CHAP. VI THE CORPORATION OF MELBOURNE 57 purposes contemplated by the Act, or upon the order of the council, signed by three members and countersigned by the town clerk.1 The town clerk and the treasurer may not be members of the council, and their offices may not be united in the same person. The council may appoint2 any other officials whom it deems necessary, but their offices, like those of the town clerk, treasurer, and surveyor, are purely ministerial; they themselves are removable by the council, and their offices may be discontinued if deemed unnecessary.3 The methods of doing business prescribed by the Act are very simple, much, naturally, being left to the discretion of the corporation itself. The council is bound to meet for general business on the 9th of November, February, May, and August respectively, and at such other times as the mayor shall decide. Eight members of council may at any time insist on a meeting being summoned; but on all occasions except the quarterly meetings, only such business can be transacted as has been mentioned on the notice paper. For all purposes, except the passing of by-laws, a quorum of the council is to consist of one-third of the full membership, and questions are to be decided by a majority of those present, the mayor, or other presiding officer, to have a casting vote.5 The council may appoint committees of itself for general or special objects, but the acts of a committee must receive the approval of the council. The council must print and publish annually their audited accounts.7 4 6 The actual powers and duties conferred on the corporation are interesting, as showing the views of the legislators of 1842. They may be divided into two classes, those which are of an instrumental character, and those which are the ultimate objects of the corporation's labours. Amongst the first class, the financial provisions are very important. There is to be a "Town Fund," into which all receipts from general sources, such as market rents and tolls, fines and penalties, and town rates, are to be paid by the treasurer, and from which all payments for general purposes are 3 § 65. 2 § 97. 1 § 97. If the mayor is absent the councillors must choose one of the aldermen present as chairman. If no alderman is present, then one of themselves. $ 93. 5 6 § 94. The principal committees usually appointed are-Public Works, Health and Parks and Gardens, Finance, Market, Legislative, Hackney Carriages. 7 § 67. 3 to be made. To supplement the receipts of the Town Fund, the corporation may levy an annual rate by a by-law upon the buildings within the town, to an amount not exceeding one shilling in the pound annual value,' such rate to be enforceable first against the occupier, and, failing him, against the landlord. Buildings which do not qualify their occupiers for enrolment as burgesses are to be exempted, and an appeal against any rate is to lie to the next Quarter-Sessions, whose decision is to be final. Moreover, the council are empowered to levy a special Police Rate, not exceeding sixpence in the pound, for the maintenance of the Town Police, and the proceeds of this rate are to be kept by the treasurer as a special Police Fund. The council is also authorised to borrow money on the credit of the corporation, to an extent not exceeding altogether the amount of five years' average income, exclusive of the Police Rate, but Government aid is not to be pledged for such loans. To enable it to perform its principal duties, the council is also authorised to make by-laws for the regulation of its own. proceedings, for the conduct of the various elections connected with it, for the good rule and government of the town, and for the suppression of nuisances. These by-laws may impose fines to the amount of ten pounds each, but two-thirds of the council must be present on the occasion of passing any by-law, and no by-law can come into force until it has been submitted to the Government for forty days without disapproval, and until a copy has been published for one week in a local newspaper.7 6 The ultimate objects of the corporation powers may be gathered from the enumeration of its instrumental powers. They are to secure the good government of the town and the suppression of nuisances. But, especially, the corporation is empowered to undertake certain specific duties. It is to take over the business of the Market Commissioners. It is to undertake the lighting of the town, and for that purpose to levy a "Lighting Rate," not exceeding fourpence in the pound, 1 This restriction was removed by 17 Vic. No. 23. 2 This provision was altered by the 8 Vic. No. 12 and the 11 Vic. No. 17, but the result is much the same to the occupier. 3 § 67. 4 § 70. As to the fate of this provision, cf. post, p. 60. 5 § 98. These powers were largely increased by the 17 Vic. No. 13, etc. 6 A long list of these is given in the Act. 7 § 91. 8 §§ 71 and 72. CHAP. VI SOURCE OF THE SCHEME 59 on the value of "tenements and other property" within the town and the lighting area, and liable to the other rates.1 It is to undertake the making and repair of the streets, and the making and management of the drains and sewers.3 It is empowered to construct waterworks and supply water, but no one is to be compelled to take the corporation water.