on the Town Council would thus become a position of great influence and responsibility, and its dignity would be materially en- hanced if the borough magistrates were made ez-officio town councillors. The question of merging school boards in Town Councils would have to be treated on its own merits, and might, perhaps, be reserved for subse- quent consideration. No doubt, the cumulative vote has proved a valuable safeguard for the rights and inte- xests of ecclesiastical minorities, but there are other rights and interests which deserve respect besides those of ecclesiastical minorities, and other modes of protect- 86 LOCAL GOVEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. ing the latter. If five-sixths of the ratepayers in a borough, should desire to amalgamate their school board with their Town Council, it would not be very easy to show why their wishes should not be allowed to prevail, or why, if need be. Town Councils should not be per- mitted to associate clerical or lay assessors with-them- selves for purposes of school management. At all events, the presence of councillors mainly representing educa- tional parties, coupled with the admixture of a judicial and non -representative element, might, impart to an ordinary Town Council a character which a few only of the best have as yet succeeded in attaining. If farther securities were needed against what Mr. Eathbone calls " hot or cold fits " of popular caprice, and especially if the municipal sufirage were extended to lodgers, there would be no innovation in borrowing the method of cumula- tive voting, or that of plural voting, for the election of Town Councillors, or a certain proportion might be elected by owners of rateable property. In boroughs too small to be formed into separate poor law unions with due regard to economy, the Town Council might be em- powered to make special arrangements for indoor rehef with the nearest workhouse, and in the fature incorpo- ration of small boroughs the privilege of maintaining a separate police force should not be granted without reserve. It would be far more difficult to deal with counties, and rural or semi-rural divisions of counties, because new powers as well as new governing bodies would have to be created by Parliament. The parish would pro- bably be retained as the elementary unit, but it might be needful to elevate the larger townships into the legal status of civil parishes for all but merely ecclesiastical purposes. This having been done, it would be seen that if the parish is to be anything more than a rating area, it requires some kind of parochial consstitution. Mr. Groschen proposed, in his Bill of 1871, that in every parish the ratepayers would annually elect a parochial board, varying in number according to population, with the joint powers of overseers, inspectors of lighting and Brodmck.] LOGAL government IN ENGLAND. 87 watching, highway surveyors, and nuisance authorities, the chairman of which board, also to be elected by the ratepayers, would be the civil head of the parish, and its representative in any higher local council. One great merit of this proposal is that it would provide a single accessible oflQ.cer in each village, like the maire in a French commune, to whom all official communications might be addressed, and reference might be made on various parochial matters which the clergyman, for want of a civil head, is often obliged to settle as best he can. Considering that overseers have long fiUed a distinctive place in the parochial system, it might be convenient to retain this name for the civil head of a parish, nor would the utility of such an elective officer altogether depend on his being chairman of a parochial board. For it is clear that no parochial board of a rural village could safely be entrusted with any but the subordinate and ministerial . functions of Local Grovemment, and that it would be chiefly valuable as a select and perma- ment committee of the vestry. The real mainspring of Local Government in rural districts would be placed in the governing body of the union, or whatever district might be substituted for the union as the secondary area of administration. This body, not merely composed of overseers from country parishes, but also representing non-corporate towns witliin the district, would regulate poor-relief, highways, sanitary concerns, and all other local matters, except those which, like the management of gaols, lunatics, and police, would continue to be regu- lated by the county executive. It might, however, be commissioned to act, for some purposes, as a branch of the county executive, and it might, in like manner, com- mission a parochial overseer, or a parochial board, to act as its own agent within a given parish. Non-corporate towns which now enjoy the privilege of managing their own highways and sanitary aflPairs, might retain that privilege under the general control of the district council, and any equitable adjustments of local taxation might be made by the same authority. The district council, too, rather than any parochial board, would be the body 88 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. most competent to superintend elementary schools mthin its district — subject, however, to such exceptional considerations as have been admitted in the case of boroughs. The administrative capital of the district would also be the centre of petty sessional jurisdiction, and it is difficult to believe that Police arrangements, Post Office arrangements, and Inland Revenue arrange- ments, might not be so modified by degrees as to make them correspond with the new organisation. If the method of plural voting were not adopted in the election of parochial overseers, it might be weU to have on the district council a certain number of members elected by that method from the whole district, and it would, in any case, be v/eU that resident magistrates should have the same right of sitting ex-afficio on district councils which they now have of sitting on boards of guardians. The higher board of the county, whatever functions might be reserved to it, must needs be constituted on like principles — that is, it must contain both representa- tives of ratepayers and a certain proportion of magis- trates. Considering the great experience of magistrates in county administration, and considering, too, how largely they are interested in it as owners of property, there would be nothing unreasonable in allotting them one-half of the seats on the county board, and the other half might be filled by members elected from the dis- trict councils. Such an assembly would certainly not err on the side of being too democratic, and it might possibly be necessary to reinforce the popular element in it, if it should ever acquire extended legislative powers. As an executive body, and board of control, however, it would command all the more confidence from not being the creature of ^plebiscite, or directly amenable to im- pulses from below. It would exercise, of course, all the non-judicial powers now vested in the court of Quarter Sessions, as well as such other powers of inspection and direction as the Imperial Legislature might delegate to it. For instance, there is no reason in the nature of things why a county should not superintend its own factories or mines, as well as its own schools of every grade; why :Bb,odrick.] local government in ENGLAND. 89 it should not regulate the inclosure of its own commons ; or why it should not have its own licensing system, within limits to he laid down by Parliament. On the other hand, it would be necessary, for these pur- poses, to bring corporate boroughs within the sphere of effective county authority; a measure which, even in ancient times, was found to be fraught with insuperable difficulties. It would be more prudent, in the first in- stance, to be content with establishing effective county authority over rural districts, and those urban districts which may not have reached the rank of boroughs, and therefore have not a separate magistracy and local tribunal. The judicial business of the Quarter and Petty Sessions would not be affected by any reform of Local Crovernment, and might remain on its present footing, until the time comes for a comprehensive reform of the Judicature. If, however, the criminal jurisdiction of Quarter Sessions should ever be committed, as in Ire- land, to a stipendiary chairman, it would be worthy of consideration whether he should not be further invested with a civil jurisdiction equivalent or superior to that of a modern county court judge. There are many local disputes about rights of way, estate boundaries, pollu- tions of water, and the like, which are now brought at a vast expense before the superior courts, but which might be determined far better in a summary manner before a judicial committee of Quarter Sessions, as they formerly were before the assembled suitors of the old county court. It must be acknowledged that no reorganisation of Local Government in England would be complete which should not include the metropolis. But it is not to be assumed too hastily that a drastic reform of municipal institutions is 'more urgently needed, in London than elsewhere. By virtue of its' mere size and population, London is incapable of being governed like an ordinary borough, whatever constitution may be imposed upon it. By virtue of being the capital of the empire, it contains an injfinitely larger number of men with the leisure and ability requisite for municipal office, over and above the 90 LOGAL GOrEJRNMENT IN ENGLAND. vast floating mass of summer residents, and, so far, has an apparent advantage over other great towns. But th.en, by virtue of the same exceptional circumstaiyje, it contains a very small proportion of wealthy and highly- educated citizens born and bred within it, attached to it by family ties, and willing to serve it with a life-long fidelity. The want of public spirit displayed in London elections, both municipal and parliamentary, the want of intelligence and sense of duty which has characterised the action of certain London vestries, and the general • want of corporate vitality in the whole metropolitan community, are the natural consequence of these peculiar conditions, rather than of defects in the formation of local areas or local governing bodies, which might be cured by legislative measures. If the existence of a flagrant anomaly calls for prompt legislation, the arbi- trary power of non- elective magistrates in rural districts is a far more flagrant anomaly than any faulty distribu- tion of self-governing power which may prevail in Lon- don. If legislation be demanded to correct practical evils, arising from local misgovernment, it remains to be proved that London is worse governed, on the whole, by the Corporation, the Metropolitan Board, and the ves- tries, than most boroughs are governed by Town Councijs — with inferior resources, it is true, but with shghter difiiculties to overcome. This, however, is no reason why the municipal government of London should not be improved, and there are decisive reasons for believing that it is capable of improvement. However creditable may -be the management of the Corporation, or of each parochial vestry, considered by itself, no one can defend a system which places the same great thoroughfare under two or more independent authorities, besides making it liable to be constantly broken up by gas and water companies. However conscientiously vestrymen may perform their duties, no one can fail to see that few London parishes contain the necessary variety of elements for enlightened self-government, or that London as a whole possesses a stronger individuality and cohesion than any one of its constituent parts. It is not merely Bkodkick.] LOOAL government IN ENGLAND. 91 an absurdity, but an evil, that Parliament should be in- cessantly called upon to meddle with the local aflPairs of London, and that a Ministry should be discredited by its failure to regulate metropolitan cabs. Upon these grounds alone, if no others could be alleged, the present government of London must be regarded as unsatisfac- tory, though not as scandalous or intolerable. Two alternative plans of municipal reform have been proposed for the metropolis — ^the one erecting the exist- ing parliamentary boroughs into separate municipalities ; the other subordinating them, as " municipal districts," to one central " Municipality of London." Any de- tailed criticism of the last, which is now before the pub- lic, would here be out of place ; but it is right to point out that, in some of its leading features, it is in con- formity with the principles before laid down. These features are the maintenance of the Corporation as thte focus of municipal life, and the extension of its organisa- tion to all the surrounding districts of the metropolis. A reform might be conducted on this basis with less disturbance of vested interests and existing arrange- ments than would be caused by the creation of nine distinct municipal boroughs within the metropolitan area upon the ruins of the vestries and district boards. Unfortunately, the wholesale destruction of vestries and district boards is equally contemplated by those who advocate the expansion of the Corporation ; and the municipal districts which it is proposed to substitute for them are, in fact, intended to be electoral areas rather than independent areas of administration. The almost inevitable consequence of such an arrangement would be that, in the language of Guizot, the supreme mu- nicipal council would resemble an edifice detached from the soil, and that London would be governed by an army of paid officials under the ineffective control of a deliberative assembly. Supposing this part of the scheme to be aban- doned, and the vestries to be retained, as subordinate governing bodies, their efficiency might be increased by means already suggested. If, for instance, their func- S2 LOCAL aOVEENMENT IN UNGLANB. tions should be amalgamated with those of the metro- politan boards of guardians, it might be made worth the while of better candidates to offer themselves for elec- tion, the benefit, if any, of plural voting might be im- ported, and magistrates or nominees of the Grovernment might be introduced as ex-officio members. But in any case a supreme governing body must be created for the metropolis, capable of directing and controlling the action of vestries, as well as of dealing with such ques- tions as the provision of dwellings for the labouring population. This body might be partly composed of members chosen by the vestries themselves, partly of members chosen directly by ratepayers — ^voting, not ia small wards, but in districts as large as the Parlia- mentary boroughs — and partly of officials and other persons representing the interest of the nation in the government of the metropolis. It would of course exer- cise all the powers now vested in the Corporation, or the Metropolitan Board of Works, but would be clothed with many additional powers which the Board of "Works does not possess, and, in particular, with the power of compelling vestries to carry out its rules in concert with each other. The only corporate privilege of any im- portance which it would be hardly possible to conserve under such an administration, would be the independence of the City Police ; and it would not be impossible to devise provisions whereby the advantages of this inde- pendence might be secured without the inconvenience of a divided command. The absolute control of an independent police force is the most imperial of aU the functions which are entrusted by the nation to local governing bodies. There are special reasons why it should not be entrusted to a local governing body in a city which not only contains nearly four millions of inhabitauts, but is also the seat of Imperial Govern- ment. The surrender by the Corporation of London of its very limited police authority would be a trifling sacrifice to make for the privilege of becoming the central force of the most powerful commune in Europe. There are also special reasons why the London Brodmck.] local aOYEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. 9S School Board, having set an example of municipal statesmanship to other local councils of the metropoHs, should not be swallowed up by a new municipality of London. All such changes as we have been contem- plating in the present organisation of Local Government must needs be experimental; and all experimental changes in politics should be made tentatively, so that a false step may be easily retraced. The Londqn School Board itself has not yet ceased to be on its trial, but it has abeady taken root and borne excellent fruit— the best proof of vitality, and the best claim to preservation. The mere fact that it has won the confidence of London parents, London schoolmasters, and London clergymen, entitles it to be treated with respect, for the confidence of the people is the very breath of life to local institutions. All lasting forms of government have either grown otit of or grown into national habits ; but forms of Local Grovemment are, above all others, dependent for their success on this condition. It is sometimes possible to enforce tyrannical laws upon a whole people by Imperial power; but it is not possible to make unwiUing men serve heartily, and unprincipled men serve honestly, in local offices, or to keep the machinery of local adminis- tration in working order, if many of the wheels have the will — as all have the power — to put themselves out of gear. Let us, then, dismiss the notion that any single Act of Parliament, though it were passed imanimously by both Houses, could regenerate all the local institu- tions of this country, or even give effect to such modest practical conclusions as our reasoning may have led us to adopt. Centuries were needed to develop the ancient system of local government in England, to mould it into accordance with mediaeval feudalism, and to accom- plish the disintegration which it underwent between the Eeformation and the Eeform Act. The forty years which have since elapsed have done much to revive its spirit, and to constitute powers which, duly harmonised, would enable it to fulfil its legitimate ends ; but the pro- cess of harmonising these powers has barely commenced, and will hardly be completed in less than one generation^ 64 LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND. But it may be asked whether, after all, the benefits to be attained by a gradual reconstruction of Local Government in England would repay the efforts which it would assuredly cost to attain them. This is a ques- tion which no true reformer will shrink from putting to himself, and in answering which he will j)refer to err on the side of moderation. Let it be confessed that political miracles are not to be wrought by safe methods in quiet times, and that even the ultimate result of mea- sures like those which have been considered would fall very far short of the heroic legislation ascribed to Alfred, or the imposing creations of the French Eevolution. They could not galvanise into life the Local Govern- ment of those bygone ages, with their picturesque variety of provincial institutions, when the law of gavel- kind was but one of many customs which divided EngHsh counties from each other, when local and personal alle- giance was often stronger than national allegiance, and when the Great Council of England was little more than a federation of local assemblies. They could not give back to English society the warlike burghers who, up- held the Saxon traditions of self-government agaiust Norman kings, or the sturdy yeomanry who fought at Cressy and at Agincourt, or the gentry who devoted their whole lives to magisterial duties in days when London and the Continent were comparatively inaccess- sible. Neither would they satisfy the requirements of the laissez-faire doctrine — ^too palatable to political ia- dolence and selfishness — which acquits the Imperial Government of almost all responsibility for the acts of local governing bodies, as well as of individual citizens ; nor would they reaHse the aspirations of those who seek to invigorate Local Government with the ulterior design of enfeebling the capacity of Imperial Government for mis- chievous activity. Nevertheless, so far as they should actually invigorate Local Government, they would re- concile, by a happy necessity, two conflicting ideals, building up conservative barriers or breakwaters against revolutionary flood- waves, yet gratifying the democratic instinct which craves for greater communal liberty. By Bbodkick.J local GOVEBNMENT IN ENGLAND. 95 opening a wider career to municipal patriotism, and sup- plying a missing link between Municipal and Parlia- mentary representation, they would not only contri- bute to make civic offices more attractive to men of ability and social position, but would also give such, men stronger motives for public-spirited exertion. By restoring to rural communities the idea of common rights and duties, they would help to diffuse among their various members a sense of local responsibility now almost confined to landowners, and they would help to bring landowners themselves within the reach of local opinion. By accustoming representatives of all classes to work together daily for public but non- political objects, they would strike at the root of those class prejudices, mainly springing from mutual igno- rance, which are not corrected, if they are not rather aggravated, by the rare and boisterous association of rich and poor voters at Parliamentary elections. By relieving the national Legislature of purely local busi- ness which ought never to have been cast upon it, they would set free a large reserve of legislative energy for purely national busiaess, which no local body can dis- charge at all, but which the Legislature, overburdened as it is, cannot discharge^efficiently. And thus, without encroaching on the province of Imperial sovereignty, or outgrowing the humbler and homelier ministra- tions which are its characteristic function. Local Gro- vernment in England might once more become a great constitutional power intermediate between the State and the individual citizen, the permanent bulwark of social order, and the national school of civil liberty. LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION IN SCOTLAND. By Alexander M'Neel-Caird. CONTENTS. FAOE Historical Sketch 99 Minor Courts — Justices and Burghs 101 Sheriff Courts — Constitution and Jurisdiction 105 The Public Prosecutor 110 Church Courts 113 Local Finance and Administration 110 In Counties 116 Commissioners of Supply 116 Eoads—Koad Trusts 120 In Parishes 122 Poor • 122 Unwise Constitution of Parochial Boards .... 123 Comparison of Assessed and TJnassessed Parishes . . . 124 Pauperism and Illegitimacy 125 Comparison as to Poor — Scotland and England . . . 127 Comparison as to Poor — Scotland and Ireland . . . 130 Neglect of Poor House Test 131 Deaths of Poor 138 Education of Pauper Children 139 Growth of Expenditure 140 Public Health Act 141 School Kates 141 Great Inequality of School and Poor Bates . . . .142 H 98 LOOAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. PASZ Local Administration — continued. Limited Area for Eating and Settlement . . . 140 and 142 Consec^uent extent of Interparochial Discussion and Conflict 142 Severe Action on Industrious Poor .... 143 and 144 Its Effect in reducing tlie House Accommodation . . . 145 Resulting Hardships 146 Crowded state of Houses . ...... 146 Aggravated Death-rate 147 Diminution of Population in Kural Districts . . . .147 Much more general than in England 149 Remedy 149 In Burghs 150 Petty Customs, &o. . •. 150 Amount of Local Taxation 161 and 152 Its Distribution 153 Its Incidence 153 Between Landlord and Tenant in Agricultural Subjects . . 153 Ditto ditto Dwelling Houses . . .155 Treasury Subventions — their Inequality as between England and Scotland 157 AppBNDix I. — County Assessments, Commissioners of Supply . . 159 „ II. — Abstract of ditto 168 „ III. — Burgh Assessments, Customs, and Market Dues . . 169 „ rv. — Assessments for Boads and Bridges . . . .171 LOCAL G-OVERNMENT AND TAXATI0:N" IN SCOTLAND. I. — Historical Sketch. Under the feudal system the sovereign succeeded early in asserting a- supreme right, not as governor merely, but as fundamental owner, to all the land in Scotland. He either dispossessed those who disputed his right, or conciliated them, by giving them new grants to be held of himself. In some principalities the estates of great families were originally held without parchments, Hke the sovereign's own, won and kept by the sword. But these were gradually brought into dependence on the Crown, and it has long been a settled principle in the law of Scotland that all territorial rights are subordinate to and derived from the Crown. The Crown in its grants of land created baronies, and gave the barons, its vassals, ample jurisdiction within their territories. By the ancient grant of " pit and gallows," the power of life and death was conferred on them, and the wrath of an old feudal baron was occasionally appeased by the prompt use of the nearest bree. The most ancient form, therefore, of local juris- diction of which any trace remains, was the baronial j md the power of the barons grew till it alarmed the Drown which had created it. There sprung up, in the course of time, communities vho engaged in manufactures and merchandise, and the 3rown sought in these some counterpoise to the great sarons. It gave charters to these communities of the ands in their neighbourhood, and made them perpetual 100 LOCAL aOVEBNMENT AND TAXATION. corporations, with power to choose councils and magis- trates, and with special privileges of trade. These, after a long term of abuse, have grown into veritable repub- lics, with magistrates chosen by the people, practically independent in their office of the Crown, and their acts subject only to revision, for error or "illegality, ia the courts 01 law. It was one of the essential duties of a baronial fief to give attendance on the high courts of the sovereign, and to advise the Crown in the administration as well as the amendment of the law. In the burghal fiefs this service was necessarily done by representatives of the burghal communities, and the dignitaries of the Church gave attendance also, for the Church lands. This duty of attendance was earnestly enforced, for it brought the great subjects of the Crown periodically within the reach and power of their overlord. It was a system which greatly enhanced the dignity and apparent strength of the Crown. But from the facilities which it gave to the barons and burgesses to consult and act together when- ever they had a common interest, it was certain in the end greatly to mitigate the royal authority. It thus happily contained the unheeded germs of a free consti- tution, and led, after many centuries, to government by and for the people. A multiplicity of local jurisdiction was thus .estab- lished. Each baron was paramount, indeed practically absolute, within his own bounds, and, in those rough times, thought little of going beyond them. The barons were thus in frequent conflict. Many of them had strengthened themselves greatly by giving grants of land, binding their vassals to military service on pain of forfeiture. And thus their conflicts commonly broke into violence. The natural desire of the Crown to brmg them under control, led to the establishment, by Crown ■ grants, of Sheriff's of counties or other extensive districts. The sheriff" held courts in the name of the Crown. All barons were consequently bound to attend his courts, and he seems to have been constituted a judge of appeal from their judgments in their own courts. There was ['Neel-Caird.] SGOTLAND. 101 Iso conferred on Hm a right to be present at their ourts; apparently to observe the proceedings. Bat the heriffs were themselves of the order of barons, and their ffice was made hereditary. The baronial courts and the hereditary sheriffs con- inued in fall vigour, till the great rebellion of 1745 isclosed that they were stiU too strong for the peace of he country. The union with England, less than forty 'ears before, had brought in a power of which the Scottish barons had little experience. In the following 'ear (1746) ParHament swept away and prohibited oilitary service in the tenure of land, converting it nto an annual return in money or goods, and by .nother Act abolished the hereditary sheriffships, and imited the Baronial jurisdiction to petty offences lunishable by fines not exceeding twenty shillings, ,nd to debts not above forty shillings. The Act bears hat it was passed to remedy "the inconveniences hat have arisen from the multiplicity and extent of leritable jurisdictions, to restore to the Crown the )owers of jurisdiction originally and properly belonging hereto according to the constitution, and to extend the afluence, benefit, and protection of the King's laws and ourts of justice to all His Majesty's subjects in Scot- and." It also enacted that no principal or high sheriff hall judge personally in any cause, civil or criminal, in irtue of his office; and that no such office shall be ^-anted for life, or for any fixed term beyond a year. 'arliament at the same time empowered the Crown to ppoint trained lawyers to the office of " Sheriff-depute," nd empowered the sheriffs depute to appoint substi- utes. II. — Minor Coubts. — Justices and Burgh Courts. After the jurisdiction of the barons was thus limited y Parliament, it gradually decayed, and has now nearly ied out by disuse. This may seem strange at first :ght, but it is easily accounted for. Most of the barons 'ere justices of the peace, and the jurisdiction of the 102 LOCAL aOVEBNMENT AND TAXATION. justices extends over wider territory, and is in every way much more important than that to which their baronial jurisdiction had been restricted. The justices, however, were not of very early growth in Scotland. The insti- tution was borrowed from England, but has never had the depth of root nor the influence which it holds there. It has been dwarfed by the sheriff courts. StUl it is an important office. The chief practical exercise of the justices' jurisdiction is to protect the peace, to take affidavits and affirmations, to issue warrants against criminals, to try petty offences, poaching cases, and l:)reaches of the revenue and mercantile marine- laws, to regulate public-holise licenses, and to sit in judgment on debts and demands not exceeding £5. Eevenue and mercantile marine cases occasionally involve nice ques- tions and severe punishments, as well as most serious results to the character and status of the parties. The Law Courts Commission of 1868-70 reported on this subject : — " It seems undesirable that such cases should be disposed of by gentlemen selected, often at random, from those on tlie commission of the peace. ' And in the case of offences against the Grame Laws there is a wide-spread feeling among the public that the justices are really judges in their own cause, and that this exposes their decisions to invidious comment." The Commissioners recommend that a " cumulative " jurisdiction in these classes of cases (revenue, mercan- tile marine, and game), should be given to the sheriff; which implies that the prosecutor shall have the power to bring the accused to trial before the justices or before the sheriff, as he chooses. This seems rather a halting conclusion from their own premises, for it is not the prosecutor but the accused who objects to be tried before the justices for poaching, and the difficulties and conse- quences of a revenue or a mercantile marine case before the justices would be little helped by the knowledge that it might have been brought before a trained judge. In regard to mercantile marine cases, indeed, the sheriff has, and had for more than sixteen years before the Commissioners reported, the very jurisdiction which they M'Neel-Caied.] SCOTLAND.- 103 recommend as a remedy for the evils that have grown up in the justice of peace court, alongside of it. The true remedy is to make these cases triable only in the sheriff court. The small debt jurisdiction of the justices is ex- tremely useful, and largely resorted to in some parts of the country. In 1872, 12,783 causes, involving claims to the amount of £19,178, were tried in the justices' small debt court. In 1873, 12,340 were tried. Dis- putes under £5 may in general be very well handled, without lawyers, by men of common sense. But some of the forms of the justices' small debt court are cum- brous and unnecessary, and the liability of a defendant to pay a fee to the clerk before he can be heard, and of the party adducing a witness to pay a fee before he can have him examined, is vexatious, and a real hardship to the class of people who frequent these courts. It looks to them as if they had to buy justice. The clerk ought to be paid by salary. The Burgh jurisdictions were reserved entire when the baron courts were restricted. But the estimation in which the sheriff courts are held has led to the burgh sourts also being less resorted to. The existence in every county in Scotland of local judges, practised in bhe law, paid by the public, and devoting themselves to bheir duties, explains this gradual and voluntary disuse jf functions by unprofessional magistrates. The magistrates of a royal burgh are considered to dave a civil jurisdiction, within the burgh, as broad as bhe sheriff has, at common law. But as every burgh is situated within the sheriff's territory, the burgh magis- brates have come in practice to limit the exercise of their jivil judicial powers mainly to the removal of burgh ienants, and to the applications, of debtors in prison for naintenance by the imprisoning creditors, and their iberation on evidence that their lives are endangered by ionfinement. In most royal burghs the criminal jurisdiction of the mrgh court is co-ordinate with that of the sheriff. It sntitles the burgh magistrates to investigate crimes of 104 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. any magnitude, to examine the prisoners, and to commit for trial ; also to try cases involving punishment to the extent of two years' imprisonment. But in practice the exercise of that jurisdiction is very much confined to minor offences, and proper matters of police. Even so limited, the duties have become extremely onerous in Glasgow and other large towns, and there is a growing desire that in such cases there should he a paid magis- trate for the discharge of these duties. Application was made to Parliament to sanction the appointment by the larger burghs of such a magistrate, for whom an ade- quate salary was to be provided by the community, and who was to be a practised lawyer, and to hold the office ad vitam aut culpam. It was unhappily frustrated by an attempt to vest the patronage in the Crown, an encroachment on the ancient privileges of the burghs to which they declined to submit. One of the burgh magistrates, the Dean of Guild, has peculiar functions, and his jurisdiction, where operative, excludes that of the sheriff. He determines questions of boundary within burgh, and regulates the erection, alteration, repair, and puUing down of houses. But in the majority of burghs this jurisdiction has fallen into desuetude. In the five years, 1864-5-6-7-8, there were only twelve burghs in which there were any cases in the Dean of Guild Court, and the average annual number of cases did not exceed four in any of these burghs ex- cept Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Greenock. In these circumstances the Law Courts Commission recom- mended that the Dean of Guild Court should cease to exist, and its jurisdiction be transferred to the skilled magistrate, the sheriff. In large towns, however, it would probably be better to sanction the appointment of a qualified and paid officer for these duties. The Dean of Guild has also a very special jurisdiction which has been overlooked by the Law Commissioners. In order to prevent town buHdings from falling into a state of dilapidation, a person whose title is doubtful or insecure may apply to the Guild Court to have them in- spected, and for a warrant to execute such repairs and M'Neel-Caibd.J SCOTLAND. 105 building operations as the court shall sanction. After pubHc notice, and notice to any pei-sons who are sup- posed to have interest, that they may be heard, the works are executed under due supervision, the cost is ascertained, and by a decree of the court is made a charge on the property in case the applicant should ever be dispossessed. With a similar object the Burgh Magis- trates have an ancient statutory power to warn those who have right to or interest in houses within burgh which have for three years been " waste or not in- habited," to build or repair them " in a decent way." Where the owners are not known they are to be called by proclamation at the market cross and parish kirk ; if out of the kingdom they are to be called on sixty days' aotice at the market cross of Edinburgh, and pier and shore of Leith. And if for a year and a day after the jxpiry of these notices the persons interested fail to com- ply, the magistrates are to have the property valued and sold, preserving the price for the owner. These are isefal powers in the public interest, and there has been 10 complaint of their having been abused. But the lotices at the cross, kirk, and pier would now have a )etter chance of reaching the parties for whom they are ntended, if published in the newspapers ; and judicious nagistrates are likely to require that this shall be done. III. — Sheriff Courts. The Act of Parliament which suppressed the hereditary heriffships, and vested their authority in trained judges ppointed by the Crown, and paid by the Exchequer, ccomplished a change which has proved most salutary, ^hese local courts, after an experience of more than a entury, have gained a firm hold on the confidence of tie country. The office of the ancient principal or high fieriffs has been completely superseded in practice, al- lough nominally continued in the commissions of lords eutenant ; and the chief authority of the office so atirely passed to the professional sherifis, that their riginal title, sheriffs depute, has fallen into disuse, and 106 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. by tlie authority of Parliament tliey are now addressed as the sheriffs. The sheriff courts have a very large and varied juris- diction. They try and determine questions of debt and contract, and questions of all kinds relating to personal estate, without limit of value. They also try possessory questions as to lands, houses, roads, and servitudes, and generally as to the use and exercise of heritable rights (real estate). They judge of the right of heirs to succeed to heritage, whatever the value of the estates, but are not yet authorised to try any other questions of heri- table title. They have a large equity jurisdiction, including interdict or injunction. They award bank- ruptcy, and dispose, without limit, of all questions com- petent to courts of bankruptcy and insolvency. In the year 1871, 2,898 cases of bankruptcy were proceeding before the sheriff courts. In those which were brought to a close during the year the sums recovered were, on an average of the whole, £1,276 3s. 3d. per case, and the average cost for trustees' commission and law expenses was £154 13s. 4d. The sheriff courts have jurisdiction also in adifliralty causes. As commissaries, coming in place of the ancient ecclesiastical courts, they confirm wills, and determine competitions for executorships, corresponding to the grant of probate and letters of administration in England. Sequestrations (warrants to distrain) for rent, removal of tenants and actions of slander and damages are tried in the sheriff's court, and the resident sheriff is bound to inquire into every com- plaint of relief having been rrfused by the administrators of the poor. The sheriff is statutory judge in various questions under the Police and Lunacy and Conjugal Eights Acts, and as to registration of births, deaths, and marriages. He has, further, a special summary small debt jurisdiction, in which his decisions in cases up to £12 are not subject to appeal, and in the year 1872 the number of such cases was 43,196, involving claims to the extent of £142,548. The sheriff court has also a special summary jurisdiction for recovery of mercantile debts up to £50, and in the same year the number of M'Nebl-Caird.] SCOTLAND. lOT these was 3,451, involving claims to the amount of £53,000. The sheriff is charged with making up and revising the register of parliamentary electors. He is the return- ing officer in all parliamentary elections. And as the- chief magistrate of the county he is specially charged with the preservation of the peace. Besides these duties,, all crimes are within his cognisance. He judges of bail. in all cases. Warrants limiting the time within which a prisoner must be brought to trial are issued by the sheriff. These warrants are in fact the Scottish Habeas Corpus, along with the common law right of every prisoned in Scotland to have the warrant, on which he is- detained, examined by the supreme courts, under a. very summary process called suspension and hberation. Capital crimes, and such as were formerly punishable- by transportation, are investigated under the sheriff's warrant, and he decides whether or not the accused shall be committed for trial, after which cases of that class pass to the higher courts. All other offences, whether at common law or against particular statutes, unless they exclude the sheriff's jurisdiction, may be tried before the- sheriff court, summarily or with a jury, according to their magnitude. And except where the penalties are defined by statute, the sheriff court has the power to punish by fine and imprisonment nominally without limit, but practically never exceeding two years. In the exercise of these great powers the sheriff^ court is of course subject to the supervision and review of the supreme court, except in some particular classes of cases. For instance, causes in which the value of th& matter in dispute does not exceed £25 cannot be removed. from the sheriff court; and a very small proportion only of the appealable cases are appealed to the higher courts. The Law Courts Commission recommend that the- sheriff court should also have jurisdiction in all questions. of heritable right and title, without limit of value, and that certain forms of action (declarators and reductions) which have hitherto been reserved to the supreme court. 103 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. sliould be made available in tbe local court of tbe sheriiF. They report " tbis skilled magistracy bas been found so efficient, tbat tbeir jurisdiction, botb judicial and minis- terial, bas been from time to time enlarged, and with so mucb success tbat we bave felt warranted in recommend- ing its furtber extension."* Public opinion cordially ■supports tbese views. Tbe professional sberiffs, established under tbe Juris- •diction Act, appointed substitutes, wbo at first were seldom trained men. All court pleadings were tben in writing, and tbe substitutes, in cases of any difficulty, indeed very often as a matter of course, merely trans- mitted tbe papers to tbe sheriff, and acted by bis instruc- tions. The substitutes were removable at the sheriff's pleasure, and were paid by bim. From tbese causes dissatisfaction arose. Parliament interposed, provided salaries for the substitute sberiffs, required that they .also sbould be trained lawyers, and, while it still left ibeir appointment in tbe bands of the sberiffs, made them irremovable except by the joint concurrence of ibe sheriff, the Lord President, and the Lord Justice Clerk, f The same Act required tbat the substitute sberiffs shall reside personally within tbeir jurisdiction, and shall not be absent more than six weeks in any year, nor more than two weeks at any one time, unless .another fit person be appointed to do the duties. Their personal administration of justice on tbe spot has con- tributed mucb to the popularity of the court. Oral •discussion bas superseded the written arguments which were formerly ' necessary, and whicb are now never resorted to before tbe sheriff-substitute. But at the same time when this beneficial change was made in their position and duties, a cbange in the opposite direc- tion was sanctioned as to tbe sberiffs. They were released (except in the case of Edinburgh and G-lasgow) from an obligation which bad been originally attached • The report is signed, among others, hy Lord Selborne, Lord Colonaay, Jfr. Justice Willes, the Lord President of the Court of Session, the Lord -Justice Clerk, and by the present Lord Advocate Gordon, and the late Lord Advocate (Lord Young). t 1 & 2 Vict., c. 119. ^I'Neel-Oaikd.] SCOTLAND. 109' jO their office, that they should reside at least four oaonths every year within their sheriffdoms. There are thus everywhere a resident sheriff-substi- tute, with a non-resident sheriff over him. The latter tias come to he regarded very much as a judge of inter- mediate appeal, between the resident judge and the supreme court; and, although the sheriffs are bound to hold in some cases three, in others four, sittings- annually, in their counties, and to attend personally " on all necessary and proper occasions," discussions before the sheriffs, on appeal, are sometimes necessarily conducted in writing. The duties of the sheriffs (as distinguished from the' sheriffs-substitute) having thus been lightened, Parlia- ment has made provision for diminishing their number, by placing several sheriffdoms under a single sheriff. The patronage of the sheriffs has always been exercised with great purity and judgment. But under the new arrangements a sheriff wiU, in a number of instances, have the appointment of no fewer than six or seven pubhc officers of great importance, viz., resident judges- and procurators-fiscal. The Sheriff of Lanarkshire has already in his sole gift seven judgeships (sheriffs-sub- stitute) and four procurator-fiscalships, an accumulation of patronage in the hands of a gentleman not imme- diately responsible to Parliament, which has grown up unheeded, because its growth has been gradual, and which it is difficult to justify on constitutional grounds. There has been some discussion in Scotland as to the necessity for continuing the office of non-resident sheriff. The preponderance of opinion among the prac- titioners in these courts is, that an efficient and in- expensive appeal from the resident sheriffs is desirable, without the necessity of going to the supreme court in minor cases. They thought it might be found by requiring two or more sheriffs to sit together on inter- mediate appeals. But the Law Courts Commission (1868-70) reported that no benefit would accrue from this. They say, " Such a combination was tried for some years, under the Eegistration of Voters' Act, and, having 110 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. "been universally admitted to have been unsatisfactory, was abolished." The cause, however, of the registration ^appeal courts having been un-satisfactory was that they were final, with no central authority by which con- flicting judgments could be reconciled, the supreme court having been, at that time, excluded in registration cases. It was not proposed that the intermediate appeal court of two or more sheriffs should be final in that sense. The Law Commissioners were decidedly of opinion that no change should be made as to the sheriffs, and the same view was held by two earlier commissions which reported on the subject. Other authorities think ihe appeal from the resident sheriffs, except in important cases, should be to the judges on circuit; and others, -again, that it should in all cases be direct to the supreme court. One thing is clear, that the resident sheriffs-suhsti- -tute, who bear the heavy work of these courts, are much underpaid. Their average salaries are from £650 to £700 a year, quite inadequate to maintain the position which they hold in the country, and much below the professional incomes common among those who practise before them. They ought to be placed on the same scale with English county-court judges, whose range of ■duties is much more limited. IV. — The Public Prosecutor. There is in every sheriff' court an oflBcer of peculiar and very important functions — the procurator-fiscal. Private prosecution for crimes, though competent, has long ceased in practice. All complaints of crime are brought to the procurator-fiscal by the parties aggrieved, or by some neighbour or bystander, or by the police. It -is the duty of the procurator-fiscal to inquire into ihem, and on being satisfied that the complaint proceeds •on just grounds, he obtains a warrant, and preparea the case for trial. Offences to which a punishment not" exceeding sixty days' imprisonment would be appro- 'Neel-Caikd.] SCOTLAND. Ill date, he at once prosecutes summarily before th.e sheriff, aless there be some peculiarity in the crime or its rcumstances requiring special consideration. Oases of ich peculiarity, and aU crimes of a serious character, e investigates more formally. The accused is taken ito custody. The statements of the witnesses (called le " precognition ") are written down, and if on these ae procurator-fiscal is of opinion that there is a suf- cient case, he applies to the sheriff for a warrant to ommit for trial. The sheriff considers the precognition, nd grants or refuses the application. The precognition 5 then transmitted to Edinburgh, for the consideration f Crown counsel, who, in cases of serious difficulty, onsult with the chief law officers of the Crown. If, in be opinion of the Crown counsel, there is not a case to rarrant trial, the accused is at once set at liberty. If bey think the investigation imperfect, they order further aquiry, and, when satisfied that the case is fit for trial, hey determine in what court it shall be tried. Cases a which a punishment not exceeding two years' im- irisonment would be suitable, are commonly remitted to he procurator-fiscal, to be tried by jury before the henff. These the procurator-fiscal prosecutes in his wn name, as public prosecutor, before the sheriff ourt, and himself conducts the prosecution tiU he btains the verdict of a jury, and the judgment of the ourt. He reports the result to the Crown counsel, who hus see that there is no unwarranted delay. Cases if greater magnitude, or of special character, are taken )y the Crown counsel on the procurator-fiscars pre- iOgnition, to the High Court or Circuit Court of Tusticiary, and the prosecution is there conducted by he Crown counsel, in the name of the Lord Advocate, ks public prosecutor. In all except summary cases the accused is furnished vith a list of the jury and. of the witnesses for the yrosecution, also a copy of the indictment, at least fifteen [ays before he can be sent to a jury. The witnesses oust be sufficiently described in the list to enable them be found, but any objection to their description must 112 LOCAL GOVBBNMENT AND TAXATION. be stated before the jury is sworn, and tbe court will, on sucb objection, give such delay as is necessary to protect tbe accused. Counsel and agent are assigned by the court to tbose wbo cannot procure them. The procurators-fiscal are chiefly paid by Crown salaries, with some small additions from the county funds for minor duties. They are not only responsible in their oflS.ce for misconduct, but are liable to civil prosecution by any person aggrieved, for irregularity or excess in the exercise of their functions. They act semi-judicially. Their duty is to see equal justice done to all Her Majesty's subjects. The feeling of parties injured neither promotes undue prosecutions for crime, nor when appeased can hinder its due prosecution. No arrangement between the parties stays the public prose- cutor. There is no grand jury in Scotland, but the innocent have efficient practical safeguards. The procurator-fiscal must be satisfied that there is ground for proceeding, and must take the responsibility of making a written charge and asking a committal for trial. The committing magistrate must be satisfied that there is a case for trial. Then the whole is carefully reviewed by the Crown counsel. Finally, there is the trial itself, at which the prisoner's counsel always has the last word. On- the other hand, serious crimes cannot escape notice. The public know their right to have them investigated without responsibihty for the cost, and are not slow to exercise it. And the care which is used in the preliminary investigations and in the preparations for trial leave comparatively few chances of escape to the guilty. In England the proportion of acquittals to prose- cutions is more than double what it is in Scotland. The percentages of acquittals to trials in the two countries, for four years, and on an average, were : — - 1869. 1870. 1871. . 1872. Average of Four Years. England Scotland 25.60 10.16 26.03 9.13 26.32 9.81 26.35 10.45 26.07 9.88 I'Neel-Caiud.J SCOTLAND. 113 In short, every fourtb. man who is brought to trial L England escapes out of the hands of justice j in Scot- .nd not quite one in ten escapes. The excess seems to idicate either that an undue number of guilty persons scape, or that an undue number of innocent persons re put unnecessarily to trial, iu England. Both causes lay be at work in producing such a remarkable and ersistent difference between the two countries. It is one of the curiosities of law that when the heriff dies the Procurators Fiscal die officially with him. 'here is an instant surcease of criminal justice all over le Sheriffdom, tiU a new Sheriff shall be selected by le Crown, and till he, after entering on office, shall mew the appointments of the Procurators Fiscal. If lere are trials impending, the crimiaals, and the wit- esses, and- the jury, who have been previously sum- Loned, may assemble, and the Sheriff-Substitute may take is seat on the bench, and aU be ready and competent ) proceed ; the accused may even desire to plead guilty ; at the public prosecutor has ceased in law to exist, id nothing can be done. On the occurrence of new ■imes the inconveniences are even greater. So long as a Sheriff held only one county, the risk as limited. But now, when one Sheriff commonly olds office over three counties, the extent to which the iministration of the criminal law will thus be from me to time suspended, is certain to occasion serious ifficulties. V. — The Church Courts. The Church in Eomish times obtained vast territories, dth jurisdiction equivalent to that of the barons, much y direct grant from the Crown, and much by Eoyal !harters confirming the bequests of subjects. One of tie ancient kings was called a saint on account of the berality of these grants. His successor said, grimly, He was a sair sanct for the Crown." But the Church fas not content to limit its jurisdiction to its own jrritories. On the plea that marriage was a sacrament, I 114 LOGAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATIUJS. it establislied a right to judge exclusively of marriage and divorce. It enlarged its powers successfully to questions of tithes, patronage, testaments, and intes- tacies. Nay, on the ground that an oath is an act of religious worship, it claimed the cognisance of all controversies in which an oath was necessary ; so wide, while it had the power, did the Church stretch the domain of faith and morals. At the Eeformation the Church lands, which then probably extended to a third of the whole kingdom, were divided among the turbulent barons. An Act was passed by Parliament " abolisching of the Pope and his authoritie within this realme." The secular jurisdictions which had been held by the Church were then vested in commissioners appointed by the Crown, and were eventually transferred to the ordinary civil courts. And the purely ecclesiastical jurisdiction remained with the Eeformed Church, and continues io be exercised locally through its kirk- sessions, presbyteries, and synods, subject to the control of the Greneral Assembly of the Kirk. These are real courts recognised and sustained by law. The kirk-session consists of the minister and elders of each congregation. The elders, though lay- men, are admitted by ordination. The session exercise the power of giving or withholding Church privileges, — baptism, and admission to the Sacrament of the Supper, — and for that purpose inquire into cases of Church scandal. Their judgments are subject to correction by the presbytery and the higher courts of the Church. The kirk-session is also intrusted by law with the duty of examining into and reporting to the civil courts, on the circumstances of persons who desire the privilege of prosecuting civU claims in the civil courts in forma pauperis, for which purpose the civil courts assign lawyers to the poor, to act without taking any fee from the pauper Htigant. The presbytery consists of the ministers and a representative elder from each parish within its bounds, which do not always coincide with the bounds of the civil courts. The number of parishes in a presbytery is M'Neel-Caied.] SCOTLAND. 115 very variable — cHefly from ten or twelve to thirty, ihougli some presbyteries include more than fifty parisb.es. The presbytery, subject to the control, of the synod and general assembly, exercises discipline over the clergy and elders, and also, on appeal or reference from the kirk-session, over the lay members of the congregations. It licenses probationers, ordains ministers, brings them to trial before itself for moral oflFences, heresy, &c., and when necessary deposes (deprives) or inflicts minor censures upon them, always subject to appeal to the higher" church courts. No great scandal of life or doctrine can long escape. Any member of presbytery, or any parishioner, may bring such matter before the presbytery. They examine into it, and, if there is ground for charge, put the charge into a formal shape, and serve it on the ofl&ce-bearer who is accused. The case is then openly tried before the presbytery. They hear the evidence of the parties, and pronounce judg- ment, the majority of votes prevailing. Any party, or any member of the presbytery, may appeal against the judgment to the synod, and again from the synod to the general assembly, who determine finally on behalf of the whole Church. The presbytery has also a special civil jurisdiction in regard to the renewal and repair of churches and manses, but in the exercise of this jurisdiction it is subject to the control of the court of session. The Synod is simply a /JoUocation of presbyteries. It meets twice a year at some central town of the district. Every member of presbytery has a seat in the synod. It maintains a supervision over the presbyteries, and judges of all appeals from and complaints against each presbytery included in it. Adjoining synods send what are called " corresponding members," to advise with each other. The decisions of the synod are in turn subject to appeal to the General Assembly, which meets once a year in Edinburgh. That venerable body is composed of ministers and elders elected by each presbytery, and has supreme lit> JjUUAJj bruyj^ai\jyLi!ji\±- jli^jj ■j.^l^j^lj-^wj.-i. authority in the government of the Church. The Act of Parliament, 1690, chap. 5, enacted " That whatsoever " minister being convened before the said general meeting " and representatives of the Presbyterian ministers and " elders, or the visitors appointed by them, shall either " prove contumacious in not appearing, or be found " guilty, and shall be therefore censured, whether by " suspension or deposition, they shaU, ipso /ado, he sus- " pended from or deprived of their stipends and bene- " fices." The Greneral Assembly has a standing Commission of its whole members', and this Commission meets three times a year, besides other days to which it may adjourn. All the Presbjrterian churches of Scotland, Estab- lished and Dissenting, abide by the Westminster Con- fession of Faith, and are governed on a similar model, through kirk-sessions, presbyteries, and synods, but the Established and Free churches alone form themselves into general assemblies. YI. — Local Finance and Administration in Counties. The administration of local finance may be conve- niently considered under three heads — counties, parishes, biirghs. ' COUNTIES. Except the assessments for maintaining roads, and some minor assessments under Special Acts of Parha- ment, all county rates in Scotland are laid on the owners of lands and heritages, and are directly or indirectly ad- ministered by them as Commissioners of Supply. These bodies, as their name indicates, were at first established to facilitate the collection of a national revenue. There are traces of them in Cromwell's time, and they were continued after the Restoration as county committees, nominated by Parliament, to coUect the Malt-tax and Excise, functions with which they have long ceased to be connected. They were afterwards appointed to levy the Land- tax. It was necessary that a Commissioner should M'Neel-Caibd.J SCOTLAND. 117 possess £100 Scots yearly of ancient valued rent, in property superiority or life-rent. Since 1856 the nomi- nation by Parliament of Commissioners of Supply lias ceased,* and every person is entitled to be placed on tbe list who is — 1. Proprietor, or husband of a proprietor, infeft in lands and heritages of the yearly rent or value of £100 sterling. 2. The eldest son and heir apparent of a proprietor to the extent of £400 a year, or 3. The factor (land agent) of a proprietor to the extent of £800 a year,. but a factol" can act only in the absence of his principal. By a singular provision the yearly rent or value of houses and other buildings (not being farmhouses or agricultural buildings) "shall be estimated at only half of their actual yearly rent or value, with reference only to the qualification of Com- missioners of Supply." By the Eeform Act of 1833 the whole powers, duties, and functions of an ancient court, called the Court of Freeholders (persons holding lands immediately of the Crown) were transferred to the Commissioners of Supply. One of these duties was the levying of " rogue- money" on the lands situated in the county, under an act of George I.f "for defraying the charges of appre- hending criminals and of subsisting them in prison until prosecution, and of prosecuting such criminals for their several offences by due course of law." Eogue-money was abolished by Parliament in 1868, | and the Com- missioners of Supply were then authorised to levy a ^'county general assessment" on all lands and heritages within the county, previously liable for rogiie-money. This general assessment is to provide for — 1. The expense of searching for, apprehending, subsisting, prosecuting, or punishing criminals. 2. The salaries and charges of procurators-fiscal and justice of peace clerks, so far as previously in use to be paid by each county. * 19 & 20 Viot, cap. 93; 17 & 18 Vict., c. 91, s. 19. t 11 Geo. I., c. 26. J 31 & 32 Viot., c. 82. 118 LOGAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. 3. The expense of maintaining court-liouses. 4. The damages done by riotous assemblies, and the expenses incurred in the prevention of riots. 5. The payment of clerks and officers, and 6. All expenses previously payable by Act of Parliament out of the rogue-money. This includes the cost of district asylums for lunatics.* But these charges are to be made the subject of this general assessment so far only as not by law or usage payable or provided from other funds. Considerable as these burdens seem when thus. ■enumerated, by much the heaviest part of them has for many years been provided out of funds voted by Parliament on the same principle on which similar charges are provided in England and Ireland. , By ancient usage, the cost of criminal cases reported to the Crown Counsel has always been a Crown charge. Half the cost of erecting new court-houses for the- sheriff courts is payable by the Commissioners of Supply, and leviable on the owners of lands and heritages in the- county and burghs situated therein, f This assessment may be levied from the tenant, but if he pays it he is entitled to deduct its amount from his rent. The other half of the cost of erecting court-houses is paid out of funds provided by Parliament. The Commissioners of Supply have the chief control of the county police, through a police committee ap- pointed by them,! and they provide for the expense by a police assessment on aU lands and heritages. In this; case also, if the assessment is paid by the tenant he is. entitled to deduct the amount from his rent. A con- siderable portion of the expense of the police is also- provided from funds voted by Parliament. The local prisons are governed by county boards. §■ Some of the members of these boards are chosen by the- town councils of royal burghs, but, except in the- shires of Edinburgh, Lanark, Forfar, and EenfreWi a- * 20 & 21 Vict., o. 71. t 23 & 24 Viet., c. 79. t 20 & 21 Vict., 0. 72 ; 21 & 22 Viot., o. 65. § 23 & 24 Vict., c. 105. M'Nbel-Caiiii).] SCOTLAND. 