chapter vi

).

THE COUNTY-TOWNSHIP SYSTEM

In most states the general type of local government is that which we have designated as the county-township system. It is a system in which there is a more nearly equal division of local governmental functions between the county and township than is found either in New England or in the Southern states.

=The Two Types.=--Growing out of the fact that the county-township system has two sources it has developed into two different types: the New York or supervisor type and the Pennsylvania or commissioner type.

_A. New York Type._--In New York the town with its annual meeting early made its appearance, though the town meeting there never exhibited the vigor and vitality that it did in New England. Early in the eighteenth century a law was enacted in New York providing that each township in the county should elect an officer called a _supervisor_, and that the supervisors of the several towns should form a county board and when assembled at the county seat should "supervise and examine the public and necessary charge of each county." In time the management of most of the affairs of the county was devolved upon the board of supervisors, and the system has continued to the present. This board is now composed of not only the supervisors of the townships but also the representatives of the various villages and wards of the cities within the county. The county board thus represents the minor civil divisions of the county rather than the county as a whole. It has charge of various matters that in New England are managed by the towns. The town meeting exists but it is not largely attended, and does not play the important rôle in local government that it does in New England. This system in time spread to those states, like Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin, which were largely settled by immigrants from New York.

_B. The Pennsylvania Type._--As New York was the parent of the supervisor system, Pennsylvania became the parent of the commissioner system. Instead of a county board composed of representatives from the various townships in the county, provision was made for a board of commissioners elected from the county at large. The Pennsylvania system spread to Ohio and from there to Indiana and later to Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In some states the commissioners are elected by large districts into which the county is divided for that purpose.

Thus, first to New York, and second to Pennsylvania belongs the honor of predetermining the character of local government in the West. The county-township system is the most widely distributed system of local government in the United States, and seems destined to become the prevailing system for the country as a whole.[7] The principal difference between the two types consists in the presence of the town meeting in the northern tier of states where the New York type prevails, and its absence in the states where the Pennsylvania type was introduced; in the different manner in which the county boards are constituted; and in the relative importance of the county and township in the local governments of the two groups of states.

[7] Goodnow, "Comparative Administrative Law," Vol. I, p. 178.

=Conflict of Different Systems in the West.=--An illustration of the attachment of the people of different parts of the country to the local institutions to which they were early accustomed, is found in the conflict which took place in Illinois between the settlers in the northern and southern parts of the state. The southern part of the state was settled largely by people from the South, who brought with them the Southern ideas of local government, and as they constituted the bulk of the population of the state at the time it was admitted to the Union, the system of county government was established by law throughout the state; but the county board was organized on the Pennsylvania plan and not according to the old Southern system. The northern part of the state, on the other hand, was settled mainly by people from New England, who were likewise strongly attached to the local government to which they had been accustomed. They succeeded, therefore, in securing the adoption of a clause in the constitution (1848), allowing the people of each county to adopt the township system whenever the majority of the legal voters of the county voting at any general election should so determine. Under the operation of this "home rule" provision, 85 of the 102 counties of the state have adopted the township system. A somewhat similar conflict occurred in Michigan, where the Pennsylvania commissioner system was first introduced, but with the influx of inhabitants from New York and New England dissatisfaction with that system increased until finally it was displaced by the New York or supervisor type.

=References.=--BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. xxix. BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), chs. xlvii-xlviii. FAIRLIE, Local Government in Towns, Counties and Villages, chs. iv-v, viii-xi. FISKE, Civil Government in the U. S., chs. ii-iv. HART, Actual Government, ch. x. HINSDALE, American Government, ch. lv. WILSON, The State (revised edition), secs. 1035-1043. WILLOUGHBY, Rights and Duties of Citizenship, pp. 260-265.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. A map of the state showing its division into counties. 2. A map of the county showing the towns, townships, supervisors' districts, or other civil subdivisions. 3. A copy of a town meeting warrant. 4. A copy of the proceedings of the county board or town meeting, as published in the local newspaper. 5. The legislative manual or blue book of the state in which lists of counties and their subdivisions, with their population, area, officers, and other information may be found. Usually this may be procured from the secretary of state. 6. Reports of county officers. 7. Copies of the state constitution, which may usually be obtained from the secretary of state; and, if possible, a copy of the revised statutes of the state. 8. Volume of the census report on population.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the distinction between local self-government and centralized government? What are the advantages of a system of local self-government?

2. Why should counties, towns, and cities be subject in some measure to the control of the state?

3. What are the provisions in the constitution of your state in regard to local government?

4. How many counties are there in your state? What is the area and population of the largest? of the smallest?

5. How may new counties be created in your state? How may old counties be divided? How are county seats located?

6. Enter in your notebook a list of the county officers in your county. For how long a term is each elected?

7. Which one of the three forms of local government described above does the system under which you live most nearly approach?

8. How many members are there on your county board? Are they called commissioners or supervisors? Are they elected from the county at large or from districts?

9. What are the political subdivisions of your county called, and how many are there?

10. If you live in a state where the town system of local government exists, make a list of the town officers and state their duties.

11. Is the town meeting a part of the system of local government where you live? If so, how often is it held?

12. Are the public roads in your community under county or town control? the poorhouse? the assessment and collection of taxes?

13. How many justices of the peace and constables are there in your town or district? Give their names.

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