Note (Back) — Chapter VIII

193. The County Council.—The governing authority in each administrative county is the county council, a body composed of (1) councillors elected for a term of three years in single-member electoral divisions under franchise qualifications identical with those prevailing in the boroughs, save that plural voting is not permitted, and (2) aldermen chosen for six years by the popularly elected councillors. The number of aldermen is regularly one-third that of the other councillors, and half of the quota retire triennially. Between the two classes of members there is no distinction of power or function. The council elects a chairman and vice-chairman who hold office one year but are commonly re-elected. Other officers are the clerk, the chief constable, the treasurer, the surveyor, the public analyst, inspectors of various kinds, educational officials, and coroners. The tenure of these is not affected by changes in the composition of the council. Legally, the chairman is only a presiding official, though in practice his influence may be, and not infrequently is, greater than that of any other member. In the election of councillors party feeling seldom displays itself, and elections are very commonly uncontested.[264] Members are drawn mainly from the landowners, large farmers, and professional men, though representatives of the lower middle and laboring classes occasionally appear. The councils vary greatly in size, but the average membership is approximately seventy-five. The bringing together of so many men at frequent intervals is not easily accomplished and the bodies do not assemble ordinarily more than the four times a year prescribed by law. The mass of business devolving upon them is transacted largely through the agency of committees. Of these, some, as the committees on finance, education, and asylums, are required by law; others are established as occasion arises.