bad, bridges are unsafe, schools are inefficient, crime is unpunished and taxes are high.

County affairs are often neglected because they are regarded as too commonplace for serious attention. The citizen in his interest in the greater affairs of the State and nation overlooks the small politics of the locality. Such oversight is one of the most dangerous errors of citizenship. The county is one of the political units which go to make up the State, just as the State is one of the units of which the nation is composed. Keep the government of all the counties pure and good and good government in State and nation will almost certainly follow.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

1. Why is local government so important?

2. Give an account of county government in colonial times.

3. In what States does the county perform most of the services of government?

4. How does the county of the Middle and Western States differ from the southern county?

5. Describe the New England county.

6. Name the duties of the county commissioners.

7. Name the typical county officers and name the duties of each. 8. Why is the county government of great importance?

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

1. What are the provisions in the constitution of this State relating to the government of counties? Do these provisions restrict the power of the legislature in reference to counties, or do they leave that body free to govern counties pretty much as it pleases? Can the legislature of this State pass special laws as to counties?

2. How many counties in this State? Are their boundaries artificial or natural? Have their names any historical significance?

3. Bound the county in which you live and give its area and population. What is the distance of the county-seat from the most remote point in the county? In what year was this county organized?

4. Prepare a list of the county officers of this State and compare it with the list given in the text. (In those States in which county is the predominant type of local government the two lists will probably resemble each other closely; in other States there may be a considerable difference between them.)

5. State the powers of the county board of commissioners in this State. Is the board a legislative or an executive body?

6. What are the constitutional provisions relating to the term of the several county officials, the manner of their election or appointment, and their salaries?

7. Are the representatives in the legislature of this State apportioned by counties? If so, state the rule by which they are apportioned. Is the rule agreeable to the principle, "so many people, so many representatives?"

8. Is this county well governed? State particulars.

9. Of the functions of local government mentioned on p. 72 name those that are not exercised by county officials in this State.

10. What is the name of the smaller political divisions into which counties in this State are divided?

Topics for Special Work.-General Characteristics of County Government: 18, 57-74. The County Board: 18, 75-94. The Sheriff, 18, 106112; County Districts in the South and West: 18, 186–199.

XXVII

THE TOWN

The Origin and Character of the Early New England Town. At the time when the planters of Virginia were organizing newly settled communities into counties, the colonists of New England were developing a system of local government that differed widely in form and spirit from the southern type. The English shire that served for the model for the Virginia county did not suit the conditions of the earliest Puritan settlements. The tillable land of the New England country was divided by nature into small areas marked off by bold hills and troublesome streams; the settlements were constantly harassed by Indians; the settlers themselves were bound together by personal as well as social and religious experiences. These circumstances led the Puritans to build their houses as close together as possible and to settle in compact villages rather than to spread out on large plantations.

The form of government adopted for these thickly settled communities was one that had almost perished from the earth. The old town- (tun) or village-meeting (p. 17) that the Anglo-Saxons had brought with them to England a thousand years before and that had been so changed by the influences of feudalism that it was no longer recognizable, was revived, unconsciously perhaps, in its ancient form and vigor, and the town instead of the county was established.

The early New England town was a pure democracy, in

which all the male adult inhabitants who attended church -and everybody was required by law to attend churchparticipated in the management of public affairs-a strong contrast to the Virginia county, which was for a long time a close corporation,1 and was practically an aristocracy of large land-holders.

The deep religious nature of the Puritans affected their civil institutions, and for a long time their religion and politics were completely blended. Political life in Virginia centered around the county court-house; in New England it centered around the church or meeting-house, which was situated in the center of the town. A glance at the proceedings of one of the early town-meetings will illustrate how intimately civil and religious matters were mingled. Thus the people of Dorchester, Massachusetts, in town-meeting assembled, in 1666 voted that the "men's seats in the body of the meeting-house be enlarged to the women's seats, and that the space between Judge Jamison's heirs and Lieut. Stearn's pew be divided and added to their pews, they consenting, and that the doors to their pews be made to come out into the hind alley, and that men and women be placed in each of these pews by the committee for seating the meeting-house." In these days this would seem to be strange business for government to be engaged in, but we must remember that church and state were as yet united in all parts of the world, although Rhode Island, under the leadership of Roger Williams, was making efforts about this time to separate them.

The town was chosen as an agency for local government throughout all New England, and under its stimulating and healthful influence there was developed a citizenship that has received the admiration of the world. The religious features of the town organization and control have disappeared; church membership is no longer a qualification for voting; citizens are no longer compelled to 1A close corporation is one in which vacancies are filled by the votes of the members of the corporation.

attend divine worship; the church and the minister are no longer supported by the public money. Excepting the fact that it is no longer concerned with matters of religion the New England town of to-day remains what it was in the early days.

The Town-meeting. The central fact of local government in New England is the town-meeting, the old village moot or tungemot of the Teutons. Once a year all the qualified voters of the town meet together to discuss measures relating to town affairs, and to take action thereon. The meeting is no longer held in church, but in the town-house, or town-hall. When the people have assembled, the town clerk calls them to order, and states the purpose for which the meeting is called. A moderator is then chosen to preside over the meeting, and business proceeds according to parliamentary rules. In a town-meeting we see democracy in its purest form. Instead of sending men to conduct affairs for them, as in a representative government, the people are there in person. Young and old, rich and poor, take part in the proceedings, and any citizen present may exert the full force of his character and influence. Every measure that is brought before the meeting is discussed and criticized. Those in favor of the measure state their argument for it; those opposed to it state their objections. When the discussion is at an end a vote is taken, and whatever the results may be, all present feel that the will of the people has been expressed. Thus the townmeeting settles all matters relating to the public affairs of the town. The most important things done are these:

(1) The rate of taxation is fixed. Money is appropriated for the schools, for the care of the roads, for the support of the poor, for the salaries of officers, and for other necessary expenses.

(2) By-laws are passed for the regulation of local matters. The word by originally meant town; hence a by-law is a town law. A law passed in town-meeting forbidding