119 large majority of the members of the County Prison Board are nominated by the Commissioners of Supply. The county board determines annually the amount to be levied for prison purposes, including any sums which the board may see fit to contribute to reformatories, with the consent of the Commissioners of Supply and the approval of the Secretary of State.* The amount so fixed is divided between the county and burghs accord- ing to the total value of lands and heritages situated wiihin them respectively. The Commissioners of Supply leYj a rate on lands and heritages sufficient to raise their part, and the town councils of burghs may either pay their share out of any surplus revenue of the burgh, or levy a prison rate. Under the prison assessment levied in the counties, an occupier who pays the rate is (as in nearly all the other rates levied by the Commissioners of Supply) entitled to deduct the whole from his rent. In burghs half of the prison assessment is payable by the occupier himself. The local authority, under the " Contagious Diseases Animals Acts,"t consists of members chosen by the Com- missioners of Supply, to act along with an equal number chosen by occupiers. The sums necessary are notified by the local authority to the Commissioners of Supply, who assess it on lands and heritages. But this assess- ment, unlike other county assessments, is payable, one- half by the proprietors and the other half by the tenants. The sherifi", and in his absence the sheriff-substitute, is ex officio a Commissioner of Supply, and a member of the Police Committee and Prison Board. Prior to 1854 the Commissioners of Supply levied all the rates which they administered, according to valuations settled two hundred years ago. The rela- tive value of lands had undergone such changes that the apportionment of the rates had become very unequal, pressing with great severity on some lands, while others escaped without contributing at all in proportion to their modern value. An Act was therefore passed J by^ * 23 & 24 Viot., 0. 105, s. 51. + 32 & 33 Vict. (1869), c. 70. t 17 & 18 Vixjt. ,c. 91. 120 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. which, the Commissioners of Supply for the landward parts of counties, and the magistrates of burghs, were required to make up a valuation roU annually, and were empowered, in future, to levy their assessments accord- ing to that roU. This annual re-valuation would undoubtedly operate as a check on improvement, by increasing the rates as soon as improvements were made, but for a wise provision, that when lands are botid fide let on a lease not exceeding twenty-one years, for a yearly rent conditioned as their fair annual value, without any other consideration, the rent shall be taken as the value for assessment. This principle is of cardinal importance in the working of the system, and is applied to the levy of all rates, parochial and burghal as well as county, and whether charged on the owner or occupier. There is, however, an unquestionable defect in re- gard to improvements made by the owner on land which he himself occupies. These are liable to re-valuation as soon as the improvements are made, which is a penalty on improvement, and ought to be amended. In practice, however, a sense of its impolicy prevents its being rigidly enforced. The case of ground-rents is covered by a general pro- vision as to all heritages let on lease of greater duration than twenty-one years. The lessee under such a lease is, for the purposes of valuation and rating, taken to be the proprietor, but is entitled to deduct from the ground- rent such proportion of the rates as corresponds to the amount of the ground-rent.* In effect, the building tenant and the ground owner are both treated as pro- prietors, each to the extent of his actual interest, as long as the lease lasts. This is substantially the true cha- racter of their rights, and, if that had been recognised, perhaps there might have been less obscurity in some discussions which have taken place in England as to the incidence of rates on the owners of building ground. The practice as to the management of roads varies in different counties. Under one of the old statutes the * 17&18Vict., o.91,s. 6. M'ITjsel-Caibj).] SCOTLAND. 121 proprietors were empowered " to cast about the higliways to their own conveniency," if they did not remove them more than two hundred ells.* A few years later the justices were authorised to call out all tenants and •cottars, and their servants, "with horses, carts, sleds, spades, shovels, picks, mattocks, and other instruments," to repair the highways, which were to be " so repaired that horses and carts may travel, summer and winter, thereupon," and if the labour of the tenants and cottars should not be sufficient, the heritors were to "stent themselves " for the purpose to an amount not exceeding ten shillings Scots, on each hundred pounds Scots of their valued rent.f The Commissioners of Supply were afterwards conjoined with the justices in the manage- ment. In later times the management of the high- ways, as well as of turnpike roads, where established, was vested, by local Acts of Parliament, chiefly in the heritors holding property of the annual value fixed by these Acts, and in most of these the duty of supplying labour to the highways, previously laid on the tenants and cottars, was commuted into money payments. It thus came that in various counties the burden of main- taining the highways was laid whoUy or mainly on the tenants, while the proprietors alone had the administra- tion. The dissatisfaction which naturally ^rew out of that system has led, in most, if not all, the local Acts recently obtained, to the tax being divided equally between landlord and tenant, and the administration placed in the hands of a mixed body of trustees. These are composed of all proprietors of a certain annual rental, and of representatives elected by the ratepayers from «ach parish. So far as yet tried, this change seems to have worked smoothly and well. — In more than a third of the counties of Scotland the vexatious and expensive system of levying a tax by turnpikes has been abandoned, and the cost provided by assessment. * 1661, c. 284. t 1669, o. 37. 122 LOCAL GOrSBNMBNT AND TAXATION. YII. — ^LocAL. Finance and Administration in Parishes ; — Poor. The chief parish taxes are the Foor Bate and School Mate. I. Poor. — The management of the poor, in all parishes which are assessed, is in the hands of a board for each parish, called the Parochial Board. Every owner of lands and heritages of the yearly value of £20 and upwards is a member of the board. The members' of the parish kirk-session, not exceeding six, including the parish minister, are also members of the board. To these are added members elected by the ratepayers, the number of elected members being fixed for each parish by the Board of Supervision. In choosing the elected members, every owner of lands, and heritages, whose value is not sufficient (£20) to make him a member of the board without election, has one vote. Every occupier who is assessed on value under £20 has one vote. If the value is £20 and under £40, he has two votes. £40 „ £60, „ three votes. £60 „ £100, „ four votes. „ £100 „ £500, „ five votes. „ „ £500 or more . . .six votes. The assessments are imposed and levied by each parochial board. Three methods of assessment are- allowed. It may be — (1.) One half on owners, and the other half on tenants and occupiers, according to the annual value of lands and heritages. The number of parishes assessed on this rule is 698. (2.) In adopting the above method of assessment, the parochial board, with concurrence of the Board of Supervision, may distinguish the lands and heritages into two or more classes (as dwellings, factories, shops, &c., according to the purposes for which they are used), laying a different rate on each class, and may distribute M'Neel-Caikd.] SCOTLAND. ' 123-. the occupier's half of the assessment according to such differential rates. This is done in 183 parishes. (3). The entire assessment may be levied according^ to any usage established in the parishes, or under the- provisions of any local Act. Only twenty-three parishes are rated according to such usages, which, of course, are- various. Although in all the rated parishes, except these twenty-three, the tenants and occupiers pay half the rates, and no doubt in some of them also, they have (except in thirty or forty special parishes, chiefly towns) been deprived of aU. effective voice at the- parochial board. Parliament, when it gave them the right to be represented, instead of laying down some self- acting rule as to their proportion of representation, com- mitted to the Board of Supervision the extraordinary- power of fixing the number of members whom the- occupiers should elect. And, in country parishes- especially, the Board of Supervision — apparently with a distrust of popular election which is rather out of date — have limited the number elected by ratepaying occupiers- in most cases to four, three, and very often two members- of a board in which six members of kirk-session and. every £20 owner in the parish is entitled to sit without election. It is manifestly wrong that the kirk-session of one, and frequently not the largest, religious denomina- tion in the parish should have greater taxing and spending- power than the entire body of those who pay half the rates. One of the kirk-session, the minister, who is always- entitled to sit at the board, and usually does, has the- privilege of being free of rates on his manse and glebe ,-; and the other members of session are appointed for ecclesiastical purposes, and though generally worthy men, are not often large ratepayers. There are eighty-one parishes, nearly a tenth of the whole, in which the poor are supported by voluntary contributions, without assessment; and the management in these parishes is very properly left with the heritors- and kirk-session, who raise the money without taxing- anybody. They spend their own money and the money 124 LOCAL GOVEENMENT AND TAXATION. of those wlio voluntarily commit it to them, and, as might be expected, they use it with prudence and judgment. The proportion of paupers to population for the year ending May, 1873, in these unassessed parishes, was less than one registered pauper (dependants included) to every 27i of their population ; and the cost for maintaining their poor, and all expenses connected with them, was only 4s. Oird. per head of their population. Over the whole of Scotland (population, 3,360,018) the number of registered paupers, including dependants, was 153,427; an average of one person supported by the rates to every 21f of the population, and the average cost per head of population was 5s. 2id. In England the average cost per head of population for the same year is returned by the Local Grovernment Board as 6s. 7id.;* but that is calculated on an estimate that the population in 1873 was 600,000 more than when the CJensus was taken in 1871. The Scottish calculations are on the Census of 1871. Reckoned in the same way, the rate per head of population. in England was 6s. 9jd. In both respects the unassessed parishes in Scotland ishow more favourably than those which are assessed. Their ratio of pauperism and expense to population are both one-fifth less than in the rest of Scotland. Nor ■does this appear to arise from refusal of relief. The refasals ■of relief in these parishes through the year amounted to only one in 1,478 of their population. The average of refusals over Scotland was one in 789 of the population ; that is, there were nearly two refused, on the average of the rest of Scotland in proportion to population, for ■every case of refusal in the unassessed parishes. There were seventy-eight of the eighty-one unassessed parishes from which there was no complaint to the Board of ^Supervision, by the poor, of inadequate relief ; from one of the others there were two, and from a second three such complaints, which were all dismissed as unfounded ; and from the remaining parish there was one complaint, which was removed to the satisfaction of the Board of :.Supervision. * Third Annual Reperi, 1873-4', p. ix. M'Neel-Caied.J SCOTLAND. 125 the poor-rates . 1 in 13 . 1 „ 13^ • 1 „ 11* 1 „ in nearly 1 „ 11 „ Hi about 1 „ lOi nearly 1 „ loi nearly 1 „ 10 „ 10 „ ^ „ 8i Contrasted with, these -parishes are others which pre- sent an alarming aspect. We select a few of them from different parts of the country. Eeckoning the registered paupers and their de- pendants — 1. In Kirkcowan, "Wigtownshire, one in every 13 of the population is supported by 2. „ Kirkinner, Wigtownshire 3. „ Mamoch, Banffshire 4. „ Mochrum, Wigtownshire 5. „ Minnigaff, Kirkcudbright 6. „ New Luce, Wigtownshire 7. „ Kirkmaiden, Wigtownshire 8. „ Portpatriok, Wigtownshire 9. „ Torosay, Argyllshire 10. „ Killeaman, Rosshire 11. „ Dairy, Kirkcudbright . 12. „ Laggan, Invernesshire . 13. „ Glenshiel, Eosshire 14. „ Stoneykirk, Wigtownshire And. to crown them all — 15. In Kilchrennan and Dalavich, Argyllshire . . 1 „ 7;^ In order to ascertain whether the remarkable propor- tion of poor to population in the last case arose from any temporary cause, I have gone back on the previous years, with the following result : — Ealchrennan and Dalavich, 1872, proportion to popu- lation of persons supported by the rates . . 1 in 7^ On an average of three years, 1866, 1867, 1868 . . 1 „ 8y'„- On an average of three years, 1861, 1862, 1863, about . 1 „ 8a This hideous state of things has grown up under a system by which those who contribute nothing, or little, have a considerable voice in spending. The Board of Supervision has throughout limited the number of elected members in these parishes, in four of them to four mem- bers, in six of them to three members, and the rest to two members. The control is thus obviously in the hands of others when they choose to exercise it. There is another remarkable feature of these parishes. They one and all, though in varying proportions, stand very high in their percentage of illegitimate births.' Taking the last issued (1874) Detailed Annual Beport 12Q LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. by the Registrar-General, the sixteenth, I find that the average proportion of illegitimate births to legitimate ■over all Scotland was 9" 6 per cent., which is about 1 in every IOtV of the whole births . 1 in lO^-V 1 „ 3 1 „ 6f 1 » ^3 1 „ 5f 1„4| 1 „ 6f l„3f 1 „ H 1 » 4 l»7i 1 » 2A 1 „ H i» H 1 .. 5^ rgylls] lire 1 „H 1. But in Kirkcowan, WigtownsMre (placing the parishes for 'comparison in the same order as ■when speaking of their proportion of pauperism), every third birth was illegitimate — in other words, for every two legitimate births there was one illegitimate, 2. In Kirkinner, Wigtownshire - 3. „ Marnoch, Banffshire 4. „ Mochrum, Wigtownshire 5. „ Minnigaff, Kirkcudbright 6. „ Kirkmaiden, Wigtownshire 7. „ New Luce, Wigtownshire 8. „ Portpatrick, Wigtownshire 9. „ Torosay, Argyllshire 10. „ Killearnan, Eosshire 11. „ Dairy, Kirkcudbright 12. „ Laggan, Invernesshire . 13. „ Glenshiel, Eosshire 14 „ Stoneykirk, Wigtownshire 15. „ Kilchrennan and Dalavich, Argyllshire Dairy, in Kirkcudbright, probably stands in this xespect pre-eminent in Europe, except Stockholm and 3)erhaps Paris. In Paris the proportion of illegitimate births ranges from 27 to 32 per cent. In Stockholm it Teaches 41 '2 per cent., which is one half per cent, worse "than Dairy. These figures, though running so much on parallel lines, do not by, any means prove that illegitimacy aud pauperism stand in the relation of cause and efiect even in these parishes, still less in any others whose circum- stances may be different. But they lay ground for further investigation of the subject, and in the meantime raise at least a presumption, where both illegitimacy and pauperism stand so high together, that they are some- iow correlated. In a very able report by Mr. Malcolm M'Neill, visiting-officer of the Southern District, he mentions, in regard to one of these parishes, that nine single women, having twenty-one children, were in receipt of outdoor M-Neel-Caird.] SCOTLAND. 127 Telief. Even he does not seem, however, to have been quite aware of the depth of immorality and pauperism which exists in the parishes above named. It appears, moreover, that the nine single women, with their children, whom he mentions, were more than an eighth of all who were supported by the Tates in the parish to which he refers. And the parochial board had not applied the poorhouse test to them, though it had ample poorhouse accommodation. It is not difficult to see that a system of outdoor relief ■to unmarried young women, who have burdened them- selves with children, is very hke a premium on illegiti- macy, by enabling them to live in greater idleness and ■ease than others of their condition in life, nor that the lax administration, which leads to their being so indul- gently treated, is more likely to grow up when the power of spending is not restricted to those who have the duty of paying, and when contracted views prevail, owing to the narrow limits of the district administered. Nor is it surprising that there should be occasional or frequent failure of vigilance or judicious economy, among per- manent and unpaid administrators of funds which they have compulsory power to levy from others who have no voice in their appointment, to whom they are not respon- sible, and who can neither remove nor control them. The reports, of the Board of Supervision do not give the parish ratio of pauperism to population in any case, and state the general ratio over all Scotland as 2"83* per 100 of the population. But the Board has left out of this calculation the dependants of registered poor. These dependants, as well as the registered poor them- selves, are maintained by the poor-rates. They count dn the population, and require to be taken into account in any just calculation of the proportion of pauperism and population. Reckoning dependants, the ratio for aU Scotland of persons sustained by the poor-rates was 4 "56 per cent., or, as already said, 1 in every 2 If of the popu- lation of Census 1871, for the year ending May, 1873. The returns of pauperism for England state the proportion * Twenty-eighth Report, p. xxdi. 128 LOCAL GOVEBNMJENT AND TAXATION. of paupers in England to the population of Census 1871 as 1 in 26, or 3'9 per cent.,* on 1st January, and 1 in 28, or 3-6 per cent., on 1st July, 1873, and in this cal- culation dependants are included. But these propor- tions cannot be fairly compared with those given in the reports for Scotland, even as we have amended them.;' because the Enghsh numbers are of persons receiving relief only on two particular days, or whose allowance is for any period which includes these days, whUe the numbers for Scotland include all registered paupers, and their dependants, who have been in receipt of reUef at any period of the year. The English and Scottish returns are not well ad- justed for comparison. But the Board of Supervision take returns of the poor relieved on three days of the year — 1st January, 14th May, and 14th August. The 1st of January coincides with the first date taken in the English returns, and the 14th of August is the nearest to the second of the dates taken in England (1st July). Many of those who are classed in Scotland as " casual poor" are included in the figures taken for reckoning the EngHsh percentage, even vagrants relieved being included, f In making a comparison with England, we must therefore take the numbers relieved in Scotland on 1st January and 14th August, thus : — 1st Jnnnary. 14th August. Begistered — Adults Dependajits .... Casual Poor— Adulta Dependants .... 73,292 40,855 2,491 2,195 70,247 38,848 2,288 2,012 Totals . 118,833 113,395 "Which gives a proportion of about 1 in 28|- (or 3-5 per 100) of the population (3,860,018) of Scotland for the 1st January, against the English proportion, 1 in 26 (or 39 per 100), on the same day; and a propor- tion of 1 in 29f (or 3-3 per 100) of the population of * Third Anmal BepoH of Local Government Boaj-d, 1873-4 pp. S84, 598. t Third Report Local Government Board; note at bottom of p. 686. M'Nebl-Oaim.] SCOTLAND. 129 Scotland for 14th August, against the English propor- tion of 1 in 28 (or 3-6 per cent.) on 1st July. But the figures on which the English calculations are based include, on the mean of the two dates, 134,925* adult able-bodied persons, besides their children. As the able- bodied do not receive relief in Scotland, England is thus heavily weighted in the comparison. Putting aside the able-bodied, so as to compare the two countries more closely in regard to the classes which alone are charge- able in Scotland, the ratio of persons receiving support from the rates, on the mean of the dates taken for com- parison, is — Scotland 1 in every 28\^ of population, England 1 in every 31 of population. And even if we deduct from the Scottish, side the whole class of " casuals," the proportions would stand — Scotland 1 in every 30 of population. England 1 in every 31 of population. WhUe, if we were to deduct from the English side the dependants of its 124,925 adult able-bodied recipients of relief, the comparison would be very much worse for Scotland. There is another comparative test which is more easily applied. The gross rental of lands and houses in England is £118,769,000, and its expenditure for the poor, including the able-bodied and their dependants, is equal to Is. 3^d. per pound on that rental. The gross rental of lands and houses in Scotland is £14,124,000, and its expenditure for the poor is equal to Is. l^d. per pound on that rental. Thus, Scotland is within 2d. per pound of being as heavily burdened by the poor, without the able-bodied, as England is with the able-bodied: although the able-bodied and their dependants receiving relief in England on the mean of the two dates, .Tanuary 1 and July 1, 1873, numbered 333,202, and all the rest of the poor in England with their dependants were only 523,467. In short, Scotland, which up till the Disruption * Third Report, Local Government Board, pp. xiii., 584, 598. J 130 LOGAL GOVBBNMENT AND TAXATION. of the Church, in 1843 was able to sustain its poor by the phurch collections and voluntary contributions, is already worse than England in regard to pauperism, except in one thing — ^that the able-bodied have no claim to relief; and she owes that to the law itself, not to its administrators. I have discovered no parishes in England — ^I am assured on high authority there are none — in which there is such intensity of pau- perism as in some of the Scottish parishes which I have named. And a peasantry who, in my recollec- tion, were sensitive in the highest degree to the imputa- tion that any of their kindred had received parish support, now too. often claim it with eagerness if given in money, though they still look on the poorhouse as degrading. There never was a contrivance, for rapidly sapping the honest self-dependence of the industrious poor, equal to that of committing to ecclesiastical managers the power of dispensing charity with ratepayers' money. The pecuniary burden is great, but the moral result is much more deplorable. I have turned to Ireland, thinking that in that un- happy country at least I might find something to take away the reproach. And there are districts in Ireland where the proportion of pauperism is even greater than in the parishes in Scotland which I have named. In Dunshaughlan and JSTavan, County Meath, with popula- tions of 11,697 and 19,311 respectively, two in every seven received relief in the year ending September, 1873. But taking Ireland as a whole, and looking to the amount of the burden, the comparison is not favourable to Scotland. The poor-rate collected annually in Scot- land, on the average of the last four years — 1870, 1871, 1872, and 1873, was £815,575 15s. In Ireland, on the average of the same years, it was only £774,332. Tet in Ireland the able-bodied poor are entitled to relief, and the population of Ireland is 5,402,759, while that of Scotland is only 3,360,018. I shall afterwards notice a distinctive feature in the management, which is the root of this great difference of cost. It is painful to make comparisons so little to the M'Keel-Caird ] SGOTLAyn. 131 advantage of one's own country ; but truth, requires it, and we must bear tbe probing of tbe wound that we may have it. cured. I have confidence that my country- men will apply the cure, with their characteristic energy, when they see to what the country has been brought. VIII. — Parishes and Poor — continued. INDOOR AND OUTDOOR RELIEF. One capital defect in the management of the poor in Scotland is the limited extent to which the poor- house test is employed in the rural districts. Of the registered paupers and their dependants, numbering 153,427 in all Scotland, there were put upon indoor relief — la the half-year ended 31st December, 1872 . 17,133 „ „ „ 30th June, 1873 . . 19,201 36,334 Mean . . 18,117 Only 11 '8 per cent, of the poor, therefore, were put on indoor relief. The proportion in England is about 20 per cent. But this by no means represents the full extent of the difference. Nearly two-thirds of those who were sent to the poorhouses in the half-year ending December, 1872, came from eleven or twelve town parishes. I shall afterwards give some details on this subject. There are sixty-two poorhouses in Scotland, forty of which have been erected by combinations — ^that is, parishes which have agreed to join in building a poor- house for their mutual use, without uniting in any other respect. These are the germs of natural unions. Three hundred and ninety-nine parishes altogether, containing a population of 2,388,236, being more than two-thirds of the whole population of Scotland, are now in this way enabled to use the poorhouse test, when they choose to do so. The average cost per head of the inmates of poorhouses, for food, fuel, clothing, light. 132 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. and maintenance, was 3s. 2d. per week in 1873. But tlie establishment charges are commonly paid by the contributing parishes in proportion to the use they make of the poorhonse. In this way the expense of each indoor pauper exceeds the average of outdoor reHef» and many boards, therefore, think it " cheaper " to avoid the poorhouse as much as they can. If the estabHsh- ment charges, which may be estimated at less than £18,000, were assumed by Parliament, there would probably be an immediate change. In an interesting report, as to outdoor and indoor relief, by the Eev. William Bury, rector of Hazelbeach, in regard to the Brixworth Union, rn England, which contains thirty-six parishes, he shows that down to the 1st of January, 1873, the average of paupers to popula- tion in that union varied from 1 in 12 to 1 in 14, and the proportion of indoor to outdoor relief varied from 1 in 9 to 1 in 17 of the paupers. In the early part of 1873 a freer use of the poorhouse test was resolved on, and carried out. " The total number of paupers," lie says, " in receipt of outdoor relief on January 1st, 1873, -was 917 ; on January 1st, 1874, it was 542 — showing a reduction in the space of twelve months of 375. The proportion of outdoor to indoor paupers on January 1st, 1873, was as 12 to 1 J whereas, on January 1st, 1874, it was as 8 to 1." Again, "on January 1st, 1873, there was 1 pauper to every 14 of the population ; on January 1st, 1874, there was 1 to every 22 — ^being, however, still above the average throughout the country, which is 1 to every 26." The expenditure on the average of 1871 and 1872 (before the new rule was acted on) was £6,338 9s. Id., whereas it fell for the following year to £5,078 7s. 3d. " The action of the board," Mr, Bury continues, " in a stricter appli- cation of the house test, has not had the eflfect, which some might have anticipated, of filling the house. The number of inmates on January 1st, 1873, was seventy-three, -Vrhile the number on January 1st, 1874, was sixty-seven. It is true that the average for the year — which is, of course, a fairer test — shows an increase of six in the last year over that of the year before. This, however, may be accounted for by the fact that six children, whose parents are now supporting themselves, were received into' the house early in the year, and have remained there ever since. — But it will be said, and with truth, that figures "M'Neel-Caird.J SCOTLAND. 133 do not represent the whole of the case. They may show a satisfactory balance-sheet to the ratepayers, but they tell nothing of that side of the question which, as guardians, we ought never to lose sight of; •and that is the effect, moral as well as otherwise, upon the poor themselves. It is possible that, in attempting a reform, we have forgotten the humanity which is due from us ; and the reduction in rates and pauperism may repx-esent an increased amount of suffering to the poor, which we have no right to inflict. This most important side of the question cannot be omitted, if we would rightly estimate the work of our reform, while the difficulty of it will be apparent to -all. I have been able, however, with the assistance of the relieving- officers, in some measui-e to meet it. Each case that has been per- manently struck off the outdoor relief list has been watched, as far as it was possible to do so, and the subsequent condition and manner of living carefully recorded. It appears that, during the year ending December 31st, 1873, outdoor relief has been per- manently discontinued from 241 paupers. Of these, two have died, three have accepted the offer of the house, twelve have left the district (this includes a family of six persons), nine axe maintaining themselves with occasional help from relatives, fifty-five are supported by relatives who seem well able to do it ; the remainder, to the number of 160, are entirely supporting themselves in the district, And of these only seven appear to have any difficulty in doing so, while four out of the seven are acknowledged to be oases requiring relief, but for whom the house is manifestly the proper place, the offer of which has been made, but persistently refused. The above statement serves, I think, to exonerate the board from any suspicion of harsh- ness, and is a sufficient justification of the course that has been adopted. It appears from this, that of 241 persons who were sup- ported by the rates on January 1st, 1873, only three were being so supported on January 1st, 1874; or, in other words,' that 236 persons, who on January 1st, 1873, were paupers, on January 1st, 1874, were independent." Mr. Malcolm M'Neill, in his report already referred io, mentions a similar case on a smaller scale in his district, in the town parish of Stranraer, in Scotland, where by merely applying the poorhouse test under the guidance of a sagacious chairman, Mr. MacLean, of Dachra, " in all cases where there is any reason for ■suspecting imposition, and in all cases where the pauper is of improvident habits, or where the applicant has illegitimate children," the proportion of pauperism has been brought, as he states it, to 1 in 31 '2 of the popula- tion. The ratio was formerly 1 in 17. My calculation of the present ratio does not agree with his, perhaps from some diiference of time. But I find that in the 134 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. parish referred to tlie expenditure for the poor stoo^ thus : — 1854 £1,066 5 6 1868 904 17 6 1873 774 14 The descending scale of cost, with the relief so givea to the ratepayers, and a noticeable increase in the value- of property, show what can be done by judgment and vigilance. This is one of the small number of parishes- in which the Board of Supervision has permitted to the occupying ratepayers an efficient share in the manage- ment. They are allowed to elect twelve members of the board. Strange to say, a radius of thirty miles from this parish would reach more than half of those whose posi- tion as to pauperism and illegitimacy are so much to he deplored. Mr. M'Neill further states that the average of the whole county of Wigtown " exhibits the startling propor- tion of one pauper to 17 "3 of the population, and is- thus by far the most heavily burdened portion of my district. It is remarkable that in no other county i& every parish furnished with poorhouse accommodation.'* Things have become worse since his report. On the year ending May, 1873, the average proportion over all Wigtownshire is one person supported by the rates in every 14^ of the population. But he states some fact& which quite account for it.. "In this county there are receiving outdoor relief forty-eight, single women, with 100 children — in all 148 persons; there are also-, fifty-one cases (the number of dependants unknown) in which pauper- ism is doubtful; 199 persons, therefore— and it is probable that investigation would discover a much greater number — are suitable subjects for the test. The number of single women with their children, including eleven individuals in the poorhouse, is as 1 iui 244-2 of the population. In the whole southern district, such cases are only as 1 in 767-7; and this fact alone, indicating lax manage- ment in one direction, is probably a fair guide to what may be antici- pated in others." He shows that in one parish the ratio of single women paupers and their children to population is 1 in 88 "5. In twenty-four parishes of Haddingtonshire he found ott M'Xeel-Caird.] SCOTLAND. 135 tlie rolls forty-one single women with, eighty children, in all 121 persons, or 1 in 312 of the population; and in the parish of Haddington he found the ratio of pauperism 1 in 17' 5 of the population, and single women with their children on the roll in the ratio of ■ 1 in 197 '7 of the population, even a larger proportion than in "Wigtownshire. In Kirkcudbrightshire there were on the rolls eighty-seven dissolute women, with 207 . children, of whom only three women with eight children were in the poorhouse. The remaining 283 persons, 1 in 147 "9 of the population, receive outdoor relief. " And this is not the only means of estimating the laxity of administration which has produced the high rate of pauperism in this county, for sixty-five other cases are noted as doubtfal." In one parish in Kirkcudbright- shire the single women with their children on outdoor relief are 1 "in 50"9 of the population ! Mr. Alexander Campbell, superintendent of one of the northern districts, reports that by the use of the poorhouse test " in one parish in Aberdeenshire the roll was speedily reduced one-fourth. In another parish in Perthshire the number of women-paupers receiving relief on account of illegitimate children was in a few weeks reduced from sixteen to one." Mr. Adamson, the able inspector of the City Parish, Glasgow — an immense parish, with a population of 181,741— states :— " Except in some very rare cases, we never give outdoor relief, "1. To deserted wives. " 2. To women with illegitimate children. " 3. To persons of dissipated habits. " 4. To persons attempting to deceive the board by false state- ments. " 5. To persons of immoral character. " 6. To persons whose children ought to support them. " The argument of persons ignorant of the practical working of the Poor Laws, and whose benevolent feelings overcome their judg- ment, is that it costs more to take these persons into the poorhouse than to give them a small aliment out. In some cases it would, but as a general rule these persons only remain in (if they come in at all) a few days ; but admit them to the outdoor roll, and they will remain for years." 13G LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. The rule as to deserted wives seems harsh; but experience shows that facility of getting parish support for the children is a great encouragement to desertion, and also that many desertions are collusive with the very object of burdening the rates. Mr. Adamson's observation, that the classes who could maintain themselves generally stay a very short time in the poorhouse, is strikingly confirmed by the returns both of his own and other city parishes. Thus his parish, with accommodation for 1,500, was enabled to admit 4,206 to the poorhouse during the half-year ending 30th June, 1873. The Barony Parish, with accommodation for 1,348, admitted 2,162. Edinburgh, with 939 berths, admitted 2,041. And St. Cuthbert's and Canongat'e, with 538 berths, admitted 1,182. Many berths had obviously been vacated almost as soon as they were fiUed. In the rural districts the proportions are very different. Thurso Combination, with accom- modation for 149, sent only 11 to the poorhouse. Wigtownshire, with accommodation for 352, sent only 92. Upper Nithsdale, with 126, sent 48. Kirkpatrick- Fleming Combination, with 120, sent 22. Latheron Combination, with 50, sent 6. And Kirkcudbriglit, with 250 berths, made use of only 68. The poor- houses, as a whole, are usually half empty. Thus, on 1st January, 1873, their whole inmates were 8,172, and on 1st July, 1873, only 7,371, though there was accom- modation for 14,375. In 1852, when the population of the City Parish (Glasgow) was 148,116, the registered poor were 14,117. And such was the effect of the system pursued, as ex- plained by Mr. Adamson, that in 1872, when the popu- lation had increased to 181,741, the registered poor were only 5,487, and the- casual poor had diminished from 3,767 in the former year to 362 in the latter. The progress of the system pursued in the City Parish of Glasgow appears thus : — In 1854 the proportion of registered poor on indoor relief was about . . . . 8i per cent. And the total number of registered poor was 11,501 M'Neel-Caibd.J BGOTLAND. 137 In 1864 (ten years later), under the system pursued, the proportion on indoor relief (averaging the numbers for two half- years) was 64 per cent. And the total number of registered poor had been reduced to . . 6,513 In 1873 (we have not yet the ret'irns for 1874) the proportion on indoor relief was 71 per cent. And the total registered poor had been reduced to 5,452 In 1854 there was 1 pauper on the register for nearly every 13 of the population. In 1864 the pro- portion had fallen to 1 in 24, and in 1873 it was 1 in 33. — In 1852 the poor-rate was 2s. 6d. per pound. In 1862 it was Is. 6d. In 1872 it was Is. 4d.; and in 1874 it was Is. 2d. per pound. If ever figures spoke, they do it in this case. The Parochial Board of the City Parish has twenty- five members elected by the ratepayers. The ecclesias- tical members are proportionately too few to sway its policy. In the Barony Parish of Glasgow — another immense parish — the poorhouse test has not been so stringently applied, but its influence is quite discernible. In 1868 the proportion of registered poor on indoor relief was 25J per cent. And their total number was . . 9,866 In 1872 the proportion on indoor relief had been increased to 31^ per cent. And the total number fell to . . 6,646 In 1873 the proportion on indoor relief was increased to 34 per cent. And the total number diminished to . 5,865 In this case, also, the reduction was effected in the face of a vast increase of population — from 177,527 at the first date to 222,927 at the two last. In 1868 the pro- portion of registered poor to population was about 1 in 18. In 1872 it was under 1 in 35, and in 1873 it was close to 1 in 38. In this parish, also, the ratepayers have the chief voice in the management, the Board of Supervision having allowed them to elect twenty-one members of the Parochial Board. On the average over all Ireland the proportion of indoor relief is about 61 per cent., considerably higher 138 LOGAL OOVERNMUNT AND TAXATION. tlian tlie Barony parisli, and not quite so highTas G-lasgow. That is the secret of the amount of poor-rate in Ireland heing less than in Scotland. IX.— Poor — continued. DEATHS AND EDUCATION. The proportion of deaths among the poor cannot be discovered from the reports of the Board of Supervision. But the Board gives two columns which call for explanav tion and inquiry. Of the registered poor, numbering . . ■ . ... 95,271 "Died or ceased to receive relief . . . 23,734" Of their dependants, numbering . . . . ... 58,156 Died or ceased to receive relief . . . 17,697* Total supported by poor-rates . . . 153,427 Total died or ceased to receive relief . . 41,431 Of 153,427 persons supported by the rates, we thus learn that 41,431, more than a fourth, " died or ceased to receive relief" during the year ending May, 1873. And it was not an exceptional year. In the year ending May, 1872, the numbers were : — Begistered poor 99,329 Died or ceased to receive relief . . . 24,577 Dependants 62,846 Died or ceased to receive relief . . . 19,987 Total supported by the rates .... 162,175 Total died or ceased to receive relief . . 44,564 Again more than a fourth. And on the average of ten years ending May, 1872, the numbers were:— r Supported by poor-rates — Begistered poor 101,567 Dependants 63,614 Total .... 165,181 Died or ceased to receive relief — Begistered poor 23,524 Dependants . 18,872 Total . . 42,396 * Twenty-eightfi, Seport, p. 191. M'NiSEL-CAiM).] SCOTLAND. 139 Very neaiiy a fourth.. On the figures it might almost seem, at first sight, as if the whole poor die or cease to receive relief, and are reproduced, every four years. It is not obvious why the deaths are mixed up in this way with less serious changes, as if it were of no interest to the public whether they died or what became of them. But taking the figures as they are given, it would seem that either the registered poor must be' a singularly changing body for a country in which the able-bodied have no claim, or that the proportion of deaths is very great. As none except the disabled are entitled to relief, it might be expected, indeed, that there should be a high proportion of deaths among the registered poor, rather than that their number should fluctuate greatly by their ceasing to be relieved from other causes than death. From the . persistence of the proportion over so many years, it is probable that, if the deaths were separated from other causes of cessation to receive relief, some law of change might be disclosed afiecting the number of re- cipients of relief from time to time. The season of the year, for instance, may occasion it, for deaths are likely to be more frequent in winter; and other causes of discontinued relief in summer. It is certainly desirable that a return should be moved in Parliament, to show the number of deaths separately from other causes of their ceasing to be chargeable. The Poor Law Act* made provision for the educa- tioti of " poor children who are themselves, or whose parents are objects of parochial relief." I have in vain searched the annual reports of the Board for any statement of what has been done on this important subject. . Even the accounts are silent as to expenditure for education. Tet it is the only reproductive expendi- ture under the supervision of the Board — ^the one hope of training up pauper children to become useful members of society. In the English reports for 1873 no fewer than 207 closely-printed pages are devoted to this subject. The Education, Act, by its compulsory pro- visions for the education of all poor children, whether # 8 and 9 Viot., o. 83, s. 69. 140 LOCAL GOVEBNKENT ANB TAXATION. paupers or not, will, it is to be hoped, make it impossiblie for the Board of Supervision to continue this reticence. In Scotland there has never been any extension, beyond the parish, of the area of chargeability or settle- ment. Two large city parishes in Edinburgh, and two in Grlasgow, have accomplished unions for all purposes connected with the poor. Others have joined for the sole purpose of building poor-houses, but remain as separate as before for settlements and everything else: With these exceptions, every parish in Scotland " hangs by. its own head;" each with its separate staff of officers, and its isolated method of dealing with pauper- ism. On an average, an eighth of the whole expendi- ture consists of costs of management. The inequalities of taxation, and other evils which arise out of these narrow areas of rating and settlement, will be more conveniently considered after I have treated of the school-rate, which has for the first time brought out in an authentic shape the proportions in which parish taxation falls on different districts. The following tabular view shows, triennially, the steady -growth of the cost of maintaining the poor in Scotland, from 1852 till 1870, when 'it reached its highest point. It also shows that the cost of manage- ment has more than doubled since 1853. Tear ending:. May, 1852 . May, 1855 . May, 1858 . May, 1861 . May, 1864 . May, 1867 . May, 1870 . May, 1873 . The sum expended for lunatic poor in the year ending May, 1873, was £136,685 2s. Ifd. It i^ included in the total above given. There were 7,936 lunatics relieved during the year, at an average cost of £17 4s. 5d. The number of insane receiving relief in England on 1st January, 1873, was 51,253. * Includes ^650,419 for buildings. f Includes .£86,656 3s. 2Jd. for ditto. J Includes .£71,180 7s. lOd. for ditto. "M^fl.Ti agement . Total Expended. £ s. d. S s. d. 51,644 18 lOi 514,288 14 6 58,767 9 lOi 584,823 14 5 66,307 10 622,634 9 9 67,717 3 10: 657,953 15 8 81,738 2 2 740,743 6 2 90,328 6 10 807,631 5 6^ 98,770 18 10 905,045 18 8 t 108,577 e 873,075 10 10 t M'NEBL-CAmD.] SCOTLAND. 141 ■ Tke poor-rate for the year endiBg May, 1873, equally apportioned on the annual value of all lands and heritages in Scotland, as returned by the inspectors of the poor, would come to £4 14s. 8fd. per cent., or ll^-d. per pound, half payable by owners and half by occupiers. But the estimates of value reported by the inspectors cannot be relied on. Besides their principal duties in connection with the poor, the Parochial Boards, in the year ending May, 1873, levied and administered assessments under the Public Health Act to the amount of £35,622 4s. 3d., the rates for this purpose also being equally divided between landlord and tenant; and there was dis- tributed among them a Parliamentary grant of £10,000 in aid of medical rehef to the poor. X. — Parishes (continued). Burghs. II. — School-rates. — Area of Sating and Settlement. In 1872 Parliament placed the management of Public Schools in the hands of Parish and Burgh Boards. There is one for every parish and burgh. They are elected by the owners and occupiers of lands and heritages of the annual value of not less than £4. The election is. (as nearly as possible) to be triennial; and every voter is entitled to a number of votes equal to the number of the members of the School Board to be elected, and may give all such votes to one candidate, or may distribute them among the candidates as he sees fit. The assessment is payable half by owners and half by occupiers, and is a " precept-rate," which the Parochial Board for Belief of the Poor are bound to collect with the poor assessment, and to pay over to the School Board. The maximum number of a School Board is fifteen, the minimum five : the Board of Education fixing the precise number for each parish. In the election of the School Board, owners and occupiers stand on an equality as in the assessment, and there are no members admitted except by election of the ratepayers — a strong contrast to the constitution of the Parochial Boards. 142 LOGAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. The first rate required by tlie School Boards has exhibited extraordinary inequalities in the burdens laid on different parts of the country, frequently in parishes separated by a mere imaginary line. At Lanark, for example, a ratepayer on one side of a boundary-Hne pays on eightpence per pound, while his neighbour on the other side escapes with three-farthings. It was previously known, though not to be discovered in the reports of the Board of Supervision, that there were con- siderable inequalities in the poor-rate. The inequalities of poor-rate, however, were supposed to arise from peculiarities of the various parishes in their relation to the poor. There was at least this theory and excuse for them, that those whose poor-rate was heavy might in some way or other have produced or aggravated the burden, or might by its pressure be constrained to search for a remedy. But inequalities of school-rate, a tax and a management newly brought into action, and having no more special connection with paupers than with other classes of the community, seem to . indicate that they are mainly a consequence of the limited area adopted for taxation. If that be so, they are unjust. The school-rate through the whole country varies, according to the parochial limit, from a halfpenny to eighteenpence per pound : that means that one man has to pay for public education on a scale say of three hundred, six hundred, twelve hundred, even thirty-six hundred per cent, compared with what another pays, both charged on the rental of the lands or houses which they own or occupy. "We have not yet the means of ascertaining the full extent of the inequalities in the poor-rate ; but as the charges of the poor are in the aggregate much heavier than those of the schools, the inequalities of poor-rate are likely to be practically more severe on those who have to bear them. The area for rating being also the area for parish settlement, the Poor Boards are in perpetual antagonism on questions of liability, each struggling to throw it off M'Neei^Caird.] SCOTLAND. 143 on its neighbours. The chief discussions at every Board are directed to that end. Their own time and energies, and the time and energies of their officers, are occupied in constant efforts to shift the burden — an amazing waste of power, even when they escape litigation. In one large parish there are commonly between two and three thousand undetermined cases of settlement. That alone represents a frightful chronic mass of correspond- ence, inquiries, and discussions, not in that parish only, but in every other parish against which it has claims, or which has claims against it. The birthplace and dweUtQgs of the foremost peer, the birthplace and dweUtngs of Newton, Shakespeare, Milton, or Bums, were never investigated with half the eagerness, or a tenth of the expense, that is freely spent as to the birth and residence of a pauper, to find out whether he first saw the Hght on one side of a parish-line or the other, or what parishes successively he has made his home. Verily, if the deaths of paupers are passed by in official reports as of little account, the law gives an artificial but very practical interest to their birth and history while they live; unfortunately the interest they thus excite is of no benefit to themselves. If we take ten members to a Board, we have thus nearly nine thou- sand unpaid men and nine hundred paid officers, besides other employes, busying themselves to a large extent in beating the air. A case of a different nature may be mentioned by way of illustration. A poor man who had no settle- ment was seized with smaU-pox. He applied to the inspector of the parish in which he became destitute, whose duty it was by law to provide for him. The inspector passed him to another parish. He applied to the inspector there. He was put into a cart and taken to the outskirts of a village in a third parish. He applied to the inspector of that parish, and he was passed on again. He was found by the police, in the fourth parish, in a frightful state, propagating the poison of smaU-pox wherever he went. Each inspector was trying to save his own parish. If these parishes 144 LOCAL GOrUBNMENT AND TAXATION. ' i had been united altogether, as they were united to main^ tain a common poorhouse, they would all have had the same interest, and the unfortunate man would probably have been sent to hospital at first. In a case between parishes in which I was arbitrator, it was proved before me that the man whose settlement was in dispute, and who had received much kindness from the family on whose estate he lived, was, never- theless, under the policy of the estate, turned out of his house in feeble health, when about to gain a settlement,- : and, being unable to get a house, had to live with his faimily eight weeks 'in the woods ; and I had to deter^ - mine that by law his acquisition of a settlement was thus successfully prevented. " It seems strange, too, in a country with a seventh of the population of England, to have such a multitude of petty parish Boards (numbering, between poor and school, nearly 1,800), each armed with the fullest powers of taxing and spending, and each limiting its views to its own diminutive bounds. Nearly every third parish in Scotland has fewer than 1,000 inhabitants ; nearly every tenth parish fewer than 500. Yet these Liliputian communities have their organised Boards, their salaried officials, their Parlia- mentary powers to tax their neighbours and spend the money. Lord Cockburn tells of his having been at a meeting of heritors where four were present. Dreghorn was voted into what was called the chair. Eedhall moved a vote of £5 ; but " Comiston moved the previous question, a deep stroke, which he and I carried, and so the meet- ing ended." "Society," he adds, "is all spotted and bubbling with these little senates." But other evils are small, compared to the crushing influence on the labouring classes of the perpetual, struggle to prevent settlements. The natural distribu- tion of labour is thus seriously hindered. It operates mainly in the country districts, driving them into the towns. In towns, where proprietors are numerous, the letting of houses is usually governed by M'Neel-Cairi).] SCOTLAND. 14S the ordinary rules of supply and demand, and thus the labourers who cannot find dwellings in the country are forced to crowd together in the towns. But even in a town I have seen exhibited in a court of law a mutual bond or agreement among the proprietors, put into the shape of a formal deed, to exclude poor people from getting houses in the parish, in order to avoid liabilities under the law of settlement. In rural parishes, where a few large proprietors regulate the policy to be pursued on this subject, and not unfrequently enforce it on their tenants by stipula- tions in leases, this law works with special severity on the industrious poor. I have heard one of the most kind-hearted of men boast that in his parish matters were so arranged that no outsider could get a house in it. He had not the remotest suspicion that it could produce hardship. Let us take the case of a poor man who hires his labour in a country parish, but cannot get a house in it, because this law gives a fictitious interest to every owner and occupier to hinder the acquisition of settlements by residence. He has thus a heavy addition to his daily toil. His energies are overtaxed by travel- ling miles before he begins his work, and miles after it is done. In bad weather he has far to go for shelter. His mid-day meals mnst always be eaten cold. His hours of rest are diminished. If, again, he is so fortunate as to get a house in the parish, the whole parish has an unnatural interest that he should not remain for the five years which would settle him there. And if there is any failure of health, any appearance or prospect of distress in his family, that unhappy kind of interest is too easily awakened against him. Would it be wonder- ful if the sinews of the country were to leave it, to seek in other lands the freedom of labour which such an ill-conceived law denies them in this ? As soon as the pressure of the rates under the new Poor Law of 1845 was seriously felt, there was a general effort in some districts to relieve the pressure by empty- ing, unroofing, and pulling down cottages. This is illus- trated by the descending scale of house accommodation. 146 LOCAL GOVEBNMENT AND TAXATION. Wigtownsllire. ArgyUsUre. Kinross. Kincardine. Inhabited Houses — Census, 1841 . . 7,440 18,552 1,812 7,304 Do. 1851 . . 6,902 15,039 1,662 6,636 Do. 1861 . . 6,868 13,923 1,644 6,697 Do. 1871 . . 6,739 13,497 1,517 6,661 Yet in Wigtownshire there were, in 1871, five families to every four inhabited houses, in Argyllshire . and Kinross the same, and in Kincardine about six to five. During the Census period ending in 1851, which was that in which the pressure of the poor-rates began, the re- duction of house accommodation was much the greatest, and yet it was made, in three of these counties, in the face of an increasing population, which, at first, it failed to stop. The population of Wigtownshire in 1851 was a tenth more than in 1841, notwithstanding the diminu- tion of house accommodation, and the population increased also in Kinross and Eancardine, though not at so high a rate. — In Perthshire the inhabited houses were 28,993 in 1841. They were reduced to 22,528 in the Census returns of 1851, in the face of an enlarged population. — -In Forfarshire the population was 170,453 in 1841, living in 36,184 houses. In 1871 the population had increased to 237,567, but the inhabited houses had been reduced, in the Census returns of 1871, to 25,663. I do not wish to rely too much on the Census in this branch, for its returns have been confused by the use (under iU- considered orders from London, notwithstanding known objections) of an imperfect definition of a " House," and one which is unsuitable in Scotland. But this confusion does not touch the facts which I have to add. In For- farshire there are now no fewer than 16,784 famiUes (consisting of more than 70,000 persons) crowded into houses of single rooms. There are large parishes in that county in which every third family, and in one large parish more than half the population, live in that state. But this is not the worst. Over the whole thirteen southern counties o£ Scotland, containing 1,862,502 people, more than every third family on the. average ■M'Neel-Oaird.] SGOTLAND. 147 •of town and country now lives in a house of one room. The actual proportion is 1 family pent in 1 room to ■every If who are better. In Linlithgowshire it is 1 to If ; in the great county of Ayr it is 1 to l^. What an ■epitome of silent suflFerrng is recorded in these figures, born of this remorseless law ! The Royal Commission on the employment of women and children in agriculture report, as to one of these ■counties, Ayrshire : — -" In no county can the wants and "' comfort of the rural population in respect to house *' accommodation be more disregarded." "!Not only " are cottages not built, but the old ones are permitted ^' to faU into decay or ruin. In some extensive parishes ^'the cottages are not sufficient for one-tenth of the ■" labouring population." I have still to add a fact of terrible significance, which those who are responsible for the future of the ■country have need to take to heart. It is proved by the figures of the Registrar General's returns that, in the ten years ending 1870, nearly 90,000 persons died in these thirteen southern counties, ieyond their due proportion according to the average rate of death in the rest of Scotland. And in Forfarshire, which resembled their condition as to houses, the ten years' death rate was almost equally high. So appalling are the results ■of artificial interference with the natural action of supply and demand in regard to the dwellings of the people. A tenth of the cold-hearted zeal which has been ■evoked by the law of settlement, and employed in efforts thus to turn over the burden of the poor from one parish to another, would have sufficed, if it had been directed to vigilant management, to prevent the abuses which have so inci'eased the burden on all. Before the Poor Law Act passed there was a decennial increase of population a;ll. over Scotland of ten per cent. That arose mainly froin the excess of births over deathsl The returns show that there is no diminution in that natural growth of population. Yet, in the first decennia, period after the new' law was in fuU action, the increase ■of population dropped from ten to six per cent. A 148 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. number equal to the difference must liave gone. In the next decennial period, ending 1870 (for which the retumSj under the admirahle management of Dr. Stark, are mucli more complete and satisfactory), we are enabled to trace the movement of the population with great certainty. No fewer than 219,224 persons,* one for every nine who remained, abandoned the rural districts of Scotland. And if the small towns are left out of the calculation the pro- portion rises to one for every seven who remained.! This has arisen, no doubt, from a variety of causes, some of them natural and healthy, and -operating also in some degree in England — such as the search for higher wagQs, or greater independence, or better prospects of rising in the world. But it is obvious that a law which harasses the industrious in their homes has a powerful tendency to contribute unnaturally and hurtftdly to that result, and therefore calls for the attention of the legislator. Notwithstanding the constant recruitment of popula- tion by the excess of births beyond deaths (which in. the same ten years amounted to 277,213 in the rural districts), there has been an actual diminution of the population in each of 530 of the 887 parishes in Scotland. This has occurred in the following number of parishes in each county : Orkney and Shet- land . . 19 Peebles. . 7 Perth . . 57 Renfrew . 6 Eoss & Cromarty 22 Roxburgh . 23 Selkirk. . ,1 Stirling. . 12 Sutherland . 10 Wigtown . 15 Except the little shire of Clackmannan there is not a, single county in Scotland in which this depopulation has not manifested itself in the rural parishes. In particular districts in Scotland the depopulation has been much more severe. Thus, besides a number * Eighth Census, vol. ii., page 50. t Eighth Census, vol. ii., page 17. Aberdeen 32 Argyll . 26 Ayr 28 Banff . 12 Berwick 17 Bute . 3 Caithness 8 Dumbarton 4 Dumfries 35 Edinburgh . 6 Fife . 34 Forfar Haddington . Inverness Kincardine . Kinross Kirkcudbright Lanark . Linlithgow . Moray . Nairn . 37 15 25 9 4 24 20 6 10 3 il'NEEL-CAiRD.] SCOTLAND. 149 «qual to the natural increase from excess of births beyond deaths, one has gone for about, or nearly, every three 'who remain in Barr (Ayrshire) ; Lethendy, Aberfoyle, Weem, and Glendevon (Perthshire) ; Lethnot (For- farshire) ; Morham ( Haddingtonshire ) ; Baglesham (Eenfrewshire) ; Grlassford (Lanarkshire) ; Culsalmond ( Aberdeenshire ) ; Fintray ( Stirlingshire ) ; Kirkton (Eoxburghshii'e) ; and IN'ewton (Edinburghshire). One has gone for nearly every four who remain in Kirkurd (Peeblesshire) ; Grlasserton (Wigtownshire) ; Kirkpatrick Fleming (Dumfriesshire) ; Kirkmichael (Ayrshire) ; Kilninian and Kilmore (Argyllshire) ; Ket- tins, Essie and Nevy, and Dunnichen (Forfarshire) ; and Saline and Arngask (Fifeshire). All this has occurred in the face of increased demand for agricultural labour. It is ascertained by a com- parison of the agricultural statistics of 1856 and 1873 that, without any diminution of corn tillage, the pro- duction of meat and dairy produce in Scotland has greatly increased. Such reduction of population could not happen with- out its consequences being felt. In some districts there were times at which agricultural labour could not be had at any price ; and the crops must have rotted on the ground for want of hands to reap them, but for the in- troduction of the reaping machine, which did not precede the scarcity of farm labour, indeed was no more than in time to relieve it. In England, of 627 Registrar's districts there was a ■decrease of population in only 163; from which it is reasonable to infer that in Scotland there are causes intensifying this remarkable movement of population, in addition to those which exist in England. One of these, no doubt, is the narrow area for parish settlement which still prevails in Scotland, and the consequences to which it leads. Enlarged areas for rating, management, and settle- ment, would spread the burden of the rates more equally, introduce a higher class of officers, save much expense, l)ring wider views into action, prevent a mass of inter- 150 LOCAL GOVEBNMENT AND TAXATION. parocliial disputes, and mitigate the pressure of the la>r of settlement on the labouring classes. The plague-, spots which shame the country would speedily disappear, if adjoining districts were interested and enabled to. amend their management. BUKGHS. In burghs the poor and schools are managed by Boards of the same description as in country parishes ; and in many towns trusts have been created by local Acts of Parliament for water, light, harbours, and other- public purposes. Except in such cases, the magistrates and Town Councils administer local a£Pairs, and in most burghs levy petty customs, market-dues, &c., on goods, and trafl&c. I have obtained a statement of these customs and dues, which I annex in an Appendix, ]S"o. III. The annual income which they yield to thfr burghs, according to that* statement, is £10,652 7s. 2id,i and making allowance for a few in the minor burghs, which have not been ascertained, the total net produce- of these customs and dues to all the burghs probably does not exceed £11,000 or £12,000, of which £10,098 17s. lOd. is levied in twenty of the burghs, the small balfince being t^ken among the remaining' sixty-one. But these figures by no means represent the real extent of this taxation. The customs and dues are almost invariably let by auction, and the tacksman gets as much out of them as he can. On the average he must have what will pay for his trouble in collecting- the dues, with a sufficient margin of profit for his risk and capital. Hence the cost of collection, in some cases, absorbs nearly the whole that is levied. There are four of the burghs in which the united net returns, actually coming into the revenue from this source, amount among them to £13 lis. 6d. These customs and dues are of a very obnoxious character. They are levied for the benefit of the towns, chiefly on the country people bringing their goods for- sale. In some burghs they are charged for mere passage through the town. Burgesses do not usually M'Neel-Caikd.] SGOTLANB. 