Studies in Civics Part 5

Elections.--A village usually const.i.tutes one election district and one road district. Village elections are conducted as are those in a town.

Enlargements.--Lands adjoining the village may be annexed to it, at the wish and with the consent of the voters of the territory and of the village. The will of the voters aforesaid is expressed at an election called, after due notice, by the county commissioners.

_Some Pertinent Questions._

Name the incorporated villages in your county. Any others that you know.

Name some villages, so-called, which are not incorporated. Why are the pet.i.tion and other papers of incorporation recorded?

Can a person living in a village build a sidewalk to suit his own fancy?

Why? Suppose that owing to a defective sidewalk you should break your leg, what responsibility would lie on the village?

How would you get your pay if you had a bill against a village?

The village council has power "to establish and regulate markets." Why should the sale of meats be regulated any more than the sale of flour or of clothing? May the sale of bread be regulated?

What is the difference between a policeman and a constable.

Compare the village and the town, telling wherein they are alike and wherein they are different.

_Debate_.

Resolved, That for a village of 1000 inhabitants or less it is wise not to become incorporated.

CHAPTER V.

THE CITY.

Need Of.--A village being one election district has only one polling place. The community may increase so in numbers as to make it necessary to have several voting places. For the accommodation of the people, these would naturally be located in different parts of the community; and to prevent fraud, voting precincts would have to be carefully defined. The council would naturally be made up of representatives from these divisions.

When, under this arrangement, the voters a.s.semble in different parts of the community, they could not listen to financial reports and vote taxes, as they do in the town and the village. Hence it would be necessary to endow the council with increased powers, including the power to levy taxes without the direct authorization of the people.

The expenses for public improvements, for waterworks, sewers, street-lighting, etc., may take more money than it would be prudent to a.s.sess upon the community for immediate payment. In this case it would be desirable for the community to have the power to issue bonds.

Again, with increase in population there is an increase in the number of disputes over private rights, and temptations to crime become more numerous. Hence the need of one or more courts having jurisdiction greater than that possessed by justices of the peace. The conditions necessitate also an increase in the number and the efficiency of the police. And to render the police efficient it is necessary that they be under the direction of one man, the same one who is responsible for the carrying out of the ordinances of the council, namely, the mayor.

A community organized to comply with the foregoing requirements--divided into wards, having a council made up of aldermen from those wards, having a council authorized to levy taxes at its discretion, having a munic.i.p.al court, having regularly employed police acting under the direction of the mayor--is a city, as the term is generally used in the United States.

Another reason for establishing a city government is frequently potent, although unmentioned. The pride of the community can be thereby indulged, and more citizens can have their ambition to hold public office gratified.

How Organized.--A city may be organized under general law or special charter from the legislature. Large cities, and small ones with _great expectations_, usually work under a charter. But the custom is growing of organizing cities at first under general law. Then if a city outgrows the general law, grows so that it needs powers and privileges not granted therein, it may properly ask the legislature for a special charter.

As a type, the princ.i.p.al provisions of the general law of Minnesota are here given, as follows:

"Whenever the legal voters residing within the limits of a territory comprising not less than two thousand inhabitants, and not more than fifteen thousand, and which territory they wish to have incorporated as a city, shall sign and have presented to the judge of probate of the county in which such territory is situated, a pet.i.tion setting forth the metes and bounds of said city, and of the several wards thereof, and praying that said city shall be incorporated under such name as may therein be designated, the judge of probate shall issue an order declaring such territory duly incorporated as a city, and shall designate the metes, bounds, wards, and name thereof, as in said pet.i.tion described." And the judge of probate designates the time and places of holding the first election, giving due notice thereof. He also appoints three persons in each ward, of which there shall be not less than two nor more than five, to act as judges of election. The corporation is established upon the presentation of the pet.i.tion, and the organization is completed by the election of officers.

The usual elective officers of a city are a mayor, a treasurer, a recorder, one justice of the peace for each ward, styled "city justice,"

all of whom shall be qualified voters of the city, and one or more aldermen for each ward, who shall be "qualified voters therein." All other city officers are appointed.

The term of mayor, city justices and aldermen is in most states two years; that of the other officers, one year.

Any officer of the city may be removed from office by vote of two-thirds of the whole number of aldermen. But an elective officer must be given "an opportunity to be heard in his own defense."

A vacancy in the office of mayor or alderman is filled by a new election.

A vacancy in any other office is filled by appointment. The person elected or appointed serves for the unexpired term.

The Mayor is the chief executive officer and head of the police of the city. By and with the consent of the council, he appoints a chief of police and other police officers and watchmen. In case of disturbance he may appoint as many special constables as he may think necessary, and he may discharge them whenever he thinks their services no longer needed.

The City Council consists of the aldermen. [Footnote: In some states the city council consists of two bodies.] It is the judge of the election of its own members. A majority of the members elected const.i.tutes a quorum for the transaction of business.

The council chooses its own president and vice-president. In case the mayor is absent from the city or for any reason is temporarily unable to act, the president of the council acts as mayor, with the t.i.tle Acting Mayor.

Pa.s.sing Ordinances.--The mode of pa.s.sing an ordinance is unlike anything that we have considered up to this time, and deserves special attention on account of its resemblance to the mode of making laws in the state and general governments. It is as follows. If a proposed ordinance is voted for by a majority of the members of the council present at any meeting, it is presented to the mayor. If he approves it, he signs it, and it becomes an ordinance. But if he does not approve it, he returns it, through the recorder, to the council, together with his objections. [Footnote: This is called _vetoing_ it, from a Latin word _veto_, meaning _I forbid_.]The council, then reconsiders the proposed ordinance in the light of the mayor's objections. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of the members elected vote for it, it becomes an ordinance, just as if approved by the mayor. "If an ordinance or resolution shall not be returned by the mayor within five days, Sundays excepted, after it shall have been presented to him," it shall have the same effect as if approved by him.

Publication of Ordinances.--The ordinances and by-laws of the council are published in a newspaper of the city, selected by the council as the official means of publication, and are posted in three conspicuous places in each ward for two weeks, before they become operative.

Council Powers.--The city council has about the same powers as a village council in regard to streets, the prevention and extinguishment of fires, etc.--the same in kind but somewhat more extensive. But it can also levy taxes for public purposes, as has before been said. It usually elects the a.s.sessor, the city attorney, the street commissioner, and a city surveyor, and in some states other officers.

The recorder, treasurer, a.s.sessor, justices of the peace, and police constables, have duties similar to those of the corresponding officers in a village or a town.

_Some Pertinent Questions_.

If two persons should claim the same seat in the city council, who would decide the matter?

State three ways in which a proposed ordinance may become an ordinance.

Two ways in which it may fail. How can persons living in a city find out what ordinances the council pa.s.ses? How far are the ordinances of any city operative?

Compare the government of a village with that of a city.

Are school affairs managed by the city council? How is it in a village? In a town.

If a new school-house is needed in a city, and there is not money enough in the treasury to build it, what can be done?

If you live in a city having a special charter, borrow a copy of it from a lawyer or from the city recorder, and find out what powers and privileges are granted to the corporation not specified in the general law; what limitations are imposed; and, if a munic.i.p.al court is provided for, what its jurisdiction is in civil actions and in criminal prosecutions.

Name the princ.i.p.al officers in your city. The aldermen from your ward.

What are some of the dangers of city government? Consult Macy's Our Government, pp. 51-53, and Nordhoff's Politics for Young Americans.

_Questions for Debate._