County and Municipal Finances in Illinois, 1913.a—Concluded.

a U. S. Census Report on Wealth, Debt and Taxation.

$143,911,642

b Mainly tax collections for other local districts and for the state.

IV. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN OTHER STATES.

As local government in the United States is determined by the constitutions and laws of the several states, there are many variations in the organization and powers of the local authorities of the different states. But there are certain important institutions and methods which follow the same general ideas in most of the states, and other institutions which are similar in related groups of states. These conditions are due to the fact that American institutions have developed from those of England, to the constant intercourse between the various states, and to the conscious and unconscious imitation ard adaptation by the several states of the institutions and practices of other states.

Historical development. Some features of the English system of local government in the seventeenth century will serve to explain the beginnings of local government in the American colonies. At that time England was divided into counties or shires, and these in turn into parishes; while there were still survivals of older divisions of shires known as hundreds; and scattered throughout the country were many manors and boroughs, with special arrangements and privileges.

The important county officials were the lord lieutenant, the sheriff, the coroner, and justices of the peace. All of them, except the coroner, were appointed by the Crown; but with the decline of the active control of the Privy Council, local administration in practice was much decentralized. The lord lieutenant was head of the militia system. The sheriff was chief conservator of the peace, and executive agent of the centralized judicial courts. Local affairs were mainly looked after by the justices of the peace, acting in some matters individually and in others in petty or special sessions of several justices, while the justices in each county also held collectively quarterly sessions as a court of criminal jurisdiction, which acted also as the judicial and administrative authority for the county.

Parishes were primarily ecclesiastical districts; but under the legislation of the Tudors they became civil districts, in poor law and local highway matters and the assessment of local taxes-taking the place of the earlier towns. The governing body was the parish vestry, which in theory was open to all inhabitants, but in practice had become in many places a select self-continuing body. Parish officers included constables, overseers of the poor, and surveyors of highways.

Manors, with special local courts and other privileges, were fast disappearing. But there were several hundred boroughs, with their

ment.

own local courts and property, and separate representation in ParliaIn most of these, local affairs were managed by a self-perpetuating council; but in some places the council was elected by a varying body of freemen.

In the American colonies manors and hundreds were formed in a few places (in Maryland, Virginia and New York); but they soon disappeared. Counties were organized gradually in most of the colonies. Parishes were established in some of the southern states, but were of little importance. In New England and the Middle Colonies towns were formed; and in New England the towns became the most important unit of local government. In these New England towns. the central organ was the open town meeting of legal voters, which elected selectmen and other officers, voted appropriations and local taxes, and passed local by-laws. In New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, towns were of less importance than in New England.

Important changes in county government were made during the colonial period. Toward the end of the seventeenth century locally elected county boards (of different types) were established in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, which gradually acquired the fiscal and administrative powers of the justices of the peace. In Pennsylvania sheriffs were made locally elective (in 1705). A number of new county officers were established: county treasurers in Massachusetts in 1654, local prosecuting attorneys in Connecticut in 1704, and recorders of deeds in most of the colonies. A number of boroughs and cities were also established in the middle and southern colonies.

In the organization of state governments at the time of the Revolution, there were some changes in local government but no radical reconstruction. Many of the first state constitutions contained provisions about county government, with some changes in the direction of a more decentralized system, by means of appointment by the legislature (and in a few cases local popular elections) and definite terms for sheriffs, justices of the peace, and militia officers. Towns were mentioned only in the New Jersey constitution; and the government of towns and parishes remained as before.

With the expansion of population, local institutions were developed in the new states, and further changes were made. Up to the middle of the nineteenth century these changes were mainly in the direction of a more democratic and decentralized system. The electoral franchise was extended to include all male citizens. County officials were made locally elective; and the number of such officials was steadily increased. In most of the states an elective county board took over the administrative functions of the justices of the peace; while sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys, county treasurers, county clerks, recorders, and justices of the peace all became elective officials with short terms. Towards the end of this period constitutional restrictions on the formation of new counties began to appear.