151 pay. This kind of taxation obstructs trade in mncli the same way as if every burgh where they are levied was a little state set down in the heart of the country, and maintaining a hostile tariff against everybody else. An Act was passed in 1870* to enable the town councils of burghs to abolish these customs and duties, and to levy an equivalent assessment on the inhabitants. But this Act did not recognise the peculiarity of these dues : that they are levied not so much from inhabi- tants as from strangers — unfreemen ; and the invitation to the inhabitants to tax themselves, in order to relieve strangers, has hitherto produced little result. Con- sidering this peculiarity in the character of these dues, their vexatious nature, and the limited return which they yield to the town revenues compared with the exaction which they make on the country, it would probably be a beneficial use of the small sum which would be necessary from the national revenue to effect their total abolition. Or if that should be thought inexpedient, the Commissioners of Supply might be authorised to redeem them for the average net yield ; the annual redemption money to be levied along with the prison-rate on the counties and burghs alike. A few of these dues, however, are paid for the use of market- stalls, weighing-machines, &c., which do not require to be interfered with. XI. — ^Amount and Incidence of Local Taxation — Treasury Subventions. The amount of local taxation in Scotland is a problem which has hitherto been unsolved. There are no pub- lished data for ascertaining it ; but Mr. Goschen esti- mated the rates roughly at a million and a half. By the kindness of the Lord- Advocate, I have had access to the papers collected at the Crown OflBce on the subject ; and by the use of these, with information derived from other sources, I hope to be now able to present, for the first time, a tolerable approximation to the amount. * 33 & 34 Vict., c. 42. 152 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. 1. Fabochxal Asbesskents: £ d. £ s. d. £ e. i Poor-rate levied year ending May, 1873* 790,370 12 3 PubUo Health Act+ .... 35,522 4 3 Sehool-rate — First levy not completedi-^Estimated . . ... 280,000 Payable (with minor excep- tions)— half by Landlords, and half by Occupiers . . 2. Assessments levied by Com- 1,105,892 16 ( MissioNEKs or Sdpplt in Counties : Payable by Landowners, per Appendix II 158,728 12 ^ Add Estimate for Caithness and Shetland 1,250 Total payable by Landowners 159.978 12 31 Payable by Occupiers, per Appendix II 2,657 1 41 Total Assessments by Com- ' 2 missioners of Supply . . . 3. BcTEaH Assessments : 162,635 13 8 Payable by Landlords (49 Burghs), per Appendix III. 65,393 8 9 Add Estimate for remaining 32 Burghs J 18,000 tiSi.nnifwna A aQctacm on "("c 83,393 8 9 Payable by Occupiers (49 Burghs), per Appendix III. 444,117 16 ^ Add Estimate for 32 Burghs J 115,000 Payable by Occupiers . . . 559,117 16 4 Burgh Customs and other Dues, Appendix III. . . . ... 10,652 7 2 Total Burgh Assessments . . 4. Locomotion : 653,163 12 J Eoads — Turnpike Tolls, § Whitsunday, 1873; per Par- liamenUmi Setums . . . 177,222 Eoads — not Turnpike, stated in Appendix IV. — Landlords 42,245 10 11 Occupiers 32,626 1 5 Rest estimated (information vague), say 150,000 ctc\ A nfw^ 4 rk t 224,871 12 4 402,093 12 i InaU. . . 2,323,785 14 8 * Twenty-eighth Report, Board of Supervision, p. 134. t Twenty eighth Report, Board of Supervision, p. 282. j These Estimates are made nearly according to the ratio between the valuation of these burghs, and the valuationof Qie forty-nine, as to whose assessments the information obtained is given in Appendix III. § There are no turnpikes in the following counties : Aberdeen, Argyll, Bute, Caithness, Haddington, Inverness, Kirkcudbright, Nairn, Orkney, Peebles, Boss & Cromarty, Selkirk, Sutherland, and Wigtown. The bonded or mortgage debts on the other counties for turnpike roads amounted to ^1,072,741; floating debts, X32,662 j unpaid interest, .£653,605. M'Neel-Caied.] SCOTLAND. 153 In the present state of public information I cannot guarantee the accuracy of these figures, and I present them subject to such corrections as may be necessary ^hen fuller returns are obtained. So far as they afford means of comparing county and burghal assessments I •expect that they will be substantially verified ; and they offer some remarkable features. The Local Taxation imposed by Commissioners of ■Supply is levied by owners, and almost wholly laid on owners. The Local Taxation in towns is laid on occupiers in the proportion of about six to one of that on owners in the same communities. The Burghal Taxation borne by occupiers is more iihan three times as great, in absolute amount, as the whole, assessments levied on landowners by the Com- -missioners of Supply. The turnpike roads, of course, are maintained by "tolls, levied on those who use them. Such tolls add to the cost of goods and traffic, and ultimately fall mainly on ■consumers. Of the other roads, though the information is far from complete or satisfactory, there is reason to lielieve that the principal part of their maintenance, being commutation for statute labour, is paid by ■occupiers. The Parochial Taxation, in the main, is equally ■divided between owners and occupiers. The division of rates between landed proprietors and agricultural tenants, though it existed previously •on a small scale, was first felt as a substantial burden under the Poor Law of 1845. The older •system, still continued in the assessments of the Com- missioners of Supply, recognised the principle that "the ultimate incidence of rates in agricultural tenancies is on the rent. Under the new system the rent ulti- tnately bears, not merely the rates, but also, though the landlord may not perceive it, a margin to meet any possible increase of rates. The introduction of the new vsystem operated unfairly on those tenants who had taken leases without anticipating the change. But things Jiave since had time to adjust themselves. Agricultural 154 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. tenancies in Scotland are now so entirely settled on com- mercial principles, that at every renewal of lease the new taxes are taken into account by both parties in settlings the rent. It is an inherent condition of the existence- of such tenancies, that, on the average of years, they shall clear all charges, and remunerate the tenant for his. labour, skill, and capital,- before anything can go to the- landlord as rent. Eates so oppressive as to exhaust the- free produce, without remunerating the cultivator, would stop cultivation, tod even disperse the flocks and herds,. as happened in Ireland in 1847-49. There could,, in that case, be no rent. Since rates levied on the pro- ducer are necessarily a prior charge on the prodilce, they just as necessarily diminish or destroy the surplus out of which alone rent can come. It is an economical law from which there is no escape where agricultural rents; are settled on commercial principles ; and where they arie not settled on commercial principles, it is of Httle practical use to discuss the incidence of rating. If lanj. is let below its fair market value, the landlord obviously bears, not only the rates, but also a kindly margin, broader or narrower as the patriarchal system prevails. or yields, but always broad enough to meet the rates^ with their accidiental variations, and something more. When there is competition for farms, one man may estimate the expected produce higher than another, or- see his way to interease it, or to reduce the expenses, or- he may look for a higher range of markets, or be content to accept a smaller share of the returns as the remunera- tion for himself and his capital. His object is to get a living from the business, and he must see his way to get what he considers a fair return for his capital and work,, otherwise he may be driven out of the business, and so diminish the competition, and consequently the rent. Men's opinions vary on all these points. Hence one- man is willing to give more than another ; and this, m practice, causes uncertainty in the amount of rent which a farm will yield. The offering tenant may make a miscalculation, or he may be pressed to find a. home for his family, or unwilling to break up the stock which he has on the farm he is leaving, or he- M'Neel-Caikd.] SCOTLAyj). 155- may be a needy man who cares less for risk than for the chances of a fresh start where he is little- known, and admitted into the competition under the- delusive assurance of safety held out to landlords by the- laws of hypothec or distress. In any of these cases he may be led to promise more than the produce can give^ and when he does so any means he has is responsible. To the landlord such cases generally have their Nemesis at hand, for the perennial loss of an over-rented farm soon exhausts a tenant of ordinary means, and the farm is sure- to suffer in the struggle. At bottom, and in the long-^ run, the rent of a farm must come from the produce, and cannot come till every other charge and cost of pro- duction, including rates exigible from the tenant, has. been paid. Eent will always be ruled in the main by supply and demand, but with this limit in agri- cultural subjects, that the demand must inevitably be checked as the costs approach the market value of the produce, and must cease if they ever come so near as, not to leave, on the average, what the cultivator is. willing to accept as a reasonable return for his capital,^ and fpr his risks and work. But a tenant holding a lease, and chargeable with the rates, has the same interest as the proprietor to keep down the rates while his lease lasts, and willnot be one whit less vigilant in that service though he knows that at the next adjustment of rent the amount of rates will affect the new rent he is to undertake. The big blunder^ which has spread the leprosy of pauperism in Scotland,, is that this class of men, practised and vigilant in small economies, have been shut out of their just share in con- trolling the expenditure of the poor-rates, half of which is exigible from them. Dwelling-houses, on the other hand, are not instru-. ments of production, but necessaries of life. Demand and supply, in each locality, determine their rent ; but th& question ofits«amount is not embarrassed by any con- sideration, on the tenant's part, of produce to be raised or- profit to be made by their use. When the demand exceeds the supply, the builder comes in to restore the balance, and it is he, not the tenant, who has to consider whether 166 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ANB TAXATION. the operations which, he contemplates will pay Mm. The average and prospective rates influence his decisioni in so far as he conceives that they will affect the demand — that is, the rent-paying power of the public. His ■decision again influences the proportions between supply and demand. But the house tenant, as a I'ule, does not ■calculate on paying the rent of the house out of its^ produce. Its rent must be paid from income derived ;from some other source. Therefore, the ultimate inci- dence of rates on dwelling-houses is not necessarily i;he same as on farms hired for production. High rates may restrict demand, and so tend to keep down Yents ; and when that occiu-s the incidence of tenants' rating will be to some extent on the landlord. That is not always distinctly traceable in practice. It often happens that in dense populations, where rates are high; there are some countervailing advantages, such as vicinity tio places of business, which constrain men to live there, and so overcome and conceal the action of the rates upon rents. But if tenants' rates are oppressive in amount, or obnoxious in character, they tend to di'ive tenants away, and to reduce rents. Under the Scottish Poor Law of 1845 several modes of taxation were authorised, and among others the assessment might be imposed as an equal percentage on the annual value of heritages and on the annual income of the inhabitants. In the first instance this gave great apparent relief to house-owners, the weight of taxation falling on other incomes. In one parish I saw the working of this system from beginning to «nd. It was a very vexatious mode of levying a tax, lead- ing to warm discussions as to men's means in Board Meet- ings of their neighbours, and it was unduly severe on precarious incomes. Some who were free to remove took up theii: residence outside of the parish bounds, and their escape raised the house- owners' share of the laurden. House rents outside went up. Within the parish, houses began to stand empty, and rents to come •down. And at last, between the vexations of the levy and the discovery of house-owners that they lost in rent though they saved in tax, the system was put an end "to with their own concurrence. It has since been alto- M'ISeel-Cairi).] SCOTLAND. 157- gether abolislied by law. Therefore, althougli the- owners, under the Burghal Taxation in Scotland, pay- directly only £83,393, while the occupiers pay more than half a million, there can be little doubt that a. considerable part of the half million ultimately comes out of the owners' rents, by diminishing them, according to the fluctuations of supply and demand. If the- burden of paying that half million were transferred to. the house-owners, the tenants could afford and would probably submit to pay more rent. Those who had been kept out by the high, rates would attempt to come- in, and the increased demand would send up rents. How far they would go up would depend on the rela- tions between supply and the stimulated demand in each locality. But whatever it would come to in the con- tingency supposed, would be simply an index to th& share^f occupiers' rates which now falls on house-owners- through the present diminution of rents caused by rates. It results from all this that in a community which is- prosperous and increasing in population, and the demand for houses consequently great, the house-rates as a rule, however levied, will fall ultimately on the tenant. In a community which is depressed and diminishing, and the demand for houses consequently small, the rates wiU fall ultimately on the landlord. Between the extremes th& demand will fluctuate, and the rates be ultimately divided, between landlord and tenant in every variety of degree. The whole subventions or payments made from the Exchequer in aid or in substitution of Local Bates in Scotland for the year ending 31st March, 1873, are detailed in a recent Parliamentary Eetum* as amount- ing to £126,786 ; but this includes £58,841 for Sheriffs' accounts, Procurators-Fiscal, and expenses in the Sheriff- Courts, the greater part of which were never in the memory of man a charge on local rates, and ought not to be so stated. About £12,000 of this sum (formerly paid out of the Eogue-money assessments) was assumed by the Treasury a quarter of a century since. The rest * No. 402 of 1873. 158 LOCAL GOVERNMEKT AND TAXATION. was an ancient charge on the hereditary reTcnues of the Orown, and is now paid by the Exchequer, not in sub- stitution of local rates, but in fulfilment of the obligation contracted by Parliament, on Her Majesty's accessiou to the throne, in consideration of the transfer then made iio the consolidated fund of the hereditary revenues of the Crown daring Her Majesty's life. The real amount ■of such subventions in aid of rates in Scotland is there- fore only £80,145. The same return details subventions or payments from Exchequer in aid or in substitution of local rates in Eng- land to the amount of . . . £1,195,495 And in the estimates for the year ending March, 1874, there was farther in- cluded, in aid of the salaries of Sanitary Officers in England . . £100,000 £1,395,495 London receives such subventions from the Treasury to the amount of £333,562 for its police and fire estab- lishments, besides large contributions to its poor rates. Glasgow, with a population including its suburbs nearly a fifth of London, and loaded with burghal and parochial taxation to the amount of £370,111 3s. 8d. is mocked by imperial aid to the extent of £13,292 5s. to the former and £1,015 4s. 2d. in aid of medical relief to the latter. The city of Edinburgh has, on the average of the last four years, received Treasury subventions in aid of its rates to the amount of £5,167 10s. At the- same rate, in proportion to population, London should have received £77,512 lOs. instead.of £233,562. Under the new arrahgenients by which the Treasury, contributions to' police expenses are to be doubled, the subventions to Grlasgow and Edinburgh wiH be increased, but they will stUl be very far below what thiey ought to be on the ratio of their population to London. The inequality of these distributions of imperial funds requires to be examined by Parliament. 2M-Neeii-Caied.J SCOTLAND.— APPENBIX I. 15» APPENDIX I. County Assessments Levied by Commissioners of Supply. Year ending in 1874. COVSTi. Object. Valuation for Assessment. Rate per Total Payable by Landlords. Paid by Tenants. £ .. d. d. £ s. &. £ s. d. i. Aberdeen— Landwajrd . Police . . . 777,000 1-190 3,853 11 OJ — Aberdeen District . . Police . . . 38,000 2-519 397 14 94 Peterhead District . . Police . . . 24,000 4-646- 470 15 1 Turriff Dis- trict . . . Police . . . 5,000 3-190 67 3 2 — 4,789 4 1 Prisons . . . 782,000 •367 1,195 18 5 _^ Registration of Voters . 782,000 •064 208 11 1 — Court-houses . — •225 733 3 10 — Contagious Diseases — Animals . . 797,000 •500 830 9 If 830 9 1| Militia Depot 782,000 •235 765 15 7 — General Assessment . 833,000 •325 1,128 8 li — County Build- ings . . . - •083 288 10 2i — — 9,940 5* 830 9 la S. Argyll— Police , . . 386,814 2 4 ■\ Burgh of l_ ■ 3,'235 16 1 Obau . . Police . . . 10,768 10 - 4 i Inveraray . Police . . . 2,977 7 6 ) - - Prisons . . . 384,814 2 4 — ■ 741 2 — Lunacy . . . — -'-■ — 2,01-4 13 2 — General Assessment . 386,814 2 4 — 940 3 6 — iOban . . .• ■Ktto -• . .; .; .10,768 10 4 — 26 3 g — - — 6,957 18 2 — 1(50 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. ConHTT. Object. Valuation for Assessment. Kate Total Payable by Landlords. Paid by - Tenants. £ s. a. d. £ ». d. £ s. i. S.Ayr ... . Police . . . 1,029,140 6 2 1| 7,504 3 Prisons . . . 1,035,547 10 2 539 7 Lunacy. . . — ^ 2,696 14 9 — . . Eegistration ■*«. of Voters . 1 539 7 Contagious Diseases — Ajiimals . . . i 539 7 General ■ Assessment . i 1,078 13 11 — 3 12,897 12 8 — 4,. Banff. \ . . Police . . . 197,360 14 1,241 5 3 Prisons . . 211,676 i 436 15 8 — Lunacy . . 197,360 1* 1,220 18 3 — BegiBt;:ation of Voters . 197,360 i 203 9 8 — Court-houses . 1 813 8 10 — Contagious Diseases — AiiimaJs . . i 101 14 10 101 14 10 General Assessment . i 203 9 8 — H 4,221 2 2 101 14 10 5. Benvick . . . Police . . . 379,414 3 7i 4 2,371 7 _ Prisons . . . \ / 254 8 10 — Lunacy . . . — 1,114 12 — Eegistration of Voters . 110 9 5 — ■ Court-house . H 223 3 5 — Contagious Diseases — — Animals . . __ 218 3 10 General Assessment . J . 450 9 6 — ■ 3 4,742 14 — 6. Bute .... Police . . . 52,130 H 705 18 5| Prisons. , , i| 271 10 7| — Lunacy . . . — 4 543 llj — Keglsiaration of Voters . — i 54 5 8 — Court-houses . — nU — — Contagious Diseases — Animals . . ^_ i 27 2 10 27 2 10 General Assessment . — _H 325 16 2J ■" 9 1,927 14 9J 27 2 1» M'Neel-Caikd.] SCOTLAND.— APPENDIX I. 161 ■ CODNTT. Object. Talnation for Assessment. Bate Total Payable by Lmdlords. Paid by Tenants. £ s. a. d. £ e. d. £ B. d. 7. Caithness (No information) — — — — — 8. Clackmannan , Police . . . 58,689 H 366 16 2 Prisons . , . 77,158 Pi I i 401 13 6 160 14 11 — Lunacy-. . . — 1 321 9 11 ^_ Eegistration ot Voters . — 48 10 6 Court-house . 77,158 H 4^2 5 Contagious Diseases — Animals . . 27 2 1 27 2 1 General Assessment . 1 218 IS 4 — — 2,027 2 10 27 2 1 9. Cromarty . . Police . . . 9,694 7 2 80 15 7 {See Boss.) Kegistration of Voters . 9 9 0* General Assessment . i 33 12 7 — 2ii 114 8 2 9 10. IhmAarton — ' Goxintry Dis- trict. . . PoUoe . . . ?41,661 18 9 IJ 1,510 8 1 Kirkintilloch District Police . . . 16,168 3 4 5 336 17 1 Prisons . . . 296,059 4 4 i 616 16 3i Lunacy ... — 1 1,233 11 9i , Begistration of Voters . — 1 154 4 H ' Court-houses, included in General Assessment . — — General - Assessment . — 1 462 12 2 Contagious Diseasea— Animals . . — 1- 616 16 3J General Pur- poses . . . Old valued rent. — 78 18 2J — •- ■ . — 5,010 4 OJ — * Collected by Inspectors of Parishes ftozu landlords and tenants equally. 162 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. CoMsn. Object. Valuation for A^seesiueiit. Bate Total Payable by Landlords, Paid by Tenants. £ 8. < I. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. 11. Dumfries . . PoHoe . . . 536,710 10 8 m 3,209 2 11 Prisons . . — e 511 12 1 _ Eegistration of Voters . — s 139 10 6 _ Geneial . . it) 465 1 11 — IJI 4,325 7 5 - 12. Edinbwgh— Police . . . 588,933 11 3 1* 2,913 15 (Including Prisons . . 590,715 15 i 1,845 10 Bailways Lunacy . . 530,492 11 2 M 1,197 2 4 — and Canals. Eegistration Excluding of Voters . 590,715 15 ^ 102 10 _ Burglis of Court-houses . — nil — — Edinburgh General Leith, Por- Assessment . 590,715 15 i 922 15 _ tobello, and County Valua- Mu s sel- tion . . . — — 284 19 4 — ^ burgh) . . Contagious Diseases — Animals . . H 743 10 743 10 H 8,010 1 8 743 10 , 13. Elgin . . . 170,334 ij 1,064 11 10 _ ■ Police . . . — J 530 19 6 — Prisons . . . — 1 530 19 6 — Lunacy . . . General, in- cluding Re- ' ' gistration of 159,438 i 177 8 8 — Voters . . Court-houses . — \ 353 19 7 -" 3| 2,657 18 11 ~ 14,. Fife. . . . Police . . . 770,848 1-188 3,818 12 4 Prisons . . . 714,410 ■309 1,168 7 Lunacy . . . — •710 2,113 9 1 Eegistration of Voters . 723,861 •003 98 9 — Court-houses . 714,410 •120 357 4 1 — General — Assessment . 714,580 •110 327 10 3 ' — Weights, &c. . 714,410 •022 66 19 6 — Militia Store . — •015 44 13 ~~ Valuation , . 663,619 •125 345 12 8 ■■" Contagious Diseases — Animals . . 756,173 C •219 6S9 13 __Z-— 2-821 9,030 8 - M'Niel-Caibd.] SOOTLANB.— APPENDIX I. , COtJHTY. Object. Taluatioii for AssoBSment. Bate Total Payable by Landlords, Paldly Tenants. £ a. d. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. as. Fmfar . . . Police . . . 584,660 17 6 ■95 2,314 2i Prisons . . 622,304 15 6 •60 1,555 11 7 Registration of Voters . •06 155 11 2 __ Contagions Diseases — AnimaJs , , •35 907 8 5 General Assessment . •13 319 4 9 __ Valuation of County . . •03 67 10 4 — 2-12 5,319 6 5J — 18. Haddington . Police . . . 243,443 6 6 IS 1,242 9 3f (Two distriets for Prisons. . . 245,977 7 322 1 3J __ Police.) Lunacy. . . Begistration — fe 724 2J — of Voters . -— S 161 1 lOJ — Contagious Diseases — — Animals . . — ra 161 1 101 — General County Bate ^ 246 11 8^ — — 2,857 6 3J — 17. Inverness . . Police . . . 306,898 14 4 If 2,237 14 8 General. . . — ■ J 639 7 2 — Prisons. . ' LunaKiy. . Begistration of Voters 305,898 14 4 IJi 2,336 13 5 — Militia Buildings . 4* 5,213 15 3 18. Kmccurdme . Police . . . 247,248 14 10 M 965 17 Prisons . . . — ^ 257 10 11 — Begistration of Voters . 244,776 3 ^ 63 14 10 — Court-houses . 247,248 14 10 % 515 2 4 ■ — Contagious Diseases — Animals . . 244,776 3 ^ 509 19 — General Assessment . i^ 254 19 5 — 2J 2,567 3 6 — 164 LOCAL GOVEBNMENT AND TAXATIONS Coxnsnrt. Object. Valuation for Assessment. Bate Total Payable by Landlords. Paid by Tenants. £ s. d. d. £ s. d. £ s. i 19. Kinross . . Police . . . 65,677 3 Ijb 279 1 9J l^ons . . . — i 180 11 lOi _ Lunacy. . — w 180 11 lOi __ Begisfacation of Voters . — m 27 7 2| Contagious Diseases — ♦ Animals . . SB 27 7 2| General 4 Assessment . M 93 7i - 2ie 788 7 - 20. KirlccuMrigM PoKce . . . 350.230 9 5 1 1,459 5 10 Prisons. . . 360,624 2 H 375 13 _ Begistration of Voters . 350,230 9 5 h 91 4 2 General Assessment . 360,624 2 ^ 469 11 3 — lii 2,395 14 3 - 21. Lanark — . Hamilton . Police . . . 461,398 1 2 \ Lanark . . Police . . . 339,823 2 1h Airdrie . . Police . . . 215,511 12 10 2S 12,626 18 1^ Coatbridge . Police . . . 76,775 4 1 * Lo-wer Ward PoUce . . . 175,309 13 1 2^ Hiimead. . PoUce . . . 69,894 2 11 ih) 1,338,711 15 11 Northern District . Prisons . . . 507,539 11 7 l^) Southern :• 6,859 18 9 — District . Prisons . . . 1,115,219 3 5 m3 1,622,758 15 Registration of Voters . 1,622,758 15 h 421 11" 1 •~ — 19,902 7 11^ - 22. LinlitJigow . Police . . . 220,016 18 2 1,833 9 4 Prisons. . . — J* 428 19 9 — Lunacy . . . — 1 458 2 — General Assessment . — . f 687 3 — Contagious Diseases — — it — — 4J 3,407 14 1 — * But tills covered expense of more than one year. t Imposed Oct., 1872, sufficed for ^lat and following year. M'Neel-Caibd.J SOOTLAND.— APPENDIX I. 165 COUBTI. Object. ValTiation for Assessment. Bate Total Payable by IiancUprds. Paid by Tenants. £ s. d. d. £ t. d. £ =. d. 23. Nairn , . . Police . . . Prisons, Lu- nacy, and Kegistration 31,60a 2i 328 Q of Voters . 32,602 2 271 — Court-houses . — 1 135 — Contagious Diseases — Animals. — 1 67 10 — General Assessment . 28,618 1 116 — n 917 10 — 24. Orkney. . . Prisons . . General 55,523 f 165 16 3 — Assessment . 2J 468 2 9 ■ — 2J 633 19 — 25. Peebles . . . Police . . . 142,910 17 4 li 744 5 4 Prisons . . . 134,723 9 1 210 10 1 — Begistration of Voters . 142,783 8 8 i 74 7 3 — General . . 134,851 9 5 i 140 8 10 — Contagious Diseases — Animals . . 142,782 8 8 i 74 7 3 74 7 3 2i. 1,243 18 9 74 7 3 per £100. 26. Perth . . . Police . . . 928,246 10/6 4,873 — Prisons . . 933,043 3/6 1,632 — Lunacy . . — 4/0 1,866 — Valuation & Eegistration of Voters . 815,880 -/7 237 — Court-houses . 933,043 3/0 1,399 — General Assessment . 863,663 ./lO 359 — Contagious Diseases — Animals . . 933,043 1/4 311 311 23/9 10,677 311 166 LOCAL GOVBBNMENT AND TAXATION. COBKTT. Object. ■Valuation for Assessment. Eate Total Payable by Landlords. Piudby Temmts. £ s. d. d. £ s. d. £ e. i. 7. Bmfrew . . Police . . . 509,826 18 li 3,717 5 5| Prisons . . . 539,104 15 1 1,684 11 ^^ Contagious Diseases — Animals . . — i 280 15 31 280 15 3 General Assessment . i 1,123 2 3| - H 6,805 14 OJ 280 15 3J 29. Boss . . . PoUoe . . . 260,544 19 2 !& 1,899 19 3 Boss and Cromarty . Prisons, . . 263>074 13 5 E 730 15 7 Do. . . Lunacy. . . — 1 1,096 3 7 — Boss . . . Court-houses. 217,118 1 11 A 371 11 Do. . . Contagious Diseases — Animals . . 253,344 13 5 A 87 19 5 Do. . . General Assessment . n 527 16 4 — Do . . . Police Build- ings . . . 260,544 19 2 fi 180 19 — (See Cromarty.) ■ — 4,894 14 1 — 29. Roxburgh . . Police . . . 386,578 2 9 l-fc 2,738 5 Prisons . . . 403,179 12 3 fa 503 19 10 — Lunacy , . . — w 1,175 18 8 — Eegistration of Voters . — ■re 167 19 9 — General Assessment . 386,578 2 9 ■re 483 4 5 — Contagious Diseasep-T- Animals . . 403,179 12 3 ^l 251 19 11 251 19 11 3h 5,321 7 7 251 19 11 SO. SelMrk. . . Police . . . 67,731 16 1 2J 599 14 2 Prisons. . . 70,030 11 6 1 218 16 10 — Lunacy. . . — 1 218 16 10 — Eegistration of Voters . — A 24 6 3 — Court-houses . — n 364 14 10 — Contagious Diseases — Animals . . ik 24 6 3 — General Assessment . 67,731 16 1 4 141 2 2 — 5i? 1,591 17 4 - M'Nbbl-Caibd.] SCOTLAND.- APPENDIX I. CODHTTT. Object. Valuation for Assessment. Bate per £. Total Payable by Landlords. Paid by Tenants. £ s. d. d. e .. d. £ t. i. 31. Shetland (No infoTmation) — ~~" — "~ 32. Stirling— Western. . Police . . . 438,883 1 1,828 13 7 — Eastern . . Police . . . 25,237 H H 368 11 — Prisons . . . 438,883 914 6 9 — Lunacy. . . — 1 1,828 13 7 — Court-houses. — 1 1,828 13 7 — General County Bate 464,120 11 i 966 18 4 — — 7,735 6 9 — 33. BatherUnd . PoUoe . . . 72,130 1 _ 800 __ Prisons . . . — — 280 — Lunacy . . . — — 304 1 4 — Begistration of Voters . — — 15 9 11 — General Assessment . — 234 10 1 ~~' — 1,634 1 4 — 34. Wigtown — Landward . Police . . . 211,758 12 6 ■\ ( 1,323 9 1 — Burgh of W^own . Police . . . 5,037 17 7 u\ 31 9 9 — Bm-gh of Whithorn . Police . . . 2,945 8 6 ) ( 18 8 1 — Prisons . . 211,758 12 6 f 661 14 — Court-house \ Yalnation, f 219,741 18 7 1 »{ 455 5 1 — as above, 1 14,147 17 28 — andStranr. ; General Assessment . 211,758 i 441 3 1 —" H 2,959 9 1 — 168 LOCAL G07EBNMENT AND TAXATION. APPENDIX II. Abstbact or County Assessments by Commissioners op Supply. (For details see Appendix I.) COnKTT. Bate per £. Total Payable by Landlordd. Payable by Tenants. d. £ s. d. £ s. i. 1. Aberdeen .... • 9,940 5J 830 9 If 2. ArgyU . , * 6,957 18 2 — S.Ayr , -/3 12,897 12 8 — 4. Ba,nff , -IH 4,221 2 2 101 14 10 5. Berwick , , , -IS 4,742 14 6. Bute . -/9 1,927 14 9J 27 2 10 7. Caithness (No i nformaUon ) ; — — 8. Clackmannan , * 2,027 2 10 27 2 1 9. Cromarty , , -/2ii 114 8 2 9 10. Dumbarton , , • 5,010 4 01 — 11. Dumfries , -/iJi 4,325 7 5 12. Edinburgh , -M 8,010 1 8 743 10 13. Elgin , -m 2,657 18 11 — 14. Fife . , -/2-821 9,030 8 — 15. Forfar . , -/2-12 5,319 6 5i — 16. Haddington . « 2,857 6 31 — 17. Inverness . -1^ 5,213 15 3 — 18. Xincaxdine , -I2i 2,567 a 6 — 19. Kinross . , , -/2|§ 788 7 — 20. Kirkcudbright , -Aii 2,395 14 3 — 21. Lanark . . « 19,902 711A — 22. Linlithgo-w -m 3,407 14 1 — 23. Nairn . -17 917 10 — 24. Orkney . , , ./2 633 19 — 25. Peebles . , -IH 1,243 18 9 74 7 3 26. Perth , 23/9 p. £100 10,677 311 27. Renfrew . , -/3i 6,805 14 Oi 280 15 3} 28. Eoss , * [4,894 14 1 — 29. Eoxburgh , -/3fe 5,321 7 7 251 19 U 30. Selkirk . . -/5M 1,591 17 4 — 31. Shetland (J^o in nformaUon — — 32. Stirling . . * 7,735 6 9 — 33. Sutherland , — 1,634 1 4 — 34. Wigtown . • -/3J 2,959 9 1 — 158,728 12 3J 2,657 1 4i * Foimdage rate varies ia difTerent districts of County, M'NfiBL-CAIRD.J SGOTLANB.— APPENDIX III. 169 APPENDIX III. Assessments levied by Magistrates and Town Councils of Burghs in Scotland, showing Distribution between Owners and Occupieks; AND the Revenue derived from Burgh Customs and Market Dues, 1874. Assessible Total Rates Payable by Payable by Eevenue Irom Petty CuBtomi Rental (Highest*). per£. Landlords. OccupierB . and l^xket Dues. £ s. d. £ 5. d. £ s. a. £ 9. d. 1. Aberdeen . 326,302 — 1,160 2. Airdrie . . 26,673 — — 5912 4 3. Annan . . 9,149 — — ■ _ 4. Anstruther Easter . . 4,385 — not exacted 5. Anstrutlier Wester. .' 1,844 — — not exacted 6. Arbroath . . 57,721 13 2 1/111 755 6 4 4,229 17 3 55 7. Ayr ... 65,714 581 8 1 333 15 9 505 8. Banff . . . 15,543 8 5 2/l| 502 672 15 11 90 16 2J 9. Berrie or In- verbervie . 2,468 — nil 10. Brechin . . 20,328 17 7 i/6i 53 2 2i 1,368 13 10 136 11. Burntisland. 14,522 — not ascertained 12. Campbeltown 17,810 2/1 495 19 8 791 8 H 98 13. Crail . . . 3,037 — 114 14. Cromarty 2,985 2/6i 30 11 lOJ 162 11 nU 15. CuUen. . . 3,020 9 7 1/10 84 19 9 169 10 3 4 8 16. Culroas . . 1,465 -/3 18 8 2 18 8 2 nil 17. Cupar . . . 16,395 17 11 ./6 83 6 8 876 18 1 91 18. Dingwall. . 7,250 10 9 1/11* 241 1 8 57713 5 nU 19. Dornoch . . 710 — — nU 20. Dumbarton . 32,077 1/7J 183 15 8 2,117 19 5 nil 21. Dumfries. . 46,659 6 3 l/3g 1,235 18 ^ 1,539 1 OJ nU 22. Dunbar . . 11,132 -/IIJ 232 14 2 232 14 2 not ascertained 23. Dundee . . 523,204 '466 9 5 24. Dnnfermlinet 40,791 12 3 — 1,107 8 50 25. Dysart . . 13,113 — — — nU 26. Edinburgh . 1,247,931 2/1 16,430 112,364 3,230 IJ 27. Elgin . . . 23,523 — — 64 28. Falkirk . . 22,965 l/5i 665 5 665 5 133 29. Forfar . . 25,868 939 1,870 144 11 30. Forres . . . 11,126 -/6i 44 36216 5 19 31. Fortrose . . iu 7 32. Galashiels . 35,716 nil 33. Glasgow . . 2,377,340 2/7 24,720 236,366 abolished 34. Greenock. . 302,914 — 4,035 8 10 22,543 1 7 nil 35. Haddington. 13,782 — not ascertained S6. Hamilton . 32,756 — — — — Carried forward 5,358,222 15 11 — 52,442 7 ^ 387,262 10 6,315 6 1 The assessible value varies according to tlie provisions of tlie Act under which, each asscBsment js levied. There are also varying areas of aasessment for different ohjects. The highest only is stated here, and the pound^^e rates stated do not necessarily produce the sums levied, when ftpplied to that valuation. t Police expenses, £2,786, provided for out of " common good," under Xiocal Act, 3 11, 170 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. Appendix III, (continued). Bdbsh. Bental (Highest*), Total Bates per £. Payable by- Landlords. Payable by .Occupiers. Petty Cnstoniflt and MorWt' " Dues. Brt. forward 37. Hawick , 38. Inverary . 39. Inverkeithing 40. Inverness 41. Inverurie 42. Irvine . . . 43. Jedburgh. . 44. Kilmarnock . 45. Kilrenny. . 46. Kingdom . 47. Kintore . , 48. Kirkcaldy . 49. Kirkcudbright 50. Kirkwall , . 61. Lanark . . 52. Lander , . 53. Leith . . . 54. Linlithgow . 55. Lochmaben . 56. Kontrose. . 57. Musselburgh 58. Nairn . . . 59. New Gallo- way . . . 60. N. Berwick . 61. Oban . . . 62. Paisley . . 63. Peebles . . 64. Perth . , . 65. Peterhead . 66. Httenweem. 67. Port-G-lasgow 68. PortobeUo , 69. S. Queens- ferry . . 70. Eenfrew . , 71. Eothesay, , 72. Eutherglen 73. St. An(£-ewB 74. Sanquhar. 75. Selkirk . 76. Stirling . 77. Stranraer 78. Tain . , 79. Whithorn 80. "Wigtown. £ 8. a. 5,358,222 15 11 36,467 5 9 3,000 3,651 56,709 7,956 23,921 13 11,106 63,202 19 4,147 2,277 37,424 12 858 9 5 6,972 15 3 11,454 2,314 4 200,475 8,635 2,298 34,106 20,226 9,374 18 2 878 V,21013 6 11,763 143,194 7,544 84,000 24,636 19 5,114 32,897 6 35,730 3,127 9,416 35,528 510 31,211 27,93912 5,458 17,027 3 11 52,331 14,653 4 4,942 11 6 2,945 8 6 5,479 1/10 ■in 1/9 nil -/5i -6 16 1/5 1/H 1/6 1/5 2/91 -/111 m 3/- -/l 1/2 -/9 1/9} £ s. d. 52,442 7 IJ 253 10 3 1110 68 7 5 199 8 534 13 10 575 611 426 4 7 21 10 lOJ 1,644 8 9| 11812 6| 73 10 6 nil 181 2 IJ 139 210 22 6 7| 2,31410 2,288 6,467,825 17 10 2/10^ 1/lOJ -Ml ml £ 8. d. 387,26210 2,326 lllj 63 10 £ B. i. 6,315 6 1, nil 167 81 6 1,252 17 4,118 5 1,995 19 1913 61617 2110 13,338 16 442 1 5910 2,577 1,251 11 1,180 13 205 14 ] LI 457 OlOJ 1414 2? 880 710^1 13710 H 539 812 11 6 1113 Oi 727 2 2 la;* a U 318 4 1| 10,31010 7,650 1,74810 3,365 8 61 1,297 17 26 2115 310 200 5 not ascertained nU nil not wceriained nU 4 4 102 7 500 372 nil not a 370 nil . nU not ascertained nil 325 nU 666 S 7 na 15 na nil 6 6 not ascertained 110 18 Hi — 65,393 8 9| 1211 5 880 710J 530 1,610 1 1 11 13 0| 7816 9 94710 5J 4518 2| 444,117 16 • The assessible value varies according to the provisions ot the Act ™.'i«j'^J/K5:]fe.t o"lr ■' is levied. There are also varying areas of assessment for different oloects. i™ ""f j-j wlea stated here, and the poundage rates stated do not necessarily produce the sums iev» , applied to that valuation. M'ITbbl-Caied.] SOOTLAND.— appendix IV. 171 Q i o Ph g ^ ■§■2 Si la Si •a CO s g ^ 1 Hi S I?: ^ p§^ ^a - ■ N CO U3 O COifl CD 93 W ua GO CO CO ■<# 'WeOrHlM IH N o'eifej of oco OU3 CO co" CO IN i> CD ta iM I I I-' in t^ ffl '<*( GO Oi CO ■* o feo 00 o IN'* CD ^ MOO** O cq 00 M3 rH CO CO O) ^ CO l> 00 i-l (N 00 OCD-^ oua 00 O -Tfl 05 « Tp 00 N CD CD ift i> CO (M O iH CD 00 09 ■* CO 05 05 O »oo o OlD CO O 00 ■* CflO I— I CO 05 ©"OO oq i-H GO '«rH rH codes' 00 00 O '^ O (M I -* CD O •* COCOO 1> 00 eq i-i O 00 1-t t-t iH f-l O OS O (M fH O eo i> CO o •* iH^iH rH O O i> cocTcocfua' Oi i>»0 O t>i> rH 00 C4'* G4 •3 nM iH N CO c3 Q e^ 3 ra I 09 ^ LOCAL GOVEENMENT AND TAXATION, lEELAND. Local Gtovernment. The local authorities in Ireland may be divided into five classes. Those connected with Poor Law Unions, counties, towns, and harbours respectively, with a class of minor authorities. The county authorities include baronial presentment sessions, grand juries, governors of lunatic asylums, trustees of inland navigation, and arterial drainage authorities. I. — ^PooR Law Authorities. The class which includes the greatest number of local authorities is that connected with the administration of the Poor Laws. There are 719 dispensary committees, and 163 boards of guardians of the poor. The whole of Ireland is divided into 163 Poor Law Unions, varying in size from 41,000 acres in the North Dublin Union to 257,000 acres in the Glenties Union, in the county of Donegal, with an average of 125,000 acres. The unions, vary in population from 6,000 inhabitants in Corofin Union, in the county of Clare, to 202,000 inhabitants in the Belfast ' Union, with an average of 83,000 inhabitants to a union. Each union is divided into a number of districts with separate rating in each as to certain charges. These are called electoral divisions, and are 3,438 in number, and the much discussed question of union rating is, in its largest sense, the proposal to abolish the separate rating 174 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. of tHese 3,438 electoral divisions, and have^ distinct rating for all Poor Law purposes, on tlie area of each of tlie 163 unions alone. Modified union rating is the proposal to transfer a greater or lesser number of the charges from tlie electoral divisions to the union. The Poor Law arrangements in Ireland present a most interesting study in the science of Local Govern- ment. They were established so recently as 1838. Though the English Poor Law dates from 1601 (43rd of Queen Elizabeth), the Lish ParHament made no attempt at introducing a Poor Law into Ireland until 1771. By a statute of that year, power was given to county authorities to expend in counties at large £400 a year, and in counties of cities and towns £200 a year. As only 11 houses of industry supported by county a,uthorities were ever erected, 8 iu Munster, 3 in Leinster, and none in Ulster or Oonnaught, the pro- visions -for the poor by houses of industry under the Irish Parliament from 1771 to the union did not pro- "bably exceed £4,000 a year, and could not, if the act Tiad been carried into complete operation have exceeded £14,400 a year ; thus presenting a contrast to the care iaken of the poor under the Imperial ParKament as shown by the Poor Law expenditure of 1838, which was in 1873 £790,000 a year. The Imperial Parliament in 1806 (46 Geo. III. ?^ns that could not afford such expense adopted in numbers, first, the provisions of the Greneral Town Act of 1829, and then the more improved pro- visions of the General Town Improvement Act of 1854. The failure of the machinery devised for central guidance and control of town authorities rested not with them, and has been partially remedied by the extension of the Poor Law Audit and the Local Grovernment Board Control over their proceedings as urban sanitary autho- rities. The reforms required for securing complete popular representation in the administration of barony and county rates and property representation in the manage- ment of town affairs, and complete central guidance and power of regulating details by general order instead of by statute as to both county and town authorities, are matters on which the successful Poor Law arrangements afford complete precedents for adoption with more or less modification. Many of the reforms in Local Grovernment and Taxation proposed for England have been successfully carried out in Ireland : — 1. The division, of rates between owner and occu- pier, recommended for England and Wales in 1870, has been carried out in Ireland, under the Poor Law, so far back as 1838, and for barony and county rates, as to future lettings of agricultural and pastoral holdings under the Land Act of 1870. 3. The uniform valuation for all purposes of local taxation proposed for England and Wales in 1867, has been provided for in Ireland so far back as 1852, by the statute regulating the tenement valuation. Hancock.] IBELAND. ■229- 3. The consolidated collection of rates, recommended in England in 1868, was provided for in Dublin so far back as 1849, and to a lesser extent in other cities and towns and townships that have been more or less separated from counties as regards roads, and for other purposes. The care of lunatics is amply and effectually pro- vided for under the authorities entrusted with this duty, though not of a representative character ;. but the law as to lunatics has been from the first efforts on the subject in 1817, and is stiU, far behind the corresponding English legislation. The system of trustees of inland navigation is still on the basis of taxation without representation, and from the consequent weakness of local authorities to take charge of inland navigations, there is an unsatisfac- tory division of duties between local, and central authorities as to inland navigation in Ireland. The central control over arterial drainage autho- rities, in case of neglect to carry out proper works of maintenance, falls far short of the control of the Local Government Board over rural sanitary authorities. From the importance of such works of maintenance for the health and well-being of the people, the Commissioners of Public Works should, in case of default, have power to entrust the rural sanitary authorities with powers to execute necessary works of maintenance, in all cases where arterial drainage trustees make default. The local taxation of Ireland (exclusive of receipts from loans and from Imperial taxes) was, in 1872, £2,905,250, or 10s. 9d. per head of population. In a portion of the population of England and Wales equal to that of Ireland, the . corresponding figure is £5,914,000, or £1 Is. lOd. per head of population. In Ireland the rates on real property are 82 per cent, of the whole, and amount to only 2s. lOd. in the pound, on the estimated valuation of Ireland if made on the English scale. The English rates on real pro- perty are only 70 per cent, of the whole local taxes, and 230 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ANB TAXATION. amount to 3s. 3d. in the pound. The Irish, rates at the existing Irish valuation, estimated at 25 per cent, below the English scale, are 3s. 6d. in the pound. The Local Taxation of Ireland contains some anomalies and exceptional taxes : — (1) Toll thorough, in Gralway — ^now " ingate " tolls and " outgate " toUs — " A tax levied on agricultural produce of the surrounding country, for the purpose of defraying expenses which should, in justice, be home by local taxation." (2) The tax of £99 16s. Ifd. a year upon each pawnbroker in Dublin; whilst the tax in London is only £15, and elsewhere in the United Kingdom £7 10s. (3) The tax of £2 on a job-horse in Dublin. (4) The tax of £8 a year on a one-horse stage-car plying to the suburbs of Dublin — same as on a four-horse stage-coach, and four times the tax on a hackney-car. The local taxation for superior school education in Ireland of about £2,000 a year, under the Diocesan School Act of 1570, came to an end (beyond existing interests) with the passing of the Irish Church Act of 1869. The provision for primary schools from obligation on incumbents to keep schools under the old Act of 28 Henry VIII., in 1537, creating a charge on* local taxation which may be estimated at £30,000 a year for primary education, also came to an end in 1869. There are in Ireland no school boards and no school rates. The sum spent on state-aided schools is £616,000, as compared with £704,000 in a portion of the popula- tion of Great Britain equal to that of Ireland. The local assistance to those schools is only £69,000 in Ire- land, as compared with £389,000 in an equal portion of the population of Great Britain. This involves an in- creased contribution from the general taxes to education in Ireland, beyond the proportion in England and Wales, of £232,000. The state-aided education in Ireland, which some years ago was in advance of the provision in England and Wales, has now fallen behind ; and the contest Hancock.] IBELAND. 231 between united and denominational education impedes its development by the state by local resources, and prevents the formation of school boards. Meantime, the want of superior schools for the small capitalist class is an impediment to the development of agricul- ture, and to the general industrial advancement of Ireland. LOCAL GOVEENMENT AND TAXATION IN THE AUSTEALIAN COLONIES AND NEW ZEALAND. [This essay opens -with some general information as to tte Colonies of Aus- tralia and New Zealand collected by Sir Charles Dilke, who is indebted for it to the kindness of colonial agents, aird others. He also received the special memorandum on Victoria which follows. It was prepared by Mr. Thomas "Webb Ware, who is officiating as Under-Secretary for the Colony, with the assistance of Mr. W. H. Archer, the distinguished statistician, who now has charge of the Crown Lands Department in Victoria. — Editoe's Note.] The municipal law of the Colonies is simple, and al- most uniform. Their county law requires statement in detail. South Australia has the earliest complete Act, dated 1858. It resembles the later Acts of Victoria and New South "Wales, and its chief peculiarities', are that the rates made have to be adopted at meetings, and that persons licensed to sell spirituous liquors are ex- cluded from. the councils. The Victorian law dates from 1863, but was con- solidated and amended in 1869, and forms a complete and very valuable code. In general, it may be stated of Victoria that that colony stands almost at the very head of all countries in the world in the adaptation of scientific principles to government and legislation. Shires and road districts may be created by the governor upon petition, each dis- trict having a Board of six members, or, where divided into sub-divisions, then of nine members; and the ex- perience of all countries would seem to show that six is a better number than sixty, or, in other words, that a small Board is better than a big one for Local Govern- 234 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. ment purposes. Provided sufficient publicity be ob- tained, there is a far more real sense of responsibility, and even a greater probability of enlightened choice, in cases where the number of members is kept small. In the case of united districts the Boards, of course, are larger. One-third of the Board retires every year, so that each election is for two persons only ; and as, hap- pily, politics do not greatly enter into the election of these Boards, there is no reason to regret that the num- ber of persons elected at a time should be so small as two, and that no provision should be made for the re- presentation of minorities ; although, in the application of the Victorian system to older countries, it would be at least a matter for" argument as to whether this should not be the case. The persons to be elected must have £20 rateable property within the district, and the law, as though to supply an argument to partisans of woman's suffrage, goes on to say, " No female, no uncer- tified or undischarged insolvent, no persons attainted of treason, or convicted of felony or perjury, or any in- famous crime, and no person of unsound mind . . . shall be capable of being a Councillor of any shire." Each person who is the rated occupier, within the district, of property, has one vote at least. If the ratable value is between £25 and £50, he has two votes ; if it is between £50 and £75, three votes ; and if over £75, four votes. The election is by ballot. The road Boards may make bye-laws for a variety of purposes, subject to disallowance by the governor, and subject also to a declaration of their illegality by the supreme court [in a special mode of trial appointed for this purpose, by the Act] where they conflict with the laws of Victoria. All roads, bridges, and ferries are under the control of the Board. The governor in Council has power to " appoint roads," and to compel the Boards to make them. They have power of entering upon private persons' land for certain purposes connected with the roads ; also power to cut down trees obstructing or injuring roads ; to impound cattle straying upon roads ; also power to establish bridges, ferries, &c. Districts AUSTRALIAN COLONIES AND NEW ZEALAND. 235 wHcli contain an area of not less than 100 square miles, and which, in respect to the last rate made, have actually paid a rate of not less than £1,000, maybe constituted shires, and called upon to elect a shire Council. Shire Councils have far greater powers, hut they are Boards of the same constitution as the road Boards which exist in the smaller districts, and are elected in the same way. They can borrow money, they have large powers as to impounding of cattle, as to slaughter-houses, as to docks, as to markets, as to entering upon lands for the purpose of destroying noxious weeds — this subject being of great importance in a pastoral country like Victoria. They receive fees and fines from publicans and brewers; they have considerable power over commons, lands, and so forth ; under the amending Act they may create or aid hospitals, asylums, baths, wash-houses, museums, athenaeums, libraries, and mechanics' institutes. The Act of 1869 consisting of 400 clauses and many schedules, it may well be imagined that it is difficult within the compass of a few lines to give an adequate impression of its elaboration. The law of New South Wales upon the same subject is contained in an Act passed in 1867, called " All Act to establish Municipalities." It constitutes municipahties of two kinds — first, boroughs ; and, secondly, municipal districts. "With the latter we are alone concerned. A municipal district must not be greater than fifty square miles, of which area no point must be more than twenty miles distant from any other point. A municipal district is established wherever the majority of the householders desire it, and when created it may be divided upon a similar majority being favourable to a division. Every district may be divided into wards, and every district has a Council of from six to twelve aldermen, or, where the district is divided into wards, of three aldermen for each ward. The offices of mayor and alderman may be held by any person elected to fill them. One-third of the aldermen retire, in rotation, every year. The alder- men elect their mayor. The mayor may be paid if the 236 LOCAL GOVLIBNMENT AND TAXATION. Council wish. it. The electors are occupiers and owners of ratable property within the district, with a cumulative vote in proportion to wealth, as in Victoria,. The election is by ballot. Each district Council has the care of public roads other than the main roads of the colony, of streets, ferries, wharves, jetties, parks, cemeteries, baths and wash-houses, water supply, lighting, drainage, and all the general powers which we describe in London as powers conferred by Streets Acts. In addition to the ordinary power to raise money by rates, they have . the power to impose a tax upon all vehicles plying for hire within the district. They have the power to establish free libraries, and free infant-schools, and also to make bye-laws for a large number of various purposes, among which may be named the establishment, regulation, and maintenance of hospitals and asylums, gardens, common rights, places of amusement, public health, the prevention of fires, slaughter-houses, markets, sales, and the preservation of public order. The Act is a very perfect one. The law of Queensland as to provincial Councils dates from 1864. It provides for a nominated body of from three to nine persons, who elect their own chairman. This body is mainly occupied with public Ayorks. On the other hand, the municipal law of Queensland is similar to that of the other colonies, with the rate- paying suffrage and election by ballot. But these mu- nicipalities include only boroughs, and not country dis- tricts as in New South Wales. The rural municipalities of Tasmania are created and governed by an Act of 1865. The electors are aU males, assessed at £10 a year as owner, or £15 a year as occu- pier ; up to a value of £50 a year, one vote, and one vote additional for every £50 a year, up to ten votes. The election is by ballot. Every Council consists of seven members, two or three retiring,. by seniority, each year. The municipalities may not only make rates, but also raise loans, but loans must be sanctioned by meet- ings of municipal electors specially convened. Half the rates are paid by the owner, and half by the occupier. New Zealand differs greatly in the system of county AUSTBALIAN COLONIES AND NEW ZEALAND. 237 ■or district government from tlie other colonies-. Not so in its municipal system for towns, wliicli is contained in an Act of 390 clauses and fourteen schedules ; one of the schedules having as many as ninety-five divisions ! In district institutions New Zealand is hehind the other self-governing colonies, being still a disturbed country, the centre of one-half of which is strongly occupied by a wild native population. Eoad districts are formed in the settled parts of the North Island, and Boards of Works nominated by the road Boards exist in some few united road districts. A "General Eoad District Bill" was thrown out in the Assembly through the opposition of the pro- vincial governments which I shall now describe. New Zealand having been first settled round the coasts of "two long islands, by very distinct sets of colonists, and on very different plans, a provincial system was the natural outcome of jealousies and vast distances com- bined. Each of the great provinces, Otago, Canter- bury, Nelson, Wellington, Taranaki, Auckland, &c., elects a provisional superintendent. It also elects a small pro- vincial Council. The superintendent selects ministers, a.nd governs by playing at the farce of responsible minis- tries. " Superintendents and their tails " are also re- turned to the general Assembly at Wellington, where they are all-powerful, and thus upset, indeed, the minis- try which introduced the " Greneral Eoad District Bill." The provincial system is costly, cumbersome, and out of date, and a new system having been tried in the creation of the " county " of Portland, when Canterbury was divided, it may safely be afi&rmed that pure provin- cialism is not likely to last long. COURSE OF MUNICIPAL LEGISLATION IN THE COLONY OF VICTORIA. 1. When the colony was founded, in the year 1851, the only Acts in operation conferring the power of local administration related exclusively to the formation of roads and bridges in what was then a remote province of the colony of New South Wales. In point of fact, no 238 LOCAL GOVHENMENT AND TAXATION. public roads at all may be said to have existed in tbe district of Port Philip*, unless one or two leading for a short distance outside the boundaries of the city of Melbourne, constructed principally by grants received from the Sydney Treasury, were worthy of the name. The powers conferred by the existing laws include the election of Boards of Trustees by the proprietors of lands situated within three miles of the intended roads, and the imposition by that body of rates not exceeding six- pence an acre on the lands through whicb they did or were intended to pass, together with the usual right of appeal against excessive valuation. It is also made legal to erect toll-bars and to levy tolls thereat, as well as to borrow money upon their security. It does not appear that in that early period in the history of the colony the power to assess rates, or to borrow money, was ever put in force, it being found, in the few cases where Boards were elected, that the money derived from tolls, in addition to the subsidies granted by the Govern- ment, provided sufficient funds to meet whatever outlay was required. 2. These and the subsequent remarks, it should be mentioned, do not apply to the city of Melbourne, or the town of Greelong, both of which, possessed by special enactments all the necessary powers usually held by the corporate bodies of large towns, to levy rates for the purpose of effecting all the works necessary for the health and security of their citizens. 3. The first Act tending towards local administration passed by the Legislature of Victoria, after an indepen- dent existence had been conferred upon it, was the 16 Vict., No. 40, for making and improving roads within its territory. It repealed the existing Acts referred to above, and provided for the appointment of a central Board, assisted by an efficient staff of engineers, to supervise the construction of all main roads and bridges in the colony, as well as of the parish or cross roads, until district Boards should be appointed for the management of them. These district Boards were to be * The old name for what is now the Colony of Victoria. AUSTRALIAN COLONIES AND NEW' ZEALAND. 239 annually elected by the ratepayers residing in a given district, and had power to levy rates assessed on the annual valuation of the property in the district ; to establish tolls ; to enter on private property for the purpose of making roads and bridges, and to pass bye-laws. Under this Act immense sums of money were expended in constructing roads and bridges throughout the colony, under the supervision of both the central and district Boards ; though there can be no question that these latter placed their chief dependence for funds upon Grovernment subsidies, which were granted in the most liberal spirit, rather than on the levy of rates. This Act remained in operation until 1863. 4. Not long after the discovery of the gold-fields, the congregation of large bodies of persons at the prin- cipal centres of mining activity produced those evils which are inseparable from the assemblage of individuals for any lengthened period in any one locality. Thus the necessity for making due provision for drainage and other sanitary requirements led the Government, even at a very early period, to insist on the tents or huts in which the miners then dwelt being disposed with some regard to the preservation of health. The sale of land led to the erection, by the miners and storekeepers, of more permanent dwellings ; and it soon became apparent that legislation was necessary to enable the inhabitants of what thus became towns to pass such local regula- tions as the peculiarities of each locality rendered essential. An Act was accordingly passed, in December, 1854, enabling the householders dwelling within any district of which the extreme points were not distant more than six miles from- each other, to petition the governor to proclaim it a municipal district ; the effect of which, when the petition was granted, was to place in the possession of a Council elected by the ratepayers full powers to make all such laws as should be deemed necessary for the convenience of the town. This Act produced the most beneficial results. A vast number of municipal districts sprang into existence over the length 240 LOCAL G07EBN2IENT AND TAXATION. and breadtli of tlie colony ; and such active measures were taken by the governing bodies, within their limits, as soon to testify to the wisdom of placing all matters of purely local concern in the hands of bodies primarily interested in carrying them out. The power of taxation conferred upon these municipal Councils was largely put in operation, while, concurrently with the development of their own resources, the subsidies from the public Treasury were reduced until these latter were withdrawn altogether, in the year 1866. 5. This Act, with some slight emendations, remained in force until 1863, when two further Acts were passed; one to amend and consolidate the existing laws relating to road districts, and another to amend the laws relating to municipal corporations. Under the former Act large territorial divisions were called into existence, under the name of Shires j while districts that were not more than forty square miles in extent were still denominated road districts, as before. As the main object of the Act was to encourage the formation of the larger bodies, with the view to introduce a more economical system in the expen- diture of the Government grants and local funds, special inducements were held out to promote the amalgamation of the smaller with the larger bodies, both by giving the latter greater powers and by surrendering to them cer- tain local sources of revenue previously possessed by the Government. The other Act dealt with the municipal districts, thenceforward called boroughs, determining the boundaries of those already in existence, enacting measures for facilitating the establishment of others, and adding considerably to their general powers in the matter of providing sewerage and water supply, establishing charitable institutions, markets, &c., &c. — This Act also fixed, as did the corresponding Act dealing with shires and road districts, the scale upon which the annual subsidy of the Goverment in aid of the local bodies should in future be distributed. Shires and road districts still receive grants from the Treasury for the formation of roads and bridges, but, as stated above, boroughs have had to depend upon their own resources exclusively since 1867. AUSTRALIAN COLONICS AND NEW ZEALAND. 241 The power of borrowing money, on the security of their revenues, by the issue of debentures, for effecting public improvements, was also enlarged by these two Acts. This power has been exercised to a very great extent, having, in addition to other results, led to the erection in all parts of the colony of large and commo- dious public halls and libraries. 6. In 1869 these Acts were followed by others, differing not much in principle, but introducing several improvements which experience had shown to be needed. These are in force at the present time, and though a Bill for the amendment and consolidation of these latter is now before the Legislature, the only essential point in which it will probably differ from its predecessors will be in conferring still greater authority on local bodies, and in relieving the central Grovernment of many minor matters which experience shows can safely be entrusted to the management of local Councils. 7. It should moreover be stated that as yet the legislative and municipal systems have but little con- nection with each other. This wiU be apparent by refer- ence to the appended Eetum. The territorial divisions, as a rule, are different; the franchise is placed on a different basis ; indeed, almost the only feature common to the two is that the municipal rate rolls are incorpo- rated in the Parliamentary electoral rolls, but from the want of a correspondence between the Parliamentary and local territorial divisions it can hardly be said that the local element is in any way a component part of the general electoral system. Q 242 LOGAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. Pakliamentary and Local Government in Victoria. Showing where the two systems differ in principle. Legislative System. MUKICIPAI. SrSTEM. 1. Legislative and Legislative Legislative Cities, Towns, and Shires and Eoad Municipal Bo- dies. CounoU. Assembly. Boroughs. 1 Districts. No. of Members. 30 78 For each single borough not less than 6, or more than 9. For united boroughs not more than 18 in alL Within these limits go- vernor is empow- ered on petition to increase or di- minish number of councillors. For each single shire of 3 ridings, 9 members. Of less than 3 rid- ings, 6 members. For united shires : — 2 shires, 12 mem- bers. 3 shires, 18 mem- bers. 4 shires, 24 mem- "bers. Within these limits governor may vary num- ber of councillors on petition. Note.— United shire or borough is where two or more adjoining local bodies become amalgamated under the " Local Government," or "Municipal Corporations Acts." How chosen Elected by qu alified voters. Elected by qualified voters. Mode of Voting ... By ballot. By baUot. Constituencies ... Entire colony Entire colony To suit local requirements of case. is divided into 6 is divided into 49 provinces, each districts, each of of which returns which returns 5 members. from 1 to 3 mem- bers, or 78 in all. 2. Bepresentatives. Qualifications : — Aee At least 30 At least 21 None prescribed. •**«" years. yeai-s. Property. Freehold of None required. Property assessed in local rate value of (at least) book, at ajmual value of at least £20. £2,500, or of annual rateable value of £250. Nationality Britsh only. British, or na- No statutory restriction. turalised for 5 Kesidenoe in Co- years. lony No specific sta- Must have re- No statutory restriction. tutory condition ; sided in colony but if a member for 2 years prior be absent for an to election. - entire session without leave of the House, his seat becomes thereby vacated. AUSTRALIAN COLONIES AND NEW ZEALAND. 243 2, Representatives (contmued). Disabilities Tenure of Seat .. Hode of Betire meut Capability for Ee- election Payment 3. Electors. Qualifications Age Sex Property ... Other qualification Eesidence in Co- lony No, of Votes Disqualifications Leoislativb System. Legislative Goimcil. LeglslatiTe Assembly. (1) Being a judge, minister of religion, University professor, Government officer, or Government contractor. (2) Having been attainted of trea- son, or convicted of felony, or any infamous ofiTence. (3) Becoming insolvent. Females indirectly ex- cluded. 10 years. 3 years. Six members in Entire body by rotation every 2 dissolution every years, one for three years, or each province. earlier, if go- vernor orders. EUgible. Eligible. At rate of £300 per annum. 21 years. 