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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b5c05e --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67350 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67350) diff --git a/old/67350-0.txt b/old/67350-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b257480..0000000 --- a/old/67350-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9045 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The County, by H. S. Gilbertson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The County - The "Dark Continent" of American Politics - -Author: H. S. Gilbertson - -Release Date: February 6, 2022 [eBook #67350] - -Language: English - -Produced by: deaurider and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COUNTY *** - - - -[Illustration: THIS IS A NEW YORK COUNTY--ALL OFFICERS ELECTED -INDEPENDENTLY OF EACH OTHER AND CO-ORDINATED THEORETICALLY BY ELABORATE -LAWS. HEADLESS, IRRESPONSIBLE, INEFFICIENT, OBSCURE.] - - - - - The County - - The “Dark Continent” of American Politics - - By - - H. S. Gilbertson - - [Illustration] - - New York - - The National Short Ballot Organization - 1917 - - - - - The Knickerbocker Press, New York - - - - -PREFACE - - -The American people have never ceased, nor do they give any signs -of ceasing, in their effort to master the mechanics of political -democracy. Curiously, however, they have quite neglected one of the -most promising of all the approaches to this study--the government of -counties. It is in the belief that a discussion of this subject would -tend to throw a great new light upon the “democratic experiment” that -the author has prepared this volume. - -This is not a hand-book or a treatise on counties. Such a work cannot -be successfully carried through without a much wider and more thorough -research into the subject than has as yet been attempted. The author -hopes that this present work will do something to suggest and stimulate -such research. In the meantime the outlines of a very real and very -important “county problem” are visible and they mark the scope of this -volume. - -The reader will doubtless note the complete absence of any -discussion of the county in its relation to the educational system. -The explanation of this omission lies in the great difficulty of -distinguishing anything like a universal interest of the county in -this branch of public administration, apart from those of the state -government and of the smaller divisions, except in the levying of taxes -and the distribution of tax money. - -To Mr. Richard S. Childs, Secretary of The Short Ballot Organization, -the author is indebted for the suggestion that the book should be -written, and for criticisms of the manuscript. Assistance of the most -helpful sort during the manuscript stage was also rendered by Mr. -Herbert R. Sands, of the New York Bureau of Municipal Research, and by -Mr. Otho G. Cartwright, of the Westchester County Research Bureau. - -Inasmuch also as it has not seemed advisable to encumber the text with -an excessive number of footnotes, the author wishes to acknowledge -particularly his debt to Prof. John A. Fairlie’s volume, _The -Government of Counties, Towns, and Villages_, which was the source -of much of the historical material, and to Mr. Earl W. Crecraft, whose -studies of Hudson County, N. J., have been drawn upon at considerable -length. - - H. S. GILBERTSON. - - NEW YORK, - January 15, 1917. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I.--A POLITICAL BY-WAY 1 - - II.--JUST WHAT IS A COUNTY 9 - - III.--A CREATURE OF TRADITION 16 - - IV.--FALLING AFOUL OF “DEMOCRACY” 25 - - V.--THE JUNGLE 34 - - VI.--A BASE OF POLITICAL SUPPLIES 43 - - VII.--URBAN COUNTIES 57 - - VIII.--COUNTY GOVERNMENTS AT WORK 66 - - IX.--THE HUMANITARIAN SIDE 80 - - X.--ROADS AND BRIDGES 94 - - XI.--NULLIFICATION 104 - - XII.--STATE MEDDLING 112 - - XIII.--STATE GUIDANCE 120 - - XIV.--READJUSTMENTS 129 - - XV.--COUNTY HOME RULE 145 - - XVI.--CONSOLIDATION 151 - - XVII.--RECONSTRUCTION 168 - - XVIII.--SCIENTIFIC ADMINISTRATION 181 - - XIX.--THE COUNTY OF THE FUTURE 193 - - APPENDIX A--CONSTITUTIONAL COUNTY HOME - RULE IN CALIFORNIA 207 - - APPENDIX B--THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY - CHARTER 219 - - APPENDIX C--PROPOSED COUNTY HOME RULE - AMENDMENT IN NEW YORK 247 - - APPENDIX D--PROPOSED COUNTY MANAGER - LAW IN NEW YORK 251 - - APPENDIX E--THE CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER - IN NEW YORK CITY 257 - - APPENDIX F--A COUNTY ALMSHOUSE IN TEXAS 266 - - BIBLIOGRAPHY 275 - - INDEX 285 - - - - - THE COUNTY - - - - -CHAPTER I - -A POLITICAL BY-WAY - - -To close up the underground passages to political power, to open up -government and let in the daylight of popular opinion and criticism, -to simplify organization, to make procedure more direct, to fix -unmistakably the responsibilities of every factor in the State; that -has been the strategy of the reconstructive democratic movement in -America in the last fifteen years. Four hundred American cities, -without regret and with little ceremony, have cast aside the tradition -that complexity is the price of liberty. They have started afresh upon -the principle that government is public business to be administered as -simply, as directly, as openly and as cheaply as the law will allow. -Inasmuch as their former governments were not adapted to that ideal, -they have hastened to make them over. Contrary to prediction, the -palladium of liberty has not fallen. Business goes on as usual, public -business in a way that is amazingly satisfactory, as compared with the -“good old” days. - -Where will the movement stop? Have all the secret passages been closed? -Have all the dark alleys of local politics been lighted? Or does work -for explorers lie ahead? - -In 1915 the constitutional convention then in session at Albany, was -surveying the foundations of the political structure of New York, -undertaking to make adjustments to the sweeping changes that had -come over the life of the state in the previous twenty-year period. -Committees were chosen to rake the far corners of the system for -needed adjustment. Hundreds of experts were summoned and hundreds of -citizens voluntarily appeared to press their views and their wants. -The committee having in charge the organization of the _state_ -government listened to an ex-president, the heads of two leading -universities, prominent efficiency experts and every important state -officer. The committee on _cities_ gave audience to the mayor -and chief legal officers of every important city in the state, while -the conference of mayors was sufficiently interested to send one of -its number to stump the state for an amendment which would promote -the welfare of New York cities. The work of these divisions of the -convention was of deepest concern to the state. It received from the -press and the public no small amount of interested comment. - -There was also a committee which touched on an interest that includes -every inhabitant--county government. One might have imagined that this -body too could have attracted at least one or two celebrities. There -are sixty-one counties in New York State. Everybody lives in one. They -safeguard property, personal and civil rights. But not so. Two or three -public hearings; no ex-presidents; no college heads; no considerable -number of interested private citizens--such was the tangible display of -awakening to the subject at hand. - -At a singularly appropriate moment, however, a brand-new association -of clerks of the boards of supervisors was formed. Several members -of the body appeared in person before the convention. The committee -appealed to them to enrich its fund of information concerning the home -government. They were given a free rein to tell of the needs of their -counties. - -In view of collateral facts, the testimony of this notable group of -public servants is peculiarly illuminating. The representative of a -central New York county was there and blandly did he announce that his -people were perfectly satisfied with their county government; they -would not dream of modifying it. The clerk from a Hudson River county -was equally optimistic, and went to some pains to show in detail just -how very well his county was governed. Similar testimony was presented -from a county in the capital district. Then up spoke the clerk from -near the borders of Pennsylvania: the people of this neighboring -state had conceived so great an admiration for the form of his county -government that they were longing to substitute it for their own rather -simpler system. - -Now for the collateral facts. Not more than two months following this -hearing, officers of the National Committee on Prison Labor got word -of misdoings at the jail in the central New York county and succeeded -in securing a Grand Jury investigation. The details of their findings -scarcely lend themselves to print. Enough to say that the sheriff’s -deputies had made a practice of allowing both men and women prisoners -to come and go at will and permitted most disreputable conditions to -prevail in the prison. Shortly after the committee hearings the state -comptroller completed his investigation of the financial affairs of -the Hudson River county. His report reeks with accounts of flagrant -and intentional violations of the laws on the part of not one but -nearly all of the county officers. As for the clerk from the capital -district, he was confronted at the hearing itself with several pieces -of special legislation passed, at the instance of the sheriff and the -superintendent of the poor, for the increase of salaries of deputies -over the head of the local governing body. That this appeal was not -so much in the interests of the county as of “political expediency” -and at the expense of the taxpayers, he cheerfully admitted. But as -for the near-Pennsylvania county, that was the earthly home of a man -who had conceived a clever method of breaking into the county treasury -by having the board of supervisors create for his benefit, contrary -to law, the position of “county custodian.” Once firmly settled in -his new position he persuaded the board to turn over to him (quite -illegally) their responsibility for auditing the claims against the -county, and persuaded the county treasurer to cash any warrant that -might have his “O. K.” When he had made away, in this manner, with some -ninety thousand dollars, the comptroller discovered his misdoings. Of -the whole bad mess, the solution which the “custodian” selected was -suicide. But the government of that county had not been fundamentally -changed to meet the defects of organization revealed in these -disclosures. - -A collection of isolated facts? Familiar American graft and -inefficiency? Perhaps. But in the cities and in the states the public -has been going after such things. In the counties of New York the -people apparently did not know that such conditions were present. The -clerks who appeared at Albany and were, for the most part, the sole -representatives of their several counties, seem to have told the truth, -at least about the people’s complacency, but they might have been -more accurate and more complimentary if they had labeled it “lack of -knowledge.” - -From coast to coast a deep silence broods over county affairs. Can -it be that, while cities have been reveling in franchise scandals -and police have been going into partnership with vice interests, -while state legislatures have been lightly voting away public money -on useless political jobs and extravagant public institutions, the -county alone is free from every breath of scandal and is a model of -official uprightness? Scores of municipal leagues and city clubs -and bureaus of municipal research are delving into city affairs and -finding opportunities for betterment at every turn of the hand. -But the number of county organizations that are doing critical and -constructive work could be numbered on the ten fingers, or less. Many -of the colleges offer courses specifically on municipal government, -but the “one pervasive unit of local government throughout the United -States” is disposed of with a brief mention. No political scientist -has ever had the ambition to plow into the soil, so that while there -is now available a five-hundred-page bibliography of city government, -there has never been written a single volume[1] devoted exclusively to -counties. Journalists for the most part have left the subject severely -alone. - -And yet in those few instances where the county has been put under the -microscope or has been given more than a passing thought, the reward -of the investigators’ labors have always been so certain and rich as -to excite wonder as to how much further the shortcomings of the county -extend. In Hudson County, N. J., a few years ago, the cost of the court -house which had been fixed at nine hundred thousand dollars, threatened -to run up to seven million dollars. Impressed by this striking -circumstance, a body of citizens formed themselves into a permanent -Federation to look deeper and longer into this back alley of their -civic life. They found that the court house incident was but the most -dramatic of a hundred falls from grace. The Public Efficiency Society -of Cook County, Ill., the Westchester County Research Bureau, the -Taxpayers’ Association of Suffolk County, the Nassau County Association -in New York and the Tax Association of Alameda County in California -have all been richly repaid for their investments in county government -research. Sporadic cases? Possibly. And then again perhaps there is -something basically defective in the system. - -But is it all a matter of importance? - -If universality and magnitude of cost count for anything, yes. Nearly -all the inhabitants of the United States live in a county and nearly -every voter takes part in the affairs of one. There are over three -thousand such units. In their corporate capacity they had in 1913 a -net indebtedness of $371,528,268 (per capita, $4.33), which was a -growth from $196,564,619 in 1902 (per capita, $2.80). In that year they -spent for general government, $385,181,760, which is something like -one third the cost of the federal government for the same period. Of -this amount, $102,334,964 was for general management. Through these -county governments the American people spent for highway purposes, -$55,514,891; for the protection of life and property, $15,213,229; for -the conservation of health, $2,815,466; for education, $57,682,193; -for libraries, $364,712; for recreation, $419,556 (mostly in the -single state of New Jersey); for public service enterprises, $189,122; -for interest charges, $17,417,593; upon structures of a more or less -permanent nature, $89,839,726. - -The figures, though of course not to be taken too seriously, are in -some cases as impressive for their paucity as in others for their -magnitude, for throughout a large part of the United States the county -is the sole agency of local government. - -Counties pretty much throughout the nation are the corner-stone of the -system of partisan government and organization. - -Counties, for this variety of reasons, therefore, would seem to be a -fit subject for scrutiny as to their relation to some of the vital -issues of American life. - -[1] _Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social -Science_, May, 1913, contains a number of important monographs on -the subject. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -JUST WHAT IS A COUNTY? - - -Before our forefathers had “brought forth upon this continent a new -nation,” there was no universal standard relationship in the colonies -between the local and the general colonial or state governments. In -Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, the towns had begun as -separate units; then they federated and gradually developed an organic -unity; that is, the localities produced the general government. In the -South, on the other hand, the local governments had more the semblance -of creatures of the general government designed to meet the expansion -of the earliest settlements into wide and therefore less wieldy units -for administration. - -By the time of the constitution of 1789, it became possible to -standardize the division of labor of governing the continent. In -the center of the scheme were placed the states, which reserved to -themselves all the governmental power there was, except what the -constitution specifically conferred upon the federal government. -Henceforth, whatever may have been its historical origin or its -ancient traditions, every local division of government was to content -itself with such functions as were to be portioned out to it by -superior state authority. It was to have no “inherent” powers. It was -to act simply as an agency of the state, which had power at will to -enlarge or diminish the local sphere of activity or wipe it off the map -entirely. - -Now the duties which state governments assumed in the early years -of the republic were as simple as necessity would allow. This was -preeminently the day of “as little government as possible.” The people -of the states covenanted with themselves, as it were, to stand guard -over life, liberty and property. It was a broad enough program, but it -was the custom in those days to interpret it narrowly--no humanitarian -activities beyond the crude attempts to deal with the more obvious -phases of poverty; no measure of correction in the modern sense; no -“public works.” As an incident in meeting these obligations, the -constitutional convention and the state legislatures met and laid -down statutes or codes of conduct affecting these elementary needs -of a civilized people. They defined the various crimes (or adopted -the definitions of the English common law); they legalized a civil -procedure. It was definitely settled that the voice of the whole people -should control in determining _what_ the state should do for its -citizens. - -Then came the question of getting the means for applying these -abstract principles to daily life, of bringing to every man’s own -door the means for enforcing his rights. Had the American people -proceeded from this point along logical lines they would have cut the -administrative machinery to fit their state-wide policies. But it was -not so ordered. The officers of the _state_ had determined upon -the policies; the officers of the _localities_ were to execute the -policies. The period of the American Revolution, with its deep-seated -distrust of kingly power, was the beginning of an era of decentralized -administration which gained rather than diminished in force for as -much as two generations. For the purpose, the existing counties served -as instruments ready to hand and their status now became fixed as the -local agencies of the state government. New counties were formed from -time to time as needs arose. In each of these counties was a loose, but -more or less complete organization, which it will now be fitting to -describe. - -More important perhaps than any other enforcing agent of the county, in -these still primitive days, was the sheriff, who sooner or later became -a fixture in every American colony. This most ancient officer of the -county had been perpetuated through the centuries from Saxon and Norman -times. He had inherited nearly all of the powers and prerogatives -of his historical prototype as they obtained in England during the -seventeenth century. He did not preside over a court in the county, -but he could make arrests for violation of the law, with or without a -warrant. If his task was too much for one man, he could summon to his -aid a _posse comitatus_ of private citizens. And inasmuch as he -was obliged not only to apprehend, but to hold his prisoner for trial, -it very naturally fell to him to take care of the lock-up or jail. - -There had been established, beginning with Connecticut, in 1666, a -system of local courts, whose jurisdiction in most states came to -be co-extensive with the county. Around this institution centered -the official life of the county, so much so that the county capitol -is universally known as the “court house.” The sheriff from its -beginnings acted as the high servant of this court, in the disposition -of prisoners, the execution of judgments, the service of warrants of -arrest and in similar duties. - -To the account of Connecticut is also to be credited the most unique, -and in many ways most important county officer of modern times. In -the development of its criminal law, England had never worked out -a system of local prosecuting officers. The colonies in the early -days had assigned the duty of representing the state’s interest to -the magistrates. But in 1704 there was authorized for each county -in Connecticut an attorney “to prosecute all criminal offenders ... -and suppress vice and immorality.” From this beginning came the -distinctively American officer who is variously known as district -attorney, prosecutor of the pleas, solicitor, or state’s attorney. - -Since the business of the county court (which formerly included -administrative as well as judicial matters) was too important not to -be recorded, there was established a clerk of court whose duties are -summarized in his title. In more recent times, however, the functions -of this officer have been both expanded and limited, according to -the amount of the transactions in the county. So that, in the larger -counties each court, or sometimes a group of courts, have a clerk -whose duties are solely concerned with judicial matters, while in less -important counties the “county clerk” finds it easily possible to serve -in no less than a dozen different capacities. It is the county clerk -who ordinarily issues marriage licenses and receives for filing, real -estate deeds, mortgages and a variety of other papers. - -And then, without apparent good reason, the colonists had brought -over from England the coroner. In the days of Alfred the Great this -officer had had an honorable and useful place in the realm. As a sort -of understudy of the sheriff, he took the latter’s place when he was -disabled. Meanwhile he was the King’s local representative, charged -with the duty of laying hands on everything that seemed to be without -an owner and taking possession of it in the name of the King. But -through the lapse of time, the “Crowner” had lost both dignity and -duties until there was little left except for him to take charge of -the bodies of those who had died by violence or in a suspicious manner, -seek the cause of death and locate, if possible, the person responsible -for the circumstance. - -So much for the organization to administer local justice, which is the -irreducible minimum of county government. In early colonial times (and -even yet in certain states), the judges and other judicial officers had -performed important duties outside this limited field of administering -justice. But in time the processes involved in the payment of salaries -and the up-keep of a county building, created in sizable counties a -“business” problem of no mean proportions. Since in most states these -costs have been charged against the county, it has been necessary to -install appropriate machinery of fiscal administration. In every county -a board of directors, variously selected and denominated, has taken -over the management of material things. With the help of a variety of -minor administrative officers like the assessors, the treasurer and -other fiscal officers, it raises and appropriates money; it audits -claims against the county; it borrows money. - -Around this judicial and administrative nucleus was built the universal -American county. In the rural sections it expanded to meet the lack of -any other local government. As an incident to the theory that the state -is responsible for at least a minimum of protection of human life, the -state government had taken upon itself the care of indigents. This duty -it usually turned over directly to the county. The county authorities -have also had control (often exclusively so) of rural roads and bridges. - -In the performance of these various functions the American people seem -to have thought it quite unnecessary for the county to be supplied -with the proper apparatus for doing its own policy making. Or, to look -at the matter from the other side, they deemed it quite appropriate -that the policy-making part of the state government, which is the -legislature, should not control the hands and feet, which in matters of -local concern consist of the county officials. Elaborate general laws -were enacted to prescribe in minute detail the daily round of routine -of each officer. Why should he or why should the people think? It was -not the purpose of the state that they should. And without thinking, -there could be no differences of opinion; without differences of -opinion, no “issues”; without issues, no real politics. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -A CREATURE OF TRADITION - - -It all came about in this way: - -The first settlers in the permanent Virginia colony found a climate -that was mild and a soil that was fertile. Numerous rivers radiating -through the country furnished a natural means for transportation. -Indians were not a serious menace. The settlers themselves were of the -landed gentry, closely identified with the established English Church. - -Out of such a combination a very definite polity inevitably grew. The -people were destined to spread themselves far and wide; agriculture was -to be their chief pursuit; little government would be needed and the -forms and substance of democracy would have at best a slow growth. - -For many years the local government consisted primarily of small groups -of settlements which were called hundreds or parishes and were presided -over by a vestry of “selected men.” When the plantations were large and -scattered, government was sometimes supplied by the owners themselves. -But in 1634 in Virginia, the example of English institutions took -firmer root and eight shires or counties were formed and made the -unit of representation in the colonial assembly and for purposes of -military, judicial, highway and fiscal administration. The officers -were the county lieutenant (the militia officer), the sheriff (who -acted as collector and treasurer), justices of the peace and coroners. -All were appointed by the governor of the colony on the recommendation -of the justices, and the latter thus became a self-perpetuating body of -aristocratic planters controlling the county administration. This body -of appointed justices constituted the county court, which to this day -in some of the southern states is not only a judicial body, but also -corresponds to the board of supervisors or the county commissioners in -other localities. - -Such was one line of descent. The Virginians, like most of their -contemporaries, knew little and cared less for political science. -They simply turned to their English experience, pieced together some -old-country institutions and adapted them to the new world. Their -experiment succeeded for the time being at least. It could scarcely -have failed under such simple conditions. - -Of quite a different sort were the influences at work in New England. A -severe climate, a rocky soil and menacing Indians drove the colonists -into compact communities, where they could live by shipping and -fishing. They too were fortunate in striking an environment that -rather exactly fitted their old-country experience. For they were -a homogeneous, single-minded body of people with firm traditions of -democracy and a common religious faith. From the congregational form -of organization that was characteristic of the Puritan movement to -the town meeting for purposes of civil government, was a single easy -step. Thus the “town” idea came to hold the center of the stage in New -England local affairs. But it never had the all-sufficiency in its -sphere which the county had in the South, and even New England had to -recognize a need for more comprehensive subdivisions. And so, in 1636, -Massachusetts was divided into four judicial districts in each of which -a quarterly court was held. In 1643 four counties were definitely -organized, both as judicial and militia districts, and before the -middle of the century there was established a system of representative -commissioners from each town, who met at the shire town to equalize -assessments. The office of county treasurer was created in 1654. Later -a militia officer was appointed, and within a few years county officers -were entrusted with the duty of registering land titles, recording -deeds and probating wills--functions transferred in part from town -officers and in part from the governor and council. - -So from Virginia and Massachusetts flowed the two streams of -institutional influence, the former tending to make the county the -exclusive organ of local government, and the other emphasizing the -town. Maryland, though it had started out with a somewhat special type -of organization borrowed from the County Palatine of Durham, with its -manors and hundreds, later came under the sway of Virginian precedents -and three counties were established there in 1650. The Carolinas, which -were not thoroughly organized until the eighteenth century, followed -the Virginia plan in its main outlines. Georgia’s development was not -well begun until after the Revolution. Connecticut, Rhode Island, New -Hampshire and Maine all followed the lead of Massachusetts, though the -first two of these states minimized the importance of the county to an -even greater extent. - -To these two lines of influence the central states added the idea of a -distinct administrative authority, which was composed in New York of a -new body made up of the supervisors of the towns, in New Jersey of the -local assessors and in Pennsylvania of special commissioners. These -new departures were established in the latter part of the seventeenth -century. In all of these states, it should be noted, the township also -existed for a limited number of purposes, such as the care of the poor, -for election, administration and for purposes of taxation. - -The westward movement of population had begun before the Revolution. -Following in general the parallels of latitude of their native -soil, the pioneers carried their local institutions with them for -transplantation, regardless of the wholly different underlying -conditions that now confronted them. In their closely populated, -homogeneous settlements the New England pioneers that crossed over into -the Western Reserve had been accustomed to act through town meetings. -Nothing would do now but a reincarnation of the old institutions. The -six-mile rectangles into which the surveyors had divided the western -territory gave them their opening. There was accordingly developed in -the open prairie among the isolated homesteads a unit of government -that at least superficially resembled the old New England town. It was -but a geometrical expression, to be sure, but the mere shadow of it -seems to have given satisfaction. But in 1802, when the state of Ohio -was carved out of this territory, this exotic growth was cut short -and the “county-township” system of Pennsylvania was adopted. Indiana -followed Ohio in this step and the system came to predominate in the -Middle West, as for example, in Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. - -The instinct for harking back to precedents appeared also in the -early history of Michigan. When it was organized as a territory it -was divided up into counties. But in 1825, under the stimulus of -immigration from New York where the township-supervisor plan was in -vogue, townships had to be established for particular purposes to meet -the prevailing demand for this type of self-government. - -In the South, Kentucky and Tennessee took their cues from Virginia -and established the justices in control of the county administrative -affairs. Mississippi and Alabama took Georgia for their model. - -In Louisiana, the parish authority corresponding to the board of -supervisors or commissioners is the police jury, which is elected by -wards very much on the principle of the New England town. - -In the country beyond the Northwest Territory, the clash of New England -and southern influences was met by an interesting compromise. In -Illinois, for instance, the earliest settlement had been made under -southern auspices. The county type of local government was therefore -established, but of the style employed in Ohio and Indiana rather -than in Kentucky. In 1826, however, the justices were made elective -by precincts and later the township was made a corporation for the -purposes of school, road, justice and poor relief administration. By -1848 the “town idea” had grown strong enough to force the adoption of a -provision in the new constitution for a plan to afford each county an -option between the two systems. The northern counties quickly adopted -the township plan, while the southern ones clung to the original -forms. Wisconsin at an even earlier date (1841) had effected a similar -compromise which, however, was swept away seven years later when the -township system was made mandatory by the constitution. At a later -period Missouri (1879), Nebraska (1883), Minnesota (1878) and Dakota -(1883) permitted the adoption of similar optional laws. - -In the new Southwest, the Northwest, the Rocky Mountain region and the -far West, owing in part to the comparative sparsity of settlement and -in part to the thinning out of the definite historical influences, the -county has acquired a greater importance than anywhere in the country -and the towns or townships, while they have been erected in a number of -the states, play but an insignificant part in local government. When -Texas became an independent republic, the American county system was -substituted for the earlier Mexican local government. Before the middle -of the nineteenth century counties had been established in New Mexico, -Utah and Oregon; ten years later in Nebraska and Washington; by 1870 in -Colorado, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and Arizona. - -And so, the institution of the county has been driven westward in -obedience to precedent and through the instinct for imitation. Of -thoughtful foresight, of definite planning for a serviceable career, -about the same measure was applied as in the case of Topsy, who “jest -growed.” It could not be otherwise. Local government in pioneer days -had to be thrown together more or less on the “hurry-up” plan. On -the western prairies as in colonial Virginia, public needs were so -limited that it really mattered comparatively little what agencies were -employed. - -Counties once established acquired a tendency to “stick” tenaciously to -nearly their original form. Even in the seventeenth century the county -in England was well into a decline. Its disintegration had begun with -the growth of populous centers, that demanded more government, both in -quantity and in variety. The seven Saxon kingdoms whence counties grew, -had ceased to be either natural or convenient self-governing units. -In a later period they have ceased to be even important subdivisions -for the central administrative departments, and they have been crossed -and recrossed by the lines of sanitary and other districts until the -original county may be said to be scarcely distinguishable. - -In America even sharper and more pervasive social forces have been -assaulting this ancient institution. In our thinking of the Industrial -Revolution it has been customary to dwell upon its effects in urban -districts. This movement made the modern _city_. But its effect -did not stop there. Modern mechanical devices have also made the -original county boundary lines obsolete. Steam railway lines have -brought into close communication points which were once too distant -to be traversed easily and often, under all sorts of conditions. -Electric railways, in many instances have supplemented the process. -The automobile, particularly of the cheapest type, has brought within -easy reach of the court house points which a hundred years ago, when -the stage-coach was the standard of locomotion, were too remote for -frequent communication. And, finally, the extension of mail facilities -and the telephone have minimized the importance of face-to-face -business intercourse beyond anything ever dreamed of when counties were -first made. - -Counties as we see them on the map often fail to take account of the -sweeping changes in the character of populations. On the western -prairies they were formed for a sparsely distributed people following -chiefly agriculture. In the midst of these regions at numerous points -have sprung up great centers of manufacture and commerce like Chicago, -Kansas City, St. Paul, and Omaha. In their train have followed the -multifarious problems of the modern city, which require a very -particular sort of governmental treatment. - -To these conditions the county as an institution has consistently -maintained an attitude of stolid indifference. Division of old counties -goes on from year to year. (Bronx county separated from New York in -1914, to the accompaniment of a costly new court house and several -hundred new jobs and no benefit to the taxpayers and citizens except -a heavy increase in taxation.) But who can recall two counties that -have consolidated? Such an exhibition of modernity and of the spirit -of progressivism it is apparently not in the nature of the county to -afford. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -FALLING AFOUL OF “DEMOCRACY” - - -And yet we should do the subject less than justice were we not to -recall an historical adventure that befell the county in the period -of its coming of age, when it was assuming something like its typical -American form. - -It was about the time of the Revolution when the atmosphere was -particularly uncomfortable for “tyrants” and for every created thing -that could be given the semblance of “tyranny.” - -“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of -repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the -establishment of an absolute tyranny over those States.” So ran the -Declaration of Independence, and if it was not a precise statement of -fact, it was at least an accurate gauge of the fighting public opinion -that was making political institutions. King George’s “frightfulness” -seems to have been chiefly and most concretely brought into the public -eye in the colonies by the acts of “swarms of officers” that had been -sent over “to harass our people and eat out their substance.” - -From the point of view of the British Empire, it was a stiffening up -of the colonial administration to make effective the Navigation Acts, -the Stamp Acts, and similar measures. But it had come too late. Through -a century and a half the spirit of independence had grown firmer and -firmer and the colonists’ sense of identity with the British Empire -had sensibly diminished. So that when the imperial revenue collectors -began to “swarm” on their shores, the colonists were goaded into a -smashing antimonarchical mood. It was no mere temporary fit of rage, -and when physical violence of the Revolution was over, the intellectual -upheaval steadily gathered new force through the influence of men of -the Jefferson school. One of the feats to which the statesmen of the -Revolution devoted themselves was devising means for preventing future -“swarms” and the “tyranny” they brought with them. - -What irritated them more than all else was the fact that these imperial -agents were not colonially selected and controlled. But now the people -had replaced the king. _They_ would now select the officers. A -happy thought! But how to work it out; that was the question. - -It is easy enough to pick flaws in their handicraft, but it should be -borne in mind that the architects of the nineteenth century American -democracy were working in the dark without models or precedents and -without established principles of organization. It is easy now to look -back and say: “You carried your ‘democracy’ too far. It would have -been not only enough, but infinitely more effective to have let the -people select simply the legislative or ‘policy-determining’ officers -and subordinated the administration to them. The thing to do was to -control the _source_ of power. If you had been careful to separate -‘politics’ from ‘administration’ you would have saved our generation a -whole world of political woe.” - -But the fact is that the then existing institutions had come into -being as a patchwork development to meet successive new needs. As for -local government, there was so little of it and it ministered to such -elementary wants that very few serious questions of policy ever rose -within its jurisdiction. Moreover, the officers who came in time to -have regulative or semi-legislative functions, seem to have been from -the beginning, concerned with the details rather than the policies of -government. This was true of the justices of the peace in Virginia, the -selectmen in the New England town, the supervisors in New York, and the -assessors in New Jersey. There was no choice except between selecting -and controlling (or trying to control) administrative officers and -foregoing any part whatever in local affairs. - -It is of course not to be understood that no local officers were -elected before the Revolution. Massachusetts had always had its town -“selectmen” and even as early as 1854 each county elected its treasurer -and, beginning at a somewhat later date, the county lieutenants. -Supervisors were created as elective officers in New York in 1691, but -they were executive and representative officers from the very start. -And the same may be said of the town assessors in New Jersey (1693) -and the county assessors in Pennsylvania. But the real precedent for -“electing everybody” was set in Pennsylvania in 1703 when the sheriffs -were first chosen by the people--a step which was followed in 1726 by -the establishment of elective county commissioners. - -But immediately after the Revolution the new notions of democracy began -to work more aggressively. Virginia now organized counties and its -constitution stipulated that officers not otherwise provided for should -be elected by the people. Sheriffs and coroners were made elective -under the New Jersey constitution and New York took away the governor’s -power of appointment and vested it in a council of appointment, -which was composed of the governor and four senators chosen by the -legislature. - -There were cross-currents in this movement, however, and both in the -Northwest (under the ordinance of 1787) and in Kentucky and Tennessee, -county officers established in the closing years of the eighteenth -century were made appointive, in the one case by the governor and in -the other by the county judges. But in the new constitutions of Ohio -(1802), Indiana (1816), and Illinois (1818), the elective principle -worked without a hitch. Mississippi, Alabama, and Missouri followed. -By 1821 the passion had seized New York State, and sheriffs and county -clerks were thereafter elected by the voters of the counties. - -In Virginia at the constitutional convention in 1829-30, local -government was the subject of an acrimonious discussion, with the -Jeffersonian influences seeking to break down the established power of -the self-perpetuating justices, who were charged with inefficiency, and -establish in their place the New England town system. But Madison and -Marshall, who were both members of the convention, successfully upheld -the existing order. By the middle of the century both Virginia and -Kentucky succumbed to the democratic influence and there was a complete -reaction from the appointive system. New York extended the elective -idea to district attorneys and county judges, and Massachusetts and New -Hampshire in due time made similar alterations. - -In the states west of the Mississippi the tendency to put all the -county officers in the elective class was assumed from the start to be -the only method of insuring popular control. - -“The rule of the people” at last captured the whole country, except -Rhode Island, where even the sheriff is still appointive.[2] The -movement was at its height during the long period of democratic -control from Jackson to Buchanan, and it had behind it the powerfully -stimulating spirit of the new West. It was the conception of -practical, direct, but superficial thinkers and politicians. To be -sure, the particular appointive system in use in New York and other -eastern states under the earlier constitutions had behaved badly. The -Jacksonians leaped headlong at the conclusion that the trouble lay in -the idea of appointment _per se_. Other alternatives they did not -for a moment consider, but with an air of supreme finality declared -that “the people must rule”--by electing as many officials as could be -crowded on the ballot. - -The fact also that the county possessed no satisfactory appointing -power left no other course but to let the people undertake the -intricate work of an executive. So that through the passing of the -years that single course has materially multiplied the number of -elective officers--the people themselves, enamored with the dogma that -“the cure for democracy is more democracy” looked on complacently while -complication has been heaped upon complication. - -In the almost unique opportunity for a simplified government which -has been presented to the people of any county, they have strenuously -and successfully resisted the change. Such an instance happened a few -years ago in the county of San Bernardino, California. The people had -already adopted a county charter in which the powers of the county were -vested in a single small board of elective officers somewhat on the -commission plan now in use in many American cities. It was regarded -by many as the highest type of modernized county organization adopted -up to that time anywhere in the United States. But in the interval -that elapsed between the adoption of the charter and its going into -effect, someone discovered (or thought they discovered) that the people -were about to be deprived of their ancient liberties and that a local -oligarchy was about to be erected. Soon petitions were in circulation -and this perfectly good charter, which had been adopted but never tried -out in practice, was amended so as to nullify the very principle of -organization which pointed to greater simplicity and a better fixing of -responsibility. - -For nearly a century popular government has been galloping down the -highway that leads to governmental confusion. Nowhere does the record -state that because the people elected long strings of officers, the -people therefore _controlled_ those officers. All the while the -services which government could render have become more and more -numerous and the public needs of the people more pressing. And all the -while too, the filling and holding of office for office sake has been -vested with exaggerated importance, so that the county more perhaps -than any other civil division has been the home of fictitious political -“issues.” At regularly recurring intervals the nation-wide county -system has been shaken to its foundations over the private futures -of their local Tom Joneses and Tom Smiths. One of these respective -gentlemen must leave his growing law practice and sacrifice his time -to his county by serving papers for the county judge or prosecuting -criminals before the Grand Jury. And none but the people is competent -to judge which of the two it shall be. - -Is the district attorneyship to be filled? Then, properly speaking, -there would seem to be nothing to do but to search for the highest -technical ability in sight and place it above the influences of any -consideration but that of preserving the civil rights of the whole -people. It is a simple criterion, around which no “issue” could -properly arise. But popular government has regularly and almost -universally thrown the selection of the public prosecutor over into -the political arena, where tests of fitness for specific duties count -not half so much as a good campaign speech or the ability to swing a -township into the Republican or Democratic column. - -In the same way many sheriffs might have set before them the plain duty -to obey the rigid prescriptions of the statutes. But American democracy -has all but universally decreed that sheriffs shall be selected after -the manner of discretionary, policy-determining officers. As for the -coroner, who would suppose that his grim services could be made the -subject of interested, intelligent popular discussion? But the coroner, -in a majority of states, is on the “ticket,” a subject ostensibly -for the citizens to weigh in the balance with a view to the fittest -selection. And then the ballot nearly always bears the candidates -for the office of county clerk. He, like the sheriff, has his duties -minutely described in the laws, to the dotting of an “i” and the -crossing of a “t.” But in the estimation of many good citizens it is -of supreme importance that a good Republican or a deserving Democrat -should be placed in the office, in order, presumably, that the office -forms may be arranged for the filing cases according to the historical -doctrines of one or the other of the national parties. - -Never was there a serious movement to elect United States marshals or -district attorneys. Other and more satisfactory methods of selection -have been employed. But for the analogous officers in the states, -nothing but popular choice would satisfy the temper of the young -American republic. - -[2] By the legislature. