Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/216

* GREAT BRITAIN. 190 GREAT BRITAIN. sentative of the Crown in Ihe county, and tlie keeper of the records. The Sherilf. who formerly wielded vast powers, is now a ministerial oflicer whose chief duties relate to the enforcement of the judj;nients of the courts and the holding of Parliamentary elections. The Justices of the Peace, until 1888 the most important local of- ficers in the En<:lish system, w'cre stripped of most of their larfje administrative and financial powers by the Local Government Act of that year, and are now chielly judicial functionaries. They are appointed by the Lord Cliancellor upon the "nomination of the Lord Lieitenant of the county in which they reside. Their jurisdiction extends to the preliminary investigation of all crimes. Acting individually or in petty or spe- cial sessions, they try minor offenses without a jury. As a criminal court of first instance all the" justices of the county sit together in a court of quarter sessions, and without a jury they constitute a court of appeal from the orders and decisions of the justices acting individually or in petty or special sessions. They still retain some administrative duties, such as issuing licenses for the sale of liquor, appointing over- seers of the poor, and assisting in the administra- tion of the police. By the act of 1888 there was created in each of the sixty-one administrative counties into which England, with Wales, is divided (except London) a popularly elected County Council consisting of councilors and al- dermen, the latter being selected by the coun- cilors, usually from their own body. The term of the councilors is three years; that of the alder- men six years, one-half their number retiring every third year. They all sit together under the presidency of a County Chairman, chosen from the aldermen; and he alone receives compensation. The powers and duties of the County Coimcil ex- tend ( 1 ) to the care and administration of the county property; (2) to the selection and super- vision of most of the minor county officers; (3) to the assessment of rates and raising of loans: (4) to the management of highways; (5) to the granting of licenses for maintaining music and dancing" houses : (6) to the control of the police (except in London) through a committee of the council, on which an equal number of justices of the peace have a place: and (7) to a variety of other matters of local concern. It will be seen that, like the similar county authority in the United States, the County Council is an author- ity of enumerated powers, and may do nothing which Parliament has not authorized it to do. Below the county is the 'di.striet,' which may be either rural or urban. The act of 1804 pro- vided that each 'rural district' should consist of a group of rural parishes, and its chief organ should be a council elected for a term of three years by the parish assembly, and which should be vested with the administration of the poor law, the public health, and the highway acts. The 'urban district' consists of a group of urban parishes in unincorporated boroughs, and. like the rural district, has a council with the same powers, except that it is not charged with the poor-law administration, that being left to a board of guardians. Below the 'district' is the parish, the usual distinction between those which are urban and those which are rural still being observed. The act of 1894 reorganized the gov- ernment of the rural parishes, but scarcely af- fected the urban parishes. According to that act every rural parish with a population not ex- ceeding three hundred has a parish meeting, or assembly, at which every elector, including mar- ried women, has the right to be present and vote. Kural parishes with a pojuilation exceeding three liundred have in addition a parish council of from five to fifteen members, elected for one year. The councils have taken over the civil pow'ers of the old vestries, which since 1804 have been ec- clesiastical bodies merely, and in addition per- form a series of duties relating to charities, water-supply, pulilic health, highways, and other matters. The parish meetings elect councilors, approve loans, and vote upon certain permissive acts of Parliament which relate chiefly to the establishment of public libraries, baths, wash- houses, electric-light plants, etc. Incorporated towns, including 'county bor- oughs' (i.e. boroughs which are treated some- what as a county ) are governed through a mayor, aldermen, and councilors, which together consti- tute a municipal corporation, and which is known as tlie 'council,' Tl^e councilors are elected prac- tically by the rale-jiayers of the borough for a term of three years, one-third retiring annually; the aldermen are elected by the council for a term of si.x years, one-half retiring every third year; and the mayor is elected by the council for one year, Ke alone is a salaried officer, and is an ex-officio justice of the peace. The munici- pal corporation is an authority of enumerated powers. They include substantially the same powers as the urban council, but provision is made by which the borough may have a separate commission of the peace, i.e. additional justices of the peace or a separate quarter session, and its own police force. Tiie metropolis of London, by the Local Gov- ernment Act of 1888, was erected into an admin- istrative ccnuity with its own council, its own sheriff, and other olficers. By a recent act which went into effect in 1001. the county of London, including the city, was divided into 20 boroughs, each with its mayor, aldermen, and councilors, which take the place of the old parish vestries, formerly the chief local governing bodies of the metropolis. The recent Parliamentary legislati(m has shown a marked tendency in the direction of establish- ing greater central control over the local admin- istration. The chief organ of supervision is the Local Government Board, created in 1871. the president of which is usually a member of the Cabinet. It has the power to approve or disap- prove many acts of the local organs, to audit the accounts of the local authorities, to compel them to take action in certain particulars, and has considerable disciplinai-v- power over the local civil service. ScoTL.ND. The government of Scotland, since the union with England in 1707. has been a part of the general administration of Great Britain. L'ntil 188.5 the connection was maintained chiefly through the Home Office. In that year the office of Chief Secretary for Scotland was created, and a variety of duties which had previously been discharged by diflerent departments were trans- ferred to the" new office. The Chief Secretary is a member of the Cabinet, and as such is the chief spokesman of the Ministers in the House of Com- mons in regard to business pertaining to Scottish affairs. Another important functionary in the government of Scotland is the Lord Advocate,