Amador Ledger-Dispatch, 29 September 1905 — Municipal Corporations. [ARTICLE]

Municipal Corporations.

A Timely Treatise on the Subject -The Danger of Undue Expansion

General Remarks. '

There are 136 incorporated ctiies in Calfornina. These cities hare a population varying from 340,000 to less than 500. There are now about forty with a population of less than 1000. They are divided into six classes, according to population. All towns with a population of less tnan 3000 belong to the sixth class. There are Ht cities of this class in the state. At the present time the only method for a community to become an iucor_ porated town is to follow the method prescribed by the state of 1883, known -as the " Municipal incorporation Act.

Mathod of Incorporating.

A petition must be presented to the board of supervisors by the electors of a given territory to the number of at least fifty, showing (1) that the territory sought to be incorporated is not already incorporated. ('2) That the territory described contains over 500 inhabitants, and (3) a description of the boundaries of the proposed incorporation, and then conclude with a prayer that the same be incrporated. This petition, together with a notice as to when this petition will be pre?euted to the county supervisors, must be published two weeks (three insertions) in a weekly newspaper prior to the time of its presentation to the board of supervisors. Then the board of supervisors finally fix the boundaries, determine the number of inhabitants and call an election fh the proposed municipality to determine the question of incorporation.

The requirements of the statutes must bo followed with the strictest fidelity. The proper publication of the notice is a very essential thing, as it serves to give the board of supervisors jurisdiction of the subject-matter. To much care cannot be exercised in this matter, for it would be a serious thing to discover after a town had been exercising municipal functions for several years that its primary inuorporatiou was of questionable validity. Several towns have found themselves in this predicament.

In preparing the petition the determination ot the territory to be embraced in the proposed town frequently tequires the exercise of a nice judgment and Eany things must' be taken into consideration therewith. The safe rule to follow is: Do not include more territory than is absolutely essential, and yet the future growth ot the town must to some extent be foreseen.. We must consider: Is the town growing rapidly? if so, in what direction will it grow? We •In not 'want populous suburbs just outside of the corporate limits. They ure frequently unsanitary and a menace to the public health. So any territory that is likely to be soon populated should be included. All territory not likely to be thus populated should be excluded. Also exclude as much public highway as ■ ossibJe and lay out the city so that few bridges ne^d be maintained. The town should be so situated that one general sewerage or drainage district may be formed to include the entire corporate limits. Include as little agricultural - land and agriculturists as possible. Those whose occupation is agricultural have little need tor a municipal organization, 'they do not need sewers, or fire or police protection, and it t.aey are forced to come in they will prove a source of annoyance and friction in the future administration of the town. They will have to pay taxes, receive no benefit and will be continually objecting to all public improvements, kick at all progress and become a general hinderance. Some time in the future you may wish to issue bonds for sewers, electric light and water works, and every man who lives out ot the reach of these utilities will be sure to vote against bonds, and as it requires a two-thirds vote to accomplish these, the fellows living on the outskirts of town are frequently determining factors in such worthy projects. Benefits of Incorporation. • The benefits resulting from a municipal corporaton are those that flow from the exercise of certain functions that cannot be adequately exercised in any other way. These functions may be divided as follows: 1. Those relating to the public convenience. .2. Those relating to the public safety. 3. Industrial functions. 4. Social functions. Functions of Convenience. These relate to the care, maintenance and use of public streets', which include sidewalks, bridges and squares. Streets must be constructed, repaired and sprinkled. They should bo drained, and curbs, gutters and culverts maintained. The convonifince ot the people requires also that there should be sidewalks for pedestrians and nowadays we are considering that bicycle paths are almost a necessity. Moreover, we also feel a certain convenience and pleasure in having the streets beautified by the presence of trees, shrubs and flowers. The City Beautiful is becoming to be recognized as the coming city. It is the beautiful cities that attract strangers and show the most rapid growth.

While the county has power to establish and maintain highways, it really confines is duty to the maintenance* of a mere passage way for

teams. A strip twenty or thirty feet wide is all that is deemed necessary lor that purpose, and if a locality becomes' thickly populated, and requires a wider highway, a better highway -and fitted to accommodate a heavy traffic, finds sidewalks essential and some ornamentation desirable, it must look to some form of co-oper-ative effort od the part of the community affected. 1 The county machinery becomes inadequate. For a time the people will bear the expense of the additional undertaking by private subscriptions and until it is seen that this expense falls on the tew who' always contribute cheerfully and liberally, while others equally beneHtted contribute nothing. This inequality of sacrifice makes, manifest the necessity for a municipal corporation. So if a community desires better streets, sidewalks, shade trees, etc. at an equitable distribution of cost, it must organize into a munithpal corporaton."^ \ . - •

Functions of Public Safety.

Under this head may be considered : Fire protection, police protection and health protection. jjS?

