WHAT IS A CITY?

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11637, 26 April 1901, Page 3

WHAT IS A CITY?

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—ln our bachelor community we have had a discussion as to what constitutes a "city." One of our number, a gentleman of undoubted erudition, and a devout upholder of Episcopacy, maintains that a city is a town which is the residence of a bishop, and he says if there were a bishop in Tirau, then Tirau would bo a city. The- other party, of whom I van one, says the 1 ishop has nothing to do with the matter. Now, sir, we have no books of reference handy, and have agreed to appeal to your wisdom to settle the point for us. lam aware that some old authorities state that "a city is,a town incorporated which is or has been the see of a bishop," but this is clearly wrong, for Westminster is a city, and never was the see of a bishop, unless for a few months somewhere about the time of Henry IV. On the other hand, I believe many towns have been the see of a bishop which are not dignified with the title of city. Thctford is, if I remember rightly, one of those, and so is Dunkeld. Therefore, it appears that though a city is doubtless a town incorporated —that is, one governed by a legally incorporated body of citizensthere is no definite rule distinguishing a town from a city. Pray, sir, give this matter your serious consideration, and give us a correct legal decision, lor our friend, the upholder of the bishop theory, has promised to stand drinks all round if he is wrong.—l am, etc., Le Flaneur. Tirau, April 13, 1901. ; {A city in ancient times was equivalent to a State. In his glossary of mediaeval Latin terms, Ducange defines " eivitas" as tubs episeopalis, a town in which there exists an episcopal see. A cathedral town has generally been understood to be entitled to the honours of a city, even although the town bo not a borough incorporate, but in 'he case of Manchester the claim was disallowed by a court of law. ■ Chambers' Encyclopedia says:—"ln its modern sense, the term city, as used in the United Kingdom, is generally applied to all towns which aro incorporated, and which either are or have been -sees N of bishops. The idea, however, of any connection between the claim to tho title of city and bishops is now abandoned. A large town is a city. What would be a town in one country is a city in another. In New Zealand the capitals of the provinces used to be called cities, but elsewhere, in some cases, they would scarcely 'have been recognised as towns. In Australia, a limit of population has been fixed. In New Zetland, the matter is now settled arithmetically. In the Municipal Corporations Act of 1686, clause 20, " tho boroughs of Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, and Dunedin are hereby deolarod to bo cities." It is also provided by clause 21 that "the Governor may from time to time, by proclamation, declare any borough having a population of not less than 20,000 to bo a city." Whenever, therefore, any borough attains a population of 20,000, it will no doubt make its claims, which will bo allowed.—