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE “JUNGLE” - - -The long “bed-quilt” ballot of county officers, as a Chicago -newspaperman called it, at first innocently, and then maliciously, -deceived, misled and disfranchised the “average citizen.” As to the -manner in which this result was brought about, more hereafter. - -But aside from all that, the long ballot principle turned out to -be the father of irresponsible organization. Each elective officer -received his commission straight from the people; his accountability -was solely and directly to them. No officer was to be entrusted with -much power for the fear that he might emulate King George and enslave -the county. Government generally was regarded as a natural but more or -less necessary enemy of the people to be tied with a short rope lest it -break loose and do incalculable damage. - -To the devotees of this theory, the idea that the county should have -a directing executive head, if indeed it ever received consideration, -was apparently too suggestive of Hanoverian monarchy to be seriously -entertained. This was to be a “government of laws, not of men”--the -people would see that all went well. - -It was such a spirit, no doubt, that guided the development of -the county system in an eastern state, which the writer studied a -few years ago. In the course of this effort the interrelations of -officers in a typical unit were diagrammed--with the result shown in -frontispiece. It was found, for instance, that the county clerk who -was “directly responsible to the people” was given duties to perform -under some twenty different laws, the enforcement of which under the -constitution was charged upon the governor as the chief executive of -the state. In fulfillment of these obligations he was found to be -under the direction, among others, of the superintendent of banking, -the superintendent of insurance, the commissioner of excise and the -secretary of state. For the routine of his office he was answerable -to the local board of supervisors. The sheriff, who “took his orders -from the people,” was found to be answerable to the supervisors, the -surrogate and the county judge. The district attorney was put down as -subject to at least three minor state officers besides the governor -and the board of supervisors. The county treasurer looked up (or was -supposed to) to the state commissioner of excise, the state board of -tax commissioners, the commissioner of education, the comptroller and -the state treasurer. - -And in all this wilderness of conflicting responsibility there was, be -it reiterated, no single officer who could be called the executive. -The governor, it is true, had power to remove and fill vacancies, but -even this negative control was conditioned by the fact that there -were sixty-one counties in the state, that some of them were hundreds -of miles from the capital and that the governor was charged with a -thousand other responsibilities besides looking after the counties. It -was true that the state comptroller was given power to examine into -the fiscal affairs of the various counties, but this safeguard was of -limited value in practice, owing to the small number of examiners which -the legislature provides. - -No, the ingenious Anglo-Saxon mind had discovered a substitute for -efficient personal supervision! If a given officer were to go wrong or -neglect his duties, then the supervisors were authorized to go to the -district attorney and persuade him, if possible, to take action on the -officer’s bond or to institute a criminal prosecution. If the district -attorney was negligent in the matter, the supervisors might go to the -governor with charges of neglect of duty. But if the original officer -in question was just lazy, slow or inefficient, then everybody simply -could wait “till he got round” to doing his duty. - -To this day this circumambulation in the name of democracy actually -fulfills the conception of popular rule for no inconsiderable body -of political leaders. Where the system goes wrong, they inject a -little more confusion, a little more irresponsibility into the plan -of government. Take, for instance, the Indiana system. In 1898 the -county government became the subject of a state-wide scandal and was -made the political issue of the year. The governor in his biennial -message followed the good old American custom: more complications, more -division of responsibility. He recommended a system of “safeguards” -which had the effect of taking away power (and responsibility) from -the county board (commissioners) and vesting it in a brand-new body -known as the council, composed of seven members, three elected from the -county at large, and one from each of the four councilmanic districts. -This council was made the tax-levying and money-appropriating body -for the county and no money could henceforth be drawn from the county -treasury except upon their appropriation. It also was given the -sole authority to issue bonds and borrow money. And so the county -governments in Indiana were blocked at just one more point and the -county commissioners were made just one shade less accountable than -they were before the enactment of this ingenious piece of “reform” -legislation. - -Two of the New England states developed equally clever methods of -breaking down financial responsibility. New Hampshire, with its boards -of commissioners elected by the people of the counties would seem to be -well-equipped with fiscal agencies. But not so! The commissioners may -only recommend appropriations for county expenses--and a “convention,” -consisting of the members of the House of Representatives of the -various towns then allows, or disallows, them. Such an institution was -created many years ago. Connecticut goes New Hampshire one better by -constituting the convention of the local members of _both_ houses -of the legislature. The convention may not only vote the amount of the -general county appropriation, but the appropriation for any specific -items of county expenditures for the two fiscal years following, or for -the repairs and alterations of county buildings. - -Democracy via complication was applied also in the state of New Jersey, -when the legislature of 1898 took from the board of chosen freeholders -(supervisors) of Hudson County the control over the Hudson County -Boulevard. An act passed in that year created a separate new commission -of three members to be elected by the people, upon which was conferred -powers comparable to those of a separate municipality. The commission -was even given the right to maintain a separate police force, to own -and operate a separate electric lighting plant, to employ its own -cleaning and repairing force and to act in other ways entirely separate -from the county road and highway system and independent of the street -departments of those municipalities through which the road lies. This -independent body was authorized to fix its own appropriations and -make them mandatory upon the board of chosen freeholders, to let all -contracts for the construction of the roads under its charge and to -employ a separate engineer. - -When Hudson County began to lay out its park system, the disintegration -of the county system was carried a step further. Another wing was added -to the amorphous county structure, a Park Commission to be composed -of four members. These were not to be elected like the Boulevard -commissioners, or appointed by an executive, as is done in most cities, -or chosen by the board of chosen freeholders, but appointed by the -Judge of the Court of Common Pleas! This commission also became a -separate corporation, like the Boulevard Commission, and now has power -to requisition appropriations on the board of chosen freeholders. - -But the end of the tale is not yet. In 1912, Hudson County undertook -the extermination of mosquitoes. Another independent board! More -independent mandatory powers of appropriation! And the appointment -of six members in this instance was vested in the Judge of the -Supreme Court. Add to this layout a board of elections, appointed by -the governor, on the nomination of the chairmen of the two leading -political parties, and you have the county jungle in all its primeval -grandeur. - -The people of New Jersey were thoroughly consistent in 1900 when -their legislature broke with precedent and undertook to supply their -counties of the first class with some sort of a head by creating -the office of county supervisor. The governing boards of these -counties were at that time composed of representatives from various -municipalities. So it was decided, in order to give the whole people a -voice in the government, to have the new officer elected at large. The -legislature had no notion of giving anyone any new power. They proposed -to further subdivide existing power. True, the law under which this new -office was created, designates the supervisor as the chief executive. -But, as has so often been the case in city charters, this designation -proved to be only a fiction. The law gave the supervisor the right to -remove subordinates, but no instrumentality with which to investigate -the conduct of hundreds of county officers and employees and thus to -make his authority effective. Moreover, he was crippled by the fact -that the board of freeholders might reverse his decisions and reinstate -the officers or employees suspended. But what is of more importance, -the supervisor was given no power of original appointment. - -Similarly, Cook County, Ill., acquired a president of the board of -county commissioners, who is elected by the people. Kings County, N. Y., -before consolidation with New York City, had a supervisor-at-large. -But neither of these dignitaries has or had any powers of appointment -comparable to, let us say, those of the mayor of Cleveland or of New -York. In the general run of counties, the executive is not a single -officer but the governing board itself. Where the “town plan” is in -vogue, as in certain Illinois counties, and throughout New York State, -this body may be very large and unwieldy and is wholly incapable of -supervising administrative detail, except through small committees, -with the added division of responsibility which that implies. - -And so, county government everywhere was conceived in a spirit of -negation. The people elect their boards of supervisors or county -commissioners, hoping thereby to keep their fingers on the public purse -through direct agents. The supervisors, in their turn, undertake to -regulate the finances of the sheriff, the district attorney, the county -clerk and the rest. But, lo, these officers are no subordinates of -theirs; they are the people’s humble servants. The supervisors may set -out upon a program of economy and efficiency, including, let us say, -the standardization of supplies. But the county clerk may not recognize -their superior authority, preferring to run his office, to suit his -personal convenience; and if the supervisors undertake to check him he -may find some way of appealing to the people. The superintendent of the -poor, the treasurer and the auditor may likewise go their respective -paces in defiance of all superior authority. If in the course of their -official routine these officers collect sundry fees, they may account -for them or not, as they please, so far as the governing body is -concerned. They may be reached by some slow process of litigation, but -never in the direct summary way that is employed in private business. -It is a fatally ineffectual procedure. And when a dozen or nineteen -officers, chosen by popular election, are thrown together, it is -clear that every one of them is the legal peer of every other, since -everyone acknowledges a common superior. And since the people are a -rather too unwieldy body to look after the details of county business, -each officer must be a law unto himself. And it is perhaps just as -well that none of them has been designated as an official chief, since -the _facts_ of organization would refute and nullify any such -arrangement. - -It is as though a board of directors were charged with the control of -a private enterprise, but were expressly denied the power to select -the manager and heads of departments to whom they might delegate their -authority over details. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -A BASE OF POLITICAL SUPPLIES - - -In the course of its democratic adventures the county was incapacitated -for standing on its own feet. When every independent elective officer -became a law to himself, the county ceased to be a single government. -Politically it became then little more than a convenient way of -speaking of a group of officers whose field of activity was closely -related. In these very close relations lay the material for serious -conflicts of interest that brought friction, delays, inaction. County -governments could really get nowhere. Their energies were consumed in -standing still and keeping alive. Since separate officers of the county -had no common superior, the county could not move in any particular -direction; no more than an army of self-directing divisions, each with -a will of its own. - -Moreover there came to be counties which could not even organize -themselves, even after the imperfect fashion described in the laws of -the state. The people grew in numbers, their interests increased in -complexity and county affairs sank into comparative insignificance. -In their theory of pure democracy via the ballot, they spread out -their interest in county officers so thin that no single officer got -sufficient attention to make him realize their influence. County -candidates were mixed up on the ballot with a multitude of others, -state, national and municipal, so that it was practically certain -that not only unknown but often undesirable citizens would step into -power with the “people’s” stamp of approval. The voters of New York -have been electing coroners (or have been thinking they did). When -a few people in 1914 began to delve into the history of the office, -they turned up an astonishing situation. Scarcely one of the men who -had been elected to the office in a period of twelve years could be -said to have had even a modest part of the qualifications required for -the positions. Some of the worst rascals of all had been elected in -reform administrations and as one coroner admitted on the stand, the -controlling purpose in mind in the selection was that of “balancing the -ticket” so that geographical sections and racial and religious elements -would get their proper share in the spoils. - -Rural electorates probably have done better all along the line with -their county officers than the voters in the cities. Measured by the -standards of personal acquaintanceship, the candidates for county -office have perhaps nearly always been known quantities in the rural -districts. The “glad-hander” and the accomplished back-slapper has -gotten on famously. They have made a business of knowing everybody. And -yet they have sometimes, as private individuals, failed to reveal to -their most intimate friends the qualities which have made them unfit -for a public trust. Placed in offices of conspicuous responsibility -where the sunlight of public opinion and criticism has beat upon them, -it is impossible that many men would have gone far wrong. But since -the work of county officers has had little to do with the shaping of -public policies upon which the average voter has any opinion; since the -county jail has not been a public museum where men were wont to take -their friends and families, and since there has been nothing especially -interesting about the serving of a warrant of arrest or attachment, the -officers involved have not always revealed their innermost personal -qualities. Year after year a smiling popular sheriff might go on doing -these services in the most expensive, inefficient way, with here and -there a touch of corruption; and the great body of voters who met him -every week at the lodge would be none the wiser. In the same way the -voters might elect a “good fellow” superintendent of the poor. They -might continue to know him as a good fellow but it has been a rare -constituency that has followed him up in his official duties to know -how “good” he was to the unfortunates under his care and to the public -in general. It has been a rare good fellow who has combined in his -single person the ability to shake every right hand and kiss every -baby in the county, with a really modern, scientific knowledge of the -treatment of poverty. - -The county clerk upon assuming office shuts himself away in a forest -of filing cases and meets the public officially only as they come to -him for a marriage license or to file a deed or mortgage. And as for -the coroner, mostly people have been glad to leave him severely alone, -trusting that no untoward mishap will bring them into his clutches. -For all ordinary purposes they have regarded him as a grim joke, not -knowing that in many cases a misstep on his part might result in the -escape of a criminal or spoil the case of a litigant entitled to -damages or of a policyholder to his insurance. - -A possible exception to this inconspicuousness is the district -attorney. American communities appear to have reserved high political -honors to the most efficient and best advertised “man-hunter.” A white -light of public interest has always beat upon the public prosecutor. -Many a reputation for skill and courage and all-around general -administrative ability has been built up around a record of convictions -of notorious criminals. The district attorney with a sense of the -dramatic has usually been in line for the governorship of his state. It -seems also to be regarded as conducive to efficiency that this officer -should be controlled directly through the ballot. - -And so, the system of popular election has given no assurance that, -though the people may know them ever so well as individuals, they -would know their candidates in the sense that fixes their electoral -responsibility. - -What has had to be done, but what the people of the county have been -unwilling or unable to do for themselves, has given to a public-minded -fraction of the community the opportunity of their lives. They have -generously taken over the people’s government and run it for them. - -Gradually there has come to life a new profession, a governing class, -with leadership, discipline and resources. To the acknowledged head -of this fraternity have come aspirants to public honors and seekers -after favors. Power and influence have been laid at his feet. He has -become the virtual dictator of the county’s political destinies. The -laws underlying the organization of the county government have not been -changed; but there has grown up, quite outside the statute books and -outside the court house itself, a second government that has supplied -the great lack in the official, legal one, the lack of a definite head. -The new factor in the county’s affairs has come to exercise the powers -of an executive. _Theoretically_ the people have elected his heads -of departments; practically he has chosen them himself. The people have -retained the forms while he has arrogated to himself the substance of -political power. - -He is with us yet, this clever, dominating, often silent personage, -sometimes in a single individual, sometimes in a group, sometimes -benevolent, respectable and public-spirited, sometimes brutal and -mercenary. It may not always be easy to find him, but he is _always -present in every American county_; for there is no stable government -without him. - -For the development of his peculiar talents the county is a -particularly favorable environment. For the county, in a word, is in -the shadow--the ideal condition for complete irresponsibility, which is -the father of bossism. - -But what do the voters do if they do not in fact elect their officers? - -It is now perfectly well known to students of political science that -what the usual run of voter does in such a case is to ratify one or -the other set of candidates who have been previously culled over by -the county committee of either party. It is true that, under the -direct primary system, independent voters may start a revolt if the -politicians do something that is particularly “bold” and “raw.” But -even that privilege is of questionable value, for it breaks down even -the kind of responsibility that obtains under the rule of an unofficial -executive, since the boss, if criticized for a bad selection, is -always able to fall back upon the explanation that “the people did it -themselves.” - -And when the votes have been counted and the candidates chosen, what -of the citizens and the politicians then? Armed with a certificate of -election “direct from the people,” the sheriff, the coroner, the county -clerk, owe no _legal_ allegiance to anyone save to them. But the -people have finished watching the election count and have gone home and -back to work on concerns which are infinitely more absorbing than any -which affects the county government. - -Then there comes into play another political allegiance which is not -of law. The “governing class,” which gave the separate county officers -their jobs, is not in business for its health. It does not put men -in paid positions out of pure bigness of heart. It performs a public -service and it earns a right to collect a toll. _And it collects!_ -The bosses collect “theirs” not only in terms of power to name the -officers whom the people shall elect, but insofar as no bothersome -civil service law is in the way they select also the subordinates. And -through this power of appointment they exercise various other powers -which make them to all intents and purposes the real seat of final -authority in the county. - -And so we see the workings of a natural law. In nature the organism -that survives is that naturally selected one that adapts itself to -its environment. Just so the American democracy has adapted itself -to the difficult political situation which it has itself created. -The political unit, which in the present instance is the county, is -legally without a head; forthwith instead of going to pieces, it grows -this necessary piece of anatomy outside its own body, and lo, an -altogether unworkable system is made tolerably workable! - -One reason why the boss flourishes so bountifully in the county is -the almost complete lack of any special legal qualifications for -filling the offices (except the district attorneyship). Anybody can be -a county clerk. He need only appoint as his chief deputy a faithful -easy-going person who has been on the job for years at a stretch and -has made himself indispensable as a master of the details of the -office. This deputy will, of course, be the real county clerk and he -will draw a comparatively modest salary because he is of no direct use -to the “organization,” while the elected official collects the high -compensation, spends a little time in the office every day, dividing -the rest between the interests of the “ring” and his own legitimate -private business, which goes right on as usual throughout his term. - -Another attraction in the county offices is the large fees which are -paid in probably the majority of counties in lieu of stated salaries. -The county clerk collects from the person immediately benefited, a sum -fixed by statute for each document filed. The sheriff makes similar -collections for the service of each legal process. The coroner draws -from the county a fixed amount for each inquest. - -The theory of the fee system is, first, that the service is paid for -by the party whom it most concerns and secondly, that a specific reward -for a specific service will be an incentive to the officer to do his -duty. Nearly everywhere, however, the theory has worked out very badly. -It is doubtless proper that every person who receives special service -should contribute accordingly to the expense of government. In small -counties where the work of the county is limited there seems also to be -much to be said in favor of the officer keeping the fees. But in large -counties having an enormous business the compensation from this source -is often all out of proportion to the amount of service rendered. It -would seem, for instance, that the sheriff of New York County, who is -never a man of special training, would be amply compensated for his -routine services by a salary of $12,000. But in addition to this sum -he is now (1916) receiving annually about $60,000 in fees. The county -treasurer of Cook County, Ill., within very recent years, is said -to have pocketed during his four-year term about the better part of -$500,000,--he was never willing to tell the public just what the amount -was and the law has protected his policy of silence. - -But it must not be supposed that these rich prizes remain the personal -property of an individual officer. Nor is it to be supposed that the -numerous deputyships which often provide berths at a much higher -compensation than would be allowed for the same service under private -auspices, go to enrich the head of the office. No, the man or the -men, who put the sheriff or the county treasurer where they are have a -great deal to say about the disposition of this money. In New Jersey, -lest a single county officer should take himself too seriously in this -respect, the law provides that all appointments of the sheriff shall be -confirmed by the board of freeholders--and confirmation means control. -If the Cook County treasurer had kept the fees of his office, it is -hardly to be supposed that the county commissioners for years would -have bitterly fought to prevent an accounting for these funds. - -The county is indeed a wonderfully bountiful base of supplies for the -spoilsmen. The circumstance goes far to explain the slow growth of -the merit system in this branch of government. Civil service laws are -in force to-day in eighteen counties in New York, four in New Jersey, -one in Colorado, one in Illinois, two in California and the more -important counties in Ohio. That is the extent of the merit system in -counties. Even in states like Massachusetts, Illinois and Wisconsin, -where state-wide civil service laws affecting cities are in operation, -appointments in the county offices are filled on the principle of -“to the victor belong the spoils.” In New York State the courts have -enunciated a principle with reference to the relation between the -sheriff and his deputies which has the effect of fortifying the system -against attack and its most prolific outlet. For, said the court in -Flaherty _vs._ Milliken,[3] “the relation between a sheriff and -his appointees is not merely that the sheriff is responsible for the -default of his appointee, but that the appointee for said default -is _liable to the sheriff and to no one else_.” “The practical -operation of this rule of personal agency,” says the New York Civil -Service Commission, “is in large measure to open the door for political -purposes of persons in whom no real trust is reposed. These offices are -in practice found to be a haven for political spoilsmen....” - -But “spoils” often connotes something besides jobs that pay salaries -or fees. In Westchester County, N. Y., where county affairs are known -to the public rather more intimately than elsewhere (owing to the -activities of the local Research Bureau), it has been found that -perhaps the richest patronage of all is in the county advertising. The -state of New York requires, for instance, the publication in every -county of the complete session laws of the legislature, in two papers. -It means the setting up in newspaper type of two or more large legal -volumes of intricate matter that no one could possibly use in that -form. Then there are multitudinous formal legal notices that issue from -the various offices at the court house, that rarely, in the nature of -the case, interest more than the two or three parties who may never see -them at all. Every paper that prints this material gets paid, often at -a much higher rate than it would be compensated for ordinary commercial -work. In one case an honest printer in Westchester County was so -indiscreet and independent as to submit to the Board of Supervisors -a bill at something approximating a fair rate,--$600. His rivals -remonstrated and undertook to get him to raise his figure--they were -charging $1060 for the same matter. But the independent said: “No, $600 -is the legal price and moreover it is good pay.” The board audited his -claim and of course cut down the rival papers accordingly,--but never -thereafter did the county printing go to the man who wanted to be fair -to the public. - -Papers that go in for public advertising could not in many cases exist -without it. Indeed many papers are created for the purpose of absorbing -this business. Their circulation is usually limited to a few hundred -copies. They cannot afford to criticize the administration in power or -to express themselves independently on any public issue. Where there -are several such organs in a county (Westchester has about twenty) the -newspaper field tends to be closed effectively against the type of -legitimate journal which would exercise a wholesome influence on public -opinion. - -Just to what extent and how intensely this stifling influence exists -throughout the country is one of the really dark secrets of the county -problem. It shows its head in so many widely separated places and -there are so many feeble “boiler-plate” weekly papers that carry county -advertising, that one is led to suspect that it is a very pervasive -factor, especially in rural politics. - -The importance of county spoils is not merely local. Throughout the -northern states, except in New England, the county is undoubtedly the -strongest link in the whole nation-wide system of party organization. -Party politicians hoot when reformers suggest that local politics -has nothing to do with the tariff or the Mexican question. And they -are right! Whether properly or improperly, it has _very much_ -to do with these questions, or rather with the selection of the men -who handle them. The power, for instance, of Tammany Hall in national -politics is measured by its power to swing the most populous county in -what is usually a pivotal state. Its power in the county is in direct -ratio to the number of offices with which it may reward party service. - -Party organization for a great part of the country has the county -committee as its basis. This is especially true of the Republican -Party in Pennsylvania where the present organization dates back prior -to the Civil War. The state committee is chosen from districts based -upon counties and the state machine is an assembling of all the local -cogs and wheels. Politicians think and talk in terms of counties -in their party councils and in the legislature. State machines are -principally an assemblage of county units. In many states legislative -representatives are chosen from county districts. - -Trace the political record of the members of Congress. An astonishing -proportion have come up either through county offices or through state -legislative positions filled by general county tickets. To that extent -the national legislature is the fruit of the county system. And is it -not safe to say, with the selection of certain Congressmen in mind, -that the stream of national politics is poisoned at the source? - -It is not strange that machine politicians have come to look upon the -county as a source whence blessings flow. The county has both created -and sustained them! - -[3] New Jersey courts have rendered a diametrically opposite opinion. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -URBAN COUNTIES - - -The county has been put to its severest test in modern urban -communities. - -In the latter part of the eighteenth century began the -away-from-the-farm movement. The discovery of steam power and its -application to every department of industry began to draw men, -women and children from their homes to earn a livelihood in the -new industrial order. It became necessary for them to congregate -in factories; they could no longer spread themselves out over the -countryside. Out of the factory system came the city, came hundreds of -cities along the coasts and rivers and even on the open prairies. New -methods of transportation accelerated the process. The movement has -never stopped; not even yet, when more than a third of the country’s -inhabitants are living in cities of twenty-five thousand inhabitants -and more. Out of the growth of cities came congestion of population; -out of congestion, problems of very existence without number. - -The colonial heritage of local government was wholly unadapted to -any such emergency. In simple pioneer communities it was easy to -provide government that met the unexacting standards of the times. -Efficient government was not a live issue. Government, good or bad, -was little needed and there was little of it. And if that little was -ill-conceived, what matter? - -But the time came when local government began to feel the strain of new -responsibilities. Cities failed miserably--“conspicuously.” Counties -failed even more miserably but without observation. It was not so much -that local government was called upon to perform more services, but -that it was to adapt itself to new conditions of service, to execute -old forms of service in a more intensive fashion. For instance, in -a general way, the state had charged the county with the protection -of life. Under rural conditions the obligation seems to have been -performed tolerably well, because violations of the law are rarer where -population is thin. A sheriff, with the help of a few constables and -the power to summon citizens to his aid in times of special emergency, -was all the police that was needed in most communities. With the growth -of the city the police problem was intensified even out of proportion -to the numbers of the people. Keeping the peace came to mean no longer -the mere matter of quelling disturbances. The city with its teeming -population not only bred violence and disorder, but it afforded -opportunities for immunity through concealment. A new police problem -quite foreign to the capacities of the ancient office of sheriff grew -up. The city had to meet the professional, scientific criminal with -specialized instrumentalities and organization. Crowds on the congested -city streets had to be taken care of and numerous other incidentals of -the congested city had to be foreseen. - -The city likewise developed an entirely new problem of public charity, -which quite outgrew the capacities of that amateur sociologist, the -county poormaster. - -The coroner, too, sadly missed the mark in numerous cases. In the -new industrial order in the cities, not only was criminal violence -multiplied but industrial fatalities added heavily to the terrors of -city life for the working class. The civil liabilities which were -imposed upon employers and upon insurance companies made it more than -ever important that every sudden or suspicious death be investigated -with the utmost scientific thoroughness. Such service it was of course -impossible for the untrained elective political coroner to render, and -the world will never know the costly mistakes that are chargeable to -his inexpertness. - -In the fullness of time court organization also revealed the necessity -for differentiation between various classes of cases which were -presented for settlement. Again, the protection of life against -communicable diseases and of property against fire were two functions -that the rural local government had completely overlooked or neglected, -and when urban conditions arose in the midst of the county there was -nothing in the original local government machinery that could be made -to respond to these needs. The county was apparently stereotyped to -minister to local conditions as they were conceived in the seventeenth -and eighteenth centuries. Its organization was merely adapted to -perform the simple cut-and-dried services that had been laid down for -it in centuries gone by. Its expansion into new and bigger fields of -service seems never to have been seriously considered. - -But the pungent fact is that counties, when they have ceased to serve -the needs of urban life, have been so slow to retire from the field. - -What state has stripped the sheriff of his power to interfere in a riot -or a strike to the infinite annoyance of the thousand per cent. more -competent police force of the city? How very few states have shown the -coroner the door and replaced him with a scientifically trained medical -examiner! Not less ridiculous the board of county supervisors in great -cities like Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee, solemnly ruling over a -territory almost identical in its extent with the bailiwick of the city -authorities. Why should not a single body do all the local regulating? - -And so, the urban county problem is first of all a question of -ill-adapted instruments of government perpetuated long past their -period of utility. - -In the second place it is a matter of duplication and conflict of -organization and effort as between the city and the county. When the -charter in Los Angeles County was revised in 1912 it was found that in -the urban communities three separate groups of officers were charged -with keeping the peace: the sheriff and his deputies, the constables -of the several townships and the police of the city. Their duties -were substantially the same, they covered the same ground. The public -scattered its civic attention accordingly. It was this same state -of California which within the last twenty years has authorized its -cities to have separate tax assessors--two sets of officials to go -out and get precisely the same information. Ever since that time the -taxable property in the city has been rated differently by the two sets -of officers. And the reason? Apparently a double one: to enable the -individual counties to beat down their proportion of the state tax and -at the same time to allow the cities to raise their valuations and keep -down the tax rate. The political value of a double set of officers is -of course not to be overlooked. - -An unpublished report of the City Club of Milwaukee reveals a -paralleling of city and county services at numerous points. The city -was found to be maintaining an emergency hospital, a tuberculosis -sanitarium and a corps of milk inspectors, while the county maintained -similar services through a general hospital, a tuberculosis -sanitarium, a visiting physician and a district nurse. The county jail -and the police station were in close proximity but under separate -jurisdictions. Where the county handled public works through an -engineering department the city operated through a highway department, -each unit requiring practically the same sort of administrative and -technical direction. City and county did their purchasing separately -and in the respective public works departments there was a duplication -of testing laboratories and of engineering and other service records. -Separate city and county regulative or governing bodies added -materially both to the expense of government and to the number of -elective officers. - -Then again, the urban county, including judicial officers, has -contributed more to the length of the ballot than any other division -of government. In the year 1910 before the adoption of the present -charter, the Los Angeles city ballot, which has been frequently -exhibited as a horrible example, contained the names of candidates for -forty-five separate offices. Twenty-eight of these belonged to the -county-township system! - -The Chicago voter, as the result of the early influences plus the -additions to the number of offices which have been made from time to -time, casts a ballot for about twenty-five candidates, including the -sheriff, the treasurer, county clerk, clerk of the probate court, clerk -of the criminal court, president of the county commissioners, ten -county commissioners, judge of the county court. The voter in Omaha, in -addition to the usual run of county officers, selects also thirty-two -deputy tax assessors, all on a single ballot. In most states these -officers are chosen on the same day and on the same ballot with a long -list of state and judicial officers, so that the county election is -only an incidental and minor issue in the whole complicated business. - -On election day the urban county offices are usually found at the -bottom of the ballot. Usually numerous and obscure enough in their own -right in the country districts, their contributions to the obscurity of -voting in the city are more than doubly important. - -When to an immoderately long ballot, to duplication of functions -as between county and city, there is added a multiplicity of local -government units, all considerations of responsibility in government -or intelligence of citizenship fall to the ground. Such is the case -in Cook County, Illinois, where the Bureau of Public Efficiency -has issued a striking little pamphlet on _The Nineteen Local -Governments in Chicago_. (The number has since been increased -to twenty-two.) Twenty-two separate taxing bodies, and one hundred -and forty-four officials which every Chicago voter is expected to -choose! Is it a wonder that “Mr. Voter,” to quote the title of an -accompanying cartoon, is “dazed?” As the pamphlet says: “The large -number of local governments in Chicago, with their very large number -of elective officials, independent of one another, operates to produce -not only inefficient public service but an enormous waste of public -revenues. The present multiplicity of governing bodies, with a lack -of centralized control and the long ballot, results in confusing -complexity and makes gross inefficiency and waste on a large scale -inevitable.” - -The city too has proven itself an altogether unfavorable environment -for clean, active county citizenship. A thousand and one preoccupations -and distractions in the city have strongly tended to drive the -populace to forget that it even lives in a county. The county does -little for the city dweller. It does not keep his house from burning -or his pockets from being picked. It does not build the streets on -which he travels nor perform any humane services which could stir his -admiration. The sheriff is no neighbor of his nor does he hear of -that officer from one year’s end to another, unless it be his rare -fortune to be a party to some legal action. The newspapers, to be -sure, are apt to give a great deal of space to criminal trials and -feature the activities of the district attorney. But even that is apt -to be directed more to metropolitan sensationalism than to helpful -citizenship. - -The greater the power entrusted to the municipalities within the -county, the more interesting things it is given to do, in just that -measure does the county itself suffer from inattention on the part of -the citizens, till the extreme is reached in a condition described in -a report on Cook County by Prof. F. D. Bramhall of the University of -Chicago: - - “The city corporate stands in the mind of most men for their local - government; it has its picturesque history, its visible physical - embodiments, its corporate personality, its stimulus to the pride - of its people and its claim upon their loyalty. The county can make - no such appeal, and it is a political fact to be reckoned with that - however you may urge that the county is an essential part of city - government, that the city electorate is almost equivalent to the - county electorate, and should assert an equal proprietorship, it is - almost impossible to overcome the obsession that the county is an - alien thing. There is no more serious consequence of the parceling out - of our local governmental powers and the shattering of responsibility - for our municipal housekeeping than just this forfeiture of the sense - of identification with government and the force of local patriotism - which should be a tremendous asset for American political government.” - -Without a doubt, the urban, and particularly the metropolitan county, -is the county at its worst. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -COUNTY GOVERNMENTS AT WORK - - -“Granted the truth of all you say; that every county officer stands on -his independent pedestal of authority, that the county is a headless -institution where responsibility is scattered in a thousand different -directions; that urban counties are the weakest brothers in the -political family--granted all that, but what of it?” - -So cogitates the “average American”--or so it would seem. If he reads -his county paper consistently he has been held in his seat over and -over again by the hackneyed lines of Pope: - - “For forms of government let fools contest; - What e’er is best administered is best.” - -After a long course of mental stimulation along these lines, we are -quite prepared to hear him remark that after all what really counts -for government is MEN--an observation which is supposed to -silence all contradiction. Your “average” friend, if he has more than -an average political energy, then goes out and helps to see that the -“right sort” of man is elected coroner. - -There is undoubtedly more than an element of truth and wisdom in all -these sentiments. The industrial world is coming more and more to -believe that the great essential in coöperative effort of any sort is -not plan of organization, not methods, but personnel--men. And even -government presents instances of men who have “made good” conspicuously -against a form of organization which favored insubordination, against -the interference of invisible powers, against the hundred and one -cunningly devised handicaps to good administration. - -We might with good grace take kindly to a system that brought -distinguished, capable, honest, well-qualified men for the public -service. If we could get good men and good administration as the normal -output of the existing systems of county government, there would be -satisfaction all around. - -But does the typical American government work that way? We shall -examine in this chapter the relationships between the system, the men -and the product. - -To get the right angle on the subject, we should put ourselves in the -position of, let us say, the sheriff of Pike County. He is a likable, -popular fellow--that is how he happens to be sheriff. His likability, -his popularity, have made him a particularly valuable adjunct of the -Pike County Republican (or Democratic) organization. In the election -campaign he has proven himself a vote-getter, he has given the -organization a respectable tone. And now that he is in office his -congenital good nature has not been changed. His popularity has been -due to his unfailing loyalty to his friends and supporters. These good -people swarm about him on the first day of his term and he has it not -in his heart to refuse the only favor within his power to grant. - -So much for one set of claimants upon his favor. But there is also the -whole body of his supporters, the general electorate and the tax-paying -contingent of the county; they have a claim upon him too and the new -sheriff enters upon his duties with a sincere desire to serve them by -running his office in the most efficient and economical manner. The -significant part of the whole business is that these two ambitions are -more than likely to prove inconsistent. Personal friendship dictates -that he should hand out deputyships to “the boys” of his own heart; -public service, that he should ignore the claims of friendship and -man his office with competent assistants, regardless of personal, -political or ecclesiastical connections. And so the new officer, -through a situation not of his own making, is caught in a dilemma. -Probably nine out of ten county officials either resolve the difficulty -on the grounds of friendship or strike a compromise between their -conflicting desires--and the efficiency of the office in either case -is impaired. Every man coming into an office with favors to dispense -has strings attached to his person. He cannot look his public duties -quite squarely in the eye, but has always to qualify every new plan, -every selection of a subordinate with “What will the county chairman -say?” And if he has ambitions to hold office for a second term, or to -go higher, he is naturally careful about irritating the goose that lays -the golden egg. For the county chairman is not apt to be keen about the -plans for economy or reducing the number of jobs for “the boys.” Such -plans do not fit in with his requirements. - -The system hamstrings the man. Once a county officer in New Jersey -needed two additional clerks. Believing, however, that the board of -chosen freeholders was following a strict program of economy, he went -to them asking for four new men, with the thought that his requisition -would be cut in half. But not so. The official and the board were of -opposite parties. A member of the board came around and remarked that -“you need _eight_ new men.” The officer is said to have taken the -hint and jobs were accordingly provided for four deserving members of -each of the leading parties. - -In such cases it is clearly not personality but the system that -dominates. - -The enforced division of allegiance between party and people is but -a single source of personal inefficiency. Under the much lauded -“government of laws” that reaches the heights of absurdity in the -county, the chance of effective law enforcement is reduced to a -minimum. Take it for instance in the exact compliance with statutory -procedure. The sale of a piece of real estate for non-payment of taxes, -for instance, must be conducted in accord with a detailed series of -steps set forth in the law, or the title of the property is clouded. -Claims for payment for services rendered or material supplied, may -also be legally allowed only after the proper formalities have been -observed. And in countless other directions the efficiency of the -county officers and employees must be measured principally by a -meticulous obedience to the law. - -But contrast the necessity with the performance: The former chief of -the Bureau of Municipal Accounts in the Comptroller’s office of an -eastern state, after examining the affairs of fifty-six counties, -was able in 1914 to say: “In not a single county examined has there -been found compliance with every provision of law. On the contrary, -in each of the counties examined serious irregularities in financial -transactions have been disclosed, and the taxpayers’ money illegally -expended, in some cases beyond recovery.” - -The comptroller’s agents examined the affairs of county “A.” Of the -transactions for the year ending October 31, 1913, they said: “County -administration during that year was carried on, in many important -respects, illegally, and in many cases the officials completely ignored -the law, resulting in waste of public money, amounting to many -thousands of dollars.” The former treasurer of this county, according -to the official report, “had, it would seem, no proper conception of -the legal duties imposed upon him. He made payments of unauthorized -drafts of committees of the board.... His important statutory duty to -pay only on proper legal authority apparently constituted meaningless -words.” The same authority reported that: - - “The board of supervisors ordered payments that were without authority - of law, to the extent of many thousands of dollars. The illegalities - in the audits of the board of supervisors were particularly - objectionable because of the fact that many of the subjects of - criticism were called to the board’s attention in the report of - a former examination. Illegal payments under such circumstances - became a defiance of legal restriction.... The administration of - the poor fund was not in accord with the law and through a failure - of the officials to understand the requirements of the law and the - necessities of the county, the lack of proper coöperation between the - county treasurer, the superintendent of the poor, and the board of - supervisors, confusion resulted in the poor fund finances and a large - deficit accumulated which was financed by illegal temporary loans.... - The county has suffered to a material extent from inefficiency, - indifference to law and neglect.” - -That discoveries were by no means local or unique is indicated by -periodical complaints that have come up from other parts of the -country. - -Was it men, as such, or was it not also a system that gave rise to the -evidences of bad government in County “B.”