21 years. Male only. Male only. Being on any Being on rate municipal rate- payers' roll for payers roll, and any municipal rated at £50 at district, least. Being a Uni- Being of fuU versity graduate, age (manhood or under-gradu- suffrage), able to ate, professional write name, and man, minister of possessed of an religion, certifi- Elector's Eight, cated teacher, fee for which is naval or military one shilling, officer, or retired officer of East India Company, and being on voters' roll by taking out an Elector's Bight, fee for which is one shilling. For British subjects, 1 year ; for naturalised subjects, 3 years. 1 for each pro- 1 for each dis- vince in which trict in which property qualifi- property qualifi- cation exists. cation exists. For non- pro- perty qualifica- tion, 1 vote only for each indi- vidual. Being an inmate of any eleemo- synary, or charitable institution; non-payment of municipal rates; inability to write name. Municipal System. Cities, Towns, and Shires and Bead Boroughs. Districts. Being a female, uncertificated insolvent, attainted or convicted person, lunatic, contractor, or muni- cipal officer. 3 years. 3 years. One third of entire body every year, in rotation. Eligible. None. Eligible. None. 21 years. 21 years. Male and female. Being on municixial roll. None but property or occupation of property recognised. Occupier primarily entitled ; if no occupier, then owner, if resident in colony. According to the following scale :- For property rated at under £50, 1 vote. For properties rated at £50, less than £100, 2 votes. For properties rated at £100, and upwards, 3 votes. For property rated at under £25, 1 vote. For properties rated at £25, and less than £50, 2 votes. For properties rated at £50, and less than £75, 3 votes. For proijei-ties rated at £75, and upwards, 4 votes. THE PEOVINCIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. The institutions which govern the provinces and communes of Belgium and Holland bear the double impress of the German and the Latin spirit. What- ever of autonomy they possess is owing to the free customs of the Germanic tribes who peopled the provinces of the Low Countries — customs modified indeed by the influence of feudalism in the Middle Ages, and by that ■of royalty from the 16th century onwards. Whatever of centralisation they possess is due to the French conquerors of 1793, who, both under the Eepublic and under the Empire, took as their ideal of government a complete uniformity imposed upon every locality by the central power. In order thoroughly to understand the character of local institutions in Belgium and the Netherlands, it is necessary to take a rapid survey of the forms in which they were clothed in times past, because these institu- tions preserve to this day much of their ancient character. Ancien Regime. — In the countries of German origin, as indeed everywhere at first, and even to-day among the people who still retain the primitive state of things, are "to be found small groups of men united by tradition, by ■descent, and by the possession in common of a terri- tory cultivated jointly as long as the pastoral system lasted, and in part divided periodically between families when the agricultural system began. This group is the •original, or, so to speak, the typical commune. It is more than a political association, it is an economical 246 PBOriNGIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF institution; for the communal stock fumislies tlie inhabitants with the means of living by labour. The commune, the extension of the family, is the primitive- group, the elementary molecule; and it is the associa- tion of communes which forms the State. Communal interests are managed directly by the fathers of families- meeting from time to time in general assembly. This assembly chooses certain delegates, ordinarily the wisest and the oldest, charged to enforce the laws and customs. Such is the local, and, so to speak, the natural organisa- tion which is to be found everywhere, when not destroyed by royal despotism or by feudal usurpation. This system can be studied even to-day in Java and in India, amongst the Albanians and the Kabyles, in Serbia and in the cantons of Central Switzerland. TJnterwalden * and the Eepublic of Andora offer a perfect sample of this type. Cajsar and Tacitus show us the same system in vigour amongst the Germans : — "De minoribus rebus principes consultant, de majoribus omnes. Licet apud consilium accusare quosque et discrimen capitis intendere. Eliguntur in iisdem consiliis et principes, qui jura, per pagos vicosque reddant. Nihil autem neque publicse, neque privatae, rei nisi armati agunt." Go to 'Switzerland, and be present at the meeting of , the " Landsgemeinde " on the borders of the lake of Lucerne, and you will find all the features of this primitive democracy transmitted without inter- ruption, from times the most ancient, to our own days. It equally existed among the Germanic tribes of the- Low Countries. The Frieslanders preserved it because they knew how to maintain better than others their liberties in opposition to the spirit of despotism and centralisation represented first by Eome, afterwards by the legists, and by the spirit of the Eoman law in the days of the Dukes of Burgundy. When the common territory, " ager publicus," peri- odically divided amongst all, was successively usurped,, and divided by prescription into private properties, * I have sought to develope this view in a volume, recently published, on. " Property, and its Primitive Forms." De Lavelete.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 247 and wten inequality of conditions was developed by the accumulation of riches in the hands of a few, democratic institutions disappeared little by little. The inhabitants having nothing in the way of common property to manage had less reason for assembling together. They got tired of administering justice. They neglected to attend the public assemblies. From indifference, from discourage- ment, sometimes from fear, they let the administration pass into the hands of the " principes," of the leading men, of the most powerful. These, thanks to the predominance given by riches, by force, and by the sword, reduced the feeble to servitude. Communal liberties died, feu- dalism was established. Nowhere can this evolution be better followed than in England, where the "manor" absorbed the commune (the gemeinde), so that the very name has disappeared, and there remains nothing but the "vestry." During the ten centuries which followed the Roman conquest a like transformation came about in the Low Countries, but obscurely, and without its details being preserved by history. When a kind of order was estab- lished, wars between various tribes becoming rare, the cul- tivators of the soil no longer had their arms always in hand, and so lost the use of them. Those localities which by industry, by trade, and by the agglgjaeration ot artisans and business men, raised themselves to the rank of cities, had to re-conquer their lost liberties by prolonged struggles against their lords. Their victories, consecrated by charters, founded the free independent city of the Middle Ages, with franchises which recalled the demo- cratic institutions of the primitive epochs. But the rural gemeente or commune remained in general sub- jected to the power of the lord. It had not, as in Switzerland, the power to free itself by force of arms. In Switzerland the reclaiming of primitive liberties succeeded even on the part of the country people, because the peasants of the mountains, devoted to the pastoral life and to the chase, had preserved the habit of using arms ; besides which the nobles were few in number in a country so poor. In England, in France, in 248 PROVINCIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF Germany, the peasants were crushed because they had long been disarmed, and because the lords were able to form an armed body strong enough to stifle every insur- rection. In the Low Countries, during the Middle Ages, the villages did not nominate their magistrates. Administration and justice were placed in the hands of the sheriffs (sc/iepen, or echevins), and the officers of justice {schout), whom the lord or sovereign named. Moreover communal interests and political life were nil- in the rural districts, no one taking any interest either in education, or in roadways, or in public works. Nothing is more dramatic or more instructive than the picture of the progress of democracy in the great communes of the Low Countries, and nowhere can it be better studied than in the history of Liege. The con- quest of popular liberties was there made in a more regular manner than elsewhere, because the sovereign authority exercised by an elective -bishop was less power- ful than when exercised by hereditary dynasties.* We cannot here relate the origin of the local institutions of the Low Countries; it must suffice briefly to indicate * At first Lifege was a free town, both with reference to the Emperor and to the Bishop. It included two classes of inhabitants — the "Liguages," that is to say, the ancient members of the clan, possessors of the soil, and the serfs, who were strangers who had taken refuge in the interior of the town. At first; the government was aristocratic, for all the powers were exercised by the senate, composed of the fourteen sheriffs {4chemns) who were recruited from themselves. In 1225 democracy made its first conquest : a college was created, and renewed each year, composed of two masters of the people (deux mattres du peupU) named by the sheriifs, and by twelve juries selected by the citizens. In 1253 the bourgeoisie was allowed to nominate also the masters of the people, and the great council was formed of one hundred and twenty citizens elected by the six divisions of the city (les six qiiariiers) or "vina.ves." Soon the smaller or lower class of bourgeois, the ancient serfs, enriched by work, became tired of paying imposts over the use of which they had no control. They demanded that all the inhabitants should be subjected to the same charges, and enjoy the same rights. The artisans, organised into three hundred and twenty trades, at length obtained their share in the government in the year 1303. Prom that day forth it required the express consent of the trades in order to establish a tax, contract loans, dispose of revenues, accord gifts to the prince, and likewise to make war or peace. From the peace of Angleur, in 1313, great and little citizens and artisans form but one people, who freely govern themselves. Corporations of workmen exercise the real sovereignty. In order to be elected to the high municipal magistracy a person must be affiliated to one of the trades. Thus democracy established itself at Li6ge as at Eome, and as in the Italian Republics, by the successive conquests of the plebeians depriving the "patricians of their privileges. In reality it was but a return to original liberties. De Laveleye.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 249 their character, so as to show how those now existing have sprung up. The provinces of the Netherlands, or Low Countries, formed in reality separate and independent States, to such a degree that the inhabitants of one province were, except in certain cases, aliens in another. They were only bound together by obedience to the same sovereign, as is the case to-day with Austria and Hungary, Sweden and Norway. They did not form a united kingdom like England, Scotland, and Ireland. Each province was governed by a representative council, the Estates, who were generally composed of three orders — the clergy, the ) nobility, and the commonalty (le tiers). However, in exceptional circumstances, sometimes the clergy, some- times the nobility, were excluded. We cannot give here the composition of the Estates, it varied in each pro- vince according to the historical development of each. In order to give some idea of it, the manner in which the Estates of Brabant were constituted may be taken as a sample. The order of the clergy was formed by the thirteen abbots ; the Estate of the nobles was formed by the barons, to the average number of twenty- five, who had an income of four thousand florins a year from real property ; and the Estate of the commonalty (le tiers-etai) by deputies elected by the magistrates of the three chief towns of Louvain, Brussels, and Antwerp. In Elanders the nobility were excluded, as the clergy were in Guelderland. Each order had one vote. The provincial Estates assembled generally two or three times a *year, when convoked by the sovereign. They voted the subsidies which he asked for, and ar- ranged according to their pleasure the taxes imposed to meet such demands. No tax then was imposed without the consent of the Estates. They nominated the provincial functionaries — the officer called the pensionary, the per- manent deputation which was charged to watch over the regular execution of the will of the assembly of the Estates. It was, so to speak, the executive provincial power. The Estates did not intervene in the drawing up of 250 PBOVINOIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF the general laws and edicts, but they were often con- sulted, and they had the right of presenting remon- strances to the sovereign. He did not possess absolute power : he was bound to respect the provincial constitu- tions which he had sworn to maintain by an oath given in a solemn assembly of the Estates. The state recep- tion of Brabant (" la joyeuse entree du Brabant ") was the type of the provincial charters. Most of these charters recognised that the subjects, in case of a viola- tion of the compact by the sovereign, had the right to refuse obedience and subsidies — ^that is to say, recognised the right of insurrection. The towns also constituted, in virtue of their privi- leges, political bodies nearly as independent as the provinces. Communal institutions were far from being everywhere the same, their autonomy was, however, very great in everything touching local interests. In Holland, after the estabhsliment of the republic, the institutions of which we have given a sketch were maintained, only the abolition of royalty gave them a new character. The Provincial Estates exercised in reality the sovereign power, for their delegates to the States- General (les etats generaux) could only vote in con- formity with the instructions of the assemblies who sent these delegates. Everything was within the competence of the Provincial Estates — as John de Witt maintained — that competence was only limited by the privileges of the towns, and the attributes, but few in number, of the States-Greneral. The Proviacial Estates voted the taxes necessary to cover the expenses of the province, and those needed to pay the subsidies claimed by the Council of State, which were devoted to the service of the Union ; they decided on the proposals submitted to them by the States-Greneral touching war, peace, and treaties of alliance ; they made laws and regulations applicable only to the province ; they levied troops and named the officers ; without their authorisation no armed body could enter their territory ; they conceded privileges to the communes as the king had done, and even coined money; ,no important resolution could be De Lavelete.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 251 taken, nor any tax levied, without their consent : they preserved the most complete autonomy. The republic was, in truth, only a federation of sovereign and inde- pendent countries. The Towns were not hierarchically subject to the province. In virtue of their ancient franchises they themselves decreed their own taxes, and only paid after having consented to do so. They made their own regulations, and their citizens could only be tried by their own magistrates. These towns were governed by a citizen oligarchy. Formerly all the citizens, sum- moned by sound of bell, deliberated on important af- fairs, and helped the sheriffs {echevins) in their judicial fanctions. It was the government of the Germans of old, and of the Swiss " Landgemeinde." But little by little the more weU-to-do, who had most leisure, came alone to the public assemblies. These citizens, who were the most eager to make use of their rights — that is to say, the most energetic — ended by forming a body of notables called " vroedschap." From the sixteenth cen- tury the " vroedschap " became a coUege, small in num- bers, which renewed itself, named the magistrates, and governed the city.* The other inhabitants had allowed their right to intervene in the matter of communal affairs, and ia that even of naming representatives, to be set aside. From being citizens they became simply those who were governed. History proves that men have been deprived of their rights as often by their own * In order to give an idea of tbe organisation of a Dutch town in the SLsteenth century, let us take Amsterdam. In this town, numbering 300,000 souls, the" vroedschap" was composed of only thirty-six councillors, who renewed their body themselves by the vote of the majority. The Coun- cil of Ancients (" oude raad ") was formed by the old .burgomasters and sheriffs (scftepen) to the number of twelve. There were four burgomasters' and nine sheriffs in office. They chose the burgomasters from amongst the " oude raad." The burgomasters named the sheriffs from a list drawn up by the thirty-six councillors. The magistrate who exercised judicial functions, formerly nominated by the sovereign, was now named by the burgomastere, on the presentation of the body of notables — the " vroedschap." The trea- surers, the commissioners of marriages, of orphans, of maritime affairs, of finance, and all the lower grades of employes, were nominated by the burgo- masters. The college of sheriffs, in conjunction with the magistrate who exercised the judicial function, had the right of making regulations {ieuren en orcUmnantien). Thus was formed a judicial bench, the vierschaa/r, which was the local tribunal. 252 PBOVINCtAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF indiiFerence and apathy as by the usurpation of those Avho wished to enslave them. In the towns which had become rich through indus- trial pursuits, as was the case in most of the great com- munes of Belgium, the artisans, formed into trade bodies or guilds,. had also conquered from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century a right of intervening more or less actively in the management of administrative affairs. They named representatives in the Council, and often one or two burgomasters represented them specially. At Nimeguen the local power had passed almost wholly into the hands of the trades. The masters of the guilds nominated the twenty-four councillors which formed the great Council. They chose besides in the guild of St. Nicholas a coUege of eight masters, who were to be con- sulted in extraordinary circumstances. At Louvain the trades nominated a burgomaster, three sheriffs, and ten councillors, out of twenty-one. At Malines, out of twelve sheriffs the trades nominated six. At Brussels, the first burgomaster arid seven sheriffs were taken from the "Lignages," a sub-burgomaster and six councillors from the trades. The town governments then were exercised by the association of three elements of different origin: — The patrician element, which at first had all the power, com- posed of the sheriffs \echevins) named by the prince, the representatives of the " geslachten," or "lignages;"* the plebeian element, which had conquered its place by force, the representatives of the guilds or trades ; lastly, the local element — the representatives of the"quartiers" or wards. The communal organisation was therefore the product of the natural development of the difierent social classes. The local institutions of which a sketch has been given certainly laboured under grave defects. Local in- dependence was pushed to an extreme, for each province, each town, was armed with a right of veto, which, if * The "geslacht" was tlie Greek 75^0?, the Roman geiis, the little German clan, the intimate group of free men and proprietors descending from a common ancestor. De Lavelete.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 253 rigorously used, rendered all common accord impossible, and made the Grovernment powerless. But, on the other hand, by giving to each locality the power of self- government, and the right to take a direct part in the government, the State developed amongst its citizens a remarkable political aptitude. If in the midst of the gravest crisis, which often endangered the national exist- ence, the Netherlanders displayed extreme prudence and rare ability, it may well be believed that their institu- tions contributed to give them those quaHties. There existed formerly in the towns and provinces a functionary who is to be found no more, and who has never been replaced — the Grand Pensionary {Itaad Pen- sionnaris). He was a learned legist, prudent, eloquent, charged with defending local interests, and causing the law to be respected ; he was the revered organ of the tradition and spirit of justice. The more often that election, in our democracies, changes those who fill ad- ministrative positions, the more necessary is it that a thorough knowledge of public affairs, a power of con- tinued application, and a high intellectual culture, should be represented in assemblies so subject to change. ■ - The French Epoch. — The kings of France, especially since the time of Eichelieu, have done their utmost to stifle the independence of provinces and towns, in order that the sovereign might enjoy unlimited power. * The French Eevolution annihilated whatever of self-govern- ment remained to them, out of hatred to the old regime, and in order to apply everywhere the new ideas by break- ing down all local resistance. It was but the same spirit, despotism applied by way of making right triumph, which inspired Joseph II., when, by the edict of March, 1787, he wished to substitute for the ancient organisation of the Belgian provinces a system of thoroughgoing centralisation. The French constitution of the year 3 (1794), ap- plied to Belgium after the French conquest, divided the • All this ia set fortt with great clearnesa in M. de Tooqueville's admi rable work, ," L'Anoien Eggime et la E^Tolution."— [Editob.] 264 PROVINCIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF territory into departments, cantons, and communes, and at the head of each of these divisions was placed an elective council, and an agent of the executive power. But it gave no independence to the local administra- tors ; they were completely subjected to the authority of the central government, which could annul the acts of the municipal and departmental councils, and even suspend or dissolve them. The constitution of the year 8 (1799) applied also to Holland, after the reunion with France, went so far as to suppress whoUy aU elec- tion. In the departments the prefects, the sub-prefects, the prefectoral council ; and in the communes, the mayor, the assistants, the councillors, were aU nominated by the chief of the State, who soon became Emperor. It was the perfect ideal of despotism and centralisation. The wiU of the master decided everything in the smaller localities, and down to the minutest details. I do not believe that anywhere, either under the Eoman em- pire or in that of China, there has ever existed a political machinery so systematically and absolutely centralised. !I7ie Dutch Bute. — ^When, in 1814, Belgium was united to Holland, in order to form the kingdom of the Netherlands, the provinces and communes recovered a little of their autonomy. The Provincial Estates were re-established with a part of their ancient powers. They Were formed of three orders of deputies — from the nobility, the towns, and the country. The Provincial Estates, which had only one short session a year, nomi- nated from themselves a permanent deputation, com- posed of five or seven members. It assembled regularly, and managed the provincial affairs in conformity with the laws and decisions of the Estates. The towns were administered by a Council of Eegency, nominated by the electors and by an executive college, composed of a bur- gomaster and several sheriffs {echevins) nominated by the king. The rural communes were governed by a communal council, whose members were chosen by the Provincial Estates. The king appointed the burgomaster, the governor of the province, and two assessors. De LAVELETE.J BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 255 Present Time.* — As the local institutions of Holland and Belgium are very similar, they will be better studied together, taking first the Commune, which is the true foundation of the social edifice. Belgium. THE COMMUNE (gEMEENTE). Communal Power. — The commune is the association which is spontaneously established among the inhabi- tants of a locality on account of the common interests created by living near one another. They must maintain order, execute justice, defend themselves, and, at times, carry on certain works which are indispensable to the existence and well-being of all ; hence results the neces- sity of a communal power, of an authority which can oblige all to respect the laws, and to make such sacrifices as the common interest demands. In primitive societies power is exercised by the citizens themselves united in general assembly, as in the Swiss Landsgemeinde. Power is wielded later on by an elected body. It is but an act of extreme despotism to hand over that power to the delegates of the central authority. Communal in- terests obviously exist. There must therefore be a local authority charged to govern them. Macarel well says, " The commune is a necessary element of all civil society. It has, indeed, an individual existence {une individualite), which has its source in the nature of things." Royer Collard said also, with profound truth, " The commune is like the family, prior to the State ; the political law finds it and does not create it." The admirable saying of M. de Tocqueville should also be remembered: "The strength of a free people resides in the commune. Communal institutions are to liberty what primary schools are to science — ^they bring freedom within the reach of the people, they teach them * For the purpose of studying the organisation of local institutions, the excellent book of M. Giron, " Le droit communal/' and his Sketch in the "Patria Belgica" should be consulted." As regaxds Holland, there is the work of M. de la Bassecour Caan, " Handleiding tot de kennis van het ad- ministratief regt in Nederland." 256 PEOriNGIAL ANJJ COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF. the peaceful use of it, they habituate them to its practice." If in England the country people are so inferior to those of the towns in instruction, intelligence, and individual initiative, it is evidently because feudalism has deprived the rural districts (communes) of their autonomy and their administrative independence. In Belgium and Holland the communes no longer enjoy, as in the Middle Ages, the attributes of sovereignty; but they are, however, ruled by elective bodies, which, in matters of administration and police, have very considerable powers. Communal Authorities. — The commune was or- ganised in Belgium by the laws of the 30th of March, 1836, and of the 30th of June, 1842. The authorities which exercise power over the commune are the Com- munal Council, the CoUege of Burgomasters, and Sheriffs. The Council is composed of councillors — not less than seven in number, and not more than thirty-one — elected in conformity with a classification fixed by a law of the 28th of March, 1872. In order to be eligible as a communal councillor, it is necessary to be a Belgian citizen of twenty-five years of age, whose real abode has been within the commune at any rate since the 1st of January preceding the election. When, however, the commune has less than one thousand inhabitants, a third of the members of the Council may be taken from the inhabitants of another commune. This exception, so contrary to the notions and traditions of the commune, has been allowed, because in small villages it is at times difficult to find a sufficient number of capable councillors.' However, it is but very rarely that this exceptional right is put in practice. The councillors are elected for a term of six years ; but the Councils are renewed, half at a time, every three years, so that there are communal elections occurring triennially. I think this system a good one. It is better to renew elective bodies partially than all at once, be- cause by this means the traditional spirit is maintained, change is made more insensibly, and there is no sudden modification ; this is desirable in policy as in Nature, De Lavalete.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 257 which, as it is said, does not proceed by jumps — natura non fit saltus. The outgoing councillors remain in office untU the election of their successors has been de- clared valid, so that there is never any interruption in the exercise of communal powers. The executive power is confided to a college or body, composed of sheriiFs {echevins or schepen) and a burgo- master. Those communes whose populations are less than 20,000 have two sheriflfs, the others four, Brussels and Antwerp five. The sheriJPs are nominated by the king from among the members of the Council, and the burgomaster also ; the Crown, however, has the power to choose him, ' with the consent of the permanent deputation, outside the Council from among the inha- bitants of the commune. The burgomaster and sherifis are nominated for a term of six years, unless they have to be replaced in the interval. The burgomaster may be recalled or suspended by the king, and the sherifis by the governor of the province, but only on account of serious misconduct or notorious negligence. These arrangements are borrowed from the autocratic French system and the Latin spirit. According to Grer- manic traditions, the" communal functionaries ought to be nominated by the inhabitants of the commune, or by their delegates. The argument lised in favour of the nomination of the burgomaster and sherifis by the central Grovemment is that they possess certain powers which concern general interests, and that in small localities the choice might be very badly made. That is quite possible ; but, on the other hand, a sovereign may abuse his pre- rogative, as has often been the case in France, in order to change communal authorities into electoral agents, so as completely to falsify the representative system, and establish despotism under the appearance of Hberal forms. If it be difficult, in villages, to find capable persons, it is precisely there that the intervention of the Government exercises an almost irresistible influence, and annihilates local independence and freedom of voting. The mayors in France are too often petty tyrants, at the sendee of 258 PBOVINOIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF the ail-powerfal central authority. The natural solution is to give to the chief of the commune nothing but mere communal powers, to regulate by law services of general public interest, such as instruction, and then to trust to the intelligence of the inhabitants to make a proper choice of the communal authorities. In countries where the primitive democratic institu- tions have 'been maintained, as in Switzerland and Norway, the peasants even of the most out-of-the-way parts, elect the local authorities, who perform ' their functions to the satisfaction of the public. Communal councillors are elected by secret ballot, by those inhabitants of the commune who are twenty- one years old, and who pay to the state direct taxes, licenses included, to the amount of ten francs. The qualification, which gives a right to vote for a member of the legis- lature, is higher ; it is fixed by the Constitution at 20 florins, about 33 shillings. It has been placed as a barrier to the introduction of universal suffrage. The electoral lists are drawn up under the care of the sheriff's coUege. The permanent deputation of the provincial Council judges of the objections which are made touching the electoral lists, and there is an appeal from its decision to the Court of Appeal. Experience has demonstrated that this power of appeal to one of the high judicial courts is indispensable. In fact, the two political parties who strive for the posses- sion of power, seek to throw out all those electors opposed to their views, whose right to vote may be contested with more or less of reason ; now the permanent deputation, elected by the majority of the provincial Council, belonging, as it does, to one or other party, is inclined to uphold those electors who are of its own opinion, and to throw out those who are not so. It is, therefore, necessary to recur, for a final decision, to a body elevated as much as possible above and beyond the influence of political passions. Without this superior intervention, a great number of electors would be unduly struck off the electoral lists, and the result of the elec- tions would be completely fallacious. X)E Lavelete.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 259 The electors assemble, as a matter of right, every three years, on the last Tuesday in October, in order to proceed to the renewal of the members of the communal ■council who quit office. This assembling of the electors, regularly constituted by law, recalls the ancient Grerman ■customs. It is a right put in force by the people, with- out having to wait for the good pleasure of the king, or for convocation by authorities, who might find it in their interest to cause delays. If seats become vacant between the times fixed for electoral meetings, the elec- tors can be convoked, either by the communal Coimcil or by the Grovernment. The right to preside over the elections belongs to the burgomasters, the sherifis, and the councillors, or to well-known persons whom the presiding officer desig- nates ; but no irresponsible functionary can be appointed to do this work No armed force is allowed in the place where the election is being carried oh, nor, indeed, in its neighbourhood, unless such force is asked for by the president conducting the election, for the purpose of maintaining order. Everything has been done to prevent the Grovernment from intimidating the electors in their choice. The communal law has regulated the proceedings at elections, even to their smallest details. They need not be enumerated here. They are comprised in the 26th to the 42nd articles of the communal law of the 30th March, 1836. The Permanent Deputation has the power of deiter- mimng whether the elections have been properly made. It has a right to annul them, by a decision regularly "drawn up, if there has been serious irregularity. In case of objections from individuals, or from the governor, the Permanent Deputation must give a decision, which has the character of a judgment. The governor alone can appeal to the king, in order to have this decision an- nulled. It is to be regretted that an appeal to a judicial authority has not been allowed in this case too, as there might be an unjust decision dictated by party spirit. If the governor and the ministry hold the same opinion as the Permanent Deputation the appeal will not take 260 FBOVINGIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF place, and properly-conducted elections -would be set aside. It is true that, as new elections must take place,, the electoral body would soon make its opinion felt ; still there is room for an abuse. It must, however, be ad- mitted, that up to the present no such abuse has taken place. The examination of the' powers of the councillors elected is made by the communal Council ; only it cannot sit in judgment on the questions raised with regard to this matter, the Permanent Deputation being the only judge of the regularity of the communal elections. Thus, an exception has been made here to the principle generally admitted, that every elective body has the right of determining whether its members are properly elected. It was feared that the Councils of rural districts would not be qualified to pronounce a judgment on matters often of a delicate nature. But this difliculty could have been got over by giving an appeal to a judicial authority. Such an appeal ought always to be allowed, as in the United States, because elective bodies can never be considered free from the influence of party spirit. The communal Council meets whenever matters com- prised within its function renders it necessary. The sheriff's college convokes the Council ; but the demand of a third of its members can oblige the college to con- voke the Council. This has been done to prevent the college taking the administration of affairs into its sole power. In France, the municipal Council can only as- semble four times, excepting when authorised to do so by the prefet. The independence of this body is, there- fore, far greater in Belgium. The communal Council can only come to a resolution upon any matter when the majority of its members who hold office are present, and these resolutions are deter- mined by the majority of the members present. The inhabitants of the commune are interested in knowing what passes within the Council they have elected ; but, on the other hand, some questions awaken popular passions, and require to be decided without being De Lavelete.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. £61 subject to sucli a pressure, and, therefore, with, closed ■doors. The law has, in this matter, taken steps which seem to us very wise. The publicity of the sitting is •obligatory,"when an important interest is at stake, that is to say, when there is a question about the budget, ■about expenses exceeding revenue, loans, the creation of ■establishments of public utility, the disposal of com- munal property, and the demolition of public edifices. Publicity is, on the contrary, forbidden when a question of a personal character arises; In other cases, it depends on the will of the Council, and closed doors are ac- corded when demanded by two-thirds of the members present. In no case can the resolutions come to by the Council ever be kept secret. This is a point of the highest im- portance. Therefore is it that every inhabitant of the commune, and the delegate of the governor, or of the Permanent Deputation, have the right to demand that the minutes of the proceedings of the communal Council be communicated to them. In France, the Grovernment has the right of dis- ■solving the communal Council, and of replacing it for three years by an administrative commission, composed as the Grovernment likes. In Belgium, this exorbitant power does not exist. The choice of the commune is respected, and its nominees preserve their functions. No inconvenience has arisen from this. The Prerogatives of the Communal Gouncil. — The 75th article of the communal law declares : "The Council Tegulates all communal interests, and deliberates on every other subject submitted to it by a superior authority." It follows that the Council cannot go into matters of general interest, unless authorised to •do so by the Government, or by the law. The proper prerogatives of the communal authority are: — l.To manage the property and the revenues of the commune. 2. To regulate and pay its expenses. 3. To put into execution the public works demanded by the public interest. 4. To administer the establishments belonging to the commune. 5. To give the inhabitants the benefit 262 PBOVINGIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF of a good police, especially as regards cleanliness and liealth, as well as security in tlie streets and in public places and buildings. These duties have always been recognised as essential attributes of the commune, but have been exercised with more or less of freedom in different countries and at different times ; besides which, the central power, in its relations with its citizens, often makes use of the in- strumentality of the communal administration, which then becomes the agent of the State. It thus inter- venes in the service of hospitals and of public charity (which form, however, corporations having an existence of their own), also in the matter of public worship and instruction which are regulated by law. To meet communal wants the Council has the power of voting local taxes, but under the reservation of the king's approval. When the question of some important act arises which might compromise the future of the commune, or the general interests of the nation, the law declares that- the decisions of the communal authorities are only valid when they have the consent of a superior power, either the central or the provincial authority. This system can be justified by very strong arguments. Eirst, as has been said by Mr. John Stuart Mill, it is not well for a man or a body of men to possess unlimited power. It is the principal reason which justifies the establishment of a second chamber : a certain power of control is al- ways necessary. No Council should, under the influence of a momentary impulse, have the power to alienate, for instance, the patrimony of the commune which ought to be reserved for future generations, or exhaust by taxes the resources of the inhabitants by local imposts, so as to prevent their bearing their fair share of the national burdens. The destruction of forests by some of the Swiss communes, and the detestable and scandalous mis- management of the finances of New York, are examples, of tlie abuses which come from the absolute independ- ence of a communal power at once unstable, transitory,, and often imprudent. De Lavelete.J BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 263 Hatred and vengeance, whenever and wlierever they are^ unrestrained, lead to the worst consequences ; the majority may then crush the minority by exceptional laws and taxation. There should, therefore, always be a barrier to prevent the violence and the excesses of the dominant party. The decisions of most importance must be approved by the king, such as the alienations or purchase of landed property, the imposing or taking off of taxes, loans, and general plans for laying out towns. Other decisions must have the approval of the pro- vincial deputation, such as the best manner of using to good purpose communal property, the buying of real estate, the annual account of receipts and expenditure, the alienation or the acceptance of donations and legacies, when they do not exceed 5,000 francs. The law of the 30th June, 1865, increased local autonomy, but it might have done so still more without seriously endangering the general and permanent inte- rests of the country. The college of sheriffs, nominated by the king, is the executive power of the communal Council ; it is charged with publishing and executing the resolutions of the latter, but it has besides numerous functions which are confided to it alone ; thus, it is charged with the ad- ministration of communal establishments and property, with the care of the archives, and of the civil registers of births and deaths, with legal suits in which the commune is involved, with the supervision of hospitals, theatres, and the servants or employes of the Commune — ^it can even suspend these latter from their office for six weeks. The burgomaster also possesses special powers. He is charged with the execution of the police laws and regu- lations ; he is, besides, an administrator of justice, but, as such, subjected to the authority of the court of appeal. He seeks out and verifies breaches of the law, offences, and crimes committed within the territory of the com- mune. The police has been confided to the burgomaster alone, because its action must be more prompt and secret than any that can emanate from a corporate body. 264 PBOriNCIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF The communal Council nominates and dismisses all servants {employes) of the commune, with the exception that its decisions, as regards the secretary and collector, have to be submitted to the Permanent Deputation. These two officers or functionaries must be possessed of such special qualifications, that it has been deemed best not to leave the choice of them to rural Councils which are not capable of making a good selection. The com- missioners of police are nominated by the king out of a list of two candidates, to whom the burgomaster may add a third. They are under the authority of the attorney-general {le procureur du rot), as regards juris- diction in matters of police, and under that of the burgomaster as to administrative jurisdiction. The duties they perform are of a general kind, the interven- tion of the central authority in their nomination may therefore be fairly justified. Communal Finances. — ^As a general rule, the com- mune votes freely its own expenditure, and the taxes ne- cessitated by it, nor can any authority impose financial burdens on the commune without its consent (see Art. X. of the Belgian Constitution). Certain laws, how- ever, have imposed upon the communes a given amount of obligatory expenditure in the interest of the inhabi- tants themselves, or with a view to organise some great public service, such as the expenditure that must be incurred : — 1 . For the salaries of the burgomaster, sherifis, and other officers [employes) designated by the law. 2. For the payment of debts. 3. For the pro- curing and keeping in order of the civil registers. 4. For the maintenance of communal buildings. 5. For sub- sidies to ecclesiastical fabrics. 6. For the police who look after the protection and healthiness of difierent localities. 7. For the civic guard. 8. For public in- struction. 9. For taking care of lunatics, of the blind, of the deaf and dumb, and of infirm paupers, when they are not otherwise provided for. 10. For the service of the streets, ordinary roads, bridges, aqueducts, within the limits determined by the law.* * In Appendix I. will be seen the budget of a small commune of Flanders. Db Lavelete.J BELGimi ^USfD HOLLAND. 265 When the communes refuse or neglect to carry out their obligatory expenditure, the Permanent Deputation has the right to place it on the communal budget, and it is paid through the communal collector. The communal income is derived : — 1 . From the pro- duce of communal property. 2. From the right to shoot over their lands. 3. From carriage-stands and weighing-stands. 4. From certain fines. 5. From the "centimes additionnels " or principle of property-tax and of personal contribution. 6. From a proportional part of certain taxes collected by the State — this propor- tional part is given to the communes in place of the octroi duties which used to be levied on certain objects as they entered the towns. 7. From difierent taxes estabHshed by the communes with the consent of the Crown. Since the suppression of the octrois, which gave a considerable revenue, the genius of taxation has created every variety of impost. For instance, taxes on build- ing and re-building, on brick ovens, on glasses, on balconies, on necessaries, on horses, dogs, buildings, steam-engines, barristers, carriages, assurances, the sale of cigars and liquors. On this matter see the excellent book of M. Hubert Leemans, " Des Impositions Com- munales en Belgique." The communal organisation which has been just sketched has been at work in Belgium for forty years without giving rise to difficulties or even- serious objec- tions. It is, however, to be regretted that the mania of uniformity so characteristic of French legislation has led to the application of the same system alike to great towns and to rural parishes. It is evident that the former are more capable of self-government, and should therefore have more independence. The principle of communal legislation in Belgium is, notwithstanding, just on the whole. Only complete Hberty should be given to the communes in the choice of Sheriffs and Burgomasters, instead of being put under the tutelage of the central authority j still, decisions which may be injurious to important general interests ought to be submitted for ratification to a superior authority, as no power should be absolute and beyond all control. 266 PBOriNCIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF The Netherlands. Communal Authorities. — The electors of tlie commune must pay taxes to the half of the amount which gives a qualification for voting for members of the legislature. The communal Council is composed of members in pro- portion to the population, and numbers from seven ta thirty-six. These members are elected for six years, but one-third quit office every two years. The disqualifi- cations are somewhat numerous — ^thus no minister of any church, and no soldier, can be on the Council. The Council assembles six times a year at least, and as often besides as the sheriff's college deems necessary, or when demanded by a certain number of councillors. They receive a slight remuneration for their attendance [preseniiegeld) . The publicity of their meetings is regulated as it is in Belgium. The election of those who are newly chosen is ratified by the Council, but there is a power of appeal to the Provincial Deputation {Gedeputeerde Staaten), and from that body to the king.- To the communal Council belongs the right of making regulations and of administration, but it must not in- fringe upon general laws and interests. The Provincial Deputation can ask the king to suspend or abrogate the decisions of the Council, but the central authority cannot put anyone in its place. The sherifis are nominated for six years by the Council, and are members of it ; there are two for com- munes of less than 20,000 inhabitants, and three or four for more populous towns. The sherifi^s remain in office for six years, but are changed, one half at a time, every three years. The burgomaster is nominated by the king, and need not be a member of the Council ; this often hap- pens. It has been thought necessary to have in every commune a representative of the central power for the sake of administrative unity. The Government must, however, take into account in some measure the wishes of Db Lavblete.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 267' the commune, as the Council can make the position of a burgomaster nearly unbearable, and such as he would not put up with; nor can the Council's resistance be overcome, for it cannot be dissolved, as in France, nor be replaced by any other body. The sheriffs meet under the presidency of the burgo- master, and form the college of sheriflPs, which is charged with the daily administration of the commune with powers similar to those it possesses in Belgium. There is an excellent rule which obliges the college to put out every year a detailed report, in the month of April, on the state of the commune — a report which has to be made public. The college is responsible for its manage- ment to the communal Council, to which it must always. give account. Attributes of Communal Authorities. — The Council of the commune manages communal interests. Its deci- sions touching property, judicial actions, as well as the budget of receipts and expenditure, must be laid before the provincial deputation. If this latter refuses its approval it must give its reasons, and the communal Council can appeal to the king, who decides within two months. The burgomaster is charged with the execution of all the decisions of the college of sheriffs, and of the communal Council; he represents the commune injudicial matters; he preserves order, and can, for this purpose, call in the aid of the military, which, as should be specially noticed, cannot act of their own accord ; he' takes care of the theatres, and other public places. The salary of the burgomaster is fixed in towns by the king, and in villages by the Permanent Deputation. Two or more communes may agree together to carry on works and form regulations, to create institutions, with the consent of the provincial deputation, or of the king in case the deputation refuses. A secretary is nominated by the Council in every commune, with the approbation of the king, from twa lists drawn up by the college. This secretary may be burgomaster, an accumulation of offices which cannot 263 FBOriN-GIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF be approved. The same person may be secretary to several adjacent communes, when their united population does not exceed ten thousand souls. The secretary keeps the minutes, prepares and draws out written statements, and aids the communal Council in all its acts. He thus holds the place of the old pensionary, excepting that this latter was a much more important personage, he was the leader and the coun- cillor of the commune and the province. The collector is also nominated by the Council from a double list drawn up by the college of sheriffs. He keeps the money {tient la caisse), draws up the receipts, and only pays by a regular order, mentioning under what head of the budget the payment is made. Belgium, the peovince. Provincial AiitJiorities. — Provincial institutions were organised in Belgium by the law of the 30th April, 1836. The provincial authorities are the Provincial Council, the Permanent Deputation of the Provincial Council, and the Governor. The Provincial Council is composed of members who are elected directly by the electors of the province. The number of councillors is in proportion to the population of the province, and varies from forty to eighty. The qualification for a provincial elector is the pay- ment of at least twenty francs a year, of direct taxation, to the State treasury. The electoral lists are drawn up each year, between the 1st of August and the 3rd of September, by the college of sheriffs. Objections must be addressed to the Permanent Deputation, which delivers judgment at a public sitting, in which the grounds for its decision are made known. The interested parties can take the matter before the couit of appeal, and even make an application for a reversal of judgment before the Supreme Court {Gour de Cassation). '' The provincial electors meet every two years on the De Latelete.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 269 fourth Monday of May at tlie principal town of the canton ; they can form a single assemhly if their mimhers do not exceed six hundred. The law has taken strong precautions for securing the secrecy and the liherty of the A'otes given. If difficulties arise with regard to the electoral pro- ceedings, those who preside over them decide the matter in the first instance, and the Provincial Council, which verifies the powers of its members, gives the final decision. The provincial councillors are elected for four years, but the Council is renewed one hah" at a time everj'^ two years. The Belgian legislator has very consistently introduced here the principle of the partial renewal of elective assemblies, which is excellent for maintaining a continuous and consistent method of administration. The Council assembles of right every year on the first Monday in July in the principal town of the province. The duration of the session is for fifteen days at least, and for four weeks at most. The time during which the Council may sit has been limited to prevent its degenera- ting into a permanent political body ; to this end the legislator has taken other precautions also. It has been laid down that no deputy or senator can be a provincial councillor; the provincial councillors are forbidden to issue any manifesto to the inhabitants without the assent of the Grovemor. This high functionary has, too, the power of closing at any time extraordinary sittings. These special sittings take place by the king's decree. The Council elects its president and its vice-president. The Governor has not the right of presiding, he is only present at the sittings, and can only give advice. Tliis has been done to free the Council from aU Government pressure. The sittings are public, unless the Council decides otherwise, either at the request of the president, or of five members, or of the Governor. The Council can hold no deliberations unless half of its members are present. It has the right of dividing and of amending every proposal. -270 PBOVINOIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF The councillors do not represent, as they did formerly, the canton which has elected them, but the entire province. They must not consult their constituency as -to how they should vote. Formerly the councillors were but delegates charged to carry out the ideas of their constituents, and consequently they could not depart from their instructions ; but now they must only keep in view the general interests of the province. Prerogatives of Provincial Authorities. — The preroga- tives of the Provincial Council have chiefly reference to provincial interests, but the Council regulates also certain communal interests, and indeed questions of general interest. Within its prerogatives of an exclusively provincial nature are comprised the following objects : — It settles each year the account of the receipts and expenditure of the past accounts, and votes the budget following.* It authorises loans, sales or acquisition of land, legal pro- ceedings. It decrees the construction of- roads, canals, and other public works, which have to be done in part or in whole at the expense of the province ; it adopts the plans and estimates for those works, unless it refers them to tbe Permanent Deputation. The Council also regu- lates the provincial police and administration, but never in opposition to the general laws and regulations (of the country). It can sentence to penalties which do not exceed eight days' imprisonment, and fines to the amount of 200 francs ; it is thus invested with a certain legislative power. With regard to the particular interests of the com- munes, the Provincial Council decides on the execution of works which interest a number of communes united for carrying them on, arranging what work and what expense falls to the share of each. It determines what proportion the communes have toi bear of the expenses for maintaining pauper lunatics. It further regulates the amount of direct taxation which has to be divided .amongst the communes. The Pro-vdncial Council is not, however, absolute * See in Appendix No. II. the abstract of a provincial budget. De Lavbleyb.J BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 271 TQaster in more import9,nt matters, and its decisions are subject to the approval of a higher authority, as are those of the Communal Council in similar cases. The delibera- tions of the commune with regard to the expenditure of the province, the means of meeting it, and the contracting of loans, are submitted to the approbation of the king. The decision of the Provincial Council in the following matters may also be subjected to the king's approval, if the governor delivers a declaration to that effect. The creation of institutions of public utility at the expense of the province. Purchases, alienations, and transactions which exceed 10,000 francs. The construction of roads, canals, and other public vrorks, the expenses of which exceed 50,000 francs. Provincial regulations touching home administration, and those concerning the police. In order to prevent the Governor from impeding the action of the Council, simply by refusing to do anything, he is obhged to notify his intention of recurring to the royal approval within ten days of the date of the resolu- "tion taken by the Council. The king can within thirty days annul such acts of -fche Provincial Council as are injurious to general interests, or such as exceed its- prerogatives. The royal decrees which annul or suspend must specify the reasons for so doing. The Council cannot on any pretext whatever refuse io submit. The acts of the Council are made public. Every one Tvho likes can see the reports and minutes of the sittings. The Permanent Deputation is a coUege or body elected ty the Provincial Council. It has its special prerogatives, Tvhich are very important. It is one of our best local institutions, and they had a similar body introduced into Prance under the name of " Commission of the Demrt- ment." The Permanent Deputationiscomposedof sixmembers selected by the Provincial Council from its own body ; at least one of them must be taken from each of the judicial 272 ' PROVINCIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF divisions {arrondissement jiidiciare) of the province, so tbiat every portion of it wliicli may have special interests should be equitably represented. The Governor is ol right a member of the Permanent Deputation ; he presides over it, and has a voice in its deliberations, but not a casting vote. Its members are elected for four years, and renewed, one half at a time, every two years ; they are paid, because their duties take up a great portion of their time every year. But this payment of 3,500 francs is rather an indemnity than a real salary. The prerogatives of the Permanent Deputation are numerous, they are of three kinds : — 1st. As the delegate emanating from the Provincial Council, the Deputation deliberates on all that concerns the daily administration of provincial interests. It examines the revenue and expenditure of the province. "When the Council is not sitting, the Deputation, when there is urgent necessity, can take in hand matters reserved for the Council. 2nd. As the agent of the central power, the Deputation is called on to give its advice in all affairs submitted to it by the Grovern- ment. It participates, in the execution of certain measures of public interest, like those concerning the police, the state of the public ways, and of public instruction. It exercises a control over the acts of com- munal Councils, whose more important resolutions must receive its approbation, as has been shown when speaking of communal institutions. 3rd. As a judicial power, it determines a great number of matters concerning political rights, or administrative questions referring to electoral registration, to elections, to recruiting for the army, to the militia laws, to those of the civic guard, to questions of residence, to the provision made for the poor in benevolent institutions, &c., &c. In all these cases the Deputation delivers real judgments, which the interested parties can appeal against, or take before the supreme court. The acts of the Deputation may be set aside by the king for the same causes as in the case of the Pro- vincial Councils ; but its decision in matters of law can only be reversed by the judicial authority. De Lavelete.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 273 Eacli Deputation makes a yearly.report to the Council of tlie condition and administration of the province. The Grovernor is the representative of the central power in every province. Nominated by the king, he is then the organ of the State in its relations with the provinces and communes ; but he can only exercise those powers which are conferred upon him by law. He prepares the affairs which are to be submitted to the Provincial Council and the Permanent Deputation. He promotes the abrogation, by the king, of acts con- trary to the public interest, or which are beyond the powers of these colleges or bodies ; he nominates and discharges the servants of the provincial government, and overlooks their work ; he disposes of the pubUc force for the maintenance of order in the province ; he sees to the proper execution of the deliberations, ordi- nances, and regulations of the Provincial Council and of the Permanent Deputation. Special laws concerning the militia, mendicity, ex- propriation, &c., and other powers, too numerous to be mentioned here, are confided to him. The Grovernor is far from having in Belgium the exorbitant powers of a French Prefet. His authority is limited on aU sides by the rights of the commune and of the province. In every arrondissement — which is but an adminis- trative sub-division of the province — a commissioner of the arrondissement {conimissaire d' arrondissement) , serves as a go-between, a kind of commissioner, between the communes and the Governor or the Permanent Deputa- tion. The commissioners overlook, give information, and advise the chief authority at whose instigation they carry on their work. They are nominated by the king, and their action does not extend to communes of more than 5,000 inhabitants. They hold the position of sub< prefects in France. Their intervention is by no means indispensable, and the question of abolishing them has been often raised. . There is in every province a provincial Eegistrar {ffreffier), nominated for six years by the king, from three lists of candidates, drawn up by the Permanent 274 PROVINCIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF Deputation. He receives a salary of 5,500 francs ; lie draws up the minutes of tlie deliberations of the Council and of the Deputation ; he keeps the seal and archives. He thus fulfils, in part, the functions of the ancient, provincial pensionary, but without having the same prestige and authority, and without rendering the same services. The ^Netherlands. Provincial Authorities. — The provinces were in this country also, as in Belgium, the ijonstitutive elements of the State. They formerly enjoyed absolute indepen- dence. They have preserved, to this very day, a certain autonomy in administrative affairs. The provincial insti- tutions of Holland resemble very much those of Belgium, on which they have been modelled. Provincial affairs are administered by an elective Assembly, the Estates-Provincial {Provinciale Staaten). The number of its members is fixed by law, which takes into account the relative number of the popula- tion, but without keeping to the exact proportion of the numbers of the inhabitants. Thus, South HoUand elects eighty councillors ; and Drenthe, which has the smallest population, thirty -four. The members of the Estates-Provincial are nominated for six years, one-haJf vacating their seats every three years. The elections are fixed by law to take place on the second Tuesday of May. The electors for the province are the same as those who have a right to vote for Members of the Chamber of Deputies. No qualification is required of a candidate, but he must not be a member of the upper House, nor have a place in the service of the province, nor be a minister of religion. The Estates-Provincial assemble, as a. matter of right, twice a year, on the first Tuesday in July, and the -first Tuesday in November. The duration of each session is determined by the Estates themselves, and is not limited, as in Belgium, to four weeks at most. Extraordinary sessions are convoked by the king. The De Lavelete.