“Mayor Wolfred Nelson, in his address to the Council in 1854, after alluding to the pestilence which had visited the city and the poverty which followed, said: ‘The misery in which we have been involved would have been immeasurably greater had not the Council adopted energetic measures having the effect of breaking down a cursed monopoly—that of firewood—by purchasing several hundred cords of firewood and selling it in small lots at cost price; as well as of arresting the most extraordinary practice of converting our greatest thoroughfares, the wharves, into wood yards by speculators and monopolists, who prevented the purchase of wood in small quantities from the boats. The adoption of these measures in one week reduced the price of fuel over one quarter, at a period when it had been boasted that it would be worth ten or twelve dollars a cord during the winter. Instead of this exhorbitant rate the best wood can now be obtained for $6 a cord.’”
In 1859 Charles Glackmeyer was appointed city clerk and remained in office till 1892, when he was succeeded by L.O. David till today.
In 1874 (Victoria 37, Chapter 41) the charter was amended and the name of the corporation was changed to that of “The City of Montreal.” The distinction between aldermen and councillors was abolished, the title for all being that of aldermen, who were all elected by the people.
The history of Greater Montreal now begins in the annexation of the rural municipalities. In 1883 the new Hochelaga ward added three aldermen; in 1886 that of St. Jean Baptiste three others; in 1887 St. Gabriel ward also added three.
Commenting on the state of civic politics under this charter a contemporary has the following chatty appreciation:[3]
“For many years the English-speaking element had dominated in civic affairs by virtue of a very small majority in the City Council, and there was just a little tendency among the city fathers forming that majority, not only to dominate but to domineer. They were not disposed to be unjust to the citizens who formed the majority of the electorate, but they showed a lack of tact amounting at times to a want of delicacy in dealing with and speaking of the diverse elements of the population. The French-Canadians had the good sense to elect their ablest men. To be quite frank there was a long period during which the English-speaking people seemed to think that almost anybody was good enough to make an alderman. The result was inevitable. Each ward was represented by three aldermen, one retiring each year and the English-speaking majority in the Center Ward was in 1880 only a little one. It took just three years of good electioneering work to replace three English-speaking aldermen by three French-Canadians. The latter element now dominated the Council and to prevent accident Hochelaga was annexed in 1883. This not only brought in three more French-Canadian aldermen on December 1, 1883, but it brought in Raymond Préfontaine, who was a host in himself, and who almost immediately became the ruling spirit in civic affairs. Of course, most of the English-speaking aldermen did not take kindly to the new régime and Raymond Préfontaine got his full share of their hot shot and it hurt him as much as water hurts a duck’s back. The attitude of most of the English journalists (including the writer) must have been consoling to the Council minority, on account of the sweet sympathy expressed. ‘The Honest Minority,’ the ‘Noble Thirteen,’ the ‘Faithful Anti-Monopolists’ were among the compliments lavished by a discriminating press; and were taken not only seriously but appreciatively by the recipients, some of whom were in the habit of discussing on the floor of the Council their own sterling qualities with a frankness which left nothing to be desired. One of the noblest Romans of them all could seldom speak of his own honesty (and he had no false delicacy about introducing the subject), without shedding tears and sobbing. Strangers might have imagined he was crying over his lost opportunities, but he wasn’t; it was just his way.
“Time is apt to and ought to modify our judgments of our fellowmen. Let it be said for Raymond Préfontaine by one who generally disagreed with his plans and disapproved of his public actions that among his qualities were some decidedly good ones. He was a man of his word and a man of ideas and infinite resource. He was the first public man to set about systematic modernizing and development of Montreal. When he talked about electric cars and electric lighting, he was laughed to scorn by the ‘Noble Minority’ in the Council and the rest of the nobility outside the Council. He went in for street widening and permanent paving (no doubt at an expensive rate) and he added to the size of the debt as well as to the size of the city. He was, in fact, Montreal’s Baron Haussmann. The Baron was ‘fired’ by the Olivier government for his financial extravagance; he only borrowed a hundred million dollars, from 1865 to 1869; but he made the modern Paris.
“The Noble Thirteen and their admirers, like the coloured troops in the American Civil war fought nobly against Mr. Préfontaine’s schemes and predicted unmerciful disaster if the City Passenger Railway were electrified. To the plea that electric railways were a success elsewhere the opposition replied triumphantly and without fear of contradiction ‘but New York isn’t Montreal’—and neither Alderman Préfontaine nor any of his followers ever dared to take up the challenge and prove that New York was Montreal.
“Then the Noble Thirteen had its own troubles. One, at least, lost his patent of nobility by voting wrong on the gas question; another was laid out on the City Passenger Railway Monopoly; a third was promoted to the retired list because his popularity threatened to make him a dangerous rival to another nobleman in a parliamentary election. Strenuous opponents of ‘monopoly’ in street railways became first lukewarm, then indifferent, then apologetic, and finally strenuous supporters of Monopoly with the biggest ‘M’ in the printer’s upper case. Most of the Noble Thirteen have gone to a better world, which is a good thing for them, because if they were still in the Council, they would miss the old admiration dreadfully.”
The city charter was recast in 1898 and the work was confided to the mayor, Raymond Préfontaine, Aldermen Rainville, Beausoleil, Martineau, Laporte, McBride, Ames and Archambault, aided by the city law officers and the heads of departments. This commission revised and examined clause by clause the preliminary draft prepared by Messrs. Choquette and Weir, appointed revising advocates in conjunction with the city clerk and the city attorneys. The new charter, a progressive document, was sanctioned on the 10th of March, 1899. By it Montreal was divided into seventeen wards called respectively East, Center, West, St. Ann, St. Antoine South, St. Antoine West, St. Antoine East, St. Lawrence, St. Louis, St. James South, St. James North, St. Mary West, St. Mary East, Hochelaga, St. Jean Baptiste, St. Gabriel and St. Denis. In 1903 Duvernay Ward was formed with a part of St. Jean Baptiste Ward. Among the clauses of this charter was one giving power to the council to extend the limits of the city and to annex municipalities. The elections now began to take place every two years instead of annually. The mayor’s qualifications required that he should possess real estate in the city under his own name to the value of $10,000. His yearly salary was not to exceed four thousand dollars. The property qualification for an alderman was fixed at $2,000 and his yearly indemnity at $600, with an additional sum of $200 for every chairman of a permanent committee. These permanent committees were appointed at the first monthly meeting in February for the year and apportioned the general superintendents and administration of the various city departments among themselves. These were supplemented by an occasional special committee. The council assembled once a month, on the second Monday, but the mayor could convoke a special meeting on notice given to each alderman. Five members of the council could also call a special meeting. The mayor could only cast his vote when there was an equality of votes.