[Reported by the Committee on the Judiciary.] Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and FortyFive. AN ACT To establish the City of New Bedford. BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: 1 SECT. 1. The inhabitants of the town of New 2 Bedford shall continue to be a body politic and cor3 porate, under the name of the city of New Bedford, 4 and as such shall have, exercise and enjoy all the 5 rights, immunities, powers and privileges, and shall 6 be subject to all the duties and obligations, now in7 cumbent upon and appertaining to said town, as a 8 municipal corporation. 1 SECT. 2. The administration of all the fiscal, 2 prudential and municipal affairs of said city, with the 3 government thereof, shall be vested in one principal 4 officer, to be styled the mayor; one council of six, 5 to be denominated the board of aldermen; and one 6 council of twenty-four, to be denominated the com7 mon council: which boards, in their joint capacity, 8 shall be denominated the city council, and shall be 9 sworn to the faithful performance of the duties of 10 their respective offices. A majority of each board 11 shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of busi12 ness, and no member of either board shall receive 13 any compensation for his services. 1 SECT. 3. It shall be the duty of the selectmen of 2 the town of New Bedford, as soon as may be after 3 the passage of this act, and its acceptance by the 4 inhabitants, as hereinafter provided, to divide said 5 town into six wards, to contain, as nearly as conve6 niently may be, an equal number of inhabitants, 7 which proceedings of the selectmen shall be subject 8 to the revision of the inhabitants, at a meeting which 9 shall be called for that purpose. 10 And it shall be the duty of the city council, once 11 in five years, and not oftener, to revise, and, if it be 12 needful, to alter said wards, in such manner as to 13 preserve, as nearly as may be, an equal number of 14 voters in each ward. 1 SECT. 4. On the first Monday of March, annually, 2 there shall be chosen by ballot, in each of said wards, 3 a warden and clerk, who shall hold their offices for4 one year, and until others have been chosen in their 5 places. And it shall be the duty of such warden to 6 preside at all ward meetings, with the powers of 7 moderator of town meetings. And if, at any such 8 meeting, the warden shall not be present, the clerk 9 of such ward shall call the meeting to order, and 10 preside until a warden, pro tempore, shall be chosen 11 by ballot. And if, at any meeting, the clerk shall 12 not be present, a clerk pro tempore shall be chosen 13 by ballot. The clerk shall record all the proceed14 ings, and certify the votes given, and deliver over to 15 his successors in office all such records and journals, 16 together with all other documents and papers held 17 by him in said capacity. The common council shall 18 appoint three persons in each ward, who shall be in19 habitants of the wards for which they shall be res20 pectively appointed, to be called inspectors of elec21 tions, whose duty it shall be to assist the warden in 22 receiving, sorting and counting the votes. And the 23 warden, clerk and inspectors, so chosen and appoint24 ed, shall respectively be under oath faithfully and 25 impartially to discharge their several duties relative 26 to all elections, which oath may be administered by 27 the clerk of such ward to the warden, and by the 28 warden to the clerk and inspectors, or by any justice 29 of the peace for the county of Bristol. And all 30 warrants for the meetings of the citizens for muni31 cipal purposes, to be held either in wards or in gen32 eral meetings, shall be issued by the mayor and 33 aldermen, and shall be in such form, and shall be 34 served, executed and returned at such time, and in 35 such manner, as the city council may, by any by-law, 36 direct and appoint. 1 SECT. 5. The mayor and six aldermen, one al2 derman being selected from each ward, shall be 3 elected by the inhabitants of the city at large, voting 4 in their respective wards, and four common council 5 men shall be elected from each ward, being residents 6 in the wards when elected: all said officers shall be 7 chosen by ballot, and shall hold their offices one 8 year from the first Monday in April, and the mayor 9 until another shall be elected in his place. 1 SECT. 6. On the first Monday in March, annual2 ly, immediately after a warden and clerk shall have 3 been elected and sworn, the qualified voters in each 4 ward shall give in their votes for a mayor, six alder5 men, one of whom shall reside in each of the wards, 6 and four common council men: all the votes given 7 for the several officers respectively, shall be sorted, 8 counted, declared and registered in open ward meet9 ing, by causing the names of persons voted for, and 10 the number of votes given for each, to be written in 11 the ward record, in words at length. The ward 12 clerk, within twenty-four hours after such election, 13 shall deliver to the persons elected common council 14 men, certificates of their election, signed by the 15 warden and clerk, and a majority of the inspectors 16 of election, and shall faithfully deliver to the city 17 clerk, a copy of the records of such election also 18 certified by the clerk, warden, and a majority of 19 inspectors. Provided, however, that if the choice of 20 common council men cannot conveniently be effected 21 on that day, the meeting may be adjourned to an22 other day, not more than two days thereafter, to 23 complete such election. The board of aldermen 24 shall, as soon as conveniently may be, examine the 25 copies of the records of the several wards, certified 26 as aforesaid, and shall cause the person who shall 27 have been elected mayor by a majority of the votes 28 given in all the wards, to be notified in writing of 29 his election: but if it shall appear that no person 30 shall have been so elected, or if the person elected 31 shall refuse to accept the office, the board shall issue 32 their warrants for another election, and the same 33 proceedings shall be had in all respects as are here34 in before described, for the choice of mayor, and 35 repeated from time to time until a mayor shall be 36 chosen. 37 In case of the decease, resignation or absence of 38 the mayor, and the same being declared, and a vote 39 passed by the aldermen and common council respec40 tively, declaring such cause and expediency of 41 electing a mayor for the time being, to supply the 42 vacancy thus occasioned, the aldermen and common 43 council may meet in convention and elect a mayor 44 to hold the office until such occasion be removed, or 45 until a new election. 46 And if it shall appear that the whole number of 47 aldermen shall not have been elected, the same pro48 ceedings shall be had as are herein before directed 49 in regard to the choice of mayor. And each alder50 man elected shall be notified in writing of his elec51 tion by the mayor and aldermen for the time being. 52 The oath prescribed by this act shall be adminis |