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 275 ■Council ratifies tlie powers of its members, and nomi- nates its ofiice-holders {bureau). The councillors vote freely, without being obliged to take into account the instructions of their constituents. Eesolutions are carried by a majority, but more than half of the mem- bers must be present, for the purpose of carrying on their deliberations. Prerogatives of the Provincial Authorities. — The Provincial Council exercises administrative power in all matters of provincial interest, it has even the right to pass regulations, provided they are not contrary to the laws. But important acts are submitted to the king's approbation ; the supreme authority however cannot amend nor confirm, in part alone, the decisions of the provincial authorities ; they must be accepted or rejected as a whole. The royal will must be made known within two months, unless a statement is made setting forth the reasons for postponement. Provincial regulations must not infringe upon communal nor upon public jurisdiction. The provincial authorities can inflict penalties to the amount of seventy-five francs and seven ■days of imprisonment. As Provincial Councils have only short sessions, and as the administration and interests of the province calls for permanent and daily work, -it was necessary to create a body which would undertake this duty. Prom this necessity sprung the College of Estates Deputies {Etats Deputes or Gedeputeerde Staten), which existed formerly in the days of the Eepublic of the United Provinces, under the name of " Committee of Coun- cillors" {Gecommitteerde Baden). This college or body is now composed of six members, elected for six years, but renewed, one-half at a time, every three years. It assembles regularly at the chief town of the pro vince under the presidency of the king's commissioner. Its members have a salary, paid out of the State -exchequer in a very ingenious manner, so as to stimulate their diligence. The half of the salary is paid regularly, the other half forms a common fand, which is divided in proportion to the number of sittings attended by each 276 FEOVINGIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OF member. To pay office-holders in proportion to the work they do is obviously the application of the great principle of that responsibility which is, in fact, salary according to piece-work. The Estates Deputies administer the property and the revenues of the province, and represent it in law- suits ; they nominate all who are employed and paid by the province ; take cognisance of and prepare all the affairs with which the Provincial Council has to do ; and draw up an annual report of the condition of the province. The king can suspend or annul the decisions of the Estates-Provincial or of the Estates Deputies, when they are opposed to the public interest or to the general laws. The Commissioner of the king possesses, in this, the same powers as the Grovemor in Belgium. He counter- signs all the acts emanating from the Estates Deputies ; he sees to the executing of their decisions ; he over- looks the provincial functionaries ; he maintains public order; and is, in a word, the organ of the central authority in the provinces. The province constructs the provincial roads, and keeps them in repair; has the right of regulating fishing, shooting, the condition of factories, the sanitary state of cattle, the cutting of peat, making of bricks, the condition of cemeteries, &c. The budget of receipts and expenditure is submitted to the royal approbation, which is necessary for the im- position of any new tax. Amongst the expenses of the pro^dnce are the salaries of all provincial servants ; the construction and keeping in repair of roads, and other public works ; the interest of loans ; the proper repair of the buildings and other property belonging to the province ; the care of poor lunatics ; and the expenses of administration. DeLaveleye.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 27J We may again repeat, by way of conclusion, that the provincial and communal organisation of Belgium and Holland is the result of a compromise between Germanic and Latin traditions. Among the Grermans of the middle ages the pro- Tinces and communes enjoyed very nearly complete autonomy, the authority of the central government was reduced almost to nothing. In the Eoman empire, and within the French rule, which had inherited its admi- nistrative traditions, provincial authorities had little or no power left to them. Their prerogatives were insig- nificant, and the little they did was ordered by the all-pervading direction of the superior authority. The first of these systems is that of local autonomy or self- government, which is to be found at work principally in Switzerland, in Norway, and in America. The second is that of centralised administration, which, despite recent reforms, reigns in France at the present time. In Belgium and HoUand the communes and pro- "vinces govern themselves freely, but under the control of the supreme authority, whose consent is required for all important acts which trench upon the future, or which touch great existing interests ; the repre- sentatives, however, of the communes and the provinces are not subjected to the tutelage of the superior authority, but only their acts in certain cases provided for by the laws. Certainly, it may be said that this control is still extended to too many matters ; but the principle itself of a controlling power is indispensable. An Assembly should not be absolute master, even when ■charged only with local interests. It is well that it should have to reckon with a power moving in a different sphere and swayed by higher motives. 278 FBOVmCIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS OP APPENDIX I. Budget of the Commune of Becelaeee foe the teak 1873, Population, 2,816. Area, 1,403 hectares.* EECEIPTS. EXTEAOEDINAET EeCBIPTS. § A. Beeeipis from preceding Accounts. Francs. Cts. 1. Surplus from the budget of last year (1874)t .... 873 02: § B. Other Extraordinary Receipts. 1. Subsidies from the State and the province for constructing roads, school-buildings, and restoration of the church . . 1,000 GO 2. Tor carrying out sanitary measures — — 3. Product of sales of property duly authorised .... — — 4. On account of burial-ground given in the cemeteries . . — — 5. The remains of the subsidies allowed in 1873 (year before last) for primary instruction, adult schools, and the music school 30 CO 6. Loans for the construction of roads, school-buildings, or for establishing an equilibrium between income and expenditure. 4,000 00 Total 5,903 02. Oedinaet Eeceipts. § A, Centimes added to the Direct Taxes raised hy the State, caUed " Additional Centimes." J 1. Seven additional centimes on the ordinary direct contributions 750 00 2. Additional extraordinary centimes on direct taxes, for paying off loans, &o., &e.§ 4,560 00 3. Share of the commune in the communal indemnity in com- mutation for the octroi duties, see Law, 18th July, 1860 . 5,137 83- § B. Com/munal Taxes, S(c. 4. Personal tax 5,550 CO- 5. Communal tax on dogs 220 CO- § C. Public Instruction and Fine Arts. 6. State and provincial subsidies for primary schools . . . 3,745 00~ 7. Ditto ditto for adult schools (evening and Sunday). . . 377 00 8. Ditto ditto for music school 100 00 § D. Revenue of different kinds. 9. Interest on capital due from the State or individuals . . 742 32 Total 21,182 15 Extraordinary Revenue 5,903 02 Grand Total of Eeceipts .... 27,085 17 • One hectare is equal to two acres one rood. t The accounts of 1873 showed a deficit which is included in the last article of the expenditure. ± All communes levy seven centimes of ordinary taxation hy the law of 18th July, 1821. § The levy of the extraordinary centime (tax) is authoriaed hy royal decree when the^ m'dvnary resources of the commune do not meet ordinary wants, or for construction of roads and schools. De Lavelete.] BELGimi AND HOLLAND. 279 EXPENDITUEE. Expenses op Commttnai. Administration. § A. Matters of Internal Administration, Franca. Cta. 1. Salary of the burgomaster and sheriffs. Counters recording the attendance of the communal councillors at meetings. Salary of the secretary. Office expenses. Salary of the ofBcer charged with the care of the civil registers. Salary of the collector. Salary of the publisher of laws and decrees. Con- tributions. Salary of the provincial architect. Salary of the ringer of the curfew-bell (la cloche de retraiie). Eeut of the communal house. Purchase of civil state registers. Subscription for collection of laws, administra,tive records of the province, and purchase of administrative papers. Premiums of insurance against fixe 2,250 03 § B. Public Health and Security. 2. Salary of police who guard the fields and coimtry properties (les gardes champStres). The dress and equipment of the same. Expenses of patrols. Lighting. Proportion of the costs of the council of experts {prud'hommes). Supplementary salary of the commander of the gendarmerie. Expenses of police registers. Vaccination fees for children of the poor. Printing expenses for militia and civic guard. Expenses on account of militia-men. Maintenance of roads, bridges, aqueducts, and water-courses 2,419 00 Subsidies to diefebent Establishments. § A. Maintenance of the Poor. 3. Subsidy to the Board of charity. Expenses of maintenance and instruction of the blind, the deaf and dumb, and other poor, placed afterwards in establishments not within the commune. Subsidy towards the endowment fund for the benefit of workmen who have merited decoration . . . 8,052 50 § B. Public Worship. 4. Supplementary pay to the minister (cur4) and for the vicarage 300 00 § C. Fvilic Instruction. 5. Expenses relative to primary instruction. Distribution of prizes. Subsidies to adult schools and schools of music , 5,295 00 Miscellaneous Expenses. 6. Unexpected outlay and public fetes. Proportion of the com- mune's contribution to the reserve fund for secretaries and communal servants. Also for the pensions of the rural police {gardes champ&res). Subsidies to musical and choral societies. Irrecoverable portions of subscription lists and dog-taxes. Past arrears. Deficiencies of the direct taxes. Eemissions. Indemnity for estimates of valuation con- nected with the register of lands 859 21 CoMMtTNAL Debt and' Extkaoedinakt Expenses. § A. Gormmmal Debt. 7. Pensions. Life pensions. Interests on capital payable by the commune. Payment of the capital of the debt . . 1,135 00 Carried forward 20,310 76 280 PBOriNOIAL AND COMMUNAL INBTIT0TI0N8 OS' Brought forward Francs. Cta. 20,310 76 § B. Hxiraiyrdinary Expenses. , Public works, plans, estimates, &o. Special subsidy for restoration of the church. Construction of paved or mac- adamised (empierries) ways or roads. For footpaths. Pur- chase of ground to enlarge the public way. Special subsidy to the musical society for the purchase of instruments,' for buying uniform or keeping it in repair. Expenses of taking the census. Deficit in the accounts of the year before last (1873) 6,652 57 Total Expenditure ...... 26,963 33 Kecapittilation. Receipts Expenditure . Surplus Francs, Cts. 27,085 17 26,963 33 121 84 Budgets of the Belgian CoMicTraES foe the teae 1870. COUMUXTES IK THE Beceifis. ExPENDmrKE. PBOVmOK OP Extraordinaiy.* Ordinary. Extraordlnarj.t Francs. Francs. Francs. Francs. Antwerp .... 6,485,922 5,739,764 5,171,411 2,863,439 Brabant . . 12,583,676 15,860,988 8,431,562 19,097,251 W. Flanders 5,093,258 4,979,602 4,552,685 3,181.725 E. Flanders 6,034,290 8,451,921 5,192,639 5,093,503 Hainaut . . 7,323,100 7,491,161 6,054,113 4,892,594 Lidge . . . 6,828,056 8,627,085 7,154,543 4,162,388 Limburg . . 1,256,067 1,424,569 1,180,316 787,035 Luxembourg 2,641,466 5,437,555 2,252,589 2,019,500 Namur .... 3,571,669 3,644,199 3,388,474 2,451,782 The whole king-" dom ..... 51,817,504 61,656,844 43,378,332 44,549,217 Totals . • 113,474,348 87,927,549 The total communal expenditure is then about 17i francs per head, the half of which is for ordinary expenses. • By eitraordinary receipts, are meant those from sale of lands, loans, and subsidies granted ly the State. t The purposes to which extraordinary expenditure is applied are, public works, the erection of schools, and the purchase of lands and buildings. De Laveleyb.] BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. 281 APPENDIX II. Budget of the Province of West Flandees in 1874. EbcEIPTS. Francs. Surplus from the year preceding the past one . . 60,401 Tax of 30i "centimes additionnels " on the direct taxes, property tax, &o. • 515,690 Provincial taxes : — a. Dog tax 75,000 6. Horse tax 11,700 c. Shooting licenses .... 9,000 d. Sale of tobacco and liquor . . . 185,300 281,000 Miscellaneous receipts, including loan of 3,275,000 francs for different public works 3,422,286 Total 4,279,377 Expenditubb. Obligatory Eaypenditure. 1. Administration 49,938 2. Justice and police 141,109 3. Bridges, highways, cross-roads 159,770 4. Interest and liquidation of debt 143,428 5. Public worship 28,100 6. Administration of charities 20,200 7. Public instruction 81,712 8. Miscellaneous expenses (Chambers of Commerce), &c., &c. 26,950 Total of Obligatory Expenditure . . 651,207 Optional ExpendUv/re. 9. Expenses of administration 22,653 10. Public works 103,121 11. Sanitary purposes 7,500 12. Churches and monuments 57,550 13. Charitable establishments 24,000 14. Public instruction and fine arts ..... 122,344 15. Miscellanous expenses 3,291,000 Total of Optional Expenditure . . 3,628,168 Total of Obligatory Expenditure . . 651,207 Grand Total 4,279,375 282 BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. Budgets of the Belgian Peovinces in 1871. Pbotiitces. Antwerp . . Brabant . . W. Flanders . E. Flanders . Eainaut . . Liege . ■ . Limburg . . Luxembourg. Namur . . The whole Xingdom Bevenue. Franca. 925,176 2,879,829 985,366 748,341 1,313,394 3,022,393 269,050 456,210 564,630 11,164,389 Expenditure. Francs. 837,214 3,153,250 899,003 695,218 1,097,773 1,952,643 287,585 419,570 522,099 9,864,355 The average of provincial taxation for the whole country was 1 frane 24 centimes per head in 1871. In Eastern Flanders, the province the least taxed, the average was only 84 centimes per head. In'Luxemboxirg, the most heavily taxed province, it was 1 franc 84 centimes per head. LOCAL GOVEENMENT IN FEANCE.* By M. le Comte de Fbanqueville. The old system of Local Grovernment in France was entirely altered at tlie end of the last century. The former division of the territory into provinces has been suppressed, that of the communes only being preserved. The new system established during the French Ee- volution has been re-modeUed on many occasions. Various laws have been passed on this subject under each of the governments which, in France, have succeeded one another since the beginning of the century. It may be confidently asserted that, although the general principles of legislation are in some degree settled, the details may yet receive many important alterations, according to the political institutions which will be finally adopted when the Provisional Eepublic, now existing, shall be replaced by some regular form of government. It would be im- possible to describe in a few pages all the regulations now in force ; it is therefore only proposed to give a. general outline of the system, which will be found sufii- cient for the purpose of comparing the institutions of France -with those of other countries. I. — The Depaktment. The French territory is divided, for the purpose of Local Grovernment, into departments, arrondissements, cantons, and communes. The number of the departments is 86; each of them including from two to six arrondissements, from seven- * This Essay was written in English by its author. — Ediior's Note. ■284 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. teen to sixty-two cantons, and from seventy-two to 904 communes. The number of inhabitants, according to the census of 1871, varies from 118,898 to 2,220,060. As regards the extent, the largest department includes as much as 1,082,552 hectares ; the smallest, 47,500. Lastly, the sum yearly paid as land tax {impot fonder) is between 187,662 francs and 13,921,022 francs. There are 362 arrondissements, 2,865 cantons, and 35,989 communes; on an average, the population of every arrondissement is 100,000, of every canton 12,600, and of every commune 1,000, in round numbers. The circonscription of the departments, arrondisse- ments, and cantons has been established by law, and can only be altered by legislation ; but a decree is suf- ficient to authorise the modification of the communal "boundaries. The Local Grovernment of every department is con- ducted by a Prefet and a Gonseil General ; the former being intrusted with the executive power, th© latter with the deliberative power. The Prefets are appointed by the Sovereign, who is guided in his choice by the Secretary of State for the Home Department. There is no restriction whatever as regards this choice, neither on account of age nor of special knowledge ; and the Prefets may be dismissed at any time. They receive, out of the funds of the national exchequer, a salary of £1,400 a year for the first class, £1,000 a year for the second class, and £720 for the third class, besides a sum of money for the various ex- penses of the Bureaux de la Prefecture. The Prdfet is assisted by a deputy, called Secretaire General de la Prefecture, who ranks as Sous-prefet, and is appointed in the same manner as the Prefet himself, and holds ofi&ce according to pleasure. The authority of the Prefet is twofold : he is the representative of the central government, and the chief of the local administration in the department. In the first capacity he is directly under the orders of all the ministers, and more especially of the Ministre de I'Interieur or Home Minister. He is in aU matters, BjB Peanqueville.] FRANCE. 285. whether civil or judicial, the representative of the State, and is consequently charged with the direction of the police, and must assure the execution of the laws and decrets. In the second capacity he is the representa- tive of the department, and also guardian of the com- munes. It would be very diflB.cult indeed to enumerate aU the official duties of the Prefets : they are very numerous, and of many different kinds, as will be seen by the details which will be given. There is also in every department a special and per- manent body, styled Conseil de Prefecture, including seven members in the Department of the Seine, and three or four members in the other departments. These members are styled Conseillers de Prefecture. They are appointed by the Sovereign, at the suggestion of the Secretary of State for the Home Department, and may be dismissed at pleasure. They must be twenty-five years of age, and be called to the bar, or must have held during ten years some administrative or judicial functions. They receive an annual salary which is the tenth part of the salary of the Prefet. The conseil de prefecture is presided over by the Prefet, or, in his absence, by a Councillor appointed by the Sovereign as deputy-chairman for the ensuing year. The duties of representative of the Grovernment, or minis- tere public, are performed by the secretaire general de la prefecture. It must be remembered that the Courts of Law have no jurisdiction whatever in administrative matters. The proper tribunals for questions of that kind are, the conseil de prefecture, in the first instance, and the Council of State, in appeal. It follows that the conseil de prefecture has a twofold character, being, both the council of the prefet and also a special and indepen- dent court of .justice. Its attributes may be summed up as follows : — It has to assist the Prefet with its advice; and in certain cases the law declares that the Prefet cannot act without the advice of the conseil de prefecture. It possesses also a power of administrative tutelage, and no commune may sue or be sued without ■286 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. "the previous- consent of this same coTincil. The conseil According to tlie estimates included in the last; annual law of finances, passed the 5tli of August, 1874, the total of the ordinary and extraordinary receipts for the year 1875 will be 202,274,000 francs. Of this sum the centimes will produce about 130,000,000 francs, the surplus being raised by loans and other extraordinary, or eventual receipts. rr. — ^The Arrondissement. The Arrondissement is only a territorial circonscrip- tion, and does not constitute a corporate body ; the con- sequence is that its government is much more simple than that of the department. In every arrondissement, excepting that in which the principal town of the department is situated, the central government is represented by a sous-prefet- who is under the immediate control of the Prefet. Thesous-prefets are appointed by the Sovereign, as pro- posed by the Secretary of State for the Home Department,, and they hold their ofiice at the Sovereign's pleasure. There is no special qualification necessary as regards age or special knowledge. They receive, out of the public exchequer, a salary of 8,000 francs a year. for the first class, 6,000 francs for those of the second class, and 4,500 francs for those of the third class. The sous-prefet acts principally as intermediate agent between the mayor and Prefet, and has not the power to decide of himself any question of importance. It has been proposed several times to suppress this functionary as being of no great utility. Besides the sous-prefet,. who represents the executive power, there is in every arrondissement a special council, styled the conseil d'arrondissement. The number of members is equal to- the number of cantons, each canton electing one coun- cillor ; but there must not be less than nine such coun- cillors ; if, however, the cantons in the arrondissement; be fewer than nine, then the cantons which contain the •most inhabitants choose the members wanting to com- plete the number required. The rules relating to the elections, the qualifications^ 300 ; LOCAL GOVEBNMBNT. of electors, and tlie members to be elected are substan- tially the same for tbe conseils d'arrondissement as for the conseils generaux. They remain in office during six years, half of the council being elected every three years, in rotation. There is every year an ordinary session, which is divided into two parts ; the first precedes and the second follows the session of the conseil general. The conseil d'arrondissement may be summoned at any time for an extraordinary meeting, by a notice from the Prefet, which must be authorised by a decree of the Sovereign. The chairman, deputy-chairman, and secretary, are elected by the council itself for every session, whether ordinary or extraordinary. The sous-prefet has the right to be present at every meeting of the council, and must be heard whenever he demands an audience. The rules relative to the dissolution of the conseUs generaux are the same as for the conseils d'arrondissement. The attributes of the conseil d'arrondissement are not very numerous. In the first part of its ordinary session, before the meeting of the Conseil Gren&al, the conseil d'arrondisse- ment has to examine the claims for reducing the share to be contributed by the arrondissement to the direct taxation, and also the claims of the communes for the same purpose. The deliberations are sent to the Conseil General, which has the power to decide them. In the second part of the ordinary session, after the meeting of the Conseil General, the conseil d'arrondisse- ment divides amongst the communes the assessment of the arrondissement, in the direct taxation, in the same manner as the division amongst the arrondissements is made by the conseil general, and according to the same rules. It is bound to conform to the decisions of the •conseil general respecting the claims of the communes. The conseil d'arrondissement has no other direct power, but it must advise on certain occasions, such as -the alteration of the administrative boundaries ; it may also express any wishes upon matters concerning the arrondissement. De Pkanqueville.] FRANCE. 301 III. — The Canton,. The Canton is a territorial circonscription, wHcli is governed by no special administrative authority or body. There is a justice of the peace in every canton, but it must be remembered that in France these magistrates have only a judicial capacity for the smaller civil afiairs, and do not possess any authority whatever in admini- strative or criminal affairs. It has been already stated that each canton elects one member for the Conseil Greneral. The question of forming a Conseil Cantonal has often been raised, with the object of giving to the canton the management of some special affairs, but nothing has been done as yet, and it is probable that nothing will be done for some time. rV. — The Commune. The last and smallest, but most ancient and im- portant, perhaps, of the administrative divisions, is the Gommune. The Commune is essentially a corporate body, with the power to contract, purchase, sell, sue, and be sued. The management of its affairs belongs to the mayor and common council {conseil municipal). The system of appointing the Mayors has been very frequently altered, and is not as yet definitely settled. According to the law actually in force they are ap- pointed by the Sovereign in every chef -lieu — that is, chief town — of the departments, arrondissements, and cantons ; and by the Prefet in every other commune. They are not necessarily chosen from amongst the members of the common council. Besides the Mayor there is, in every commune, one or more adjoints (deputy mayors), who are appointed in the same manner as the Mayor. >There is no special qualification necessary for these oflfices, but a certain number of officials are excluded by ■302, . LOCAL GOVERNMENT. law — ^viz., the Prefets, sous-prefets, secretaires generaux, and conseillers de prefecture, priests or clergyraen of the various persuasions, judges, officers and soldiers, engineers of ponts ef chaussees (bridges and roads), •officials of the financial administration, all those em- ployed by the commune, commissioners of police, and policemen. The duties of the Mayor and of the adjoint are •entirely gratuitous. The Prefet has the right of suspending the Mayors a,nd adjoints in the exercise of their functions for two months ; and this delay may be extended by the Secre- tary of State for the Home Department. The Sovereign may dismiss them whenever he deems it necessary. The duties of the Mayor are very numerous. He is charged with the registration of births, marriages, and deaths. He is the representative of the Grovernment in the commune, and also the representative of the com- mune itself. In the first capacity he is charged, subject to the •control of the superior administration, with the publica- tion and execution of the laws and regulations, with special duties respecting the elections, the recruiting of "the army, the taxes, and the public safety. In the second capacity the Mayor is the chairman of the common councU, the representative of the com- mune in the courts of law; he is entrusted with the preparation of the financial estimates, the general super- intendence of the properties of the commune, and has the right to appoint the greater number of the officials paid out of the funds of the commune ; lastly, he has ihe power to make bye-laws for the purpose of regulating ihe safety of the streets, the punishment of offences against the public peace, the order in public places, the sale of provisions, the pubHc health, and public theatres. The Common Council [conseil municipal) is an elective Tjody ; it has to decide questions affecting the man- agement of the commune, and to assist and control the Mayor. De Feanqueville.] FBANOE. 303 The number of its members varies according to the number of the inhabitants of the commune. In the small communes where the number of the inhabitants •does not exceed 500, there are ten members ; if more "than 500, and not exceeding 1,500, there are twelve members; if more than 1,500, and not exceeding 3,500, sixteen members ; if more than 2,500, and not exceeding 3,500, twenty-one members ; if more than 3,600, and not exceeding 10,000, twenty-three members ; if raore -than 10,000, and not exceeding 30,000, twenty-seven members ; if more than 80,000, and not exceeding 40,000, thirty members ; if more than 40,000, and not •exceeding 50,000, thirty-two members; if more than 60,000, and not exceeding 60,000, thirty-four members ; and in communes containing more than 60,000 in- habitants the number of common councilmen is thirty- six. The election is made by the electors who are inscribed ■on the special electoral lists. These lists are compiled by a special commission including the Mayor, one delegate from the Government, and one from the common council. Its decisions may be appealed against during twenty days, the final decision belonging in every case to the justice of the peace. The list must include every French citizen over iwenty years of age, not having been deprived of his ■civil rights, bom in the commune, or taken as recruit in the same division, or who, having left the commune, has returned and resided there during six months, or who during the preceding year has been married in the com- mune, or has been inscribed in the register of the direct •contributions, and finally, every citizen who, not being in the aforesaid conditions, has inhabited the commune for two years. Every one may inspect and take a copy of the elec- toral Ksts. A revision takes place every year, and the fresh inscriptions or striking off may be made during twenty days. The Municipal Council is elected for three years. It holds every year four ordinary sessions, which take 304 LOCAL GOVERNMUNT. place at the beginning of February, May, August, and November, and may last ten days. Besides tbis, the council may be called together for an extraordinary meeting when necessary. The members are summoned by the Mayor ; but the extraordinary meetings must be authorised by the Prefet. Every question may be examined in the ordinary sessions, but, in the extraordinary meetings, the council may only decide the questions specially fixed. The Mayor, or, in his absence, the adjoint, presides at every meeting, and has a casting vote in cases of division. The common council may be suspended by the Prefet for two months, or by the Secretary of State for the Home Department for one year. After that time the council resumes its duties, unless dissolved by a decree of the Sovereign. When the council is suspended the Prefet appoints a special commission, of which he chooses the merabers, and which acts as the council itself. The Municipal Council has the following powers : — First, the management of the properties of the comnaune ; second, the lease of the same properties for a term not exceeding sixteen years ; third, the division of common property, such as lands, woods, &c. ; fourth, the purchase of real estate, when the value does not exceed, for the same year, one-tenth of the income of the commune ; fifth, the repairs and maintenance of the common build- ings, when the sum to be expended does not exceed a fifth of the ordinary income, or the sum of £2,000 ; sixth, the tolls taken for the fairs and markets, also for the burial-grounds ; seventh, the insurance of the com- mon buildings ; eighth, the acceptation of grants and legacies made to the commune, when there is no special charge or claim. The budget of the commune is presented by the Mayor, and voted by the common council. It includes, as receipts, the income of the properties of the commune the sums raised as ordinary centimes, and authorised to be levied by the annual law of finances, the part allotted 1)E Peanqxjeyille.] FRANCE. 305 to tlie commune in tlie tax of thepatenfes (licenses), the receipts of the octroi, the tolls of fairs and markets, the sale of land in the burial-grounds, and some other receipts of minor importance. Under the head of " extraordinary receipts " are included the extraordinary ■contributions specially authorised, the sale of communal properties, grants, legacies, loans, and every other acci- dental receipt. The expenses are divided into two categories, the ■one being obligatory, the other permissive. The law includes, in the first class, the expenses which relate to the maintenance of the mansion-house, the subscription to the bulletin of the laws, the expenses of the census, the register of births, marriages, and ■deaths, the salary of the municipal collector, that of the «hief clerk of the octroi, the expenses of collecting the rates, the salary of the rural policemen, that of the com- missioners of the poHce, the lease and the maintenance of the rooms for the justice of the peace, the expenses relating to elementary education, the indemnity for lodging the priests where there is no presbytery, the assistance rendered to the fabric of the church where the income is insufficient, the expenses attending the maintenance of the foundling children, the maintenance of the build- ings belonging to the commune, the inclosure and maintenance of the burial-grounds, the taxes upon the goods of the commune, the repayment of debts, the management of the communal highways, election ex- penses for members of the National Assembly, general councils, councils of arrondissement, common councils, and some other small items. Every outlay not included within the aforesaid de- scription is facultative ; and when the ordinary receipts exceed the sum necessary for the obligatory expenses the exceeding sum may be employed for some other object, according to the decisions of the common council: but when these receipts are insufficient, not only the common council has no right to vote any sum whatever for a facultative expense, but it is bound by law to vote the necessary fands. Should it fail to do V SOS LOCAL GOVERNMENT. SO the sum absolutely necessary is demanded of the commune by the Sovereign, when the population exceeds 100,000 inhabitants, and in every other case by the Prefet in the councU of prefecture. The total amount of the receipts and expenditure of the commune is not ascertained every year. Four times only has the Home Department published a complete account of them— sviz., for the years 1836, 1862, 1868, and 1871 ; and it may be interesting to know the figures of each of these years. 1836. 1862. 1868. 1871. Eeceipts: — Prancs. Francs. Francs. Francs. Ordinary . . 100,848,990 291,899,431 309,488,605 313,169,350 Extraordinary. 24,461,073 149,517,559 130,078,005 226,416,910 EXPBNDITUBE : — Ordinary. . 83,830,926 256,954,948 276,343,915 276,187,190 Extraordinary. 33,962,204 193,283,419 167,518,655 244,314,970 According to the statistical information for the year 1871, which does not include the communes of the -D^partement de la Seine, the various items of receipts and expenditure have been as follows : — Okdinakt. EecBIPTS:— Fnmcs. Centimes communaux . . 43,638,655 ToUs and duties (fairs, markets, and burial-grounds) . . 26,315,460 Income from common properties 14,127,165 Income from common woods Income from the public and other funds and stocks . Octroi ..... Eeceipts for eleipieutaa'y educa- tion Eeceipts for the highways . Tax on dogs .... Special receipts for public wor- ship Special receipts for buildings, water supply, and lighting Special centimes for repayment of loans Special receipts in consequence of the war .... Miscellaneous .... Total EXTBAORDINAET Francs, 19,633,985 10,633,435 5,107,160 78,213,835 8,173,500 36,855,090 70,367,925 4,726,855 6,798,715 16,496,250 10,454,435 18,691,415 21,377,110 14,183,220 123,810,855 9,981,195 313,169,350 226,416,910 Feanqtjeville.] FBANCE Ordinary. EXTBAOaDIHART EXPENDITDBE : — Francs. Francs. Management expenses 17,589,070 Taxes, insurance, maintenance of buUdings 23,782,130 Taxes and management of the woods 8,213,275 Collection of the octroi 11,103,960 Ditto of otiier taxes 12,467,675 Expenses of the police 15,234,830 National Guard and firemen 4,257,975 Public worship .... 6,827,265 10,166,775 Elementary education 65,556,483 8,586,340 Highways and streets 79,853,625 17,442,700 Relief of the poor 17,739,440 Purchase of public funds and other stocks . , . . 2,522,713 Repayment of loans . 60,369,255 War expenses .... 119,124,0S5 Miscellaneous .... 13,541,460 26,103,100 Total 276,187,190 244,314,970 307 Deducting from these niimbers tlie sums wliicli have been received or expended in consequence of the war, it will be seen that the real income has been 415,775,305 francs, and the expenditure 401,378,075 francs, for the year 1871.* A sum of 101,234,705 francs has been raised by means of the centimes additionnels on the direct contributions ; and, as the principal of these contribu- tions is 265,034,000 francs, it appears that the com- munes received as much as 40 per cent, besides the sums raised by the national exchequer. Paris has a particular system of government. As has been said, the Prefet de la Seine acts as central mayor, and the superintendence of the police is intrusted to a special official, the Prefet de Police. The city is also divided into twenty arrondisse- ments, each of which includes four districts {quartiers). There is a mayor and three adjoints for each arrondisse- ment, who are appointed by the Sovereign ; and these officials must not be chosen from amongst the members of the common council. Each of the eighty districts elects one member of the common council. l5ie council * It must not be forgotten that these numbers do not include the De- partement de la Seine. The budget of the ville de Paris is about 200,000,000 francs a year. 308 LOCAL GOVEBNMENT. itself elects its chairman, deputy-chairman, and secre- taries. The Prefet de la Seine and the Prefet de police have the right to be present at every meeting, and to be heard whenever they desire an audience. In all other respects the rules which regulate the common councils of the other communes are in force also in Paris. The town of Lyons has also a central mayor, who is the Prefet du Ehone. It is divided into six arrondisse- ments, each of which has a special mayor and two adjoints, appointed by the Sovereign. The Prefet is charged with the superintendence of the police. With this difference, there is no further distinction between Lyons and the other towns of France. Before concluding it must be remarked that the local taxation is now, in round numbers, a sum exceeding 800 milhons of jfrancs for the whole country, includ- ing the Departement de la Seine. The proportion between the various sources of income may be nearly estimated at 500 millions from direct taxation, 200 millions from indirect taxation, and 100 millions from tolls, duties, and miscellaneous revenues. Such is, briefly stated, the system of Local Grovern- ment in France at the present time. It is unnecessary to insist upon its advantages or its defects : the reader will be able to judge for himself LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION IN EUSSIA. By Ashton "Wentworth Dilke. Among the reforms for wHcli Eussia is indebted to tlie present emperor, by no means the least important is the entire change which was eifected in Local Grovernment in 1864. Following, as this nkaz did, immediately after such reforms as the emancipation of the serfs, and the complete reorganisation of the administration of justice, it created less attention abroad than it deserved to do, or would have done, had it been promulgated at a less busy time. The PoUsh insurrection, too, was giving rise to a certain amount of unfavourable criticism on Russia, which caused European writers to be very doubtful as to the genuineness of reforms to be carried out in an empire commonly supposed to be in a restless and unquiet state, eminently opposed to the granting of a first and conside- rable step towards representative government. I must premise my remarks on Local Government by saying that an empire such as Eussia, so large in extent of territory, and inhabited by peoples of so many different races and creeds, and with such varying circum- stances even among the truly Eussian population, cannot be considered as a homogeneous mass because it happens that its divisions are contiguous to one another, instead of being, as in the British Empire, scattered over difle- rent quarters of the globe. Though the inhabitant of Samarcand can travel to Warsaw, and a Caucasian mountaineer can be carried by steam to Helsingfors, without leaving Eussian soil, still this unity of soil in no way contributes to the unity of peoples, or of their 310 LOCAL GOrHENMENT AND TAXATION. local institutions, and the German of the Baltic pro- vinces is as far removed from the Siberian peasant 4& this respect as an Indian hUl-tribesman from a Canadian Frenchman, or a Fiji Islander from an inhabitant of Guernsey. Different systems of Local Government exist in Poland, Finland, the Baltic Provinces, as weU as in the Caucasus and in Central Asia, though, as a general rule, it may be laid down that the less civilised a nation under Russian rule the more chance has it of obtaining local freedom ; while even in the heart of Eussia the presence of exceptional bodies, such as the Cossacks, and various Finnish and Mongol tribes, breaks the uniformity of the system. To treat, of all these varying forms — interesting as many of them are, each requiring the knowledge of a specialist — within the limits of an essay would be hopeless ; we must then confine our attention to the system which prevails among the majority of the Great, Little, and White Russian races. This system, at least as far as the towns are concerned, is gradually being introduced into Siberia ; it therefore concerns at the present moment, speaking roughly, about three-fifths of the total population of the empire. The exceptions are : (1) Bessarabia, inhabited chiefly by Moldavians, and enjoying certain privileges ; (2) the Don Cossacks, on account of their peculiar internal system ; (3) the Governments of Astrakhan and Archangel, on account of their size and situation, and the scantiness of their population; and (4) certain provinces of Lithuania, Little and White Russia, lying close to the Polish frontier, by reason of the Polish influence in them, and of their participation in the revolt of 1863. The consideration of a brand-new system not worked out of the existing one, but. raised up partly by the side of, and under the supervision of, the older official Local Government, and partly in direct opposition to it, is of necessity laden with diflficulties. The system can as yet scarcely be said to be in full working order; Russians themselves have not fully made up their minds as to the merits and demerits of the new plan, and the ten years which have elapsed since the reform have AsHTON "W. DILKE.J EUS8IA. 311 liardly given sufficient time for a clear and impartial judgment, embracing all quarters of so immense an empire ; nor can it be said that any book bas yet been published representing the general ideas of the Eussian public, whether noble, merchant, or peasant, as to the failure- or success of the institutions. Allowance has to be made, for many conflicting causes. At first all parties were alike enthusiastic in their admiration of the reform. Admirers of English constitutional monarchy saw in it a germ which would tend to the realisation of their hopes ; while nationalists and Philoslavs saw in it, with equal reason, the re-establishment of an old and purely national system ; even the bureaucracy of the •empire, though partly superseded by it, welcomed it at first as an incontestable advance. Great was the interest felt in the elections by all classes, and admirable the way in which the delegates fell into work of which hitherto they had had but little knowledge; the Eussian people, with hardly an exception, were as proud of the way in which they had helped to carry out the reform as they were of the sovereign who had introduced it. The re- action, after this hopeful mood, has now set in ; the pro- vincial assemblies are represented in their worst light, •and the press joins in ridiculing the institutions which it helped to found ; while the official element, alarmed at seeing its power vanishing^ raises petty difficulties in the way of the elected assemblies, and endeavours thereby to deter enlightened and honourable men from serving ; hoping by the degradation of the elective principle in the minds of the nation, to pave the road for an entire practical restoration of its own influence. We have but little knowledge of what form Local ■Government assumed before Peter the Great. The various provinces, even after they ceased to be indepen- •dent, seem to have had a considerable amount of power, varying according to the character of their rulers at the time being. Peter put an end to the domination of the voepods, or military rulers, and divided his ■empire into eight provinces {gubernia), which number ^as gradually increased to sixteen under the Empress 312 LOCAL aOVERNMENT ANB TAXATION. Elizabeth, and to forty -four at the death of Catherine II. The latter, by her famous ukaz on the internal go- Ternment of Eussia, published in 1778, established the namestnitchestvo, or lieutenancy, comprising three- or four provinces ; for which title was afterwards sub- stituted that of governor-general, except in the Caucasus, and Poland — in the former of which it still exists,, while in the latter it was abolished in February, 1874„ a governor-general being substituted for the viceroy (namestnik). As changes are constantly being made in Siberia and Turkestan, it is difficult to state the number of provinces or governments otherwise than approximately. At present, then, Russia (excluding Poland and Finland) is divided into about sixty provinces, thirteen or four-, teen of which do not yet possess a settled organisation j such provinces (oblast), exist in the Caucasus, Turkestan,, and Siberia, and the lands of the Don and certain other Cossack forces. These provinces are massed into groups of five or six each, forming a governor-generalship, of which there are eleven, not including Poland. Each government is managed by a civil governor (grajdansJc^i gubernator), military governors also exist-, ing side by side with these in some of the more distant districts. The power of the governor, who may be com- pared with the French prefet, is limited by the provincial council {gubernshoe pravlhm : not to be confounded with the elected provincial assembly), which he is obliged to consult in all important matters, but whose decision is not binding on him, though if adverse to his, this fact must, be stated in the minutes. This council is generally composed of five or six members, appointed by the central government. There are also other official councils, such as the. Crown chamber Qcazionnaya, palatd), which manages the finances,^ and councils for the supervision of postal com- munication, of Crown buildings, the Imperial estates, and other functions. These wiU be treated of more fully in their relation to the elective system. The provinces, are subdivided, for administrative purposes, into districts. ASHTON W. DiLKE.] BUSSIA. 31S {uiezd?/), of wMcli there are generally from 10 to 15 in. each pro"\T.nce. Before the ukaz of the lst-13th January, 1864, there existed in Bussia only three popular or elected assemblies with deliberative powers. Of these, one, the lowest, and at the same time the most widely-spread and important of all, was the village assembly (mir, mirslcai/a shhodka), which, though not materially altered, received extensive powers in 1864, and will therefore be spoken of under the head of the reform of that year. The second was the assembly of nobles {hlagorodnoe or dvorianskoe sohranie), an old-established body which, still exists, but which, by the foundation of the elective system, has lost the little influence it once had, and has. become more than ever an excuse for visiting the capital of the province. The nobility of each district meet once in three years, and proceed to the election of a district- marshal of the nobility {uiezdnyi predvoditel dvorianstva) — in the same way is elected a provincial marshal {gu- bernskyi predvoditet). The suffrage is limited by a fran- chise, formerly of a hundred souls (male serfs), and now of land (about 600 acres). Nobles with less than this; amount may coalesce to send a deputy. The assembly deliberates without the presence of the official governor, and its functions are now confined to matters directly concerning its own class, such as keeping the register of the nobility of the province. It has also a certain amount of power in dealing with refractory members of its order. Formerly, however, it possessed the right of electing the chief police officer of the district (izpravnih)^ as well as several other officials, and had charge of the- distribution of taxation, and of the recruiting system. The third assembly which existed before the ukaz. of the 16th-28th June, 1870 {gorodovoe polojenie), was the town council {gorodslcaya dumd), of from three to six members, elected by the town, but presided over by the- mayor {gorodnitcld), who was appointed by Grovernment. for three years. These assemblies, especially that of the nobility, nominally had considerable privileges ; and the abuse or- S14 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. •disuse into whicli these privileges fell was naturally made great use of as an argument against the further ■extension of local self-government, but unfairly so. The system was an attempt to amalgamate the official and -elective elements, and failed for that reason: The ■executive power, though elected by the people, was only responsible to the bureaucracy ; its connection with the electors ceased from the moment after one election till a short time before the next, and the executive, though^, elected, was never recognised by the people as in any way- differing from the ordinary official power. This may well be compared with the feeling of the rural population in France for the officials elected by themselves, but sub- ordinated to a strict control from the central authority. I now come to the system of local self-government {zemsMya utchrejdaniya) established by the ukaz of the lst-13th January, 1864. Of this I propose to give a brief account, previous to entering upon the details of its constitution or discussion of its merits. The basis of" local self-government is the village commune {niir) which at its assembly {mirskaya sMiodka) of all the heads of families (women included) deals with the following subjects : — • 1 . Repartition of land ; the commune being, in the immense majority of cases, a body holding its land in •common. 2. Distribution of taxation among the members of the commune; the latter being responsible as a body for the debts of individual members (knigovaya poruka). 3. Eecruiting (under the old system). 4. The granting of passports to its members ; dis- charging old members and receiving new ones. 5. Small civil and criminal cases. Next above the village commune stands the canton •{polost), which is but an extension of the patriarchal •system of the commune for the sake of convenience. The next step is the district assembly {uiezdnoe zemskoe sobranie), composed of from twenty-five to thirty-five members, from three to five of whom are ■elected by the district town {tdezdnyi gorod), and of the ^SHTON W. DiLKE.] RUSSIA 315 remainder half by the communes of peasants and half by the landed proprietors, noble or not, in a special •assembly. This deals with — 1. District communication. 2. Schools. 3. Sanitary matters, such as drainage, vaccination, -and cattle disease. 4. Election of the arbiter of the peace {mirovoi posred- nik), an official appointed under the Emancipation Act for regulating questions between proprietors and peasants. We then have the provincial assembly Qubernskoe zemskoe sobranie, commonly known as zemstvo), composed of five or six members from each district assembly, which decides questions above the power of the district ' •assembly, such as — 1. Main roads and railways. 2. General education. 3. Famine, epidemics, hospitals, &c. The village commune {niir), as I have before said, is the unit of Eussian Local Government. It is not a body artificially created for special purposes, but arises naturally out of the wants and character of the people. Nothing can give a better explanation of its significance than the various meanings of the woi-d. Besides its ordinary signification, it expresses the world, peace, order ■and regularity, even the holy oil used by the Church ; w^e may compare it with the Greek /cosmos, which it much resembles ; but its meaning to a Russian is wider and deeper even than this. A Eussian peasant lives for his ■commune, and not for himself; to him life as a unit is almost unintelligible. The old patriarchal system, a remnant probably of the time when the Slavonic race "was still a pastoral one, has been handed down un- touched — nay, strengthened even by some local circum- •stances. The fear of wUd beasts, the constant dread of Tatar and Polish incm-sions, the long winter, with -snow-storms in which a solitary cottage might easily be -overwhelmed — all this, combined with the natural gre- rgariousness and communistic spirit of the Eussian peasant, and the fact that it was the interest of the 316 LOCAL GOVBBNMENT AND TAXATION. landowner in former times to keep his serfs together, has; tended to make the peasant crowd into large villages, instead of cutting out his way by himself in the back- woods, as an Anglo-Saxon with more of the spirit of" independence and individualism would have done under similar circumstances. This crowding into villages of" eight or ten thousand inhabitants (which are not Un-. common) has naturally increased the spirit of local. interest, and with it the ease of establishing and carry-, ing out a system of self-government ; for as the organi-. sation and elective principle were already present — ^not, merely officially, but ingrained in the minds of the- peasantry — thel-e was nothing to be done but to acquaint, the peasants with the full extent of their privileges, and allow them to settle the details in the manner which^ was traditional among them. To this day there is nothing formal in the meetings- of the communal assembly. As the peasants in the days, of serfdom met to discuss their relations with their lord and master, so now they meet in the same way to fulfil their higher duties towards the State. The meeting is. called by the elder {starosta), very frequently as the people are leaving church, and always takes place in the-, open air in the middle of the village street — often,, unfortunately, not far from the door of the tavern.. During the actual transaction of busiaess whisky is seldom drunk, and it is doubtful whether the peasants would allow a drunken man to take part in the meeting-- — I, at least, have never seen a case ; but after it is over- the whole body generally adjourn to the tavern, once- more to talk over the business which has been settled. Formalities there are none ; the credentials of voters are not looked into too closely. Nominally every head of" a household is entitled to a vote, but the peasant would never allow an old man of experience to be denied the right of speaking on any technical question ; and the • question of who is a member and who is not is entirely left to the feeling of the meeting ; a young fellow, with perhaps his share of the common land, and therefore a. legal right, might attend the meeting, standing respect-. -Abhton W. Dilke.] BUSSIA. 317 Mly on the outskirts, but would not think of thrusting his opinion on to the greybeards before him ; nor would a woman, though entitled to vote, be present, but her :son Vania or her brother Fedia would speak with more •authority, it being known to the whole meeting that Vania or Fedia represented such and such a house, as well as his own, if living separately. The assembly "seldom comes to an actual vote on any subject. Eussian peasants hardly ever decide by majorities ; but if two parties disagree in a matter, it is talked over and over -again, the meeting is adjourned, and the village in the meantime talks it over once more, quietly ; and at the next meeting, when the question again arises, some com- promise is generally arrived at, or the minority, seeing their position, withdraw. This hatred of the mere brute power of a majority is very remarkable, and forms a peculiar characteristic of these assemblies. The peasants would never think of voting one by one for the candi- dates for various positions ; the names are talked over •before the meeting begins, and when a name is mentioned the meeting shows its feeling by a few words, and he is chosen or not. The elder {starostd) is paid a •small sum for his services, and is generally chosen by the peasants for his eloquence and ability in laying a case before them clearly. The power of the commune over its own members is considerable, though it has been often much exaggerated, for in fact it is rarely exer- -cised, except for the purpose of making a man pay his «hare of the taxes. I have now to mention the widest form of peasant self-government, which is the canton {volost). It is the liighest extension of the patriarchal system, and may be said to be rather a division for convenience sake than i;o serve any wide purpose ; it is generally the same group as the parish, or priest's jurisdiction {prikhod). Every vUlage of more than 2,000 inhabitants (and such are very common in Eussia) forms a canton of itself, while in the case of smaller villages several are joined together for the purpose. Here the nearer presence of the official system is felt, and we in. consequence find a 318 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. more firm and certain plan supplanting the somewliafe vague thougli national and excellent assembly of the commune. The latter elects one member to the cantonal assembly for every ten hearths in the village ; these, again, elect the cantonal tribunal of justice (volostnyi suet), of about six or eight members, presided over by £v starshina or elder of higher rank than the siarosta, wha also carries out their decisions with the help of con- stables called sotsM's and desiatski's — i.e., men of a hundred or ten. Their power is limited to matters, involving sums under 100 rubles (£14) in civil cases, and in criminal cases to imprisonment for a week and a few strokes with a birch-rod, or a fine of a few shillings. Their justice — which I once had occasion to appeal to — I found speedy and intelligent, with an impatience of formality which I had not expected in Russia — a land where all evidence even of the most trivial kind had, until quite lately, to be written down, as no oral testimony was received. A bribe, in the case referred to, was not asked for, and would probably not have been taken. This same cantonal assembly {volostnaya skhodka). again (under the law of 1864) elects the electors {vybor- stshiki) for the district assembly {uiezdnoe zemskoe sobranie). These electors are chosen by the cantonal assembly from itself, and may be of any number not exceeding one-third of that body, provided that every village in the canton has at least one member. The per- manent board of the district assembly informs the cantonal assembly at the proper time of the impending elections, when the electors {vyborstsliiki) for the circuit of a justice of the peace {mirovoi utchastok) intermediate in size between the volost and the uiezd meet in the presence of that justice, who opens the session {izhira- telnyi siezd), on which they elect a president out of their own body, and proceed to the election of the number of deputies allotted to that circuit for the district assembly. The peasants may elect men of their own number, landed proprietors of the district, or orthodox priests. ASHTON "W. DiLKE.] RUSSIA. SW This system has an obvious disadvantage, which must have been foreseen by those who drew up the ukaz, and which is probably founded on the wish ta break up the power of the peasants in the assembly j not nominally of course, but in reality. The peasants of the villages contained in the cantons which form the district of a justice of the peace^ know nothing of one another, or if they do, are but jealous and quarrelsome ; so when their delegates meet in the presence of the arbiter of the peace, an ordinary peasant from one of the villages has little chance of being elected, owing to the envy of the delegates from other villages. The result of this, coupled with the still lingering fear that the peasants have for any one in authority, is that the president exercises far too much influence in deciding who shall be elected; hence the election falls on land- owners of the district, who, for one reason or another, have not been elected by their own class, and on a few "well-intentioned" peasants from among the village officials, who are entirely dependent on the arbiter of the peace. The volost, however, which was originally intended to be be nothing more than machinery for the more convenient carrying out of the details of peasant ad- ministration, and which it was wished to make directly responsible to the bureaucracy, has fallen, owing to the great want of any lower executive, into the hands of the district assemblies and their permanent boards, and is used by these — ^illegally, no doubt, but without harm to the people — as a means for executing their measures. The volost was founded entirely for the peasantry ; it is now used largely by landowners and others, and is thus, losing its former significance. This should be remedied, either by recognising the existing state of things, or by enforcing the law as it nominally stands. The first elections were carried out by a temporary committee nominated for the purpose {osohaya vremennaya Tcommisiyd), partly official and partly chosen by the existing elective machinery of the nobility, and by a similar district committee, also partly official and partly ■320 LOCAL GOVEBmiENT AND TAXATION. elective. Since the first elections tlie management of the succeeding ones has been laid on the permanent executive board of the elective assemblies themselves {zemskaya uprava). These make out the elecftoral lists of landowners qualified to vote directly; of those ■qualified to have a representative (minors, females, absentees, and groups of landowners possessing less than the qualification) ; of the persons qualified to vote in the district town, either by their position as merchants, or by possession of certain property within the town (inhabitants of other towns within the district vote together with those of the district town) ; and a list of village communes, grouped into cantons, and these again into the circuits of the justices of the peace, to- gether with the number of members allotted to each oircuit. All persons feeling themselves aggrieved at the decision of the district board have the right of appeal io the board of the provincial assembly, which appeals, together with a general report of the work done, are forwarded by the district board. The provincial board acting on this report, names the time and place for the meetings of the various classes of electors, which have to be held within two months from the publishing thereof. The district board, on receiving from the provincial board notice that the elections are to take place within a given time, informs the district marshal of nobility, whose duty it is to superintend the elections by the landowners ; the mayor of the town for the town elections; and for the village elections' the council of "the peace {mirovoi siezd) for each circuit of a justice, to which is added an official, representing the committee for the management of Crown property. The marshal of the nobility first calls together the small landowners, the extent of whose property is calculated, and when divided by the quahfication for a full vote in that district, gives the number of delegates •whom they may elect to the general meeting of the landowners ; these may either be members of their own xaeeting, or landowners already possessing a full vote of their own. Afterwards a meeting is called of the fully- AsHTON W. DiLKE.] BUSSIA. 