? Did it simply _happen_ -that the treasurer, the county judge, the district attorney, the -sheriff and the justices of the peace were all breaking the laws at -once? Is it to be supposed that law-breaking flourished naturally in -the atmosphere of that particular region? The performances of these -officers are both so instructive and picturesque that they will bear a -brief recounting here. - -The examiners of the affairs of this county a few years ago turned up -this quaint little document: - - “ELLENBERG CENTER, Nov. 21, 1900. - - County of....................., Dr., - to Wellington Hay. - - 1898, Sept. 22. To 7 days’ labor with deputy - sheriff looking up stolen horse $14.00 - To paid all expenses - per above 15.60 - ------ - $29.60 - - “Mr. Hay performed services in following up two horse thieves who had - stolen his horse at my request as sheriff, one of the men, George - Burnham, had several indictments against him in this county and all - who knew his doings were anxious for his capture, I certainly think - Mr. Hay should be paid. - - “C. W. VAUGHAN, - “_Late Sheriff_.” - - -In this instance, Mr. Hay, a deputy sheriff, was charging the county -for chasing up _his own_ horse. The county treasurer who paid this -claim was the one who, in spite of very definite provisions of law, had -failed to designate the banks which should have custody of the county -funds, and deposited them with a favored institution which paid the -county no interest; who failed to keep any cash book or any account -with any bank even on the stubs of his check book; who allowed at least -one creditor of the county to collect an illegal claim four times. -This is the county in which the county judge was found to have his -own private law offices elaborately furnished with all the up-to-date -filing devices and blanks, all at the public expense; in which the -coroner reports that between the 13th and the 19th of May he had worked -_fifteen days_ and collected in full from the county. The records -of practically every other officer in the county revealed similar -irregularities and a similar lack of any fine sense of the interests of -the public. - -Did it just _happen_ that the people of county “A” or county “B” -elected none but law-breakers to office? Was it the character of the -officers which alone was responsible for “inefficiency, indifference to -law and neglect?” Would the condition have been different with another -average set of men in office? - -This is certain: that upon the officers of county “A” was imposed -the duty of enforcing laws which were both intricate and difficult -for a layman to find, and when found, to understand. But over and -above all this, there was no constant discipline of a responsible -organization and no certain and swift penalty for non-compliance with -or disobedience of the law. - -So difficult is the case, in fact, that it would seem from reports -emanating from different parts of the country, that county officers -have long ceased to worry about the legality of most of their acts. A -common practice is not to investigate the law at all but to look back -over the work of predecessors and follow in their tracks--an easier and -more natural method for the untrained mind than to seek legal authority -for action at its fountainhead in the statutes. But it makes a joke of -the statutes! And when, in the absence of a powerful executive head, -these written laws, which constitute most important connecting link, -between the various county officers, are broken, the directing hand of -the state is perforce withdrawn. - -The failures of government in these counties were due in no small -measure at least to the system, rather than to the individual men. No -mere “good” man would necessarily have been better qualified or more -inclined to look up the law and follow it implicitly. For it is not of -such qualities that political “goodness,” from the voters’ standpoint, -consists! - -Nor are these minor delinquencies the sole products of the evil system. -In Hudson County, New Jersey, with a citizenry somewhat less alert -and with state officials a little less vigilant, the essential factors -present in the counties mentioned gave rise to positive conscienceless -and willful waste of public funds. The story is illuminating: - -The building of the court house was begun under an act of the -legislature which authorized a committee of the board of chosen -freeholders to purchase such lands and erect such county buildings -as might be needed. The committee was empowered to appoint its own -counsel and architect to go ahead and build. The only limitation upon -its powers was that it should spend not to exceed four fifths of one -per cent. of the county ratables. This was a restriction which, under -the amount of ratables as of the time when the project was authorized, -would have permitted a maximum expenditure of about $1,580,000. But -before even the contracts had been let the growth in valuations had so -increased that the committee might legally spend $7,500,000. - -The original figure for the cost of the court house had been $990,000, -but before the citizens of the county were aroused it reached -$3,328,016. Investigation revealed such extravagance and carelessness -with the county’s money in every detail, that the legislature in 1911 -abolished the committee and created a court house commission, the -members of which were to be appointed by the Justice of the Supreme -Court. - -The building of county court houses under just such auspices and -with a similar outcome is a characteristic bit of local history the -country over. But county shortcomings do not always stop at willful -extravagance. Sometimes it is a tale of grafting of the grossest sort, -of which typical conditions a story is related by Herbert Quick, who -had charge of an investigation into the affairs of Woodbury County, -Iowa, some twenty years ago. The county supervisors apparently had -traveled unobserved, unchecked, along the same road but further, as the -officers of county “A” and the court house committee of Hudson County. -Says Mr. Quick: - -“A supervisor would draw thousands of dollars from the road and bridge -funds on his own warrant, put the money in his pocket, and account -for it by turning in receipts for road or bridge work. Some of this -work was done and some was not. Most of the receipts were signed by -political supporters of the supervisors. To some of them were signed -names of persons who never existed. - -“Everything the county bought was extravagantly bought. Any dealer who -was willing to put in padded bills could get the chance to sell his -goods. - -“There was a regular system of letting bills go unpaid so that the -persons furnishing the goods would put in the statements the second -time, after which they would be paid twice--once to the firm to which -they were really owing, and again to one or more of the county ring. -In most cases the merchant furnishing the goods never knew of the -double payment. They had a system of orders and receipts by which the -merchant was kept in ignorance. - -“In some cases the approaches to bridges were built and charged twice, -once to the road fund and once to the bridge fund. The man who did the -work got one payment and the grafters got the other. The people paid -twice in these cases, and sometimes three times. - -“A merchant sold some blankets to the county for the use of the -prisoners in the jail. He was allowed about a hundred dollars on the -county claim register, but refused to accept the payment and sued the -county. In court he recovered judgment for all he claimed, and was paid -out of the judgment fund. The general fund claim he had refused to -accept showed as unpaid. Somebody on the inside went to him and got an -order for ‘any sums due me from the county’ and drew the original bill -over again. So the county paid the original allowance, the amount of -the judgment, and the costs of the lawsuit. Rather dear blankets! - -“Orders of this sort were drawn in the names of the people who had been -dead for years. - -“This is a sample of the sort of work which prevailed in that county, -and which plunged the county into debt from which it will not recover, -the way things generally go, for generations.” - -In Indiana the leaven of obscurity and irresponsibility had long been -working when the state board of accounts took up its work in 1909. The -records of that office since that time show that more than one million -six hundred thousand dollars had been charged against local officials -and partly recovered. The board states that in their belief fully -ninety per cent. of this was not due to deliberate wrongdoing but to an -indulgent indifference, resulting in an almost endless confusion and -incomplete accounts. Like the county officers in many another state, -the officials in the Indiana counties, according to a message of former -Governor Mount, “had been following precedents on an ascending scale.” - -If the whole trouble lies in the personnel of government, there is -either no real county problem or else the problem is unsolved. If it -is merely a matter of men, the voters of the county need only, when -the next election falls due, to “turn the rascals out” and elect more -promising successors. But then that is what the voters have been doing -these many years, and county government has not materially improved! - -But if when the “good man” theory has been tested to the limit and -found wanting, nothing else appears, may it not be suggested that the -system has much to do with the man first in his selection and then in -the influence that determines his conduct? The officers in the counties -cited were creatures of the flesh. They found themselves involved in -an organization which not only gave them little or no moral support, -but which actually surrounded them with temptation to loaf, to commit -errors and to steal. They were under no discipline to obey the law or -to treat the interests of the county with any due consideration. - -In the realm of government, as in the department of horticulture, it -would appear that figs are not gathered from thistles. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE HUMANITARIAN SIDE - - -But the delinquencies of the county are not wholly related in terms -of finance. Some good friend of the system is sure to come forward -with the remark that “county policies, like every other branch of -the business, may be expensive, but it has a good deal of wholesome -humanity about it.” - -A view that is worth examining! - -To the lot of the county, acting through the machinery and under the -influences which have been described, has fallen in large part, the -extensive and important governmental burden of looking after the poor -who are always with us, the sick in mind and those in prison. The -magnitude of this task in a populous center may be gathered from this -summary of the humanitarian functions of Cook County, by Dr. Graham -Taylor. - -“It housed, fed and cared for about eleven thousand prisoners in the -county jail, nearly ten thousand of whom required medical treatment for -infectious diseases. - -“It gathered in, temporarily cared for and committed to state asylums -or discharged, 2334 insane patients. - -“It assumed and maintained care for 10,597 delinquent and dependent -children. - -“It isolated and stamped out contagion. - -“It housed, fed and furnished medical and surgical treatment for 34,000 -sick people, 1000 tuberculosis patients, and 3000 aged, infirm or -irresponsible people. - -“It supplied food, clothing and fuel to about 200,000 persons; buried -978 pauper and friendless dead, and granted $165,000 to 350 indigent -mothers for the support of 1126 children. To perform this service it -required the full time of 3000 employees and part time of about 10,000 -others. The appropriations of Cook County for 1913 total $7,072,486.96.” - -Such is the budget of what we may call the human problem of a great -metropolitan county. Between the services rendered in such a unit and -those of a sparsely settled, back-country county, almost anywhere in -the United States, the difference is one of degree rather than of kind. - -This is the ancient heritage of the church, which it has gradually -transferred to the shoulders of the State, beginning at a time when -the treatment of unfortunates was yet mostly a matter of getting -undesirable citizens out of the way without actually assassinating -them. The recipients of relief in early times were all treated as just -so much of a public charge and all were obliged to wear the letter -“P.” There was no science of penology, and the insane were treated -as possessed of devils. Modern institutional care was practically -undreamed of. - -But the care of unfortunates within the last half century has come -under the dominion of the scientific spirit. The old way was to -“bunch” all kinds of poor and all kinds of dependents and all classes -of criminals, regardless of all antecedent circumstances and all -hope of betterment. Science, on the other hand, has demanded first, -investigation into the causes and nature of crime and deficiency, then -classification of cases. New York led the way in the treatment of -these social relief problems by starting the process of segregation. -In the early part of the nineteenth century the almshouses in America -and the workhouse in England began to be built, as an expedient for -facilitating investigation of applicants and decreasing expense. These -institutions were soon used to house all sorts and conditions of men, -women and children. Says one authority[4]: - - “If you went into an almshouse in any of the counties of this State - as recently as the ’70s of the last century, you would have found a - mixture of the aged, who were in the almshouse simply because they - were old and misfortune had come to them and they had lost their - money and were therefore obliged to spend their last days in the - almshouse. In addition, you would find children of all ages, beginning - with infants. A large number of infants, especially illegitimate - children, would be housed in the same building and would be cared - for promiscuously with the older groups. You would also find large - numbers of the insane, as there was no separate provision for them at - that time. So with the epileptic and feeble-minded and every class of - dependent vagrant and inebriate. It was a veritable dumping-ground for - all sorts and conditions of humanity.” - -In the movement for segregation of cases the first step was to secure -a prohibition against the commitment of children to the almshouses. -Special provision was later made for the insane. From time to time -other classes of cases, including the feeble-minded, the epileptics and -vagrants, have been transferred for appropriate treatment elsewhere. -Later came the public health movement, the basic idea of which is -the segregation of the sick poor from those who are sound in body -but destitute. Even at the present time the almshouses are used for -inebriates. - -In a later period the standards for the treatment of prisoners have -been advanced somewhat more slowly but along the same scientific -principle of classification and segregation, but less with reference to -psychological and sociological causes or the nature of crime than to -the conveniences of administration. But segregation has been prescribed -by law in generous measure according to certain crude principles of -decency and justice. Thus the New York Prison law provides at least ten -classifications, involving separation of men from women, men from boys, -persons awaiting trial from those under sentence, civil prisoners and -witnesses from criminal prisoners. - -So much for the modern standards. Against such standards the success or -failure of the county as a humanitarian agency must be measured. - - -THE POOR - -First as to the poor. - -We can do no better than to recount the performances of certain typical -states. Certainly in New York the substantial improvement of this -class has come through no strong impulse within the county itself, but -rather as the result of the activities of unusually strong volunteer -organizations which forced the fact of the evil conditions upon the -attention of the officers and the people of the county and upon the -state in general. But lest it should be supposed that New York State -is a model in this field, let it be recorded that when by more or -less of an accident Mr. V. Everit Macy, a real friend of scientific -charity, was elected to the office of superintendent of the poor, he -found a system more ideally fitted to take care of “the boys” in the -“organization” than the poor themselves. In describing the system he -said: - -“The law ingeniously divides responsibility so that the superintendent -has no power over the admissions to the almshouse or hospitals or of -children to institutions but only the negative power of discharge, -while the local committing officials have little control after the -adult or child is committed. This often results in setting up an -endless chain of commitments and discharges, for, as fast as the -superintendent discharges an adult or a child, the local official may -recommit. - -“The superintendent is on a salary but practically all the overseers -are paid on a _per diem_ basis, and the justices of the peace are -paid a fee for each commitment. If an Overseer issues an order for -groceries or signs a commitment, he can collect his two dollars for a -day’s work. - -“Could ingenuity devise a more absurd and wasteful method of relieving -suffering or one where responsibility and control could be more -disastrously divided to the injury of the taxpayer and the poor?”[5] - -The same authority is responsible for the statement that “the -greatest injustice to the individual and injury to the state is now -done through the haphazard handling of the cases of delinquent and -destitute children.” Overseers of the poor, justices of the peace, -police magistrates and judges can all commit children and most of these -officials have a monetary interest in committing. Few of them have -any means of investigating cases before acting and fewer still have -any training to fit them to deal wisely with either the destitute or -delinquent child. - -But what of other states? - -In Missouri where poor relief is a function of the county court, a -county almshouse is maintained and a certain amount of outdoor relief -is dispensed. Professor Isador Loeb[6] of the University of Missouri -reports: - - “While the county board is authorized to maintain a county hospital - for the sick poor, this has been done in only one county. Nine - counties still use the primitive system of sending the poor to board - with private families. Most of the counties in abandoning this system - have bought a farm and employed a superintendent to look after the - poor and use them as far as possible on the farm. As a result the - almshouse in the majority of the counties is a farmhouse, and the - county is apparently more interested in the successful management of - the farm than the welfare of the inmates. While a number of counties - have erected modern buildings, the physical conditions in most of the - almshouses are very bad.” - -With respect to Pennsylvania, the special agent of the department of -public health and charities writes[7]: - - “Twenty-seven counties have now accepted the Children’s Aid Society as - their agent for the care of dependent children. In the other counties - nearly every possible method of caring for children is represented - in the courses chosen. Where the township system is in use, the few - dependent children are placed out by adoption or indenture, by the - overseers themselves. Several counties have built homes for the - children, an expensive method, with no merit so far as the favorable - situation of the children is concerned. Some of the overseers place - the children in institutions, while others use private homes to some - extent, controlling and supervising the children themselves.” - - -THE INSANE - -In no branch of humanitarian service is segregation, classification, -even to the point of individual treatment, more essential than in the -care of the insane. New Jersey puts no inconsiderable number of her -mentally afflicted on a par with offenders against the criminal law -for, according to the Commission on the Care of the Mental Defectives -for the year 1913, fifteen counties had confined insane persons in -penal institutions, in some cases for periods of from 85 to 223 days. -The State Charity Commission in Illinois recently reported that in -spite of a provision of the statutes forbidding such practices, only -eleven of the 102 counties did not so offend. Louisiana is reported to -have many lunatics in its parish jails. - -In but few states are there no insane in the county almshouses, for -at least temporary confinement, and particularly is this true in the -South and Middle West. In such institutions a condition sometimes -prevails that staggers imagination. For the state of Pennsylvania, Dr. -C. Floyd Haviland has summed up the situation in these words: - - “As a result of the existing system, in these institutions, custodial - care is generally substituted for active remedial treatment directed - to the improvement or the recovery of the insane as such. As a - rule, medical treatment for physical ills is satisfactory, although - such is not invariably the case. With but few exceptions, the - county institutions have no special medical facilities, nor can - it be expected that such facilities can be provided under present - conditions, for, with the comparatively small number of patients - treated in the respective institutions, such provisions would require - a prohibitive _per capita_ expense; but as a result of such - lack of facilities, mechanical means of restraint and confinement - are substituted for proper personal treatment and attention. With - but a limited number of attendants, enclosed exercise yards and - personal restraint and seclusion must inevitably result. Under - existing conditions, one cannot blame the caretakers of the insane for - resorting to such means, for while restraint and seclusion can and - should be abolished, they cannot be successfully abolished without - the substitution of other means of dealing with the disturbed insane, - such as hydrotherapy, occupational training, and close personal - supervision. In this connection it is agreeable to note that little - evidence was obtained of actual physical abuse, but that gross neglect - exists is indisputable. - - “That the theory of county hospitals for the chronic insane only - does not obtain in actual practice is but a necessary result of the - prevailing custom of determining the question as to whether a patient - shall be committed to a state hospital, regardless of prognosis or - medical issues, in many instances the decision being made by local - lay authorities without medical advice. It is certain that many acute - cases have lapsed into chronicity in the county hospitals simply for - lack of proper treatment. Dreary, desolate wards, lack of recreation, - or other means of exciting or maintaining active interest are alone - sufficient not only to hinder improvement or recovery, but must - necessarily result in actually hastening the terminal process of - deterioration.”[8] - -Writing concerning the treatment of the insane in Texas, Dr. Thomas -W. Salmon, of the National Committee for Mental Hygiene calls county -almshouse care of the insane the “saddest and most sordid spectacle -in American community life.” For a graphic picture of the practical -significance of the system in one of the almshouses in that state the -reader is urged to read the extracts from Dr. Salmon’s address in the -Appendix of this volume. - - -COUNTY PRISONS - -But what of the treatment of the prisoner? - -The county theoretically has very little to do with persons convicted -of serious offenses. By far the greater number of the inmates of the -prison are persons awaiting trial and therefore presumably innocent of -wrongdoing. The minimum standard of justice demands that such persons -be kept apart from hardened criminals. We shall see how this and other -standards are observed in the county. - -To begin with, it should be noted that the head of the jail, -universally, is the sheriff. Bear in mind that this officer in -forty-seven states is elective, that his term is usually very short, -that he is usually ineligible to succeed himself and that he has -numerous special duties to perform. It is therefore obvious that -nothing but an exceptional piece of good luck can bring to the head of -the jail an expert penologist. Often, too, he will be under contract -with the board of supervisors to supply the prisoners with food at as -good a profit to himself as may be. - -In this atmosphere it is certainly not to be expected that the finest -flowers of penology should grow. Massachusetts has so far fallen -below standard as to call forth this stinging description from the -Massachusetts Prison Association: - - “In fact, in the county prisons nothing is done but to give the - inmates custodial care. The man who goes to the reformatory is dealt - with with a definite purpose to reform him. Another man goes to a - county prison and comes out unchanged. - - “Even worse is the indiscriminate association of all sorts of - criminals in the county prisons. Beginners in crime are forced into - close contact with hardened criminals. Men who are committed for - being too poor to pay their fines for petty offenses, are compelled - to associate with men who have spent their lives in crime. The county - prison is, inevitably a school of crime.”[9] - -The Prison Association in New York State is scarcely more complimentary -concerning the prison conditions in that state. According to Mr. -O. F. Lewis,[10], its secretary, the requirements of the statutes -respecting the classification of prisoners appear to be systematically -violated. Jails are frightfully overcrowded. The buildings are faultily -constructed and unsanitary. For a prisoner to make a six-months’ stay -in one of them is to undergo “the most serious possible contamination.” - -The condition of the jails in Illinois is apparently no better, for -the State Charities Commission reported recently,[11], there had been -little improvement since the first examination of the former State -Charities Board in 1870. A large majority of the jails were reported to -be old and unsanitary. In seventy-two of one hundred and two counties, -the law requiring the segregation of minors from adults was violated -and in eleven counties there was no provision for women. - -And so it goes. The county as a truly humanitarian agency has most -lamentably failed. As to the underlying cause of the failure, this is -suggested in a remark of the state prison inspector of Alabama in his -report for 1914: “Publicity is not only a political antiseptic, but -is the sure antidote for most, if not all, our governmental ills.” A -justifiable inference from this declaration would be that counties -are suffering from the lack of publicity. In the immunity from the -restraint which such a purifying influence would supply the elementary -human instincts of county officials has full sway--such instincts as -the inspector had in mind when he said: - - “The vile, pernicious, perverting, fee system beggars description, and - my vocabulary is inadequate to describe its deleterious and baneful - effects. It inculcates into the management of our jails greed for the - Almighty Dollar; persons are arrested because of the dollar and shame - to say, are frequently kept in captivity for months, in steel cages, - for no other reason than the Almighty Dollar.” - -The organization of the county for political purposes to secure -the utmost obscurity and irresponsibility breaks the force of any -humanitarian public opinion that might be developed for the betterment -of the lot of the unfortunate. The same influences render the county -practically uninhabitable for the expert administrator, who would -be likely to direct popular attention to the evil conditions which -we have described. His place has been preëmpted by the hanger-on and -the wire-puller to whom charity means the dispensing of favors to -“deserving” workers of all political faiths. In _this_ sense the -county is a very humane institution, and a very open-handed one. It -serves well such local officials as the overseer of the poor in an -up-state New York county who presented this remarkable annual report to -his superior: - - “I am a little late with my report. I hope you will excuse me and - overlook the matter. Like last year, there are no county poor here; - but if you will allow me $5.00 _for keeping them off_, you will - oblige, - - “Yours respectfully, - - “----.” - - -This claim was paid and the poor were presumably “kept off” -indefinitely. - -There is not a little evidence to support the statement that many -county officers believe that they have satisfied the requirements of -humanity when they have taken care of their own personal wants. Such -officers, and the system of which they are part, are very good--to -themselves. - -[4] Bailey B. Burritt, in _Proceedings of the Second Conference for -the Study and Reform of County Government_, pp. 6, 7. - -[5] _First Conference for Better County Government_, p. 22. - -[6] _Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social -Science_, May, 1913, p. 56. - -[7] _Op. cit._, p. 168. - -[8] _The Treatment and Care of the Insane in Pennsylvania_, pp. -68-69. Philadelphia, 1915. - -[9] _Leaflet._ 1911. - -[10] _Proceedings of the Third Conference for the Study and Reform of -County Government_, pp. 6-7. - -[11] _Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social -Science_, May, 1913, p. 70. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -ROADS AND BRIDGES - - -To the county in most of the states has also been committed from early -times, the obligation to carry forward what is now generally recognized -as one of the greatest of unifying, nationalizing, civilizing factors -in this or any time--highways. Through these avenues of communication -the people of the wilderness were to break their solitude, establish -common understandings and give value to the products of the earth by -creating markets for their distribution. Over the highways access was -to be had with schools and churches. - -From the colonial period and well down into the nineteenth century, -the construction and maintenance of roads was, in diminishing degree, -a private enterprise, operated by turnpike companies primarily for -the benefit of their stock-holders rather than that of the public. -Gradually road making came to be regarded as a public function, at -first in respect to the repairs upon the private toll roads and then in -original construction. In the year 1913 the amount which counties of -the country spent upon their highways had mounted to $55,514,891. - -To the fulfillment of this great function the county brought those -weaknesses of governmental organization, that lack of equipment, that -defective loyalty to the service of the whole people which have been -described heretofore. The erection of a road system was a demand for -broad, foreseeing knowledge and appreciation of the needs of the whole -county, high technical skill in the art of road making and adequate -financial arrangements. The county supplied none of these. - -What the county did supply and how it supplied it may be worth the -recital, even though in these days of the “good-roads” movement the -state government is constantly stiffening its hold upon highway matters. - -To begin with, the whole public road function is rooted, historically, -in the tradition of the people’s infinite political versatility and -infallibility. The true democrat of the nineteenth century never -doubted his ability to select and control the human agents for -executing a technical and difficult engineering problem, which has -baffled the resources of modern specialists. And so, to this day, the -management of road construction and care over a great portion of the -country is entrusted to a farmer, a blacksmith, a plumber or some other -species of layman who has sufficient popularity with his neighbors -and the county chairman to get himself chosen as town supervisor. In -some states the rôle of road manager is played by the somewhat better -equipped county surveyor, who, however, like the supervisor, is picked -in the majority of cases because of his vote-getting qualities rather -than for any technical training. - -Under these circumstances the roadmaster is apt to enter upon his -public duties with a sense of his obligation not to the whole community -and its ultimate interest, but to those articulate sections of the -people who are most likely to make themselves felt on the next election -day. As a certain highway engineer illustrated the situation: “Here’s -$10,000 to spend on roads. Here also is Jeff Browning up on Nut Creek, -who wants quite a little road work done. Of course, Jeff lives fifteen -miles from the county seat, and there’s fifteen miles of bad roads -between his place and town, _but Jeff voted the whole settlement for -me_, and he has some idle teams, and we’ll just help him along by -spending some money at his place.” It is one of the familiar processes -of practical politics and the imagination should have no difficulty in -picturing any number of equally accommodating transactions. - -Quite as serious an aspect of road control directly by elective -officers is that it gives too great and too convenient an opportunity -for layman advice and prejudice to bear upon a technical problem. One -curious idea which is prevalent in middle western rural districts -is that a road, in order to be a road, must be on a section line, -regardless of the contour of the land, the convenience of users of the -highway or the character of the soil. The engineer above quoted tells -of a very bad hill about two miles north of Poplar Bluff, Mo. “The -grade,” says Mr. Edy, “must have been something like twelve per cent. -in places. It was estimated that by going around this hill, a grade of -six per cent. could be obtained, increasing the distance but slightly, -and traversing almost worthless ground. The owner, however, would -neither give nor sell a right of way, holding that unless the road were -maintained ‘on the line’ it would not be a real road. Something like -$400 was spent on this bill in an effort to make it passable, when half -that amount would have made a permanent road in a new location.” - -Of course, when the organization of the county gives to Jeff Browning -and the philosopher of Poplar Bluff the predominating influence in road -affairs, there can be nothing in the way of a county road policy or -road plan that is based upon the economic and social needs of the whole -people. The system enthrones petty rural sectionalism and narrowness -and condones a form of graft which is without doubt as vicious in -principle as the stealing of a street railway franchise. Where the -township supervisor is the responsible official the case is at its -worst for it means just so many more executive units to be watched, -just so many more standards of road construction, just so many more -independent road plans. - -The “business” end of county road administration is often weighted -down to earth with the same sublime faith in the wisdom of the average -citizen. Rarely have counties maintained anything that approximated -adequate records of cost or serviceability of their roads and bridges -or data upon which they could construct a satisfactory policy of -construction, if indeed their governing bodies have dreamed of the need -or the value of such aids. Even of so highly developed a community as -Monroe County, New York, in which the City of Rochester is situated, -it could be said concerning the office of highway superintendent that -“the only record now kept is a bill book in which are entered all -claims against the county highway fund which are paid through the -superintendent’s office, all payrolls and all claims for personal -service.”[12] - -Much the same lack of appreciation for facts was revealed in a cruder -way in a grand jury investigation during 1912 of the methods of the -Board of Commissioners in Darke County, Ohio, where it was discovered -that minutes were rarely read and contracts were voted twenty at a time -and sometimes without the formality of a vote, in direct violation of -the law. - -From another middle western state comes an illuminating description -of the method of awarding bids on bridge construction: “Each -competitor submitted his own drawings and an estimate to a board of -commissioners, not one of whom had the least technical knowledge or -practical experience, but was ‘led away’ generally _by the size of -the drawing_ and the accompanying estimate. - -“The result was shoddy work, insufficient piers or abutments, piles not -driven down to any safe and permanent depth and finally a bridge that -was built for appearance, not durability nor permanency. Just as soon -as we had a flood bringing down logs, stumps and trees, some of these -would strike or swing against the piers and down came the structure, -floating away or lodging in the stream, causing a jamb to accumulate, -holding up the stream and overflowing land for miles. - -“It took many years to get a system where an engineer designed a bridge -with details of construction, steel or iron cylinders filled with -concrete as piers, and a superintendent of construction who knew his -business to take charge of the work. - -“Thus we spent thousands of dollars for bridges to be erected simply -to see them carried out; in one instance twice. But the cost and -failure combined in time brought forth such protests that such a system -would not be tolerated longer; but the waste was done and the money -practically thrown away. - -“In county road repair and construction we were no better. The -district boss was elected politically, and of course he rewarded his -commissioner friends by working the road fund. He dared not complain -of short hours or little done or sitting by the road discussing how -to ‘fix the election,’ and usually the work was done just before the -nomination and election. The ‘dump of dirt’ was left in a pile, not -even leveled; every team avoided it if possible, and when winter then -came it was ‘slurry’ and mud. No ditches or outlets for same were made -or cleaned out, and if any suggestion was made for improvement, you -were told ‘it was good enough before you came and you can get out if -you don’t want to stay.’” - -In Polk County, Iowa, an investigation in 1912 disclosed the fact that -the board of supervisors had paid out $100,000 for contracts without -asking for bids. They never required plans or specifications of any -bridge to be constructed. Bridges had been ordered without any idea of -what they would cost. No guarantee bond was required and bridges were -accepted without inspection. Certain companies had been favored to the -exclusion of others and the result was that in many counties bridges -were built at a cost fifty per cent. higher than their reasonable value. - -To the rich opportunities for “turning an honest dollar” which lurked -in such systems and in such an attitude on the part of the public -officers, the “powers that prey” have been keenly alive. The tale that -was told a few years ago, with a multitude of specifications, by a -few enterprising farm journals in the Middle West, rivals, except in -dramatic quality and the size of the sums involved, the characteristic -falls from grace which have been heretofore associated with ward -aldermen and legislators hailing from wicked urban districts. It was a -serious indictment of county officialdom which is contained in a letter -of the chairman of the Roads and Highways Committee of the lower house -in Kansas, who wrote in 1913: - -“I know there are comparatively few county commissioners who profit -personally by the manipulations of the bridge companies but the -representatives of the companies are shrewd men who understand -thoroughly that the average county commissioner is very jealous of his -bridge patronage, and brooks no interference with his handling of the -bridge business with a free hand. Consequently the bridge men play this -feature to the limit and to their own profit.”[13] - -That Iowa was inoculated with the same germ is suggested by remarks of -Alson Secor, the editor of _Successful Farming_: - -“The bridge men are not depending upon a lobby at Des Moines, or any -state capitol, to put through what they want, or to prevent legislation -that will make bridge letting competitive. They work to elect or defeat -supervisors. They finance state supervisors’ annual meetings and give -the watchdogs of the public treasury that contains your tax money such -a good time that the ‘boys’ fall under lasting obligations to the -bridge companies. - -“Bribe the lawmakers? Oh, no! You can’t say that. It isn’t a bribe -to hand a man a line of soft talk, is it? It isn’t a bribe to give a -county official a hilarious good time at a summer resort, is it? Or to -pay his hotel bills when he attends the state meetings? No--a thousand -times no--legally. - -“But the bridge men get there just the same. They have for years -prevented any legislation that would give them a dollar’s worth of -bridge work for a dollar’s worth of taxes.” - -So well satisfied were the favored bridge builders with the _status -quo_ in Nebraska in 1913 that they are said to have maintained at -the state legislature a powerful lobby to oppose by corrupt methods a -bill whose one purpose was to require bidders to furnish estimates on -uniform blanks. The information thus obtained would have been placed -on file at the state capitol and made available to all who might wish -to compare the cost of construction in different counties--light would -have been let into the operations of the counties in bridge-building -matters. - -It would seem, then, that the _system_ did have much to do with -waste of public funds and inefficiency of every sort and was the basis -of a certain amount of corruption, in all the states mentioned. It was -not all simply a matter of “good” men and “bad” men. But the breakdown -of the county in highway affairs is fast becoming ancient history, not -directly, through a process of regeneration, but through forces playing -upon the county from without which we will again identify for the -present simply as the “good-roads” movement, of which more hereafter. - -[12] From an unpublished report of the Rochester Bureau of Municipal -Research, 1915. - -[13] _Successful Farming_, June, 1913. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -NULLIFICATION - - -Every now and then we shall have to remind ourselves that the county -made the politician, rather than the other way round. - -And the county in its turn, is pretty well rooted in the good graces of -human nature. When American counties had been formed and their legal -status as subordinates of the state had been established, the people -throughout the length and breadth of each of the states were pretty -much of one mind in the fundamental standards of personal conduct. A -tradition of strict morality dominated New England. Its dominion was -not seriously questioned. The South and the middle states may not have -been so strict but they were homogeneous in their own brand of morality. - -Then in due time two movements took place in the northern states. -Just as the constitution follows the flag so the Puritan morality -(more or less modulated and diluted) trailed the westward drift of New -England population, first into New York, then into the Western Reserve -and finally into the Middle West and Northwest. But another force -contended for mastery with the New England influence. The growth of -the cities and particularly of the factory centers was simultaneous -with the great waves of immigration from central and southern Europe. -With the new immigration came a conflicting standard of morality. The -German and southern European immigrants particularly, brought with -them liberal ideas of Sabbath observance. They also loved their beer -and red wine. In time they upset the moral balance of the cities, -coming into sharp collision with the New England (we might also say, -American) conception of the Sabbath and with the total abstinence idea -which began to get a firm foothold in the nineteenth century. This -complex influence gave us the setting for at least one phase of that -never-ending feud that rages between New York City and “up-state.” -It pitted Chicago against rural Illinois. It made Cincinnati a more -or less alien city in Ohio. It gave us a permanent body of citizens -who resent having their conduct dictated (as they apparently view it) -from above. Preponderantly foreign in their origin, they are loud in -their proclamation of their rights as American citizens, while the -New England element, still most influential on the whole in the rural -districts, is properly horrified at the low estate of virtue in the -cities. - -It was inevitable that this clash of interests should be reflected -in politics. Our curiously illogical state system lent itself most -obligingly, if albeit rather ludicrously, to a compromise; the New -England conscience should get the necessary laws and the “foreign -element,” where its political force predominated, should control their -enforcement! The state of Illinois has carried on its statute books -a law requiring the closing of saloons on Sundays, which applies -uniformly throughout the state. Never till recently was a serious -attempt made to enforce it in the city of Chicago, which was quite in -accordance with the _modus vivendi_. Then, in 1915, a new mayor -took it into his head to close the saloons up tight. On a bright Sunday -afternoon the populace, thirsty and indignant, turned out and demanded -their American rights. The mayor’s attitude came from reading the law -literally but without a due regard to the great body of voters who are -“for the law but ‘agin’ its enforcement.” - -The state system regularly provides against such mistakes of official -judgment by carefully divorcing the _duty_ to enforce from the -_incentive_ to enforce. The New York laws forbid the placing of -wagers on horse races. They stand there presumably as a monument to -the enlightened conscience of a majority of the people. They were -not enacted as an expression of moral sentimentality to be ignored -at will, but as an instruction for the governor, the administrative -establishment of the state and the courts to carry out. The statute -is of course obeyed in all counties where there are no race tracks -and no facilities for placing bets! But in the other counties? The -legislature has provided no means of execution other than the locally -controlled peace officers, the sheriffs and the constables. These are -the servants of the state, to be sure, and they are sworn to protect -its laws. But in a more direct human way they are of the county, bound -to the local hotel keepers, the local retail merchants and the jitney -bus owners whose business thrives on the patronage of the race-track -crowd. Local public opinion in the race-track district flouts the will -of the people of the state and it says to the state, as President -Jackson said to the Supreme Court, “You have made your decision; now -enforce it.” - -Only occasionally does moral sentiment run strong enough to force -the governor to be in fact as well as in theory the real head of the -state in the sense that he employs state instruments to enforce state -desires. Such an incident occurred a few years ago when the governor of -Indiana was compelled to order out the militia to enforce a law against -race-track gambling because he had no power to compel the elective -sheriff or other local officers to do their duty. - -In practical politics this clash of moral standards produces not -only the anomalous situation referred to but often the strictly -administrative matter of law enforcement is consciously and designedly -a political issue. The popular desire to graduate or temper the -enforcement of the law is doubtless the real secret of interest which -so often centers in the election of a district attorney. Shall we have -a “liberal” administration or shall we “clap on the lid,” that is -about the form the question takes--euphony for: “Shall the prosecutor -shut his eyes and ignore the law, or shall he obey it according to -his official oath?” The liberal candidate goes before the people with -promises to go easy and the strict morality candidate to make the way -of the transgressor hard. - -Which is right? For the present it matters little. It remains simply to -point out that since the organization of the state and county provides -no organ of expression for local policy, the people in their infinite -capacity to adapt themselves to a hard condition proceed to make a -policy-determining body out of a strictly administrative officer, like -the district attorney or the sheriff. - -Nullification shows itself also in the administration of the tax law. -Most of the states derive a portion of their revenues from the general -property tax. But the power of taxation lies in the legislature and -no state has its own local agents directly and fully responsible to -a central authority for fixing the valuations upon which the levy -is based. The county (except where state revenues are derived from -distinct sources) is required to contribute its proportionate share to -the central treasury and is left to do the right thing by the state, -with such supervision as will be hereafter noted. The people of the -county are allowed to select their own assessors, on the theory that a -man on the ground knows valuations better than any outside impartial -person and that no one is more competent to select such a man than his -own neighbors. - -And so it happens, just as in the case of the sheriffs, that the local -tax officers are confronted with conflicting obligations. They must -take their choice, on the one hand, between strict observance of the -law and unpopularity, with the probable loss of their jobs at the end -of their term, and popularity with prospects of possible political -advancement and a more or less assured living, on the other. Inasmuch -as there is never any question as to which of these courses is the -more practical and immediately profitable, the tax assessors of the -county invariably find it infinitely to their personal advantage to -serve the locality that pays their salaries. Assessors in the sister -counties do likewise; with the ultimate result that general competition -arises among the counties as to which shall value property lowest and -thus pay the smallest proportion of the state’s tax. The system is -ideally designed to reward dishonesty and perjury and punish faithful -obedience to the law. For, as a former New York State Tax Commissioner -has said, “Under assessment is the rule throughout the state, and in -nearly all the tax districts intentionally and purposely so.” The range -of these assessments is well known to be anywhere between twenty-five -and ninety per cent. of the full value of the property. And the -assessors “make their own laws as to the basis of assessing property, -in deliberate violation of the statutes and then proceed to make oath -to the assessment rule that they have assessed all property at its full -value.” That what is true of New York is equally true of most other -states where an analogous system prevails, is the testimony of tax -authorities. - -These frailties of human nature the states have weakly connived at by -the provisions they have made for equalization of assessments. It is -the old story of reform via complication and, as one county attorney in -New York has testified, “equalization in this state is an abomination, -a joke, a cover for deals and trades, a means of purchase and sale, -in its results most unfair and unjust, based on the assumption of -accomplished perjury, in itself a chief cause of the perjury.” A -Missouri authority corroborates by remarking: - - “The county board of equalization ... does little to improve the - situation as it is affected by the same conditions which influence - the acts of the assessor. Much the same is true of the state board - of equalization which consists of the Governor, Secretary of State, - State Auditor, State Treasurer and Attorney-General. This board has - authority to equalize assessments among the counties, but not among - different persons or property within the county. The officials who - make up this board have neither the time, information nor powers to - adequately correct the evils. _Political considerations also affect - the solution of the problems._” - -But the way to a sincere and logical system is not easy. Popular -sentiment seems to favor the _status quo_. For the first time in -the history of this country, Governor Cox of Ohio in 1913 persuaded -the legislature to establish a unified plan of organization for local -assessment. Inasmuch as taxation is the prerogative of the state -government, he proposed a system of tax assessment which would have -made this idea an actual as well as a legal fact. The law would have -abolished the locally elected assessor in the counties. Full control -would have been placed in the hands of the state government, since -the Governor would appoint the local officials. There would probably, -in the nature of things, have been an end to log-rolling and to -competition between the counties to “beat” the state. The law was -passed, but it was so unpopular that Governor Cox’s opponent in the -succeeding election used it for political capital. One of the earliest -and proudest achievements of his administration was the repeal of this -law. - -And so our old friend the “average citizen” finds it often acceptable -to have a county government that is not built in strict conformance -with logic. It is a complicated mechanism to be sure, but what matter, -if he can employ a chauffeur to run it? To meet just such specific -demands as this the professional politician and his illogical system -have arisen and continue to exist. