TOPICS OF THE DAY.
MUNICIPAL CONSTITUTIONS.
LORD BROUGHAM'S proposed Bill for conferring Municipal Consti- tutions on thirty of the New Boroughs created by the Reform Act, excites deep interest, not merely in the places to which its provi- sions directly refer, but throughout the kingdom. The whole of our corporate bodies in England, Wales, and Ireland, are at pre- sent undergoing the process of search preparatory to their cleans- ing and reconstruction. It is reasonable to suppose, that what is deemed good for Birmingham will be held equally good for Bath and Bristol ; and that the old Corporations are intended to be re- modelled after the fashion which Government have selected for their new creations. It follows, therefore, that the inhabitants of every borough and city are equally concerned with those of the thirty new ones, in scanning the provisions of this bill ; which in all probability was put out as a feeler, in order to ascertain how _tar it would be necessary to go to meet the public expectations on the subject of Corporation Reform.* If this were the design, it is likely to be fully answered ; for there is no matter which engrosses public attention at the present time so much as this. The present, then, appears to be the proper time for discussing the important points relative to the reform in our municipal insti- tutions. It is the stage of inquiry and deliberation; during which the use of declamatory language is out of place, and the ebulli- tion of violence and party-spirit manifestly injudicious. We were fully impressed with this feeling, when, in a recent Number of the Spectator, we alluded to some remarks which appeared in a' provincial paper (the Leeds Times) on the subject of Lord BaouonAm's bill. Our comments were made certainly not in a controversial spirit. Indeed, the calmness of our tone is objected to by our contemporary ; who appears, erroneously, to deem it an indication of shrinking from the principles which we have always advocated in this journal. But, as we were not aware that the _Leeds paper supported the introduction of the Ballot,—never, :indeed, having seen any other number than the one sent to us containing the article on the new corporations,—so, on the other land, had the author of the additional remarks on the same subject, in reply to ours, been more in the habit of reading the Spectator, he would not need to be told, that we habitually eschew the application of warm language and vituperative epi- thets towards a measure, and its authors, while the details of that measure are properly the subject of inquiry and discussion. This rule we hold to, of course with certain exceptions : when the scope and intent of a bill are plainly to subvert some acknow- ledged principle in our constitution, some great popular right, or to perpetuate a manifest wrong, then, indeed, the language of decided a: d deep indignation is most becoming, and such we have not teen slow to use on what we consider the proper occasions for it- Bt we do not look upon Lord BROUGHAM'S bill, though im- perfect, as one which ought to be scouted, or resisted as if it were a treacherous attack upon public liberty. On the contrary, it deals a decided blow upon the established principle of irrespon- sibiliy public servants, and that baneful system of self-election -which, as the Corporation Committee truly declared, generally prevails in the municipal constitutions throughout the land. There is, however, wide room for improvement in the measure. The election of Aldermen by the Common Council, and/or life, is decidedly bad. Let us suppose the not improbable case of a majority of the Aldermen being directly opposed, on some ques- tion of great local interest and importance, to the Common Council and the electors generally, and that they obstinately persist in such opposition : what remedy does the bill provide for a state of things which Lord BROUGHAM, as well as every other man of sense, must acknowledge to be vicious ? No individual or body of men has the power to remove them : they are responsible to none but themselves, as long as they steer clear of certain illegalities : even the King cannot prevent a collision between them and the Lower House, or Common Council, by adding to their numbers aad creating a batch of Liberal Aldermen. It is one of the most grievous faults of the present system, that, however stupid, or illiberal, or servile an Alderman may be, his constituents, who aught to have some control over his proceedings, have none at all : once= Alderman, always an Alderman—there he is for life. But it is useless to argue the matter further, until some plausible rea- son is advanced for this palpable departure from the general prin- ciple of the bill. Common Councilmen are to be chosen for a limited period; so is the Mayor: why should not they, as well as Aldermen; be elected for life? Because of its absurdity—be- cause none of them should be so elected. Then, again, what necessity or advantage is there in electing the Mayor and Aldermen at second-hand? If the electors are to be intrusted with choosing Common Councilmen, why should they not be permitted to exercise their franchise in the case of Mayor and Aldermen ? The weight of responsibility is less in the latter than in the former instance; for all depends upon the choice of Gammon Councilmen, who have the power of making the other appointments delegated to them by their constituents. Upon the whole, we see no reason whatever to qualify what we said a fort- might again reference to this part of the measure—that, while we
In suggesting that the present bill may have been put out as a feeler, to ascertain
extent.of. the public expectation in regard to the reform of the Old Boroughs, we .U:site to limit the remark to the individual author of the measure. We arc far from aurppasiag that the Corporation Commissioners will look upon it as a hint, mulch jeep oft* assdeleter them
were at a loss to find a reason in its favour, the arguments agaitist it were numerous and cogent. We trust, therefore, that it will meet with persevering and resolute disapproval on every side.
