CHAPTER XVI.
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES AND TOWNS.
The Need of City Government.Township government works well enough in a scattered, rural community; but where a large number of people are congregated together within a comparatively small area, a different and more efficient government is needed. As the number of persons residing in a given area increases, the greater must be the powers of the government of such a locality. Thus, a township government needs no power to install water, light, sewerage, and other public utility systems which become an absolute necessity in the interests of public health and public safety in a more thickly settled community.
The Source of Municipal Power.All of the powers, duties, and functions of municipalities are derived from and are dependent upon acts of the General Assembly. This is, moreover, the general system which prevails throughout the United States. Legislatures grant or take away such powers and privileges as public policy or mere caprice may dictate; and the courts have generally followed the rule that what has not been especially granted to cities or towns is denied. This system has been unfor-
