THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1882. THE MUNICIPAL BY-LAWS.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2719, 27 December 1882, Page 2

THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1882. THE MUNICIPAL BY-LAWS.

It is impossible bnt to sympathise very ' heartily with his Worship the Mayor in the remarks made by him recently as to | the annoyance and lo.»s of time and trouble caused by the sudden disallowance, without any apparent c»u«e, of bylaws made by the Council. The ratepayers, it imint also bo remembered, »-.t « very deeply interested in this matter on the score of expense which in many cases is uselessly incurred. The cost of advertising, printing, &c, connected with the making of a simplo by.Kw is very great, and yet in the majority of cases it is inenrred without one iota of return. The lime and trouble spent by the membors of the Council in framing these bylaws has to be added to the cost thus thrown away owing to, apparently, a want of understanding between tho general end municipal authorities as to the exact stains of the latter. So far as a layman can see, the government and good order of the city is committed to the care of the municipal authorities, who ought certainly to be enabled to make such regulations as they may deem fit for the carrying out of the same without being exposed to the chance of their labors being rendered nngatory. Bat it is not so. At every turn the City Conncil are hampered in their endeavors to frame by-laws to such an extent that it is hardly to be wondered at that the Mayor has felt called upon to make a few remarks. Not only have they to contend with the central authority, but in nine cases out of ten when any breach of the by-law is brought before the Bench, the magistracy also add their weight to the condemnation of the by-laws. Thus, like Ishmael, the hand of every man is against the City Conncil in quite an uncalled-for manner. J n the remarks we have made no reference is intended to the disallowance of the tramway by-law. That was far too stringent in many respects, and would have been found entirely unworkable ; at any rate, if not unworkable, it would have most seriously hampered tho working of the Tramway Company, and thus also interfered with tho public convenience. But we are speaking of I general matters in which the Council should have the privilege, as the ensto-

dians of the city, to make such provisions as will tend to the general comfort and welfare of the ciihe is. Bnt as things are now the members of the Council cannot with any certainty take the least step in this direction. Either the by-law is disallowed straight out by the General Government, or it is defeated on trial before the Bench. In the latter case wa cannot, but help thinking that, his Worship is right in suggesting that where a Magistrate has any doubt in tho matter, it would be better to give judgment in favor of tho anthcritiee only constituted to pr?s»rve law and order, with leave to the defendants to appeal, as in the celebrated ca!> cases, so as to bring the matter boforo the highest legal tribunal. This would be far ; more satisfactory than tho preconi off-handed method of risposing of City Council cases, by supposing at once tha* the by-law under which the case is brought must be ultra vires. Tht result of the present state of affaire is that the Council will very shortly arrive at the conclusion that it is useless to attempt to make by-laws at all, I «nd will allow things to take their course.' i

Tho effect of tbis will soon be felt. Wo shall have all sorts of offences being coramiHflA without any means of punishing tho?o who commit them. Then probably the authorities will awake to tho fact that, in. stultifying the efforts of the* City Council, they are establishing, in a small way, a reign of anarchy. It cannot for one moment besupposed that the citizens will quietly stand by and see a large amount of money yearly being expended in the making of which after ivaidi turn out tobo wot worth the paper they are written on. It must be remembered that, in addition to tho expenses wo have already enumerated, there ia also those of the legal advisers to the Council, always a fairly large item, particularly on a knotty by-law. It does seem to us very ridi--cnlous on the one hand to clothe the municipalities with certain powers, and then in consequence of the dexterity o£ certain wirepullers in connection with the - Government that those powers should be rendered almost, if not quite, nugatory. The sooner such an anomaly as this is remedied the better. Either the CityCouncil within ceitain linrits should be permitted without interference from the central authority to make such by-laws aaare necessary for the peace, order and. good government of tho city, or the powerto do so should be entirely revoked. There cannot be two kings reigning at the same time, for, if so, tho confusion which is now so apparent must inevitably ensue