321 qualified landowners (the possession of about 500 acres being the average franchise, which varies according to the size of the government, being more in the large and dis- tant ones), including the above-mentioned delegates, and representatives of persons who are unable for various rea- sons to be present (these representatives may be already members, or not, but no member can have more than two votes, one for himself, and one as delegate or repre- sentative). This meeting proceeds to verify the creden- tials of its members, and from its decision there is no appeal. They then elect their representatives (glasnpe), on the average about twenty in number, to the district assembly; any member, or any person proposed by one member, may be elected. A few persons beyond the required number are elected to fill up vacancies during the three years' duration of the assembly, caused by death, or by double elections, refusal to serve, &c. Each name is put separately to the meeting, and those who receive the greatest number of votes are elected, provided however that they receive the votes of at least half the members present. The vote is by ballot. The names of those elected are immediately communicated to the electoral meetings of the peasants, to avoid double elections. The meeting must not last more than three days. The same holds good of the meetings of the peasants' delegates, and of those of the district town (elected by merchants and by persons rated at a certain sum, varying from £100 to £500), the latter as a rule having from three to eight representatives, and the peasants about twenty,, or the same as the nobility, making the average number of a district assembly from forty to fifty persons. The provincial assembly \gubernskoe zemskoe sobranie) is elected by the district assemblies out of their own members in the proportion of one representative for every six members, giving an average of about seven members from each district, and a total number ranging from 30 to 100, according to the number of districts in the province. It is presided over by the marshal of the nobility of the province {ffubernskyi predvoditel Si2 LOCAL GOrESmiEXiT AND TAXATION. dvorianstva). An official (or, in cases where the Crown owns mucli land, two or even three) from the com- mittee for the management of Crown property {upi-av- Unie ffosudarstvenni/ch imustshestv), and one from the udelnaya ho7itora, or office for certain special imperial lands, are ew-officio members, as are also officials from government mines or works, in provinces where such exist. The session may not last more than twenty days v/ithont special leave. The assembly, after hearing the report of the permanent board for the past year, and deciding such questions as may be brought before it, elects (once in three years) a jDermanent* board {guhern- skaya zemskaya uprava) of from threfe to six paid mem- bers, with a president, also paid, which commences its sittings as soon as the Ministry of the Interior has confirmed the president's election. The district assem- bhes also elect similar permanent boards. The members both of the provincial and district assemblies may be paid if it is found necessary, but they must be paid by the body which elects them, and not out of the funds of which the assembly disposes. The ordinary remunera- tion of a member of the permanent board is about £200 a year, which, though amply sufficient in Eussia to support a man with no other means, is not enough to attract worthless men only for the sake of the salary. To the honour of the assemblies it must be said that but few cases of jobbery have occurred in which sums, disproportionate to the limited means of the country, have been paid at the instigation of "carpet-baggers,'"' themselves elected, or hoping to be elected, to the board. We have thus seen how district assemblies are elected by the nobility, burghers, and peasantry, and how the provincial assembly is formed by delegates from each district, and we have now before us four elected bodies — the district assembly and its permanent board, and the provincial assembly with a similar board. We may now consider their powers and their relations to one another and to the bureaucracy. Their duties and powers extend over the following subjects : — Prevention of famine and of plague among AsHTON W. DiLKE.] RUSSIA. 323 cattle ; supervision of buildings and ways of communica- tion belonging to tliem; foundationof benevolent societies, hospitals, churches, prisons, &g. ; prevention of poverty ; introduction of a mutual insurance system ; general supervision over trade, education, health; fulfilment of -such measures as government shall lay upon them ; the repartition of such government taxes as shall be put under their power ; the repartition, collection, and power of spending such taxes as shall be needed for their own wants ; and the power of reporting through the pro- vincial official authorities to the central government on any matter they shall judge of importance to their province, as well as the duty of furnishing all informa- tion such as may be wanted by the central authorities. These points are common to both district and pro- vincial assemblies and permanent boards. Their special duties may be laid down as follows : — The provincial institutions have to decide what buildings, roads, &c., shall be considered provincial, and what district; to institute new fairs, and change the dates of those aheady existing ; to move, through the governor, that certaiu roads be considered imperial and not local ; to manage the mutual fire insurance system ; to redistribute among the districts the taxes of which the collection may be laid on them ; to consider complaints moved against the per- manent board ; to levy tolls and raise loans ; to found banks, with permission of the central power ; to encou- rage exhibitions, &c. The permanent board carry out the instructions of the assembly, manage financial matters, prepare affairs in a simple form to be laid before the annual meeting of the assembly, maintain or defend actions at law for or against the assembly, and consider complaints against the district permanent boards. They have no power of instituting fresh taxes or loans without the consent of the assembly, except in urgent cases, and then only for a sum fixed beforehand by the assembly. The district assembly report the amount of taxes allotted by the provincial assembly to the district ; decide as to what roads shall be main- tained by the villages, and what by the district ; supply 324 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. information to the provincial assembly, and carry out the latter's instructions ; while the district permanent board bears precisely the same relation to the district assembly as the provincial board to the provincial assembly. As a matter of fact, however, it is found that the power which should be centred in the assemblies has of late passed very much into the permanent boards, being naturally more energetic and interested than members of a large assembly. All this would seem amply suj06.cient to satisfy the most genuine friend of self-government ; it even includes matters which ought not to be included (and are not in any country but Russia) ; commercial matters, for in- stance, must of necessity be better managed by officials who have no feeling in the interests of one spot as com- pared with those of another, than by an elected body, which must necessarily contain men either themselves engaged in trade or with such connections in the town or district as are not calculated to render them strictly impartial. This pleasant impression, however, is done away with by the suspicion that the central authorities have only taken this method of delegating all business which they did not care -about to the elected bodies, hoping at the same time to gain a powerful argument against any real extension of self-governmpnt. The relation of the elective institutions to the bureaucratic system, which exists side by side with them; and was partially supplanted by them, may be given as follows : — The~ session of the provincial assembly is opened by the governor ; but neither he, nor the vice- governor, nor the members of the proviiicial council {gubernskoe pravUnie), nor any legal or police officials, can be elected representatives. The provincial assembly can only call an extraordinary meeting with the per- mission of the governor, and under any circumstances only once a year. The governor can stop any illegal decision of the assembly, or any decision which, in his opinion, is contrary to the general interests of the empire, as can also the Minister of the Interior ; but the assembly has the right of appeal to the Senate (the -&.SHTON W. DiLKE.] RUSSIA. , 325 highest legal assembly in Eussia). I need hardly, how- ever, point out that most of the questions which have to be decided by these assemblies are questions of the moment, referring to the domestic economy of the pro- vince for the year in question ; if then a decision of the assembly is quashed by the governor, and an appeal lodged by it with the Senate, the result of the appeal never arrives before the following session of the assembly, i.e., exactly a year after it was brought on. By that time, even if the decision of the upper court is favour- able, the matter has lost all its importance and freshness, and the assembly may even be forced to stultify itself by passing a needless act ; otherwise the official authorities might reasonably complain that the assembly, after putting them to the trouble of defending their decision in the Senate, has, on gaining its cause, actually taken no steps to carry out the measure enacted by the assembly and confirmed by the Senate — in a word, may •easily represent that the assembly has been actuated -only by a wish to place them in a false position. The assembly is responsible for all illegal acts, for all acts surpassing its powers, or for not fulfilling the lawful demands of the provincial officials. The following list is that of the measures for the carrying out of which the assembly must obtain the governor's permission : Mea- sures of taxation ; measures for changing the direction of roads, and for their division into various sections ; foundation of exhibitions of -local productions ; and the temporary removal of members of the permanent board. The following measures need the confirmation of the Minister of the Interior : Loans, amounting to more "than two years' income ; certain important toUs and ■changes in high-roads ; opening of important fairs, &c. All measures passed by the assembly must immediately lae communicated to the governor, and by him, if neces- sary, to the minister. The veto must be communicated by the governor to the permanent board within a week; The matter is then re-discussed by the assembly, and if passed a second time by them is effectual ; but the governor has the power, on his own responsibility, of 326 LOCAL GOVBBNMENT AND TAXATION. preventing their decision from taking effect, laying the- matter, at the same time, before the Seiiate, and an- noimcing it to the minister. When a matt-er is referred to the minister, he returns it within two months. HiS' veto may be overruled by the assembly, in which case the matter is referred to the Senate. This would seem to be fair enough, but in laws such as these everything lies in the way in which they are carried out. The assemblies have no responsibility, as in other countries, before their electors ; nor, except in extreme cases, before the law. Then- responsibility is before the bureaucracy, and before that only. The legality or illegafity of any particular act may indeed be decided without great difficulty; but the insertion of a phrase, such as " whatever he (the governor) may con- sider opposed to the true interests of the empire," opens up wide questions as to what the true interests of the empire are, on which elected delegates and paid officials are scarcely likely to agree, while in case of disagree- ment it is hardly needful to say whose views are looked on with jnost favour by the central authority ; and when once a particular assembly gains a reputation for volnodumstvo — fi-ee-thought — or has the epithet of " not well-intentioned " applied to it in an official report, its future appeals will have but a poor ehance of receiving favourable notice in the Senate. There is also another elective assembly in Eussianot included in the above provincial institutions — i.e., the town council. The new system had existed for some time before 1870, but had only been applied to Peters- burg, Moscow, and Odessa; it has now been extended to most of the chief towns of the empire, even into Siberia. I must here remark that I have ranked local government in the country before that in the towns, in the order in which the ukazes regulating local self- government appeared, though in most countries, if not • in all except Eussia, the reverse would be correct, but the reason is very simple. The towns in Eussia are far less important than in other countries, especially than in England ; they are very small, very poor, have AsBTON "W. DiLKE.] BU8SIA. 327 few large manufacturing establishinents, and, above all, are inhabited, with few exceptions, by a more back- ward and unintelligent population than are the country districts. Instead of being an honour to be a burgher of a town in Eussia, it is rather a disgrace ; and even the Eussian peasant, fond as he is of seeking work in towns for a short period, rarely leaves his home entirely under the hope of becoming a viestshanin, or burgher. The communistic division of the land amongst the peasants, by preventing misery among them, also prevents the existence of a proletariat, as instead of the position we are in in England, where everyone who sinks below a certain level seeks the nearest large town, in Eussia none can sink below a certain level, and it is only such as rise above that level that seek the town, and then it is not in despair, but to better their already advantageous position. In towns, then, we have the -assembly treated of by the ukaz on towns {fforodovoe polojenie) of the 16-28th June, 1870; this altered the existing institution, which greatly needed reform. The assembly bears the name of Town Council {gorodslcaya duma, the latter word meaning thought), and is composed of members elected for four years, under the presidency of the mayor {gorodskoi golovd, head of the town). Towns with less than 300 electors ]i?.ve thirty members in their council; for every 150 electors beyond this number are added six representatives, till the total num- ber reaches seventy-two, above which it may not pass. The process of election is as follows : — The electors of the town are divided into three elective bodies ; one of those who collectively pay one-third of the taxes of the town, and who individu.ally pay the largest sums ; one of those who also pay one-third, but individually pay smaller sums; and one of the remaining inhabitants. The town may be divided into two divisions only, if more are not thought necessary ; i.e., in cases where the inhabitants are much on an equality with one another in wealth. Each elective body elects one-third of the town council. This system, it will be seen, is practically a graduated franchise, giving each wealthy merchant, for example, in 328 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. tlie first body, whicli is -usually small in numbers, a far more influential vote than that of a member of the third meeting. To appoint the same franchise for the first class of electors for all the towns in the empire would have been an impossibility. The small towns in Russia are so poor that, if the franchise had been fixed at a moderate sum even, not half a dozen merchants with that capital ■ would have been found in many of those towns, while in the great centres, the number obtaining the right of voting in the first class might well have been even larger than those included in the other two. This system, which works very well, was found to be necessary from the fact that under the old system of election the votes of the lower class of electors completely swamped those of the higher class, thereby driving them out of the Town Council, and forcing them to abandon all interest in the local government of the town, at the same time giving great power into the hands of a few officials or unscrupulous persons who choose to make the Town Council an instrument for carrying out their plans. The fi-anchise is practically universal, females voting by proxy ; it includes all persons owning property of any kind, or keeping a shop ; all merchants, and some clerks, with two years' residence, not, however, necessarily unbroken; but it thereby excludes workmen, who are not numerous in Russia, but who for the most part have a vote in their commune for the district assembly, being generally peasants who only come into the town for a short period, with a passport from their com- mune. Officials are not allowed to vote. It is not ne- cessary to go through the details of the voting, which bears a general resemblance to that for the district and provincial assemblies ; one point, however, is worth mentioning — viz., that the number of non-Christian members of the Town Council may not exceed one- third ; this is meant to prevent towns like Kazan and Astrakhan, where the Tatar element is wealthy and well organised, from electing a Mahommedan Town Council, and towns in the west of Russia from having a majority of Jews. Every elector may be chosen, whether by the AsHTON "W. DiLKE.] RUSSIA. 329 electoral body lie himself votes in, or by one of the others. There are, then, two assemblies acting together as in the provincial institutions, viz., the Town Council and the Town Permanent Board {gorodshaya uprava). This latter is elected by the Town Council either out of its own members or not, and must consist of at least two members, besides the mayor as ew-qfflcio president. In towns, however, as might naturally be expected, the Council meets much oftener than the provincial assem- blies can do, and can have a more strict control over the Permanent Board, which is for that reason not so power- ful, and does not bear so much responsibility as the Permanent Board of the provincial or district assemblies, which only meet once a year. It may be considered, however, doubtful, even allowing this possibility of a stricter control than in the country assemblies, whether the presidency of the mayor over both the Council and the Board is desirable or not; the balance of opinion seems in favour of the idea that the president of the Permanent Board, which, as it were, checks the action of the larger assembly, should be elected separately. Now, when the action of the Permanent Board is being examined by the Town Council, the mayor though he may be present, is not allowed to preside over the latter. On the duties and powers of the Town Council I need hardly say much. Under the former system it was so restricted in money matters, that not a ruble of' its very limited income could be spent without the sanction of the governor, which sanction was only granted after one of the interminable correspondences which abound in Bussian offices. Now they have much more freedom of action, but want of money is still greatly felt. Even the Town Councils of the largest towns in the Empire are almost all in debt, while in some so-called towns it is said that the total income amounts to sums occasionally as low as £40. All matters concerning the town, such as building, lighting, paving, and so forth ; measures for the encouragement of trade, naturally are allotted to the share of the municipality; in a word, there is nothing 330 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. in its powers, always allowing for the local tinge peculiar to Russia, to distinguisli it from similar bodies in other kingdoms. The working, however, of the Town Councils is far from being satisfactory. Partly from the meddHng of the officials, and partly from the ignorance of a large number of the members, the work is very badly carried out, and both the Councils and their Permanent Boards are often held up as proofs of the incapacity of Russians to govern themselves. We now come to the question of taxation, as connected with the local government of the empire. A Commis- sion has been sitting for some years past, engaged in collecting materials and reporting on the advisability or necessity of changes, caused by the reforms of the present government. The question of taxation is so closely bound up in that of local self-government as against bureaucratic government, that the Commission has often been compelled to wait for the results of certain reforms before being able to advocate any change in the system of taxation. Many of the suggestions have been carried into effect, others have been refused, while some are now under discussion. I must, therefore, endeavour, as far as possible within the limits of an essay, to show the relation of the various taxes to each other and to, the new system of local self-government. The taxes, as everywhere, may be roughly divided into three classes — (1) indirect Qcosvennye nalogi) \ (3) direct imperial taxes {priamye naloc/i); and (3) direct local taxes {zemskia povinnosti). These latter, which we may consider first, as most directly concerning, this essay, have been subject to great complications, arising from the fact that they chiefly regard a class already involved in the gigantic financial operations of emanci- pation, combined with the almost simultaneous abolition of the old brandy-farming monopoly, and had therefore to be arranged with regard to the already existing and complicated laws on these subjects. Formerly most of, in fact, nearly all, the Local Taxa- tion of the Empire was paid in kind. The billeting of soldiers, keeping roads and bridges in repair, and AsHTON W. DiLKE.] BUSSIA. 331 maintaming the post-stations and the stations for the transport of criminals sentenced to deportation, fell upon the lower classes of the population far more severely than upon the upper. However, at the commencement of the present century, when payment in money began to take the place of payment in labour or kind, a com- mittee of nobility was appointed every few years to inspect the accounts concerning their province. This, it may be said, was the commencement of Local Self- government; but, owing to the carelessness of the nobility to whom this duty was intrusted, combined with the natural dislike of the officials to the measure, it remained a mere farce. It will easily be understood that these local rates fell much more heavily on some parts of the Empire than on others ; for this reason, certain taxes were termed Imperial, while others re- mained local. Unfortunately, the division was made with Httle judgment, the larger taxes alone, and not the most unevenly distributed, being made Imperial, so that these latter exceeded the really local taxes by nearly ten to one. The committees appointed from 1851, by the nobiUty and burghers, increased the tendency to centralise the Local Taxation of the whole Empire, re-distributing it afterwards. When the Local G-overnment of the Empire was transferred to elected assemblies in 1864, the larger part of these local taxes which had been made Imperial ought naturally to have been placed under the manage- ment of the assemblies elected for that purpose. Not only, however, was this not done, but even more of the taxes, formerly administered by the local authorities, were handed over to the central power, and only an absurdly small proportion of the local taxation could be disposed of by the new assemblies. We must re- member that in Eussia, owing to the immensity of the distances, and the difficulty of efficient control, the central authority pays much more for everything than the local authority does, and the latter, again, more than would an elective body, composed of local men of all classes, well skilled in the financial details of the 332 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. questions on wMcli they have to decide, and of necessity- far more economical than a wasteful and irresponsible central authority some thousands of miles away. At present the elected assembKes cost each province from £10,000 to £15,000 annually (a heavy extra tax on a poor Eussian province), and have the management of only about one half that sum. Whereas, if the whole of the Local Taxation were given into their hands, it is certain, to anyone knowing how Eussian ofl&cial contracts are entered into, that the cost of the elective assemblies would be more than recouped by the saving, not to speak of the advantage to public morality. Up to 1864, the amount of local taxes paid by the peasants was enormous. Prince Vasiltchikof, in his interesting work on Local Government in Eussia, shows that the sums paid were : — By the peasantry, with 109,000,000 of desiatines (2i = one acre), 35,000,000 rubles. By the landowners, with 70,000,000 desiatines, 500,000 rubles. By the Crown, with 113,000,000 desiatines, 36,000 rubles. "When the ukaz of 1864 was passed, almost the first act of the newly-elected assemblies was to demand, in the most disinterested mannel", an equal repartition of the local taxation, if the Crown would consent to bear its proper share. The Crown only consented to do so on a part of its lands ; and though the decision of the Senate was favourable to the assemblies, yet the resist- ance created a bad impression throughout the Empire. The assemblies at last carried the day, and were allowed to tax the upper classes as well as the lower. So thoroughly did they do their work that while — ^in imperial taxation — the proportion paid is ninety-one per cent, by the peasants, to nine per cent, by the land- owners, the proportion in local taxation — in the pro- vinces where the elective system is at work — ^is forty-nine per cent, paid by the peasantry, to fifty-one by the landowners. The assemblies, by a most unfortunate decision of the AsHTON "W. DiLKE.] BUS SI A. 333 Minister of the Interior in 1867, were forbidden to lay- any more taxes on the merchant class, who are very lightly taxed in Russia, and were thus compelled to fall back on the peasants, who are now taxed to the very utmost extent which they can bear ; and, knowing that this endeavour to levy taxes in one way would only result in there being a deficit on some other point, they refrained in the majority of cases from imposing new taxes, thereby accepting their own insignificance. In many parts of Eussia land pays more (sometimes four or five times as much) in local taxation than capital in the hands of a merchant pays in Imperial and Local Taxation together. Under such circumstances, it is intelligible that the land-owning class, in whom the power chiefly lies, seeing that they alone have to bear the cost of the improvements they propose, are being gradually forced to parsimony and neglect of their duties. This is especially the case among the peasants, who, though generally well-inclined to Local Self-govern- ment, are still so heavily taxed in other ways as to render it impossible for them heartily to acquiesce in measures which only result in further taxation, of which they have to bear more than their share. So terrible, indeed, is the state of things in Eussia now, that the number of districts in which the amount paid per desia- tine exceeds the average income to be derived from the land, is greater than those in which the reverse is the case. Having thus endeavoured to explain the present system of Local Grovernment in Eussia, we must now consider how far its failure has been caused by the incapacity of the nation for governing itself, and how far by almost inevitable collisions between the ofiicial and the elective systems. The Eussian mind is greatly given to general reason- ing. One of the worst points in the character of Eussians, when dealing with a matter such as this, is their con- tempt for details and for practical questions, and their fondness for plunging into wide and misty systems of high politics, without making sure of their foundation. 834 LOCAL GOVJEBNMENT AND TAXATION. Of late tlie tendency lias been reversed. The press, partly from its knowledge of the faults of the Russian mind, and the feeling of self-examination and self-de- preciation common to most Russians, partly also from the fact that its sphere of discussion on higher matters has been greatly limited by the increased strictness of the censure, has. occupied itself entirely with details, and especially with details of local administration, chiefly looked upon from a highly unfavourable point of view. This, together v/ith the difference between the views of peasant and noble, or. of noble and noble, renders it diflicult to draw any general conclusions with the certainty of their being correct. The ukaz granting Local Self-government cannot be said to have been received with much enthusiasm. After the other important reforms of the commencement of this present reign, Russians, a race easily inspired with great hopes and equally easily cast down, were fall of expectation of some vague but great changes ; but the ill-timed severity of the government, wreaked upon the writers of certain addresses to the emperor, drawn up in a spirit of constitutional freedom, caused a reaction unfavourable to the scheme. Calm men, however, acknowledged that what was granted, however limited, was good and well-arranged, that the great danger of interference by the local official element was sufficiently guarded against, and that thus it was the duty of every patriotic man to help the government in. its well-meant work, with the hope perhaps of a further movement in the same direction, if the carrying out of the first showed that it was fitted to the necessities and character of the nation at large. This renders the failure of these institutions — since, after a lapse of ten years the judgment of most impartial Russians is that they have failed — all the more lament- able. The failure cannot be laid at the door of the people ; they have done their share of the work. The peasants — about whose enfranchisement the retrograde party, and not. they alone, prophesied most dismal things — ^have shown that they fully appreciated what AsHTON V/. DiLXE.] RUSSIA. 335 had been granted them, and made a good use of it. At first there existed a tendency among certain classes to endeavour to teach the peasants, to patronise them, to influence their choice of delegates ; hut those who tried this soon discovered that the ■ poor, unenlightened peasant was in reality more skilled in self-government than the noble who wished to teach him, and the spirit of the peasants was fully shown in the elections that followed. In the assemblies themselves, however, the peasants are generally overawed by the landowners, and though the former often speak with weight and eloquence, they seldom vote against the latter when it comes to a division. Indeed, remarkable as is the good sense and ability of the peasants, and however much we may rejoice to see that Russia has avoided the strife of class against class, of the former serf against his former owner, it might almost be wished that the peasants would show a little more initiative and energy in promoting the interests of their own class. How- ever, the deep division which exists in Western Europe between the aristocracy and democracy has never been natm-al to Russia, and the fact that class-hatred is entirely foreign to the character of the people helps to explain this situation. The nobles behaved very well with reference to the new institutions. They had a very uphill task set them; matters were laid before them in the state in which they had been left by the outgoing officials ; they had no real knowledge of circumstances to work upon ; they were looked upon with ill-concealed hostility by the officials on whose rights they encroached; and, worst of all, they had hardly any money. The law that nothing can be printed about the meeting of an assembly without the permission of the governor of the province, who always uses his power of censure with great strict- ness, is of itself sufficient to deter people from writing upon the question, and to prevent its being discussed with the necessary freedom. That Russians can not only appreciate but turn to good account real reforms, when such are granted them, 336- LOCAL GOVEBNMENT AND TAXATION. is undoubted. The delight with which the two other great reforms of this reign were looked upon by all concerned — I mean the emancipation of the serfs and the establishment of elected magistrates and trial by jury — and the excellent results on the whole which they have given (especially in the latter case, which directly affects the people), show that it is by no fault of the nation that local self-government has failed as it has. In the towns (though even there it must be granted that the management has improved since the old official times) it has failed, undoubtedly, from the want of intelligence and of a sufBciently wide patriot- ism among the inhabitants, as well as from the other causes I have mentioned; but in the country, where the people, both noble and peasant, are more truly represented, the responsibility for the failure Hes en- tirely on the heads of those who grudgingly gave up a share of their privileges. WhUe nominally acceding to and rejoicing in the reform, they in reality did all they could — by skilful manipulation and by means re- pulsive to all honest men — ^to keep the power in their own hands. The central authority, too, who announced the Emperor's will, immediately took precautions — too successful, unfortunately — ^to thwart it, and at the same time to throw the blame of failure off" their own shoulders on to those of the nation, which was thus injured by this unworthy proceeding. LOCAL GOVEENMENT AND TAXATION IN SPAIN. By Senor Moret y Prendergast. The above title will no doubt awaken in the laind of tbe reader the memory of the old municipal life of Spaixu pf that splendid life which produced the warriors ES J J.I.. Erratum. Page 337, line 21, for Asturian kings, read Austriaii kings. about . wejl^-known facts, that must be laid neither to the charge of the writer nor of the subject itself; the fault lies with the manner in which modem events and institutions in Spain are connected with her past history. It would be easy to commence with the proud memo- ries of days gone by, thus veiling the miseries of the present. But it is better honestly to avow that Local Grovemment, as actually existing in Spain, bears no similarity whatever to that of preceding centuries. The old and glorious Spain died under the hands of the Asturian kings, and there are no other records and traditions to fill up the mournful space of some two hundred years than those which always survive the decadence of greatness, beciause they are signs of death and degeneracy in themselves.* * This point has been well developed by Buckle (see his " History of CivilisatioD/' Vol. II., chap. 1). However I may differ from his notion of Spanish history, I must confess that his appreciation of the eighteenth century, to which I allude, is most remarkable. W 336- LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. is undoubted. The delight with which the two other great reforms of this reign were looked upon by all concerned — I mean the emancipation of the serfs and the establishment of elected magistrates and trial by jury — and the exceient results on the whole which they have given (especially in the latter case, which directly affects the people), show that it is by no fault of the nation that local self-government has failed as it has. In the towns (though even there it must be granted that the management has improved since the old official times) it has failed, undoubtedly, from the want of intelligence and of a sufficiently wide patriot- ism among 'the inhabitants, as well as from the other causes I have mentioned V but in the country, where the neonle. both noble and peasant, are more truly re ti] a to th pi: O" JO. jj.iAixj.\A.-Kr-f \Mi.-^aaess3 vv/aa u.i. i^x •Au.v.Lku.a.^ v • ^ w^u. t.^>»— . the Emperor's 'wiU, immediately took precautions — too successful^ unfortunately — ^to thwart it, and at the same time to throw the blame of failure off their own shoulders on to those of the nation, which was thus injured by this unworthy proceeding. LOCAL GOTEENMENT AND TAXATION IN SPAIN. By Senor Mobet y Prendergast. The above title will no doubt awaken in tbe mind of the reader the memory of the old municipal life of Spain J of that splendid life which produced the warriors who re-conquered the Spanish soil, the men who origi- nated her marvellous cathedrals, her splendid cities, and all that brilliant and, so to speak, fantastic greatness which, towards the end of the fifteenth century, sur- rounded the throne of Ferdinand and Isabella. If, however, disappointment should be felt at finding in this Essay only dry commentaries and meagre remarks about well-known facts, that must be laid neither to the charge of the writer nor of the subject itself; the fault lies with the manner in which modern events and institutions in Spain are connected with her past history. It would be easy to commence with the proud memo- ries of days gone by, thus veiling the miseries, of the present. But it is better honestly to avow that Local Grovemment, as actually existing in Spain, bears no similarity whatever to that of preceding centuries. The old and glorious Spain died under the hands of the Asturian kings, and there are ho other records and traditions to fill up the mournful space of some two hundred years than those which always survive the decadence of greatness, beciause they are signs of death and degeneracy in themselves.* * This point has been ■well developed by Buckle (see his " History of Civilisation/' Vol. II., chap. 1). However I ipay differ from his notion of Spanish history, I must confess that his appreciation of the eighteenth century, to which I aUude, is most remarkable. W 338 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. In dealing with, our subject we shall set aside whatever does not bear upon the modern annals of tbe country. Local Grovernment is a word whicb requires special explanation in the case of Spain. Her whole life has been made to depend upon the Central Government, and iii consequence, every portion of this life is organised ac- cording to the principles on which, tbe constitution of Spain is framed. Thus the source of political life arises from the constitution, and each, political convulsion, re- modelling as it does the constitution on th.e principles of a new scheme, produces, witb a new code, a fresh series of organic laws for the provinces and towns, called after the old Roman names provincias and municipios. Local life and Local Government mean, consequently (in Spain), a portion of the Central Government, therefore they afford no trace, either of special principles, special orga- nisation, • or the remains of old institutions. There is nothing but Central Government modified and extended to comparatively local purposes. The mere perusal of all Spanish, constitutions shows this fact plainly. Each, of them estabUsbes special prin- ciples for the ruling oi provincias and municipios, which, are subsequently developed by means of legislative Acts, eaUed organic laws. The first Spanish constitution, that of 1812, esta- blished a complete organisation for provincial and municipal life, affording expansion to fresh, elements, developing local initiative, and laying down tbe prin- ciple of Local Self-government. The second constitution, that of 1836, was a com- promise between the political fparties. It maintained the main features of that of 1812 for local institutions, but entrusted tbeir development to special laws, which gave rise to much, political mischief, and led at last to a revolution against Espartero, Eegent of the kingdom dtiring the minority of Queen Isabella II. After his faU a new Constitutional Cod?, that of 1845, was issued. It was intended to embody the doc- trines of the successful party, called moderate, who HoEET T Pkendeeqast.] SPAIN. • 339 looked very coldly on Local Self-government. As was to be feared, the spirit of centralisation whicli pervaded i;liat party inspired also their manipulation of local ■organisation and rule. Articles 72 and 74 of this code of 1845 merely established that each province should be ruled by a body under the denomination of the Provin- cial Deputation {Dijautacion Provincial) ; and each town by a municipality, the formation and powers of which were to be laid down by special laws. But while doing so, good care was taken that the interference of the Central Grovemment with those local bodies should be distinctly set forth ; but no mention was made of the right of the corporations (as in the Constitutions of 1812 and 1836) to elect their own mayors (alcaldes). Moreover, Article 76 provided that neither taxes, nor provincial nor municipal dues could be imposed by the local authorities without special provision being made for it in the annual budgets presented to the Cortes. All this simply meant absolute dependence upon the Central Government. It was easy to foresee that a fresh revolution would •change all this machinery, especially if it were intended to overthrow the men who had framed the constitution of 1845. And such was the case, when in 1854, after a military rising, a new constitution was proclaimed, although never put in force. In 1868 a far more important revolution than the former ones took place, in consequence of which a new ■code was voted by a constituent assembly in the follow- ing year, 1869. This code founded the system of Local Grovemment in Spain, which is in force at the present day. It is, therefore, important to explain it fuUy, as contained in Article 99. It declared that Provincial and Local Grovemment should be carried- on by provincial assemblies {Diputa- ■ciones Provinciales), and by municipalities {Ayuntamientos). It laid down the following basis for regula.tions : — 1. The management of aU local interests and finances to be- entrusted to these local corporations. 2. The public to have access to all meetings. S40 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION. 3. Budget, accounts, and records to be published. 4. Interference of the Executive and of the Cortes only to be exercised in order to prevent these local bodies from overstepping the limits thus accorded ta them. 5. The regulation of their powers with reference ta imposing taxes, so as to prevent any conflict between their system of taxation and that established by the Cortes for imperial purposes. The perusal of these articles conveys to the mind of the reader the real aim of this new constitution vdth regard to Local Government, and the spirit in which it was intended to frame the laws. But before entering^ into the analysis of this local legislation, it will be well to explain the terms employed, and to accompany them with a few remarks. Local Government in Spain is divided into twa branches, provincial and municipal. Provincias, or Departments, are portions of the na- tional territory, the separate division, of which has been established without the least regard either to traditions, dialects, or economical interests ; they are only intended to facilitate the task of central rule, always jealous of the slightest local independence, which is regarded as separatism. There are forty-nine of these provincias, or depart- ments, in Spain ; the colonies, which are ruled by special laws, being excepted.* Mnnicipios, or Municipalities, are corporations ta which Local Government is intrusted ; they exist in all parts of Spain, from the hamlet to the largest town. French influence can be clearly traced in all this framework, and, as a matter of fact, the constitution of 1845, the most centralising political law of Spain, and the very first which organised a kind of Local Govern- ment, was cast in French mould; its authors, indeed^ boasted of it. * The names of the old kingdoms, with the single exception of Asturiaa, have nothing to do with the present departments of Spain. People ofte^ speai of Castile, Andalusia, Catalonia, &o., but those names mean only past memories, not real ptovinccs. if OEET T Peendekgast.] SPAIN. 341 The constitution of 1869 was, on the contrary, in- spired by the liberal party, which following its old tra- ditions of 1812, aimed at infusing into the political organisation of Spain English principles. English l-eaders will then find what is familiar to them in the manner in which the constitution of 1869 sets forth the political rights and guarantees granted to the Spanish nation. But the present state of Local Grovernment in Spain xjannot be explained without comparing the constitutions of 1845 and 1869, and showing how they differed. These two constitutions form the past and the present sources from which spring the two opposing principles now pervading Spanish political life. The old codes of 1812 and 1836 enjoyed so brief an existence that they failed to take root in the country. But both "were the basis, more especially the former, of a liberal policy. A different spirit animated the code of 1845, It succeeded in setting up a real organisation through- out the country; indeed it is to the men who then ■organised almost every branch of the political and administrative life of Spain, to whom blame or praise must be awarded for the first establishment of a pro- fessedly constitutional system. As French influence was prevalent at that time (1845), owing mainly to the success achieved by M. Gruizot in the Spanish royal marriages, it was France that supplied the mould in which the modern life of Spain was cast. It is sur- prising that this was the case ; but it is, nevertheless, the fact. The first Spanish constitution, that of 1812, was •drawn up by inen, the majority of whom had emigrated to England, and whose minds were filled vnih a sincere admiration for the progressive enlightenment of English society, in which they had found a home and friends. They, consequently, tried their best to introduce into •Spain the institutions and life of the free England they so much admired. Distrusted by King Ferdinand, and abandoned afterwards by England, who was devoted at that time to the Holy Alliance, those amongst them ^vho were fortunate enough to oscape from death on the Smary Court of later, English history — ^the Patrimonial erichte of latest German history. It is probable that, in the very earliest times, every eeman's Hof, or Court, had rights of this kind attached ) it, because it was of the essence of the free condition ) exercise a jurisdiction over all the members of a ousehold who were not free. But inequahty of pro- erty on the one hand, and more complex and cir- imstantial processes of law on the other, soon made lemselves felt, and the manorial jurisdiction and the lanorial Court became in time attached to a limited umber of manors or Ho/e — greatly difiering amongst ich other, however, in relative importance. A point to note, in connection with these manor ourts, is that, a jurisdiction of this kind once firmly stabhshed, there is a natural tendency for it to grow by le absorption of surrounding elements, and to extend self by legitimate and illegitimate means. Thus, in the Inglish Saca and Soca, during the so-called Anglo-Saxon eriod, we find that where the homesteads of individual 370 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. though for awhile remaining as a political disability, was compensated by the notion of higher dignity. The important points to note are that the Comitatus look to the King in his private capacity and not to the State for their rewards : that the military service they render is not public service to the Head of the State, but private service to a very important individual connected with, but not yet identified with, the State : that in the assembly of the freemen the King is only primus inter pares : that he cannot exact the simplest service from one of these peers except with the consent of the rest : that over his Gomitatus, on the other hand, he rules supreme: that they help him to fight out his private feuds, which are more and more losing their character of private feuds and becoming public wars : that they are rewarded out of the privy purse, and what is much more important where land is practically the only kind of wealth : that they receive grants as heneficia, i.e., not as the alods* of freemen, but as revocable loan estates, out of the lands which the King has to dispose of as public land, or which he obtains as his private share of the plunder of conquered nations or tribes : lastly, that the King, being able to select whom he pleases for his servants, all distinctions of class and rank, as determined by the conditions of the free community, are merged in the new honours of the Comitatus, so that later on in the Merovingian and Carolingian kingdom we find not only the higher kinds of unfreemen, but actually slaves, rising to the highest of&ces of the Court and State, side by side with the oldest blood in the realm. We have thus concluded bur analysis of the primi- tive elements out of which Teutonic society is composed. Of these elements those acting centripetally, i.e., in the direction of coherence and the keeping the body politic together, are, at an earher date, the sovereign political Gemeinde ; later on, the kingly ofl6.ce. The task clearly assigned to the community is to combine these two forces into harmonious and coherent action. The centrifugal disintegrating forces are — * See note to p. 285 iu the Colbden Club, " Systems of Land Tenure." MoEiEE.] GERMANY. 371 1st. — The Comitafus with its system of benefices in return for services which gradually exchange their private for a public character. In the old Teutonic society public duties conferred private rights. In Feudal society, when the benefices have become heredi- tary, private rights give a claim to, and end by monopo- lising, public office. 2nd. — The jurisdiction of the Binghof or Manorial Z)onrt.* In the earliest period it is the public Hundred Court, administering justice to the freemen on the Mallstett, that occupies the centre of the picture. This public Court recedes more and more into the background, md the canvas (especially after the church, with its im- nunities, appears upon the scene) becomes more and nore filled with jurisdictions of every kind, having their roots in private and corporate rights, in their nature mtagonistic to public rights. The Comitatus is the disintegrator of the military, ;he Manorial Court that of the civil, unity of the Teu- ;onic community. Had some great convulsion of nature, in the second jentury of our era, submerged the continent of Europe ;o the west of the Ehine and to the north of the Alps, t is conceivable that Grermany might, at the present lay, be composed of an agglomeration of Landesge- neinden, similar to those of AppenzeU and Uri, of which * We commend as an agreeable puzzle to comparative philologists the ask of determining the relations in which the following words stand to each ither: XHng, thing, saka, sache, chose, causa; and to antiquarian legists that of .scertaicing how the notion of thing or chose became permanently attached o the notion of a law Court. At the risk of putting our foot into a rasp's nest, we will throw out the following suggestion. The further we lenetrate into the border land between historic and pre-historic times, the lore the politioal business and the judicial business of the earliest Aryan ■ssemblies melt into one common mass as public business, into one Court as he Court in which aU business is transacted. Could not then the Binghof, or Tiing-cowrt, or some analogous term, have originally designated the Court or excellence in which the public business, the public thing, res puilica was ransacted ? The public business would very naturally get to be looked upon s "the business," the public things as "the thing," and the public Court as the Thing-court." The analogy of res puhlica is, at all events, a curious ne ; and that public business generally, and not judicial business specifically, 'as the early idea connected with Ding and thing seems clear from the fact liat the Scandinavian Parliamentary bodies have to this day retained the ame {e.g. , in Denmark, the TTpper and Lower Houses are respectively the andthmg and the Folksthing). 372 LOCAL GOVEBNMBNT. Mr. Freeman lias furnislied us witli so graphic a picture, in the first chapter of his " Grrowth of the English Con-r stitution ; " for it was in the work of conquest and foreign occupation that the Teutonic kingship assumed its distinctive characteristics. The Enghsh kingship of our Alfreds, Edwards, and Canutes, and the Frankish kingship of the Merovingians and CaroHngians, are the types that must be studied to understand the Teutonic community in the earliest of its transition stages towards- the modern state. Our space will not allow us to do more than glance rapidly at the shadows of the outhnes of these insti- tutions. During this period the elements of the old society and those of the new society are still balancing each other. On the one hand, the self-governing com- munity of freemen is still doing the work of the State as milites in the field and as hundred-men in the Hun- dred Court; on the other hand, an oflEicial aristocracy, deriving its titles not from blood, but from its position in the king's ComitaHs* is daily increasing in power, and imdertaking a larger and larger share of the pubHc service, in return for the larger rewards which .that service now confers. Underlying the great social and political change which is being rapidly effected, is an economic law of supply and demand, which must never be lost sight of. Capital, in the modem sense of the word, does not yet exist, but the forces out of which it is to be ultimately evoked are there — ^land and labour ; and the feudal system, or lehn system, as the Grermans call it — the system of loans — is directly concerned with the practical forms under which this supply and demand are made to balance each other. Labour, in the shape of personal services of all kinds, is being offered in exchange for land ; land, and especially the loan of land, is being offered in exchange for every _ * Though the Merovingian and Carolingian aristocraoy is distinctly an aristocracy of office and not of blood, it must not be forgotten that noble Wood and long pedigrees played a very important part in Teutonic society from the very earliest date. The combipation of old nobility and large private estate (alo(?) with high office and laxge beneficia, or official property, gave there- fore a marked pre-eminence to a certain number of families, which has been maintamed to the present day. ^o^ER.} GEBMAir^. 373 and of labour. There are two great classes of labourers, mdtwo great classes of land-proprietors. There are the abourers in the public service — the soldiers, the church- Qen, and the administrators— and there are the tillers if the soil. As long as these were one and the same, he State aind Society were one; but as the public business ,nd the business of husbandry become more complicated nd more intense, a division of labour is necessary. The :reat problem submitted to the solution of European lankind in the middle period of the Middle Age, and olved in England only, was how to effect this division dthout the sacrifice of the unity between Society and be State. The land is of two kinds, private land and public md (in England the locland and the folcland), and is wned by two classes of proprietors, the allodial freemen ad the State, i.e., in England by the King and his Saltan ; on the Teutonic mainland, by the King. The ing sells folcland, or rather the loan of folcland, to his 'omitatus, in exchange for military and ecclesiastical, )urt, and administrative labour, i.e., in exchange for iiblic service ; the freemen, by commending themselves, ill theirs to the same class, in exchange for immunity om the public service. The kingly office assumes its definite shape when the .ing, honoris causa, becomes identified with the Herzog ; le ideal representative of the blood of the race with the al bearer of the political power of the race. When the Franks make their first settlements in aul, the sovereign body is a tribal army — exercitus '•ancorum in hoste — ^presided by its Herzog, now King, tiey bring with them their laws and their institutions, lie former, under the name of the Salic laws, are Uected and published at a very early period; and e primeval law of the German forests comes down us in the shape of a Latin code. Of the latter, e tribal assembly, corresponding structurally to the 1 Landesgemeinde,* after a while dies a natural death, * When the migrations began, the Landesgememden composing a tribe lesced into tribal units under a common king, and the tribal unit then ame the political unit, and absorbed all the functions before exercised by Landesgememden, 374 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. whilst the assembly of the Hundred, the Teutonic Court, retains a vigorous existence. When the settlement in Graul. is completed, the popular wars, properly speaking, come to an end. After that period the wars are not tribal wars, but wars waged by the King for the purposes of territorial conquest. The rice, Reich, realm of the Merovingians and Caro- lingians is consequently a territorial, not a tribal king- dom. The subjects {unterthanen) of the realm, i.e., the individuals who compose the political body answering to the realm, are the free Pranks and other Teutons who are seated or domiciled in this territorial kingdom. Preedom is a personal status, an " estate," a Stand, con- ferring private rights and involving public duties. The rights are personal rights — ^unmunity from the burdens placed on the unfree, the power of owning land, the right of the freeman to dispose of liimself as seems good in his own eyes, and the right to be judged by his own personal {i.e., tribal) laws. The status of fi'eedom can be acquired and lostj but, in both cases, only by a formal process of law. It is a condition of the blood, and is inherited as long as both parents belong to the free condition. It is in every respect a caste, except, as stated above, that it is acquirable by a process of law. The public duties are military service in the Hereban and civil service in the Assembly of the Hundred, i.e., in the public Court. The dvil rights of the freeman, it wUl be thus seen, remain such as they were in the primitive Landesgemeinde. It is his political rights that have shrunk into a rudimentary form. The Marzfeldt, in which for a while the sovereign tribe exercised, in a shadowy manner, rights identical in kind with those of the Landesgemeinde, is now a mere military parade, where the Pranks are collected to display the splendour of their arms, "jussit .... advenire phalan(/am ostensuram in campo Martio suorum armorum nitorem." The assembly of the freemen has been supplanted by the Council of the King's men — the great officers of the court, of the army, and of the ad- ministration, the bishops and abbots. Laws, under the JBIEE.J GEBMxlNr. 375 ime of Oapitularies, are now made by tlie king in )uncil, and the only vestige left of the old political )nstitution is the form which requires that, before scorning law, these capitularies shall be proclaimed I the Hnndred Courts, and there acclaimed by the ssembled freemen. Under the Merovingians the official hierarchy, grown lit of the Comitatus, constituted itself into a powerful mded aristocracy, into the hands of whose represen- itive, the major domus — ^the royal power passes. The ing by blood, the representative of the ideal connec- on of the race with its Divine ancestry, is summarily isposed of, and his place is taken by kings, whose title ) rule is that they know how to do it. The idea of le Siate in all its modern intensity is thus, as it were, rematurely revealed, and a gigantic effort is made to jalise it — an effort only partially and momentarily accessfol, but which influences the whole future destiny f the race. The realm of the Merovingians, though called a ingdom, presents features which in some respects give 3 it rather the character of an empire, for it is only in art governed directly by the officers, the Ministeriales f the king. In the other part it is ruled, in the name f the king, by tribal dukes, who are really subreguU. t is only Charlemagne who succeeds in getting rid of tese hereditary subreguli and in extending the direct ovemment of the Crown over the whole of his kingdom. Vom an early period, the territory actually occupied by tie Franks had been mapped out into administrative istricts. Under Charlemagne, the whole monarchy is bus divided, and governed directly by royal prefects. The unit of Government is the Gau, or Shire — ^thie ounty, comitatus. In the shire the king is represented y two officials, the Graf {Gomes), and the Domesticus, fterwards called actor, steward, bailiff, reeve. The func- lons of the former are public. In his hands are con- entrated the whole of the political business of the shire. n the name of the king, he musters the freemen, accord- ig to their several shields in the Herehan. He presides 376 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. as judge, i.e., as president (in the sense above given) over the Hundred Court, and, with the co-operation of the officers of this court, he keeps the peace within the shire. Lastly, he collects the public revenue, the fines, amercements, dues, tolls, &c. Thus, vdthin the administrative competence of the Grcf, or conies, are collected the four unities which make up the unity of the state — ^military unity, police unity, unity in the administration of justice, financial unit}". All these functions the Graf exercises as the mandataire of the King, from whom directly he receives his com- mission. He is not a viceroy or suhregvlibs, but strictly the King's servant, his famvlm, ministerialis, agens, jDientsman, Gesinde.* He is removable at pleasure, and is, in fact, the counterpart of a French Prefet of the present day. In the earlier Merovingian period he is * Had Professor Max Miiller decided absolutely in favour of graw, gran, grey, greybeards, elders, as the etymology of graf, gravio, gerdfa, we would, of course, submit absolutely to his decision ; but as he stiE leaves a door open to conjecture (see Bcittger's German Translation, Series II., p. 555), we ven- ture, not, of course, on philological but on historical grounds, to suggest a doubt upon the subject. The words graf and gerdfa in Frankish and English history invariably convey the meaning of subordination, : every office held by a graf or gerdfa or reeoe {Gaugraf, Centgraf, Solegraf, Scir gerifa, Boroughreeve, Portreeve, &o. &c.) implies that the occupant is the subordinate ofScer, the mandataire, the locrnn tenens of another. The identification of graf with comes as a title of nobility belongs to an altogether later period. Amongst the Franks, the graf is not comes, qak he is graf, but qui he is the Sist ministerial in the comitatas. In England the Soir ger^fa is not the comes at all, but the vice comes. It is the Ealdorman who is the comes. The scir ger^fa, as wiH be shown later, is par excellence the domesticus ai the King in the shire, the reeve charged with the administration of the King's private property. Not all grafs are comites, but only a particular kind of graf; but all grafs are ministeirials. On the other hand, all titles derived from age imply the exact contrary of subordination, viz. : authority over subordinates — presbyters, gerousia, senators. Elders, Ealdormen, &c., &c. We cannot, therefore, but think that it would be inconsistent with Professor Max Miiller's own teaching to suppose that a word starting on its travels in pre-historic times with a distinct and strongly marked meaning should, when met with in historic times, not only have lost all trace of this original meaning, but have acquired in all its ramifications, and as its essence, the exacdy contrary meaning. All the instances adduced by Professor Max MUUer in the lecture in which he treats the subject, are oases of a steadj' and uniform rise in rank. The case of graf, if derived from grau, woidd be that of a word descending from the top round of the hierarchic ladder, down to the lowest round, in order to reascend and finally settle down half-way. We do not know what the philological objec- tions are to Kemble's etymology from refan, rofan, rufen, bannire; but, historically, there can be no doubt that there is a dose afiUiation between the original office of grafaai that of bannitor. OEIEE.J GBltMANY. 