such division or alteration, whereupon the petition will be taken into consideration by the Privy Council. It is believed that in connection with the division of a borough into wards, or an alteration in the existing number of wards, an alteration in the number of Town Councillors may be effected, and where an alteration in the boundaries of a borough is made in pursuance of the Local Government Act, 1888, the number of Councillors may at the same time be altered1; but it seems that except in these cases no alteration can be made in the number of Town Councillors by any means short of a Local Act.

The Chairman of a County Council is, during his year of Chairman and office, a Justice of the Peace for the county, by virtue of Mayor. his office. But before acting as such Justice, he must, if he has not already done so, take the oaths required by law to be taken by a Justice of the Peace, other than the oath respecting the qualification by estate.2 The County Council may from time to time appoint a member of the Council to be Vice-Chairman, to hold office during the year of office of the Chairman, and subject to any rules made by the County Council, anything authorised or required to be done by, to, or before the Chairman, may be done by, to, or before the Vice-Chairman.2 The Mayor of a borough

also is, during his term of office, a Justice of the borough, and unless he becomes disqualified to be Mayor, he continues to be a Justice during the year after he goes out of office. The Chairman of a County Council and the Mayor of a borough may receive such salary as the Council in each case think fit.*

The Mayor of a borough may from time to time appoint an Alderman or Councillor to act as Deputy Mayor during his illness or absence. The appointment must be signified to the Town Council in writing and be recorded on the minutes of the Town Council. The Deputy so appointed will have all the powers of Mayor, except that he will not be a Justice of the Peace, and will not take the chair at a meeting of the Town Council unless specially appointed at the meeting to do so.5

Rules as to meetings of a Town Council are given in the second schedule to the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882,

Rules as to meetings of Council.

See post, p. 350.

Committees. 4

and are applicable also to a County Council; subject to the following modifications:-1

(i.) Chairman of the County Council must be substituted for Mayor.

(ii.) Clerk of the County Council must be substituted for Town Clerk.

(iii.) The 7th November must be substituted for the 9th November as the day for holding a quarterly meeting of the County Council.

(iv.) One-fourth of the whole number of the Council will be a quorum, and must be substituted for one-third in paragraph 10 of the rules.

No member of a County or Town Council may vote or take part in the discussion of any matter before the Council or before a Committee in which he has directly or indirectly, by himself or his partner, any pecuniary interest.2 A County Councillor elected for an electoral division consisting wholly of a Quarter Sessions Borough, the population of which, according to the census of 1881, exceeded 10,000, or consisting of some part of such borough, must not act or vote in respect of any question arising before the Council as regards matters involving expenditure, on account of which the parishes in the borough are not liable to be assessed equally with the rest of the county, to county contributions.3

A County Council have powers of appointing Committees of their own body and also to join with other bodies in the appointment of Joint Committees, and there are some such Committees which must be appointed.

Any County Council may appoint a Committee for any purpose, and delegate such powers as they think fit to such Committee, except that they must not delegate any power of raising money by rate or by loan. The Council appointing a Committee may make, from time to time, and vary and revoke regulations respecting the quorum and proceedings of the Committee, and as to the area (if any) within which it is to exercise its authority. Subject to such regulations, the proceedings and quorum will be such as the Committee itself may from time to time direct.

Á County Council may join with any other County Council or Councils, or with any Court or Courts of Quarter Sessions, or with the Town Council or Councils of

1 Local Government Act, 1888, sec. 75.

2 Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, sec. 22.
Local Government Act, 1888, sec. 35.

4 Ib., secs. 28, 81, 82.

any county borough or county boroughs in appointing out of their respective bodies a Joint Committee for any purpose in respect of which they are jointly interested. To such a Committee, the bodies appointing it may delegate any powers that they think fit, except any power of making a rate or borrowing money. Subject to the terms of delegation, such a Joint Committee will, in respect of any matters delegated to it, have the same power in all respects as the Councils, or Councils and Courts appointing it. The members of a Joint Committee may be appointed at such times, and in such manner, and will hold office for such time, as may be fixed by the appointing bodies; but where any members of the Committee are appointed by a County Council, the Committee must not continue to exist for more than three months after the day of general election of County Councillors. The bodies appointing such a Committee may make, vary, and revoke regulations respecting the quorum and proceedings of such Committee, and as to the area (if any) within which it is to exercise its authority. Subject to such regulations the proceedings and quorum will be such as the Committee itself may direct.

The following Committees must be appointed :

Committee of

Ist. A Standing Joint Committee of the County Council and Standing Joint Quarter Sessions of the County. This Committee must consist County Council of an equal number of Justices appointed by the Quarter and Quarter Sessions, and of members of the County Council appointed by the Council. The number of the Committee must be determined by agreement between the Quarter Sessions and the County Council, or in default of agreement, by a Secretary of State.

