ttee of the representatives of the former communities of Locarno" managed, for several decades, the S. Carlo Hospital and schools, which had been shared by the patriziati of the old, combined community. However, the power of the oldpatriziati gradually weakened. In 1859, the terrieri decided to set aside their corporation. The nobles corporation distributed its assets in 1866-67 to its members and dissolved the archive, but retained until about 1920, the fishing rights. Only the citizens corporation has preserved its status as a civil community.
The Constitution of 1814, established Locarno, Bellinzona and Lugano as the capitals of the canton, in a six year rotation. Locarno was the capital of the canton in 1821-27, 1839�45, 1857�63 and 1875-81. In 1838-39, on the initiative of a group of notables, a government building was built. It was sold in 1893 to private company. It then became the headquarters of Credito Ticinese and since 1917 it has been the headquarters of the Electricity Company of Sopraceneri. Locarno was repeatedly the scene of political clashes. In 1839 and 1841, uprisings against the government broke out. In 1855, a murder in a coffee house was used as a pretext for a coup of radicals (pronunciamento). Another coup, the Ticino coup of 1890, did nothing to change the balance of power between the parties in the city. After a liberal mayor ruled for 35 consecutive years (1865�80), a conservative mayor ruled for another 36 years (1880�1916).
To break the conservative hegemony of the late 19th century, the Social Democrats, allied with the Liberals in 1916 elections. They succeeded to a majority in the city government (which then consisted of nine members, but in 1987 was limited to seven), which they kept in the following decades.
In the 19th century, the population in Locarno grew noticeably compared to neighboring communities. As early as 1836, the immigrant population was over 16% of the population. Between 1860-80, the
