county council as regards that borough, nor exempt the parishes in the
borough from being assessed to county rate for any purposes to which
such parishes were previously liable to be assessed.
Sheriff, coroner.
When a borough is a county of itself the council appoint a sheriff on
the 9th of November in every year. And where the borough has a
separate court of quarter sessions the council appoint a fit and
proper person, not an alderman or councillor, to be the borough
coroner, who holds office during good behaviour. If the borough has a
civil court the recorder, if there is one, is judge of it. If there is
no recorder, the judge of the court is an officer of the borough
appointed under the charter.
Power to acquire land.
The provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act 1882 relate chiefly
to the constitution of the municipal corporation. It does not itself
confer many powers or impose many duties upon the council as a body.
It does, however, enable a municipal corporation to acquire corporate
land and buildings, the buildings including a town hall, council
house, justices' room, police stations and cells, sessions house,
judges' lodgings, polling stations and the like. The council may
borrow money for the erection of such buildings; they may acquire and
hold land in mortmain by virtue of their charter, or with the consent
of the Local Government Board. Corporate land cannot be alienated
without the consent of the same board. The council may convert
corporate land, with the approval of the Local Government Board, into
sites for workmen's dwellings.
Borough bridges.
Another duty imposed upon a borough council by the act of 1882 is the
maintenance of bridges within the borough which are not repairable by
the county in which the borough is locally situate. It may here be
mentioned that a city or borough which is a county of itself is liable
at common law to repair all public bridges within its limits. In a
borough which is not a county of itself the inhabitants are only
liable to repair bridges within the borough by immemorial usage or
custom.
By-laws.
Of the other powers possessed by the council of a borough under the
act of 1882, one of the most important is the power to make by-laws
for the good rule and government of the borough, and for the
prevention and suppression of nuisances not already punishable in
summary manner by virtue of an act in force throughout the borough. It
will be observed that these by-laws are of two classes. The former do
not come into force until the expiration of forty days after a copy of
them has been sent to the secretary of state, during which forty days
the sovereign in council may disallow any by-law or part thereof. The
latter require to be confirmed by the Local Government Board.
Police.
Under the act of 1882 every municipal borough might have its own
separate police force. As has already been stated when dealing with
county councils, boroughs having a population of less than 10,000
according to the census of 1881 can no longer have a separate police
force. But for some time before that year it had become the rule not
to grant to any new borough with a population of less than 20,000 a
separate police force. The subject of police is separately treated in
the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, and it is not necessary to supplement
what is there stated. Under an act of 1893 the borough police may, in
addition to their ordinary duties, be employed to discharge the duties
of a fire brigade.
The district and the district council.
The powers and duties of a borough council in the Municipal Corporations
Act do not arise or exist to any great extent under that act. In a few
cases, those namely of county boroughs, the councils have the powers of
county councils. In the quarter sessions boroughs other than county
boroughs they have some only of these powers. But in every case the
council of the borough have the powers and duties of an urban district
council, and, except where they derive their authority from local acts,
it may be said that their principal powers and duties consist of those
which they exercise or perform as an urban council. These will now be
considered.
Before the year 1848 there was not outside the municipal boroughs any
system of district government in England. It is true that in some
populous places which were not corporate boroughs local acts of
parliament had been passed appointing improvement commissioners for the
government of these places. In many boroughs similar acts had been
obtained conferring various powers relating to sanitary matters, streets
and highways and the like. But there was no general system, nor was
there, save by special legislation, any means by which sanitary
districts could be constituted. In the year 1848 the first Public Health
Act was passed. It provided for the formation of local boards in
boroughs and populous places, such places outside boroughs being termed
local government districts. In boroughs the town council were generally
appointed the local board for purposes of the act. It was not, however,
until 1872 that a general system of sanitary districts was adopted. By
the Public Health Act of that year the whole country was mapped out into
urban and rural sanitary districts, and that system has been maintained
until the present time, with some important changes introduced by the
Public Health Acts 1875 to 1907, and the Local Government Act 1894.
Constitution of district councils.
United districts.
Port sanitary authority.
Powers of urban and rural councils compared.
The whole of England and Wales is divided into districts, which are
either urban or rural. Urban districts include boroughs and places
which were formerly under the jurisdiction of local boards or
improvement commissioners. The power to constitute new urban districts
is now conferred upon county councils, as already stated. There is a
concurrent power in the Local Government Board under the Public Health