72 JOHN GEORGE BOURINOT ON 
The council of every county consists of the reeves and deputy reeves of the townships 
and villages within the county, and one of the reeves or deputy reeve shall be the warden. 
The council of every city consists of the mayor, and three aldermen for every ward. The 
council of every town consists of the mayor and of three councillors for every ward where 
there are less than five wards, and of two for each ward where there are five or more 
wards. The council of every incorporated village and of every township consists of one 
reeve (who presides) and of four councillors. The persons elected must be natural-born 
or naturalised subjects of the Queen, reside within the municipality, and be possessed of a 
certain legal or equitable freehold or leasehold varying from $400 in townships to $1,500 in 
cities for freehold, and from $800 to $3,000 for leasehold. The electors must be ratepayers 
in the municipality. Every election must be held in the municipality to which the 
same relates. The election is by ballot, and complete provision is made for the trial of 
controverted elections and the prevention of corrupt practices. The municipal officers 
comprise a warden, mayor or reeve, clerk, treasurer, assessors, collectors, auditors, valuators. 
The mayors, reeves, aldermen and councillors are elected by the taxpayers, but the warden 
and all the other municipal officers are appointed by the councils. The powers of 
these bodies are exercised by by-law,’ when not otherwise authorised or provided for. 
Certain by-laws require the assent of the ratepayers. The councils have the power to 
pass such laws creating debts and levying rates under certain restrictions set forth in the 
statute: for the purchase of property; for the appointment of municipal officers; for the 
aid of agricultural and other societies, manufacturing establishments, road companies, 
indigent persons and charities ; for taking a census; with respect to drainage, the purchase 
of wet lands, the planting of ornamental trees, driving on roads and bridges, the seizure 
of bread or other articles of ight weight, or short measurement; for the security of 
wharves and docks and the regulation of harbours; for the laying out and improvement 
of cemeteries, the prevention of cruelty to animals; for the purchase of property required 
for the erection of public schools thereon ; and providing for the establishment and sup- 
port of public schools according to law ; for the regulation of fences; for the preservation 
of the public peace and morals; for the licensing of ferries; for the establishment of 
markets, fire companies, sewerage and drainage; for the aid of railways, by taking stock 
or granting a loan or bonus to the same” These municipal bodies can be restrained in 
Ontario, as indeed in other provinces, by the superior courts when their by-laws are in 
excess of their powers. The courts may also compel them to exercise their power in 
proper cases. The provincial legislature grants the municipal authorities certain powers, 
and at the same time commits the proper exercise of those powers to the controlling care 
of the courts.” 
The council of every municipal district in Ontario has now the power to make such 
material improvements as are necessary for the convenience and comfort of the people ; 
but, more than that, the whole municipal organisation has been satisfactorily adapted to 
the requirements of a national system of education. On the enterprise and liberality of 


1 This legal term is a historic link that binds our municipal system to the old English township. In the shires 
of England where the Danes acquired a firm foothold the township was often called “by”; it had the power of 
enacting its own “ by-laws,” or town laws, as municipal corporations have generally to-day. Fiske’s American 
Political Ideas, p. 46. 
? Revised Statutes of Ontario, c. 174. * O'Sullivan’s Manual of Government, p. 191. 
