The Government Class Book Part 5

--3. Counties in England were formerly districts governed by _counts_ or earls; from which comes the name of _county_. A county was also called _shire_; and an officer was appointed by the count or earl to perform certain acts in the princ.i.p.al town in the county, which was called _shire town_, and the officer was called _shire-reeve_, or _sheriff_, whose powers and duties were similar to those of the sheriff of a county in this country. The shire town is that in which the court-house and other county buildings are situate, and where the princ.i.p.al officers of the county transact their business. In a few counties there are two towns in which the courts are held alternately. Hence each division is called a _half-shire_.

--4. Counties and towns are bodies politic, or bodies corporate.

_Corporate_ is from the Latin, _corpus_, which means _body_. A _corporation_, or body politic, is an a.s.sociation of persons authorized by law to transact business under a common name, and as a single person.

The laws of the state give such authority to the inhabitants of counties and towns. The people of a town or county have power, to some extent, to manage their own internal affairs, and to make rules and regulations for their government; and they may buy, hold, and sell property, and sue and be sued, as an individual. Similar powers are given to rail-road, banking, insurance, and other incorporated companies. But there is in some respects a difference between these corporations and those which are created for purposes of government, as states, counties, towns, cities, and villages, which will be noticed in another place. (Chap.

XVI.)

--5. As a county possesses various corporate powers, there must be among its officers some in whose name these powers are to be exercised. In some states there is a board of _county commissioners_, (usually three,) who exercise corporate powers. In a few, these powers are exercised by and in the name of the _board of supervisors_, which is composed of the supervisors of the several towns in the county, of whom there is one supervisor in each town. These boards, or such officers in other states as exercise these powers, have generally the power also to examine and settle the accounts against the county, and to make orders and contracts in relation to the building or repairing of the court-house, jail, and other county buildings; and to perform such other acts as the laws require.

--6. There is in each county a _treasurer_ to receive and pay out the moneys required to be collected and paid out in the county. There is also, in some states, a county _auditor_ to examine and adjust the accounts and debts of the county, and to perform certain other duties.

The business of county treasurers and auditors in their respective counties, is of the same nature as that of state auditors and treasurers. In states in which there is no county auditor, the duties of auditor are performed by the treasurer, and some other county officer or officers.

--7. There is also in each county a _register_ or _recorder_, who records in books provided for that purpose, all deeds, mortgages, and other instruments of writing required by law to be recorded. In New York, and perhaps in some other states, the business of a register or recorder is done by a county clerk, who is also clerk of the several courts held in the county, and of certain boards of county officers. In some states, deeds, mortgages, and other written instruments, are recorded by the town clerks of the several towns.

--8. Another county officer is a _sheriff_, whose duty it is to attend all the courts held in the county; to execute all warrants, writs, and other process directed to him by the courts; to apprehend persons charged with crime; and to take charge of the jail and of the prisoners therein. It is his duty, also, to preserve the public peace; and he may cause all persons who break the public peace within his knowledge or view, to give bonds, with sureties, for keeping the peace, and for appearing at the next court to be held in the county, and to commit them to jail if they refuse to give such bonds. A sheriff is a.s.sisted by deputies.

--9. There are in each county one or more _coroners_, whose princ.i.p.al duty is, to inquire into the cause of the death of persons who have died by violence, or suddenly, and by means unknown. Notice of the death of a person having so died is given to a coroner, who goes to the place of such dead person. A jury is summoned to attend the examination; witnesses are examined; and the jury give their opinion in writing as to the cause and manner of the death. Such inquiry is called a _coroner's inquest_. In one or two states, the office of coroner, it is believed, does not exist; in which case the inquest is held by a justice of the peace, or some other officer.

--10. An attorney, elected or appointed for that purpose, attends all courts in which persons are tried in the county for crimes committed therein, and conducts the prosecutions in the trial of the offenders. In states where there is no attorney-general for the state, the prosecuting attorney for each county serves in this capacity, in trials in which the state is a party. As all crimes and breaches of the peace are considered as committed against the state, and prosecuted in its name, this attorney is sometimes called _state's attorney_.

--11. In some states there is a _county-surveyor_, whose duties within his county are similar in their nature to those of a state surveyor-general.

--12. County officers are generally elected by the people of the county.

Some of them are, in some of the states, appointed by some authority prescribed by the const.i.tution or laws of the state.

Chapter XV.

Towns and Town Officers. Powers and Duties of Town Officers.

