PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference -
FATIM ICO. 885
4 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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the Landesvorsteherschaft; the quiet and industrious burghers, because neither justice nor order are enforced; the strangers, because the children who run about the streets are really too troublesome, and because the walks over the island are not laid with gravel, the streets unpaved, and dirt and filth abound.
"Naturally enough, there is no want of projects and endeavours to cure this mass of evil. But those who wish for reform are so little agreed and so unclear in their views, and so baulked by the inac- tivity and ignorance of the Governor, that it is hardly to be expected that anything will be speedily done. One person wants a new superior officer, will take the trouble to administer; a second wants a judge, learned in the law, who shall not be related to one half of the Island; a third has an eye to a garrison; a fourth wants a strong police, a burgber guard, and an alteration of the Constitution. In short, this solitary little island, inhabited by the smallest and freest population on earth, is distracted by discontent and trouble. Half-a-dozen soldiers and some sharp measures would, no doubt, suffice to ensure external respect and obedience to the autho- rities. But the evil would not thereby be cured. This lies in the rotten condition of the Councillors and public functionaries. Attention must be given to the institution of a Superior Court, and to a proper election of the Representatives of the Island, The first of these measures is indispensably necessary for the better administration of justice; and the second, for a healthier administration of the affairs of the community. Properly speaking, there is no longer any election; for the Councillors complete their own body, and the Wardsmen and Elders are appointed by the Councillors, and not by the burghers. The whole representation of the island is, therefore, concentrated in the hands of the Council; a point which is the more important as the pilots are exclusively officered by the representatives, who, in this capacity, receive emoluments which are
far from inconsiderable. It is rather to be wondered
that, under such circumstances, matters should not
be really much worse than they are.
"It is probable that the right of election was for-
て
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merely vested in duly-authorized members or residents of the community-at least, as far as regards the Elders. The encroachments of the Sovereigns on the one hand, and the pretensions of the Councillors and Landvogts on the other, may have led to chances in that respect.
Under date of the 3rd of April, 1559, a Ducal Order was issued which dismissed the several Councillors and Wardsmen at their own request, vested the appointment of new Councillors and Wardamen in the Landvogt, and prescribed that, in future, new elections should take
place every four years, but subject to confirmation.
It is noted in the Records about 1690, that this was not carried into effect as regards the Councillors.' Further regulations, which may have been made at a later period, have remained inoperative. Hence, various and endless disputes raised by the Councillore. An Ordinance of 1704, as noted by Lass (a Danish historian), gave them the election of Wardsmen. Other enactments were made subsequently. Accord ing to undisputed usage, the Councillors are now the only elective body. Their own nomination is said to require confirmation; but that is hardly more than an empty form.
"Assemblies of all the members of the parish in matters relating to the community have not taken place for time out of memory, although they are not inadmissible. A Royal Regulation of 1780, with) reference to the meetings of the Vorsteherschaft, makes express mention of the assembly of the whole commune, including the sixteen Elders.'
"At an early period, disputes broke out occasion- ally between the Council and Wardsmen and the officers of the Sovereign. In the year 1782, on the occasion of a very violent difference between the Wardsmen and the Landrogt, the latter complained to the Government that his clerk had reason to apprehend that he would be cudgelled. The affair ended in the Representatives obtaining nearly all that they wanted, &c., &c.
"No material difference occurred with the first three functionaries of the British Government. Lieutenant-Governor King even carried away from
the island, in 1840, à silver cup which had been prepared for him at the instance of one of the
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