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MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. (See subhead Charters, above.) Other organizations whose annual proceedings are noted below (see Bibliography) have played an important part in municipal reform.

The need for Municipal Specialists becomes more and more imperative as the municipal activities increase in number and complexity. Mayors in Germany, city clerks in England, and city engineers in all countries are already a distinct professional class, stimulated by the prospect of advancement to more important cities as their abilities increase. Sanitary or health officers, professional accountants, superintendents of water supply and other public works are also rapidly gaining in professional ability, and public recognition of such ability is likewise increasing.

Shaw, Municipal Government in Great Britain (New York, 1895); id., Municipal Government in Continental Europe (New York, 1895); Goodnow, Municipal Home Rule (New York, 1892); id., Municipal Problems (New York, 1897); Wilcox, City Government (New York, 1897); Maltbie, English Local Government of To-Day (New York, 1897); Art and Life and Building and Decoration of Cities, by various authors (London, 1897); Eaton, Government of Municipalities (New York, 1899); Conkling, City Government in the United States (4th ed., New York, 1899); Weber, Growth of Cities (New York, 1899); A Municipal Programme (New York, 1900); Goodhue, Municipal Improvement (3d ed., New York, 1900); Parsons, The City for the People (Philadelphia, 1901); Fairlie, Municipal Administration (New York, 1901); Robinson, Improvement of Towns and Cities (New York, 1901); Brooks, Bibliography of Municipal Affairs and City Conditions (New York, 1901); Chapin, Municipal Sanitation in the United States (Providence, 1901); Baker, Municipal Engineering and Sanitation (New York, 1902); Zeublin, American Municipal Progress (New York, 1902); Baker, Municipal Year-Book (New York, 1901); Donald, Municipal Year-Book (British, London, 1902); Victorian Municipal Directory (Melbourne, 1901); Conferences for Good Government (Philadelphia, 1894, current); Annual Proceedings of the American Society of Municipal Improvement (New York); League of American Municipalities (Des Moines, Iowa); League of Civic Improvement (Springfield, Ohio); Legislation by States, a descriptive classified index (Albany, annually); Municipal Affairs (quarterly, New York, 1897, current); Municipal Engineering (monthly, Philadelphia, current); Municipal Journal and Engineer (monthly, New York, current); Municipal Journal (weekly, London, current); Engineering News (weekly, New York, current); Engineering Record (weekly, New York). Consult also the authorities referred to under the articles mentioned in cross references above. See ; ;  MUNICIPALITY, or MUNICIPAL CORPORATION. A town or city possessed of certain privileges of local self-government; also the governing body in such a town. Municipal institutions date back to the Roman Empire. The provincial towns of Italy, though subjected to the rule of a Roman official, were allowed to enjoy the right of regulating their internal affairs. A class of the inhabitants called the curia, or decuriones, elected two officers called duumviri, whose functions were supposed to be analogous to those of the consuls of the Imperial city, and who exercised a limited jurisdiction, civil and criminal. There was an important functionary in every municipality called the defensor civitatis, or advocate for the city, the protector of the citizens against arbitrary acts on the part of the Roman governor. The municipal system declined with the decline of the Empire, yet it retained a fair degree of vitality, and rose to renewed life in union with feudalism, and with the Anglo-Saxon institutions of Great Britain. Indeed, some cities of Italy, France, and Germany have derived their present magistracy by direct succession from the days of Imperial Rome, as is notably the case with Cologne. The bishop, as the shield between the conquerors and the conquered, in many cases discharged the duties or obtained the functions of the defensor civitatis. To the north of the Alps, under the feudal system, he became officially the civil governor of the city, as the count was of the rural district. In Southern Europe, where feudalism was less vigorous, the municipalities retained a large share of freedom and self-government. Of the cities of the Middle Ages, some were entirely free. Venice, Genoa, Florence, Hamburg, and Lübeck all stood in this position. Next in dignity were the free Imperial cities in Germany, which, not being comprehended in the dominions of any of the princes, were in immediate dependence on the Empire. Most of these cities rose to importance in the thirteenth century, and their liberties and privileges were fostered by the Holy Roman emperors to afford some counterpoise to the growing powers of the immediate nobility. The chief organs of government in the German cities were the councils, usually one for deliberation and a smaller one for administration, both being chosen from the various trade and artisan guilds. There were also from two to four burgomasters in each city who presided over the council meetings. The Italian cities were governed by executive officers known as consuls, usually twelve in number. By the side of these were a council and a general assembly of the citizens. During the contest between the Italian cities and the Emperor an officer, called the podestà, was put in control of the cities which the Emperor succeeded in subjecting to his authority. Other cities, seeing the advantage of a single executive, voluntarily introduced this officer in place of the consuls. In Southern France the Italian consular system existed, but occasionally the podestà appears as the chief municipal officer. In the northern part of France the maire and échevins were most frequently the governing authorities of the towns.
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Before the Norman Conquest the English