Excerpt from Philadelphia, Vol. 1: A History of Municipal Development, 1681-1887 The purpose Of this work is to record the history Of the develop ment of the municipal institutions of Philadelphia to trace, with considerable detail, the many changes in the powers, duties, and posi tion Of the mayor; in the election, appointment, and powers Of the other executive Officers; in the position and relation Of the various departments; in the legislative and executive powers Of councils; in the frequently shifting distribution Of executive power between the mayor and councils; in the procedure Of councils, and in the financial system of the city. Such a history is of peculiar interest to students of municipal questions, because the development of the government Of Philadelphia begins with the most characteristic form of a mediaeval English borough corporation, and, after passing through almost every system and phase Of municipal institutions, ends with a charter em bracing the latest ideas Of municipal government. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.