Speaker 1: Chapter fifty of Problems in American Democracy. This is a
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Speaker 1: This reading by Alison Hester of Athens, Georgia. Problems in
Speaker 1: American Democracy by Times Williamson, Chapter fifty. Rural local government
Speaker 1: six thirty four. Types of rural local government. Rural local
Speaker 1: governments in the United States vary widely as between different
Speaker 1: sections of the country, but in general they are divisible
Speaker 1: into three types. These are A the town type so
Speaker 1: common in New England. B the county type found chiefly
Speaker 1: in the south, the southwest, in the far west, and
Speaker 1: C the mixed type of the middle, central and northwestern states.
Speaker 1: These three general types will be discussed in the order
Speaker 1: named A. The town type six thirty five. Nature of
Speaker 1: the town. The basis of rural local government in New
Speaker 1: England is the town footnote. The county exists in New
Speaker 1: England as an aggregation of towns. The county has acquired
Speaker 1: other functions, but it is still primarily a judicial district
Speaker 1: and a footnote. In general, the New England town is
Speaker 1: an irregularly shaped area varying in size from twenty to
Speaker 1: forty five square miles. The area comprising the typical town
Speaker 1: is primarily rural and generally contains one or more villages.
Speaker 1: Although the town is primarily a rural unit, the villages
Speaker 1: within its bounds may be so populous as to be
Speaker 1: classed as cities. Yet these populous communities may, as in
Speaker 1: the case of Brookline, Massachusetts, retain the town government. Other
Speaker 1: New England cities, such as New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut,
Speaker 1: have continued the town organization separate from the city government.
Speaker 1: Six Origin of the town. Some authorities believe that the
Speaker 1: town type of rural local government can be traced back
Speaker 1: through English history to the early Teutonic tribes. Whether or
Speaker 1: not this is true, it is certain that the principle
Speaker 1: is an ancient one, and that when New England was
Speaker 1: first settled, the colonists grouped together in small, compact communities
Speaker 1: or towns, instead of scattering over larger areas six thirty seven.
Speaker 1: Why town government developed in New England. Several factors are
Speaker 1: responsible for the tendency of the settlers of early New
Speaker 1: England to draw together in towns. From the economic point
Speaker 1: of view, the bear and nature of the soil rendered
Speaker 1: extensive farms impracticable, while on the other hand, the opportunities
Speaker 1: for fishing and commerce encouraged small, compact settlements along the coast.
Speaker 1: The hostility of many of the New England Indians also
Speaker 1: discouraged sparse settlements and obliged the people to settle in
Speaker 1: c close formation. Lastly, many of the New England colonists
Speaker 1: came to the New World as groups or communities which,
Speaker 1: in their European homes had pivoted about a common church.
Speaker 1: In New England, these people naturally preferred to live very
Speaker 1: near one another. Six thirty eight. Town government. The government
Speaker 1: of the New England town is vested in a town meeting,
Speaker 1: which consists of an annual session of the voters of
Speaker 1: the town. At this meeting, the voters in act laws
Speaker 1: governing such local matters as town finance, schools, police and highways.
Speaker 1: A second important function of the town meeting is to
Speaker 1: choose the town officers, including the selectmen footnote. In Rhode Island,
Speaker 1: the selectmen are known as the council in the footnote,
Speaker 1: the town clerk, treasurer, constable, and others. The chief executive
Speaker 1: officers are the selectmen, varying in number from three to
Speaker 1: nine and generally chosen for the term of one year.
Speaker 1: The selectmen have general charge of town affairs and act
Speaker 1: under authority conferred by statute or by the town meeting.
Speaker 1: The town clerk keeps the records. The treasurer has charge
Speaker 1: of the funds of the town and sometimes audits accounts,
Speaker 1: while the constable keeps the peace of the town, serves, writs,
Speaker 1: and collects local taxes. In addition, there are a number
Speaker 1: of minor officials, such as tax assessors, pound keepers, guardians
Speaker 1: of the poor, highway officials, and library trustees. Part B
Speaker 1: the county type. Why county government developed in the South.
