Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/800

782 the property of the workmen themselves. The habit exists among all classes of each family (with rare exceptions) occupying a separate house, a practice which greatly affects the area of the towa Thus, to a population of 360.000 there are about 76,000 inhabited houses, giving aa average of five persons to a house. Birmingham is a town of rapid growth. In 1700 the population was about 15.000. A century later, at the census of 1801, it had increased to 73,000 In the next thirty years the popu lation doubled, being 147,000 in 1831. The same pro cess was repeated in the following term of thirty years, the population in 1861 being 296,000. Between 1861 and 1871 the increase was 47,000, and the returns of the registrar-general show that the same rate of progress is still going on. It is, however, likely to be checked by the increasing value of land within the borough, by the absorp tion of available sites for building, and by the consequent overflow of population into the suburbs. If these, inhabited solely by borough people,are takeuinto account, the real popu lation at present is probably not far short of half a million.

Government.—The government of the town resided originally in the high and low bailiffs, both officers chosen at the court of the lord of the manor, and acting as his deputies The system was a loose one, but by degrees it becama somewhat organized, and Crown writs wera addressed to the bailiffs. In 1832, when the town was enfranchised, they were made the returning officers. About the beginning of the century, however, a more regular system was instituted, by an Act creating a body of street Commissioners, who acted for the parish of Birmingham, the hamlets outside its boundaries having similar boards of their own. The annoyance and difficulty caused by these bodies thirteen in number led to a demand for the incorporation of Birmingham as a borough; and a charter was accordingly granted by the Crown in 1838, vesting the general government in a mayor, sixteen aldermen, and forty-seven councillors. The powers of this body were, however, unusually restricted, the other local governing bodies remaining in existence, It was not until 1851 that an Act of Parliament was obtained, abolishing all governing authorities excepting the Town Council, and transferring all powers to this body Under this Act, and another local Act obtained in 1862, the affairs of the town are now administered, the whole municipal government being in the hands of the Town Council. The importance of the duties discharged by the Council may be inferred from the fact that it has under its control nearly 200 miles of street and road, that it has a police force of nearly 500 men, and that its revenue, derived from tolls and rates, amounts to about .300,000 a year. These responsibilities have been increased by the purchase in 1875 of the gas and water-works (the latter with a daily supply of 17,000,000 gallons), the two purchases making a cost of more than 3,000,000. The growth of the revenue and expenditure of the town, its rateable value, and its ordinary debt, ex cluding the gas and water-works, will be seen from the following tabular statement:—

Year. Amount of Assessment to the Borough Rate. Total Amount 1 of Rate in the. Income. Expenditure. Balance of Public Debt. 1854 1859 18G4 1869 1874 645,349 824,869 920,191 1,052,796 1,254,911 i. d. 3 5 3 4 3 8 3 2 3 lOf 120,237 157,121 187,620 195,155 289,655 131,723 136,987 185,537 199,950 271,807 366,095 467,002 638,303 588,449 664,959 N.B.—The amount of property possessed by the Corporation on 81st December 1874, taken at its original cost, was 1,259,047. Arms of Birmingham. The administration of the poor-law is vested in a Board of Guardians, of sixty members, for the parish of Birmingham. The parish of Edgbaston (wholly within the borough) is in the poor-law union of King s Norton, and that part of the parish of Aston included in the borough is in the Aston Union. There are three workhouses that for Birmingham pa rish, situated at Birmingham Heath, is capable of receiving over 2000 inmates. In the week ending June 19, 1875, there were chargeable to the parish (including lunatics and persons receiving outdoor relief) 6949 paupers, a very small number in proportion to population. Birmingham has a grant of quarter sessions, with a recorder, and petty sessions are held daily at the Sessions Court, in Moor Street, before a stipendiary magistrate, and a bench of borough justices. The justices for the borough and Aston division of Warwickshire also sit here occasionally. The borough justices have charge of the administration of the gaol. The town is the head of a county court. district, and is the seat of the probate regis try for Warwickshire.

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