Strong opposition is made to the triennial election of Common Councilmen. It is urged, that in the city of London, where Com- mon Councilmen are chosen annually, their purity is hardly main- tained. From this it would seem, that annual elections fail to produce the desired effect. Perhaps a better mode than either annual or triennial elections, is that which is about to be adopted in the reformed Scotch Burghs. In November next, all the present self-elected Councillors will be turned out, and a real election will be made by the constituencies under the Reform Act, in one day : one third part—namely, those nearest the bottom of the poll this year, will retire at the election in 1834 ; the third part next to them, in 1835 ; the remaining third, in 1836 : after that, the ro- tation is fixed by the date of election, no member serving (except when reelected) for more than three years. Thus, in case the measures of their representatives are displeasing to them, our Scottish fellow-subjects are to have the privilege of returning a majority of a different description, in two years certainly, or (where there are already a number of members on the popular side) it may be in one year. The advantages of such a mode of election are twofold : in the first place, it gives each member the benefit of three years expe- rience ; and secondly, it enables the electors to infuse annually a new spirit into the Council, should they deem it expedient to do so; but as the old members are always reeligible, they are under no necessity of choosing fresh ones. It is, moreover, no inconsi- derable recommendation of this method, that it keeps the consti- tuencies in the frequent exercise of the elective franchise, and thereby increases the probability of their using it with discretion. The germ of this part of the late enactment for Scotland, is to be found, we imagine, in the evidence given by Mr. SMALL, the Town-Clerk of Dundee, before the Select Committee of the House of Commons which sat in 1819 upon the subject of Scotch Burgh Reform. We shall quote the passage we allude to : and if we are right in our conjecture, the fact ought to encourage the foes of corruption to struggle perseveringly in the worst of times, with the well-grounded confidence that their efforts will sooner or later be productive of benefit to their country and credit to themselves. After detailing a plan which, as far as regards the triennial elec- tion of Councilmen, scarcely differs at all from that which will be enforced in November next, Mr. SMALL proceeds to point out its probable advantages, in the following words.
" By giving a power to the Burgesses to remove periodically those members who had acted improperly, it would afford a most efficient control over the Council. On the other band, from the deep interest which the Burgesses have in their municipal administration, there can be no doubt that they would be in- fluenced in the selection of persons for Councillors, exclusively by the considera- tion of their fitness for the duties of the office ; which to the Burgesses, whose capital, and property, and daily comforts are involved in the acts of the Council, would be of much greater importance than the accomplishment of any remote and uncertain object. But the stability of the Council would not rest solely on these principles, strongly founded as they are in the interests of the Burgesses; for the construction of the sett [the Scotch term for constitution] would secure the Council from the effects which might otherwise be apprehended from popular clamour, and would restrain the Burgesses, even were they so inclined, from removing one Council, on any particular occasion, and packing another to serve a party purpose."—Report, p. 388.
_With respect to the extension of the suffrage to inhabitant householders paying scot and lot (and there will probably be no intermediate step between the ten-pound franchise and this), we may repeat what we have previously said,—namely, that the bal- lot must go hand in hand with it; for bad instead of good conse- quences will result from conferring the elective franchise on large bodies of necessitous men, unless they are protected in the inde- pendent use of it. If this is admitted, it is little to the purpose to say that the Ministers were to blame for not supporting Mr. GROTE'S motion : that is no ornament for the extension of the suffrage without the protection of the ballot. We are for both— the extension of the suffrage, and the ballot; but not the former without the latter. It matters nothing, as far as our present ar- gument is concerned, whether the Ministers, the House of Lords, or the King, are the parties to whose opposition the rejection of the hallo :is to be attributed. Until this opposition, from what- ever quarter it may arise, is overcome, and "existing circum- stances" are changed for the better, the extension of the right of voting to all who pay scot and lot, would, we fear, only augment the undue influence of unprincipled men. We are not disposed, therefore, to stigmatize and reject Lord BROUGHAM'S bill in the gross, because it does not go the full length with those who insist upon the principle of giving the elective franchise to every inha- bitant householder.
In advocating the appointment of the Recorders for the new boroughs by the Executive, instead of by the People, we went upon the presumption that the great principle cf responsibility for the exercise of that power should be strictly enforced. By such a Parliament as the nation will at all events have the power to elect, the Ministers of the Crown would be held directly answer- able for all their appointments, and these among the rest. Irre- sponsible power—the means of using the patronage of the Crown for unworthy purposes, without the liability of being called to ac- count for such misconduct—is what we dread, and would guard against. The amount • of the patronage is comparatively of little moment. Let us once have a really independent and faithful House of Commons; and then, if it should appear that Recorders, Or my- other description of Pig*" daceerSt trO 111Q5t likely to be cluizen discreetly by the Executive, we shall not be disposed to refuse it -that power of choice, from any fear of augmenting its patronage. We trust, however, that there will be no occasion for appointing Recorders at all. Should the Local Courts Bill be carried, as it probably will be next session, the Local Judges will perform the functions which are now committed to Recorders. A saving of expense will thereby be effected, for which many of the boroughs, overburdened as they are at present with rates and taxes, will be grateful.
Previous page