Towns were also organized in the northern states, with functions similar to those of New York and Pennsylvania; but in the southern states the parish disappeared as a civil district (except in Louisiana, where it corresponds to the county); and the county became the main

unit of local government. Cities and villages were also established in all of the states, organized for the most part under special charters, reflected the same ideas as were affecting county government. For local school administration small school districts were formed, which marks the development of specialized local districts and a further step in decentralization. These developments in local government in other districts than counties were for the most part made by statutory legislation; but in some states the township system was authorized by constitutional provisions.

Since the Civil War there have been important changes in local government, superimposing new elements on the former machinery, and resulting in such a complexity that it is difficult to recognize any clearly defined system. The organization of counties has been extended throughout the country; and the scope of county administration has greatly increased in amount and relative importance; but except for a few recent experiments, there has been no important changes in the general plan of county government. On the other hand, the general system of town or township government has not extended to the newer states beyond the arid plains; while in the older states outside of New England the town has declined in importance.

Cities and villages have multiplied and increased enormously; and the most important developments in local government have been in connection with these urban municipalities. More highly centralized governments have been established, such as the mayor plan, the commission form, and the city manager plan. Another development in recent years has been a marked increase in the number of special local districts and the appearance of many new types of such districts.

Constitutional provisions on local government have dealt for the most part with counties and county officers, prohibitions on special legislation for particular municipalities, and restrictions on municipal debts. Beginning with Missouri in 1875, thirteen states have adopted constitutional provisions for municipal home rule, and two states have provisions for county home rule. In other respects most of the later developments in local government have been by legislation.

Another tendency of the later period in statutory legislation has been the development of state administrative supervision over local authorities, in such matters as taxation and finance, school administration, public charities, public health and public utilities.

Constitutional provisions. There is a good deal of variation in the extent and character of constitutional provisions relating to local government in the different states. In the New England states and a number of others (mainly those where there has been no general revision of the state constitution since 1860 as Iowa, Oregon and Wisconsin), there are few provisions on local government, and these are in scattered sections of the constitutions. But in about two-thirds of the state constitutions there is an article (and in some states two or three articles) on such subjects as Counties, Counties and Town

ships, and Municipal Corporations. In several states (Missouri, Utah, and Washington) there is an article on Counties, Cities and Towns; and the Michigan constitution of 1908 has one article with the more comprehensive title of Local Government. But in most of these states, in addition to such articles, there are other provisions on local government in the articles on the legislative department, judicial department, and taxation or finance. The most detailed provisions are in the constitutions of California, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Washington.

Most common are provisions relating to county officers, and restrictions on the formation of counties, on special legislation, and on municipal debts. Municipal home rule provisions in a number of states are in considerable detail. In some cases there are detailed provisions for particular communities, such as those relating to Baltimore in the Maryland constitution, and to St. Louis in the Missouri constitution.

General characteristics of counties. Counties are usually established as bodies "politic and corporate"; and by these terms it is indicated that they are at the same time districts for purposes of state administration and also for certain local purposes. Their functions as state agents are considered the more important; and in a number of states they are still considered as quasi corporations, and not municipal corporations in the full sense, as in Illinois.

Usually the state legislature has power to establish counties; and in the North Atlantic group of states and some others there are no constitutional limitations on this power. But the constitutions of most states now impose various restrictions. Most frequently new counties can only be formed with the consent of the voters; and there is a minimum area—most commonly about 400 square miles, but ranging from 275 square miles in Tennessee to 24 congressional townships (about 860 square miles) in North Dakota and 900 square miles in Texas. About a third of the states also require a minimum population, varying from 1,000 in North Dakota to 10,000 in Ohio. Several states authorize cities with more than a certain population (20,000 in Minnesota, 100,000 in Michigan, and Missouri) to be organized as counties, without regard to the minimum area.

About a third of the states require a local referendum for changes in county lines; and about the same number require a local referendum for a change in the county seat, many requiring a three-fifths or twothirds vote for this purpose. About a third of the state constitutions provide that where part of one county is transferred to another, there must be a pro-rata adjustment of debts.

In most states new counties, or changes in county lines, are now seldom made; but in a few of the newer states the creation of new counties and readjustments of boundaries are still not infrequent.

Most of the larger states have from 60 to 100 counties. Delaware has only three counties and Rhode Island five, while Texas has 245.