MUNICH 346 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT taled up to nearly 20,000,000 individuals, of which 200,000 have become converted. MUNICH (mu'nik) (German Miin- chen), the capital city of Bavaria, on an extensive plateau, about 1,700 feet above sea-level, chiefly on the left bank of the Isar. The old town has a quaint and irregular character, but the new town, which has sprung up chiefly to the N. and W., has a regular and imposing appearance, and altogether Munich is one of the finest towns in Germany. Vast improvements are due to the munificence of King Ludwig I. The royal palace forms a very extensive series of build- ings chiefly in the Italian style, and con- tains many magnificent apartments and rich artistic and other treasures. Con- nected with it are the court church and the court and national theater, among the largest in Germany. The city is highly celebrated for its fine galleries of sculpture (Glyptothek) and painting (Old and New Pinakothek) , and for various other important collections, such as that of the BavJ»rian national museum. The royal library (occupying a fine build- ing in the Florentine style) has upward of 1,000,000 volumes and 30,000 MSS., being thus one of the largest in Europe. The university had in 1915, 265 profes- sors and teachers, and 5,539 students in theology, jurisprudence, medicine, and philosophy, together with a library of over 300,000 volumes. There is an acad- emy of science, an academy of arts, and many fine churches, including the ca- thedral, founded in 1488. In addition to the public edifices, properly so called, Munich is rich in monuments, which adorn its squares, gardens, and public promenades. The so-called English Gar- den (laid out by Count Rumford) is a fine park of 600 acres watered by two arms of the Isar. The industries were numerous, and in some particular branches have acquired a high name. Among others may be mentioned painted glass and other artistic productions, mathematical, optical, and surgical in- struments, gold and silver lace, jewelry, glass, carriages, bells, musical instru- ments, etc. Munich is the seat of the high courts of legislature and of law, and of all the more important offices of the state. It was founded by Henry, Duke of Saxony, in 962; taken by Gustavus Adol- phus in 1632, by the French under Mo- reau in 1800, and by Napoleon in 1805. Pop. about 650,000. MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT, the power vested in the officials of an in- corporated town or city to regulate the affairs of the municipality with a limited degree of freedom from interference from the centralized government of the State or nation. Municipal governments were first granted this measure of auton- omy under the Roman Empire, especial- ly in the outlying colonies, where the interference of the imperial governor was curtailed in matters pertaining exclusively to local affairs. When the Franks conquered Italy and France, the cities were allowed to retain a large measure of this autonomy, as was not- ably the case in Cologne, where, up to the time of the first French Revolution, the two chief magistrates still retained the titles of "consuls." Other cities, such as Venice, Florence, and Hamburg, at- tained complete independence, and would enter into offensive and defensive alli- ances with foreign governments. In Eng- land charters were first granted to the municipalities, or burghs, by the Noi'- mans. Here, as in all European countries during the Middle Ages, it was the poli- cies of the kings to grant greater freedom to the cities, to offset the growing power of the feudal lords. The officials, how- ever, were not chosen by popular suffrage, but by the wealthier citizens, the mer- chants, and by the guilds, which were organizations of traders and crafts workers. These crafts organizations were especially powerful in Scotland. It was not till the early part of last century that a cry for electoral re- form arose, and with it a demand for a broader suffrage in the elec- tion of municipal officials. An Act of Parliament was then passed confer- ring the suffrage on the citizens in gen- eral, though limited to those owning a certain amount of propei'ty. In the United States municipal auton- omy has a peculiar origin of its own; in the "township meeting" of the New England States, as a unit of democratic control. Borrowing the principle and the form from their church organization, in which every member had the right of suffrage, the early citizens of New Eng- land organized the "township" govern- ment on the same basis, and thus estab- lished an institution that has had a very far-reaching influence in all democratic forms of government. It is indeed claimed that the Russian soviet, the unit of organization of the Bolshevist Govern- ment of Russia, was directly patterned after the old New England township. The New England townships, however, while based on the right of full autonomy in local affairs, wherein they do not encroach on the authority of the State, are subservient to the State government in all matters under the jurisdiction of the State Throughout the whole of the United
