Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/117

 in heaven, so the spirit of corporations, being bullied, and insulted, and reformed in England, seems to have taken refuge in New South Wales. But in her flight she has lost her gorgeous trappings, and her luxurious habits. "We have a mayor, it is true, but he reminds one of Martinus Scriblerus' simple idea of a lord mayor, abstracted from the notion of his horse-fur gown and gold chain. We have our aldermen too, but what is an alderman abstracted from the idea of turtle soup; he is the worse counterfeit of the two. Then we have our councillors, who answer more nearly to their European brethren. These officers are all elective. Seriously speaking, however, the corporations have shown an anxiety to be active in the discharge of their duties; but the general want of money, which is felt more in Melbourne than in the rural parts of the district, has naturally made them slow to impose heavy rates; while the ridiculous width of the principal streets makes the forming and keeping them in order to be accompanied by very great expense. The mayor's salary is three hundred pounds a year. He has, to a certain extent, to perform the duties of a police magistrate, there being none now at Melbourne, and also to preside at the meetings of the municipal council, which are held frequently.