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -STATE MEDDLING - - -Now the other side of the story. - -While the county nonchalantly and with seeming impunity has been -breaking all the inconvenient statutes, the state in its own peculiar -way has been working out a method of “taking it out” of the county -for the indignities of nullification. The state’s “big stick” (which -it does not always employ to a public purpose) is a policy of -meddlesomeness which expresses itself through special legislation. Of -which, more herewith. - -In times gone by, when counties were almost universally located in -the open country, and before the rush for the cities had set apart -centers of population which developed their special mechanism of local -government, it was doubtless appropriate that constitutions should -impose upon legislature the duty to legislate “uniformly” for all -counties, even to the point of anticipating some of their more detailed -needs. - -Practically every state legislature was given a considerable, if not -complete, power to bend the county to its will in every particular of -government. In the logic of the law, the county was a subdivision of -the state before it was an organ of strictly local government. The -legislature might erect new counties or change boundary lines at will, -with the one limitation in some states that its decision is subject to -a local referendum. It might also erect new county offices in addition -to those mentioned in the constitution and fix their powers and duties. -Long ago it became the accepted principle of law that local authorities -might exercise only such powers as were specifically conferred upon -them. - -The theory was, apparently, that since counties exist to execute the -will of the whole state and have the same general duties to perform, -all counties can and must perform them in the same manner. It is a -plausible theory. If a county is to administer justice it needs a -judge, a sheriff, a prosecutor and a court clerk. And each of these -officers in the several counties should follow as closely as possible -an identical or similar procedure. Every county must have a fiscal -agency, a governing board, and be required to observe certain minimum -standards in the handling of the funds entrusted to its care. - -Uniformity up to this point is doubtless not burdensome but helpful. -But by carrying a good idea too far the legislatures have often gone -beyond the point of setting up a general organization and procedure -and have descended into minor details which would usually best be -determined in the light of the more perfect knowledge of local -conditions which the people of the locality may be expected to possess. - -The New York legislature, for instance, has accepted the inertia of -long-standing custom and permitted to stand on the statutes a county -law under which the boards of supervisors in all counties, except those -of New York City, are organized in precisely the same manner. No regard -for the far-reaching historic shifts of population; no thought as to -how deeply the social and political unity of a particular county may -have been shattered by the growth of great cities in the midst of apple -orchards or grain fields. The law has passively assumed that voters -are voters (just as “business is business” and “pigs is pigs”) whether -they reside in a crowded city or sparsely settled countryside where -everybody knows everybody else’s business and has plenty of time to -play politics. - -And so it turns out that Erie County, containing the city of Buffalo, -with its half million inhabitants surrounded by a farming district, -is equipped with the same general form of government as the rough and -sparsely settled counties of Warren and Essex in the Adirondacks. - -In other states, for Buffalo substitute Cleveland, or Chicago or -Milwaukee--great cities unequally yoked with an agricultural population -of divergent interests. - -It is inevitable under the circumstances that the states through their -legislatures should do a good deal of polite nullifying on their own -account. The provisions of the constitutions relating to legislative -powers over counties, instead of being strictly construed have -ingeniously circumvented. What some legislatures could do in defiance -of good political science but yet without legal evasion the California, -New Jersey and other legislatures have accomplished by stretching the -meaning “general” or “uniform.” - -Take the California practice. In the words of the constitution the -legislature is required to establish “a system of county government -which shall be uniform throughout the state.” But it happens that -these counties range in population from a few hundred to over half a -million, and in area from 755 to 23,000 square miles. Some are strictly -rural, while, at the other extreme, is one geographically identical -with the city of San Francisco. All sorts of combinations of urban -and rural conditions intervene. Some of the territory is traversed by -steam railroads and trolley lines and some of it is inaccessible to a -stage coach. But all of it is “uniformly” governed. Inasmuch as the -legislature never could bring itself to withhold its hand from the -minute details of county business, it had to find a way to “beat” the -constitution. It placed each of the fifty-six counties in a separate -class, and passed fifty-six “general” laws, each applying in fact to a -single county, but not mentioning the county by name! - -In Illinois the habit of special legislation has led the Bureau of -Public Efficiency to remark that: “The General Assembly of Illinois -might with propriety be added to the list of nineteen local governing -bodies of Cook County, for it is continually interfering in an -arbitrary manner in matters of local administration.” - -New Jersey has sinned quite as grievously and its courts have -consistently upheld the act even against a provision of the -constitution which expressly prohibits the legislature from “regulating -the internal affairs of towns and counties.” - -But lest the full import of these statements should be lost, the -following titles of special county bills in a single session of a New -York legislature, are cited in evidence: - -Authorizing conveyance of land on Holland Avenue. - -Striking out the provision authorizing county treasurer to appoint an -attorney. - -Regulating tax collection procedure. - -Fixing compensation of unskilled laborers. - -Correcting 1915 tax roll. - -Creating a county auditor. - -Increasing salary of sheriff, etc. - -Levy of taxes to meet cost of sanitary trunk sewer. - -Regulating management of penitentiary and workhouse. - -Creating commissioner of charities. - -Too often the motive of the legislators has not been to make the -county the state’s more obedient servant, but to “bleed” it to the -utmost for political purposes. Back of the real difficulties of -adjusting the state’s responsibilities to the idea of local control -over administrative details, is too evident the suspicion that the -political machine needs the county very much “in its business.” - -For this reason, doubtless, special legislation affecting counties -is so often inseparably associated with the forcible opening of -the county treasury. New York City in recent years has suffered -grievously from mandatory salary increases, imposed in many cases by -a party of the opposite political faith from the one in control over -the local budget. Thus in 1915 out of a total budget allowance of -$7,003,716.82 for county purposes, the sum of $4,858,773.47 or 69.1 -per cent. represented mandatory appropriations which could not be -increased or diminished by the local budget makers either because the -exact amount was fixed by law or because the power of fixation was -conferred upon other officers than the appropriating body of the city. -Many of the measures in question dealt with the salaries of clerks, -stenographers and messengers. Of the total allowance in the same year -for personal services (salaries, etc.) of $5,809,481.75, 78 per cent. -or $4,576,985.75 was beyond local control. While by far the greater -proportion of these sums were just and necessary, the margin of waste -which represented one hundred per cent. politics, was, without a -doubt, exceedingly large. - -Nor have the legislatures been led to take this course for reasons of -public economy. In thus appropriating other people’s money according -to its professedly superior knowledge of the state’s needs, it does -not often appear to give heed to standards of experience or of service -rendered. Often it is but the old story of the influences back of the -bill with this title: “An Act, providing for the appointment by the -sheriff of ---- County, of an undersheriff, fireman and court officers, -and for their compensation and duties.” When the truth came out it -appeared that the sheriff and the board of supervisors were of opposite -parties. The sheriff (whether rightly or wrongly) was not to be put -aside. He simply appealed over the heads of his “superiors” to a higher -authority for what he wanted--and got it. The people had elected a -Board of Supervisors, to manage the county finances, but at the moment -when this body might have effected a just economy, it was forcibly -stripped of their powers. - -Theoretically the legislature in the case cited intervened, but what -probably happened was that someone saw the representative in the -legislature from the county in question and he “fixed” it with the -proper committee. The speaker let the bill go through on the floor of -the legislature. - -From the standpoint of the local politician or petty officeholder who -is looking for special privilege, via the back-door method, and of -the home legislator who does the “fixing,” special legislation is thus -doubtless a benevolent privilege which enables men to put various local -people in their debt for future purposes. For the “organization” of -the dominant party, the power to give to or withhold from the local -municipalities is often not the least important element of its power. - -As for the county, for its sins of nullification it would seem to be -appropriately penalized, particularly if it belongs in the metropolitan -class. It has been placed under a sort of patriarchal discipline, -robbed of much of its individuality and initiative; its responsible -officers subjected to humiliation from subordinates; its resources -diverted to partisan uses. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -STATE GUIDANCE - - -At this point the indictment of the county ceases. It is not an -altogether hopeless situation. The very thoroughness of the county’s -failure is the chief promise of ultimate redemption. - -Not because the county is constructed on an unsound political theory, -not because it has shocked the sense of humanity, but because of its -riotous misuse of public funds, it has begun to attract the attention -of higher authorities. - -Where does the county’s money go? It has been strongly intimated in -previous chapters that the citizens of the county and sometimes even -the county officers know little and care less. Is it economically run? -No one can easily tell, without knowing what other county governments -are costing, service for service and unit for unit. And no one can make -such a comparison between counties unless they have some common basis -of understanding. To establish standards in the use of terms, to make -in other words, each county tell its financial story in a language -understood throughout the state, to bring the information from the -various counties together for comparison, to insist upon a sufficiently -detailed description of financial activities, is the object of uniform -reporting. - -And who can force such a coming together for a common understanding -other than the state itself? - -Among the states where county government is of appreciable importance, -Ohio was the pioneer in the direction indicated by this suggestion. -The law enacted in that state in 1902 approached the county problem -with the conviction that what was needed above all else was more -light--in an administrative sense; that when the shortcomings of county -government could be reduced to statistics and comparisons (invidious -if necessary) could be made between various units, then some real -improvements might be reasonably expected. Provision was made in the -enactment for a state Bureau of Inspection and Supervision of Public -Offices which should install a uniform system of public accounting, -auditing and reporting in every office in the state. A corps of field -agents known as state examiners were employed on a civil service basis -to make personal examinations in each of the taxing districts. The -findings of the examiners are published, and if money is due the county -the enforcement of the law is left first to the county prosecuting -attorney and then to the attorney general. - -New York followed the lead of Ohio by passing in 1905 a law which -requires counties, villages and cities, to report annually to the -comptroller on forms prescribed by him. - -“Indiana and Ohio,” says Professor John A. Boyle,[14] “has gone -into the science and art of uniform accounting very seriously and -very effectively. The Indiana law (1909, ch. 55, amended March 3, -1911), creates a Department of Inspection and Supervision of Public -Offices having jurisdiction over every public office in the state. -The administration of the law was entrusted at the outset to one -state examiner, two deputies, one clerk, and fifty-two field agents -working on a civil service basis. Uniform accounting is prescribed and -installed. Comparative statistics are compiled by the state examiner -and published annually, so that the fruits of this department are -available to the public.” - -Wyoming has a fair system of audit. - -The North Dakota law, while it requires the state examiner “to -prescribe and enforce correct methods,” does not call for a uniform -system. Massachusetts, Kansas, Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Florida, -Tennessee, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Washington, -Minnesota, West Virginia, Louisiana, California and Michigan have -more or less complete systems of state financial supervision. The -“black sheep” among the states in this respect are Alabama, Arkansas, -Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, -New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, -Utah, Vermont and Virginia. - -Now for the results of this supervision. - -Professor Boyle has summed up the sort of assistance that the state -bureaus of accounting have been able to give. One instance of such help -is that where county officers had been accustomed in the past to take -long and expensive junkets to inspect public buildings, expert advice -under the new system has been rendered to them in much cheaper form -through the investigators of the state. Examiners have also been able -to point out to county officers many deviations from the letter of the -law, the strict compliance with which is of the most vital importance -in the performance of certain county functions, such as taxation. -In a similar way they have checked up illegal charges against the -county, inadequate audit (or no audit at all), instances of additional -compensation (under various guises) for personal service, illegal -temporary loans and misapplication of funds. - -It will at once be seen that the mere possibility of a state examiner’s -visit will have an admonitory effect which in itself will often be -sufficient to keep an official in the straight and narrow path. The -county, in conforming to the reporting requirements, derives a local -benefit wholly apart from any obligation to the state. Upon the basis -of a sound and permanent system of accounting the local officers are -in a position accurately to inform the county of their doings and -make comparison of a financial transaction of one year with those of -previous years. Herein is one foundation stone of a scientific budget. - -Under a complete system of state regulation not only are the forms and -standards of uniform accounting established, but a staff of expert -examiners is created to determine by periodical investigation, whether -or not these standards are lived up to. - -The remarkable conditions preceding the establishment of the Ohio -Bureau and the important services which it has rendered the state, -are revealed in the following summary[15] of its findings in counties -during the first ten years of its existence. - -STATEMENT OF FINDINGS TO NOVEMBER 15, 1912 - -COUNTIES - -------+-------------+-----------+-----------+-------------+----------- - | Findings for| Illegal | Unclaimed | Total | - Year | Recovery | Payments | Moneys | Illegal | Returns -------+-------------+-----------+-----------+-------------+----------- - 1903 | $50,268.93| $18,808.91| $807.92| $69,884.76| $10,741.93 - 1904 | 57,805.54| 2,504.41| 10,339.95| 70,649.90| 2,222.31 - 1905 | 246,280.58| 7,421.87| 25,389.52| 279,091.97| 24,847.83 - | | | | | - 1906 | 295,082.80| 14,227.52| 5,218.21| 314,528.53| 232,156.78 - 1907 | 646,397.50| 115,906.91| 18,049.13| 780,353.54| 322,911.08 - 1908 | 103,764.26| 43,333.31| 9,829.15| 156,928.92| 41,171.53 - | | | | | - 1909 | 410,282.51| 320,137.17| 23,219.42| 753,639.10| 66,219.91 - 1910 | 146,024.04| 106,410.00| 22,241.18| 274,675.22| 24,438.36 - 1911 | 233,547.24| 129,007.02| 7,921.90| 370,476.16| 37,735.34 - | | | | | - 1912 | 112,926.80| No report | 118.26| 113,045.06| 96,015.16 -------+-------------+-----------+-----------+-------------+----------- - Ttls |$2,302,379.30|$757,759.32|$123,134.54|$3,183,273.16|$858,460.23 -------+-------------+-----------+-----------+-------------+----------- - - -TAX ADMINISTRATION - -A branch of local fiscal administration which is in far less -satisfactory shape is that of taxation. In no department is -“nullification,” as has been already shown, more constant and -serious. The situation is complicated. In seventeen of the states, -including every one north of the Ohio and Potomac rivers, and east of -the Mississippi, except Illinois, Indiana and Maryland, the county -as a whole has very little to do with assessments for the general -property tax, the unit for assessment in that section being the town -or township. That in nearly all these states the general property tax -may be said to have broken down, would seem to be indicated by the -establishment of a permanent state tax commission or commissioner in -all of them except Pennsylvania. In thirty-one states in the South and -West, the county is the unit of assessment, and in its favor it may be -said that in this rôle it has proven a far more satisfactory performer -than the town. The county is small enough to serve as a convenient -unit for assessment operations and assessment records and furnishes -the basis of a system of fewer units than if the town were the basis. -Under the county plan, moreover, there are fewer opportunities for -communities to compete against each other in their effort to escape -their just share of the general burden of government. It is significant -that most of the western states have seen the advantages of the county -as the local unit of administration. - -But the county, for all that, appears to be incapable of standing -on its own feet in tax matters. Even under the most favorable -circumstances there remains an important duty for a state commission to -supervise the work of the county assessor or board of assessors to the -end that the letter of the law may be obeyed with the utmost uniformity -throughout the state. Such a commission must see that the county -does injustice to neither individuals nor the state through inequal -assessment and that the tax sales are in accordance with the law. - -The county, in short, has a useful place in the general scheme of tax -administration, but it must be a _supervised_ unit. - - -CIVIL SERVICE - -In the administration of the civil service law the county also does -well to lean upon the state. The same considerations that apply in -accounting and tax matters apply with equal force in the selection of -the employees. Most of the counties are too small to serve as units in -which to install facilities for conducting examinations and publishing -useful records. The superior powers of the state commission over -the localities in these respects are emphatically not a destructive -check upon the county’s officers. They do not detract from local -responsibility. They simply enable them to apply to their work the -most effective means available. - -In New York the state civil service commission regulates the service in -eighteen counties. In New Jersey the adoption of the civil service law -involving state control rests with the people of each county. Hudson, -Essex, Mercer, Passaic and Union counties have taken advantage of the -law. - -Administration apart from fiscal supervision in other departments, -such as charities, prisons and public health, has advanced much more -slowly than reform in the fields which have been mentioned. But every -indication for the future is toward greater control through accounting -and supervision. The county acts locally in the enforcement of state -obligations. The real trouble comes when one undertakes, arbitrarily, -to place any given county activity in the local or state category. -The catching of a thief, for example, is a very essential part of the -state’s most fundamental duty to protect property, but the locality -where the crime is committed is very keenly interested in having the -machinery of the county set to work to punish the deed. The locality -pays the sheriff his salary or his fees, but the state, in protecting -the property of its citizens, is probably justified in guarding against -extravagant or dishonest use by the people of the county even of their -own money. - -And so it is impracticable and not by any means necessary to give the -county quite unbridled liberty to control all its officers. Central -supervision is a middle course that protects the state and instead of -impairing, really conserves the county’s interests. The state, without -instructing the county as to _what_ it may do with its purely -local powers, may lay a firm hand upon it in telling _how_ to -use those powers effectively. Such a course is conceived in quite a -different spirit from the destructive sort of state meddling which was -described in the preceding chapter, which proceeds from the legislative -branch of the central government. What the state government actually -does when it regulates or supervises is to hold up the county official -to standards of performance. This is the proper work of officers or -boards in the administrative branch. It relates not to _what_ -the county shall do as a matter of broad policy, but _how_ the -county shall redeem its obligation in matters of routine, detail and -technique. The state agency may have only the power to “visit and -inspect,” like the New York State Board of Charities, or it may, like -the Comptroller of the same state, actually impose forms of procedure. -In either case, local officers otherwise unstimulated to efficient -work, as they must be under the present system of government, are thus -given moral support from a responsible quarter. They are subjected to -a cold, unescapable comparison with other officers in other localities -and they are given the benefit of expert advice on many obscure and -complex phases of public administration. - -[14] See _Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social -Science_, May 1913. pp. 199-213. - -[15] Prof. John H. Boyle, _op. cit._, p. 203. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -READJUSTMENTS - - -So much by way of accepting counties as they are. “State guidance” goes -a long way as a palliative of unsatisfactory conditions. It is a sort -of permanent first aid to the injured. - -But the county needs surgical treatment! In some cases it is well to -_fix_ responsibility. In extremities it becomes necessary to -_amputate_. - -Bear in mind, to begin with, the fact that the county at bottom is -really a piece of the state, a local agency. The prevailing practice -of local election of officers and its logical sequence, local -nullification, have done much to obscure the real interests of the -state at the county court house, till the average run of citizens have -long forgotten that the distinction exists; that officers like the -sheriff, district attorney, public administrator and coroner are not -strictly local officers at all but subordinates of the general state -government. - -By far the most important branch of general administration with -which county officers serve is the judiciary. Counties, except in a -few states, are the units for selection of judges having original -jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases which involve moderate -amounts of money and less than the most serious offenses. With the -county court also is generally associated probate jurisdiction, which -is exercised in some of the eastern states by a special officer known -as the surrogate, who may be a judge as in New York, or a purely -ministerial officer, as in New Jersey. - -Legally the judiciary is more nearly a part of a state system than any -other branch of the county organization. The decisions of the judges -are of course subject to appeal to a higher state court--that is an -important form of control. Sometimes, as in California, a part of the -salary of the county judge is paid from state funds. Probably too the -greater popular respect that hedges about the bench is sufficient to -set it apart from much of the sinister influence that often affects -the other officers of the county. Nevertheless, the county court in -common with other divisions of the judiciary, is subject to a wide -variety of disintegrating forces. It has a variegated allegiance: to -the people (in most of the states) for its original selection, to the -county governing body for many incidental items of financial support, -and to higher judicial authority for confirmation or revision of its -decisions. It does not control its executive agents, such as the -sheriff and the county clerk, who are usually independent elective -officers. - -The readjustment of this situation can hardly be effected -satisfactorily apart from a complete reorganization of the state’s -judicial system. This will undoubtedly involve, among other things, a -much more complete central control on the part of a state chief justice -and a judicial council. The courts must be organized with a keener -appreciation that a judge in rendering just and learned decisions is a -part of a business machine--he is waiting on customers; that there is -no sound reason why the judicial department should defy the principle -of responsibility any more than a department which serves the public in -another way. - -In the general overhauling of the systems, perhaps the elective county -judge will disappear. But liberty, for all that, will not vanish from -the earth. States as diverse in their location and composition as New -Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey and South Carolina never drifted -quite completely into the habit of “electing everybody,” and they are -good states. The Federal judiciary, too, is appointive, and it is -not more culpable, by standards of either the progressiveness or of -administrative efficiency, than most of the state courts. - -The earthquake, we may hope, will also shake up the justices of the -peace, who in any self-respecting organization of the courts will -either disappear or be linked up, as the American Judicature Society -proposes, in a county system, with the county judge in control. The -justices are now associated with the town or a corresponding division -of the county and deal with very minor (but not for that reason -insignificant) civil and criminal cases, or act as a tribunal for -preliminary hearings and commitments. In cities the office has steadily -and hopelessly decayed by transfer of its jurisdiction to other courts -and through the abuses of the fee system. It was established moreover -when means of transportation were few and difficult and districts -consequently had to be made small in order to meet the convenience -of the litigants who came seeking justice. But times have changed! -Circumstances favor larger districts and infinitely better control over -this branch of the judiciary. - -In making over the courts we cannot properly overlook the machinery -for enforcing judicial decisions. This is the function of the sheriff. -Where, in the reconstructed scheme of things shall he come in? Our -forefathers committed themselves to the theory of the separation of -powers, these three: the legislative, the executive and the judicial. -Under this scheme of things the duty of judges is to find or interpret -the law: nothing more. The sheriff as an executive officer is therefore -always independent of the court: he is the enforcer of state laws which -come to him in the form of very specific instructions by way of court -decisions. Such instructions are issued in the interest of parties to a -legal controversy. - -But the sheriff is not the only law enforcer in the county. The state -has made the board of supervisors (or board of commissioners) and -county officers its agents in enforcing various state laws. And so -the question arises: why not bring all the enforcing agencies under a -single control? Two ways suggest themselves. If the judicial system is -to be a unified state affair, then judicial-decision enforcing should -also be a state concern and the county should keep its hands off. In -practice this would mean that the governor or some other general state -officer should appoint the sheriffs on the same principle which is -employed in the federal government, wherein the President appoints U. -S. marshals. But, if on the other hand, the county government is to be -considered as a general local agency of the state for enforcing all its -laws, then nothing remains but to put it up to the local governing body -or some local chief executive to select the sheriff. Such is the method -which has been applied in the city and county of Denver, Colorado, -where the mayor is the chief executive of the consolidated governments. - -And what of the coroner? Every authority worthy of credence is agreed -that this office, above all others in the county, has long outlived its -usefulness. That one small head should contain the necessary skill of -criminal investigator, medical expert and magistrate is far too much to -expect of any ordinary mortal. A few states, following Massachusetts, -which abolished the coronership in 1877, have created an office under -various titles, such as “medical examiner,” “county physician” (New -Jersey), “medical referee” (New Hampshire), etc. They have modernized -the coronership by stripping it of its magisterial powers and taking -it off the ballot. In most cases the new medical officer is an expert -pathologist and his services are often of the greatest value in -criminal and civil actions and to the cause of science. In New York -City the coroners now in office in the five boroughs will go out of -office on January 1, 1918, their powers of investigation will then -be transferred to a chief medical examiner appointed by the mayor, -and a corps of assistants who will be equipped with ample laboratory -facilities. The judicial duties of the coroner will be turned over to -the city magistrates. - -As for the district attorney,[16] his proper relations to a criminal -trial and to the public seem to be generally misunderstood. He is the -state’s advocate as against the breaker of the law. But it is no part -of his business to send every alleged offender to the penitentiary. -The efficiency of the prosecutor is not to be determined by a high -record of convictions. He is not, properly, a man-hunter. Nor is it his -province to decide when he shall bear down hard upon offenders and when -he shall soften justice. His functions, in short, are administrative -and not political. And when that fact is admitted every reason why he -should be popularly elected falls. In the ideal county, efficiency in -the administration of justice will not be a perennial local campaign -issue, for the prosecutor will be appointed by some responsible state -authority, such as the governor or attorney general, not as a reward -for political services but on the basis of merit and fitness. Or if, -perchance, it shall be deemed unwise so to centralize authority, -it would at least be logical to let the county authorities do the -appointing. - -There remains to be disposed of the clerk of court.[17] His relation -to the bench is rather a closer one than that of the sheriff, so close -that in some jurisdictions it has not been thought a violation of the -theory of the separation of powers to allow the judge or the whole -court to appoint him. Such indeed would seem the proper course. But -in many counties the business of court-clerking is hardly onerous -enough to engage a separate officer and the duties have accordingly -been transferred to the county clerk. This officer usually performs -a variety of functions, among which are his services as clerk of the -county board and as the local custodian or register of legal papers -required to be filed under certain state laws. In counties where this -“bunching” of functions has to be resorted to, the least that should -be done by way of readjustment should be to help along the unification -of the county government by vesting the appointment of the county -clerk in the county board or a county executive to be established. -In the larger counties where the volume of county business warrants a -separation of functions, there seems to be no sound reason why such -duties as the filing of papers should not be in the hands of an officer -appointed by some state official, to represent him in the locality. -In this way certain counties at least would be completely divested -of responsibilities of which they appear never to have acquitted -themselves too well. The county’s ultimate place in the sun is being -determined by a stripping process: the state is taking up its work. - -Thus in the domain of charities. We pointed out in Chapter IX that -the county was hopelessly deficient in caring for the insane, the -defectives and the criminals. Modern methods, which are humane methods, -have come to demand strict classification as the very starting point -for treatment. But unless the number of subjects for treatment is -reasonably large, the expense of such classification is prohibitive. -Most counties cannot supply the numbers. They find themselves in the -predicament of a rural sheriff who has in custody an average of perhaps -six prisoners. If his county were to obey the law it would have ready -at all times an establishment which provided special accommodations for -almost forty different classes of inmates. - -Under these circumstances the only course is to transfer as many -classes of prisoners as possible to the care of a larger unit of -government that is able economically to segregate. This transfer -actually began in some of the older states in the eighteenth century. -Massachusetts led the movement by erecting a special prison on -Castle Island for the most desperate type of convicts. In 1796, New -York began the construction of two state prisons in New York and -Albany. In 1816, Ohio built a state penitentiary at Columbus and in -1839, Michigan completed its first state prison at Jackson. Reform -institutions in this country began to be established in Massachusetts -in 1846 when juvenile offenders were removed from local jails and -state prisons. Since then separate institutions for boys and girls -have been established in nearly all of the eastern states. New York in -1877 erected the first reformatory to which adult convicts could be -committed under an indeterminate sentence. - -As for the care of the insane, this was the first department of -public welfare administration that was taken over by the whole state, -beginning with the establishment of the first hospital in Utica, New -York, in 1843. From time to time other states have followed New York’s -example until nearly every state has one or more hospitals. With -the increase in the number of institutions in a given state further -segregation and classification of inmates has been possible. State -institutions now furnish the means for appropriate education for the -mentally defective who formerly were left to shift for themselves in -mismanaged county almshouses. The deaf, dumb and blind have been taken -care of in similar fashion. Indeed, the function of county poor relief -would now seem to approach as its ideal, the complete transfer to the -state of all charity functions except possibly a certain amount of -temporary “out-door” relief. But even this rather narrow field has been -invaded, for, in New England and New York, at least, a class of “state -poor” is known to the statutes. - -That the county has often sadly broken down in the guardianship of -life and property is a fact which has come into prominence within -very recent years. As the police force of the big cities become -more and more efficient the field of operation for criminals is -transferred to the suburbs, to the small towns and villages and to -the open country and the police problem in the rural sections takes -on a semi-metropolitan aspect. Good roads, the automobile and the -telephone have facilitated the business of thugs and burglars as well -as of honest citizens. Said the district attorney of Niagara County, -New York, recently, “Nearly every post office safe in Western New -York has been robbed, and I do not now recall anybody having been -convicted for these crimes. The ordinary constable or deputy sheriff -can serve subpœnas and make a levy under an execution providing he is -feeling well, but as a general rule he is incapable of coping with even -a third-class criminal.” Numerous other equally forcible official -statements of the same tenor have been collected by the New York -Committee on State Police. - -To cope with these crimes of violence and cunning the untrained, -politically selected sheriff of the typical rural county is but -sadly equipped. He is a temporary elected official to begin with, -unschooled in the ways of criminals and unfamiliar with any of the -vast paraphernalia of investigation that go to make up a modern police -system. Certain parts of the country moreover have peculiar periodical -disturbances on a larger scale than criminals operate--riots, lynching -parties, flood disasters, strikes. These occasions demand the temporary -mobilizing of a comparatively large, well-organized and disciplined -force to handle the situation with firmness and fairness. It is no -place for the crude old-fashioned sheriff’s posse. - -At the present time it is the frequent practice on such occasions to -call out the state militia. But while this organization has often -doubtless rendered effective service, police duty is not its proper -occupation. Every year enlistments fall far below the adequate figure -because young men in business and professional life deem it obnoxious -to leave their appointed tasks to do a professional policeman’s work. -In the discussion of “preparedness” measures it has frequently been -proposed that the militia be enlisted solely for national defense and -that a special fighting force be developed for state police duty. If -such a force were organized on a permanent basis it would practically -relieve the sheriff and the constables from police duty. - -A model for such a force is found in the Pennsylvania State -Constabulary, which has been in existence since 1902. This is an -organization of two hundred and twenty mounted policemen formed -into four companies under a superintendent of police. Every year it -patrols 660,000 miles of rural roads and not only keeps the rural -sections singularly free from criminals but has performed numerous -other distinctive services. It has prevented disastrous fires and mine -explosions, quelled riots, stopped illegal hunting and maintained -quarantine during epidemics of disease. It was this constabulary that -handled the tremendous crowds at the Gettysburg Centennial in 1913. -The force is made up of picked men who are taught the laws of the -commonwealth and schooled to enforce them with absolute impartiality -against offenders of all classes. It has been free from politics and -has won the respect of all classes of the people. - -In the domain of highways[18] the county, under the pressure of the -good-roads movement, has been rapidly yielding its control to the -central government. The good-roads problem simply outgrew the county. -It could not be handled efficiently through so small a unit. In the -course of railway development everywhere the old lines of tributary -traffic by wagon road from the farms to the shipping centers were -greatly modified. Their objective point came to have no particular -reference to the boundaries of the county or the location of the county -seat. Traffic from one county destroyed the roads of another without -supplying any compensatory advantages to the latter. Modern road -construction, particularly since the advent of the automobile, created -technical engineering problems far beyond the capacity of the local -officials to solve. Without the aid of better equipped agencies than a -unit so small as the county could afford most of the rural roads of the -county must have gone to rack and ruin, to say nothing of their meeting -the demands of present day traffic. But forty-two state governments, -up to 1915, had come to the rescue, either by supplying financial aid, -authorizing the employment of convict labor or by furnishing expert -advice founded upon scientific research. Up to the year 1914 only -Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas had -made no provision whatever for state participation in road work. - -But the significant point to be noted here is the strong tendency -to take entirely out of the hands of the county the whole burden, -financial and otherwise, of the great trunk lines and in many cases -to impose standards and specifications for construction even where the -county does its own road building. Thus, Massachusetts, up to January -1, 1914, had completed more than one thousand miles of state highway -through the issuance of state bonds and the levying of automobile -taxes, the counties being required to refund the state twenty-five -per cent. of the cost of construction. New York established a highway -department in 1898 and has authorized bond issues of $100,000,000 for -a state system of roads which has already reached an advanced stage -of construction. Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and California have made -much progress toward a state road system, the California plan calling -for two main highways running the length of the state and a system of -laterals connecting the county seats with the trunk lines. The state of -Iowa has gone so far as to place all road work in the state under the -direction of its highway department. - -And so, the dominion of the county is being invaded at sundry points. -The unification of the judiciary (which it must be admitted has not -yet progressed very far), the gradual transfer of the charity and -correctional work to the state government, the establishment of a -state police and the more imminent abridgment of county control over -highways--these movements unmistakably and definitely seem to point the -ultimate displacement of the county as an important agent of public -service in particular fields. - -But that is but one side of the story. For while, on the one hand, the -importance of the county is threatened in particular fields there seems -to be before it in other directions a career of greater usefulness than -ever before. This present observation, however, applies only to those -states where the town or township has come in for particular emphasis, -or where, as will be suggested later in the discussion, the principle -of federation may be adopted by a number of contiguous municipalities -as a step toward consolidation of local governments. - -In a number of states where the New England influence has been strong -the town is frequently the unit (though not always exclusively) for -the custodianship of certain records such as deeds and mortgages, for -public health administration, for commitment of paupers, for road -construction and maintenance or for tax assessment and collection. - -The relation of the county to the town in these concerns is analogous -to that of the state to county in such matters as the care of the -insane and the control of trunk-line highways. It is a question of -finding a unit large enough (and not too large) to fit the problem in -hand. Public health, for example, is largely a matter of controlling -sources of disease in milk and water supply, which under modern methods -of living are usually much more widely distributed than the area which -is served. Effective control in that case would simply mean control -through a unit larger than the town, to wit: the county, unless control -on a still wider scale should prove feasible. Similarly in the matter -of police protection: the town constable is an anachronism in these -days of rapid transit. The county is a more appropriate police unit -than the town. Town custodianship of records means duplication, lack of -standards and waste. Town commitment of paupers to the county almshouse -or poor farm is a temptation on the part of the smaller locality to -shift its burdens on to the shoulders of the whole county. - -When it comes to highway construction, the high technical skill which -needs to go into the work is a commodity which comes too high for a -town and even, as we have pointed out, for the county. - -But the most serious misfits of town government are the local agents -of tax administration. Wherever the town is the smallest tax unit not -only is the number of officials needlessly multiplied, but diverse -standards of property valuation are set up and competition is resorted -to between towns with a view to escaping their just share of taxation. -Without a dissenting voice the recognized tax experts of the county are -firmly of the opinion that the town as a unit of tax assessment and tax -collection must give way to the county. - -And so, the readjustments that are working out the ultimate destiny of -the county are not wholly of a negative sort. It is not all a matter of -trimming the county’s wings. - -[16] Variously designated in different states as state’s attorney, -prosecutor of the pleas, county attorney and solicitor. - -[17] In Pennsylvania known as the “prothonotary.” - -[18] This discussion of highway matters is based principally upon a -monograph by J. E. Pennybacker, Chief of Road Economics, Office of -Public Roads, Department of Agriculture. Y. B. Separate, 1914. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -COUNTY HOME RULE - - -Some counties indeed are awakening to a sense of their identity and are -asserting with much vigor their ability to organize and manage many -concerns which have been conspicuously mishandled either by the state -authorities or by the smaller local units. - -Nowhere has the need for “readjustment” to meet this demand been more -keenly appreciated than in California. Elsewhere in these chapters -we have referred to the great diversity in the underlying social and -physical conditions in that state. To meet this situation fifty-six -“general” laws (that were not general at all) had been enacted, for as -many counties. No other method of individualizing county government -had been resorted to until 1911. At that time the progressive leaders -in the legislature wished to bring government, all down the line, -into sympathy with standards of simplicity and efficiency that were -then beginning to be accepted. For a time county government seemed to -present an insuperable obstacle: how could a state system be devised -that would square with these new ideas? Then it was remembered that -for upwards of thirty years the _cities_ of California had been -determining for themselves what municipal officers should be chosen, -how they should be chosen and what powers they should exercise. -California was a pioneer in municipal home rule and the system had -worked pretty much to everybody’s satisfaction. - -Inasmuch, however, as counties have much more intimate relations with -the state government it seemed impracticable to allow them quite so -large discretion as the cities, in determining the powers they should -enjoy. And so, the California amendment gives the people of the county -freedom to determine the form and detail of the county organization, -subject to the proviso that each of the necessary county officers such -as sheriff, district attorney, etc., must be maintained to execute the -state law within the county. Members of the county board of supervisors -must be elected, but not necessarily by districts. All other county -officers, except the superior court judges, may be either elective or -appointive in a manner set forth in a county charter. - -The procedure by which California counties may take advantage of the -home-rule privilege is as follows: A board of fifteen freeholders is -elected, either in pursuance of an ordinance adopted by three fifths of -the members of the board of supervisors, or of a petition signed by -fifteen per centum of the qualified electors of the county, computed -upon the total number of votes cast therein for all candidates for -governor at the last preceding gubernatorial election. Within one -hundred and twenty days from the time their election is declared the -board of freeholders must prepare and cause to be published a charter -for the government of the county. Within sixty days after its first -publication (unless a general election intervenes) the charter is -submitted to the voters of the county for adoption or rejection. It is -then submitted to the legislature at its next session for approval or -rejection but not for amendment. But since a California legislature -in thirty-seven years has never been known to reject a charter or -a charter amendment of a city, the outlook for a policy of county -non-interference would seem to be good. - -It may be, however, that the California plan is too radical a change -for states which have not yet granted freedom to their cities. A less -sweeping way of affording relief from iron-clad forms of government is -found in the statutes of Illinois, New Jersey and other states, through -which it is possible for any county to pass from one prescribed form to -another by petition and popular election. Similar laws are in operation -in a number of states permitting cities to adopt the commission plan, -and in four states the cities may make a choice between three or four -forms under an optional law. - -Following the passage of such a city law in New York, the County -Government Association and the official commissions on the -reorganization of government in Nassau and Westchester counties -memorialized the constitutional convention of 1915 for amendments which -would authorize the counties to adopt a plan of organization suited to -their local needs. These associations formulated the question of county -adjustment for “up-state” New York counties in these words: - - First: That the Legislature should be required by the Constitution - to provide optional plans of county government, any one of which any - county may adopt by a vote of the people. - - Second: That the Legislature should in such plans confer upon the - Board of Supervisors or other governing body in such county such - powers of local legislation as the Legislature may deem expedient. - - Third: That the Constitution should require that no such plan of - government should be imposed on any county until approved by the - electors thereof and that no amendment to any plan of government - should affect any county which has previously adopted such plan, - unless such amendment is accepted by such county, or unless such - amendment relates to some state function. - - Fourth: That the Constitution should require that all laws relating - to the government of counties should be general both in terms and in - effect, except that special or local laws relating to such government - may be passed, but shall take effect only on approval of the county - affected. - -The California amendment has been put to use in the four counties of -Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Tehama, and Butte, all of which have their -special “home-rule” charters. Its early use is contemplated in Alameda, -Napa and Santa Barbara counties. Since 1911 the scope of the amendment -has been broadened so as to permit of considerable latitude in the -consolidation of city and county governments. - -Such is the counter-movement to centralized state control. In no wise -are the two in the least inconsistent, for the latter tendency is to -limit the subjects in which the county acts in the capacity of a local -state agent while the former concerns itself simply with _methods_ -of performing service under local popular control. - -The home-rule movement, if it may so be indicated, is practical -evidence that people are regarding counties as something more than mere -geographical expressions. Counties are _thinking_ units. They are -capable of framing local policies. Therefore they would extend their -opportunities to think and to express themselves. - -This idea seems to be at the bottom of the local option policy of the -organized anti-liquor forces throughout a great portion of the country. -Shrewd tactics, of course, has a good deal to do with it, for county -and other forms of local option are but the thin side of a wedge to -state-wide and even nation-wide prohibition. But for the present -at least, organizations like the Anti-Saloon League realize that -counties are very handy and convenient units of public sentiment and -have been instrumental in securing county option laws in many states, -including Idaho, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, -Montana, Oregon, Texas. Incidentally, the county option plan makes the -public policy district in liquor matters coincide with districts for -enforcement, thus minimizing the danger of nullification. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -CONSOLIDATION - - -The battle cry of local freedom comes up loudest from urban centers. -The simple reason is that the counties were devised originally for -communities in a state of nature--a few people, widely scattered, all -but oblivious to the existence or need of government. City communities -on the other hand are highly complex, individualized, differentiated -units. Accordingly, their governmental garments must be custom-made. - -City governments indeed were instituted partly to escape the -strait-jacket inflexibility of the counties. Gradually, as we have -seen, they elbowed the county governments into a dark corner, to the -infinite debasement of the sheriff, the coroner, the poor master and -the tax collector and other typical accessories of the county. - -But almost everywhere, at some point short of full county annihilation, -the pressure of the city stopped. Perhaps it was the politicians who -intervened, to save “the boys” at the court house; or perhaps it -was the feeling that seems to have settled down upon our political -thinking, that counties, like death and taxes, have to be. - -Within very recent years, bold spirits in some of the metropolitan -centers have begun to feel that the county, in their particular -communities, was a public nuisance and have been “going” for it. -Thus the New York _Times_, when the New York Constitutional -Convention was in session in 1915, delivered not a few strokes for a -proposition to abolish existing boundaries of the sixty-one counties -and substitute therefor eight administrative districts. Cleveland, -Ohio, reformers would like to have that city divorce itself from the -rural part of Cuyahoga County. In Rochester, a recent survey has -suggested a similar course with reference to Monroe County. Studies -have also been made recently (1916) by the City Club of Milwaukee. -A member of the city commission in Jersey City has recently caused -to be passed in the legislature a bill providing for a vote on -consolidation of municipalities in Hudson County on a sort of borough -plan. In Cincinnati the question of consolidation of the city with -Hamilton County was recently opened, apparently for the first time, -in newspaper discussions. In the 1916 New York legislature there was -under discussion a bill extending control of the board of estimate -and apportionment in New York City over the employees of the five -counties within the city. This was in line with a recent report by the -chamberlain and the commissioner of accounts of New York City submitted -to the Constitutional Convention, which pointed out the advantages -of the abolition of counties in New York City and the transfer of -their functions to the control of the city authorities. St. Louis City -actually accomplished the fact in 1876 when it separated from St. -Louis County. Baltimore and a number of Virginia cities have long been -separated (for historical rather than reformatory reasons, however,) -from the surrounding rural or suburban territory. - -In practice, the process of relocation of county boundary lines is very -much like the reversing of a long series of court decisions. Local -tradition and the gradual crystallizing of the interests of local -politicians militate powerfully to maintain the _status quo_. And, -yet, for all that, the shifting of boundary lines must inevitably come, -if local governments are to meet their obligations. - -Just where and by what criteria the new lines are to be laid is no -easy question to decide; our metropolitan centers are of such various -origins and in such differing degrees of development. The committee -on City-County Consolidation of the National Municipal League in -a preliminary report rendered in 1916 seeks to classify the urban -communities in this fashion: - - “The simplest type of urban county is that in which the geographical - limits of the two local units are identical and the population has - grown up out of a single well-defined historical nucleus. Among other - communities there would fall within this classification the cities of - Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco and Baltimore and eighteen cities - in Virginia. - - “A second type is that in which a single city furnishes an - overwhelming proportion of the population, but occupies a relatively - small part of an otherwise rural territory. Among the cities which - fall in this classification are Buffalo, Milwaukee and Cleveland. - - “The third type is that in which a city of predominating size - and importance is surrounded by a number of smaller but vigorous - municipalities which have grown up not as suburbs of the main city, - but out of independent historical beginnings. Cases in point are the - two largest counties of New Jersey, Hudson and Essex. - - “A fourth type is one which contains several strong municipalities, - no one of which has achieved a position of undisputed leadership. - Alameda County, Cal., which contains the cities of Oakland, Alameda - and Berkeley will serve to illustrate. - - “The most advanced type of the city-county problem involves the - adjustment of the political to the physical and social unity of a - great urban area, regardless of established boundaries of either - cities or counties. The metropolitan districts of New York and - Massachusetts are the most conspicuous illustrations of this problem.” - -The key to reconstruction is the same in every case: simplification. -Eliminate duplication of civil divisions; substitute one government for -two or many (in the case of Chicago, twenty-two!). There is a good deal -of _logic_ in a separate local government to serve as a state -agency. But everywhere the people have waived the right or privilege of -a logical government when they have illogically insisted upon selecting -their officers locally. When the district attorney, for instance, is -chosen by the electors of the county he may be legally the state’s -representative but he is _practically_ a local officer in very -much the same sense as the mayor. Then why, for legal fiction’s sake, -distinguish between the city and the county? - -One American city-county has not only seen the inefficiency and -hypocrisy of the dual system but has actually wiped out the last -semblance of distinction between the two divisions. The story is told -in legal form in Article XX of the Colorado constitution: - - “The municipal corporation known as the city of Denver, and all - municipal corporations and that part of the quasi-municipal - corporation known as the County of Arapahoe, in the state of Colorado, - included into the exterior boundaries of the said city of Denver, as - the same shall be bounded when this amendment takes effect, are hereby - consolidated and are hereby declared to be a single body politic and - corporate, by the name of the city and county of Denver.” - -By this same amendment the city and county were declared to be a single -judicial district of the state, and county officers were disposed of by -prescribing that - - “the then mayor, auditor, engineer, council (which shall perform the - duties of a board of county commissioners), police magistrate, chief - of police and boards, of the city of Denver shall become respectively, - said officers of the city and county of Denver, and said engineer - shall be _ex-officio_ surveyor and said chief of police shall be - _ex-officio_ sheriff of the city and county of Denver; and the - then clerk and _ex-officio_ recorder, treasurer, assessor and - coroner of the county of Arapahoe and the justices of the peace and - constables holding office within the city of Denver, shall become, - respectively, said officers of the city and county of Denver, and the - district attorney shall be _ex-officio_ attorney of the city and - county of Denver.” - -In 1913 an amendment to the Denver charter, adopted by popular vote, -provided for the commission form of government with the usual divisions -of administration into five departments respectively of Property, -Finance, Safety, Improvements and Social Welfare. To some one of these -commissionerships was assigned jurisdiction over each of the several -county officers, as appropriately as the conditions would permit. - -The process of amalgamation was made complete when in May, 1916, Denver -abandoned the commission plan and made the mayor chief executive of the -county as well as of the city, with appropriate appointing power. - -In New York, consolidation has extended to most of the fiscal -functions, tending to leave intact only so much of the original -county structure as is incidental to the administration of justice, -including the courts themselves, the sheriff in his capacity of court -executive and the court clerks. The functions of the county treasurer -have been transferred to the city chamberlain and the comptroller, -and the department of taxes and assessments has been attached to the -city organization. The separate governing bodies of the five counties -have been swept away and their powers transferred to the city Board -of Estimate and Apportionment and Board of Aldermen. New York City -also has not only taken over the function of public charities, but -its Department of Corrections has been steadily encroaching upon the -prerogatives of the sheriffs. The future issue of city consolidation -there is accordingly reduced to a matter of abolishing the five -counties and transferring their functions to officers under city -control and making the independent elective officers such as the -sheriff, district attorney, clerk and register appointive by either -city or state authorities. - -[19]In spite of much that remains to be done, consolidation has -proceeded to an advanced stage also in Boston, though hardly in a -direct line towards greater simplicity. Before it became a city in 1820 -a conflict had arisen as to the jurisdiction of the town, and of the -court of sessions for Suffolk County, respecting highways and taxation. -The legislature thereupon abolished the court and transferred its -administrative functions to the mayor and council of Boston. Boston, -however, is not geographically identical with Suffolk County, since -the latter for the purposes of the administration of justice, includes -the city of Chelsea and the towns of Revere and Winthrop. Boston has -the title to all the real and personal property of Suffolk County but -also pays the entire expense of its administration. The treasurer and -auditor of accounts of the city act in similar capacities for the -county of Suffolk. But there are seven elective county officials and -several, virtually independent of each other, who are chosen by the -governor or the justice of the Superior Court. - -This situation as to the actual political Boston is confusing -enough. Metropolitan Boston on the other hand, comprises thirty-nine -municipalities situated in five counties, which make up a compact -community of a million five hundred thousand inhabitants. These centers -have every facility for communication and transportation. And the state -has indeed recognized the unity of the district by establishing such -agencies of administration as the metropolitan park commission and the -metropolitan water and sewer board. - -San Francisco has proceeded so far as to have a single governing body -and a single set of fiscal officers for city and county. - -With this, the recital of actual accomplishments toward formal -consolidation is about complete. The advantages of consolidation as -they appear to a disinterested observer are obvious. But the process -is usually difficult in the extreme, especially as it relates to the -equitable distribution of assets and liabilities of the parts to be -consolidated. New York City only accomplished this by assuming the -debts of the outlying counties and municipalities. But in the course of -nineteen years not even that generous concession has sufficed to the -vigorous local spirit of Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Richmond. - - -FEDERATION - -Where immediate consolidation at a single stroke is out of the -question, as is apparently almost always the case, a more easy -transition is suggested by the recommendations of the City and County -Government Association of Alameda County, California. Realizing -that a powerful local sentiment in the outlying territory militated -irresistibly against annexation to the city of Oakland or, in fact, any -form of complete organic union of the municipalities in the county, -this Association has proposed as the logical first step to a more -economically organized county, a plan of federation. - -[Illustration: ORGANIZATION CHART For the City and County of Alameda -and its Boroughs as Proposed in the Tentative Charter Submitted by the -City and County Government Association] - -[Illustration: SKETCH of PROPOSED CITY and COUNTY of ALAMEDA -SHOWING PROPOSED BOROUGHS] - -Under the proposed plan the governing body would consist of one -councillor from each of twenty-one districts. Unlike the present -board of supervisors in Alameda County, the new body would have only -legislative functions. The functions of the county, as a public -corporation, would be broadened to include a number of interests -which the municipalities are conceived to have in common. Police -protection, for instance, would revert from the cities back to the -county, where it was originally lodged, on the theory that crime -thrives in a certain social and physical environment and knows nothing -and cares less for corporate limits. And inasmuch also as the ravages -of fire and disease are the interests of a territory rather than the -corporate boundaries of a city, the control of these perils would -also be transferred to the county. The installation of the plan would -also result in the abolishment of the dual system of tax assessment -and tax collection. To the smaller units would be left jurisdiction -over their more distinctively local affairs such as public works. The -identity of the individual cities, which would be known as “boroughs,” -would thus remain intact, for they would retain their local governing -bodies to frame strictly local policies. At the same time the general -organization of the local government would provide for the common -interests of the constituent members. - -Some such plan of federation, as a transition step toward unity, would -seem to commend itself to several important counties which are made -up of communities like those which compose Alameda County. How these -communities in the face of increased cost of government and the greater -demands for public service are much longer to resist some measures -toward greater organic unity it is difficult to conceive. - -Even in the domain of public works the desirability of unified control -is often of much importance. Thus in Essex County, N. J., it was -discovered as early as 1894 that no adequate provision for a public -park system could be worked out by the separate municipalities in -that distinctly urban county. In the case of certain thorough-fares -which ran through two or more of these cities, it was highly desirable -to effect some sort of a continuous, uniform improvement. Certain -lowlands, also, were found to lie partly in one municipality and partly -in another, so that neither city could act to advantage independently. -Some of the cities had no available space for park purposes, while -others had the space, without the resources or the need for developing -it. From every point of view the obvious course to pursue led to -a general consolidation of park interests, and a comprehensive -well-balanced park plan, county-wide in its scope. And so there was -created a county park commission which has exclusive jurisdiction over -park developments and maintenance. It is noteworthy however that this -commission, as we have already indicated, was not made an integral -part of the existing county government but a separate corporation; the -heads of this new department of government were made appointive by the -judges of the Supreme Court in order that politics might be eliminated -from its control. Had the metropolitan area been under a single -municipal control, no such complication would have been necessary. The -county government was deemed unfit to represent the unity of interest -throughout the several communities when an important new undertaking -was under consideration. - -Of the realization of the idea of the metropolitan unification under -county control the London County Council[20] is the world’s most -striking and instructive example. London, through the centuries, as -some of our American cities have done in a lifetime, had grown from -a multitude of small independent local communities into a single, -continuous metropolitan district. However, the constituent units, of -which the ancient city of London is but one, retained their historic -identities and clung to their historic institutions. In this peculiar -way London perhaps resembles the metropolitan district of New York or -Boston or Essex County in New Jersey. From time to time new units of -administration were laid down to correspond to modern needs, until the -system of local government was complexity itself. In 1855, Parliament -took the first step toward adjusting this situation, creating the -Metropolitan Board of Works which, in the thirty-three years of its -life, was responsible for much of the city’s physical improvement. -But corruption and scandal entered its ranks and it was legislated -out of existence. The London County Council was then established -with a membership composed of one hundred and eighteen councillors, -two members being chosen from each of the fifty-seven “parliamentary -boroughs” or election districts and four from the city of London. From -within or without its own membership the councillors select nineteen -aldermen who serve for a six-year term. Through its committees the -Council gets into touch with its various problems of the county, while -engineering, medical, financial and other experts are held responsible -for actual administration. A “clerk” who is chosen by the Council is in -fact the coördinator of the whole system, somewhat in the manner of a -city manager in the United States. A comptroller serves as the fiscal -agent of the Council. - -Upon the county of London thus organized are imposed many of the -functions which in America are almost universally entrusted to cities: -extensive authority over public health, all matters relating to -fire protection, all metropolitan street improvement projects, the -construction and maintenance of bridges that cross the Thames, the -administration of the building laws and the maintenance of tenement -houses. The Council has also limited powers over what we in this -country term “public utilities”; it has power to establish technical -schools and to build and maintain parks and recreation centers. Its -financial powers, while subject in their exercise to the control of the -Home Office, are comprehensive. - -Nor is the county of London but a city by another name. The -metropolitan boroughs have their separate identity and a very real -authority, including a certain control over public health and public -lighting. In any conflict between the boroughs and the county the Home -Office acts as the final arbiter. - -London county has a record of which it has good reason to be proud. To -its credit it has a long list of mighty public works, conceived and -executed in a spirit of public service. Apparently neither graft nor -the spoils system have obtained a foothold. Here is a county which -has become so conspicuous and interesting to its citizens that they -form themselves into local political parties, founded upon genuine -differences of opinion and policy to make their citizenship felt in its -government. In the seats of the governing body sit, not the typical -office seeker to which we are accustomed in America, but men of the -influence and ability of Lord Rosebery, afterwards the prime minister -of England, and Sir John Lubbock. - -All of which would seem to go to prove that even at this late date, -the county is capable of a very honorable service, if it is taken -seriously. - -The whole problem is of utmost importance to the future of American -cities. Aside from the obvious economies of a single local government -as opposed to two or more, it seems essential that the future -development of large centers of population should not be hampered -by conflicting policies of a double or multiple system of local -governments. It is obvious, moreover, that perils which continually -threaten the population of urban communities, such as fire, crime and -contagious diseases, constitute unified problems which are co-extensive -with congested areas. It would seem essential that the control of these -perils should be a unified one and that too much reliance should not be -placed upon a spirit of coöperation between different units. - -[19] See Hormell, O. C. “Boston’s County Problems,” _Annals American -Academy of Political and Social Science_, May, 1913, pp. 134 _et -seq._ - -[20] See Munro, _Government of European Cities_, pp. 345 _et. -seq._ - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -RECONSTRUCTION: PRINCIPLES, PRECEDENTS AND PROPOSALS - - -We have been at some pains to put the county into right relationships. -Ideally, it is to be a supervised local division of the state -administration (such supervision to insure strict accountability but -to be unobstructive); it is to be relieved by the state of not a few -incompatible, back-breaking burdens; it is to have (with some necessary -limitations) a free hand in making over its internal organization for -whatever obligations of public service may be laid upon it in the -future. In some respects its greatest service is to consist in receding -entirely from public service, while in other respects its importance -should be greatly enhanced. - -Practically, these external adjusting movements will proceed -concurrently, with varying speed, according as the need for the one -or the other may exist or be recognized. Their full fruition will -still leave the county, within its restricted sphere, with a very -distinct and honorable body of functions to perform. And for this, -the county, now so largely an unfit instrument of a self-governing, -self-respecting community, must be made over from within. - -The basic formula of reconstruction is not far to seek. In every state -the forward looking part of the citizenry which interests itself -in better government for long toyed with the theory of “checks and -balances,” which might be denominated for popular purposes as “safety -via complication.” Past generations put a premium on _ingenious_ -political devices. Just as to some people medicine which is not bitter -is not efficacious, so to the old school of political reformers, -government was dangerous if it could be seen through and understood. -But ingenuity and complexity in city government “came high.” The cost -of them was “conspicuous failure.” In the end the people rebelled and -the end of the old way of thinking about government was in sight. -Witness: the movements of those cities which since 1901 have so -cheerfully though so thoughtfully “scrapped” the historic dogma by -the act of adopting the “commission” plan. Ingenious, complicated, -inefficient, corrupt, city governments have given way literally by -the hundreds to a new system, the corner-stone principle of which is -simplicity: one set of officials to elect and watch; one place to go to -get things done; one source to which to direct criticism when things go -wrong. - -In a word, the Short Ballot, in its fullest implication. It is not -simply that there should be few officers to elect. County candidates -are not especially obscure to rural voters and the ballots in the -country districts are not often absurdly long. The farmer probably -makes a better job of it when it comes to making up his ticket than -any other class of citizen. It is also necessary that “those officers -should be elective which are important enough to attract _and -deserve_ examination,” that is, officers who stand at the sources of -public policy--not sheriffs or coroners or county clerks; not officers -who simply follow out a statutory routine, but those who are supposed -to lay out programs of county action. - -And then, the Short Ballot connotes unification of powers. For what -does it avail to watch, to criticize a single set of officers if all -the while the really important work of the county is performed and the -really important damage is committed by the officials who are obscure -and therefore unwatched? - -County government, as it stands, is the very personification of -non-conformity to these approved principles of political organization. -Starting, therefore, at the base of an ideal structure, let us proceed -to the task of reconstruction. - -Under ideal home-rule conditions the county will have been brought face -to face with the obligation to stand on its own feet. It will look -about for appropriate means to redeem that obligation. The electorate -will be made responsible for its collective conduct by virtue of -accurate representation in the county’s council. Responsibility will -first be secured in the very make-up of the governing body, which is -the source of power in any popular government. No stereotyped uniform -plan of organization will do; no slavish copying of the “New England” -type, or the “southern” type: counties differ too widely for that. But -natural and legitimate cleavages of public opinion will be recognized -and represented. Minor geographical divisions which have a distinct -identity may be given a separate voice in the county board, but if the -county is a geographical and social unit, the form of the governing -body will reflect the fact. And if the county is co-extensive with a -city, that circumstance will be given due weight. - -But the county board will be something more than an epitomized -electorate. It will be clothed, as such bodies rarely are, with the -power not only to discover what the people want, but to translate their -wishes into deeds of administration. Instead of working as now through -alien instruments in the person of independent officials, it will -control the operating mechanism of the county, which will be of its -own selection. Shall we take away from the people the power to choose -the sheriffs, the county clerk, the surveyor, the superintendent of -the poor? Yes, take away the selection, but reinforce their control. -Abandon the separation of powers? Yes, do away with the three-ring (or -perhaps twelve- or twenty-ring) circus, and get down to the serious -business of government. For business never was successfully organized -except on the principle that the head controls the tail and all that -intervenes. In terms of law, the county board, subject of course to -state legislative and administrative supervision, will exercise all the -powers of the corporation, including those of appointment, of revenue -raising and of appropriation. - -A long step toward the fulfillment of these principles in actual -life has been taken in the county of Los Angeles, Cal., one of those -communities in which the doctrine of complexity was once carried -to absurd extremes. But the new charter of this county, which was -the first to be adopted[21] under the home-rule provisions of the -constitution, proceeded in great measure in the light of the theory -exemplified by the commission plan in the cities. The supervisors -are retained on the elective list as the constitution requires, but -the county superintendent of schools, coroner, public administrator, -county clerk, treasurer, tax collector, recorder and surveyor, all of -whom were formerly elected by the voters, are now appointed by and -are responsible to the county governing body, which is the board of -supervisors. The sheriff, the auditor, the assessor and the district -attorney are still elective. In thus extending the power of the -board of supervisors, the charter framers require that, with a few -exceptions, the officers shall be chosen from competitive lists on -the basis of merit and fitness. The fee system is abolished. The Los -Angeles achievement, while it falls far short of the measure of unity -which is present in many counties governed by the commissioner system, -is important as a recent conscious step toward greater simplicity. - -And now that we have perfected a mechanism for expressing the general -will of the people of the county, it remains to arm the governing -body more effectively with the means for translating mere wishes into -concrete acts of administration. To put it otherwise, we must mobilize -the operating departments under effective leadership. - -Recall, first, our statement in an earlier chapter that the county -in the United States is almost universally devoid of a definite -executive head. One exception is the two first-class counties of New -Jersey (Hudson and Essex) where until recent years the so-called -board of chosen freeholders were elected from districts. Under these -circumstances the need was felt for some agency to represent the -unity of interest among the several localities, in the government -of the county. Accordingly, the office of supervisor was conceived. -The incumbent is elected by the people of the county and has powers -not unlike those of the mayor in many cities. He is required “to be -vigilant and active in causing the laws and ordinances of the county -to be executed and enforced.” Subject to the civil service law he has -power to suspend and remove but not to appoint subordinates. He may -propose legislation and veto resolutions. - -Fifteen years of experience have not commended this institution to -wider adoption. With one or two exceptions the supervisors, like most -mayors of cities, have not been men of force or imagination and they -have been controlled, apparently, by the same political elements as the -board of freeholders upon which they were supposed to have served as a -check. - -As these pages are being written, a single county in the West, almost -unconsciously it would seem and under influences that upon the surface -seem reactionary, has taken one of the longest progressive steps toward -administrative unity ever taken by an American county. The county in -mind is Denver, Colorado. Ever since the constitution was amended in -1902 the city and county have been geographically identical. Article -XX, Section 2, stipulates that “the officers of the city and county -of Denver shall be such as by _appointment_ or election may be -provided for by the charter.” On May 9, 1916, Denver abandoned the -commission plan of government and vested the appointment of city _and -county_ officials in the mayor. - -The New Jersey and Denver experiments point in the general direction -of administrative unity; they do not come within hailing distance of -the expectations which seem to be justified by recent developments -in American cities. For after all, the practical problem is the same -in every civil division: to dispose effectively and economically -of the visible supply of work to be accomplished or service to be -rendered. And this, some of the more aggressive of our cities, such -as Dayton and Springfield, 0., Niagara Falls, N. Y., and some forty -others have essayed to do through a form of organization which is unity -and simplicity reduced to its lowest terms: the plan of the typical -business corporation. A board of directors to represent the people; a -city manager to appoint and direct the heads of departments--that is -all there is to it. And it works! - -In similar fashion the people of our counties will surely consent to -a reorganization of _their_ public affairs. The members of the -county boards will not follow the example of some of our present county -commissioners and personally descend to the management of the details -of administration. They will learn the art of delegating authority -without losing control. And just as the people will have simplified -their problem of citizenship by concentrating their attention on the -governing group, so the representative body will focus administrative -responsibility in a chief subordinate. To be specific, the county -of the future will employ a manager chosen appropriately with sole -reference to his fitness to manage public affairs and without regard to -residence, religion or views on the Mexican situation, who will pick up -the authority of the county where the board of directors leaves it off. - -With the installation of the manager with adequate powers, the county -will have supplied the largest single essential in any collective -effort: leadership. Without that directing, driving force it is hardly -strange that counties, up to the present, have headed for nowhere in -particular. - -And leadership in county affairs signifies specifically what? - -To begin with, it will now be possible to build up the correct sort -of subsidiary organization. For instance, with such leadership it -should not have been necessary, for the lack of a proper executive -responsibility, for Hudson County in New Jersey to impose upon the -local judges the odd function of selecting a mosquito commission, and -to dispose the rest of the appointing power as the fancy of the moment -might dictate. - -A county manager who has the power to appoint and discharge will of -course be in a position to issue orders with a reasonable assurance -that they will be obeyed without a writ of mandamus or some other -form of judicial intervention. Public business will be speeded up -accordingly. - -And then, the presence of a responsible executive will supply -an indispensable condition of a scientific budget. The finance -committee of the governing board is no proper substitute, for, as -Mr. Cartwright[22] says: “Such a committee cannot have either the -understanding of the full meaning of the budget, or the personal -interest in properly performing the work of preparation that an -executive head should have who is personally responsible in very large -degree for the success or failure of the entire county administration. -The man who is officially responsible ought personally to lay the -plans, summoning to his aid such advisers as he deems best suited to -give him counsel.” The budget is the financial plan or program in a -given year. It must see the needs of the county in their unity. It is -the proper occupation of a single directing mind which is continuously -and intimately in touch through his subordinates, with every need of -the county. Not that the county manager will have the “power of the -purse” and dictate the financial policy of the county. On the contrary, -he will simply formulate the financial program for his employers to -accept or reject, in whole or in part as they see fit. - -The county manager will also act as a balance against any undue -pressure from any geographical division in the county or any division -of the public service. He will discover possible new services or better -methods of performing old services. In short, he will be the specially -accredited agent of the county board in carrying out its policies and -the initiating force of public opinion. Through the governing board -and the county manager there will be a clear and direct succession of -authority from the people to the scullion at the almshouse and the -assistant turnkey at the county jail. - -A proposal that practically squares with this formula was put forth -some years ago by a group of Oregon citizens under the leadership of W. -S. U’Ren, in a proposed amendment to the state constitution. Under the -projected scheme the county business would be in the hands of a board -of three directors to be elected by the voters of the county for terms -of six years. This board would have power to “make all expedient rules -and regulations for the successful, efficient and economic management -of all county business and property.” It would be necessary, however, -to employ a business manager who would be the “chief executive of the -county”; the choice of this officer not to be limited to the state -of Oregon; his salary to be determined by the board. With him would -rest the appointment of the subordinate county officers. The board of -directors would be empowered to audit bills, either directly or through -an auditor. - -A more complete and detailed plan of county government, following the -same general principles, was embodied in a bill introduced in the New -York legislature in 1916.[23] It provided that any county, except those -comprising New York City, might adopt the statute by petition and -referendum. The county would therefore be governed by a board of five -county supervisors who would act through a manager, whose duties would -be: - - (_a_) To attend all meetings of the board of supervisors; - - (_b_) To see that the resolutions and other orders of the board - of supervisors and the laws of the state required to be enforced by - such board, are faithfully carried out by the county, including all - officers chosen by the electors; - - (_c_) To recommend to the board of supervisors such measures as - he may deem necessary or expedient for the proper administration of - the affairs of the county and its several offices; - - (_d_) To appoint all county officers whose selection by - the electors is not required by the constitution, except county - supervisors and the county auditor or comptroller, for such terms of - office as are provided by law. - -Subject to resolutions of the board of supervisors, he shall: - - (_e_) Purchase all supplies and materials required by every - county officer, including the superintendent of the poor; - - (_f_) Execute contracts on behalf of the board of supervisors - when the consideration therein shall not exceed five hundred dollars; - - (_g_) Obtain from the several county officers reports of their - various activities in such form and at such times as the board of - supervisors may require; - - (_h_) Obtain from the several county officers itemized estimates - of the probable expense of conducting their offices for the ensuing - year, and transmit the same to the board of supervisors with his - approval or disapproval of each and all items therein, in the form of - a tentative budget. - - (_i_) Perform such other duties as the board of supervisors may - require. - -In the exercise of these duties the county manager would have power to -examine witnesses, take testimony under oath and make examination of -the affairs of any office. - -Inasmuch as the constitution of New York State requires the election -by the people of the sheriff, district attorney, county clerk and -register, the method of choosing these officers could not be affected -by statute. - -The Alameda County plan referred to in the preceding chapter provides -for a city-and-county manager who would have charge not only of county -administration but of the execution of the policies of the several -constituent boroughs. - -Such are a few definite proposals for fundamental political -reconstruction of the county. Recalling, again, the low estate of our -_city_ governments, a decade since, the hope for an early and -thoroughgoing betterment of the county system, in the department of -fundamental structure, would seem to be not altogether vain. - -[21] November, 1912. - -[22] Otho G. Cartwright, Director of Westchester County Research Bureau. - -[23] For text see Appendix, pp. 251-256. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -SCIENTIFIC ADMINISTRATION - - -Better county government, however, involves a good deal more than a -mere skeleton of organization. It is not enough to provide the means -for fixing responsibility in a general though fundamental sense, in -officers who are conspicuous and powerful. That is the beginning of -efficiency. And yet “responsibility” in its greater refinements, in -its more intimate applications, is precisely the key to what all the -various prophets of better government and public administration are -preaching. Turn on the light! That is what the Short Ballot movement -proposes by the more sweeping fundamental changes in the structure. -Turning on the light is also essence of the doctrine of better -accounting, better auditing, better budget making, better purchasing -and the whole tendency to greater publicity in the conduct of public -affairs. - -Those county commissioners out in Kansas and Iowa who paid too much for -their bridges--what was the real trouble with them? A writer in the -agricultural journal which exposed these scandals wound up his article -with an exhortation to the people to “elect good honest men.” Such -advice was at least a shade or two more constructive than the political -preaching of a century ago (which still has its adherents) that public -officials tend inevitably to become thieves and crooks; that the best -that we can do is to tie their hands by ingenious “checking” and -“balancing” devices until it is almost impossible for them to move. -To-day one group of political reconstructionists says: “Give these -officers plenty of power, and then watch them,” and another group, -supplementing the former, says: “Give officers the means of knowing -exactly what they are doing; give also the public the means of watching -intelligently and minutely; and if their public servants go wrong it is -‘up to the people,’” actually as well as formally. One is quite safe in -assuming, for instance, that the offices of those middle western county -officials were terribly “shy” on reliable data on bridge construction -with which to meet the wiles of the combined contractors. - -To begin with, what kind of a bridge was most needed? Did they have -records as to the volume and weight of traffic which was likely to come -over the structure? Did they seek light from an engineer of untarnished -reputation or did they just trust to their “horse sense” and the fact -that they “had lived there all their lives and they ought to know, if -anybody did”? What did the records in the county engineer’s office show -as to the relative durability and maintenance expense of steel bridges -as against wooden bridges, under the peculiar local conditions? - -Then as to the bids on the proposed structure: how did these compare -with the cost of bridges of equal tonnage in other states and counties? -How about the current state of the steel market--would it be better to -buy now or wait a few months until business at the mills was likely to -be slack? - -How about financing the bridge project? Should the cost be borne out -of the current year’s revenues, should it be covered by a ten-year -bond issue or should the next generation of taxpayers be saddled with -payments long after the bridge had outlived its usefulness? - -A board of supervisors or a county manager or a county engineer armed -with an answer to this series of extremely pertinent questions and a -modicum of common honesty would be proof against ninety-nine per cent. -of the “slick” deals which are so often “put over” on an unsuspecting -public and their easy-going servants. - -The science of public administration consists principally in knowing -_exactly_ where you are and what you are doing--knowledge -gained through experimentation, investigation and comparison and by -consultation of authoritative standards and with authorities themselves. - -We will illustrate this principle in a few of its applications: - - -ACCOUNTING - -The accounting system of any organization, public or private, is useful -in proportion to the definiteness of its analyses or classifications, -according to what is most important to be known. Thus, in New -York State, the statutes authorize boards of supervisors to allow -claims on the basis: (1) of specific amounts imposed by state law, -such as the stated salaries of judges, (2) of amounts fixed by the -board of supervisors under authority of law. In at least one county -(Westchester) it was formerly the custom to lump a great variety of -claims under the second heading--under the title “county audited -bills”--a procedure which was satisfactory enough perhaps, if to know -the _authority_ for payment were the only information desired. -By such a system it was impossible to tell the cost of running any -county office or department without actually tracing each voucher back -to its source. Thus, it was found that, in the year 1907 the budget -authorization for the superintendent of the poor was $17,485.61, while -the expenditures shown by the treasurer’s report were $108,906.58 -and the actual cost of the office, when proper additions were made -from the “county audited bills,” was $118,464.33. Discrepancies of an -equally serious nature were revealed in the case of most of the other -offices. The accounting system through its inexact classifications gave -information which was useful in protecting the treasurer but which -was practically without value as a description of what the county’s -departments were doing and how economically they were doing it. - -Exact classification is also essential to the last degree in the -making of the budget, to the end that actual experience in the way of -revenues received and funds disbursed may be made the reliable basis -of future activities. In a well-ordered system of state supervision of -local accounts the classifications will be made by a state official -who will have the power to enforce compliance upon the part of the -fiscal officer in each county. So that in time each county will have -the inestimable advantage of being able to compare its finances with -those of other similar units. A proper accounting system will proceed -so far in its analysis as to provide a large amount of data concerning -the cost of _units_ of service rendered and materials consumed. -Among other things, it will reveal at any and all times precisely what -is the condition of the county’s assets both in the shape of funds and -of investments; it will show how much the county actually owes and is -to owe at any future date. - - -THE BUDGET - -On the basis of accounts that tell in detailed classification the -needs and the resources of the county, the governing body will be able -to embark upon the financial voyage of each new year with chart and -compass. At a stated time before the budget-making period the heads of -departments, having before them the records of transactions and costs -in previous years, will frame their requests for future service. But -because of the exactness of the estimates required to be submitted, any -request for an increase of appropriation will stand out as a shining -mark. The department head will thereby be thrown on the defensive, will -be obliged to explain himself. The knowledge of that condition will -have a distinctly beneficial effect upon any desire of his to seek -increased appropriations without careful consideration. - -The governing body will proceed, moreover, with the certitude that -the public has at its disposal the means of knowing in detail what -its government is costing. The business of the year will be treated -as a program of public service; and in the framing of that program -every interested citizen and group of citizens will be urged to take -part through the medium of public hearings. As the Westchester County -Research Bureau says: “It would be easy to provide an opportunity for -the filing of either objections or additional suggestions by taxpayers -and for consideration of these at public hearing at the county seat -before the board of supervisors by public notice of such filing and of -such public hearing. Such hearings would doubtless speedily end such -abuses as are exemplified in our bulletin on the Purchase of County -Supplies. In the face of public objection, few supervisors would vote -affirmatively for appropriations for such extravagant expenditures. The -difference in result would be that between the action of an informed -public, able to deliberate in advance upon proposed expenditures, and -the absence of action of a public ignorant of the character of such -proposed expenditures--the usual condition under present methods of -budget provision for public funds. - -“It is easy to prevent the official adoption over public objection of -extravagant estimates. It is difficult to prevent extravagant misuse -of public funds appropriated in lump sums, or to rectify such misuses -after such expenditures have been incurred.”