--1. The districts of territory into which counties are divided, are, in some states, called _towns_. In others they are called, and perhaps more properly, _townships_; and the name of _town_ is given to an incorporated village, or a city. We shall, however, in this work, apply to these territorial divisions the shorter name of _towns_, as they are called in most of the old states.

--2. The electors of the several towns meet once a year for the election of town officers, and for certain other business purposes. The electors of a town have power, at their annual town meetings, to order money to be raised for the support of the poor, for the building and repairing of bridges, and for other town purposes; to make regulations concerning fences; to fix the compensation of town officers in certain cases; and to perform such other duties as come within the usual powers of towns.

The powers of towns, however, are not precisely the same in all the states.

--3. Among the town officers elected at town meetings, are the following; not all of them, however, are elected in any one state: One or more persons who have the general oversight and direction of town affairs, called by some name corresponding to the nature of their duties; a town clerk; one or more a.s.sessors; justices of the peace; overseers of highways; overseers of the poor; school officers; constables; a collector of taxes; a treasurer; fence-viewers; pound-keepers, &c. In some states there are also sealers of weights and measures; persons to measure and inspect wood, lumber, bark, and other commodities.

--4. The officers first mentioned in the preceding section, are, in the New England states, called _selectmen_, of whom there are at least three, and may in no state be more than nine, in each town. In a few states they are called _trustees of townships_, and are three in number.

In a few other states, there is in each town one such officer, called _supervisor_. The powers and duties of these officers are more numerous in some states than in others. They have power to lay out roads, and lay out and alter road districts; to do certain acts relating to roads, bridges, taxes, common schools, the support of the poor, &c.; and to examine and settle all demands against the town. In some of the states, some of these duties are performed by other officers.

--5. The _town-clerk_ keeps the records, books, and papers of the town.

He records in a book the proceedings of town meetings, the names of the persons elected, and such other papers as are required by law to be recorded. In some states, deeds and other conveyances are required to be recorded by the clerks of towns.

[For a description of the duties of _a.s.sessors_ and _justices of the peace_, see a.s.sessment and Collection of Taxes, and Justices' Courts.]

--6. For the repairing of _highways_, a town is divided by the proper officers into as many road districts as may be judged convenient; and a person residing in each district is chosen, called _overseer_ or _supervisor_, or _surveyor_ of _highways_, whose duty it is to see that the roads are repaired and kept in order in his district. In some states a tax is laid and collected for this purpose; and each person a.s.sessed may perform labor or furnish materials to the amount of his tax. In other states, road taxes are a.s.sessed upon the citizens in days' labor, according to the value of their property; every man, however, being first a.s.sessed one day for his head, which is called a _poll-tax_.

Persons not wishing to labor, may pay an equivalent in money, which is called _commuting_.

--7. _Overseers of the poor_ provide for the support of the poor belonging to the town who need relief, and have no near relations who are able to support them. In some states there is in each county a poor-house, to which the poor of the several towns are sent to be provided for; the expense to be charged to the towns to which such poor persons belonged.

--8. The princ.i.p.al duties of a _constable_ are, to serve all processes issued by justices of the peace in suits at law for collecting debts, and for arresting persons charged with crimes. The business of a constable in executing the orders of a justice of the peace, is similar to that of a sheriff in relation to the county courts.

--9. The town _treasurer_ receives all moneys belonging to the town, and pays them out as they may be wanted for town-purposes; and accounts yearly to the proper officers. The office of town treasurer does not exist in all the states.

--10. The duties of _fence-viewers_ relate chiefly to the settling of disputes between the owners of adjoining lands concerning division fences, the examining or viewing of fences when damage has been done by trespa.s.sing animals; and the estimating of damages in such cases.

--11. The town _sealer_ keeps correct copies of the standard of weights and measures established by the state. Standard copies are furnished by the state sealer to each county sealer, at the expense of the county, and the county sealer furnishes each town sealer a copy at the expense of the town. The town sealer compares the weights and measures brought to him with the copy in his possession, and sees that they are made to agree with it, and seals and marks them. A person selling by a weight or measure that does not agree with the standard, is liable to the purchaser for damages--generally to several times the amount of the injury.

For a particular description of the duties of town officers, reference must be had to the laws of the several states.

Chapter XVI.

Incorporation and Government of Cities, Villages, &c.

--1. Cities and incorporated villages have governments peculiar to themselves. Places containing a large and close population need a different government from that of ordinary towns or townships. Many of the laws regulating the affairs of towns thinly inhabited, are not suited to a place where many thousand persons are closely settled.

