Part 95 (1/2)

21. The franchise problem. (Beard, _American City Government_, chapter vii.)

22. Munic.i.p.al owners.h.i.+p as a political problem. (Beard, _American City Government_, chapter viii.)

23. The commission plan of munic.i.p.al government. (Munro, _The Government of the United States_, chapter xliii; see also any other standard text on American government.)

24. The city manager plan of munic.i.p.al government. (Munro, _The Government of the United States_, chapter xliii; see also any other standard text on American government.)

FOR CLa.s.sROOM DISCUSSION

25. Munic.i.p.al owners.h.i.+p of public utilities in your community.

26. Are the munic.i.p.alities of your state too narrowly restricted by the state const.i.tution and the state legislature?

27. The solution of the franchise problem.

28. Respective merits of the mayor-council plan, the commission plan, and the city manager plan, with particular reference to your munic.i.p.ality.

CHAPTER L

RURAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT

634. TYPES OF RURAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT.--Rural local governments in the United States vary widely as between different sections of the country, but in general they are divisible into three types. These are:

(a) the town type, so common in New England;

(b) the county type, found chiefly in the South, the Southwest, and the Far West; and

(c) the mixed type of the Middle, Central, and Northwestern states.

These three general types will be discussed in the order named.

A. THE TOWN TYPE

635. NATURE OF THE TOWN.--The basis of rural local government in New England is the town. [Footnote: The county exists in New England as an aggregation of towns. The county has acquired other functions, but it is still primarily a judicial district.] In general the New England town is an irregularly shaped area, varying in size from twenty to forty-five square miles. The area comprising the typical town is primarily rural, and generally contains one or more villages. Although the town is primarily a rural unit, the villages within its bounds may be so populous as to be cla.s.sed as cities. Yet these populous communities may, as in the case of Brookline, Ma.s.sachusetts, retain the town government. Other New England cities, such as New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, have continued the town organization separate from the city government.

636. ORIGIN OF THE TOWN.--Some authorities believe that the town type of rural local government can be traced back through English history to the early Teutonic tribes. Whether or not this is true, it is certain that the principle is an ancient one, and that when New England was first settled, the colonists grouped together in small compact communities, or towns, instead of scattering over larger areas.

637. WHY TOWN GOVERNMENT DEVELOPED IN NEW ENGLAND.--Several factors are responsible for the tendency of the settlers of early New England to draw together in towns. From the economic point of view, the barren nature of the soil rendered extensive farms impracticable, while, on the other hand, the opportunities for fis.h.i.+ng and commerce encouraged small, compact settlements along the coast. The hostility of many of the New England Indians also discouraged spa.r.s.e settlements and obliged the people to settle in close formation. Lastly, many of the New England colonists came to the New World as groups or communities which in their European homes had pivoted about a common church; in New England these people naturally preferred to live very near one another.

638. TOWN GOVERNMENT.--The government of the New England town is vested in a town meeting, which consists of an annual session of the voters of the town. At this meeting the voters enact laws governing such local matters as town finance, schools, police, and highways. A second important function of the town meeting is to choose the town officers, including the selectmen, [Footnote: In Rhode Island the selectmen are known as the council.] the town clerk, treasurer, constable, and others. The chief executive officers are the selectmen, varying in number from three to nine, and generally chosen for the term of one year. The selectmen have general charge of town affairs, and act under authority conferred by statute or by the town meeting.

The town clerk keeps the records, the treasurer has charge of the funds of the town and sometimes audits accounts, while the constable keeps the peace of the town, serves writs, and collects local taxes.

In addition there are a number of minor officials, such as tax a.s.sessors, pound-keepers, guardians of the poor, highway officials, and library trustees.

B. THE COUNTY TYPE

639. WHY COUNTY GOVERNMENT DEVELOPED IN THE SOUTH.--The system of county government became as firmly intrenched in the Southern colonies as did the concept of the town in early New England. Four factors operated to discourage town government, and to encourage county government, in the South. First, the Southern colonists did not come in small family groups, as did the New Englanders, but rather as individuals and from different cla.s.ses of society. Second, the Indians of the South were either weak or peaceful, so that fear of Indian attack did not oblige the colonists to congregate in small, compact communities. Third, the climate and soil of the South encouraged a plantation system which resulted in a spa.r.s.e rather than in a compact population. Fourth, the aristocratic type of society developing from the plantation and slave system prevented the rise of the democratic town meeting.