ship, has so few duties that it is scarcely considered necessary to grant it the power of a corporation, as it is merely a convenient area for the lowest courts and possibly for school or tax purposes. The first type of town is found fully developed only in New England; the second exists most commonly in the extreme West and in some of the Southern States. The essential fea Town pre MacDonald, Local Gov't, Hart, Actual Gov't, $82. officials. MacDonald, 63. New England Town Government. ture of New England town government is the mass meet- meeting. ing of the voters, held at least once a year in the town hall. At the town meeting the men elect public officers, vote taxes, authorize important enterprises, and express approval or disapproval of the acts of the town officials during the ceding year. The voting citizens are thus enabled to keep in close touch with the public activities of the town and to insure a careful if not a successful management of public affairs. The town officials in New England at least are very New Engnumerous, as the town must perform work that in other land town sections is left to the county. The town in its corporate capacity is represented during the intervals between town meetings by the selectmen, who have general oversight of town affairs. They number three or nine, and are elected usually for three years, but sometimes for only one. Next to them in authority are the members of the school committee, one third of whom retire each year. As most of the state and local taxes are collected in the towns, the assessors hold very responsible positions, while the tax collector, the auditor, and treasurer, the town clerk, and the constable, who are elected yearly at town meetings, are equally well occupied. To the overseers of the poor and to the overseers of the highways are assigned duties performed in most of the States by the county boards and their assistants. 64. The Townships outside of New England. - In New York and in two or three of the Northwestern States, town meetings are held usually for the election of officials, but the duties and powers of the meetings are exceedingly limited, although the town officials may be numerous and their powers quite extensive. Gov't of Maine, § 30. Hart, Actual Gov't. § 82. Fairlie, Local Gov't, 156-163. The New § 39. Western Purely local duties. In the other States, when townships exist at all, they are usually districts with judicial officers, constables, overseers of the highways, and school boards only. As already stated, in most of the newer States these townships coincide in area with the rectangular congressional townships, whose evolution as a self-governing district was described in § 48. In some parts of the United States, moreover, there are no important political divisions of the counties except the school districts. These may have overseers of the poor and the highways, as well as school trustees, and are after all undeveloped towns in fact if not in name. 65. The Work of Rural Local Government. Town and county officials have double duties to perform, as they care for all of the purely local interests of their town or county, and, in addition, administer almost all state laws within their boundaries. Under the former head come all local improvements which are not of especial interest to those outside Ford, Amer. of their locality, such as the construction of local public Citizen's Manual, 53-56. Local administration of general state laws. buildings, and the laying out of purely local roads, measures to protect the public health from purely local dangers, and the enforcement of such local ordinances as may be needed. A very much greater amount of work is performed in carrying into effect state laws. These state laws are usually general and may be modified frequently to meet local needs. The schools furnish a good example of this combined action of the State and the localities; for, while the State creates a state school system, in the administration of the general state law each locality is able to establish schools that meet the wishes of its people (§§ 123-126). Most laws in regard to crime and the punishment of crime are made by the State and enforced by local police officers and judges (§§ 107, 112, 113). Except for the most serious crimes, offenders are punished in local jails or other institutions (§ 116). Most States have general laws on the subject of liquor license, but more than one half permit the towns or counties to decide for themselves whether they will have saloons (§§ 134, 135). In many States, there are laws for the care of the poor, but little attempt is made by the state authorities to administer such laws (§§ 127-131). state super vision. It has been the custom to allow each locality to admin- Increase in ister these general laws in the way that seemed best without amount of much attempt to obtain uniform results in different counties of a State. Local pride and interest can be counted on usually to establish as good a school system as each community can afford. Few towns will neglect to preserve order. In many respects, however, the best results cannot be obtained unless the local officials are supervised by state authorities. For example, many States have improved their school systems by withholding state school funds from the localities if they fail to reach a certain minimum of efficiency. There has been a decided tendency in recent years to increase state supervision of local activities. General References Wilson, The State, §§ 1209-1259. Hart, Actual Government, pp. 167–179. Bryce, American Commonwealth, I, Chaps. 48, 49. Macy, Civil Government, pp. 41-114. Ford, American Citizen's Manual, pp. 53-83. Howard, Local Constitutional History of the United States, espe cially pp. 162-238, 438-470. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages. Topic THE NEW ENGLAND TOWN: Channing, Town and County Government in the Colonies, Johns Hopkins University Studies, II, pp. 459– 474; De Tocqueville, Democracy in America, I, pp. 74-86; Howard, Local Constitutional History, pp. 62-99. Questions 1. What is the difference between a private corporation and a public one? (Dole, Talks about Law, pp. 251–253.) 2. How many counties are there in this State? How do they compare in area and population? 3. In what county do we live ? What is its area? its population by the last census? What is the county seat? Is it centrally located? Is it the largest city in the county ? 4. What name is given to our county board? are there on it? How many members Are they chosen in towns, in districts, or from the whole county? Name their principal powers. 5. What is the term of the elected county officials? Are all chosen at the same time? Are any county officials appointed by the state government? 6. What is the salary of the county clerk? How long has be held the position? Has he few or many assistants? State as fully as possible his duties. 7. What is the main political subdivision of this county called? How many are there in the county? Are they public corporations ? What officers has each? Do they ever hold meetings of all of the voters within the district? If so, when and for what purpose ? 8. If living where the town is important, answer the following: What are the boundaries of our town? its population? What are the chief events in its history? How often are town meetings held ? Give the composition and duties of the town board, stating term and salaries of the members. What other officials has the town? Do the voters of the town elect any county official? 9. Make a table in your notebooks, giving a list of the chief offices of the county, and showing for each the name of the present incumbent, the term of his office, and the salary he receives. CHAPTER V CITY GOVERNMENT -We can ap- Reasons for 66. The Remarkable Growth of our Cities.1 preciate the importance of city government if we realize growth. that one third of all the people of the United States live in cities of more than 8000 inhabitants, whereas twenty-five years ago less than one fifth of our population dwelt in cities. The chief motives influencing this migration to urban centers have been the increased opportunities of business advancement which a city offers, and the social and educational advantages found there. Because of the many calls which city life makes upon the time of its people, less chance is given the voters to interest themselves in the way the government is conducted. Since they do not become acquainted with their neighbors as in the country, the 66 1 The term "city" is used in connection with fairly large urban communities. Many small Western places are dignified by the name city," when they have no really urban conditions or problems. Bullock (ed.), |