* Finally, any offence against the Act, or against any corporation by-law, may be enforced in a summary way before a justice of the peace, who, in default of payment of the prescribed penalty, may imprison the offender for a period not exceeding three months. In cases involving payment of more than five pounds, there is to be an appeal to Quarter-Sessions.5 A very slight acquaintance with the history of municipal. government in England will convince any one of the source from which the provisions of the Melbourne Corporation Act were derived. After being for many centuries in a state of hopeless anomaly and confusion, the municipal corporations of England were at length placed upon an uniform and orderly footing by the great Municipal Reform Act of 1835 (5 & 6 Will. IV. c. 76), passed by that Reformed Parliament the appearance of which had been so long delayed by the reactionary influence of the borough-system itself. It was one of the signal revenges of history, but we are here only concerned with its special influence on Melbourne. The resemblances between the Imperial Act of 1835 and the Melbourne Corporation Act are too striking to escape notice. They may be tabulated thus 1. Style and qualifications of governing body (S$ 24, 25).6 3. Mode of making up and revising Burgess Roll (S$ 18, 22, 23). 5. Duties of auditors and other officials (§ 37). 6. Relation of executive officials to the council (SS 58-60). 7. Compulsory character of municipal office (§ 51). 8. Disqualifications for office (S$ 52-56). 9. Position of mayor as justice for the borough (§ 57). 10. Appointment by him of special constables (§ 83). 11. Process of summoning meetings of council, and proceedings thereat (§ 69). 1 §§ 74-79. 2 $$ 80-85. 3 § 86. See, for additional powers under this head, 16 Vic. No. 38 (Vic.) 4 $$ 87-90. 5 S$ 100-107. 6 These references are to the sections of the English Act. 12. Lighting powers (§ 88). 13. Process of making by-laws (§ 90). 14. Provision for borough fund and rate, with appeal to Quarter Sessions (§ 90-93). The main differences between the two systems are easily accounted for by the differences between English and colonial history. They are as follows 1. In the English Act the municipal franchise belongs to all householders (§ 9). In Melbourne it was confined to £25 resident occupiers. This is easily accounted for by the recent agitation in England, and by the ancient theory of "scot and lot." 2. In the English Act the appointment of ordinary constables is vested in the mayor and Watch Committee ($ 76). Police had always been a local matter in England, in New South Wales it was one of the chief concerns of the central government, and, as we shall see, even the local powers given by the Melbourne Act were held in abeyance. 3. The English Act provides for the continuance (S$ 118-123) of the ancient borough courts. There never had been any corresponding institutions in New South Wales. 4. By the Melbourne Act far wider scope is given to the corporation than in England, in the matters of a. Sewers. b. Streets. c. Water-supply. d. Markets. These matters in England were already in the hands of independent bodies or individuals, some of them of great antiquity. The Melbourne Corporation Act was supplemented in the same year by a Money Act (6 Vic. No. 8, N. S. W.), appropriating the fees taken in the Melbourne police office to the corporation Police Rate, and empowering the Governor to set aside annually, out of the general revenue of the colony, a sum not exceeding £1500 to match an equal sum to be raised by the corporation for the Police Rate, and a sum not exceeding £2000 to match an equal amount to be raised for the Town Fund. The Police Rate must have been levied by the corporation for at least a year, for the 9 Vic. No. 19. (N. S. W.) directs that a surplus in the Police Fund for the municipal year ending 1st November 1844 shall be paid over to the credit of the Town Fund, but the police powers, after being annually suspended from the year 1845 to the year 1852,1 1 Statutes 8 Vic. No. 11, 9 Vic. No. 17, 10 Vic. No. 5, 11 Vic. Nos. 6 & 51, 13 Vic. No. 23, 14 Vic. No. 21, and 15 Vic. No. 2. CHAP. VI 61 ALTERATIONS IN THE ORIGINAL ACT seem never to have been acted upon since the introduction of separate government.1 The sections of the Incorporation Act providing for a separate commission of the peace for Melbourne, and the appointment of constables2 were repealed, except as to the precedence of the mayor, by the Local Government Act of 1865, which constituted the mayor ex officio a justice of the peace "for Victoria," but restrained him from sitting except within the corporation limits.3 This provision was further altered by the 51 Vic. No. 953, which constitutes him a justice for every bailiwick in which any part of the city area is included. 4 5 Several minor alterations have also been made in the constitution and powers of the corporation. By letters-patent of 25th June 1848 the town of Melbourne was converted into a city, and thereupon took for its corporate title "The Mayor, Aldermen, Councillors, and Citizens of the City of Melbourne." Additional wards and aldermen were constituted by proclamation in 1856 and 1869, the boundaries of the town having been previously extended by the 8 Vic. No. 12. The control of the corporation over hackney-carriages was extended to a radius of eight miles by the 14 Vic. No. 3, and its powers in the matter of drainage increased by the 16 Vic. No. 38, but its powers with regard to the construction of waterworks and supply of water were abolished by the Public Works Statute 1865.7 By the 27 Vic. No. 1788 the following disqualifications for the office of councillor or alderman were added— 1. Attaint of treason or conviction of felony or any other infamous offence. 2. Personation or procuring of personation at any municipal election. By the 49 Vic. No. 5679 the election of councillors for Melbourne is placed on the same footing as those of boroughs and shires under the Local Government Act 1874.10 The 1 During the recent strike, the Mayor of Melbourne enrolled a number of "special" constables. But their services were given gratuitously. 2 §§ 62-64. 4 § 14. 3 28 Vic. No. 267, §§ 2 & 6. 6 Cf. also the 16 Vic. No. 39, incorporating the "Commissioners of Sewers and Water Supply," and making the mayor of Melbourne ex officio a member. 9 § 6 (repealing 11 Vic. No. 17, § 2, and 27 Vic. No. 178, § 3). 10 38 Vic. No. 506. |