Speaker 1: The system of county government became as firmly entrenched in
Speaker 1: the southern colonies as did the concept of the town
Speaker 1: in early New England. Four factors operated to discourage town
Speaker 1: government and to encourage county government in the South. First,
Speaker 1: the southern colonists did not come in small family groups
Speaker 1: as did the New Englanders, but rather as individuals and
Speaker 1: from different classes of society. Second, the Indians of the
Speaker 1: South were either weak or peaceful, so that fear of
Speaker 1: Indian attack did not oblige the colonists to congregate in small,
Speaker 1: compact communities. Third, the climate and soil of the South
Speaker 1: encouraged a plantation system, which resulted in a sparse rather
Speaker 1: than in a compact population. Fourth, the aristocratic type of
Speaker 1: society developing from the plantation and slave system prevented the
Speaker 1: rise of democratic town meetings. Six point forty Government of
Speaker 1: the Southern County. Though county government is also found in
Speaker 1: the Southwest and far West, it is seen in its
Speaker 1: purest form in the South. Here. The county was originally
Speaker 1: a judicial district, or sometimes also a financial district, to
Speaker 1: facilitate the collector of taxes. The functions of the county
Speaker 1: have gradually increased until such local affairs as schools, jails, poorhouses,
Speaker 1: and the maintenance of roads and bridges are concerns of
Speaker 1: the Southern County. The chief administrative authority in the county
Speaker 1: is either the County Court or a small board of commissioners.
Speaker 1: In either case, the administrative authority is chosen by popular vote.
Speaker 1: In addition, there are a number of minor officers, such
Speaker 1: as the treasurer, tax assessor, and recorder, all of them
Speaker 1: chosen by popular vote for terms varying from one to
Speaker 1: four years. Six forty one government of the Far Western County.
Speaker 1: In the Far West, likewise, the most important unit of
Speaker 1: rural local government is the county. The county is governed
Speaker 1: by a board, usually consisting of three commissioners. In general,
Speaker 1: the officers of the Far Western county resemble those in
Speaker 1: the Central States. Ce Section six h undred forty four,
Speaker 1: Part C. The mixed type footnote sometimes called the township
Speaker 1: county system into footnote six forty two origin of the
Speaker 1: mixed type. The mixed type of rural local government is
Speaker 1: a hybrid, the result of the incomplete fusion of the
Speaker 1: town type with the county type. The northern parts of
Speaker 1: the Central States were settled largely by immigrants from New England,
Speaker 1: while the southern portions of the Middle West were settled
Speaker 1: by pioneers from Pennsylvania and the states south of the
Speaker 1: Ohio River. The New England immigrants were used to town
Speaker 1: government and endeavored to perpetuate it in their new home.
Speaker 1: The settlers from the south preferred the county form of
Speaker 1: government and sought its adoption in their new homes. The
Speaker 1: result was a compromise, some functions of rural local government
Speaker 1: being assigned to the county and some to the township
Speaker 1: six forty three. The two subtypes. In the fusion of
Speaker 1: the town and county types of government, the county system
Speaker 1: tended to predominate over the town or township form of
Speaker 1: government when settlers from the south were in the majority
Speaker 1: in the northern section of the country. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: the compromise form tended to include a majority of the
Speaker 1: features of the town type. The result was the formulation
Speaker 1: of two subtypes. The first of these may be called
Speaker 1: the Pennsylvania subtype, so named because it originated in Pennsylvania
Speaker 1: and then spread with modifications to Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri,
Speaker 1: and other states. In these states, the town or township
Speaker 1: authority is subordinated to the county government. There is no
Speaker 1: town meeting. The New York subtype exists in typical form
Speaker 1: in New York, but is also found in New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota,
Speaker 1: the Dakotas, and other states. The town meeting is found
Speaker 1: in these states, and in five of them the town
Speaker 1: ships are represented on the county board six forty four
Speaker 1: the New York subtype. In states possessing the New York
Speaker 1: subtype of rural local government, the town meeting is still important.
