tion is under five hundred the number of
councillors is ten; in those whose population exceeds five hundred the
number is graduated on a basis such that a commune of sixty thousand
people has a council of thirty-six, which is the maximum. The council
holds annually four ordinary sessions--in February, May, August, and
November--besides which special meetings may be convoked at any time
by the prefect, the sub-prefect, or the mayor. Sessions are held in
the _mairie_, or municipal building, and are regularly open to the
public. Except the May session, during which the budget is considered,
a meeting may not be prolonged beyond fifteen days, save with the
consent of the sub-prefect. The normal maximum of the May sitting is
six weeks.

Speaking broadly, the functions of the council may be said to comprise
the administration of the purely local affairs of the commune and the
formulation and expression of local needs and demands. In the code of
1884 the powers of the body are defined with exceeding minuteness.
Some are purely advisory, to be exercised when the council is called
upon by the higher administrative authorities for an expression of
local interest or desire in respect to a particular question. Advice
thus tendered may or may not be heeded. Other powers involve the
initiation by the council of certain kinds of measures, which,
however, may be carried into effect only with the assent of the higher
authorities. Among the thirteen such measures which are enumerated in
the code the most important are those pertaining to the purchase,
sale, or other legal disposition of property belonging to the commune.
Finally, there is a group of powers--relating principally to the
various communal services, e.g., parks, fire-protection, etc.--which
are vested in the communal authorities (council and mayor)
independently. But the predominating fact is that even to-day the
autonomy of the commune is subject to numerous and important
limitations. Many communal measures become valid only upon receiving
the approval of the prefect, and virtually any one of them may be
suspended or annulled by that official. Some require the consent of
the departmental council, or even of the President of the Republic;
and by decree of the President the council itself may be dissolved at
any time.

*385. The Mayor and his Assistants.*--The executive head of the commune
is the _maire_, or mayor, who is elected by the municipal council, by
secret ballot,