LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES.
English local government is everywhere, and for all purposes, carried on by one particu lar form of political machinery, which to the Englishman seems so inevitable that he seldom thinks of describing it. The powers and duties of government are vested, not in any officers personally, but in a board or council of mem bers,_ having jurisdiction, for specific branches of administration, over a definite area. This governing body, which is uniformly unpaid and composed of citizens more or less engaged in their own avocations, appoints, supervises and directs a staff of salaried, professional officers (the °municipal civil service'), by whom the actual functions are performed. The staff of salaried officers is invariably appointed by the governing body; and (though service is nom inally only during pleasure), the appointments are habitually permanent, terminable only on death, retirement through ill-health, superan nuation or misconduct. There is no such thing in English local government as removal for political reasons, or in order to make a vacancy. The board or council acts collectively, by reso lutions agreed to at its meetings by a majority of the members present. Its deliberations are presided over by one of its own number, called chairman or mayor, whom it freely elects; and not by a person separately elected by the people for the presidential position, or appointed to it by some outside authority. Perhaps for this reason, it is a distinctive feature in English local governing bodies that the presiding mem ber has but little personal power or responsi bility, apart from presiding. Though in prac tice he often exercises out of sessions, some ex ecutive power, by giving orders to the salaried staff, this is always done in the name of the board or council, and subject to its ratification. The board or council habitually divides itself into committees, each charged with the super vision of a particular branch of the government, and required to report to the main body. The result is an intimate combination of legislative, executive, and occasionally even judicial opera tions, which the Englishman takes for granted as °administration.' It may be added that na
tional politics have little influence on local gov ernment. The salaried staff is almost univers ally °out of politics.' In many cases, perhaps the majority, the elections are not contested on political grounds, or seriously fought by the political organizations. In London and many of the large boroughs, the elections are thus fought, but the issues are not primarily those of national politics, nor is the cleavage of opin ion exactly the same. And once elected, the members (even where the contests have been keen) seldom habitually allow their politics or party divisions to affect their municipal admin istration.
The organization of local government in England, once extremely complicated, has been much simplified by recent statutes., The era of reform began, indeed, in 1834-35, when the ancient municipal corporations were made elect ive and systematized, and the Poor Law was placed in the hands of elective Boards of Guard ians. Between 1848 and 1875, a system of elective rural and urban district councils was created principally for sanitation and roads. In IN.:, the county councils were established on an elective basis, to take over from the non-elective justices of the peace the civil administration of the counties. In 1894, the rural parishes were provided with elective parish councils; and in 1900 the different parts of London with metro politan borough councils. By these successive statutes every part of England and Wales has been placed under local governing bodies an nually or triennially elected on the widest pos sible residential qualification, women having a vote whenever they are independent house holders, and being everywhere eligible for election. There is, speaking broadly, no prop erty qualification for election, and (unlike the English parliamentary ballotings) no obligation on the candidate to provide the election ex penses. The members of the local governing bodies receive no salary or other remuneration for their work. Only very exceptionally, in posi tions such as the mayoralty of an important city, is any allowance paid even for expenses.