Speaker 1: This meeting is similar to the New England town meeting,
Speaker 1: though it exercises less authority. All the legal voters of
Speaker 1: the township are qualified to take part in this meeting,
Speaker 1: which is held annually and on special occasions. At this
Speaker 1: meeting are chosen township officers for the following year. The
Speaker 1: most important of these are the supervisor, clerk, treasurer, assessor,
Speaker 1: and a varying number of constables and Justices of the peace.
Speaker 1: In addition to electing these and other officers, the town
Speaker 1: meeting enacts legislation with regard to such local matters as bridges, roads,
Speaker 1: and schools. In some of the Central States, general executive
Speaker 1: authority over township affairs is vested in a township board,
Speaker 1: while in other state states, administrative authority is divided between
Speaker 1: a township board of from three to eleven members and
Speaker 1: a supervisor or trustee. Besides these officials, there are a
Speaker 1: number of minor officers, including a clerk, a treasurer, an assessor,
Speaker 1: overseers of the poor, constables, and justices of the peace.
Speaker 1: The county board continues to exist under the New York Plan,
Speaker 1: but it is far less important than under the Pennsylvania subtype.
Speaker 1: The functions of the county board are similar in these
Speaker 1: two subtypes. Six forty five the Pennsylvania subtype. In those
Speaker 1: states in which the Pennsylvania subtype of rural local government prevails,
Speaker 1: general control of government is vested in a county board.
Speaker 1: This board is composed of three commissioners, who are elected
Speaker 1: by the voters of the county. In all of the
Speaker 1: Central states, the county board possesses numerous powers, but the
Speaker 1: powers of the board are greater on an under the
Speaker 1: Pennsylvania then under the New York subtype. Under the former plan,
Speaker 1: the county Board exercised four groups of powers, first the
Speaker 1: levying of taxes and the appropriation of local funds, second
Speaker 1: the maintenance of roads, third poor relief, and fourth the
Speaker 1: supervision of local elections. Besides the members of the county Board,
Speaker 1: there are a number of other county officials. The chief
Speaker 1: executive officer of the county court is the sheriff. The
Speaker 1: prosecuting attorney is an elective official whose duty it is
Speaker 1: to conduct criminal prosecutions and to act as the legal
Speaker 1: agent of the county. The treasurer has charge of county
Speaker 1: funds and sometimes supervises the collection of taxes. He is
Speaker 1: elected by the people, generally for a two year term.
Speaker 1: The clerk or auditor is an important county officer, as
Speaker 1: is the surveyor, the county superintendent of schools, and the
Speaker 1: recorter or register of deeds six forty six. Home rule
Speaker 1: for counties. Generally, county authorities are narrowly limited by the
Speaker 1: state constitution and state statutes. This has always resulted in
Speaker 1: numerous appeals to the legislature for special legislation, and has
Speaker 1: lately given rise to a demand for home rule for counties.
Speaker 1: In the effort to reduce the pressure for special laws
Speaker 1: in the legislature, the Michigan Constitution of nineteen o eight
Speaker 1: provided for a measure of home rule in the counties.
Speaker 1: The legislature is authorized to confer legislative powers on the
Speaker 1: county boards, which may pass laws and ordinances relative to
Speaker 1: purely local affairs, provided such enactments do not conflict with
Speaker 1: state law, and provided further that such enactments do not
Speaker 1: interfere with the local affairs of any township, incorporated city,
Speaker 1: or village within the limits of the county. Such laws
Speaker 1: may be vetoed by the governor, but may be passed
Speaker 1: over his veto by a two thirds vote of the
Speaker 1: county board. Another step toward home rule was taken when
Speaker 1: in nineteen eleven, California, by constitutional amendment, empowered counties to
Speaker 1: frame their own charters and, on securing popular approval, to
Speaker 1: put the same into effect. However, the charter, thus framed
Speaker 1: and approved must first be sanctioned by the state legislature
Speaker 1: end of Chapter fifty