377 ot even necessarily a freeman, the King appointing idiscriminately to the ofl&ce such of his servants as he links best fitted for the purpose, and there are several istances of celebrated counts who, at the time of their ppointment, were still pueri regis. As early as a.d. 614, owever, the vassals are strong enough to insist on ane but large resident proprietors, whose property lay L the shire, being appointed to the office, on the plea lat there should be within the county some tangible [edge of the count's good behaviour, and that si aliquid ali perpefraverit, de suis propriis rebus debeat restituere. his is an important point to note, as it marks the first ep in the localising of the office and its identification ith certain county families, which afterwards becomes le of the principal elements in the disintegration of e kingdom. It is a proof of the power wielded by larlemagne that he is able for a while to return to the d practice and to appoint his "pueri " to the office of mes. The domesticus is not a public officer, but the agent d manager of the royal domains. He is the King's 3ve or bailiff over the royal estates situated in the ire. After a while both offices are united in the rson of the count, but they remain distinct notwith- inding. The Gaus or shires are not arbitrary divisions, but I geographical units. In the eastern half of the ankish monarchy, i.e., in the Germany of the present J, they are the old areas of the Landesgemeinden. The Shire is divided into Hundreds, in Germany the 1 Hundreds of the Landesgemeinde , with their imme- )rial Mallstetts, remaining intact. Tor each hun- 3d there is a centenar, or hundredor, also termed arius, or tribunus, who is the subaltern officer of the af (but not his lieutenant^ or locum tenens, the vice- les being a totally different individual), and named him. There is no assembly of the freemen of the Shire in dr totality ; nothing, therefore, corresponding to the •egemot of old English history ; nothing, except the 378 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. local area, corresponding to tlie Landesgemeinde of old Teutonic history. And the reason is manifest. The political competency of the Landesgemeinde has been absorbed by the Crown. The Graf, therefore, as repre- sentative of the Crown, fills up the space formerly occu- pied by the Landesgemeinde ; but the assembly of the Hundred, the judicial unit, the Teutonic Court, remains intact.* It continues to assemble at its old Mallsteit, for this is an essential condition of the due constitution of the Court ; and it is of necessity presided over by the Graf. This necessary presidency of the popular Court, the Volksgericht, by the king's lieutenant, is a Mero- vingian innovation, and marks the moment at which the only living and vigorous remnant of the old Teutonic organisation was brought into living and vigorous con- nection with the Crown. Previously, according to Salic law, the president of the Hundred Court, under the name of thunginus, had been elected by the people, and his office and that of the Graf could not be united. From the day the thunginus is supplanted by the Graf the organic union between the local government and the imperial government is effected. Neither the procedure of the Court, nor the laws administered by the Court, are affected by the change. The procedure is roughly such as we described it above. The Graf presides ; th« Centenar sits on the bench, but can never preside ex officio, even in the absence of the Graf, because he is not the king's officer, but only the Count's officer. He is the Schultheiss, the executive officer, who has to see to the carrying out of the sen- tence, who apportions to the guilty man his punishment, Sclmld heissen. In this respect he is to the Graf what the sheriff of the present day is to a judge on circuit. If the Graf cannot preside, his locum tenens, the vice- comes, presides. A body of sentence-finders ( Urtheil finder), the Ba- chinburgen (= ratJiiburgen, rathgebers, councillors), elected by the freemen, act as a jury upon issues of law and * Compare Dr. Eudolf Sohm, Altdeutsche Reichs und QencMs Fer/asswis p. 146 et seg. BiEB.] GERMANY. 379^ ues of fact. The Court — i.e., the freemen of the imdred in corpore — pass the sentence when found. The law continues to be the old tribal law of the- jrman forests. This local, customary, tribal law, iwever, is being gradually shaped into a Common iw — i.e., into a law common to the whole kingdom — ) by the decisions of the Comites missi, to whose- >urts there is an appeal from the Hundred Courts? d (2) by those of the Palatine Court {i.e., the King's )urt, presided by the Pfalzes by kings who, though not French in blood, were jnch in political education, and the adaptation of these les to a Teutonic society, whose Teutonic sap was still orously driving upwards, resulted in the harmonious ric of the English constitution, and in a form of '■emment as yet new to the annals of the human e — a self-governed realm, i.e., a society of imperial portions, governed by imperial laws which the society ilf administers, and by administering learns how to s:e. The Prankish kingdom was made up of heterogeneous ts, was torn to pieces by centrifugal forces ; but amidst chaos which supervenes after the great master-mason he Carolingian race has been laid to rest in his Aachen 384 LOCAL GOVEBNMENT. » grave, two groups detach, themselves from the picture, radically differing from each other in the political tissue of which they are composed, and in the historical antecedents to vrhich. they owe their tissue — ^the Eastern half and the Western half; the one made up of com- posite Teutonic and Eomanised-Celtic elements, with barbarous codes and Teutonic customs, Eoman laws and Latin customs, in a state of constant action and reaction on each other, with a violent break and inter- ruption in the political life both of conquerors and conquered.; the other, consisting of pure Teutonic elements, who have not been called upon by a great and sudden effort to adapt themselves to, and fuse themselves with a foreign nationality, in whose life therefore there has been no violent break or inter- ruption, and upon whom the great social, religious, and political changes of the early centuries of our era came, as it were, " par ricochet," and as the rebound of the " Gresta Francorum " and other Teutonic tribes west of the Rhine. This radical difference in the constituent parts of the Frankish realm finds, after a while, its natural expression in the breaking away of the Western from the Eastern half, and in the creation of the French and the Grerman kingdoms. In the former the feudal system marches onward with giant strides, the kingship at first following the impulse, then mastering it, and finally establishing itself firmly on its own legs in the shape of the absolute modern monarchy of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The centralisation and concentration of the poli- tical forces of the community necessary to the unity of the State have been re-acquired, and by re-acquiring them at an earlier date than any of her continental neighbours, France establishes her predominance and pre-eminence on the European continent. Nor can it be said that this concentration has been effected by illegitimate means. The government by the king is built up on the ruins of the government by JSsiates, and the govern- [OKIEK.J GEBMjLN'r. 385 lent by Mutates means the anarcliy of castes and cor- lorations fighting for their respective rights and privi- sges at the expense of the realm. The government ly the king asserts its right of existence by really doing he public business, and doing it infinitely better than b would be done by the local bodies as these were con- tituted. It establishes military unity, legal unity, )olice unity, financial unity, and it does all this with iie vigour and momentum of a centripetal force. The ,ctive and self-conscious State definitely emancipates tself from the passive, unconscious Society, but the aisfortune is that in doing so it leaves no bridge across \rhich the two can come together again. L'etat cast mi — the King and the State are one, the desired unity s there, but the state unit is separated by an impassable fulph from the social unit. The State has become a tate machine, and having no life of its own, and herefore no power of growth, its action, when the im- )eUing force from above ceases, grows weaker land veaker. The initiative of the crown dies out when jouis XIV. takes to chatting with Mdme. de Maintenon in religious subjects. For a century there is a stand- itill. The machine works on automatically, society ooks on and makes epigrams. At last the great revo- ution comes, and society turns upon the State and ■ends it. By the time this last great climax is reached the dea of the correlation between social rights and public luties has entirely died out. Society only sees in the governing classes privileged bodies, parasites living on he body politic, and forgets that badly as these did heir work, it was nevertheless public work that they rere doing. It sweeps the privileged classes away from he face of the earth, and with them the existing aachinery of political life, the concrete institutions of he State, and sets up in their stead the abstract rights if man under the form of the celebrated trilogy. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. In dealing with the German half of the Frankish ealm, we have to trace the exactly converse phenomena. z 386 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Instead of following a process wliicli leads to an absolute Crown as its logical conclusion, we note one of disintegra- tion and decomposition, leading to a painted simulacrum of a Crown as its logical conclusion. " The same period of history which sees the French monarchy culminating in the dictum I'Mat c'est moi of Louis XIV., witnesses the dying agony, politically speaking, of the German Crown. In the Germany of the Pea:ce of Westfalia the unities necessary to the existence of the State have, it is true, been once more re-united in one hand, for an analogous process to that which was going on in France has been going on in Germany; but that hand is not the King's; the process has gone on, not in the realm, but in the Territories which now compose the realm. Territorial sovereignty as distinct from imperial sovereignty has now definitively asserted itself. Caesar's crown has been left honoris causa on the head of the German King, but the kingly office has been monopolised by the Territorial Lords. But before this work could be accomplished, a strange and eventful history has been traversed by the Teutonic society occupying the seats of the race. Volun- taryism has celebrated its triumphs on the largest scale, but its Nemesis, the want of stability which sovereign State institutions alone can give, has, with no limping gait, followed in its track. The first important step in the process of disinte- gration is the infeudation and consequent hereditari- ness of public office. The earlier Carolingians, and Charlemagne especially, harnessed the great men of their kingdom to the State, and made them do the work of the public, paying them by loans of land {benefida), to be held during life-time — the only kind of salary then possible. Under the successors of Charlemagne, the great men of the kingdom are strong enough to harness the State to their own private demesnes. For it must not be forgotten that, although in the western — i.e., the conquered half of the Carolingian kingdom — feudal or loan estates were the rule, in the unconquered German half, with which we have now exclusively to occupy our- >2iEB.] GERMANY. 387 Ives, alodial or free land was the rule. Now in regard this land— his "eigen" or "own" land— the Teuton eeman was the peer of his king; he held it on the me conditions, and surrounded with the same sacred ^hts and privileges as the king held his domain, ^hen the great alodial proprietors, therefore, whom barlemagne had employed as dukes of the frontiers, or comites missi, or as Counts of the shire, had succeeded ohtaining these offices, together with the official tates attached to them, in fee — i.e., as hereditary pos- ssions subject only to the laws of the feudal courts, ley wielded a power, made up partly of private and irtly of public elements, which made them formidable vals of the king. Moreover, it was in the nature of lings, that as the new society gradually displaced the d, this power should go on increasing, whilst that of le king diminished. For of the two forces which the rankish crown at first disposed of, the public service of le independent freemen who served the king (to use odem phraseology) as head of the State, and the ivate service of the Dienstmannen, or thanes, who rved him as their lord, or loaf-giver ; the former, from le moment that these same Dienstmannen could take her freemen into their service on this condition, went I diminishing, till at last it died out altogether. By le end of the 11th century the entire service of the '^erebann was done by the vassi and vassali, that is, by le tenants in capite and the after- vassals. The ot iroKKoi ' the freemen, unable to find the means of themselves king the field, either entered the service of a lord, and ok the field at his expense, or remained cultivating eir mansi as small freeholders, clubbing together with sociates in the same case to pay for the equipment of a •les. After a while, the feudal milites form a distinct ste, or class, and the remaining freemen melt away bo the servile agricultural disarmed class. When one of these great vassals had succeeded iix itting the office of coines missus, or duke, as an here- tary possession, with the appuitenant estates in 3, in addition to his former benefices and to his 383 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. allodial property, lie possessed large and important powers over an important geographical area; but, as reference to the former part of this essay will show, he had not yet got the true, political or public power into his hands ; that power was in the hands of the Oau Graf, or Count of the shire, for it was he who concentrated into one focus the four ucities we described as making up the plenitudo potestatis which constitutes the State. To obtain the fee simple of the Graf en Bechte, i.e., the exercise of the public office of the count of the shire, was therefore the object for which the great men, whether lay or clerical, the proceres, oftimates, semores, the archbishops, bishops, and abbots, of the kingdom, did not cease to strive. It will at once be seen that when a duke, holding property both allodial and feudal (now all lumped to- gether in great estates in half a dozen counties, and invested as an hereditament with the military command of the Herehann within those counties, and with the duties of inspection and control of a comes missus, finally succeeded in acquiring the Graf en RecJde themselves), i.e., the entire administration of the public service within those counties, all the elements of a future territorial sovereignty were already collected together into one hand. Then all that was required was the formal re- cognition of the Landeshoheit, or territorial sovereignty, as an integral portion of the public law of the empire. But there is another point on which the later con- stitution of the German Empire is directly afiiUated with Carolingian institutions ; we mean the yearly Sessions of the comes missus, by which all the Counts of the shire, their Centenares, Schoffen, and other officials, had to attend. These were continued after the public service had become monopolised by the great feudatories, and formed the nucleus of the later Stande, or Territorial Parhaments, of which more hereafter. We have taken an imaginary dukedom to exemplify the process that was going on and the laws at work in the decomposition of the German Kingdom and the reconstruction of the kingly office under the name of foEiEB.] GERMANY. 889 3rritorial lordship. But we need not observe that the eneral scramble for the various rights which made up bis sovereignty required centuries of internecine wars, f the struggles of class against class, of a Darwinian truggle for existence, before the work was effected, for need we add, that the great dukedoms and the Drresponding archbishoprics and bishoprics where the rocess went on more or less normally, only covered a ortion of the territory comprised witjiin the German [ingdom. There were many smaller territories where Q analogous process was going on. Shires whose Counts ad obtained their office and with it important feudal jnures into their own hands with or without the Rere- ann, so that they were placed in a mixed position towards ie duke who had the Herebann, and the emperor from ^hom they held their Orafen Rechte as a fief; then again reat allodial proprietors who had obtained Graf en Bechte 1 parts of different shires, and so on ad wfinitum. 'hese combinations of cross rights and cross duties are adless. We must only try to keep the great landmarks nobstructed before our eyes. And amongst these one lust not be lost sight of, and that is, that though the olitical power of the king (except here and there where mighty emperor, by the impact of a great personality •r a generation or so, seems on the point of restoring 18 national unity) grows less and less, yet that as a reat allodial proprietor in every part of the empire; in idition to his privileges as head of the feudal hierarchy, id with such remnants of his kingly office as he still stains, he is everywhere able to make a certain oppo- tion to the process of disintegration, and to rally •ound him such elements in the realm as are opposed to le local centralisations of the territorial lords. Thus, stead of commending themselves to the bishops, or to le dukes, or to the counts, whole communities place lemselves under the protection of the king's Vorjt doocatus), and within the immediate jurisdiction of s courts. So also a large number of knights — i.e., free 'lites who have neither sunk into the condition of stici, nor placed themselves under the protection of an 390 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. over-lord, the gentry of English history — ^by associating themselves ' together are strong enough to resist the process of absorption into the large territories, and remain the immediate subjects of the king. Of the bodies which continue to look upon the Crown as their only lord by far the most important are the cities, a wholly new element imported into the political life of Germany after the Carolingian period. The Ciii/ is altogether unknown to ancient Teutonic society. We started as landfolk, not townspeople, and all our political institutions were moulded on agricultural types. It was not till the eleventh century that cities began to play a political part in Grermany, and then it was to the rapid decomposition of the old Teutonic society that they owed their sudden and im- portant rise. The constitution of the German city is undoubtedly affiKated to that of the Roman municipality. In some few towns on the Rhine, remnants of these municipaHties had lived on, and it was in these that tbe civic spirit first began to revive. Burgs, i.e., fortified places gar- risoned by Bienstmanncn, arose at an earlier date, but are not to be confounded with the cities {cwitates), which consisted of a "■ (/emeinde" of freemen within an immu- nity, usually that of a bishop, but also that of the king. Tlie peculiarity of the immunity was that it took the person domiciled within it out of the jurisdiction of the public ofiicers, i.e., of the Gaii Graf, and placed them under the protection of the lord of the immunity, whose Vof/t {advocatus) exercised the prerogatives of the Graf. When once a community of freemen had obtained the right to fortify a city, and to constitute themselves into an armed association, it was comparatively easy for them to shake themselves clear of the jurisdiction of the Vo^t, to obtain a jurisdiction of their own, to elect their own government, and to extend their jurisdiction over a por- tion at least of the surrounding country. We have no space to enter into the early constitution of these cities, except to note that the nucleus out of which the old Imperial cities {Reichs Stddte) is composed, • consists of toKiEK.] GERMANr. 391 ^ body oi free milites, i.e., of persons belonging to tbe Itaud, or Estate, of knights, and that it was these nuclei ut of which the patrician orders in these corporations :rew up. The point of importance to note is, that at he moment when all the forces at work in the Grerman ommunity were tending towards the destruction of adividual and local liberty, these cities arose in a very iteral sense as cities of refuge, and acting as a sponge a the districts in which they sprung up, rapidly ab- orbed all those classes of society who were striving to irithdraw themselves from the tyranny of the feudal ords of the soil, and to extricate themselves from the ocial anarchy which everywhere prevailed. AH the older cities of Germany were free corpora- ions, with no superior over them but the emperor, jater on, the territorial lords took to building cities in heir territories, and granting them large corporation ights and privileges. We must now rapidly glance at the changes going ■ m in the social and political tissue of which this teeming estless Teutonic commonwealth of the Middle Age is omposed. 1. At the commencement of its political career the astes which divide Teutonic society are essentially blood- astes. Freedom is a quality of the blood, and all men lorn free constitute the caste par excellence, and make Lp together the sovereign community. The other castes ■re varieties of unfreedom, according as the blood is more 'X less tainted with servility. The principle of the Comitatus, and of service ren- lered by freemen to a lord in accordance with the rules of n ideal code of honour and fidelity, breaks up these ilood-castes, and during the Middle Age a process, is teadily at work by which these blood-castes are being eplaced by castes determined by a man's occupation, '' the state of life to which it has pleased Grod to call dm," his Stand or Estate. ]S"othing is more characteris- ic of the different turn taken by our English institutions ?hen compared with those of our kinsmen in the seats if the race, than the fact that it is impossible to find an 3-2-2 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. Englisli word exactly to express tlie word Stand. The- Englisli people remained one and indivisible, the German people broke up into iron-bound castes. Tbe law which governed the change was an economic- law, that of a division of labour; but the important thing to note is, that this economic law was supplemented by the old and indelible law of the blood-caste, so that when once the economic process had been accomplished, and society had been partitioned off into its various Stdnde- or Estates according to their occupations in life, the blood- law stepped in and stereotyped the Stand or Estate inta a blood-caste. The knight mounts his war horse, the- peasant sows his seed, the burgher sells his cloth because his father did so before him, and the rights and duties of his Estate are carefully determined by his genealogical tree. It is easy to see how the process took place. When the service in the Herehan had been entirely monopolised by the Bienstmannen, the esprit de corps of the military associations {GenossenscJiaften), which grouped themselves, round the feudal lords, great and small, soon obliterated all traces of inferiority of blood in the members of the association. The military class became a guild with its regular hierarchical gradations — the page, the squire, the knight ; but when this new caste once established itself and became set, then the old blood tendencies appeared again, and no man was eligible to it who could not prove his descent from knightly lineage. So again in the agricultural class, the tillers of the soil began by being either freemen who could not afford to serve in the field, and compounded for these services by a money payment, or the unfree who had no military service to render, and occupied land either as the lowest class of Leihei I tliem the Icnowledge required for active participation in the inistration of an unwritten law that lives on from generation to- ration in the traditions and the memory of the people. It is a 3sary incident of a Volksgericht that a nucleus of specially well- ■med men should detach itself from the rest. "We have seen this 1 in Germany under the name of the Rachinhurgen, Bathburgm^ asellors, at last petrifying into the Schofen or Scahini of a later )d. The analogous process takes place in England, only on a li larger scale. The Witan, wissmde, those who knovj, detach iselves from the great bulk of the freemen. The thanes hnow 3 than the others, because they have the knowledge of the public ice, which serving can alone give, and they take their place in the •sgemot of the shire, and in the gi-eat WUenagemot of the nation, as the Dlenstmannen of the King, not as a noble " Stand " or te, or caste, but as men_ who know more about the public service I their neighbours. Duties and rights — rights and duties balance . other. In the old English community, during the so-called ;lo-Saxon period. Society and the State have remained united by common bond of public duties. From the humblest freeman^ ing after the public peace in his francpledge, to the king on throne, the circulation of the public blood runs freely through arterial and venous system of the body politic. We must now turn to the changes brought about by the Norman quest. No Englishman, especially after reading the glowing pages of Mr. jman, can help wishing that that fatal Senlac arrow had had :her billet, or can resist indulging in sterile speculations as to ultimate shape which the pur •, unalloyed Teutonic English ;ship would have eventually developed into, in the hands of such a. ; of men as Harold. But no Englishman, who has been reading man history, can fail to admit that in all historical probability it the methodical, systematic, politically creative absolutism of the man Conqueror which saved us from that running riot of the free ciative Teutonic spirit, which in Germany, after luxuriating, in manifold creations of the Middle Ages, ended by drifting the man nation into an archipelago of little despotisms. For it Ls to the Conqueror directly, and to his successors either ctly or indirectly, that we owe the unities so often referred to in preceding pages — military unity, police unity, unity in the la -t in the administration of the law, financial unity — all four cori- ;rated, as they never were before, in administrative unity. This have to thank them for. What we owe to them, without the sssity of returning any thanks, is the fusion of the two nationali- into one free people, by joint resistance to common oppression, the consequent reversion to English constitutional types after the nework of a State fitted to Mfil imperial destinies had been Uy built up for their reception. In tracing the steps by which these unities were first attained, and I free institutions adapted to them, it is truly marvellous to observe •, partly owing to the statesmanlike genius of the Conqueror, 400 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. partly to the free instiacts of tlie Englisli race, partly to their tena- cious hold on what -was old, partly to their adaptability to what was new, partly to exceptional good fortune in getting not only our good kings, but our no less useful bad kings, just when we wanted them,* to say nothing of other apparently fortuitous circumstances, we succeeded in avoiding all the blunders made by our Continental kinsmen. We must just glance at the unities above enumerated, as far as is required for the purposes of comparison. As might be supposed, the office of the English ealdorman, with a potestas of its own, has no place in the system of the ITorman king. The earl consequently disappears from the scene, except as a titular dignitary ; and the sheriff, under the name of vicecomes, takes his place. The Norman vicecomes, not only in his English name of Scir Ger6fa, but in his functions, corresponds exactly to the Carolingian Gau Graf. All the unities ai-e concentrated in his hands. He presides ^s judge in the County Court and the Hundred Court ; he is responsible for the peace of the county, and is therefore the head of the police ; through his hands pass the writs summoning the tenants to their military duties. He is the executive officer of the crown in all its functions, only as under the Norman system the whole of the military force of the Country is feudalised, he does not lead the Herebann, there being no Herebann to lead. Like the Carolingian comes also he is looked after by commis- -sioners sent directly from the Curia Regis. The justiciarii errantes, who afterwards develope into the judges on circuit, are the counterpart ■of the Carolingian Comites Missi, or Sendgra/en. In the outward configuration and administrative machinery of the kingdom, under the rule of its Norman kings, there is consequently a very distinct reminiscence of the kingdom of Charlemagne. It is when the social and political elements composing the mass thus administered, and the central machinery of government, are examined, that we perceive the difference which 250 years have made in the art -of government, and that we become aware of the politically creative genius of the Norman race as it was potentialised in the person of its greatest statesman. In the Carolingian kingdom, the military force was still made up of the heterogeneous elements of the national levy, the Herebann, and ■of the Dienstmannen and their followings mixed up in confused promiscuity. According to the theory of the Comitatus, as it was beginning to -crystallise into feudalism under the Carolingians, the- Dienstmannen of the Dienstmannen — i.e., the sub-tenants composing the great mass of the fighting men of the kingdom — personally exchanged their alle- giance to the king for their allegiance to their lord or loaf-giver, became therefore merely jwec?iafeZy the king's subjects, were withdrawn from the unity of the State, and thus reduced the hold of the king over the State which he represented to the personal fidelity of a few ^reat vassals. In England, by a masterpiece of political genius, "William the * Compare Qrowfh of the English ConsHtuMon, Freeman, p. 68. IKIEE.J GERMANY. 401 nqueror exacts from the sub-tenants an oath of fidelity to himself King, in addition to their oaths to their feudal lords proper, and IS at one stroke drives the centrifugal forces of feudalism into a itripetal direction, changes eccentric into concentric lines, and tamorphoses a feudal into a national army. By the creation of 60,000 knight's fees, the entire real prop^grty of ! country, without the exemption of a single acre, lay or clerical, is rtgaged to the military service of the crown — i.e., to the State m absolutely unique phenomenon in the eleventh century. In the Carolingian kingdom the police functions of the State are 1 of the most embryonic kind : the breach of the peace as a felony ,inst the king — i.e., as a crime against the State — is a thing unknown ; T, the very idea of a King's Peace is directly opposed to the imme- rial right of the freeman to settle his wrongs by private feud. In the kingdom of WilUam the Conqueror the dire necessity of ling a modus vivendi between two such nationalities as the English I the French, the handy machinery of the old English franc-pledge ibined with the summary power of amercing breaches of the peace )reaches of discipline in a population mainly composed of the King's ten," and the grasping, money-making spirit of the Norman admi- fcration, which looked on these fines and amercements as a pi-ofit- e source of revenue, resulted in the creation of a system of police the maintenance of the king's peace — i.e., the public peace — which ids alone and sui generis in mediaeval society, and would have done LOur to a Polizei Staat of the nineteenth century. In the matter of the unification of the law and of the administra- 1 of justice, the diflference is not so marked; one might almost say t the Norman system takes up the Carolingian system where the ;er is broken off by the collapse of the political power of the rman crown. For the Palatine Court of Charlemagne, acting ough the instrumentality of the Comites Missi, had been trying do for the Franks very much the same thing that the Court of ag's Bench and the justices of assize did so effectively for the glish. It had been gradually assimilating the Folhrechte into a body of ' capable of uniform application, and thus creating a Common w — i.e., a law common to the whole kingdom — ^the material ele- nts of which were being furnished by the traditional laws of the .ion, whilst, by the decisions of experienced judges; a framework 3 being formed which would, in time, have moulded ancient cus- is into an authoritative case law. But, as before stated, the pro- 3 was suddenly and irretrievably interrupted by the atrophising of Crown. The Volksreohte, left standing alone, lost the power of ipting themselves to the new requirements of society, and at last oming perfectly useless, had to be replaced by a foreign code, h which they stood in no connection, and which required a body learned judges to administer it, wholly separated from the lay tnents which till then had been essentially necessary to the con- ration of a Teutonic Court. The separation between the " law- ers " and the " law-takers," whose organic union is one of the - 402 LOGAL GOVERNMENT. great pivots of Teutonic self-governmeut, was thus in Germany hewn asunder in the sixteenth century. It is one of the great advantages we owe to the Conquest that this necessary process of the assimilation of the Volksrechte into a common law, which every Teutonic community has had to go through, was carried out in England more rapidly, at an earlier date, and in a more normal manner, than in any other country of Europe. We must have paid dearly for it at the time, and it has always seemed to us inconceivable how Normans and English could, even for six months, have together " stood to right " in the VolhsgericMe of the Hundred and the county — how two kinds of customary law, so dif- ferent from each other as the English and the Norman, can have been administered by those Courts, and how Courts, composed mostly of Englishmen, could have been presided over by Norman judges, who, in most cases, could have known nothing but French. That the law thus given and taken was detestable is certain — that it was rendered more detestable by the arrogance, con-uption, and venality of foreign sheriffs, who hougM their places, is equally certain; but it was this which brought the remedy. The only possible allevia- tion of the evil was the wholesale power of drawing cases from the Hundred Courts, and the County Courts before the King's Court, and the constant supervision of the local Courts by commissioners, deputed specially from the Curia Regis, to see that some sort of justice was locally administered. We have not space to trace the various steps of the process, and can only call attention to the final and unique result — to learned judges, detached at stated intervals from the Guria Regis — i.e., from the fountain-head of justice itself — to administer locally, and on the spot, the common law of the realm, that is, the law com- mon to the whole kingdom, in organic union and connection with local lay bodies. It is at this point that the great step was taken by which in England, and in England alone, the old forms of the self-governed Teutonic community were changed, whilst the substance was left. The Volksgericht dies out, but the members of the deceased Volks- gericht reappear in the. shape of jurymen. The monopoly of the know- ledge of Case or Precedent law, in the hands of a class of learned judges necessarily very few in number, cuts off the competition of the learned lay elements in the Volksgericht — ^the Schoffen or Scabini of Germany, the English loitan — ^who have only the old traditional law at their fingers' ends. Lay bodies, who have to find a verdict both on issues of law and issues of fact, become, at a certain stage of social development, impossible. It was our extraordinary good fortune that at this critical moment by a kind of happy accident, issues of fact were separated from issues of law, and, whilst the latter were definitively consigned to the hands of a select and highly instructed body of legal experts, the latter remained in those of the old free adstantes of the Volksgericht. Thus, whilst in Germany the knowledge of the tribal law became gradually monopolised by the learned lay class (who after a while shrink up into a caste, and are required to prove their pedigrees), and the adstantes — i.e., the surrounding unlearned lay community -who approved loBiEB.] GERMANY. 403 he verdict — became less and less a necessary element, and finally- isappeared altogether ; in England the learned lay class died out, nd the adstamtes, the great bulk of the freemen, were suddenly uickened into a new life, and had public duties heaped upon them, ssues of fact do not require learned sense, but only common sense, nd so far from a pedigree being necessary to the performance of the uty, laws had to be made to shelter the poorer freemen from beino- rushed and overwhelmed by the performance of this duty. * The institution of trial by jury in criminal cases, as the palladium f English liberty, has at all times met with the appreciation it de- srved, but it hardly seems to us that sufficient attention has been aid to the direct connection in which the institution, in connection fith dvil cases, stands with that other palladium of our liberties 3lf-govemment. The maintenance of the organic union between iw-givers and law-takers — the re-harnessing of society to the public jrvice after the old harness of the Volksgericht had ceased to be fit )r use— these are the gifts we owe to the almost chance applica- ;on of a Norman institution* to the raw material of the County lourt, the Hundred Court, and the Court Leet, at a time when it was all fiill of the judicial sap of the Teutonic Volksgericht, and therefore ipable of feeding the new tree engrafted on the old stem. But there is another law institution which the English and 'rankish kingdoms had in common, and whose respective histories I the two kingdoms aflford important illustrations of our subject. "We refer to the Manorial Coui-t — the Frankish Dinghof, the old Inglish Saca et Soca. In both countries these private Courts, existing de by side with the public Courts, were increasing in importance, dending their jurisdiction, and honeycombing the judicial unity of te shire. In Germany the Dinghof grows more and more, and that which sgan as the jurisdiction of the manor over the vilains that ploughed le soil, grows to the portentous proportions of the great feudal aurts of the Middle Age. In England feudalism, having been forced, by the genius of the mqueror, to shape itself to the requirements of the State, which, lows of no vmperiimi in imperio, the Saca et Soca, in its Normanised. rm of Court Baron, after many efforts to grow and assert, itself, adually atrophises, and is absorbed by the King's Courts. * We know that this is not the received opinion in England, and that it ands like a kind of treason not to refer trial by jury to so-oaUed Anglo- xon times, but we have followed Gneist because it seems to us that his jount decides the question so far as the specific institution of trial by jury, the English meaning of the institution, is concerned. The general right a freeman to be tried by his peers was, of course, the common property, t only of Anglo-Saxons, but of all Teutonic races. The all important :ning-point in our constitutional history is, not the trial by peers, but the rving to those peers only issues, of fact to decide upon, and talcing away m them the decision on issues of law. The real innovation, therefore, was ! introduction of juries in civU suits instead of trial by single combat, ich English burghers had a great dislike to engage in with such masters of i art of feuceas the Norman mUites. — See Gneist, Communal Verfassimg, vol. pp. 74 and 80. 404 LOCAL GOVEBNMENT. Of the financial unity introduced by tile Normans — of the stern equality, brooking no exception, lay or clerical, with which the whole property of the country was made to contribute to the necessities of the State — we need not speak. The great creation of the exchequer, as the central spring of the political machine, as the financial basis which William the Conqueror gave to his political creations, has not only nothing analogous to it in the Frankish kingdom, but remained for centuries an isolated phenomenon in the history of Europe. When, after examining all these component parts of the English polity, as recast by the hands of the Conqueror, we turn to see what were the constitutional powers with which he worked, we are obliged to admit that he did without them, and that he was de jure, as well as de facto, an absolute mler. There is nothing during the reign pf WiUiam I. and his immediate successors really answering to the Magnum Concilium of Charlemagne ; nothing to the inner Council of the Consiliarii ; nothing to the Witenagemot of the old English period ; nothing to the Parliament of a later jDeriod. The great Court, the Cnria de More, which meets three times a year, when the king wears his crown upon his head, is a court, in the modern sense of the word, — a splendid display of great barons, of archbishops and bishops, in their best clothes, — a kind of mediseval lev6e on a large scale ; and though a good deal of official business of various kinds is transacted at these periodical meetings of the great vassals and their retainers, it is not a Guria in the later official senses of the term. A sanguine Englishman, determined to see things couleur de rose, might have fancied that he traced in it some recollections of the Witenagemot ; a chaumniste Frenchman might have sworn that he was attending a Cour de Baronie : but just because it could not be both it was neither. The king selected for the public work com- mittees out of these barons ; but the barons, as such, formed no corporate body. He might ask for their opinions ; but was not con- stitutionally bound to ask for them. The laws of the Conqueror are proclamations — jubeo, prohibeo, I command, I forbid.* For a while, then, England had to submit to be ruled absolutely. All the forces of the community, intensified to the utmost they could bear, were concentrated and united in the hands of a personal governor. When the personal momentum ceased, they congealed into the here- ditary office of that governor — the Crown. And it was then that arose the question of vital importance, with which we began our essay : — By what organs, when the process was once eftected, were these centralised, unified forces to be permanently exercised 1 — into what bodies were they to be radiated back ? — into a caste, into a class, or into society * "We have again here implicitly followed Gneist, because his reasoning and his authorities appear to us effectually to dispel the ordinary view, which sees in the Curia Eegis the legitimate child of the Witenagemot, and the legitimate father of omv future Parliaments. But we do not, of course, pretend to have , an opinion of our own on the subject. For our purpose it is quite sufficient that the Conqueror was de facto his own master and that of the English realm, and that his government was in the strictest sense of the term a personal government. 03IES.] GEIi:,LiNr. 40S self 1 The question is one of vital importance; for one thing is |etty certain, and that is, that the people who administer the laws ill sooner or later, iu some form or other, become the law-makers, id the law-makers, in some form or other, the body who. hold in air hands the real power of the state. In every European country except England, it was the caste ■st and the official class afterwards in which these forces were abodied — the Estates and then the bureaucracy. In England alone ey were radiated back directly into the natural elements of which ciety is composed. So far is it from the truth that we were ever iverned by castes that we never even knew the true meaning of the 3rd Estates; and, as Mr. Freeman has pointed out, even in our ficial language we fall into the gross blunder of describing the Crown an Estate, from a sort of superstition that there must be three states, and that this number three must in some form be made up. But neither the House of Lords nor the House of Commons ever sre Estates — Stande, in the true continental sense of the term — i.e., ose and exclusive corpoz-ations ; they never ceased to be public idies J they never assumed a private character. The English Par- iment, therefore, not only never grew out of a constitution of Estates, it it owed its special character to the negation of that principle. Nor, whatever the future may have iu store for us, were we ever, ace Norman days, governed by a professional bureaucratic class. inumerable as are at the jDresent day the offices connected with e administration of an English county, the honA fide professional Bicials connected with it would not fill a large-sized hall. We can' do no more than just glance at the process by which the gans of the supreme crown, called into life by our Norman kings, icame identified with the society over which tha,t Crown was called )on to rule. The method to be employed in such an inquiry would be to alyse the elements into which the centralised functions of the orman vice comes, or Gau Graf were ultimately decomposed. In the alogous case in the Frankish kingdom, we saw how the powerful rons and churchmen strove with each other to monopolise these actions whole and entire, and how they succeeded in doing so. The ires themselves having no organic substantial life of their own 1 to pieces ; but the potesfas of the Count— the public office of the own — ^remained whole and entire, and passed as such into private nds. In England, the County having a tenacious, vitality of its 'n, derived, as shown above, directly from the Landesgenieinde, cough the tribal kingdom, remains whole and entire ; whilst it is 3 office of the Nomiau Vogt which is decomposed. The most important step in this process has already been 3oribed, and we need not again refer to it. The judicial supremacy the vice comes in the County as President of the County and andred Courts, passes over to the judges delegated by the Curia sgis to hold their assizes in the county. He only retains the smaller risdiction of the sheriff's tourn. The administrative supremacy of the vice comes is decomposed 406 LOOAL GOVERNMENT. into the Justices of the peace, that other great palladium of self- government; the county thanes, the witan of the former period, re- appear as landed gentry, and are adstricted to the public service in the Commission of the Peace. The former adstomtes of the Volhs- gericht, the mass of the freeholders, are adstricted to the public service as jurymen ; and thus, under totally new forms adapted to a totally diflferent state of society, we return to the substance of self-government as it existed in the old English shire, and pre- viously in the old English tribal kingdom. On the solid basis of these two great institutions, trial by jury,, and the Commission of the Peace, whose masonry underlies both the country and the town within the entire radius of the county, is built up the self-government of England, with the Parliament as its crown and top, and not as the necromancer that called it into life. But there is another institution which must not be omitted. The military system of the Conqueror had practically destroyed the old national levy of the Hermann. But it revives 100 years later by the celebrated Assize of arms, under Henry 11. ; not so much for tlie defence of the country against foreign foes, as for the maintenance of the public peace, and as a point d^appui for the crown against the powers of the great barons. The Assize of arms is the father of our militia, and of our special constables. And here again we must note an important divergence from the course which matters took on the- continent. We observed above that as soon as the knights had formed them- selves into a close guild or caste, the doors of this guild were absolutely closed against the freemen who tilled the soil, and that the consequent general disarmament of this class hurried on, in giant strides, their descent into the stereotyped servile peasant caste. The Assize of arms, and the later creation of a militia, distinct from the professional feudal soldiery, from the first tended, more than anything else, to- avert this danger. When the militia definitively replaces the feudal system as the national armj', England has reverted, under another name, to the Teutonic Herehann; and the creation of the office of lord-lieutenant, as the constitutional commander of the county militia, completes the organisation of the county as the self governed unit of the kingdom. As regards the internal government of this unit, the State and society are one. In the whole official hierarchy of the county there is not a single official. The work of the State, from the lord-lieutenant down to the juryman, is being done by members of society, in its natural layers, as determined by economic laws, not by statutes ; and , be it well noted, it is the king's law that they are administering, and in the king's name that they administer it — not self-made county laws, passed in little county parliaments; not the customary laws- of private corporations. Further, it is public office that they hold, not communal office, in the continental sense — that is, private office on behalf of corporations to which the state has delegated some of its functions. Lastly, they govern according to laws — that is, their duties are marked out for them, in the smallest details, ■>B.ass.] GERMANY. 4/07 ■ Imperial laws ; they do not govern in obedience to instructions at down to them from a Home Department. These are the great foundations of Self-government, as far as they e determined by the nature of " office " (Amt) in the self-<'ovemino' idy. o o The other great substratum, that of Local Taxation, belongs to a ter period, and does not properly come within the scope of our tide, which in the second part will have to deal with the modern ganisa,tion of the Prussian county. It will, however, have to be sated incidentally, as far as our space will allow. To sum up : In England, tlie paramount and permanent advantage tat we obtained over our cpntinental kinsmen and jiglibours was, that we went through our absolute, irsonal, creative, centralising Kingship before Society- id crystallised into Estates, when it was still buoyant ith its primitive Teutonic life, — when the habits and aditions of Self-government were yet alive in the body )litic, — and when (to use a curious expression we eet with in connection with mediaeval tenures) the air" was still "free," and not " servile." At a period hen, everywhere else, the balance between public duties id private rights was being rapidly disturbed to the Ivantage of the latter, it was, in our case, violently sturbed in favour of the former. The period of our orman Kings is one in which public duties rode rough- Lod over private rights, in which the latter were re- iced to a minimum, the former strained to a maximum, '^hen we picture to ourselves what a never-ending suc- ssion of Courts Leet, or " views of francpledge," must ive meant in those days, we see how constant and ntiQual was the share which every individual member ' society was called upon to take in the public business the State. In a word, the fusive power of an anipotent Prerogative was vouchsafed to us in a culiarly disagreeable form, which in itself had potent edicinal properties, at a moment when the forces of e new feudal society had already set, but were not yet ngealed, and when therefore they could stiU coalesce ganically with the yet living forces of the old society. Our continental neighbours passed through their -408 LOCAL OOVEBNMENT. crises of creative Kingship either too early, when the feudal forces were still in so inorganic a state as not to be fusible with the old forces of society, or too late, when they had hardened into substances incapable of assimi- lation with the new forces of society. Hence the fact that we got our Charlemagne two cen- turies after the Franks got theirs, and our Frederick the Great six centuries before the Germans got theirs, is a central fact, the true comprehension of which is of primary importance in the natural history of Self- government; for by it we escaped the double) process which everywhere else had to be gone through — -viz., (1) the decomposition of the State into social castes; (2) the decomposition of these castes back again into the State. In France the second of these processes was only passed through at so tremendous a cost, that it required the Revolution of '89 to wipe out the debt incurred. The French Crown took the political power, i.e., the public duties, out of the hands of the State, but left them in full possession of the private rights correlative to those duties. It relieved the privileged classes from the obligation, of doing the work of the State, or paying for that work ; and it provided for its execution by means of a professional class which it paid out of the contri- butions of the non-privileged classes. There was an itio in partes of the State and Society on a scale and with an amount of cynical ostentation never before witnessed in history ; the State, i.e., the Crown, the ofl&cial class and the misera contribuens plebs, with the pubhc duties and the public burdens on their backs, going into one lobby; Society, i.e., a brilliant, faineant nobility, with an unlimited right of enjoying themselves, but with no corresponding burdens on their backs, tailing off into the other lobby. In Germany matters followed an analogous course. The nobility remained untaxed, and the business of administration was confided to a class of professional officials ; but the process did not take place on the same scale as in France, and the natural forces of society IEK.J . GERMANY. 409 ■e, to a mucli greater extent than was the case there, orbed by the professional class. The problem of the present century, both in France . Grermany, is how to unprofessionalise the State; J to restore the solidarity between the governors . the governed ; how to build the bridge which is to mite Society and the State. The attempts made to solve this problem in Prussia L form the second part of our essay. Part II. Frederick the Great took care that the social elements stituting the " States," which his ancestors had de- red of their political power, should not be brilliant seants, but should do their share of the public work, to ch he devoted his- own life, as " the first employ^ of kingdom." It was also fortunate for him that he had no great ials to deal with — no optimates, proceres, magni harones ut a vigorous squirearchy, county thanes who, if they 1 no taxes, at least paid de leurs personnes — did all his iting work for him. They were looked after, in their rate capacity as landlords, by a bailifi" of the calibre of derick II., hence it was that the barren soil of Bran- burg and Prussia doubled its productiveness. The government of Frederick the Great was a Per- il Government, and one of the very highest con- able type, but it could not escape the Nemesis ch attends all Personal Government — the confusion chaos which supervene when the governing person smoved. The real test, however, by which to judge whether srsonal kingship of this kind has been a positive tive kingship, or only a negative meteoric kingship, 3t the more or less of confusion which ensues, but ther or not the confusion is succeeded by a period rganic reconstruction ; whether living forces, capable ittling into permanent institutions, have been evoked, lerely " verneinende Krdfte " — negative, self-destroy- forces. 410 LOCAL QOTEBNMENT. The great period of organic construction with us was the period of the Edwards, but we may fairly ask whether that period would have been as fruitful as it was if it had not had under its feet the unities of William the Conqueror. ' This test applied to the monarchy of Frederick the Great yields very favourable results. Confusion worse confounded succeeded his death, culminating in the great catastrophe of Jena ; but this confusion was fol- lowed by the great period of the Stein reforms, abun- dantly testifying to the living forces which Frederick the Great had evoked from among the grave-clothes of the old society. It had been no part of his mission, for the time had not yet come, to change the structure of that society ; he had utilised it such as he found it, and obtained with the means at his command almost superhuman results, but the social structure and the private rights of the ancien regime remained untouched. It was the business of Stein and his colleagues to effect the transition from the ancien regime into the modern state. These great men had a double task to perform: first, to defeudalise society by defeudaHsing the condi- tions of property on which feudal society rested, and to establish a common citizenship with like rights and hke duties ; and, secondly, out of the individual units into which society was thus decomposed to reconstruct public bodies, capable of bearing upon living shoulders the strain and weight of the Commonwealth. We gave a full account of what was done under the first head in our former Essay in the " Cobden Club Series."* What Stein meant to do under the second head remained unfinished — a splendid torso and no more — and by a sort of irony the very excellence of that part of his work which he intended should be only transitory, was in a great measure the cause of the rest not having been continued until two generations later. He saw • See " Systems of Land Tenure," Essay V., Agrarian Legislation of Prussia, during the present Century, by E. B. D. Morier, Esq., C. B. — [Editor's Note.] !B.] GERMANY. 411 ; clearly what was to be done — viz., that the nation to be taught to govern itself by the lay elements of ty being made to enter into the service of the State. 3ut such a process required time, and the pressing- of the moment was a strong and efficient Govern- b. He therefore at once proceeded to remodel the iitive machinery, and to substitute for the old and 3 officialism that remarkable bureaucracy, whose very Hence Las been a stumbling-block in more ways- one in the way of self-governing institutions, good and cheap government is in itself such a veiy and tangible blessing, that to exchange it for an lor and dearer article, merely because the latter will lentally bring with it healthy political habits, out. hich, in due time, healthy political institutions may xpected to develope, requires a considerable amount )iitical idealism. Now there has certainly not been te years a want of political idealism, perhaps rather much of it ; but, nevertheless, we think it may b& p- inferred, that if a quarter of a century ago in nany as much had been known about the true- re of Self-Government as is known now, there would been less unanimity and less persistency in de- ling it amongst the bulk of the Liberal party. Ls stated above. Stein only looked upon his bureau- T as a provisional machinery to govern the country elf-governing institutions and self-governing habits 1 be called into life. < The only portion of the latter work which he suc- 3d in completing was the reform of the Municipal jrnment — the Stadte-Ordnung, or Municipal Cor- dons Act of 1808, which with the excellent results h it yielded, became the model which, by a natural ssity, every organic attempt at introducing institu- 1 of Self-Government into Prussia has had to follow, itein had scarcely had time to mark out the plan of rork, when he was driven into exile by a Napoleonic e. When he returned the tide had begun to ebb, the period of organic reconstruction was passed. and enjoyment was what the higher classes asked 412 LOGAL GOVERNMENT. for; good government, not self-government, was what the middle and lower classes cared for. Political idealism took refuge in the enthusiastic portion of the nation, in the poetic deposit of. the war of liheration, amongst the comrades of Llitzow in his Wilde Jagd, amongst the men who had at bivouac fires sung in chorus the patriotic hymns of Arndt and Korner, or amongst the students and the Barschenscliaften at the IJniver- sities. But this idealism was of an unclear, dreamy, and fantastic kind, having nothing in common with the solid masonry of a reformer of Stein's calibre, whose official ^services were not again called into requisition. But the work that he had done remained standing, and the bureau- cracy he had created to serve a temporary purpose lived on as an abiding institution, filled with his spirit, and with a noble kind of professional zeal for the pubhc ■service, such as the higher sort of clergymen and physicians feel for their respective professions. It could not be a creating and initiating body, but it carried the ■ark of Stein's reforms in safety through the reactionary ;flood to a land, if not of promise, at least of promises ; for such in the main is the characteristic of the Consti- tution of 1850, which is the next great landmark in the history of Prussian organic reforms. It was through no lack of efforts on their part, how- ever, that the old society failed in winning back from the bureaucracy the ground which had been wrested from them by the Stein reforms ; and the tenacity and persistency with which the Yunkerthum or Squirearchy fought for the recovery of their rights shoW how vitalised all those social forces had been by the regime of Frederick the Grreat. These men felt that they did not belong to a faineant caste, that they had borne their share in the heat and burden of the immediate past, and that what they esteemed to be their rights had always been equipoised by corresponding duties. But their efforts only partially succeeded. In the struggle for political existence, between 1815 and 1850, the bureaucracy held their own and remained the State, a «lose professional body outside of society. During the GUBMANY. 413. 1 of the so-called Eomantic reaction, the Squire- succeeded in galvanising back into a kind of imbulist life "Estates" of the mediteval type, [led Provincial "States" and "States" of the were created in 1823; and ghost-like reminiscences ghts, burghers, and peasants met, at stated intervals, asked questions, and to volunteer opinions, on rs touching their interests. Their answers and opinions, duly engrossed, and with fine Grothio were then handed over to the Bureaucracy, and have added considerably to the bulk of the bureau- archives, but that was all. As a political insti- i, the " States " remained pinned on to the outside le bureaucratic constitution, and never really 3d its raison d'etre. The official class knew their too well not to know that dilettantes could not them out of the saddle. ' : 1B47, the attempt was ■ made to fashion a 3val Parliament out of the assembled ghosts, the liffte Landstande — with what result is known, fc last, in 1850, a parliamentary Constitution of the h type was odroye. The country was divided ilectoral districts ; and the citizens, according to itio of their money payments to the State, were upon to elect legislators ; but stiU the bureaucracy heir own, — nor could it well be otherwise, le paragraphs of the Chart of 1850 are, for the part. Declaratory Acts of the Eights of man in lecific Prussian shape, &c. When they get on to jroimd — such as questions of Education, the re- 3 of Church and State, Local Government, and the •they announce, in most cases, certain excellent pies as being- those of the Prussian Constitution ; ihen go on to say, that, on some future occasion, dll be made to carry out these excellent principles, at, until then, everything must remain in statu quo. ow, it is clear that until these principles could be into laws, in regard to the question of Self- ament, the bureaucracy, in obedience to a vis could not but remain masters of the field. 414 LOOAL GOVERNMENT. For vaiious reasons, wliicli we need not now enter into, twenty years elapsed before tlie period of Organic Legislation — i.e., of Legislation embodying in laws the promises of 1850 — could be entered upon. That period bas now commenced. The law of 1872, for tbe Organi- sation of the County, is the first serious attempt made to bridge over the gulf between the State and Society, by deprofessionalising the public service, and transferring the local administration from ofl&cial into lay hands. Before proceeding to examine it, however, we must have a clear idea of the professional machinery hitherto used by the governing class, as well as of the elements -composing the classes governed. Without this know- ledge we shall have no means of gauging the amount of Teform actually effected. The bureaucratic machinery of Prussia, then, is machinery fashioned with rare skill to carry out, in a -systematic, rational, and legal manner, the will of a supreme Crown, and consequently not cabinet machinery for the purposes of personal government. It stands in no organic connection with the parliamentary machinery which not only did not grow out of it, but was called into existence by forces antagonistic to it. The parha- mentary roof was superposed over the bureaucratic roof, :and both abutting directly on the edifice of the State — -each remained independent of the other, with no con- necting rafters between them. Until now, therefore, Prussia has been governed absolutely; the laws, it is true, have, since 1850, been made by laymen in the great parliamentary bodies, but "their execution has remained entrusted to a professional ■class, bound by an iron discipline, within the framework of an official hierarchy, the members of which, in a graduated scale, are subject to the commands of their superiors, until the whole hierarchy culminates in the persons of ministers, not responsible, to Parliament, but to the king.