The Standing Joint Committee must elect a Chairman, and should there be an equality of votes for two or more persons, one of those persons must be elected Chairman by lot. The business of the Standing Joint Committee includes the management of the police and other matters.

Committee.

2nd. A Finance Committee must be appointed by each Finance County Council.2

3rd. In each of the six entire counties, which comprise more than one administrative county, a Joint Committee must be appointed by the County Councils of the administrative counties comprised therein. Such a Joint Committee must,

1 Local Government Act, 1888, sec. 30. 2 Ib., sec. 80.

3 Ib., secs. 46, 64, 82.

Joint Committee county.

for entire

Delegation of

Authority of

if the business to be transacted by them so require, comprise a Joint Committee of the Quarter Sessions of the several ridings and divisions which constitute the administrative counties. If any difference arises as to the number of members or as to the mode or time of appointing such a Joint Committee, the difference must be determined by a Secretary of State.

In Yorkshire and Lincolnshire the Committee will, as we have seen, be a corporate body, called the York County Committee or the Lincoln County Committee, with a common seal and perpetual succession. These County Committees will transact business, transferred from Quarter Sessions by the Local Government Act, 1888, which has hitherto been transacted by the Justices of all the ridings and divisions at Gaol Sessions, or by any Joint Committee of the Justices, or by Commissioners appointed by the Justices, or otherwise jointly by such Justices.

In Sussex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and Northamptonshire, the Joint Committee will not be a corporate body, but will transact all business transferred from Quarter Sessions, which has hitherto been transacted at any General Sessions for Sussex or Suffolk, or by any joint action of the Quarter Sessions of the divisions of the county of Cambridge or of the county of Northampton, and all matters under the Local Government Act, 1888, which concern the entire county.

Any Joint Committee for an entire county appointed under these provisions will stand in reference to business transacted by them in the position, as far as circumstances admit, of a County Council for the entire county, and their expenses must be defrayed by the County Councils appointing the Committee.

A County Council may delegate, conditionally or otherCounty Council. Wise, any powers or duties transferred to them by or in pursuance of the Local Government Act, 1888, except any power of raising money by rate or loan, to any Sanitary Authority. They may also delegate to the Justices in Petty Sessions any of their powers and duties, except the power of raising money by rate or loan, in respect of licensing theatres, or in respect of execution, as Local Authority, of the Explosives Act, 1875, or of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts. We now propose to deal with certain general officers of a County Council, and of a Town Council.

Clerk of County
Council.

Firstly, the Clerk of the County Council will also be Clerk of the Peace of the County, and as Clerk of the Peace, will have

1 Local Government Act, 1888, sec. 28.

many duties connected with the business of the Quarter Sessions. He will be appointed by the Standing Joint Committee of the County Council and the Quarter Sessions, and will be removable at the discretion of that Committee.1

The Clerk of the Peace and of the County Council may be paid either by fees or by salary, or partly by fees and partly by salary. In any case the Clerk will receive fees in respect of a great number of matters. If he is paid by fees he will receive them for his own use, but if he is paid by salary the fees payable to him, except those (if any) that may be excluded (that is to say declared to be receivable by him for his own use), will be paid into the county fund.

The Standing Joint Committee may, from time to time, prepare a table of fees, and lay such table, signed by the Chairman of the Committee, before a Secretary of State, who may subscribe a declaration to the effect that such table of fees, with such modifications as he thinks proper to insert, are proper fees to be demanded; whereupon the table of fees must be sent to the Clerk, who will be bound by the table.

If the Standing Joint Committee wish to pay the Clerk by salary, in lieu of, or partly in lieu of, fees, or to alter the amount of the salary, &c., they may, from time to time, recommend to a Secretary of State that the Clerk should be so paid, or that the salary should be so altered, &c.; and, in that case, the Committee must in their recommendation state the amount of the salary that, in their opinion, should be paid, and the recommendation must be signed by the Chairman of the Committee, and transmitted to the Secretary of State, who may thereupon make an Order that the Clerk shall be paid by salary, or that the salary shall be varied. The Committee in making their recommendation may, if they wish, first recommend that any description of the business of the Clerk should not be included in fixing the salary, but that, in respect of such business, the Clerk should continue to be paid by fees. The Secretary of State in making the Order may accordingly exclude those fees.

The Joint Committee may appoint a Deputy Clerk to hold office during their pleasure; without prejudice, however, to the appointment of a Deputy Clerk for the purpose of a

1 Subject to the rights of Clerks of the Peace already in office on the 13th August, 1888. See ante, p. 40. As to future appointments, see Local Government Act, 1888, secs. 30, 83. As to his salary and fees, see 11 & 12 Vict. c. 43, sec. 30, and 14 & 15 Vict. c. 55, secs. 9-11.