[24] - -Complete knowledge and complete mutual confidence and understanding on -the part of the public on the one hand and its agencies of government -on the other--that is the big and seemingly reasonable promise of a -budget system of the right sort. It cannot be put into operation in the -fullest extent without those structural changes in county government -with which we have already dealt. - - -AUDITING AND PURCHASING - -A special field in which exact knowledge is particularly essential as -a safeguard against theft is that of the auditor. To many a county -treasurer the auditing demands of the government appear to be met when -some basis of authority for a payment has been established. Sometimes -even then the authority in question is not a legal one for often it may -not be established by reference to the letter of the statute but by the -precedents set by previous incumbents. Not “What does the law say about -it?” but “What did ---- do in such cases?” is apt to be the question -uppermost in the mind of the official. How many millions of good money -have slipped through county treasurers’ hands through such a procedure -will never be known. The state examiner who has not discovered many an -old-fashioned county where many such illegal payments have been made is -rare indeed. - -But such post-mortem checking of illegal payments is, for the most -part, but a sad business. Modern standards of auditing organization -and practice aim to insure more completely that the authority for -payment shall be established _before_ payment. The auditor should -certainly be wholly independent of the disbursing officer and some -authorities would also insist, of the appropriating body. Least of all -should the auditing be done by the appropriating body itself or through -its committees (as is true in some states) for such an audit through -lack of first-hand consideration and definite fixing of responsibility -rapidly degenerates into a perfunctory performance. It is even the -practice in some counties to audit bills in full board by acclamation! - -And since so large a portion of county claims are for material and -supplies for use in the construction and maintenance of roads, -bridges and institutions, the work of audit cannot fail to be closely -associated with the purchasing system. The purchasing agent by -whatsoever name called, is, after all, a special sort of auditor, -dealing with a variety of commodities instead of funds. As in every -other branch of public service, successful purchasing depends primarily -on exact information, relating in this case, to standards of utility -of various articles, the present and the probable future state of the -market, the exact condition of present supplies, the honest fulfillment -of contracts. Such information may come through stock ledgers, -inspectors, trade journals or chemical tests. - -In the county of Alameda, Cal., as a result of investigation, publicity -and political pressure resulting in changes in the purchasing procedure -in the county offices, the sum of $810,205 was saved on the one -item of cost of elections in the years 1912-1916. Blank affidavits -of registration dropped from $16.50 to $3.30 per thousand, election -ballots from $22.12 to $1.65. On advertising, election proclamation, -etc., there was a saving during the period of 1700 per cent. And -this is by no means an unique experience. It is typical of results -obtained under careful scientific purchasing methods in public work -everywhere.[25] Accurate records, a study of unit costs, “pitiless -publicity,” standardization and elimination of senseless waste and lost -motion constitute the explanation. The Tax Association is now urging -the consolidation of public purchasing agencies throughout the county -in order to take advantage of the still greater economies which accrue -to the large buyer. - - -OTHER FORMS OF ACCOUNTING - -It is not only in its material interests that the county will be in -need of exact information. Where the county comes into contact with -the human factor the importance of working in the daylight cannot be -overlooked. It will not do for the officer in charge of the poor to -keep records “under his hat” concerning the inmates under his charge. -Similarly, the probation officer will investigate and account for the -delinquencies and the special needs of his wards, in a really informing -way. And the sheriff, so long as he shall be the peace officer of -the county, will furnish a record of crimes committed within his -jurisdiction which will possibly lead to suitable preventive measures. - -It is a high standard of administrative efficiency which we have set -up. No single county so far as we know, measures up to it at present. -No county, apparently, without compulsion from the central state -government, has even made any serious progress along these lines except -at the instigation of a privately supported research bureau or tax -association. County administrative organization and procedure is virgin -soil for constructive civic effort. - -But administrative procedure is not more important to county betterment -than the personnel of the organization. “Politics” in administration -has come to mean the antithesis of scientific standards. Mediocrity and -incompetency sit enthroned where party expediency takes precedence over -the interests of the whole county. - - -THE MERIT SYSTEM - -Therefore abolish “politics!” No single county of its own initiative -has taken a more important step toward that end than Los Angeles, -California, under its special home-rule charter, which is not--able for -the advanced character of its civil service provisions. Among other -things it creates a bureau of efficiency, consisting of the civil -service commission (three members), the secretary thereof and the -auditor of the county. To quote the language of the charter, the duty -of this bureau is that of “determining the duties of each position in -the classified service, fixing standards of efficiency, investigating -the methods of operation of the various departments and recommending to -the board of supervisors and department heads measures for increasing -individual, group and departmental efficiency, and providing for -uniformity of competition and simplicity of operation.” The commission -is required to “ascertain and record the comparative efficiency of -employees in the classified service” and has power after a hearing, -to “dismiss from the service those who fall below the standards of -efficiency established.”[26] - -With a combination of a structure of government designed to fix general -responsibility, an administrative procedure designed to let daylight -into public business and an administrative personnel free to serve the -interests of the public, the people of the county will be in a position -to just about get what they want, within the measure of power granted -to the locality under the laws of the state. - -[24] “The Making of the County Budget,” Westchester County Research -Bureau, 1912. - -[25] Excellent results have been obtained by the purchasing agent of -Onondaga County, New York, Mr. Frank X. Wood. - -[26] For full text of provisions, see Charter of Los Angeles (Appendix -B). - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -THE COUNTY OF THE FUTURE - - -In our mind’s eye we have now completely made over the system. -Metropolitan counties have retired from the field; the remainder have -in a large measure been put in command of their own destinies through a -generous extension of the home-rule principle. The county politician of -the conventional type has been extinguished and single-minded service -of the whole people has replaced a hyphenated allegiance that put the -county chairman in the place of highest honor. - -What could such a county do for its citizens? - -It should be kept in mind that this county of the imagination with -which we are particularly concerned will be practically confined to -rural and semi-rural localities. Here, even while we dream, a very -actual metamorphosis is going on which inevitably promotes a sense of -community interest. Thanks to Alexander Graham Bell and Henry Ford, the -countryside is getting together in spite of itself! The rural gentry -will think in bigger units and the basis of its allegiances will be -correspondingly broadened. And a more fundamental accomplishment for -county betterment could not well be conceived, for, as Herbert Quick -has asked: “Did you ever know a man that was proud of his county?” The -answer to which he gives himself: “I knew but one such man and his -relations were all in county offices.” - -The county of the past has lacked opportunity to “do itself proud.” -The county of the future will be equipped to do interesting things in -an interesting way. But it must develop policies--real politics--as -a substitute for the interest that has made place hunting and place -holding a basic rural industry. The farmer of the future must be -given something more wholesome to think about “during the long winter -evenings” than who is to be the next coroner; and he must cease to -measure his freedom by the number of offices he attempts to fill with -his ballot. - -But before county citizenship is raised to the point of appreciation -of the new order a benevolent deed of violence must be done to a -power in the community noted principally for sycophantic approval of -the administration in power, an utter lack of either conscience or -ideas, and “patent insides”--the county official newspaper. The cheap -“boiler-plate” weekly must go the way of old Dobbin and in its place -will come some means yet to be devised, for putting out official -advertising that really advertises and furnishing news that is not only -“fit to print,” but worth the while. - -When these mechanical essentials of an efficient local democracy shall -have been acquired the county will be in a position to formulate a -genuine program of service. As to the ingredients for the same a few -suggestions may be in order: - - -PUBLIC HEALTH - -Contrary perhaps to general opinion, the rural sections of the -country are not conspicuously free from a public health problem. All -the squalor, bad housing and contagion is not in the crowded city -tenements. Rural citizens have perhaps much more to learn about pure -milk and water, for instance, than their city brethren. But the public -health movement has struck the country districts. It seems to have come -principally by way of the nation wide attack on tuberculosis. During -the past six or seven years there has been a remarkable campaign for -institutions for the care of persons afflicted with this malady. It -is something entirely distinct from the idea of caring for the pauper -sick, for it has been found difficult to persuade many people in need -of proper treatment to go to an institution to which a long-standing -stigma is attached. New York now has such special institutions in -about half of its counties. In the South, North Carolina has made -more important progress than any other state. Ninety of its hundred -counties have part-time county physicians, while the other ten have -county health officers devoting their entire time and energies to -the preservation of public health and the prevention of disease. The -standard for the selection of these officers is very high. - -Wisconsin has enacted a statute authorizing the board of supervisors of -any county to employ a graduate trained nurse whose duties are: - - “To act as a consulting expert on hygiene for all schools not already - having medical inspection either by physician or visiting nurse, to - assist the superintendents of the poor in their care of the poor in - the county who are in need of the services; to give instruction to - tuberculosis patients and others relative to hygiene measures to be - observed in preventing the spread of tuberculosis; to aid in making - a report of existing cases of tuberculosis; to act as visiting nurse - throughout the county and to perform such other duties as a nurse and - hygienic expert as may be assigned to her by the county board.” - -That the spirit of the new public health movement is taking hold to -some extent in Minnesota is the testimony of a local authority[27]: - - “Koochiching County has the first and only county health organization - in the state. The county commissioners and the county school board - there see the economy of hiring a medical man to preserve the health - of the community and to keep the children in school the maximum number - of days each term. - - “Furthermore, they have chosen a health officer with a proper point - of view; one who believes that a health department should be an - educational agency more than a police bureau; one who reserves the - ‘police club’ for exceptional emergencies, but who is ever ready - to instruct and convert. In Koochiching County the authorities are - laying the foundation for a type of citizenship that is not only - going to grow up healthy, but will be so well informed that it will - observe sanitary laws and insist upon proper health safeguards. A - county health organization similar to the one in Koochiching County, - or a better one if it can be afforded, is needed in every Minnesota - county, southern as well as northern, but particularly in the pioneer - district.” - -The public health movement in counties is by no means limited to the -cited states. - - -COUNTY PLANNING - -An example full of suggestive possibilities for almost any locality -comes to us from Westchester County, N. Y. It is a district which -is partly suburban and partly rural and has had very little unity -excepting a political one. The lines of railroad travel run not to -a common center within the county but to the Grand Central Terminal -in New York City. This situation the Westchester County Chamber of -Commerce set about to alleviate at least in some degree by means of -a county physical plan which would facilitate communication between -sections and possibly tend to distribute population more evenly. The -plan calls for a carefully thought-out system of roads, parks and -sewers. It is a private undertaking, but _cities_ have official -planning commissions; why not counties? What could better serve as the -starting point for a broad, comprehensive program for a modernized -county to undertake? - - -COUNTY LIBRARIES - -Quite as fundamental to the welfare of the rural county as turnpikes -and bridges is the awakening of its intellectual life. The school -system is becoming everywhere more highly centralized, so that -educational policies and administration are controlled from the state -capitol. But the schools only meet the demand in an elementary limited -way, leaving the adult population and the graduate of the common and -high schools for the most part unprovided for. The United States -Commissioner of Education has discovered that “probably seventy per -cent. of the entire population of the country have no access to any -adequate collection of books or to a public reading room. In only about -one third of the counties of the United States is there a library of -five thousand volumes or more. In only one hundred of these do the -villages and country people have free use of the libraries.” - -In 1901 an Ohio county through a legacy left by one of its citizens -was enabled to meet this deficiency at least partially by establishing -the first county library. It has grown rapidly and now has not only a -central building but a number of sub-stations. The county is said, as a -result of this beginning, to have experienced a general awakening which -has been evidenced in good county pikes, county parks and a hundred -other tangible ways. - -Following the example of Ohio, county library laws were passed in -Wyoming, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Maryland, Oregon, Nebraska and -New York. California has twenty-seven county libraries. - - -THE PUBLIC DEFENDER - -Throughout Oklahoma and in Los Angeles county a humanitarian public -opinion has manifested itself in the erection of a new county office, -that of public defender. The purpose of this new institution is to -put the impecunious litigant actually as well as legally on an equal -footing with his opponent, whether he be a defendant in a criminal -action or a party to a civil suit. Hitherto the law had prescribed -that every defendant should have counsel, even if it be at the state’s -expense. But the lawyers assigned to this somewhat thankless task -(in a pecuniary sense) were either young and inexperienced or too -busy with more lucrative practice to give the “charity” cases the -attention they deserved. Under the new system the salaried defender is -a man comparable in his ability to the district attorney; he gives his -entire time to the county and has a number of assistants. The defender -serves also as an investigator for the court and often in this capacity -discovers circumstances which justify the judge in mitigating sentence. -Incidentally, two years experimentation with this office in Los Angeles -has shown that a considerable saving can be made as against the old -method of employing various lawyers in private practice. - -While the public defender will doubtless acquire greatest importance in -city counties, rural communities will not fail to provide opportunities -for his services. - - -AN IDEALIZED POORMASTER - -For another piece of successful experimentation we must again revert -to Westchester County, N. Y., this time to the work of V. Everit Macy, -the superintendent of the poor elected in November, 1914. Mr. Macy -entered upon his public duties, a man of wealth and long experience in -social welfare work. He found the poor administration of the county at -its political worst: petty graft in commitments and the purchase of -supplies, an archaic almshouse, a notable absence of informing records, -neglect of proper medical examinations. He began at the source of the -trouble by eliminating “politics,” in the making of appointments, -by the simple expedient of requiring applicants for positions to -state their qualifications. In time he had surrounded himself with a -group of trained social workers, men and women who, according to one -observer,[28] “are as unlike the staff commonly found with a poor-law -officer as the faculty of a university is unlike that of a one-room -country school.” The simple recital of a few of his achievements in -his first two-year term presages, perhaps, the county of the future -as somewhere in sight of its highest efficiency as a humanitarian -agency. Mr. Macy systematized records, required physical and medical -examination of all inmates, weeded out mental defectives and sent them -to custodial institutions, started competitive bidding in the purchase -of supplies (saving $18,000 in the first year), improved the diet -of inmates and their general level of health, tripled the amount of -produce raised upon the county farm, made the hospital a preventive -agency instead of a place for treating cases suffering obviously from -disease. - -The superintendent’s basic interest, by the way, is the ultimate -causes and prevention of poverty, and to this end he has instituted -investigations and records of the habits, occupations and every other -matter concerning the inmates that might throw light upon their present -condition. - -In the handling of children’s cases, his work has been particularly -effective. To begin with, unnecessary commitments, which had been -encouraged by the fee system prevailing in New York, have been -prevented. And during the first year of the term 311 children ceased -to be public charges, some of those previously committed having -been transferred to state homes, some having been placed in foster -homes, but the far greater number, 239, having been returned to their -relatives. Inasmuch as the annual cost to the county for each committed -child was $237, the public saving accomplished through this systematic, -intelligent handling of the child problem was over $17,000. - -Before Mr. Macy’s first term had expired he had so far won the -confidence of the board of supervisors and the public in general that -they accepted plans for centralizing the public welfare work of the -county in a great plant for which nearly $2,000,000 has already been -appropriated. Within the confines of this new establishment will be -accommodated the almshouse, the county hospital and the county jail. -The office of superintendent of the poor, in the meantime has been -abolished (January 1, 1917) and a new officer to be known as the -commissioner of charities and correction, and having greatly extended -jurisdiction, will take his place. - -It is a new conception which Mr. Macy has given us of the once -melancholy job of the poormaster and he has new revelations of the -possibilities of his position in store. - - -CITIZEN ORGANIZATION - -But movements for better rural health, better library facilities, -better physical development and for a better conception of public -humane obligations do not spring out of the air. Always they are the -product either of some personal initiative or some organized effort. -Does any county clearly lack that element of citizen leadership? -Then the obvious need of the county is to bridge that gap. The rural -population of America suffers (the word is all too weak) for the -lack of a public community sense. Every “average” rural citizen is -a unit, he does not travel in droves--so much for his independence. -On the other hand, he has not fully learned the art of coöperation -and legitimate compromise. The end of this condition, however, will -doubtless come by way of his growing realization of a community of -private interest developed through such special organizations as -county chambers of commerce, boards of trade and county agricultural -associations. - -Sometimes such bodies, founded with the idea of promoting a common -material advantage, as, for instance, by enhancing the value of local -real estate or attracting capital to local industries, discover by a -gradual process that the government is an indispensable leverage to -achieving the particular ends in view and that existing government is -a decidedly ineffectual instrument. It was through such a metamorphosis -that the Chamber of Commerce in Westchester County, N. Y., progressed -in its program of county planning, to a study of and attack upon -the faulty system of taxation, to plans for a revision of county -government and finally to an active interest in county home rule -through constitutional revision. County chambers of commerce are also -doing much to beat down the barriers of distrust that have existed -between the farmer and the business man. By a commingling of the two -in a common organization both have often come to an understanding of -their mutual interest in good roads, good schools and all the other -appurtenances of a developed community. - - -COUNTY STUDY CLUBS - -An interesting effort to stimulate a healthy county consciousness -through a different intellectual means is being undertaken in North -Carolina. Under the auspices of the University of North Carolina -“home-county clubs” have been established in many counties and, -according to the prospectus, the members “are bent upon intimate, -thoughtful acquaintance with the forces, agencies, tendencies, drifts -and movements that have made the history we study to-day, and that -are making the history our children will study to-morrow.” The club -studies are mainly concerned with rural problems. Each county is -compared with itself during the last census period, “in order to learn -in what particulars it has moved forward, marking time or lagging to -the rearward.” But also it is compared with other counties of the -state, in every phase of the study, in order to show its rank and -standing.... “Meanwhile the state as a whole is being set against the -big background of world endeavor and achievement.” - - * * * * * - -Such are just a few of the signs of the broadening of rural community -life. To plan, to put before the public for discussion and approval, -and to execute just such projects as these is the constructive -opportunity of the county of the future. It is a program which will tax -the county’s citizenship and statesmanship. It is the county’s real -“politics.” - -[27] Dr. I. J. Murphy of the Minnesota Public Health Association. - -[28] See Winthrop D. Lane, “A Rich Man in the Poor House,” -_Survey_, Nov. 4, 1916. Reprinted in pamphlet form by the County -Government Association, White Plains, N. Y. - - - - -APPENDIX A - -CONSTITUTIONAL COUNTY HOME RULE IN CALIFORNIA - - [In response to a considerable demand for a reorganization of certain - counties the Legislature of California in 1911 submitted to the people - the amendment to Art. XI. of the constitution which appears herewith. - It was adopted October 10, 1911. For summary and comments see pp. - 145-147 of the text.] - - -_County charters._ - -SEC. 7½. Any county may frame a charter for its own government -consistent with and subject to the Constitution (or, having framed such -a charter, may frame a new one), and relating to matters authorized -by provisions of the Constitution, by causing a board of fifteen -freeholders, who have been for at least five years qualified electors -thereof to be elected by the qualified electors of said county at -a general or special election. Said board of freeholders may be so -elected in pursuance of an ordinance adopted by the vote of three -fifths of all the members of the board of supervisors of such county, -declaring that the public interest requires the election of such -board for the purpose of preparing and proposing a charter for said -county, or in pursuance of a petition of qualified electors of said -county as hereinafter provided. Such petition, signed by fifteen per -centum of the qualified electors of said county, computed upon the -total number of votes cast therein for all candidates for Governor at -the last preceding general election at which a Governor was elected, -praying for the election of a board of fifteen freeholders to prepare -and propose a charter for said county, may be filed in the office of -the county clerk. It shall be the duty of said county clerk, within -twenty days after the filing of said petition, to examine the same, -and to ascertain from the record of the registration of electors of -the county, whether said petition is signed by the requisite number of -qualified electors. If required by said clerk, the board of supervisors -shall authorize him to employ persons specially to assist him in -the work of examining such petition, and shall provide for their -compensation. Upon the completion of such examination, said clerk -shall forthwith attach to said petition his certificate, properly -dated, showing the result thereof, and if, by said certificate, it -shall appear that said petition is signed by the requisite number of -qualified electors, said clerk shall immediately present said petition -to the board of supervisors, if it be in session, otherwise at its -next regular meeting after the date of such certificate. Upon the -adoption of such ordinance, or the presentation of such petition, -said board of supervisors shall order the holding of a special -election for the purpose of electing such board of freeholders, which -said special election shall be held not less than twenty days nor -more than sixty days after the adoption of the ordinance aforesaid -or the presentation of said petition to said board of supervisors; -_provided_, that if a general election shall occur in said county not -less than twenty days nor more than sixty days after the adoption -of the ordinance aforesaid, or such presentation of said petition to -said board of supervisors, said board of freeholders may be elected -at such general election. Candidates for election as members of said -board of freeholders shall be nominated by petition, substantially in -the same manner as may be provided by general law for the nomination, -by petition of electors, of candidates for county offices, to be -voted for at general elections. It shall be the duty of said board of -freeholders, within one hundred and twenty days after the result of -such election shall have been declared by said board of supervisors, -to prepare and propose a charter for said county, which shall be -signed in duplicate by the members of said board of freeholders, or a -majority of them, and be filed, one copy in the office of the county -clerk of said county and the other in the office of the county recorder -thereof. Said Board of Supervisors shall thereupon cause said proposed -charter to be published for at least ten times in a daily newspaper -of general circulation, printed, published and circulated in said -county; _provided_, that in any county where no such daily newspaper -is printed, published and circulated, such proposed charter shall be -published for at least three times in at least one weekly newspaper, -of general circulation, printed, published and circulated in such -county; and _provided_, that in any county where neither such daily -nor such weekly newspaper is printed, published and circulated, a copy -of such proposed charter shall be posted by the county clerk in three -public places in said county, and on or near the entrance to at least -one public schoolhouse in each school district in said county, and the -first publication or the posting of such proposed charter shall be made -within fifteen days after the filing of a copy thereof, as aforesaid, -in the office of the county clerk. Said proposed charter shall be -submitted by said board of supervisors to the qualified electors of -said county at a special election held not less than thirty days nor -more than sixty days after the completion of such publication, or after -such posting; _provided_, that if a general election shall occur in -said county not less than thirty days nor more than sixty days after -the completion of such publication, or after such posting, then such -proposed charter may be so submitted at such general election. If a -majority of said qualified electors, voting thereon at such general -or special election, shall vote in favor of such proposed charter, -it shall be deemed to be ratified, and shall be forthwith submitted -to the Legislature, if it be in regular session, otherwise at its -next regular session, or it may be submitted to the Legislature in -extraordinary session, for its approval or rejection as a whole, -without power of alteration or amendment. Such approval may be made -by concurrent resolution, and if approved by a majority vote of the -members elected to each house, such charter shall become the charter of -such county and shall become the organic law thereof relative to the -matters therein provided, and supersede any existing charter framed -under the provisions of this section, and all amendments thereof, and -shall supersede all laws inconsistent with such charter relative to the -matters provided in such charter. A copy of such charter, certified and -authenticated by the chairman and clerk of the board of supervisors -under the seal of said board and attested by the county clerk of said -county, setting forth the submission of such charter to the electors of -said county, and its ratification by them, shall, after the approval -of such charter by the Legislature, be made in duplicate, and filed, -one in the office of the Secretary of State and the other, after being -recorded in the office of the recorder of said county, shall be filed -in the office of the county clerk thereof, and thereafter all courts -shall take judicial notice of said charter. - -The charter, so ratified, may be amended by proposals therefor -submitted by the board of supervisors of the county to the qualified -electors thereof at a general or special election held not less than -thirty days nor more than sixty days after the publication of such -proposals for ten times in a daily newspaper of general circulation, -printed, published and circulated in said county; _provided_, -that in any county where no such daily newspaper is printed, published -and circulated, such proposed charter shall be published for at least -three times in at least one weekly newspaper, of general circulation, -printed, published and circulated in such county; _provided_, -that in any county where neither such daily nor such weekly newspaper -is printed, published and circulated, a copy of such proposed charter -shall be posted by the county clerk in three public places in said -county, and on or near the entrance to at least one public schoolhouse -in each school district in said county. If a majority of such qualified -electors voting thereon, at such general or special election, shall -vote in favor of any such proposed amendment or amendments, or any -amendment or amendments proposed by petition as hereinafter provided, -such amendment or amendments shall be deemed to be ratified, and shall -be forthwith submitted to the Legislature, if it be in regular session, -otherwise at its next regular session, or may be submitted to the -Legislature in extraordinary session, for approval or rejection as a -whole, without power of alteration or amendment, and if approved by -the Legislature, as herein provided for the approval of the charter, -such charter shall be amended accordingly. A copy of such amendment -or amendments shall, after the approval thereof by the Legislature, -be made in duplicate, and shall be authenticated, certified, recorded -and filed as herein provided for the charter, and with like force and -effect. Whenever a petition signed by ten per centum of the qualified -electors of any county, computed upon the total number of votes cast -in said county for all candidates for Governor at the last general -election, at which a Governor was elected, is filed in the office of -the county clerk of said county, petitioning the board of supervisors -thereof to submit any proposed amendment or amendments to the charter -of such county, which amendment or amendments shall be set forth in -full in such petition, to the qualified electors thereof, such petition -shall forthwith be examined and certified by the county clerk, and if -signed by the requisite number of qualified electors of such county, -shall be presented to the said board of supervisors, by the said -county clerk, as hereinbefore provided for petitions for the election -of boards of freeholders. Upon the presentation of said petition to -said board of supervisors, said board must submit the amendment or -amendments set forth therein to the qualified electors of said county -at a general or special election held not less than thirty days nor -more than sixty days after the publication or posting of such proposed -amendment or amendments in the same manner as hereinbefore provided in -the case of the submission of any proposed amendment or amendments to -such charter, proposed and submitted by the board of supervisors. In -submitting any such charter, or amendments thereto, any alternative -article or proposition may be presented for the choice of the electors, -and may be voted on separately without prejudice to others. - -Every special election held under the provisions of this section, -for the election of boards of freeholders or for the submission of -proposed charters, or any amendment or amendments thereto, shall be -called by the board of supervisors, by ordinance, which shall specify -the purpose and time of such election and shall establish the election -precincts and designate the polling places therein, and the names of -the election officers for each such precinct. Such ordinance, prior -to such election, shall be published five times in a daily newspaper, -or twice in a weekly newspaper, if there be no such daily newspaper, -printed, published and circulated in said county; _provided_, that -if no such daily or weekly newspaper be printed or published in such -county, then a copy of such ordinances shall be posted by the county -clerk in three public places in such county and in or near the entrance -to at least one public schoolhouse in each school district therein. In -all other respects, every such election shall be held and conducted, -the returns thereof canvassed and the result thereof declared by the -board of supervisors in the same manner as provided by law for general -elections. Whenever boards of freeholders shall be elected, or any such -proposed charter, or amendment or amendments thereto, submitted, at a -general election, the general laws applicable to the election of county -officers and the submission of propositions to the vote of electors, -shall be followed in so far as the same may be applicable thereto. - -It shall be competent, in all charters, framed under the authority -given by this section to provide, in addition to any other provisions -allowable by this constitution, and the same shall provide, for the -following matters: - -1. For boards of supervisors and for the constitution, regulation and -government thereof, for the times at which and the terms for which the -members of said board shall be elected, for the number of members, -not less than three, that shall constitute such boards, for their -compensation and for their election, either by the electors of the -counties at large or by districts; _provided_, that in any event -said board shall consist of one member for each district, who must be a -qualified elector thereof; and - -2. For sheriffs, county clerks, treasurers, recorders, license -collectors, tax collectors, public administrators, coroners, surveyors, -district attorneys, auditors, assessors and superintendents of schools, -for the election or appointment of said officers, or any of them, for -the times at which and the terms for which, said officers shall be -elected or appointed, and for their compensation, or for the fixing of -such compensation by boards of supervisors, and, if appointed, for the -manner of their appointment; and - -3. For the number of justices of the peace and constables for each -township, or for the number of such judges and other officers of such -inferior courts as may be provided by the Constitution or general -law, for the election or appointment of said officers, for the times -at which and the terms for which said officers shall be elected or -appointed, and for their compensations, or for the fixing of such -compensation by boards of supervisors, and if appointed, for the manner -of their appointment; and - -4. For the powers and duties of boards of supervisors and all other -county officers, for their removal and for the consolidation and -segregation of county offices, and for the manner of filling all -vacancies occurring therein; _provided_, that the provisions -of such charters relating to the powers and duties of boards of -supervisors and all other county officers shall be subject to and -controlled by general laws; and - -[29]4½. For the assumption and discharge by county officers of certain -of the municipal functions of the cities and towns within the county, -whenever, in the case of cities and towns incorporated under general -laws, the discharge by county officers of such municipal functions is -authorized by general law, or whenever, in the case of cities and towns -organized under section eight of this article, the discharge by county -officers of such municipal functions is authorized by provisions of the -charters, or by amendments thereto, of such cities or towns. - -5. For the fixing and regulation by boards of supervisors, by -ordinance, of the appointment and number of assistants, deputies, -clerks, attachés and other persons to be employed, from time to time, -in the several offices of the county, and for the prescribing and -regulating by such boards of the powers, duties, qualifications and -compensation of such persons, the times at which, and terms for which -they shall be appointed, and the manner of their appointment and -removal; and - -6. For the compensation of such fish and game wardens, probation and -other officers as may be provided by general law, or for the fixing of -such compensation by boards of supervisors. - -All elective officers of counties, and of townships, of road districts -and of highway construction divisions therein shall be nominated and -elected in the manner provided by general laws for the nomination and -election of such officers. - -All charters framed under the authority given by this section, in -addition to the matters herein above specified, may provide as follows: - -For offices other than those required by the Constitution and laws of -the State, or for the creation of any or all of such offices by boards -of supervisors, for the election or appointment of persons to fill such -offices, for the manner of such appointment, for the times at which -and the terms for which such persons shall be so elected or appointed, -and for their compensation, or for the fixing of such compensation by -boards of supervisors. - -For offices hereafter created by this constitution or by general law, -for the election or appointment of persons to fill such offices, for -the manner of such appointment, for the times at which and the terms -for which such persons shall be so elected or appointed, and for their -compensation, or for the fixing of such compensation by boards of -supervisors. - -For the formation, in such counties, of road districts for the care, -maintenance, repair, inspection and supervision only of roads, highways -and bridges; and for the formation, in such counties, of highway -construction divisions for the construction only of roads, highways -and bridges; for the inclusion in any such district or division, of -the whole or any part of any incorporated city or town, upon ordinance -passed by such incorporated city or town authorizing the same, and upon -the assent to such inclusion by a majority of the qualified electors of -such incorporated city or town, or portion thereof, proposed to be so -included, at an election held for that purpose; for the organization, -government, powers and jurisdiction of such districts and divisions, -and for raising revenue therein, for such purposes, by taxation, upon -the assent of a majority of the qualified electors of such districts -or divisions, voting at an election to be held for that purpose; for -the incurring of indebtedness therefor by such counties, districts or -divisions for such purposes respectively, by the issuance and sale, -by the counties, of bonds of such counties, districts or divisions, -and the expenditure of the proceeds of the sale of such bonds, and for -levying and collecting taxes against the property of the counties, -districts or divisions, as the case may be, for the payment of the -principal and interest of such indebtedness at maturity; provided, -that any such indebtedness shall not be incurred without the assent -of two thirds of the qualified electors of the county, district or -division, as the case may be, voting at an election to be held for -that purpose, nor unless before or at the time of incurring such -indebtedness provision shall be made for the collection of an annual -tax sufficient to pay the interest on such indebtedness as it falls -due, and also for a sinking fund for the payment of the principal -thereof on or before maturity, which shall not exceed forty years -from the time of contracting the same, and the procedure for voting, -issuing and selling such bonds shall, except in so far as the same -shall be prescribed in such charters, conform to general laws for the -authorizing and incurring by counties of bonded indebtedness, so far as -applicable; provided, further, that provisions in such charters for the -construction, care, maintenance, repair, inspection and supervision of -roads, highways and bridges for which aid from the State is granted, -shall be subject to such regulations and conditions as may be imposed -by the Legislature. - -Whenever any county has framed and adopted a charter, and the same -shall have been approved by the Legislature, as herein provided, the -general laws adopted by the Legislature in pursuance of sections four -and five of this article, shall, as to such county, be superseded -by said charter as to matters for which, under this section it is -competent to make provision in such charter, and for which provision -is made therein, except as herein otherwise expressly provided; and -except that any such charter shall not affect the tenure of office of -the elective officers of the county, or of any district, township or -division thereof, in office at the time such charter goes into effect, -and such officers shall continue to hold their respective offices until -the expiration of the term for which they shall have been elected, -unless sooner removed in the manner provided by law. - -The charter of any county, adopted under the authority of this section, -may be surrendered and annulled with the assent of two thirds of the -qualified electors of such county, voting at a special election, -held for that purpose, and to be ordered and called by the board of -supervisors of the county upon receiving a written petition, signed and -certified as hereinabove provided for the purposes of the adoption of -charters, requesting said board to submit the question of the surrender -and annulment of such charter to the qualified electors of such county, -and, in the event of the surrender and annulment of any such charter, -such county shall thereafter be governed under general laws in force -for the government of counties. - -The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to any county -that is consolidated with any city. - -[29] This paragraph was adopted as an amendment, Nov. 3, 1914. - - - - -APPENDIX B - -THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY CHARTER - - [This was the first charter to be drafted and adopted by the people - of a county under the amendment of the California constitution (_q. - v._). For summary and comment on its provisions see pp. 172-173. - Date of adoption: Nov. 7, 1912.] - -We the people of the County of Los Angeles, do ordain and establish for -its government this - - -CHARTER - -ARTICLE 1. - -_Name and Rights of the County_ - -SEC. 1: The County of Los Angeles, as it now exists, is a body -corporate and politic, and as such has all the powers specified by the -constitution and laws of the State of California, and by this Charter, -and such other powers as are necessarily implied. - -SEC. 2: The powers mentioned in the preceding section can be -exercised only by a Board of Supervisors, or by agents and officers -acting under their authority or by authority of law or of this Charter. - -SEC. 3: The corporate name shall be “County of Los Angeles,” -which must be thus designated in all actions and proceedings touching -its corporate rights, properties and duties. Its boundaries and county -seat shall remain the same as they now are, until otherwise changed by -law. - - -ARTICLE II. - -_Board of Supervisors_ - -SEC. 4: The County of Los Angeles shall have a Board of Supervisors -consisting of five members, each of whom must be an elector of -the district which he represents, must reside therein during his -incumbency, must have been such an elector for at least one year -immediately preceding his election, and shall be elected by such -district. Their terms of office shall be four years, each shall hold -until his successor is elected and qualified, and they shall each -receive a salary of $5000 per year payable monthly from the County -Treasury. They shall devote all their time during business hours to the -faithful service of the public. - -SEC. 5: The County is hereby divided into five supervisor -districts, the boundaries of which shall be and remain as they now are -until otherwise changed as provided in this Charter. - -SEC. 6: At the general election to be held in November, 1914, -supervisors shall be elected from the First and Third Supervisor -districts, whose terms shall begin at noon on the first Monday after -the first day of January, 1915, and end at noon on the first Monday -in December, 1918; provided, that each shall hold office until his -successor is elected and qualified. - -At the general election to be held in November, 1916, supervisors -shall be elected from the Second, Fourth and Fifth districts, whose -terms shall begin at noon on the first Monday after the first day of -January, 1917, and end at noon on the first Monday in December, 1920; -provided, that each shall hold office until his successor is elected -and qualified. - -At each general election after November, 1916, there shall be elected, -either two or three supervisors, as the case may be, for terms of four -years, beginning at noon on the first Monday in December next after -their election, and ending at noon on the first Monday in December, -four years thereafter. - -SEC. 7: The Board of Supervisors may, by a two-thirds vote -of its members, change the boundaries of any supervisor district. No -such boundaries shall ever be so changed as to affect the incumbency -in office of any supervisor. Any change in the boundaries of any -supervisor district must be made within one year after a general -election. - -SEC. 8: Whenever a vacancy occurs in the Board of Supervisors -the Governor shall fill such vacancy, and the appointee shall hold -office until the election and qualification of his successor. In such -case, a Supervisor shall be elected at the next general election, to -fill the vacancy for the unexpired term, unless such term expires on -the first Monday in December succeeding said election. - -SEC. 9: The Board of Supervisors shall elect a Chairman, who -shall preside at all meetings. In case of his absence or inability to -act, the members present must, by an order entered of record, select -one of their number to act as Chairman _pro tem_. Any member of -the Board may administer oaths, when necessary in the performance of -his official duties. A majority of the members shall constitute a -quorum, and no act of the Board shall be valid or binding unless a -majority of the members concur. - - -ARTICLE III. - -_General Powers of the Board of Supervisors_ - -SEC. 10: The Board of Supervisors shall have all the jurisdiction -and power which are now or which may hereafter be granted by the -constitution and laws of the State of California or by this Charter. - -SEC. 11: It shall be the duty of the Board of Supervisors: - -(1) To appoint all county officers other than elective officers, and -all officers, assistants, deputies, clerks, attachés and employees -whose appointment is not provided for by this Charter. Except in the -cases of appointees to the unclassified service, all appointments by -the Board shall be from the eligible civil service list. The Board -shall provide, by ordinance, for the compensation of elective officers -and of its appointees, unless such compensation is otherwise fixed by -this Charter. - -(2) To provide, by ordinance, for the number of Justices of the Peace -and Constables, to be elected and appointed, respectively, in each -Township. The Board may also provide, by ordinance, for the number and -fix the compensation, of such other judges and inferior officers of -such inferior courts as are now, or may hereafter be, provided by the -constitution or by general law. - -(3) To provide, by ordinance, for the number of assistants, deputies, -clerks, attachés and other persons to be employed from time to time -in the several offices and institutions of the county, and for their -compensation and the times at which they shall be appointed. - -(4) To provide, by ordinance, for the creation of offices other than -those required by the constitution and laws of the State, and for the -appointment of persons to fill the same, and to fix their compensation. - -(5) To require, if deemed expedient, any county or township officer, -or employee, before or after entering upon the duties of his office, -or service, to give bond for the faithful performance thereof, in such -penal sum as may be fixed by the Board. - -(6) To provide, publish and enforce, a complete code of rules, not -inconsistent with general laws or this Charter, prescribing in detail -the duties, and the systems of office and institutional management, -accounts and reports for each of the offices, institutions and -departments of the county. - - -ARTICLE IV. - -_County Officers Other Than Supervisors_ - -SEC. 12: The elective county officers other than members of -the Board of Supervisors shall be: Sheriff, District Attorney and -Assessor. - -SEC. 13: At the general election to be held in November, 1914, -a District Attorney shall be elected, whose term shall begin at noon -on the first Monday after the first day of January, 1915, and end at -noon on the first Monday in December, 1916. At the