The towns outside of Chicago pay about 71⁄2 per cent of the county taxes, and had less than 5 per cent of the inmates. The towns outside of the Sanitary District pay a little more than 2 per cent of the county taxes and had less than 1 per cent of the inmates. Most of the inmates from country towns came from a few towns, such as Cicero, Proviso, Thornton and Bloom; while Evanston which pays about 1.2 per cent of the county taxes had only 16 inmates, about 0.4 per cent. New Trier, paying about half as much in county taxes as Evanston, had the same proportion of inmates (8). Oak Park, which pays more in county taxes than New Trier had even fewer inmates in these county institutions.

In the care of county roads, the expenditure is in the towns outside of Chicago, and more than 92 per cent of the taxes is paid by Chicago. But the program for the construction of county roads is likely to be completed before the plans of consolidation can be carried out; and it may be presumed that Chicago will take over its share of the bond issues for their construction.

Other plans. Another possible alternative solution which may be mentioned would be to combine the county, the courts and the sanitary district, under a unified and simplified organization; and also to consolidate in a separate government the various governments now within the city of Chicago. This would permit a good deal of simplification in each of the two governments; but would not secure all of the advantages of complete consolidation even within the city; while it would leave untouched the complex problem of overlapping districts in the suburban communities.

In the general assembly of 1919 a bill was introduced for a Mettropolitan Court, consolidating the various courts in Cook County, including the Municipal Court of Chicago, into one comprehensive court. While prepared with a view of meeting all existing constitutional provisions, it is doubtful if this was accomplished; and it may be questioned if any plan of court consolidation will be possible without changes in the state constitution.

County Readjustments Outside of Chicago. Any plan for citycounty consolidation which does not embrace the whole of Cook County will involve a rearrangement and readjustment of county government for the parts of Cook County not included in the consolidated city-county. Several suggestions have been made for this; and these may be worked out and combined in different ways, so as to offer a considerable number of alternatives. It will not be advisable for the constitutional convention to undertake a definite solution of these problems; but attention may be given to some of the various plans suggested, so that constitutional provisions may be framed which will permit the problem to be worked out by the general assembly with the consent of the local communities.

One plan is that indicated in the resolution first introduced in the general assembly of 1903, relating to the constitutional amendment proposed that year. This resolution contained a provision authorizing the creation of not more than two counties out of the part of Cook County outside of Chicago. A glance at the map of Cook County,

however, suggests the advisability of considering the possibility of three counties, each of which would be geographically more compact than the whole area of Cook County outside of Chicago, or any arrangement for two counties.

Another general plan which has been suggested is to authorize the annexation of portions of Cook County to the adjoining counties of Lake, Kane, DuPage and Will. Combinations of these general plans may also be considered, under which some portions of Cook County now outside of Chicago might join a new city-county; some parts might be annexed to adjoining counties; while other portions might be organized as one or more counties.

Without attempting to present all of the possible arrangements, suggested outlines for the application of these plans may be indicated and some data relating to these suggestions may be set forth.

The creation of a single new county out of the whole territory of Cook County now outside of Chicago would provide a county of nearly 800 square miles, with a population of over 300,000. This would be larger in area than most Illinois counties, and with a much larger population than any other county except the proposed city and county of Chicago. But the area of the county would be extremely irregular; and its shape and the means of transportation would make any location of the county seat difficult of access to considerable parts of the county.

A division into two counties would reduce these difficulties to some extent; but would leave them in large measure for at least one of the two counties.

The formation of three counties would make possible counties compact and regular in form, and each with a population larger than the majority of Illinois counties; but their area would be less than the present minimum limit of 400 square miles for new counties. A possible arrangement of this kind is outlined below.

If all of the territory of Cook County outside of Chicago preferred to be annexed to other counties, the northern group of townships might be annexed to Lake County, the western group to Du Page County, and the southern group to Will County. But a somewhat different arrangement may be suggested as perhaps more probable, as follows:

The annexation to Kane County would be more appropriate in view of the fact that part of the city of Elgin is now in the township of Hanover.

The above rearrangement would about double the population of Lake and Will counties, and increase the population of Du Page County about three-fold. It would more than treble the assessed valuation of Du Page County, would double that of Lake County, and increase that of Will County more than 50 per cent. It would make all of these counties among the largest in the state outside of Chicago.

The table below gives certain statistics as to Cook County and adjoining counties which may serve as a basis for estimates as to the probable effects of annexing parts of Cook County to these counties.

The large increase of population to these adjoining counties by the annexation of parts of Cook County, with a smaller proportionate increase of area, should involve less than a proportionate increase in county expenses, and would probably make possible a considerable reduction in their county tax rates, if these counties were thus enlarged.

It will also be noted that the assessed valuation of each of the three parts of Cook County suggested as possible new counties, as well as their population, is comparable to that of the adjoining counties; and they could therefore be expected to maintain the expense of a separate county government on the same basis as the neighboring counties, if this solution of the problem is preferred.

Constitutional Obstacles. As already noted, the constitutional amendment of 1904 permits the consolidation of the various local governments within the present or future limits of the city of Chicago; but it does not permit the consolidation with the city of the courts or the county or sanitary district government. The provisions of the present constitution which prevent any comprehensive unification of local government may be noted as follows:

In Article IV, sections 22 and 34 relating to special legislation. In Article VI, on the judicial department, sections 18 to 22 relating to county courts, probate courts, justices of the peace and constables and state's attorneys; and sections 23 to 28 relating to courts of Cook County.

In Article VIII, on education, section 5 providing for the election of the county superintendent of schools.

In Article IX, on revenue, the provisions of sections 1, 9 and 10 requiring uniformity of taxation; and section 12 on municipal debts.

In Article X, on counties, sections 1 to 3 relating to new counties and changes in county boundaries; section 7 on the Cook County board