No person shall post notices, &c., on buildings, &c., without permission of owner Nov. 5, 1869. No person shall post notices on curb Penalty. Ibid. SECTION 1. No person shall post up, or affix, in any manner, any placard, notice, or bill, either written or printed, upon the fences, or walls, or any part of any building in the city of Boston, without the previous consent of the person or persons having possession of the same. SECT. 2. No person shall post up, or affix, in any manner, any placard, notice, or bill, either written or printed, upon any curbstone, or sidewalk, or upon any tree in any street, square, park, or public place, in the city of Boston, or upon any wall, fence or building, belonging to the city of Boston, without the consent of the mayor. SECT. 3. Any person who violates the provisions of this ordinance shall forfeit and pay for every violation a sum not less than five dollars, nor more than fifty dollars. 1 An ordinance to regulate the posting of placards, notices and bills, passed Nov. 5, 1869. Time of election or city officers. appointment of June 14, 1862. SECTION 1. All city officers required by the city ordinances to be elected or appointed by the concurrent vote of the city council, or to be appointed by the mayor, by and with the advice and consent of the board of aldermen, excepting Exceptions. those officers the time of whose election or appointment is otherwise prescribed by the statutes of the commonwealth; also excepting the treasurer, auditor, and assessors, shall be elected or appointed, as the case may be, on the first Monday of February, in each year, or within sixty days thereafter. Tenure of office. Ibid. SECT. 2. Every city officer elected or appointed under the provisions of the foregoing section shall hold his office, if not sooner removed, for one year from the first Monday of April, in the year in which he is elected or appointed, and until a successor be elected or appointed and qualified; but he may at any time be removed by Removal and va the authority under which he may have been Ibid. elected or appointed, and any vacancy occasioned by the removal, resignation, or death of such city officer, may be filled at any time. SECT. 3. In all cases where appointments to office are directed by any law or ordinance to be made by the mayor and aldermen, or by the mayor, by and with the advice and consent of 1 Ordinances passed September 19, 1850, July 2, 1857, June 14, 1862, December 30, 1864, September 26, 1865, November 24, 1865. cancies. Mayor to make his nominations to Ibid. board of aldermen. See p. 22. § 49. ante. June 14, 1862. Certain provisions directory merely. Sept. 9, 1850. Vacancies, how Committee on pub lic buildings to assign, &c., offices and rooms. Sept. 9, 1850. See p. 89, § 15. Office hours of the aldermen, the mayor shall send his nominations to the board of aldermen, directed to the city clerk, who shall forthwith enter the same in a book kept for that purpose. And whenever the mayor removes any officer, he shall send information thereof to the said board, which shall be entered on their record at the next meeting. SECT. 4. Whenever any ordinance provides for the election of any city officer, at or within a time specified, such provision shall be considered merely as directory; and an election after the expiration of such time shall be valid. SECT. 5. Whenever there is any vacancy by death, resignation, or otherwise, in any office required to be filled by the concurrent vote of the city council, the mayor may, if in his judgment the public interest requires such office to be immediately filled, appoint a suitable person to discharge its duties temporarily, and until the city council shall fill the vacancy.1 SECT. 6. The committee on public buildings shall, under the direction of the board of aldermen, assign and furnish, in a proper manner, suitable offices and rooms in the public buildings, or procure the same elsewhere, at the expense of the city, for the various city officers. SECT. 7. The office hours of the city treasurer 1 See provisions for appointment of auditor pro tempore, p. 214, and of city clerk pro tempore, pp. 124, 125. shall be from nine of the clock in the forenoon, treasurer. until two of the clock in the afternoon. SECT. 8. The office hours of the city clerk, the auditor of accounts, and the city registrar, shall be from nine of the clock in the forenoon, until five of the clock in the afternoon. SECT. 9. The office hours of the assessors shall be the same as those appointed in the next preceding section, except for such portion of the year as they may be necessarily absent, for the purpose of appraising the real and personal property, and obtaining the number of polls, for taxation. SECT. 10. Each of the officers, before named, shall attend to the duties of their several offices at such other times as the board of aldermen may deem the interest of the city to require. Sept. 9, 1850. SECT. 11. All city offices shall be closed on Offices closed on Saturdays at two of the clock in the afternoon. Saturdays. 40 By-laws may be annulled by general court. Const. of Mass. Amend. Art. 2. Adopted 1821. Powers, &c., of STATUTES. 1. It is provided, by the constitution of the commonwealth, that all by-laws, of municipal or city governments, erected and constituted by the general court, shall be subject, at all times, to be annulled by the general court. 2. The several cities shall continue to have and exercise all the powers and privileges, and be subject to all duties and liabilities, 1 By-laws must be reasonable, and not repugnant to the constitution or laws of the commonwealth. They must not interfere with the liberty, property or business of the citizens, more than is necessary to secure the lawful and proper object in view. The question whether a by-law is reasonable or not, is one for the court and not for the jury to decide. Commonwealth vs. Worcester, 3 Pick. 462. Vandine's case, 6 Pick. 187. Austin vs. Murray, 16 Pick. 126. Commonwealth vs. Patch, 97 Mass. 221. The mayor and aldermen have no power to permit a violation of a by-law of a city. Commonwealth vs. Worcester, 3 Pick. 462. A by-law may be good in part and void in part. Commonwealth vs. Drew, 10 Met. 382. Amesbury vs. Bowditch Ins. Co., 6 Gray, 607, and cases cited. Any dicta to the contrary in Austin vs. Murray, 16 Pick. 121, were overruled in this latter case. |