same election a -Sheriff and Assessor shall be elected, whose terms shall begin at the -same time and end at noon on the first Monday in December, 1918. At the -general election to be held in November, 1916, and every four years -thereafter, a District Attorney shall be elected, whose term shall be -four years, beginning at noon on the first Monday in December following -his election and ending at noon on the first Monday in December four -years thereafter. At the general election to be held in November, -1918, and every four years thereafter, a Sheriff and Assessor shall -be elected, whose terms shall be four years, beginning at noon on the -first Monday in December following their election, and ending at noon -on the first Monday in December, four years thereafter. All elective -county officers shall hold office until their successors are elected -and qualified. - -SEC. 14: The appointive county officers shall be: - - Auditor. - Board of Education, Members of. - Board of Law Library Trustees, Members of. - Civil Service Commission, Members of. - Coroner. - County Clerk. - County Counsel. - Fish and Game Warden. - Health Officer. - Horticultural Commissioner. - License Collector. - Live Stock Inspector. - Probation Committee, Members of. - Probation Officer. - Public Administrator. - Public Defender. - Purchasing Agent. - Recorder. - Registrar of Voters. - Road Commissioner. - Superintendent of Charities. - Superintendent of Schools. - Surveyor. - Tax Collector. - Treasurer. - -Such other officers as may hereafter be provided by law shall also be -appointive. - -The Tax Collector shall be ex-officio License Collector. - -SEC. 15: All fees collected by any county officer, Board or -Commission shall be paid into the County Treasury on the first Monday -of each calendar month, together with a detailed statement of the same -in writing, a duplicate copy of which shall be filed with the Auditor -at the same time. - -SEC. 16: Whenever a vacancy occurs in an elective county -office other than a member of the Board of Supervisors, the Board -shall fill such vacancy, and the appointee shall hold office until the -election and qualification of his successor. In such case, there shall -be elected at the next general election an officer to fill such vacancy -for the unexpired term, unless such term expires on the first Monday in -December succeeding said election. - - -ARTICLE V. - -_Township Officers_ - -SEC. 17: The Board of Supervisors must provide, by ordinance, -for not less than one Justice of the Peace and one Constable in each -township, and may provide for more in townships where population -and the business therein require a greater number; provided, that, -until the Board shall so provide for such Justices of the Peace and -Constables, the number of each thereof in each township shall continue -as now or hereafter provided by law; provided, further, that if the -Legislature shall hereafter, instead of the system of Courts of Justice -of the Peace now established by law, substitute some other system of -inferior courts, then and in that event, it shall not be compulsory -upon the Board of Supervisors to provide any number for, and the Board -may discontinue the existence of all Justices of the Peace in the -several townships, if such discontinuance be allowed by law, and the -Board may provide for such number of inferior Judges or Justices as may -be necessary for the needs of the county under such substituted system. - -SEC. 18: Justices of the Peace shall be nominated and elected -at the times and in the manner and for the terms, now or hereafter -provided by general law. Constables shall be appointed by the Sheriff -from the eligible civil service list. - -SEC. 19: The compensation of Justices of the Peace and of -Constables shall be fixed by the Board of Supervisors, and must be by -salary only, which need not be uniform for the several townships, nor -proportionate to population therein. Their duties and qualifications -shall be such as are now, or which may hereafter be prescribed by law, -or by this Charter. - -SEC. 20: All fees collected by any Justice of the Peace or -Constable shall be paid into the County Treasury, on the first Monday -of each calendar month, together with a detailed statement of the same -in writing, a duplicate copy of which shall be filed with the Auditor -at the same time. The fees to be so paid into the Treasury by each -Constable shall include all fees charged and collected by him for -service of any writ or process of any court or for any act or service -done or rendered by him, or which he has power or which it is his duty -to do or render, in his official capacity; and every Constable shall -enter in the fee book kept by him all such fees charged and collected -by him and pay the same into the County Treasury as above provided, -without deduction for any such acts or services purporting or claimed -to have been done or rendered by him as a private citizen. - - -ARTICLE VI. - -_Duties of Officers_ - -SEC. 21: The County Counsel shall represent and advise the -Board of Supervisors and all county, township and school district -officers, in all matters and questions of law pertaining to their -duties, and shall have exclusive charge and control of all civil -actions and proceedings in which the county, or any officer thereof, is -concerned or is a party. He shall also act as attorney for the Public -Administrator in the matter of all estates in which such officer is -executor, administrator with the will annexed, or administrator, and -the County Counsel shall, in every such matter, collect the attorney’s -fees allowed therein by law and pay the same into the County Treasury. - -SEC. 22: The Superintendent of Charities shall be under the -direction of the Board of Supervisors, and shall exercise a general -supervision over, and enforce rules and regulations for the conduct -and government of, the charitable institutions of the county. He -shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the Board of -Supervisors or by law. - -SEC. 23: Upon request by the Defendant or upon order of the -Court, the Public Defender shall defend, without expense to them, all -persons who are not financially able to employ counsel and who are -charged, in the Superior Court, with the commission of any contempt, -misdemeanor, felony or other offense. He shall also, upon request, give -counsel and advice to such persons, in and about any charge against -them upon which he is conducting the defense, and he shall prosecute -all appeals to a higher court or courts, of any person who has been -convicted upon any such charge, where, in his opinion, such appeal -will, or might reasonably be expected to, result in a reversal or -modification of the judgment of conviction. - -He shall also, upon request, prosecute actions for the collection of -wages and of other demands of persons who are not financially able to -employ counsel, in cases in which the sum involved does not exceed -$100, and in which, in the judgment of the Public Defender, the claims -urged are valid and enforceable in the courts. - -He shall also, upon request, defend such persons in all civil -litigation in which, in his judgment, they are being persecuted or -unjustly harassed. - -The costs in all actions in which the Public Defender shall appear -under this section, whether for plaintiffs or for defendants, shall be -paid from the County Treasury, at the times and in the manner required -by law, or by rules of court, and under a system of demand, audit -and payment, which shall be prescribed by the Board of Supervisors. -It shall be the duty of the Public Defender, in all such litigation, -to procure, if possible, in addition to general judgments in favor -of the persons whom he shall represent therein, judgments for costs -and attorney’s fees, where permissible, against the opponents of such -persons, and collect and pay the same into the County Treasury. - -SEC. 24: Subject to rules and regulations which shall be -adopted by the Board of Supervisors, by ordinance, the Purchasing Agent -shall be the buyer of furniture, fixtures, tools, supplies, materials -or other articles of personal property for the county and for county, -township and all other officers. - -SEC. 25: Each county or township officer, Board or Commission -shall have the powers and perform the duties now or hereafter -prescribed by general law, and by this Charter, as to such officer, -Board or Commission. - - -ARTICLE VII. - -_Road Department_ - -SEC. 26: The Board of Supervisors may provide for the formation of road -districts for the care, maintenance, repair and supervision of roads, -highways and bridges; and for the formation of highway construction -divisions for the construction of roads, highways and bridges; for -the inclusion in any such district or division of the whole or any -part of any incorporated city or town upon ordinance passed by such -incorporated city or town authorizing the same, and upon the assent -to such inclusion by a majority of the qualified electors of such -incorporated city or town or portion thereof proposed to be so included -at an election held for that purpose; for the organization, government, -powers and jurisdiction of such district or division, for raising -revenue therein for such purposes, by taxation, upon the assent of a -majority of the qualified electors of such district or division, voting -at an election held for that purpose; for the incurring of indebtedness -therefor by the county, district or division for such purposes, -respectively, by the issuance and sale, by the county, of bonds of the -county, district or division, and the expenditure of the proceeds of -the sale of such bonds, and for levying and collecting taxes against -the property of the county, district or division, as the case may be, -for the payment of the principal and interest of such indebtedness at -maturity; provided that any such indebtedness shall not be incurred -without the assent of two-thirds of the qualified electors of the -county, district or division, as the case may be, voting at an election -held for that purpose, nor unless before or at the time of incurring -such indebtedness, provision shall be made for the collection of an -annual tax sufficient to pay the interest on such indebtedness as it -falls due, and also for a sinking fund for the payment of the principal -thereof on or before maturity, which shall not exceed forty years -from the time of contracting the same; and the procedure for voting, -issuing and selling such bonds, except insofar as the same shall be -otherwise prescribed in this Charter, shall conform to general laws -for the authorizing and incurring of bonded indebtedness by counties -so far as applicable; provided, further, that the construction, care, -maintenance, repair and supervision of roads, highways and bridges -for which aid from the state is granted shall be subject to such -regulations and conditions as may be imposed by the Legislature. - -SEC. 27: The Road Commissioner, subject to such rules and regulations -as shall be prescribed by the Board of Supervisors, shall have -direction and control over all work of construction, maintenance and -repair of roads, highways and bridges, other than work done under -contract, and it shall be his duty to examine and inspect contract -work as the same progresses and to see that the same is properly -performed, and when completed to file his written approval thereof with -the Board of Supervisors. He shall also have the control and management -of all county rock quarries and gravel pits, and of all other -materials, property and instrumentalities necessary for and connected -with the construction, maintenance and repair of roads, highways and -bridges. - - -ARTICLE VIII. - -_Constabulary Department_ - -SEC. 28: There is hereby created a Constabulary Department, consisting -of the Sheriff and of all Constables, who are hereby made _ex-officio_ -Deputy Sheriffs. - -SEC. 29: The Sheriff shall be the head of said Department, and shall -so organize the same as to give the county efficient and effective -police protection. Each Constable shall be subject to the orders of the -Sheriff and must serve process within his township, or elsewhere, when -requested, and he shall also perform all the duties required of him by -law. - - -ARTICLE IX. - -_Civil Service_ - -SEC. 30: On or before the first day of July, 1913, the Board of -Supervisors shall appoint three persons as members of the Civil Service -Commission, who shall so classify themselves as that one shall serve -until the first Monday in December, 1915, at noon, one until the -first Monday in December, 1917, at noon, and one until the first -Monday in December, 1919, at noon. Before the first Monday in December -of each alternate year after 1913, the Board of Supervisors shall -appoint one person as the successor of the member of the Commission -whose term shall then expire, to serve for six years. Any vacancy on -the Commission shall be filled by the Board of Supervisors for the -unexpired term. Each member of the Commission shall serve until his -successor is appointed and qualified. Not more than one member shall be -an adherent of the same political party. No member shall hold any other -salaried county office, nor shall he have been, within the year next -preceding his appointment, an active executive officer in any political -organization. Each member shall have been a resident of the county -for the five years next preceding his appointment, and his name shall -be upon the state and county assessment rolls at the time thereof. -The Board of Supervisors by a four-fifths vote of all the members may -remove a member of the Commission during his term of office, but only -upon stating in writing the reasons for such removal and allowing him -an opportunity to be publicly heard in his own defense. The Commission -shall elect one of its members president. - -SEC. 31: Each member of the Commission shall receive a compensation -of Ten Dollars for each meeting thereof attended by him, not to -exceed five meetings in any calendar month. The Commission shall -appoint and fix the compensation of a Chief Examiner, who shall also -act as Secretary. This position shall be in the competitive class. -The Commission may appoint and fix the compensation of such other -subordinates as may be necessary. - -SEC. 32: For the support of the work of the Commission, the Board -of Supervisors shall annually levy and collect a tax on all taxable -property in the county, at the rate of not less than one-half of one -cent on each One Hundred Dollars of assessed valuation thereof. Any -part of the tax so levied for any fiscal year not expended during such -fiscal year, or required to defray expenses incurred during such year, -shall on the first day of January next succeeding the end thereof, be -placed in the general fund of the county. - -SEC. 33: The Civil Service of the county is hereby divided into the -unclassified and the classified service. - - * * * * * - -The unclassified service shall comprise: - -(a) All officers elected by the people. - -(b) In the office of the District Attorney: The Chief and one other -deputy, one secretary, and three detectives; and special counsel and -special detectives for temporary employment. - -(c) In the office of the Sheriff: The Under Sheriff, or Chief Deputy. -In the office of the Assessor: The Chief Deputy. - -(d) Superintendents, principals and teachers in the school system. - -(e) Members of the County Board of Education. - -(f) Members of the Civil Service Commission. - -(g) All officers and other persons serving the county without -compensation. - -The classified service shall include all other positions now existing -or hereafter created. - - * * * * * - -SEC. 34: The Commission shall prescribe, amend and enforce rules for -the classified service, which shall have the force and effect of law; -shall keep minutes of its proceedings and records of its examinations -and shall, as a Board or through a single Commissioner, make -investigations concerning the enforcement and effect of this Article -and of the rules and efficiency of the service. It shall make an annual -report to the Board of Supervisors. - - * * * * * - -The rules shall provide: - -(1) For the classification of all positions in the classified service. - -(2) For open, competitive examinations to test the relative fitness of -applicants for such positions. - -(3) For public advertisement of all examinations. - -(4) For the creation of eligible lists upon which shall be entered -the names of successful candidates in the order of their standing in -examination. Such lists shall remain in force not longer than two years. - -(5) For the rejection of candidates or eligibles who fail to comply -with the reasonable requirements of the Commission in regard to age, -residence, sex, physical condition or who have been guilty of crime or -of infamous or disgraceful conduct or who have attempted any deception -or fraud in connection with an examination. - -(6) For the appointment of one of the three persons standing highest on -the appropriate list. - -(7) For a period of probation not to exceed six months before -appointment or promotion is made complete, during which period a -probationer may be discharged or reduced with the consent of the -Commission. - -(8) For non-competitive examinations for minor positions in the county -institutions when competition is found to be impracticable. - -(9) For temporary employment of persons on the eligible list until -list of the class covering the temporary employment is exhausted; and -in cases of emergency, for temporary employment without examination, -with the consent of the Commission, after the eligible list has been -exhausted. But no such temporary employment shall continue longer than -sixty days, nor shall successive temporary appointments be allowed. Nor -shall the acceptance or refusal to accept such temporary appointment on -the part of a person on the eligible list be a bar to appointment to a -permanent position from said eligible list. - -(10) For transfer from one position to a similar position in the same -class and grade and for reinstatement within one year of persons who -without fault or delinquency on their part are separated from the -service or reduced. - -(11) For promotion based on competitive examination and records of -efficiency, character, conduct and seniority. Lists shall be created -and promotion made therefrom in the same manner as prescribed for -original appointment. An advancement in rank or an increase in salary -beyond the limit fixed for the grade by the rules shall constitute -promotion. Whenever practicable, vacancies shall be filled by promotion. - -(12) For suspensions for not longer than thirty days and for leaves of -absence. - -(13) For discharge or reduction in rank or compensation after -appointment of promotion is complete, only after the person to be -discharged or reduced has been presented with the reasons for such -discharge or reduction, specifically stated and has been allowed a -reasonable time to reply thereto in writing. The reasons and the reply -must be filed as a record with the Commission. - -(14) For the appointment of unskilled laborers and such skilled -laborers as the Commission may determine in the order of priority of -application after such tests of fitness as the Commission may prescribe. - -(15) For the establishment of a bureau of efficiency, consisting -of the Commission, the Secretary thereof and the Auditor, for the -purpose of determining the duties of each position in the classified -service, fixing standards of efficiency, investigating the methods of -operation of the various departments, and recommending to the Board of -Supervisors and department heads measures for increasing individual, -group and departmental efficiency, and providing for uniformity of -competition and simplicity of operation. The Commission shall ascertain -and record the comparative efficiency of employees in the classified -service and shall have power, after hearing, to dismiss from the -service those who fall below the standard of efficiency established. - -(16) For the adoption and amendment of rules only after public notice -and hearing. - -The Commission shall adopt such other rules, not inconsistent with the -foregoing provisions of this section, as may be necessary and proper -for the enforcement of this Article. - -SEC. 35: In case of a vacancy in a position requiring peculiar -and exceptional qualifications of a scientific, professional or expert -character, upon satisfactory evidence that competition is impracticable -and that the position can best be filled by the selection of some -designated person of recognized attainments, the Commission may, after -public hearing and by the affirmative vote of all three members of -the Commission, suspend competition, but no such suspension shall be -general in its application to such positions, and all such cases of -suspension shall be reported, together with the reason therefor, in the -annual reports of the Commission. - -SEC. 36: All examinations shall be impartial and shall deal -with the duties and requirements of the position to be filled. When -oral tests are used, a record of the examination, showing basis of -rating, shall be made. Examinations shall be in charge of the chief -examiner except when members of the commission act as examiners. The -commission may call on other persons to draw up, conduct or mark -examinations, and when such persons are connected with the county -service it shall be deemed a part of their official duties to act as -examiners without extra compensation. - -SEC. 37: All persons in the county or township service holding -positions in the classified service as established by this Article, -at the time it takes effect, whether holding by election or by -appointment, and who shall have been in such service for the six -months next preceding shall hold their positions until discharged, -reduced, promoted or transferred in accordance with the provisions -of this Article. The Commission shall maintain a civil list of all -persons in the county service, showing in connection with each name -the position held, the date and character of every appointment and -of every subsequent change in status. Each appointing officer shall -promptly transmit to the Commission all information required for the -establishment and maintenance of said civil list. - -SEC. 38: The Auditor shall not approve any salary or compensation for -services to any person holding or performing the duties of a position -in the classified service, unless the payroll or account for such -salary or compensation shall bear the certificate of the Commission -that the persons named therein have been appointed or employed and are -performing service in accordance with the provisions of this Article -and of the rules established thereunder. - -SEC. 39: Charges against any person in the classified service -may be made to the Commission by any elector of the county, such -charges to be in writing. - -SEC. 40: In any investigation conducted by the Commission it -shall have the power to subpœna and require the attendance of witnesses -and the production thereby of books and papers pertinent to the -investigation and each Commissioner shall have the power to administer -oaths to such witnesses. - -SEC. 41: No person in the classified service, or seeking -admission thereto, shall be appointed, reduced or removed or in any way -favored or discriminated against because of his political or religious -opinions or affiliations. - -SEC. 42: No officer or employee of the county, in the classified -service, shall, directly or indirectly, solicit or receive, or be -in any manner concerned in soliciting or receiving, any assessment, -subscription or contribution for any political party or political -purpose whatever. No person shall, orally or by letter, solicit, or be -in any manner concerned in soliciting, any assessment, subscription -or contribution for any political party or purpose whatever from any -person holding a position in the classified service. - -SEC. 43: No person holding a position in the classified service shall -take any part in political management or affairs or in political -campaigns further than to cast his vote and to express privately his -opinions. - -SEC. 44: Any person willfully violating any of the provisions of this -Article or of the rules established thereunder, shall be guilty of a -misdemeanor. - - -ARTICLE X. - -_Labor_ - -SEC. 45: In the employment of persons in the service of the county, -where sex does not actually disqualify and where the quality and -quantity of service is equal, there shall be no discrimination in -selection or compensation, on account of sex. - -SEC. 46: Eight hours shall constitute a day’s work for mechanics and -others engaged in manual labor in the service of the county. - -SEC. 47: In fixing compensation to be paid to persons under the -classified civil service, the Board of Supervisors shall, in each -instance, provide a salary or wage at least equal to the prevailing -salary or wage for the same quality of service rendered to private -persons, firms or corporations under similar employment in case such -prevailing salary or wage can be ascertained. - -SEC. 48: Every person who shall have been in the service of the county, -continuously, for one year, shall be allowed a vacation of two weeks on -full pay, annually. - -SEC. 49: The Board of Supervisors shall prohibit enforced labor without -compensation as a penalty for the commission of public offenses. -The net earnings of all county prisoners, based upon reasonable -compensation for services performed, shall go to the support of their -dependents, and if such prisoners have no dependents, such net earnings -shall accumulate and be paid to them upon their discharge. - - -ARTICLE XI. - -_Recall_ - -SEC. 50: The holder of any elective or appointive county or township -office may be recalled by the electors at any time after he has -held his office six months. The provisions of this Article shall -apply to officials now in office, and to those hereafter elected -or appointed. Such recall shall be affected as follows: A petition -demanding the election or appointment of a successor to the person -sought to be recalled shall be filed with the Registrar of Voters, -which petition shall be signed by qualified voters equal in number to -at least fifteen per cent. of the entire vote cast within the county -for all candidates for the office of Governor of the state at the -last preceding election at which a Governor was elected (or at least -twenty-five per cent. of such vote cast within the district or township -for which the officer sought to be recalled was elected or appointed, -in case of an official not elected by or appointed for the county) -and shall contain a statement of the grounds on which the recall is -sought. No insufficiency of form or substance in such statement shall -affect the validity of the election and proceedings held thereunder. -The signatures to the petition need not all be appended to one paper. -Each signer shall add to his signature his place of occupation and -residence, giving street and number or if no street or number exist, -then such a designation of his residence as will enable the location -to be readily ascertained. To each separate paper of such petition -shall be attached an affidavit made by a qualified elector of the -county, stating that the affiant circulated that particular paper and -saw written the signatures appended thereto, and that, according to -the information and belief of the affiant, each of said signatures -is genuine, and the signature of a qualified elector of the county -(or particular sub-division thereof in which such signers are hereby -required to reside). Within ten days from the filing of such petition, -the Registrar of Voters shall, from the records of registration, -determine whether or not said petition is signed by the requisite -number of qualified voters, and he shall attach to said petition his -certificate showing such determination. If such certificate shows the -petition to be insufficient, it may be supplemented within ten days -from the date of the certificate by the filing of additional papers, -duplicates of the original petition except as to the names signed. The -Registrar of Voters shall, within ten days after such additional papers -are filed, ascertain from the records of registration, and certify -whether or not the names to such petition, including such additional -papers, are still insufficient, and if insufficient, no action shall -be taken thereon; but the petition shall remain on file as a public -record. The failure to secure sufficient names shall not prejudice -the filing later of an entirely new petition to the same effect. If -required by the Registrar of Voters, the Board of Supervisors shall -authorize him to employ, and shall provide for the compensation of, -persons necessary in the examination of said petition and supplementing -petition, in addition to the persons regularly employed by him in -his office. In case the Registrar of Voters is the officer sought to -be recalled, the duties in this Article provided to be performed by -him shall be performed by the County Clerk. If the petition shall be -found to be sufficient, the Registrar of Voters shall submit the same -to the Board of Supervisors without delay, whereupon the Board shall -forthwith cause a special election to be held not less than thirty-five -nor more than forty days after the date of the order calling such an -election, to determine whether the voters shall recall such officer. -If a vacancy occur in said office after a recall petition is filed, -and the office is elective, the election shall nevertheless proceed as -in this section provided. One petition is sufficient to propose the -recall of one or more officials and the election of successors to such -thereof as are elective. Nominations for any elective office under such -recall election shall be made by petition in the manner prescribed by -section 1188 of the Political Code. Upon the sample ballot there shall -be printed, in not more than two hundred words, the grounds set forth -in the recall petition for demanding the recall of the officer, and -upon the same ballot in not more than two hundred words, the officer -may justify himself. There shall be printed on the recall ballot, -as to every officer whose recall is to be voted on, the following -question: “Shall (name of person against whom the recall petition is -filed) be recalled from the office of (title of office)?” following -which question shall be the words “Yes” and “No” on separate lines, -with a blank space at the right of each, in which the voter shall, by -stamping a cross (x) indicate his vote for or against such recall. On -such ballots, under each such question there shall also be printed, -if the officer sought to be recalled be an elective officer, the -names of those persons who shall have been nominated as candidates to -succeed him, in case he shall be recalled at such election; but no vote -shall be counted for any candidate for said office unless the voter -also voted on the question of the recall of the person sought to be -recalled therefrom. The name of the person sought to be recalled shall -not appear on the ballot as a candidate for the office. If a majority -of those voting on said question of the recall of any incumbent shall -vote “No” said incumbent shall continue in said office. If a majority -shall vote “Yes,” said incumbent shall thereupon be deemed removed from -such office, upon the qualification of his successor. The canvassers -shall canvass the votes for candidates for said office and declare the -result in like manner as in a regular election. If the vote at any such -recall election shall recall the officer, then the candidate who has -received the highest number of votes for the office shall be thereby -declared elected for the remainder of the term. In case the person who -received the highest number of votes shall fail to qualify within ten -days after receiving the certificate of election, the office shall be -deemed vacant and shall be filled according to law. If the incumbent of -an appointive office be recalled at such election, his successor shall -be appointed immediately after the canvassing of the vote. - -Before any petition can be filed under this section for the recall of -any person in the classified service of the county, there shall be -presented to, and be passed upon by, the Civil Service Commission, a -complaint in writing giving the grounds for and asking the removal of -such person. Such complaint must be considered and be finally acted -upon by the Commission within twenty days after such filing. - -Until such time as the Board of Supervisors shall appoint a Registrar -of Voters under the provisions of this Charter, the powers and duties -by this section conferred upon the Registrar of Voters shall be -exercised and performed by the County Clerk. In case, at any time -prior to the appointment of such Registrar of Voters, the County Clerk -shall be sought to be recalled, such powers and duties, in and about -the matter of such proposed recall, shall be exercised and performed -by some other officer or person to be designated by the Board of -Supervisors. - - -ARTICLE XII. - -_Miscellaneous_ - -SEC. 51: Each county or township officer, Board or Commission shall -appoint, from the eligible civil service list, for either permanent -or temporary service, all assistants, librarians, deputies, clerks, -attachés and other persons in the office or department of such officer, -Board or Commission, as the number thereof is fixed and from time to -time changed by the Board of Supervisors; provided, that appointments -to the unclassified service in their respective offices and departments -shall be made by such officers, Boards and Commissions, without -reference to such eligible list. - -SEC. 52: The compensation of any elective county or township officer -shall not be increased nor diminished during the term for which he was -elected, nor within ninety days preceding his election. - -No compensation for any position, nor of any person under civil -service, shall be increased or diminished without the consent of the -Civil Service Commission specifically given thereto in writing. - -SEC. 53: Whenever any person in the service of the county is compelled -to travel in the performance of his duty, he shall, in addition to -his regular compensation, be reimbursed for his actual necessary -expenditures for transportation, the hire of conveyances, and for -lodging and meals. An itemized account of such expenditures shall be -filed with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and be approved by the -Auditor before being paid. The Board of Supervisors shall fix a maximum -price to be paid for such lodging and meals, which shall be uniform and -be made applicable to all persons alike, including members of the Board -of Supervisors. - -SEC. 54: No attorney, agent, stockholder or employee of any firm, -association or corporation doing business under or by virtue of any -franchise granted by, or contract made with the county, shall, nor -shall any person doing such business, nor shall any person financially -interested in any such franchise or contract, be eligible to or hold -any appointive county office. - -SEC. 55: The District Attorney, Public Defender, County Counsel, and -their deputies, shall not engage in any private law practice, and they -shall devote all their time and attention during business hours to the -duties of their respective offices. - -SEC. 56: Nothing in this Charter is intended to affect, or shall be -construed as affecting, the tenure of office of any of the elective -officers of the county or of any district, township or division -thereof, in office at the time this Charter goes into effect, and such -officers shall continue to hold their respective offices until the -expiration of the term for which they shall have been elected unless -sooner removed in the manner provided by law; nor shall anything in -this Charter be construed as changing or affecting the compensation of -any such officer during the term for which he shall have been elected. -But the successors of each and all of such officers shall be elected -or appointed as in this Charter provided, and not otherwise. - -SEC. 57: This Charter shall take effect at noon on the first Monday in -June, 1913. - -We, the undersigned members of the Board of Fifteen Freeholders of -the County of Los Angeles, in the State of California, elected at a -special election held in the said County on the 14th day of May, 1912, -to prepare and provide a Charter for the said County, under and in -accordance with Section 7 1-2 of Article XI of the Constitution of this -state, have prepared, and we do hereby propose, the foregoing as and -for a Charter for said County. - -IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we hereunto sign our names in duplicate this -twenty-fourth day of September, 1912. - - LEWIS R. WORKS, _Chairman_. - FREDERICK BAKER, - WILLIS H. BOOTH, - T. H. DUDLEY, - WILLIAM A. ENGLE, - DAVID EVANS, - H. C. HUBBARD, - J. M. HUNTER, - GEORGE F. KERNAGHAN, - FRANK R. SEAVER, - J. H. STRINE, - CHARLES WELLBORN. - - - - -APPENDIX C - -PROPOSED COUNTY HOME RULE IN NEW YORK - - [Below is the text of a constitutional amendment introduced in the - Legislature of New York in 1916 by the County Government Association - of New York State. The general object of this amendment is to limit - the amount of special legislation affecting counties by empowering - boards of supervisors to deal with many subjects of administrative - organization and detail over which at present they have no general - jurisdiction. The amendment anticipates legislation under which - counties by referendum would be able to adopt one of several - simplified forms of government in substitution for the existing form.] - - -CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY - - Proposing the repeal of sections twenty-six and twenty-seven of - article three, the insertion of two new sections at the beginning of - article ten, to be numbered sections one and two, respectively, and - the renumbering and amendment of sections one to nine, respectively, - of article ten of the constitution. - -Section 1. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That sections twenty-six -and twenty-seven of article three be hereby repealed. - -§ 2. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That article ten of the -constitution be hereby amended by inserting therein two new sections -at the beginning thereof, to be numbered sections one and two, -respectively, to read as follows: - -§ 1. [30]_Laws relating to the government of counties and to the -methods of selection, terms of office, removal and compensation of -county officers shall be general laws, both in terms and in effect. -The board of supervisors of any county, the members of which shall -be elected in the year one thousand nine hundred and seventeen or -thereafter, may repeal such sections of any law then in force as shall -relate to the foregoing subjects and affect exclusively such county. -The legislature may pass a law authorizing any county, except a county -wholly in a city, upon petition of a percentage of the electors thereof -to be determined by the legislature, to adopt one of such optional -forms of county government as may be set forth in such law. Such law -may authorize the selection of any county officer or officers by the -electors, by the board of supervisors or by other county officers, and -provide for the removal of officers so selected; it may confer upon the -board of supervisors such powers of local legislation, government and -administration as the legislature may deem expedient._ - -§ 2. _There shall be in each county, except a county wholly included -in a city, a board of supervisors, to be composed of such members and -chosen by the electors of the county or of its several subdivisions -in such manner and for such period as is or may be provided by law. -In a city which includes an entire county or two or more counties, -the powers and duties of a board of supervisors may be devolved upon -the municipal assembly, common council, board of aldermen or other -legislative body of the city._ - -§ 3. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That sections one and two of -article ten of the constitution be renumbered respectively sections -three and four and be hereby amended to read as follows: - -§ [1]_3._ Sheriffs, clerks of counties, district attorneys and -registers, in counties having registers, shall be chosen by the -electors of the respective counties [once in every three years and as -often as vacancies shall happen, except in the counties of New York -and Kings, and in counties whose boundaries are the same as those of -a city, in every two or four years], as the legislature shall direct, -_unless and until the electors in the manner provided in section -one hereof shall adopt other methods of selection_. Sheriffs shall -hold no other office and [be ineligible for the next term after the -termination of their offices. They] may be required by law to renew -their security from time to time, and in default of giving such new -security, their offices shall be deemed vacant. But the county shall -never be made responsible for the acts of the sheriff. The governor -may remove any officer, in this section mentioned, within the term for -which he shall have been elected _or appointed_; giving to such -officer a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity of being -heard in his defense. - -§ [2]_4._ All county officers whose election or appointment is not -provided for by this constitution, shall be elected by the electors -of the respective counties or appointed by the boards of supervisors, -or other county authorities as the legislature shall direct. All -city, town and village officers, whose election or appointment is not -provided for by this constitution shall be elected by the electors -of such cities, towns and villages, or of some division thereof, -or appointed by such authorities thereof, as the legislature shall -designate for that purpose. All other officers, whose election or -appointment is not provided for by this constitution, and all officers -whose offices may hereafter be created by law, shall be elected by -the people, or appointed as the legislature may direct. _Nothing in -this section shall prevent the transfer in whole or in part, of the -functions of any town or village officer to any county officer, or the -transfer in whole or in part of the function of any county officer to -any town or village officer._ - -§ 4. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That sections three, four, five, -six, seven, eight and nine of article ten of the constitution be hereby -renumbered five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and eleven, respectively. - -[30]EXPLANATION:--Matter in _italics_ is new; matter in brackets [] is -old law to be omitted. - - - - -APPENDIX D - -PROPOSED COUNTY MANAGER LAW IN NEW YORK - - [This is the text of a bill introduced in the New York legislature - at its session in 1916 at the instance of the County Government - Association of New York State. For summary and comment on its - provisions see pp. 178, 179.] - - -AN ACT - -PROVIDING AN OPTIONAL FORM OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT FOR COUNTIES NOT WHOLLY -INCLUDED IN A CITY - -_The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and -Assembly, do enact as follows_: - -Section 1. Chapter sixteen of the laws of nineteen hundred and nine, -entitled “An act in relation to counties, constituting chapter eleven -of the consolidated laws,” is hereby amended by adding after article -fourteen-a a new article, to be article fourteen-b, to read as follows: - - -ARTICLE 14-B - -§ 240. _Application of article. This article shall apply to all -counties which shall adopt the same in the manner hereinafter -prescribed, providing that the question of its adoption may not be -submitted in counties included wholly in a city._ - -§ 241. _Submission of article. If prior to the first day of October -in any year one percentum of the registered electors of any county -shall file with the appropriate officer a petition for the submission -of the question of the adoption of this article, the said officer shall -prepare the following question to be submitted at the general election -held in that year, in the same manner as other questions are submitted: -“Shall article fourteen-b of the county law, providing for government -by a board of county supervisors and a county manager, apply to the -county of (name of county)?”