* * We are, of course, describing the state of things existing de facto, and not troubling ourselves about the de jure. The Prussian Constitution lays -down that for certain crimes ministers may be impeached, but this is not B-] GERMANY. 415 'he ministers are, of course, bound to govern accord- to laws, and their instructions must be framed ding to law; but the subordinates are bound to obey commands they receive from their superiors, and brings us to the radical difference between self- rnment and bureaucratic government, elf-government is government according to laws;' lucratic government is government according to actions. We, of course, do not mean to say that instructions can in a well-ordered state like da be contrary to the law, but merely that the rs charged with the execution of the laws in the iase are the immediate executors of the laws, in the ■ case only the mediate executors of the law. 'he members of a bench of English magistrates are he subordinate employes of the Home Office. They ommissioned directly by the Crown to carry out the of the Crown. Their jurisdiction, down to the .est details, is determined by laws ; in what they do i^hat they leave undone they have to look for their actions to the statute-book. n a self-governed State, therefore, the margin left to nal discretion is necessarily reduced to a minimum. ) meant by ministerial responsibility in the constitutional sense. In ase it means responsibility, not for criminal, but for political acts ; and iction by which it is enforced is retirement from office when the ;y do not approve of these acts. Ministerial responsibility is not the tia of constitutional government, as distinct from absolute goveru- jut the differentia of party government, and requires, as a conditio sine n, the co-existence of two distinct ministerial teams — one actually g the government coach, the other ready harnessed in the stable, and ! of being at any moment substituted for the former. Paragraph 61 Prussian Constitution promises a law of ministerial responsibility, and s of ingenious endeavours have been made to draw up such a law; but no bhe world can create the state of things which alone could bring about ility of ministerial responsibility, and when the state of things is 10 law wUl be required. As long as the ministers of the Crown must lily be taken from the ranks of the professional official class, the team system is impossible. As long as the professional official class monopoly of the knowledge of governing, — as long as they are the act only de jwre, but de facto, government by ministerial responsibility ssible. The force of Prussia lies in her bureaucracy : it is to her what I's hair was to him. If the political parties want to govern by party, ust first learn the trick of governing as a practical aart, and not as a itive theory. They must substitute themselves for the bureaucracy by he work of the bureaucracy, and learning to do it as well. As long e is only one team, that team will be responsible to the king, and I parliamentary majority. 416 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Every attribute of tlie magistrate, every conceivable use to wbicb be can put bis autbority must be strictly defined by tbe Legislature, for tbe good reason tbat be bas not got at bis back wbat be would bave were be tbe member of a bureaucracy — ^viz-., an administrative Com- mon Law, a Jus honorarium, stored up in innumerable precedents duly labelled and registered, but of course only known and accessible to tbe profession. In a self-governed State tbe governed are brougbt into immediate contact witb tbe laws— can as it were toucb tbem vdtb tbeir bands, see tbem witb tbeir eyes. In a bureaucratically-governed State, on tbe otber band, tbe governed onty come into mediate contact witb tbe laws ; wbat tbey toucb witb tbeir bands and see witb tbeir eyes are instructions. Tbe margin unprovided for by tbe laws of tbe realm is large in proportion to tbe amount of tbis accumulated administrative Common Law ; and tbough tbere is not mucb room for individual arbitrariness, tbere is mucb room for administrative arbitrariness. In studying Prussian institutions, tberefore, we must bear in mind tbat tbe legislative business of tbe country is done according to constitutional types, tbe governing business according to absolute types. Tbe voice is tbe voice of Jacob, but tbe bands are tbe bands of Esau. Tbe law we sball bave to deal witb is tbe first serious attempt tbat bas been made to bridge over tbe two systems. Tbe central institutions of tbe Prussian adminis- tration, or law-executing macbine, are : — 1. Tbe King's Privy Cabinet {Bas Geheime Kabinet des Koniffs). 2. Tbe Council of State {Das Staatsrath). 3. Tbe Ministry of State {JDas Staats Ministerium). Tbe first two are now more and more atropbising and returning to a rudimentary condition. Tbeir raison d'etre ceased as soon as tbe form of tbe State was cbanged from tbe absolute to tbe constitutional. Before tbe introduction of tbe Constitution it was tbe special 5-] GERMANY. 417 ess of the Council of State to make the laws v/hich, sanctioned by the king, after having been sub- d to him by his Privy Cabinet, were published in azette, and thus became the law of the land. Since ^^Jonstitution has established Parliamentary bodies le business of legislation, and requires the counter- ,ture of a minister for every public act of the Crown, bodies have become functionally superfluous, though still continue ' to exist, and exercise certain attri- 'he real centre of the entire mechanism is the stry of State, or Cabinet Council, as it might be lated, if it were not for the risk of confounding it our own Cabinet Council, from which it is widely ■ent. ]he Ministry of State is composed of the following sters : — . The Minister of Foreign Affairs, usually President of the Ministry. . The Minister ojf Finance. . The Minister for Divine Worship, Education, and Public Health. !. The Minister for Commerce, Industry, and Public Works, i. The Minister of the Interior, i. The Minister of Justice. . The Minister of War. 1. The Minister for Agriculture. t is usually, but not necessarily, presided over by the ister for Foreign Affairs ; but this presidency must be confounded with the dominating position of an iish Premier. The Prussian Minister President is bionally only the chairman of a Board. It is the ■d which decides, by a majority of votes. fVhenever, therefore, an important question, such as sv law, or any other matter for which the Constitu- requires the sanction of the Ministry of State in Drporate capacity, is brought before it, the Minister ident runs the risk, in common with each of his B B 418 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. colleagues, of being out- voted, without tMs in any waj constitutionally altering his position or requiring his resignation. Each minister is strictly responsible for his own department, and for his own only : the presiding Minister neither more nor less than the others. The Ministry of State is an association with limited liability. The solidarity of the concern does not centre in a Premier, but in the Crown. Now, it is this radical difference between the position of the Prussian Minister President and that of an English Premier which marks better than anything else the contradiction, to which we called attention above, between the Parliamentary and Absolute types respectively embodied ia the legislatiag and governing apparatus of the State. The imit of Government with us is the Premier, and this position he occupies in virtue of his being responsible to a Parlia- mentary maj ority . Under an absolute form of government the unit of Grovernment is the Sovereign, to whom each minister is equally responsible ; for practical purposes, the decision of doubtful questions, and the settlement of con- flicts inter pares can be left to a majority of these peers, but the last decision is necessarily in the hands of the Crown, which can dismiss one or more ministers, or all of them, as it thinks proper. The public bodies subordinated to these ministries are: — 1. The Authorities of the Province. 2. The Authorities of the Grovemment District {Jtegierung' s Bezirk). 3. The Authorities of the County {Kreis). The Province is 'an historical unit; each province representing a round in the ladder of Prussian aggran- disement. There are at present eleven of them. But we are only concerned with the six so-called Eastern Provinces. The Government of the Province consists of an Upper President {Ober President) and of various Boards for education, ecclesiastical affairs, &c., in regard to '•] GEBMAN7. 419 :rs wMch afFect the province generally. The r President has, besides his functions proper in i to these matters, a general supervision over the ict Government ; but as these are not placed ly Tinder him, but under the Ministries, and as it the focus of the District Grovernment that the IS which make up the administrative unity are atrated, it is to the latter that we must more par- rly direct our attention. J must refer out of courtesy to the Mediaeval Pro- I Estates alluded to above, and which, after having abrogated in 1850, were revived in 1853. But luch as, small as had been their sphere of activity ! 1850, that activity had consisted in giving opinions provincial laws, which laws are now made in tment, their raison d'etre has for the present wholly jeared. lie Grovernment of the Eegierung's Sezirk or Gfo- lental District is, par excellence, the Grovernment egierung. It consists of a Collegium or Board, com- of (1) a Begierunff's President, par excellence the lent, (2) of a certain number of Birigenten — i.e., 3 of Departments or Sections, with the title of 'Regierungsrathe, and (3) of Begierungsrdthe, Coun- i, and Assessors or embryo Bathe. The Assessor i on the second round of the official ladder. He before obtaining his nomination, have passed a ! examination — the details of which we will not For fear of exciting the emulation of H.M. Civil e Examiners — and have served his apprenticeship nae time as a Beferendar — i.e., on the first round of ider. As soon, however, as he has been appointed Begierung, he at once enters upon the serious !ss of his profession, and his work is generally of me kind as that of the Bathe. The mechanical svork — the business of copying, sealing, folding, &c., le by a class of subordinate employes. There range prejudice in Grermany against keeping a man 3 ten or fifteen best years of his Hfe at mere me^ al drudgery ; and a deep-rooted beUef that training 420 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. of tliis kind not only does not fit a man but rather unfits him for the higher duties of a profession. The Government Board is divided into the following sections -, — 1. Interior. 2. Ecclesiastical Affairs and Education. 3. Direct Taxes, Domains, Woods and Forests. 4. Indirect Taxes. Eacli section constitutes a Board of its own, pre- sided by the Head of the Department, the Dirigeni, with the title of Oder Begierungsraili. The other members of the Board are, the ordinary Eathe, or Begier- unffSratJie proper ; the Assessors and certain additional technical Eathe, according to the business of the section — Forstrdthe, Schul/railie, Baurdthe, &c. — according as the section is one connected with "Woods and Forests, Education, Public Buildings, &c. Then there are a certain number of legal advisers under the name of Justitiarii, one of whom is apportioned to each Section, ,wliose business it is to keep the Board legally straight, and to defend the legal interests of the Fisk against all comers. The business of each. Section is divided amongst th.e members of the Board as much as possible, according to districts ; but the decisions and resolutions, except in regard to such matters as can be settled off- hand by mere reference to exact instructions, or to mere routine, are decided after free discussion at the Board, by a simple majority ; the Head of the Department only having a casting vote where the numbers are equal. The Head of the Department, however, if he finds himself in a minority, and persists in believing that he. is right, may appeal to the President of the Eegierung ; and the latter may decide either in favour of the majority or in favour of the Head of the Department, or bring the matter before the Plenum of the Eegierung — that is, the full Board, composed of all the members of all departments. This Plenum has to decide on all important matters, of whatever kind, and on all matters which affect the ™-J OUBMANY. 421 •ict in its entirety. If tlie President finds Mmself " voted he may appeal to the Upper President of the ince, if such a course does not involve dangerous or nvenient delay. If it does either the one or the other, lust submit to carry out decisions taken, however con- j they may he to his views. In the Plemm only the <■ Begierungsrathe — that is, the Heads of Departments, the ordinary Councillors, Begierungsrathe proper, ) full and perfect votes; the technical Bathe only Qg on questions connected with their special business, the Assessors on questions of which they have had management. [t would be impossible within our limits to give the er any adequate idea of the many-sided activity of ivemment Board of this kind. The mere skeleton of subjects falling within the competence of the first sec- , that for the Interior, fills a couple of pages — a few lings from it, therefore, must suffice, such as : Police lat is to say, the maintaining public safety and order ; securing of criminals and vagabonds ; the looking r prisons and houses of correction. Preventive Police ich as seeing that no buildings, public or private, built on dangerous principles. Medicinal Police — ■ seeing after the sale of medicaments ; the preven- of cures by unqualified persons {sic) ; the rooting of popular prejudices and habits injurious to health; entive measures against epidemics amongst men or 'e, against the adulteration of food. Agricultural oe — including every kind of transaction connected L the item Landes-cultur Angelegenheiten — circum- ces having reference to the cultivation of land. munal Affairs — everything connected with com- es not coming under the specific heads of church, ols, &c. Poor Laws, Jews and Mmnonites, Statistics, &c. ]jvery head of a department, as well as every Bath assessor, is bound each year to make a tour through rtion of the district, to keep an official journal of lie sees, to be afterwards preserved amongst the •ds of the Board, and thus to make himself prae- 422 LOCAL GOVEBNMENT. tically acquainted with tlie daily life and the daily wants of the governed in the smallest details. "When we consider the high standard of. education which the members of these Boards begin their pro- fessional life with — the impulse and stimulus which the independent treatment of these matters must give — ^the control of this independencCj not by the ipse dixit of a red-tape superior, but by the votes of peers, after fiiU and exhaustive discussion, in a body partly composed of technical experts — the extraordinary general experience and knowledge of the public service which must be acquired by having to give a responsible vote on every one of the manifold subjects above adverted to, in addi- tion to the specific knowledge on the particular subject entrusted to the individual Bath or assessor — the emula- tion and esprit de corps which such a system must bring forth — we need not wonder at the high position which the Prussian Bureaucracy has taken in the world, or at the greatness of its achievements. The Megierung corresponds directly with, and re- ceives its instructions from, the various ministries at Berlin, according to the subjects which they have to treat. The district of the Eegierung's Bezirk is divided into circles. The executive officer of the Government in the cu-cle is the Landrath. The Landrath originally was an amphibious per- sonage, and still retains something of that character. He was the organ through whom, after the "States" had been fully reduced to submission, the crown made these corporations do the work of the State. He was at first appointed by the " States," and was necessarily a leading personage amongst the Bitterschaft or holders of knights' fees in the circle ; but, little by little, he became an oflicer of the Crown, pure and simple, and, by the Constitution of 1850, he was changed into the direct nominee of the crown. When the Provincial States, and the States of the Circle, were revived in 1853, the old system of the E.] QEBMANY. 423 Irath being selected by the king from a list of local rietors was revived. But this has not altered his character, which is that of the executive organ of Uegierung in the Kreis. As such, he is the most trtant personage in the entire hierarchy, and his ! the pivotal point on which the administration 3 ; for in his own person he, as it were, collects into igle focus, as regards the Kreis — i.e., as regards irea of from ten to twenty square Eeichsmeilen, a population of 20 to 70,000 inhabitants — all the ies concentrated in the Itegierunff as regards the rh. 3!e is the preposifus or superior authority over all the nunal authorities within his Kreis, and the respon- ! representative of the State within his district — ^for i the last public officer of the hierarchy. It is true he is to a certain extent assisted in his work by the u^rent activity of the resuscitated " Estates " of Circle ; . but, though invested with public func- 3/ these bodies, like the corporations they represent, still in their essence private bodies ; and, except igards certain very limited powers of voting sums of ey for purposes of general utihty, their functions !onsultative, not deliberative. The point to note, therefore, is that with the irath we have arrived at the last of the organs of government of the State properly so-called, and we have now to examine the elements of which the smed society is composed, the corporations into ih it is grouped, and the amount of co-operation in work of government as yet accorded to them. The Kreis or County contains three distinct elements nits of administration : Towns {Stadte), Townships idgemeindo), and Manors {Gutslezirhe) . 424 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Towns {Stddte). The Municipal Grovemment founded by Stein's great law in 1808 is as yet the only real and Uving piece of self-government in Prussia. It has, after nearly seventy years of a fruitful existence, driven its roots deep into the soil, and satisfactorily solved the great problem of local government, viz., the combining the administra- tion of affairs which are partly private, partly public, in the same hands ; it has established itself as the type which all future attempts at creating self-govferning institutions must follow. For it is this bifacial character, inherent in all com- munal or local bodies, which is the real stumbHng-block. The economic [wirthschaftlich) management of the rights and property of private associations on the one side, the public {offentliclie) management of the duties which the State imposes on the other. The following are the outlines of the municipal con- stitution of the larger Prussian towns : — 1. An executive magistracy. 2. An elective body of municipal deputies {^Stadt Verordneten). 1. The magistracy consists of a Burgomaster, a Deputy Burgomaster, a n\imber of ScMffen (our old friends the scabini, but with very different functions) or {Stadtrdthe) town Councillors, and one or more paid members, such as a chamberlain {kdmmerer), whose functions are financial, a school inspector, a Baurath, or inspector of buildings, &c. The Burgomaster and the technical members of the magistracy are salaried officers; the Schoffen, or town Councillors, receive no salaries. The Burgomaster and the paid members of the magistracy are elected for twelve years, and may be elected for life. The Burgomaster and all the remaining magistrates are elected by the municipal assembly {Stadt Verordneten B.] GERMANY. 425 immlunff), but tlie Crown has a veto on tlie election e Burgomaster, whose assumption of office therefore res the royal sanction. . The Municipal Assembly is elected by the whole of the citizens {Bilrger), divided into three electoral yes, according to the amount of taxes which they It represents the interest of the ratepayers, and m absolute voice in all questions of expenditure, municipal budget is fixed by them and voted by In a word, everything connected with the )mic management of the rights and property of the >ration as a private association is absolutely under control, i.e., under the control of representatives 3d directly by the ratepayers. ^he pubHc or State duties, i.e., mainly the police ions, are primarily in the hands of the burgomaster, e election therefore requires the sanction of the n, and who has to take an oath of office before a commissioner. The principle at stake is one de majeure, viz., that the State, being responsible for ue performance of the public business, cannot forfeit ght of co-operation in the nomination of the agents Lsted with the performance of that business. In all itive matters connected with the police, the burgo- er therefore acts on his personal responsibility in e of the jurisdiction attached to his office. In every- j else his position is the same as that of the J^resi- of the Staats Ministerium, or the President of the •ks Beffierunff. He is the chairman of a Board bi decides by a majority of votes. It stands to n that a vast amount of the public work, even of the 3 work (when not immediately. of an executive kind), msacted in this manner, which is the typical manner he transaction of all public business in Prussia. ;e, speaking generally, the public business of the oration may be said to devolve on the Board of Lstrates, the economic business on the Assembly of esentatives ; but it is in the nature of things that 1 two kinds of business should dovetail into each •, and this peculiarity is met by an excellent con- 426 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. trivance, ttat of Deputationen , or mixed permanent com- mittees, composed of members of the magistracy and members of the representative assembly, whose business it is to undertake the executive management of the several branches of the administration, poor laws, schools, &c., &c. lu this way the humblest and the highest members of the community can, in a practical and efficient manner, be associated in the every-day business of local government. We must further note, that for the current general executive business, the municipality is divided into official districts {Amtsbezirke), placed under Bezirksvorsteher, or district overseers, who are the organs of the magistracy, and under their orders and those of the Burgomaster. A point of some importance must not be omitted. The Burgomaster and the board of magistrates, i.e., the Executive of the corporations are directly subordinated to the Regierung of the district, whose orders they are bound to obey. That is to say, that even the most real and living element of self-government in Prussia is still partly under the regime of laio, partly under the r%ime of instructions. Lastly, in regard to the important matter of the budget, we must remark that there is no standard of taxation, no unit of rating according to which local taxes are collected throughout the country. Within certain limits, and with the consent of the Eegierung, corporations can impose on themselves both direct and indirect taxes of a fancy kind, and quite irrespectively of imperial taxes, or a visible real property in the borough. The Township {Landgemeinde). The most salient feature about the township is that it is essentially a private Corporation, an association for economic purposes, to which a minimum of public work has been delegated, from geographical necessity. A flood of light has been thrown on the whole subject by the discovery of Professor Sohm, that in the old Teutonic community the village community was a private not a public body, that its officers were private officers, not •J GEBMANY. 427 3 officers. Whenever we search for the unit of •nment in the old society it is never the township ilage community we come upon, but some such an as the tithing or the like. len in England a local unit was required for the ses of local taxation, the parish, as the only public ration at hand, was naturally selected; and the L has, of course, no ancestors in the old Teutonic OS. In Grermany, in the great majority of cases, nit was the manor : but still a certain number of illages remained, especially in the eastern provinces ussia, which were largely colonised at a compara- late date, and under the rule of kings not friendly 5 feudal system. at technically the rural communes are public corpo- is, that they bear the name of Politische Gemeinden, ibhc communes, that the village authorities, the ze and the Schoffen, are officially described as a ■de or public office, we are well aware ; 'but, ex- id both functionally and historically, they are found de facto what we described them, private corpora- with a minimum of public duties affixed to them, is will be at once apparent when we call attention e fact that this politische Gemeinde or so-called 3 corporation has, first, no police jurisdiction, 3Condly, not identical with the ecclesiastical lune (Kirchengemeinde) or parish, nor, thirdly, the school commune or Schulgemeinde, which in Prussia a public institution, is on that account ct from the commune properly speaking, '^hen the school, the church, and the police, are sub- d from the sum-total of the business falling within ompetence of communal authorities, it is pretty that what remains is mainly of a private character. b.e townships in the eastern provinces of Prussia lainly village communities of the typical kind bed in our Essay on land tenures, i.e., closely i villages, situated in the centre of a parcelled-out iltural area, which till a very late date was culti- in common on the three-field system. 428 LOGAL GOVERNMTSNT. Except in a few very exceptional cases, tliese town- sliips used to be connected in various ways with, the manors adjacent to them — i.e., manor and township were correlative terms. At the period we are describing, i.e., tbe period immediately preceding the promulgation of tbe law of 1872, tbe principal points of connection that remained between the two were that the township con- tinued under the police jurisdiction of tbe manor, and tbat where it bad formerly been directly subject to the manor — i.e., where the inhabitants had been the villeins of tbe lord of tbe manor — ^the latter stiU retained the right of appointing the village ScJiulze. Where the lord of tbe manor had not this right, it was a proof that the village had been free ; and in this case the office of ScJmlze was attached to one particular Hof, or freehold in the township, the owner of which was bound either to exercise the office or to find a sub- stitute (a curious instance of a kind of undeveloped rudimentary manor). But even free villages were, for police purposes, under the jurisdiction ~ of the manor. For the rights they have to exercise, and tbe duties they have to fulfil, these townships are constituted into Corporations, with tbe rights of juridical persons. They can, within certain limits, and under the eye of the Begiermg, draw up charters embodying their rights, which, when sanctioned, become a body of local law ; or they are ruled by the customs and observances of time immemorial. The administration of tbe affairs of the community is vested in a communal assembly {Gemeinde- Versmmlung), consisting either of kn elected body, or of the entire community. The executive officers are the Schulze, and two or more Schqffen. The assembly has duties analogous to those of the Eepresentative Assembly in the town Corporations. It has to look after the economic interests of the corpora- tion, to manage and control the property of the commune, whether this consists in land, or in communal rights, in debts or credits, it has to decide on the expen- diture, to find the ways and means, &c., &c. J OEBMANY. 429 le ScJmlze and Schoffen have duties analogous to of the town magistracy, and perform such, public as are confided to them, the most important of are the exercise of police functions, as the sub- iite officers of the manor, and the constitution of a ? court {Dorfffericht) for elementary acts of volun- urisdiction, such as the taking of affidavits, the 3sing of wills, contracts, &c. le economic functions of the community are, on ther hand, of a very complicated and manifold owing to the intricate nature of communal rights, iides, rights of common, and so on. One of the important of its functions is, naturally, that con- l with the maintenance of its paupers. This is a ! duty, strictly regulated by law ,; but the funds ■ed for the purpose form an important item in the unal budget ; and here we are again met by the same malformation which we referred to in connection the municipal budget — the absence of a common )f taxation for local purposes of a public kind, te L'andgemeinde, like the Stadtgemeinde, provides .1 its expenditure promiscuously out of the funds disposal — ^first, out of its current income derived property ; then by means either of rates levied iition to imperial taxes, or by self-imposed direct [irect taxes ; lastly, by debt. I every one of these operations, however, as indeed ;ry part of its communal life, whether private or J, the township is under the constant fatherly sur- Qce of the Landrath, and of those busy ever watch- isessors and Bathe, who travel about the country n' notes," and who constitute the Boards of the rung. astly, we should add, that - though the Schul- nde is a separate corporation from the Politische ut fragments of old autonomies, rrouped roimd the Landrath are the so-called States Kreis, Kreis Stande, a little mediaeval parliament, ed of all the larger landed proprietors, i.e., the * the manor in their own persons, and of a certain aited number of representatives of the towns and ips. The proportions between the two will best by the fact that out of a total number of 11,954 "S composing the county parliaments, 10,000 are and only-1,954 are the elected representatives of ns and townships. i business of the Kreistag is to give advice and to opinions, and, where the Kreis, as such, has any f its own, to dispose of them (more or less under itrol of the Begiermg) for purposes of general 432 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. utility. They also elect two so-called Kreis DepuHrte, whose business it is to help the Landrath, and do all he tells them, and one or other of whom takes his place when he absents himself. 4. As regards the question of finding the ways and means for the purposes of local expenditure, towns and townships suffer alike from the radical defect of being able, within certain limits, to tax themselves as they please.though, of course, always under the bureaucratic supervision of the Regierung. In the towns the evil has grown less, because, by the mere force of things, a toler- ably uniform system of direct taxation has grown up. But in the townships the evil is enormously aggravated by immemorial usages, communal personal taxes being paid according to old social divisions of the rural hier- archy into whole peasants, half peasants, gardeners, booth-men, cottiers, &c. This defect arises from the fact of these corporations having their roots in old pri- vate autonomies, and, as such, claiming the right to do as seems good in their own eyes with that which they believe to be their own ; and it is one of the greatest difficulties which the legislation is met with in its attempts to found a rational system of local govern- ment. ' In England, and in England alone, local taxes have assumed their true character, viz., that of jpublic taxes imposed by the State, for State purposes, in the localities where they are raised. Poor rates, highway rates, police rates, are public taxes for public purposes ; they do not come out of the pocket-money of the ratepayer, but out of the money which he owes to the State ; they are not imposed by a local parhament, but by the Imperial Government, and they axe levied according to a uniform standard upon the " visible profitable property .in the parish." It cannot be too often repeated that it is this public character of local taxation which has made self-govern- ment possible. The selves of a local community can only be entrusted with the duties of government when the laws according to which they are to govern are made for GERMANY. 433 J the State. They cannot be entrusted with the function of making the laws and administering rs. , the logical culmination of the system. The Eepre- sentative becomes the mandataire. He is to be left no discretion. He is not to be swayed by the interests of the State, or of the community at large, such as they naturally rise to the surface in the deliberations of a 444 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. public assembly. He is to remain the mechanical mouth-piece of the will of a social or political coterie. The boldest, and, in some respects, the most logical form which the system takes is that of a Csesarism based on plebiscites. At certain intervals Society is called upon to decide by universal suffrage who its head servant shall be, and what are the principles by which he is to be guided. When the vote has been taken, Society returns to its usual occupations, and leaves the business of the State to Caesar, and to Caesar's Prefects, sub-prefects, and deputy sub -prefects. The milder Teutonic form of the disease aims at disintegrating the State into autonomies — Parish Par- liaments, Municipal Parliaments, County Parliaments. The typical form of this kind of government is takfen from that of the great industrial undertakings : railway companies, trading companies, &c. &c. The electors, in corpore, elect a board of directors, and lay down certain principles according to which the work is to be done. Once a year they meet to abuse or vote thanks to the directors — to confirm or to dismiss them. Once a week the Board meets to superintend the work, to sign letters written by the secretary, to taUc about the weather, and to lunch. The actual hard work — the real personal labour — is done by the em- ployes, the secretaries, &c. A local voting body, a talking superintending body, a paid executive body — such is the modem social idea of self-government. The logical franchise of the social system is universal male and female suffrage. 2. The bureaucratic system places the State above Society, looks upon itself as the State, and Society as the raw material to be administered. The principles which are to rule this administration must be recorded in a few organic statutes ; the rules of administration are contained in an immense body of unwritten, or rather, unpublished, administrative case law. The bureaucratic system is profoundly indifferent about the franchise. It looks on representative law- MoEiBB.] GERMANY. 445 making bodies as debating clubs, in whicb a good deal of nonsense is talked by the well-meaning laymen wLo occupy seats in their own right ; while a gi-eat deal of wisdom is poured forth by its own representatives, who, though having no seats in such bodies, havefthe right, as Grovernment commissaries, to be respectfully listened to whenever they give the world tlie benefit of their professional views. It knows very well that, in the long run, the laws will have to be made on the patterns which it ftimishes, because law-making is an art which cannot be practised by dilettantes. Those who ad- minister the laws make the laws ; and if the administra- tion of the laws is left as a monopoly in the hands of a professional class, that class will be the law makers. 3. The system of self-government looks upon society and the State as one and indivisible, as together con- stituting one body, only looked at from different sides. The object it endeavours to attain is that, in some form or other, aU the governed shall, according to the measure of their ability, take a personal share in the public work (not necessarily in the public talk), and that all the governors shall fall amongst the ranks of the governed. The Teutonic Landesgemeinde realised this ideal, and the generations brought up in this school went forth from their forests and founded a new world. The greatest poUtical thinker arrived at this ideal, as the result and sum total of his political philosophy. . " The virtue of the perfect citizen," says Aristotle, in the third " Book of the Politics," " is this : that he is able both to govern admirably and to be governed admirably." And again : " Wherefore this also has been rightly said, that they only can govern well who themselves are governed."* The ideal franchise of the self-government system would be household suffrage, in which every householder should have a distinct share of the public work assigned to him, and rigorously exacted at his hands. * Kol 7roA.iTii; SokIhov elvai. t] Sperij to SuvajTBai Kol fepx^'" ""^ ttpxe(T0cu koXwj. And again : Atb koI \eyeTai Kal rovro Kahas its obK ^tntv eS &p|ai /t*^ apx^^vra. 446 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. It is now easy for us to see in what way tliese three systems have been utilised in the law of 1872. The County Parliament, with its unlimited power of talking, its right to elect the County Board, and to determine by a vote in what proportions the incidence of local taxation shall be divided between income and real property, clearly has its affinities with the social system, and with government of the railway company type. The supervision and control of the entire county organisation by the bureaucratic machinery of the district Megierung, and the right of the latter to determine what the local taxation shall be, if the County Parliament cannot come to an agreement, are clearly the points on which the system maintains its coherence with the bureaucratic system. Lastly, the altogether new creation of the local magistrates (the Amtsvorsteher), the investing these magistrates with the jurisdiction of justices of the peace, and their nomination by the Crown, as well as the Magisterial Boards — the members of which have them- selves to do the work of overseers of the poor, reheving- officers, &c. — are a distinct and conscious reversion to self-government of the old English type. It is on the success of the latter experiment that the debureaucratising of the Prussian State depends ; and the experiment appears to us therefore to be one of extreme interest, and worthy of being followed with attention. The great difficulties to be overcome, and which may very possibly result in the failure of the scheme, are : (1) The dislike of a population which has been well and cheaply governed by professionals to undertake the work themselves. (2) The tradition, still alive in the agricultural population of the Eastern Provinces of Prussia, of the days when the Lords of the Manor ruled over them for their own purposes as villains adscripted to the glebe. The King's employes represent to these Prussian peasants the force which eman- cipated them from their thraldom; and it will, we suspect, be a long time before they get used to the idea that the squires whom they now see resuming, under another form, ;.] OEBMANY. 447 the business of local government, are the servants of the King, and not their old lords merely painted black and white. (3) The immense sacrifices of time and labour required at the hands of a squirearchy, whose time and labour are abeady taken up by the administration of their own properties, which, as a rule, they cultivate themselves, and do not let into farms. We have thus brought our very imperfect sketch to a very imperfect conclusion, and it would perhaps be wiser for us to stop here. Living out of England, and necessarily unacquainted with the detailed working of English local institutions, it may appear presumptuous to venture on the application to them of the principles dwelt upon in this essay. Nevertheless there are certain general facts on which even an outside looker-on may claim to have an opinion. There are two important streams of public opinion in England respecting the relations between Society and the State, both of which appear to us to be wrong, and wrong because they start from abstract principles which stand in diametrical opposition to the concrete historical foundations on which our English Common- wealth has been built up. The one looks upon the State as a necessary evil, to be thrust as much as possible into the background, its wings cut, and its claws trimmed. It pins its faith on voluntaryism, and believes that all that is required for the attainment of the highest social and political ideals is the most absolute -laissez /aire, the most un- compromising liberty of cooperation and association for every conceivable purpose, whether of a public or of a private kind. • It ignores the centripetal forces of the State, the incomparably greater reserve forces which the State exercises as the collective E^o, than any which can be exercised by even the most powerful associations of in- dividual Effos. It only sees in the State a gigantic jobmaster. The other stream, fully recognising the forces in- ■448 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. herent in tlie State, wishes to utilise them to the utn and to thrust upon the State the business of soci It sees in the State an incomparable maid-of-all-w and wishes to secure her services for the benefil society. It strives to harness the State to social terests in exactly the same fashion that the medis corporations endeavoured to do in their day. Both systems have this in common, that i altogether ignore the obligation of society to do work of the State. The one is full of energy, and wis to do everything itself, and to be bound by no constr ingjudeo, ox prohibeo. The other is lazy and phlegms and wishes to throw its own business on the ghoul ( of the State. The one leads to disintegration, the o\ to bureaucracy. Both are the determined enemies of self-govemm of the old English type. For self-government is a h task-master ; it expects every man to do his duty, optionally and according to his views of the way it ou to be done, but as a public obligation and according the views of the State upon the matter. Far be it from us to disparage the great results t have been obtained by voluntaryism; it is only abuse, not the use, of the force that we deprecate, regard it as an invaluable servant but as an indiffei master. We have pointed out what the running rio' this principle led to in mediaeval Germany. We n only point to the London charities to show the miscl it is capable of working amongst ourselves. Far be it likewise from us to disparage the effi made by the Central Grovernment to bring order into «haos of local administration, but we cannot but beli that the tendency of the present day, which hates trou and cares about nothing so much as self-indulgence, n drive us on far too rapidly into bureaucratic ways, ■cannot, for instance, regard it otherwise than as a i danger, that such important classes of socieiy as moneyed classes and the wage-earning classes, should wholly left outside the sphere of obligatory service the State. The hold that the State has over MoKiEB.] OEBMANT. 449 proprietors of land is so great tiiat it can at any time jforce them to do its work. Not so witli tlie people who liave money and nothing else. When they have paid their income-tax they fancy they have done all that the State can require at their hands, and that they have acquired a vested right to do nothing. Then again, amongst the wage-earning classes the idea that they owe a duty to the State is one that has never even had ' the chance of being developed. That they have rights plenty of people take care to tell them, but of the public duties corresponding to those rights they hear very little. When at the time of the Reform Bill the franchise was extended to the classes who had so long been unjustly kept out of it, no corresponding lowering of the qualification for the duty of juryman took place, and the principle that the franchise was a public right correlative to the performance of a public duty was tacitly abandoned. We have no space left to enter upon this great sub- ject, but two instances may be adduced ta show the direction in which it seems to us that a return to the true principles of self-government might be attended with the most advantageous results. The relief of the poor, and the maintenance of the public peace, are clearly two of the most important branches of local public business. They were those which used to be the most typical of English self- government; they are those which the tendencies of modem Society have the most completely bureau- cratised. That a root and branch reform of the Poor Law administration was imperatively called for, and that the reformed Parliament did its duty manfully in grappling with the difficulty, is, of course, not open to a doubt. . It is the manner of the reform, the departure on all important points from the principles of self-government, and the adoption of bureaucratic principles, pure and simple, which appear to us so open to criticism. For our present purpose, it must suffice to say that that portion of the administration of the Poor Law D D 450 LOCAL GOVEBNUENT. wliicli, on the principles of self-government, ought most specially to be confided to the organs of self-govern- ment — to unpaid lay members of society — ^we mean, the actual business of poor relief, the visiting and the be- coming acquainted with the individual and particular cases of pauperism, is confided to bureaucratic organs- — i.e., to paid employes dependent on a central unseen office — but controlled by a palpable and visible Board, whose duty it is, in the first instance, to look after the interests of the ratepayers. Now it seems to us that "without in any way inter- fering with the system of a central administration, or with that of a local board, elected to look after the interests of the ratepayers, a considerable step would be taken in the way of returning to the principles of self- • government, if the office of Relieving Officer were de- composed, on the model of the Prussian mixed muni- cipal Deputations, into minute local committees, presided over by " substantial householders," but the members of which should, in great part, be taken from the wage- earning classes, i.e., from the classes best acquaiuted with the circumstances and the wants of the persons to be reKeved. By means of minute subdivisions the work could be easily so apportioned as not to be too great a burden on the persons employed upon it. We have seen the system at work, with our own eyes, in Prussia, and it seemed to us to act smoothly and efiectively. The " substantial householder " who presides, has, of course, most of the labour thrown upon his shoulders. He keeps the accounts, manages the correspondence, has the custody of the strong-box, furnishes the room in which the committee holds its weekly meetings. His district is sub-divided into minute sub-districts, consisting of one or two streets at the most. Each of these sub- districts is confided to the care of one member of the committee who resides in the street, or in the immediate vicinity. In a very short time his official position, joined to his social position, enables him to become per- fectly acquainted with the circumstances of all his neighbours, most of whom are in the same rank of life MoKiEK.] GERMANY. 461 as himself. Whenever a case of relief presents itself (and under such a system there is great scope for pre- ventive relief, and for the " stitch in time which saves nine"), he reports it to the President of the committee, who names two other members to inquire into it. If the case is one requiring immediate relief, he relieves it out of the funds at his disposal. Once a week he attends the Poor Law committee of the municipality (the body which, in the English system, answers to the Poor Law Guardians), reports all his cases, with his opinions upon, tliem, and leaves the ultimate decision regarding them in their hands. We need not point out all the advantages of such a system. Apart from those which would accrue from that minute search and accurate personal knowledge of the particular cases which is the great desideratum of all poor law administration — and the want of which is so much felt in England, and often ' causes so wasteful an expenditure — ^the great, and in our eyes, the invaluable point gained would be that in one most important branch of the public service the wage-earning classes would be harnessed to the work of the State, would be brought under the sobering and educating influence of publie responsibilityi would feel within them the animating spirit of all true citizenship, viz., the sense of belonging to a ruling, not less than to a ruled class, would have a chance of realising, in one department at least of the public life, the virtue of the perfect citizen, the «:aX&j? ap-)(ei,v Kol dfyxeadai. Voluntaryism, even of the highest kind, cannot yield these results, for it is based on enthusiasm, which, after a time, dies a natural death, and is incapable of sustained effort from generation to generation. It is the education of the unenthusiastic people who would not volunteer to do the work, but whom the law forces to do it, which is the most valuable part of self-government. Lastly, one other great point would be gained, the smelting of classes in the furnace of public duty. In mixed committees of this kind the millionaire and the mechanic are yoked together to the same work, and have to ,do it on the same terms. They 152 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. are together admitted as brotters into the great guild of the State. , The other great branch of self-government which, ■we heartily desire to see, in part at least, restored is that of the maintenance of the public peace. We know too well the requirements of modern society to propose a return to the petty constable system of a former age, or not to recognise the justice of the demand for a paid constabulary, but we do not see why the one system should not be made to supplement the other. An excellent law, the Parish Constable's Act (5 & 6 Victoria, cap. 101), was passed at the beginning ot the present reign, for the revivifying the office of petty constable on the true principles of self-government, with the compulsoriness of the office, &c. ; but, by simul- taneously giving to the bodies to which the law was to apply, the option of appointing paid constables instead, its efficiency was in a great measure neutralised. We believe that the right system consists in a division of labour between a paid constabulary for the ordinary active routine business, and of unpaid petty constables for extraordinary occasions and for the purposes of pre- ventive police. We have the materials at hand in the institution of special constables, which, however, we only use as a levee en masse in cases of great and imminent political peril. We do not see why a certain number of householders- in each parish, and, in our big towns, in each street, should not be yearly sworn in as special constables, and be bound to assist the paid constables in case of need, to act as a kind of reserve, or Landwehr, to the police, and to interfere on their own responsibility in manifest breaches of the peace. We cannot but think that the constant presence of such a force in those lanes and alleys where wife kicking and playing at football vnth the quivering bodies of fellow-citizens is becoming a national pastime, would have a calming and moderating influence. We believe that in the worst alleys there are some per- sons who dislike this kind of thing, and would, with a MOBIEB.J ' GERMANY. 453 proper force at their back, be quite ready to interfere. What they reqiiire is the prestige of a higher kind of public opinion than that present " in the air " of the alley, and this higher kind of public opinion could not take a better shape than that of a stout truncheon with the Queen's crown and the lion and unicorn emblazoned upon it. Make these men into officers of the Crown and we believe that their mere presence would go a long way in preventing those scenes of brutality for its own sake which make us a byword amongst nations. At present, in these same lanes and alleys of ours. Society and the State are divided by a very palpable gulf. Society drinks, curses, kicks its wives, and vivisects its children. The State, at measured intervals, tramps slowly on its rounds, turns its bull's-eye on Society and passes on. For a moment all is hushed. The wives and children have a few minutes' respite. Then, as the footfalls of the State die away in the distance. Society returns to its ordinary avocations. Establish in each locality an overseer of the poor, as a public officer, and half a dozen petty special constables, selected de melioribus hominibus of the classes who dwell in these lanes and alleys, and the State and Society are once more re-united ; the omnipresence of the State is once more restored. We do not doubt that persons practically acquainted with the facts of English society will be able to demon- strate the unfeasible and Utopian nature of all such plans; and to the verdict of such we are, of course, ready to bow our heads. But against the principles themselves we maintain that no valid objection can be entertained, except on the ground that the age we live in has too completely yielded itself up to the lust of self-indulgence, is too soft and luxurious, too selfish and too sensational, to revert to that manly daily public life which made the greatness of our ancestors. That the relations between the State and Society are not satisfactory, even objectors will admit. That the forces of Society are driving away from each other in centrifugal directions, that the so-called social in- 454 LOCAL GOVERNMENT terests are glaring at each, other with envious J angry eyes, who will deny? That a cementing fc is daily becoming more necessary who can doubt ? 1 cement which in days gone by prevented us, and alone, of all the nations of Europe, from breaking into hostile castes, and made us a strong and uni people, was the cement of the public service; and alone, we believe, has, even in these latter days, strenj sufficient to unite class with class, interest with inter( True Teutonic equality, like true Teutonic libei consists in this, that all members of society shall, ei in the measure of his ability, be equally enrolled in service of the State, shaU equally submit to the c( straining influence of public responsibility. For the evils that loom in the distance, and wh shadows, cast before them, are already beginning disturb the day-dreams of the enjoying classes, mg quack medicines are daily advertised. Tor our part, believe that it is by looking back into the concrete pt and not by trying to extract a priori theories out of abstract future, that the remedies may yet be found. . Tor this purpose, at the risk of appearing to indu in the mere pedantries of antiquarian lore, we hi endeavoured to show to our readers how it was that < ancestors went right whilst our Teutonic kinsmen w wrong ; and how it comes to pass that the latter, trying to go right, have been forced to revert to tyj which, though the outcome of our own national life, are ourselves daily more and more discarding. The task is one we believe well worth the doing it could only be done well, and we heartily hope it n yet be attempted by more competent hands than ours E. B. D. M THE END. CABEELL TETTEH ifc GALPIN, EELLE SAUVAGE WOKKS, LOl'DON, E.C. Selections from Messrs. Gassell Petter & Galpin'S publications. J^tala. By Chateaubriand. Illustrated by Gustave Dobe. Nm Edition, cloth ^1 Is. ^Biographical Dictionary, Cassell's, with Portraits of Eminent Men. Imperial 8vo, 1,162 pp., hal£ morocco ... 35s. Bible Educator, The. Edited by tte Eev. E. H. Plumpteu, M.A. ; assisted by some of our most eminent Scholars and Divines. With about 400 Illustrations, Maps, &o. Complete in Pour Vols., cloth, 63. each; or Two Double Vols., each 10s. 6d. . -Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. By the Eer. Dr. Bbewbb. Giving the Derivation, Source, or Origin of about 20,000 Common Phrases, AUusious, and Words that have a Tale to Tell. ' THew and. Cheaper Edition. Demy 8vo, 1,000 pp., cloth 7s. 6d. British Battles on Land and Sea. By james Grant, Author of "The Komance of War," &c. Vols. I. and II. now- ready, each containing about 200 Illustrations, extra Crown 4to. 576 pp., cloth gilt, per Vol 9s- •Christian Year, Keble's. lUustrated throughout. Extra crown 4to. Cloth 7s. 6d. ; gilt edges, 10s. 6d. ; morocco ... 21s. Oobden Cliib Essays, second sebies, 1871-2. Demy svo. Becond EdUion. 560 pp., cloth , 158. X)ante's Inferno, illustrated by Gustave Dobe. Crown folio, cloth, .£2 10s.;. fuU morocco .£6 6s. JDante's Purgatory and Paradise. luustiated by Gustave Dobe. Polio, cloth, ^82 10a. ; morocco ^£6 6s. -Days of Chivalry ; being the Legend of Cro- queinitaine. lUustrated by Gustave Dobe. Koyal 4to, doth, 10s. 6d. X)ecorative Design, Principles of. By cheistopheb Dbesser, Ph,D. Illustrated with two Coloured Plates and numerous Designs and Diagrams. Extra crown 4to, cloth gilt 7s. 6d. -Don Quixote, with about 400 illustrations by Gustate Dor£. Boyal 4to, cloth, .£1, 10s. ; fuU morocco ^£3 IDs. Dore Gallery, The. containing a selection of 250 of the finest Drawings of Gustave Dobe. With Descriptive Letterpress and Memoir by Edmund Olmee. Small folio, One Vol. complete, cloth gilt, £5 5s.; complete in Two Vols., £5 10s.; full morocco elegant, .£10. Cassell Fetter S[ Galpin : Ludgate SiU, London.; Paris, and Kew Tor):. Selections from Messes. Cassell Pjbtteb & Galpin'b Publications (contii Dore Scripture Gallery of Illustration, conta 250 Drawings of Scripture Subjects by G-qstave Dor*. Wr Essay, Critical and Historical, on Sacred Art, by Edmund Oi Two Vols., doth extra, £5 10s. ; or Four Vols., cloth extra ... . Dore Bible, with 238 lUustratlons by Gustave DoEi. SmaU cloth, £8; morocco, .£12 j best morocco, gilt English Literature, A First Sketch of. By b MoRLET, Professor of English Literature at University College Examiner in English Language, Literature, and Qistory ti University of London. Second Mditum. 912 pp., crown 8vo, clotl England, Illustrated History of, from the Ea Period to the Present Time. With 2,000 Illustrations. New T Paper Edition, complete in Nine Tola., 5,500 pp. post 4to, clotl 9s. each. Library Edition, Nine Vols., brown cloth, gilt top, £ English Heraldry. By chaeles boutell, m.a. witi Engravings. New and Cheap Edition. Cloth, gilt top ... 3 Free Italy, a Lecture by the Et. Hon. W. E. Baxter, M.P. Homely Scenes from Great Painters, conta Twenty-four beautiful full-page Copies, printed by the Wooc Process. With Text by Godfrey Tuenee. Cloth gUt, gilt edges Household Guide, The. with numerous CoUmred Cc Plates, and profusely Illustrated. Complete in Eour Vols., doth 63. each ; or Two Vols., half calf 31 Human Race, The. From the French of LouisFioinEn. 1 Edited and Eevised by Egbert Wilson, Fellow of the Eoyal Ph; Society, Edinburgh, with 242 Illustrations. New and Cheaper Ec 1 Illustrated Readings, comprising a choice Sdection froi English Literature of all Ages. Illustrated throughout. In Vols., cloth, 7s. 6d. ; gilt edges, each 10 Illustrated Travels : a Eecord of Discovery, Geography Adventure. Edited by H. W. Bates, Assistant-Secretary o: Eoyal Geographical Society. Profusely Illustrated. Complete i Vols, royal 4to, each containing about 200 Illustrations, cloth, cloth gilt, gilt edges, each. (Ea^h Volume is complete in itself.) Insect World, The. From the French of Loms Fie Third JSditiMi. Eevised and Corrected by Professor P. M, Duncan, M.D., P.E.S. With 570 lUustrations. Cloth ... 7 La Fontaine's Fables, mustrated by gustave dor£. 4to, 840 pp., cloth, JEllOs. ; morocco £ Life of Christ, The. By the Eev. F. W. Faerae, D.D., F Master of Marlborough College, and Chaplain in Ordinary t Queen. Twelfth Hdition. Two Vols., cloth, 24s. ; morocco i Cassell Petter ^ Galpin: Ludgate Hill, London; Paris, and New Tori •Seledions from Messes. Cabsell Petteb & Galpin's Publications (continued). Local Government and Taxation. The volume of OoBDEN CtTTB BssATS for 1875. Edited by J. W. Peobzn-. 123. 6d. London Banking, and the Bankers' Clearing House System. By Benbst Setd, F.S.S. Third Edition. Cloth 2s. 6d. Mammalia. By Louis Figuiee. Revised and Corrected by Prof. E. Peeceval "Weight, M.D. Illustrated throughout. Cloth 7s. 6d. Hilton's Paradise Lost. lUustrated with full-page Drawings by Gtjstavb Doe^. Nem Edition. Cloth, £2 10s. ; morocco ^66 6s. Munchausen, Adventures of. with Thirty-one fuii-page Engravings by Gustate Doeie. Eoyai 4to, 242 pp., cloth ... 10s. 6d. i^atural History, Cassell's Popular, with about 2,000 Engravings and Coloured Plates. Four Vols., cloth, gilt edges 42s. North- West Passage by Land, The. By viscount Milton and Dr. Cheadle. Demy 8vo, with Illustrations and Maps. 6th Edition ... 21s. Ocean World, The. From the French of Louis Fiquiee. Third Edition. Revised and Corrected. By Professor E. Percbval Weight, M.D. With 427 Illustrations. Extra crown Svo 7s. 6d. Old and New London. By Waltee Thobnbuet. a Narra- tive of its History, its People, and its Places. Vols. I. and II., now ready, contain the History of that portion of the Metropolis which lies east of Temple Bar, with about ■MO, Illustrations. Cloth, each 9s. Ornamental Art, Principles of. By f.e.hulmb. Author of " Freehand Ornament," &c. With 32 Plates. Royal 4to, cloth. Pictures from English Literature, with Twenty fuu- page Illustrations by E. M. Waed, R.A., J. C. Hobslet, E.A., W. F. Teamks, A.R.A., and others. The Text by J. F. Wallee, LL.D. Cloth, 7s. 6d. ; doth gilt, gUt edges 10s. 6d. Popular Educator, Cassell's New. Revised to the Present Date, with Numerous Additions. Complete in Six Volumes, 412 pp. each, cloth gilt, 6s. each ; or in Three Vols, half oaU £2 10s. Poultry, The Illustrated Book of. By l. weight. With Fifty exquisitely Coloured Plates of Prize Birds, and with numerous Engravings. Demy 4to, cloth, 31s. 6d. ; half morocco, £2 2s. Races of Mankind, The. By robbet beown, m.a., ph.D., F.L.S., P.R.G.S. Vols. I. and II. now ready, each containing about 100 Illustrations. Extra crown 4to, cloth gilt, 6s. per Vol. Vols. I. and II. in One Vol. ... , 10s. 6d. Hecreator, Cassell's Popular, a Guide and Key to in-door and Out-door Amusement/ With about 1,000 Illastrations. Com- plete in Two Vols., cloth, 6s. each; or One Vol 10s. 6d. Cassell Fetter ^ Galpin : Ludgate Bill, London ; Paris, and New York. Selections fro m Mes3bs. Casseli. Fetter & Galpin's PuiEcaiionsJ eontinued). "Rp-n+ilpq and Birds, with 307 lUustratlons. From the French "Gun, Kod, and Saddle," &o. New Ed^hon, crown 8vo, cloth 7s. bd. Science of Exchanges, The. By n. a. Nicholson m.a., TrMty College, Oxford. FourtK FAi^. Kevised and Enlarged 5s. Shakespeare, Cassell's Illustrated, with 500 iiiustra- tionsbv H. C. Selous. Edited by Chaei,es and Mabt Cowdek Clabke Vol I. (Comedies), 12s.; Vol. II. (Historical Plays). lOstM; Vol III. (Tba«edie.), 123. 6d. Complete in Three Vols imp. 8vo, 2,168 pp., cloth, ^llSs.; half morocoo .£2 10s. The Stock Exchange Year-Book for 1875. Edited hy Thomas Skinneb. Containing a careful Digest of ^1 the Information relating to each of the Joint Stock Companies and Public Securities known to the Markets of the United Kingdom of interest to Investors. Cloth Technical Educator, Cassell's. with coloured Designs and numerous Illustrations. 1,660 pp., erfra crown 4to, complete in Four Vols., 6s. each ; or Two Vols, half cait dls. ba. Transformations of Insects, The. By Prof . p. mabtik DuNCAK M.D., F.E.S. 240 Illustrations. New and, Cheaptr Ed%imu. Cloth ."..' ^ ' .'.'. ^^- ^'^■ Vegetable World, The. By loots Figuiee. with 470 illus- trations. Third Edition. Eevised by an Eminent Botanist... 7s. 6d. Vicar of Wakefield, The, and goldsmith's poems, with 108 Engravings. Imperial 8vo, 378 pp., cloth, 7s. 6d.; gilt edges, 10s. 6d. Wandering Jew, Legend of the. Twelve large Designs by GiTSTAVE DoBE. Cloth 15s. War, Cassell's History of the, between France and Germany. Containing nearly 500 Illustrations and Plans of the Battle-Fields. Two Vols., cloth gUt, 18s. j or half -calf ... 30s. World before the Deluge, The. From the French of Louis FiQuiEB. With 283 Illustrations. Fourth Edition. Newly Edited and Revised by H. W. Beistow, F.E.S. Cloth ... 7s. 6d. World of the Sea, The. Translated from the French of M. Tandon, by the Eev. H. Maettn Haet.M.A. Illustrated. 10s. 6d, World of Wit and Humour, The. with 400 lunstra- tions by P. Baenaed, J. Peoctoe, Matt. Stebtch, Gobdon Thompson, &o. Super-royal 8vo, 480 pp., cloth, 7s. 6d. j cloth gilt, gilt edges, 10s. 6d. World of Wonders, The. with ISO illustrations, imperial 8vo, 500 pp, cloth, 7s. 6d. ; full gilt IDs. Gd." A Catalogue of Messrs. Oassell Petter & Galpin's Publications will ba sent post free on application. CasseU Fetter ^ Qalpin : Ludgate HiU, London ; Paris, and New Yorlc,