Besides, the electors in such a place would be too numerous to meet in a single a.s.sembly for the election of officers or the transaction of other public business.

--2. Whenever, therefore, the inhabitants of any place become so numerous as to require a city government, they pet.i.tion the legislature for a law incorporating them into a city. The law or act of incorporation is usually called a _charter_. The word _charter_ is from the Latin _charta_, which means paper. The instruments of writing by which kings or other sovereign powers granted rights and privileges to individuals or corporations, were written on paper or parchment, and called _charters_. In this country, it is commonly used to designate an act of the legislature conferring privileges and powers upon cities, villages, and other corporations.

--3. The chief executive officer of a city is a _mayor_. A city is divided into wards of convenient size, in each of which are chosen one or more _aldermen_, (usually two,) and such other officers as are named in the charter. The mayor and aldermen const.i.tute the _common council_, which is a kind of legislature, having the power to pa.s.s such laws, (commonly called _ordinances_,) and to make such orders and regulations, as the government of the city requires. The mayor presides in meetings of the common council, and performs also certain judicial and other duties. There are also elected in the several wards, a.s.sessors, constables, collectors, and other necessary officers, whose duties in their respective wards are similar to those of like named officers in country towns, or townships.

--4. The inhabitants of cities, however, are not wholly governed by laws made by the common council. Most of the laws enacted by the legislature are of general application, and have the same effect in cities as elsewhere. Thus the laws of the state require, that taxes shall be a.s.sessed and levied upon the property of the citizens of the state to defray the public expenses; and the people of the cities are required to pay their just proportion of the same; but the city authorities lay and collect additional taxes for city purposes.

--5. In cities there are also courts of justice other than those which are established by the const.i.tution or general laws of the state. There is a court for the trial of persons guilty of disturbing the peace, and of such other minor offenses as are usually punishable by imprisonment in the county jail, called _police court_. It is held by a _police justice_, elected by the people, or appointed in such manner as the law prescribes. In some of the larger cities, there are courts of _civil_ as well as criminal jurisdiction, differing from those which are common to counties generally.

--6. The government of incorporated _villages_ is not in all respects like that of cities. The chief executive officer of such a village is, in some states, called _president_. The village is not divided into wards; the number of its inhabitants being too small to require such division. Instead of a board of aldermen, there is a board of _trustees_ or _directors_, who exercise similar powers. The president of a village is generally chosen by the trustees from their own number. In some states, incorporated villages are called _towns_; and their chief executive officer is called _mayor_.

--7. The necessity and effect of incorporating a village may not yet clearly appear to every reader. Let us ill.u.s.trate. By a general law of the state, or by a vote of the electors of a township in pursuance of such law, cattle may run at large in the highways. This might be to many persons in a village, a great annoyance, which can be prevented or abated only by confining the cattle. Or, sidewalks may need to be made.

Or, it may be deemed necessary to provide means for extinguishing fires, by purchasing fire-engines and organizing fire companies. In an unincorporated village there is no power to compel the citizens to do these things. Those, therefore, who desire that the citizens should have power to make all needful regulations for the government of the village, pet.i.tion the legislature for an act of incorporation granting the necessary powers.

--8. The const.i.tutions of some states require the legislature to pa.s.s a general law prescribing the manner in which the people of any village may form themselves into a corporation, with the necessary powers of government, with out a special law for that purpose.

--9. Besides these _territorial_ corporations for purposes of government, as counties, towns, cities, &c., there are _incorporated companies_ for carrying on business of various kinds, as turnpike and rail-road companies, and companies for the purposes of banking, insurance, manufacturing, &c. These kinds of business, to be carried on successfully, sometimes require a larger amount of money than one man possesses. A number of persons, therefore, unite their capital under an act of incorporation granting them power to manage their business which they could not have in an ordinary business partnership. Besides, a common partnership must end on the death of any one of the partners; but an incorporated company is not thus affected by the death of its members.

--10. It is in the nature of corporations to have a perpetual existence.

A corporation may live after the persons who first composed it are all dead; for those who come after them have the same powers and privileges.

A town or city incorporated a hundred years ago, is the same town or city still, although none of its first inhabitants are living. So a railroad or banking corporation may exist after the death of many, or even all of the original corporators.

--11. But there are certain particulars in which all corporations are not the same. A state has been defined to be a body politic, or corporation.

(Chap. I. --10; III, --5.) But it differs from other government corporations, as counties, towns, cities, &c., in this: the latter are formed by acts of the legislature; but a state is formed by the people in their political capacity in establishing the const.i.tution.