One ot the first needs of an urban community is. protection against fire. This the county cannot give. Without it insurance rates will be exhorbitant. In unincorporated towns there is almost invariably an inadequate fire protection and consequental high insurance rates. The fire departments, such as it is, is maintained at the expense of the few who happen to be on hand when the collection is taken up, and here again comes the inequality of sacrifice for the public good.

Furthermore, there is always an absence of regulations to operate to prevent fires. Fire trap buildings are put up In dangerous localities, rubbish accumulates in back alleys and everything invites an early and damaging conflagration. The municipal corporation alone has ' authority to adopt preventative measures, and those measures are more valuable than a lire department.

The more populous a community the greater necessity is there for police protection. Acts which, in a rural community affect none but ihe doer, in a populous' communiy becomes highly obnoxious to neighbors. Such acts must be legislated against and punished, and here again the municipality becomes a necessity.

The public health is of grave concern and it is the urban community that is most susceptible to all forms of disease. It is here that epidemics ravage and take away our. loved ones.

it is in tne cities that disease breeds and starts out to deal death to the.- living, the strong and the beautiful.

Modern science is devoting itself to the prevention of disease as much as it is to its cure.

Cleanliness is the secret of health. The law has been written "cities must keep clean. " No' town, no matter how small, can violate this law and escape with immunity. It is recognized that the various fevers are traceable to filth, and that epidemiccs of this disease can be avoided simply by keeping clean.

Therefore we must have pure water, uncontaminated by filth, pure air, unpolluted by noxious gases, and to have pure water and pure air we must not permit filth to accumulate. Therefore we must have sewers and such health ordinances as will maintain the health of the community. The rubbish of the street, ana the household 'waste, must be removed so that it will not be a source of danger. The municipal corporation alone has the only ample authority to protect the public health. Industrial Functions. Cities are rapidly taking upon them selves new functions of an industrial nature. 'They are operating water works, light plants, street railways, etc. A book could be written on this subject alone and the advantages of municipal operation portrayed. A few words here must suffice. It is generally conceded and statistics show, that municipal water works result in purer water, better supply, better fire protection, cheaper rates, •ower cost. The same can be said of the municipal lighting works. Over 10 cities in this state operate water works and a dozen operate water lighting works. Social - Functions. For the social betterment of a community cities can maintain parks and playgrounds, gymnasiums and baths, libraries, museums and art galleries, provide concerts and other forms of entertainment and recreation. While these things, are not essential, they serve a high and noble purpose and the communities who wish to reach a high plane of social comfort must have them and secure them through the efforts of the municipality. The public library is a very popular and useful institution, and no city is too small to maintain one. - There are about fifty municipal libraries in California and the number is constantly increasing. In one instance the main incentive for the incorporation of a town was the desire of its people to have a public library. What the Advantage Cost. Having enumerated the various benefits that a community may obtain, the next important thing to be considered is the cost of the same. It is a rule of human action that we cannot satisfy our desires without a sacrifice. We must pay the price for all that we need for our physical and social enjoyment. A municipality can supply certain • conveniences, necessities and comforts, and a community can, by paying the price, take little or all that it can supply. It is

like a store with its,'stock of merchandise, wherein a person may take one article or the entire stock, if he is willing to pay tor it. Some communities require little,- others desire much. Ho tax rates vary tram a nominal sum to an amount that some taxpayers may consider extravagance. The instant a municipality corporation is organized the territory is withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the county authorities. The care of the highways passes from the county to the municipality, and likewise the revenue for the care of roads goes to the municipal treasury. No road tax is levied on the property in incorporated towns. Also, under a recent decision, the city has the right to impose licenses within its limits. With tbe revenue from these two sources some cities carry on the local government. It jests largely, with tbe people what tbe rate of taxes shall be. For general purposes in sixth class cities it cannot exceed Seventy-five cents on the $100. This is certainly not an extravagant rate. In many of the smaller cities a rate of fifty cents is levied; in a'few a smaller rate yet.

So in deciding upon tbe question ot incorporation the matter is not one of increasing the tax rate, bat it is of determining whether or not all of the advantages of municipal co-operation will be on tap, whether we wish to pay the price or not. In other words, we are to lay in a stock of sewers, fire apparatus, water works, lighting plants, parks, libraries, health and police regulations, to be delivered to us whenever we pay the cost thereof. We may not wish muny of these for years, but they are handy to have at hand. The official salaries at flist should be small. Five hundred dollars per annum onght to cover till offioial salaries in a town of 3,000 inhabitants. 1 know of a town of nearly 4000, in habitants where the clerk is paid but 8200 per year, the attorney 8100 per year, the marshal and the tax collector '2 per cent of moneys collected, and the treasurer a small commission. . In conclusion, 1 may state that the city once incorporated rarely disincorporates. Ido not know ot one in the state where it is desired to abandon the local government at tho present time, do this may be considered as proving the .satisfactory character of municipal corporations. New towns are being incorporated at the rate of three or four annually.— California Municipaliies.