The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 1871.

Dunstan Times, Issue 508, 12 January 1872, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 1871.

Beneath the Rule of Men us iiUEt.Y just the PiJ.v is mcnniKß than the sword

Among the more important Acts passed ihtv.ng the late Session vruaone

o amend the Municipal Corporations cts of ISG7 and 18G8, conferring idditional powers Upon Borough ConnMs of no slight moment. For indance, the power to take land for pernanont works, the option of levying preial water rates “ lor the purpose if constructing water-works, or paying the interest on any loan contracted for such purpose,” or the purchase of existing water-works within or without the borough. Under the category of “permanent” works, the tenth clause of the Act sets forth the following : —“ The Opening and making, “altering or increasing, the width of •' streets within the city or borough; or without the city or borough; if “ approved of by the ; Snpc-rintendent “ or County Chairman, The raising, “ lowering, and alterationoftheground •‘or soil of the streets ; of which the “ level slia-ll not-have been previous’v “ fixed, as herein provided. The con- “ structioK and establishment of “ bridges and ferries. The constrnc“tlon, enlargement and alteration of “ sewers. The construction or laying “ of any covered drain or pipe, so far “ as the same is not placed" on-land “ appertaining to the tenement to be “ drained, or on land or property held “ or placed under the control of the “Council. The construction or lay- “ ing of any drain or channel for “draining ;from or thiough’any pro “ raises, the surface or stormwater, so “ far as the same is not constructed “or laid upon land the property of “ or placed under the control of the “ Council. The construction of water works within or (with the consent “ of the Superintendent or County “ Chairman) without the city, borough, “or town, whether in conjunction “ with other citie*, boroughs, towns, “ or road districts, or whether tho '* works be wholly or in part within “ or without the city or borough. The “providing of municipal offices and “ market-places, the construction of “ market-houses and abattoirs, the “ providing places for weighing carts “ and their loadings, and the making “convenient approaches to anv mar“ket. The providing ot land and “ buildings for baths and wash-houses. “ 111# providing of pleasure-grounds “ within or without the boroughs, “libraries, museums, or places of pub- I •‘lie resort or recreation. The erec- “ tion, establishment, or providing of “hospitals, asylums, and other build- “ ings, or places for charitable purposes.” And inferential!}', it may be assumed, the erection of buildings serving the joint purpose of public schools and Jluraries. But, in the exercise of these extended powers, due provision is made that no Council snail, by excess of zeal or laek of discretion, jeopardise the iifterests of the rate payers. By the eleventh and following Clauses of the Act. it is stipulated that, whenever a Borough Council de.ms it expedient to carry into effect thepowera above mentioned, they must first cause plans and specifications to be prepared, showing the nature and extent of the proposed undertaking, the exact sites and measurements of lands proposed to be taken, and the names of owners and occupiers thereof, so far as known; such plans to be open for inspection by all persons interested theiein, for forty clear day's after notice by advertisement in the General and Provincial Gazelles ; and some newspaper generally circulated in the borough, It is also stipulated that notices shall be served on alt owners, lessees, or occupiers of land intended to bo taken, requiring an answer either as assenting, dissenting, or neutral in the matter. The Council is empowered to take the eiidence, on oath, of dissentients, and such evidence and objections, in documentary form, having been submitted to the Superintendent of the Province, he “ may confirm the said order, with or without variation or may disallow such order,” notice of his decision being forthwith gazetted. When all such objections have been satisfactorily udjlisted, and the order for work confirmed, the Council may only commence operations upon having first made “ to the -owners of, and “ all persons interested in, any lands “ taken or used for tho purposes of “ such undertaking, or injuriously “ affected by the execution thereof, “full compensation of the value of “ the lands, and for all damage sus- “ tained by any person by reason of “ the exercise of these powers by the “ Council.” But, having legally acquired possession of lands under the above restrictions, the Council is empowered, by Clause 17 of the said Act, subject to the approval of the Superintendent, tu sail or lease such

portions of the, land so acquired which may not be needed for borough purposes. The power to levy a waterrate, in addition to general, special, and separate rates, heretofore enforced by virtue of the Acts of 18G7 and 18G8, is worthy the special attention of rate-payers in the Clyde Municipality, pending any suggestions that may emanate from the Council relative to the proposed supply of water for town purposes. This special rate can be levbd “on all or such part of the “rateable property of the borough, for “ water supplied by the Council to all “or some of the inhabitants of the “borough, or for the purpose'of con- “ struciing water-works, or paying (he “interest of any loan contracted for “ such purpose; but such rate shall “ not exceed in any yrar the sum of “one shilling in the pound on the “ assessment of the rateable property “of the borough.” By Clause 21 of the Act, the Council may, with the consent of the Governor, “purchase “ any water-works situate within or “ without the city or borough, and “ suitable for ibe“supp!y of such city “or borough with water.” The remaining sections of the Amendment Act provide for the repeal of the clauses of the old Acts referring to open voting at elections, and a scries of new clauses are substituted, which provide for the taking of the ballot in a similar manner to that adopted at the election of members of the [Provincial Council or House of Representatives. Tn Clause 25, however, a new feature is introduced, which may or may not be deemed of questionable utility. It reads as follows : “ If there “be more booths than one, the said “ booths shall be numbered in arith- “ metical order, and there shall be “ affixed over the entrance of each “ booth in succession so many letters “ of the alphabet, in their alphabetical “ order, as shall denote, by the initial “ letter of the surname, the burgesses “ entitled to vote thereat; and no “ burgess shall vote in any Imoth save “ that denoted by the initial letter of “his surname.” Under the old Municipal Act, no power had been given to re-divide the wards of any borough once proclaimed by. the Governor; but the Act under notice provides that, on receipt of a'peiitiou signed by not less than one-fourth of the burgesses of any single borough divided into wards, praying for a redivision thereof, the Superintendent of any Province may, by proclamation, “divide anewsuch single borough “into three separate wards, as may “ seem fit, by such names and by such “ boundaries as shall in and by such “ Proclamation be assigned to them, “ and such wards shall be in li.ai of “ the former wards." Piovision being made that “No borough shall lie “ newly divided into wards upon or “ within thirty days before or after “any day appointed for an annual “ election of Councillors in or for the “ borough or any ward thereof.” And also that “ The Councillors who shall “be in office in any , borough at the “ time when the same shall be newly “ divided into wards shall be severally “ allotted to each such ward by the “ Superintendent, in ami by sudi Pro- “ clamation newly dividing such ward, “ or in and by any other instrument; “and if any seat or seats shall be "vacant at the time of such new “division, the Superintendent shall “ determine for which ward oi wards “ such seats shall be deemed to be “ vacant, and the same shall bo deemed “ extraordinary vacancies.”