_ - -§ 242. _Election of county officers. If a majority of all votes cast -on such proposition be affirmative, there shall be elected in the -county at the next succeeding general election, in the same manner -as are other county officers, five officers to be known as county -supervisors. The said county supervisors shall hold office for a term -of three years, commencing at noon on the first day of January next -succeeding their election; provided, however, that of those elected -at the first election under this article two shall hold office for -one year, two for two years, and one for three years, the designation -whereof shall be made on the election ballot._ - -§ 243. _County supervisors; qualifications; vacancies and removals. -County supervisors shall be electors of the county. When a vacancy -shall occur, otherwise than by expiration of term, in the office of -county supervisor, the same shall be filled for the remainder of the -unexpired term at the next general election happening not less than -three months after such vacancy occurs; and until such vacancy shall -be filled the governor shall fill such vacancy by appointment. A -county officer may be removed by the governor in the same manner as a -sheriff._ - -§ 244. _The board of supervisors; organization, powers, compensation -of members. The county supervisors in each county adopting this article -shall constitute the board of supervisors of such county and the powers -and duties conferred and imposed upon the board of supervisors and -the officers and committees thereof in any general or special law are -hereby devolved upon the board so constituted, together with such other -powers, duties and responsibilities as may be conferred upon them by -law, to be exercised subject to the provisions of this article. When -the county supervisors elected within such county shall have qualified -the supervisors of the several towns and wards of cities within the -county shall cease to convene as a board of supervisors or to exercise -any of the powers and duties required to be exercised by the board of -supervisors of the county. The board shall elect one of its number -president, whose powers and duties shall be determined by said board, -and shall adopt rules for the conduct of its business. Each member -of the board shall receive an annual compensation not to exceed five -hundred dollars, the amount of which shall be determined by the said -board for attendance upon each of its meetings, provided, that the -total amount shall not exceed five hundred dollars. Such compensation -shall be a county charge and in addition to the actual necessary -expenses incurred for transportation in going to and from the meetings -of the board._ - -§ 245. _Election officers. No person who shall hold or be elected -to any elective county office at or before the election at which this -article is adopted shall be removed therefrom under authority of this -article before the expiration of the term for which he was elected or -appointed to fill a vacancy._ - -§ 246. _The county manager; appointment; qualifications; tenure; -compensation. The board of supervisors shall appoint an officer who -shall be a citizen of the United States but who, at the time of his -appointment, need not be a resident of the county, to be known as the -county manager. The said county manager shall execute to the county -good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the county judge, -in a sum to be fixed by the board of supervisors, conditioned upon -the faithful performance of his duties. He shall not be personally -interested in any contract to which the county is a party; he shall -hold office at the pleasure of the board of supervisors, and upon -removal, the said board shall furnish him with a written statement of -the reasons for such action, signed by at least two members thereof. -The board of supervisors shall prescribe the salary of such county -manager and the compensation of the assistants and subordinates to be -appointed by him, which shall be a county charge and may be increased -or diminished at any time. A member of the board of supervisors, during -the term for which he is elected or appointed, shall not be eligible -for the office of county manager._ - -§ 247. _Duties and powers of the county manager. The county manager -shall be the administrative agent of the board of supervisors. It shall -be his duty_ - -(_a_) _To attend all meetings of the board of supervisors_; - -(_b_) _To see that the resolutions and other orders of the board -of supervisors and the laws of the state required to be enforced by -such board, are faithfully carried out by the officers and employees of -the county, including all officers chosen by the electors_; - -(_c_) _To recommend to the board of supervisors such measures as -he may deem necessary or expedient for the proper administration of -the affairs of the county and its several offices_; - -(_d_) _To appoint all county officers whose election by the -electors is not required by the constitution, except county supervisors -and the county auditor or comptroller, and for such terms of office as -are provided by law._ - -_Subject to resolutions of the board of supervisors he shall_ - -(_e_) _Purchase all supplies and materials required by every -county officer, including the superintendents of the poor_; - -(_f_) _Execute contracts on behalf of the board of supervisors -when the consideration therein shall not exceed five hundred -dollars_; - -(_g_) _Obtain from the several county officers reports of their -various activities, in such form and at such times as the board of -supervisors may require_; - -(_h_) _Obtain from the several county officers itemized estimates of -the probable expense of conducting their offices for the ensuing year, -and transmit the same to the board of supervisors with his approval or -disapproval of each and all items therein, in the form of a tentative -budget_; - -(_i_) _Perform such other duties as the board of supervisors may -require._ - -_In the exercise of the foregoing duties, the county manager shall -have the same powers to examine witnesses, to take testimony under -oath and to investigate the affairs of every county officer which is -conferred by this chapter upon the boards of supervisors and committees -thereof._ - -§ 248. _The administrative code. Within ninety days after the first -day of operation under this article, the board of supervisors shall -adopt, publish in pamphlet form and cause to be delivered to every -officer of the county, and to such other persons as shall apply for -the same, a code of administrative rules. Such code, subject to such -regulations concerning the conduct of various county officers as may be -made from time to time by the comptroller, shall contain the rules of -the said board on the following subjects_: - -(_a_) _The methods by which the county manager shall exercise -the duties imposed upon him in sub-divisions (e) to (i), inclusive, of -section two hundred and forty-seven of this article._ - -(_b_) _The method by which, and the form in which, the several -county officers and employees shall order supplies and materials_, - -(_c_) _The form in which, and the times at which, the several -county officers shall submit the estimates of the probable financial -needs of their offices for the ensuing year_, - -(_d_) _The manner in which the county treasurer shall disburse -the funds of the county_, - -(_e_) _Such other regulations as shall be necessary to secure -the efficient conduct of the affairs of the county and its several -offices_. - -§ 249. _Application of certain laws. All general and special laws -applicable to the county shall remain in full force and effect except -in so far as they are in conflict with this article._ - -§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately. - - - - -APPENDIX E - -THE CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER IN NEW YORK CITY - - [An amendment of the New York City Charter (Chap. 284 Laws of 1915) - abolished the elective coroners in the five boroughs and created the - office of Chief Medical Examiner. This amendment was prepared by - representatives of the principal medical, legal and civic societies in - New York City working in conjunction with the Commissioner of Accounts - and representatives of the District Attorney’s office. It is believed - to embody important standards of organization and procedure in the - prosecution of public medico-legal investigations. The provisions of - the amendment will go into effect January 1, 1918.] - - -AN ACT - -To amend the Greater New York charter, and repeal certain sections -thereof and of chapter four hundred and ten of the laws of eighteen -hundred and eighty-two, in relation to the abolition of the office of -coroner and the establishment of the office of chief medical examiner. - -_The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and -Assembly, do enact as follows_: - -Section 1. The office of coroner in the city of New York shall be -abolished on January first, nineteen hundred and eighteen, and after -this section takes effect, a vacancy occurring in such an office in any -borough shall not be filled unless by reason of the occurrence thereof, -there shall be no coroner in office in such borough, in which case the -vacancy in such borough last occurring shall be filled for a term to -expire on January first, nineteen hundred and eighteen. If, by reason -of the provisions of this section, the number of coroners in a borough -be reduced, the remaining coroner or coroners in such borough shall -have the powers and perform the duties conferred or imposed by law on -the board of coroners in such borough. - -§ 2. Title four of chapter twenty-three, sections fifteen hundred and -seventy and fifteen hundred and seventy-one of the Greater New York -charter, as re-enacted by chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the -laws of nineteen hundred and one, is hereby repealed, and in its place -is inserted a new title to be numbered four and to read as follows: - - -TITLE IV - -CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER - - Section - 1570. Organization of office; officers and employees. - 1571. Violent and suspicious deaths; procedure. - 1571-a. Autopsies; findings. - 1571-b. Report of deaths; removal of body. - 1571-c. Records. - 1571-d. Oaths and affidavits. - - -ORGANIZATION OF OFFICE; OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES - -§ 1570. There is hereby established the office of chief medical -examiner of the city of New York. The head of the office shall be -called the “chief medical examiner.” He shall be appointed by the mayor -from the classified service and be a doctor of medicine, and a skilled -pathologist and microscopist. - -The mayor may remove such officer upon stating in writing his -reasons therefor, to be filed in the office of the municipal civil -service commission and served upon such officer, and allowing him an -opportunity of making a public explanation. The chief medical examiner -may appoint and remove such deputies, assistant medical examiners, -scientific experts, officers and employees as may be provided for -pursuant to law. Such deputy medical examiners, and assistant medical -examiners, as may be appointed, shall possess qualifications similar to -those required in the appointment of the chief medical examiner. The -office shall be kept open every day in the year, including Sundays and -legal holidays, with a clerk in constant attendance at all times during -the day and night. - - -VIOLENT AND SUSPICIOUS DEATHS; PROCEDURE - -§ 1571. When, in the city of New York, any person shall die from -criminal violence, or by a casualty, or by suicide, or suddenly when -in apparent health, or when unattended by a physician, or in prison, -or in any suspicious or unusual manner, the officer in charge of the -station house in the police precinct in which such person died shall -immediately notify the office of the chief medical examiner of the -known facts concerning the time, place, manner and circumstances of -such death. Immediately upon receipt of such notification the chief -medical examiner, or a deputy or assistant medical examiner, shall go -to the dead body, and take charge of the same. Such examiner shall -fully investigate the essential facts concerning the circumstances of -the death, taking the names and addresses of as many witnesses thereto -as it may be practical to obtain, and, before leaving the premises, -shall reduce all such facts to writing and file the same in his office. -The police officer so detailed shall, in the absence of the next of kin -of deceased person, take possession of all property of value found on -such person, make an exact inventory thereof on his report, and deliver -such property to the police department, which shall surrender the same -to the person entitled to its custody or possession. Such examiner -shall take possession of any portable objects which, in his opinion, -may be useful in establishing the cause of death, and deliver them to -the police department. - -Nothing in this section contained shall affect the powers and duties of -a public administrator as now provided by law. - - -AUTOPSIES; FINDINGS - -§ 1571-a. If the cause of such death shall be established beyond a -reasonable doubt, the medical examiner in charge shall so report to -his office. If, however, in the opinion of such medical examiner, -an autopsy is necessary, the same shall be performed by a medical -examiner. A detailed description of the findings written during the -progress of such autopsy and the conclusions drawn therefrom shall -thereupon be filed in his office. - - -REPORT OF DEATHS; REMOVAL OF BODY - -§ 1571-b. It shall be the duty of any citizen who may become aware of -the death of any such person to report such death forthwith to the -office of the chief medical examiner, and to a police officer who -shall forthwith notify the officer in charge of the station-house in -the police precinct in which such person died. Any person who shall -willfully neglect or refuse to report such death or who without written -order from a medical examiner shall willfully touch, remove or disturb -the body of any such person, or willfully touch, remove, or disturb the -clothing, or any article upon or near such body, shall be guilty of a -misdemeanor. - - -RECORDS - -§ 1571-c. It shall be the duty of the office of medical examiner to -keep full and complete records. Such records shall be kept in the -office, properly indexed, stating the name, if known, of every such -person, the place where the body was found and the date of death. To -the record of each case shall be attached the original report of the -medical examiner and the detailed findings of the autopsy, if any. The -office shall promptly deliver to the appropriate district attorney -copies of all records relating to every death as to which there is, -in the judgment of the medical examiner in charge, any indication of -criminality. All other records shall be open to public inspection as -provided in section fifteen hundred and forty-five. The appropriate -district attorney and the police commissioner of the city may require -from such officer such further records, and such daily information, as -they may deem necessary. - - -OATHS AND AFFIDAVITS - -§ 1571-d. The chief medical examiner, and all deputy or assistant -medical examiners, may administer oaths, and take affidavits, proofs -and examinations as to any matter within the jurisdiction of the office. - -§ 3. Section eleven hundred and seventy-nine of such charter is hereby -amended to read as follows: - - -BUREAUS - -§ 1179. There shall be two bureaus in the department of health. -The chief officer of one bureau shall be called the “sanitary -superintendent,” who, at the time of his appointment, shall have been, -for at least ten years, a practicing physician, and for three years a -resident of the city of New York, and he shall be the chief executive -officer of said department. The chief officer of the second bureau -shall be called the “registrar of records,” and in said bureau shall be -recorded, without fees, every birth, marriage, and death, which shall -occur within the city of New York. - -§ 4. Section twelve hundred and three of such charter is hereby amended -to read as follows: - - -MEDICAL EXAMINERS’ RETURNS - -§ 1203. The department of health may, from time to time make rules -and regulations fixing the time of rendering, and defining the form -of returns and reports to be made to said department by the office of -chief medical examiner of the city of New York, in all cases of death -which shall be investigated by it; and the office of the chief medical -examiner is hereby required to conform to such rules and regulations. - -§ 5. Section twelve hundred and thirty-eight of such charter is hereby -amended to read as follows: - - -DEATHS TO BE REPORTED - -§ 1238. It shall be the duty of the next of kin of any person deceased, -and of each person being with such deceased person at his or her -death, to file report in writing, with the department of health within -five days after such death, stating the age, color, nativity, last -occupation and cause of death of such deceased person, and the borough -and street, the place of such person’s death and last residence. -Physicians who have attended deceased persons in their last illness -shall, in the certificate of the decease of such persons, specify, -as near as the same can be ascertained, the name and surname, age, -occupation, term of residence in said city, place of nativity, -condition of life; whether single or married, widow or widower; color, -last place of residence and the cause of death of such deceased -persons, and the medical examiners of the city, shall, in their -certificates conform to the requirements of this section. - -§ 6. Such charter is hereby amended by inserting therein a new section, -to be numbered section fifteen hundred and eighty-five-a, and to read -as follows: - - -COUNTY CLERKS TO EXERCISE CERTAIN STATUTORY POWERS AND DUTIES OF -CORONERS - -§ 1585-a. In the city of New York the powers imposed and the duties -conferred upon coroners by the provisions of title three of chapter -two of the code of civil procedure shall be exercised and performed -by the county clerk of the appropriate county, and said county clerk -shall, in the exercise and performance thereof, be subject to the same -liabilities and responsibilities as are prescribed in such title in the -case of coroners. - -§ 7. Sections seventeen hundred and sixty-six to seventeen hundred -and seventy-nine, both inclusive, of chapter four hundred and ten -of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-two, entitled “An act to -consolidate into one act and to declare the special and local laws -affecting public interests in the city of New York,” and all acts -amending such sections, are hereby repealed. - -§ 8. The officers and employees now exercising the powers and duties -which by this act are abolished, or are conferred or imposed upon the -office of chief medical examiner, including coroner’s physicians, shall -be transferred to the office of chief medical examiner. Service in -the office, board or body from which transferred shall count for all -purposes as service in the office of the chief medical examiner. - -§ 9. All funds, property, records, books, papers and documents within -the jurisdiction or control of any such coroner, or such board of -coroners, shall, on demand, be transferred and delivered to the office -of the chief medical examiner. The board of estimate and apportionment -shall transfer to the office of the chief medical examiner all -unexpended appropriations made by the city to enable any coroner, or -board of coroners, to exercise any of the powers and duties which by -this act are abolished or are conferred or imposed upon such office of -chief medical examiner. - - - - -APPENDIX F - -A COUNTY ALMSHOUSE IN TEXAS - -BY DR. THOMAS W. SALMON - - [Portion of an address delivered at the meeting of the Association of - County Judges and Commissioners at Waxahachie, Texas, on February 11, - 1916.] - - -This particular Poor Farm is in one of the richest counties of the -state. The taxable property of that county is assessed at more than -$45,000,000. It contains no large cities (the largest has a population -of 15,000), all but two per cent. of the people are native-born and -the proportion of negroes is much less than in the state as a whole. -It would be difficult indeed to find in this wide land a county more -prosperous, more pleasant to live in or more truly American than this -one. - -Four miles west of the county-seat is the Poor Farm. There is a -substantial brick building for the poor and infirm which is heated by -steam and lighted by acetylene gas. Scattered around the main building -are some small wooden cabins, cheap in construction and not in very -good repair, but, on the whole, comfortable for the old people, the -paralytics and the epileptics who live in them. If we could leave this -Poor Farm, having seen so much and no more, we could think of it -again only with feelings of pleasure that the county’s unfortunates -were provided for so comfortably; but standing alone is an old brick -building in which the insane are kept and this must be visited too. -It is a gloomy place, coming out of the bright October sun, but when -your eyes become accustomed to the shadows, you see what this county -has provided for the insane who are neglected by the great mother -state. You see that there is a clear space running around three sides -of the one large room which forms the entire interior of the building. -In the center and across the rear end of this room are fourteen iron -cages--four extending across the rear and ten back to back, down the -center. They are made of iron bars, the tops, backs and adjoining sides -being sheet metal. Near the top of each solid side, are seven rows of -holes about an inch in diameter. Their purpose is ventilation but they -serve also to destroy what poor privacy these cages might otherwise -possess. Each cage contains a prison cot or two swinging from the wall -while a few have cots upon the floor. - -In these cages, which are too far from the windows in the brick walls -for the sunlight to enter except during the short period each day when -it shines directly opposite them, abandoned to filth and unbelievable -misery lie the insane poor of this pleasant, fertile, prosperous -American county. Color, age and sex have no significance in this place. -All of those distinctions which govern the lives of human beings -elsewhere are merged in common degradation here. - -Men and women, black and white, old and young, share its horrors just -alike. They are insane and that fact alone wipes out every other -consideration and every obligation except that of keeping, with food -and shelter, the spark of life alight. When, at dusk, the shadows -deepen, the creatures in this place of wretchedness cower closer in the -corners of their cages for there are no cheerful lights here as in the -other buildings and when the darkness blots out everything there are -only the moans of distressed human beings to tell you it is not a tomb. -Through the night, when persons with bodily illnesses are attended by -quietly treading nurses in the two fine hospitals which the nearby town -supports, these unfortunate men and women, who are sick in mind as well -as in body, drag through terrors which no human community would wish to -have its worst criminals experience. - -Each day brings to the poor creatures here light and food--as it does -to the cattle in the sheds--but it does not bring to them the slightest -hope of intelligent care, nor, to most of them, even the narrow liberty -of the iron-fenced yard. One attendant, a cheerful young man, is -employed by the county to look after the forty-odd inmates who at the -least compose the Poor Farm population. He used to be a trolley car -conductor but now he receives forty dollars a month for attending to -the inmates, male and female, who cannot care for themselves. He brings -back the feeble-minded when they wander off, he finds epileptics when -they fall in their attacks and he sees that all are fed. He is called -the “yard-man”; his duties are those of a herdsman for human beings. -His predecessor, a man of about sixty years of age, is serving a term -in the state penitentiary for an attack upon a little girl who was an -inmate of this Poor Farm. At his trial it was brought out that he had -served a previous term in another state for a similar offense. - -The present “yard-man” has not the slightest knowledge of any other -kind of treatment for the insane, nor has he had the slightest -experience in practical nursing or in caring for the mentally or -physically helpless. He has been employed here about a year. He found -the insane in these cages and he knows of no other way of keeping them. -All but three or four of them remain in their cages all day, crouching -on the stone floors instead of on the green grass outside. A feeble -white woman in bed, wasted and pale, who apparently has but a few -months to live, was pointed out in one of the cages and the “yard-man” -was asked if she would run away if she were permitted to have her bed -outside. He admitted that it was not likely but said that she was weak -and would fall out of bed. He was asked if it would be worse to fall -out of bed on the grass or on the wooden floor of the main building -than on the stone floor of her cage, but these matters were far outside -his experience and he had no reply to make. - -How much more knowledge and experience would have been required of this -young man if the county had seen fit to maintain a menagerie! No one -would think of entrusting the animals to one so wholly inexperienced -in their care. This young man might be employed as an assistant, but -he would never be placed in charge of an animal house full of valuable -specimens. - -Do not make the mistake of thinking that the wretched people who are -confined in these cages were selected from a larger number of insane -inmates of the Poor Farm on account of exceptional intractability -or because their brains have been so dulled by the final stages of -dementia that they are no longer conscious of their surroundings. -These people are not a few selected for such reasons; they constitute -all but one of the avowedly insane who are housed in this Poor Farm. -They include persons as appreciative as you or I would be of the -loathesomeness of their surroundings and of the personal humiliation of -being confined in such a place. In one cage is a man who has delusions -which doubtless make it unsafe for him to have his liberty in the -community. He has not been allowed outside his cage _for a single -hour_ in three years. - -This place was built twenty years ago. Perhaps the brain which planned -it is now dust, nevertheless its ignorant conception of the nature of -mental disease still determines the kind of care this county affords -the most unfortunate of all its helpless sick. Perhaps, too, the hands -which laid these bricks and forged these iron bars are now dead, -nevertheless they still stretch out of the past and crush the living -in their cruel grasp. The conception of mental diseases which gave to -this county this dreadful place did not even reflect the enlightenment -of its own period. Eighty years earlier Esquirol had stirred the pity -of France by a recital of miseries no worse than those which you can -see in this county to-day. Many years before this place was built, -Conolly had aroused public opinion in England to such an extent that -it was possible for cages such as these to exist in only the darkest -corners of the land. Thirty years before this grim structure arose -from the fair soil of Texas, Dorothea Dix was showing the inhumanity -of almshouse care of the insane in this country and members of our -legislatures were profoundly stirred by her descriptions of conditions -less abhorrent than those which exist to-day in the Poor Farm which -I have just described. Great reforms in the care of the insane have -extended over the entire country ever since these walls were built -but they have left this place untouched and it stands to-day, not -a pathetic but disused reminder of the ignorance and inhumanity of -another age and of another kind of civilization, but an actual, living -reality reproducing, with scarcely a detail lacking, conditions which -were described in pitying terms by the writers of four centuries ago. - -Standing in the doorway of this building you can see evidences of the -material greatness of the twentieth century; taking a single step -inside you can see exactly what the superstition, fear and ignorance of -the sixteenth century imposed upon the insane. - - -THE INSANE IN COUNTY JAILS - -The sufferings of the insane in the county Poor Farms would so stir -the compassion of the humane people of this state, could they but -walk among these fellow-citizens of theirs and witness the misery to -which they have been abandoned, that almshouse care would not survive -the next session of the legislature. Take away, however, the meager -attention given in the Poor Farms by those who, while they know nothing -of mental diseases or of how to care for them, are moved by kindly -impulses and recognize that the insane are sent to them for care and -not for punishment; take away this and substitute the harsh discipline -of the prison which is designed, by its painful memories, to restrain -evildoers from crime. Then some picture can be formed of the lot of -these poor sick people in county jails. Almost without exception, they -have committed no crime, unless it be a crime to suffer from mental -illness, but they share the lot of criminals and in many cases through -the fears of their jailers they are denied even the small liberties -allowed the criminals. Men and women, white people and negroes, -those scarcely out of childhood and those filled with the pains and -infirmities of age, those with types of mental disease which would -yield readily to even the simplest treatment and those doomed to mental -darkness all their days, I have seen them in the cells of the county -jails of Texas and learned their needs and witnessed their sufferings -at first hand. I can only say that I have never witnessed such depths -of misery as those in which these unfortunate people drag out the -months and years. Death releases some--the more fortunate--but the -others continue to exist in filthy cells without that hope of release -after a definite period, which cheers the criminals whose lot they -share. The rigors of the jail are intended to impress evildoers with -the terrors of the law but with few exceptions the prisoners in county -jails are young men, most of them in sturdy health. It is needless to -point out how much more severe punishment confinement in such places -is to the unfortunate insane, broken in health, many of them acutely -conscious of the terrible wrong which their state is inflicting upon -them and the prey to delusional and hallucinatory terrors, as well as -to those which depend upon actuality. - -In not a few instances I found the insane in solitary confinement, -simply on account of their mental disease, while the criminals enjoyed -the companionship of their fellows. Every convention of life is swept -away when these unfortunate people enter the jails. Women are bathed -by men in the presence of male prisoners, persons with elusions of sin -and impending punishment lie in cells which face the gallows, the weak -and helpless are not even protected from physical violence, and, in -most cases, there is not the slightest semblance of personal care or -nursing. The jailers feel that they have discharged their full duty if -the insane are prevented from escaping. Persons convicted of serious -crimes enter the jails, serve their sentences and regain their liberty -while the insane, who have led upright lives and have contributed by -their honest toil to the prosperity of their state, lie in their cells -without hope of release. A pathetic fact is that the counties pay the -sheriffs more just for feeding the poor people than their care would -cost in the state hospitals for the insane. It is needless to dwell -further on the inhumanity and the injustice of confining the insane in -the county jails. It constitutes a blot upon the honor of the state -which every citizen would demand erased were the actual facts widely -known. - - - - - BIBLIOGRAPHY - - - THE COUNTY GENERALLY - - -_Books and Collections of Papers_ - - American Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia, - “County Government....” (_Its_ Annals, v. 47, whole No. 136.) - May, 1913. 326 pp. - - FAIRLIE, JOHN A., _Local Government in Counties, Towns and - Villages_. New York, The Century Co., 1906. 289 pp. (The American - State series) Bibliography. - - The New York short ballot organization: _Proceedings of the First - Conference for better County Government_. Schenectady, N. Y., Nov. - 13-14, 1914. - - -_Book References_ - - BEARD, C. A. _American Government and Politics._ New and - rev. ed. New York, The Macmillan Co., 1914. 788 pp. See Index under - county. - - BRISTOW, A. S. H. “Counties.” (In _American and English - Encyclopædia of Law_. 2nd ed. Northport, N. Y., 1898. V. 7:898-972.) - - CLARK, F. H. _Outlines of Civics_; being a supplement to - Bryce’s _American Commonwealth_, abridged edition, ... New York - and London, The Macmillan Company, 1899. 261 pp. “The County”: pp. - 148-178. - - FAIRLIE, J. A. “County Government.” (In _Cyclopædia of - American Government_, New York, 1914. V. I: 492-497.) - - FISHER, S. B. “Counties.” (In Mack, William, _ed._ - _Cyclopædia of Law and Procedure._ New York, 1904. V. - II: 325-615.) - - FISKE, J. _Civil Government in the United States, - Considered with some Reference to its Origin._ New ed., with - additions. Boston, New York, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1904, 378 pp. See - Index under county. - - FLICKINGER, J. R. _Civil Government as Developed in the - States and in the United States._ Boston, D. C. Heath & Co., 1901. - 350 pp. See Index under county. - - GOODNOW, F. J. _Municipal Home Rule; a Study in - Administration._ New York, The Columbia University Press, The - Macmillan Co., agents, 1906. 283 pp. See Index under county in United - States. - - MARRIOTT, CRITTENDEN. _How Americans are Governed in - Nation, State, and City._ New York and London, Harper & Brothers, - 1910. 372 pp. “Counties and Towns”: pp. 256-259. - - MILLER, W. A. _Civil Government, State and Federal; an - Exposition of our Policy._ Boston, New York, B. H. Sanborn & Co., - 1910. 264 pp. “The County”: pp. 23-37. - - MOSES, B. _The Government of the United States._ New - York, D. Appleton & Co., 1911. 424 pp. (Twentieth Century Textbooks, - ed. by A. F. Nightingale.) “County Government”: pp. 313-315. - - RADER, P. S. _Civil Government of the United States and the - State of Missouri._ Rev. ed. Jefferson City, Mo. The Hugh Stephens - Co. 1912. 351 pp. “Counties”: pp. 246-257. - - SHERMAN, W. H. _Civics: Studies in American - Citizenship._ New York, London, The Macmillan Co., 1905. 328 pp. - “The County”: pp. 48-53. - - -_Magazine Articles and Monographs_ - - BAILEY, W. L. “The County Community and its Government.” In - _Annals of American Academy_, May, 1913, pp. 14-25. - - CARTWRIGHT, O. G. “Some needs to be considered in - Reconstructing County Government.” In _Proceedings of the First - Conference for better County Government_. 1914. The New York Short - Ballot Organization. - - CHILDS, R. S. “Ramshackle County Government.” _Outlook_, - May 3, 1916. - - GILBERTSON, H. S. “The Discovery of the County Problem.” - _American Review of Reviews_, Nov., 1912. V. 46: 604-608. - - GILBERTSON, H. S. “Elements of the County Problem.” In - _Annals of the American Academy_, May, 1913, pp. 13. - - TAYLOR, G. “The County, a Challenge to Humanized Politics and - Volunteer Co-operation” (president’s address at forty-first annual - meeting, National Conference of Charities and Corrections. 16 pp.) - - -_Individual States_ - - MILLER, E. J. “New Departure in County Government: - California’s Experiment with Home Rule Charters.” _American - Political Science Review_, Aug., 1913. V. 7: 411-419. - - FAIRLIE, J. A. “County and Town Government in Illinois.” In - _Annals of American Academy_, May 1913. pp. 62-78. - - Illinois. _Laws, Statutes, etc._ A compilation of the laws of - Illinois, relating to township organization and management of county - affairs. 26th ed., rev. Chicago, The Legal Adviser Pub. Co. 1910. 863 - pp. - - Indiana, _State Board of Accounts_. Information concerning the - business in county and township offices during the fiscal year ending - Dec. 31, 1911. (Indianapolis, 1912.) 352 pp. - - LAPP, J. A. “Checks on County Government in Indiana.” - _Annals of American Academy_, May, 1913. pp. 248-254. - - WILHELM, L. W. _Local Institutions of Maryland._ - Baltimore, N. Murray, publication agent, Johns Hopkins University, - 1885. 129 pp. (Johns Hopkins University studies in Historical and - Political Science, 3rd ser. v. 5-7.) - - SCROGGS, W. O. “Parish Government in Louisiana.” In _Annals - of American Academy_, May, 1913, pp. 39-47. - - BEMIS, EDWARD W. “Local Government in Michigan and the - Northwest.” Read before the American Social Science Assn., Sept. 7, - 1882. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University, 1883. 25 pp. (_Johns - Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science._ - 1st ser., V.) - - CARTER, C. P. _The Government of Missouri._ Boston, - New York, Silver, Burdett and Company (1912). 171 pp. (_with_ - Lansing, Robert, _Government: Its Origin, Growth and Form in the - United States_ ... New York, Boston, 1902). “The County”: pp. - 39-47. - - LOEB, I. “County Government in Missouri.” In _Annals of the - American Academy_, May, 1913, pp. 48-61. - - PAUL W. “County Management in New Jersey.” In _Proceedings - of the Conference for the Study and Reform of County Government_ - (second meeting). 1914. The New York Short Ballot Organization. - - ---- “The Movement for County Reorganization in New Jersey.” _Annals - of American Academy._ May, 1913. pp. 255-257. - - GILBERT, F. B. Bender’s supervisors’, county and town - officers’ manual, containing the county, town, highway, general - municipal, tax and poor laws in full and all other statutes of the - state of New York, relating to boards of supervisors, town boards, - county and town officers, and the affairs and business of counties and - towns, as amended to the close of the legislature of 1912 ... 6th. ed. - Albany, N. Y. M. Bender & Co., 1912. 1349 pp. - - CARTWRIGHT, O. G. “County Government in New York State.” - _Annals of the American Academy._ May, 1913. pp. 258-270. - - GILBERTSON, H. S. “The New York County System.” _American - Political Science Review._ Aug., 1914. pp. 413-430. - - BUCK, GEO. S. “The Organization of County Government.” In - _Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science_, New York. - Jan., 1915. - - ROCKEFELLER, L. K. “County Government from the Comptroller’s - Standpoint.” _Proceedings of the Conference for the Study and Reform - of County Government_ (third meeting). 1914. The New York Short - Ballot Organization. - - GUESS, W. C. _County Government in Colonial North - Carolina._ 1911. 39 pp. (The University of North Carolina.) The - James Sprunt historical publications pub. under the direction of the - North Carolina Historical Society, v. II, No. I. - - U’REN, W. S. “State and County Government in Oregon and - Proposed Changes.” _Annals of American Academy_, May, 1913. pp. - 271-273. - - RAMAGE, B. J. _Local Government and Free Schools in South - Carolina._ Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University, 1883. 40 pp. - (_Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political - Science._ 1st ser., v. 12.) - - CHANNING, E. “Town and County Government in the English - Colonies of North America.” The Toppan prize essay for 1883. - Baltimore, N. Murray, publication agent (_Johns Hopkins University - Studies in Historical and Political Science_, 2nd ser., X) - 2nd ser., v. 10. - - HITCHCOCK, L. E. _Powers and Duties of Sheriffs, - Constables, Tax Collectors, and other Officers in the New England - States._ With forms and precedents. 2nd ed. Boston, Little, Brown & - Co. 1914. 472 pp. - - UPDYKE. “County Government in New England.” In _Annals of - American Academy_, May, 1913. pp. 26-37. - - -_Studies and Surveys of Individual Counties_ - - _Alameda County, Cal._ Bulletins covering the investigation of - many phases of county administration. Tax Association of Alameda - County, 823 Oakland Bank of Savings Building, Oakland, Cal. - - _Cook County, Ill._ Surveys of various county offices, in - pamphlet form. Bureau of Public Efficiency, 315 Plymouth Court, - Chicago, Ill. 1911-1916. - - _Monroe County, N. Y._ Government of Monroe County, N. Y., - organization and functions. The New York Constitutional Convention - Commission. 1915. - - _Nassau County, N. Y._ Government of Nassau County, N. Y., - description of organization and functions. Commission on the - Government of Nassau County, Mineola, N. Y. 1915. - - _Suffolk County, N. Y._ First Annual Report of the Suffolk County - Taxpayers’ Association. 1915. (Secretary’s office, 44 Court Street, - Brooklyn, N. Y.) - - _Westchester County, N. Y._ Various pamphlet publications of the - Westchester County Research Bureau, 15 Court Street, White Plains, N. - Y. 1911-1916. - - _Hudson County, N. J._ The government of Hudson County. - (Dissertation for Ph.D. degree, Columbia University, 1915.) The - Citizens’ Federation of Hudson County issues reports on special phases - of Hudson County affairs from time to time. - - _Cuyahoga County, O._ The Civic League of Cleveland, Guardian - Bldg., Cleveland, publishes reports on county offices and methods from - time to time. - - _Milwaukee County, Wis._ The Milwaukee County government, a - bulletin of the City Club (a joint report of the committee on county - administration, civil service and county institutions and buildings). - 1915. The City Club of Milwaukee, Wis. - - -_City-County Relations_ - - BRUERE, H. and WALLSTEIN, L. M. _Study of - County Government within the City of New York and a Plan for its - Reorganization._ Prepared for the New York Constitutional - Convention, 1915. 44 pp., diagrams, tabulations. - - Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency. _The Nineteen Local Governments - of Chicago_, 1915. 30 pp., charts. - - HORMELL, O. C. “Boston’s County Problems.” _Annals of - American Academy_, May, 1913. Pp. 134 _et seq._ - - HATMAKER. “Schenectady’s City-County Plan.” In _Proceedings - of the first Conference for better County Government_. The New York - Short Ballot Organization, 1914. - - KING, C. L. “Report of the City-County Committee of the - American Political Science Assn.” _American Political Science - Review_, Feb., 1914, sup., v. 8: 281-291. - - LONG, P. V. “Consolidated City and County Government of San - Francisco.” _American Political Science Review_, Feb., 1912, - sup., v. 6: 109-121. - - LUDINGTON, A. “The Relation of County to City Government in - New York.” _American Political Science Review_, Feb., 1912, sup., - v. 6: 73-88. - - PAUL, W. and GILBERTSON, H. S. “Counties of the - First Class in New Jersey.” _American Political Science Review_, - Feb., 1914, sup., v. 8: 292-300. - - YOUNG, T. P. “The Separation of City and County Governments - in St. Louis, History and Purposes.” _American Political Science - Review_, Feb., 1912, sup., v. 6: 97-108. - - -_Charities_ - - BURRITT, B. B. “County Management of Charities and Special - Institutions in our Own State (N. Y.).” In _Proceedings of the - Conference for the Study and Reform of County Government_ (second - meeting). The New York Short Ballot Organization. - - HARRIS, E. F. “Charity Functions of the Pennsylvania County.” - _Annals of American Academy_, May, 1913, pp. 166-181. - - HAVILAND, C. F. _The Treatment and Care of the Insane in - Pennsylvania._ The Public Charities Association. Philadelphia, - 1915. 94 pp. - - LANE, WINTHROP D. “A Rich Man in the Poor House.” - _Survey_, Nov. 4, 1916. - - MACY, V. E. “Administration of County Charities.” - In _Proceedings of the First Conference for better County - Government_. 1914. The New York Short Ballot Organization. - - -_Civil Service_ - - BELCHER, R. W. “The Merit System and the County Civil - Service.” _Annals of American Academy_, May, 1913, pp. 101-111. - - PAUL, W. “The County Employee.” _Annals of American - Academy_, May, 1913, pp. 81-84. - - -_The Coroner_ - - Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency. _Administration of the Office - of the Coroner of Cook County, Ill._ 1911. 68 pp. - - _Civic League of Cleveland_ (formerly the municipal association). - _The Coroner’s office_, 1912. 30 pp. - - DU VIVIER, J. “Abolishment of the Coroner’s Office.” In - _Proceedings of the Conference for the Study and Reform of County - Government_ (second meeting). 1914. The New York Short Ballot - Organization. - - New York Short Ballot Organization. _Abolishment of the office of - Coroner in New York City._ 1914. 16 pp. - - SCHULTZ, O. T. “The Coroner’s Office.” In _Annals of - American Academy_. May, 1913, pp. 112-119. - - -_County Courts and Court Clerks_ - - Bureau of Public Efficiency, Nov., 1912. 44 pp. _Administration of - the Office of Clerk of the County Court of Cook County, Ill._ - - HARLEY, H. “The County Judiciary.” In _Proceedings of the - First Conference for better County Government_. - - The Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency. _The Judges and the County - Fee Offices._ 1911. 15 pp. - - WOODS, K. P. “The Passing of County Courts.” (In Virginia.) - _Outlook_, Jan. 31, 1903, v. 73: 264-265. - - -_County Politics_ - - JONES, C. L. “The County in Politics.” In _Annals of - American Academy_, May, 1913, pp. 85-100. - - -_The District Attorney_ - - GANS, H. S. “The Public Prosecutor: his Powers, Temptations - and Limitations.”... _Annals of American Academy_, May, 1913, pp. - 120-133. - - -_Financial Administration_ - - BOYCE, J. E. “County Budgets: Economy and Efficiency in - Expenditures.” _Annals of American Academy_, May, 1913, pp. - 199-212. - - BUCK, GEO. S. “The County Auditor.” In _Proceedings of the - first Conference for better County Government_. The New York Short - Ballot Organization. 1914. - - CARTWRIGHT, O. G. “County Budgets and their Construction.” - _Annals of American Academy_, Nov., 1915, pp. 223-234. - - Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency. “The Budget of Cook County, Ill.” - Jan., 1911. 54 pp. “The office of Treasurer of Cook County, Ill.” - 1913. 68 pp. - - COOKINGHAM, H. J., JR. “Taxation and County Government in - New York State.” In _Proceedings of the First Conference for Better - County Government_. - - COKER, F. W. “Administration of Local Taxation in Ohio.” - _Annals of American Academy_, May, 1913, pp. 182-198. - - -_Home Rule_ - - _National Municipal Review._ “County Home Rule,” Jan., 1913, - sup., v. 2: 2-7. - - WORKS, L. R. “County Home Rule in California.” _Annals of - American Academy_, May, 1913, pp. 229-236. - - -_Prisons_ - - “Centralization of the Custody of Prisoners within the City of New - York.” Report of the Commissioner of Accounts, Transmitted to the - Mayor, Feb., 28, 1916. - - LEWIS, O. F. “County Prisons.” _Proceedings of the - Conference for the Study and Reform of County Government_, first - meeting. The New York Short Ballot Organization, 1914. - - -_The Recorder_ - - “Administration of the Office of Recorder of Cook County, Ill.” Report - prepared for the judges of the circuit court by the Chicago Bureau of - Public Efficiency, Sep., 1911. 63 pp. - - “The Recorder’s Office.” Civic League of Cleveland, Mar., 1914. Report - No. 3, Efficiency Series. 25 pp. - - -_Reorganization_ - - CHILDS, R. S. “The County Manager Plan.” In _Proceedings of - the first Conference for Better County Government_. 1914. The New - York Short Ballot Organization. - - ---- “A Theoretically Perfect County.” _Annals of American - Academy_, May, 1913, pp. 274-278. - - “The Short Ballot County Amendment.” Brief submitted to the - Constitutional Convention of New York, 1915. The New York Short Ballot - Organization, 1915. 16 pp. - - -_The Sheriff_ - - CAWCROFT, E. “The Sheriff and a State Constabulary.” - In _Proceedings of the First Conference for Better County - Government_. - - Civic League of Cleveland. (Formerly the municipal association.) The - Sheriff’s office, 1912. 26 pp. - - -_State Administrative Supervision_ - - BRINDLEY, J. E. “State Supervision of County Assessment and - Taxation.” _Annals of American Academy_, May, 1913, pp. 213-226. - - -_State Police_ - -“Why the Farms and Villages of New York State Need Protection.” 1915. -Committee for a state police, 7 East 42nd Street, New York, N. Y. - -“Why New York Needs a State Police.” 1915. Committee for a state -police. - - - - - INDEX - - - Accounting, (uniform) in Ohio, 122; - significance of better, 181, 184-185; - unit cost, 185 - - Administration, scientific, 181-192 - - Advertising (political), as a source of patronage, 53; - _see also_ County press - - Agricultural associations, importance in rural life, 203 - - Alabama, origin of county system in, 21; - county officers elective in, 29; - report of prison inspector quoted, 92; - lack of accounting law in, 122; - county local option in, 150 - - Alameda County, Cal., work of Tax Association in, 7; - home rule charter proposed in, 81-149; - classification as an urban county, 154; - map of, diagram of proposed federation of, 161-162; - savings effected through better purchasing methods in, 189; - recommendations as to purchasing methods in, 190 - - Almshouse, description of early, 82, 83; - insane in, 87, 137-138; - in Westchester County, 200-201; - a Texas, 266-273; - _see_ South - - American Judicature Society, proposals for county judiciary of, 131 - - American Revolution, influence of its philosophy on local government - institutions, 25 - - Appointive power, lack of, in county, 30 - - Appointive system, workings of, in eastern states, 30 - - Appointments, new method employed in Westchester County, N. Y., 201 - - Arizona, uniform accounting law in, 122 - - Arkansas, lack of accounting law in, 122 - - Assessment and taxation, county as a unit of, 125; - state control over, 126 - - Assessors, functions of, in New Jersey, 27; - elective officers since 1693, 28; - local selection of, 108-109 - - Auditing, significance of better, 181; 187 _et seq._ - - Auditor, importance of independence of, 188 - - Automobile, effect on rural life and government, 23 - - - Ballot, insignificance of county officers on, in many cases, 44 - - Baltimore, abolition of county government in, 153; - classification as an urban county, 154 - - Board of Chosen Freeholders, powers reduced in Hudson County, N. J., - 38 - - Board of Supervisors, clerks of, in New York, appear before - constitutional convention, 3; - function in fiscal administration of, 14; - duty of, in law enforcement, 132-133; - how constituted in ideal county, 171; - text of provisions in Los Angeles County charter concerning, - 220-223; - _see also_ Governing body - - Boroughs, proposed division of Alameda County, Cal., into, 160 - - Boston, city-county consolidation in, 158; - metropolitan district compared to London, 164 - - Boundaries (county), made obsolete by conditions of modern life, 23; - power to change county, 113; - necessity for relocation of, 153 - - Boyle, Prof. John A., on reporting and accounting laws, 122 - - Bramhall, F. D, on obscurity of urban counties, 65 - - Bridges, frauds in building of, 77; - awarding of contracts for, 98-99; - awarding of contracts for, in Polk County, Iowa, 100; - _see_ Roads and bridges - - Bronx County, N. Y., formation of, 24 - - Budget, importance of adequate county executive in making of, 176; - nature of, 177; - significance of better, 181; - accounting basis for, 185-187 - - Buffalo, N. Y., relation to county, 154; - _see_ Erie County - - Bureau of Inspection, etc., in Ohio, 121 - - Bureau of Public Efficiency, (Chicago), on special county legislation, - 116 - - Butte County (Cal.), charter of, 149 - - - California, extent of merit system in counties of, 52; - county legislation in, 115; - uniform accounting law in, 122; - salary of county judges in, 130; - highway progress and plans in, 142; - success of municipal home rule in, 146; - county home rule in, 145-147; - county libraries in, 199, 207-219; - _see also_ Alameda County, Los Angeles County, San Francisco County, - Assessors - - Cartwright, Otho G., quoted, 176 - - Charities, State Board of, in New York, 128; - modern methods in administration of, 136; - gradual abandonment of county as unit for administration of, 138 - - Chicago, candidates for county offices voted for in, 62; - law enforcement in, 106; - county government in, 114; - _see also_ Cook County, Ill. - - Chief medical examiner (in New York City), 134; - text of law, 257-265 - - Children, prohibition against commitment to almshouses, 83; - injustice done to destitute, under New York poor laws, 85; - treatment of, in Westchester County, 202 - - Cincinnati, Ohio, proposals for city-county consolidation in, 152 - - Cities, reconstructive forces in American, 1; - greater need for government in, 151; - consolidation with counties, 151-167; - importance solving the county problem of, 167; - commission government in, 169 - - Citizenship (rural), 194 - - Civil Service, slow growth of reform in counties, 52; - state control over, 126-127; - in Los Angeles County, Cal., 172-173, 231-239 - - Clerk of Court, duties of, 13; - relation to the bench, 135; - _see_ County Clerk - - Cleveland, Ohio, county government in, 114; - proposal for city-county consolidation in, 152; - relation to county, 154 - - Clinton County, N. Y., (County “B”), irregularities in county offices - of, 72-73 - - Colorado, establishment of counties in, 22; - extent of merit system in, 52; - uniform accounting law in, 122; - provisions in constitution of, affecting Denver, 155 - - Commission plan of city government, 169 - - Commissioner of Charities and Correction, 202 - - Commissioners (county) in Pennsylvania, 28 - - Commitments to almshouses,--abuses of, in New York, 85, 200 - - Comptroller (state), ineffective as check upon county officers without - adequate examining staff, 36 - - Connecticut, origin of county in, 9; - local system of courts in, 12; - public prosecutor in, 12; - influence of Massachusetts precedents in, 19; - convention in, 38; - appointive judiciary in, 131 - - Consolidation (city and county), under California constitution, 149; - in general, 151-167 - - Constables, law enforcement by, in New York State, 107, 138 - - Constabulary, Pennsylvania, 140; - in Los Angeles County charter, 231 - - Constitution (state), provisions concerning counties, 112, 115 - - Cook County, Ill., President of Board of Commissioners elected by - people, 40; - large fees of treasurer in, 51; - county commissioners prevent accounting for county treasurer’s fees, - 52; - duplication of local governments in, 63; - humanitarian functions of, 80, 81; - prisoners in county jail of, 80; - insane cared for by, 81; - dependent children cared for by, 81; - appropriations for, in 1913, 81 - - Coroner, origin of, 13; - falsity of theory underlying his election, 32; - fees of, 50; - failures in urban counties, 59; - abolition of, proposed, 133; - appointive, 172; - _see_ Massachusetts, New York (city). - - Corruption and form of government, 102 - - Council, powers of, in Indiana counties, 37 - - Council of appointment in New York State, 28 - - County, the, treatment of problem in New York constitutional - convention, 2, 3; - popular apathy concerning, 5; - neglect of, in college courses, and by journalists, 6; - general statistics concerning, in U. S., 7-8; - colonial origin of, 9 _et seq._; - legal relation to state government, 10, 11; - general manner of its development, 22-23; - decline of, in England, 23; - unadapted to urban conditions, 24; - its failure as a humanitarian agency, 92; - relation to state government, 113, 127, 128; - power to erect new, 113; - limitation on powers of, 113; - misuse of funds by, 120; - as unit for tax assessment, 125; - growing importance of, in certain directions, 143; - superiority over town as tax assessment and collection unit, 144; - abolishment of, proposed in New York City, 157; - the ideal, 168 - - ---- chambers of commerce, 203 - - ---- clerk, duties of, 13; - independence of county judge, 130; - relation to the bench, 135; - appointment of advocated, 135; - appointive method of selection of, 171, 172 - - ----committee, actual power in selecting county officers, 48; - basis of party organization, 55 - - ---- court, consisted of justices of the peace in Virginia, 17; - its administrative functions in some states, 17; - jurisdiction of, 129-132; - _see also_ County Judge, Cook County - - ---- custodian, office of, created in a New York county, 5 - - ---- governments, lack of control over local policies, 15; - ineffectual in operation owing to lack of unity, 43; - lack of popular interest in and its effects, 43-44; - their stereotyped condition in face of new responsibilities, 60; - at work, 66-79; - defects in, as affecting highway matters, 95; - general criticism of, 170 - - ---- health officers in North Carolina, 195-196 - - ---- hospital in Westchester County (N. Y.), 202 - - ---- jail, separate jurisdiction of, in Milwaukee, 62; - overcrowding of, 91; - buildings faultily constructed and unsanitary, 91; - need of publicity concerning, 92; - in Westchester County (N. Y.), 202; - insane in, 271-273; - _see also_ Cook County, Ill. - - ---- judge formerly appointed county officers in Tennessee, 28; - _see also_ New York (state), County Court - - ---- libraries, 198-199 - - ---- lieutenant, militia officer in colonies, 17 - - ---- manager, proposed, 175; - probable influence of, 176-177; - proposed in Oregon, 178; - in New York, 178-179; - in Alameda County, Cal., 180; - text of proposed law providing for, 251-256 - - ---- officers, duties of, in colonial New England, 18; - effect of obscurity on, 44; - effect of divided allegiance upon efficiency of, 68; - in Los Angeles County, 223-225; - under Los Angeles County charter, 227-229 - - ---- physician, in New Jersey functions of, 134; - in North Carolina, 195 - - ---- planning in Westchester County, N. Y., 197-198 - - ---- poor farm in Westchester County, N. Y., 201 - - ---- prisons, administration of, by counties, 89-92; - _see also_ County jail - - ---- superintendent of schools appointive, 172 - - ---- surveyor as road master, 96 - - ---- treasurer, created in Massachusetts, 18; - _see_ Cook County, Ill. - - Court houses, scandals characteristic of building of, 76; - in Hudson County, N. J., 74-75 - - Courts, differentiation of functions necessary in urban communities, - 59; - _see also_ County Court, local system of, in colonial Connecticut, - 12 - - Cox, Governor James J., efforts to improve tax assessment system in - Ohio, 111 - - Cuyahoga County, O., _see_ Cleveland - - - Dakota, alternative plans of county government in territory of, 22 - - Darke County, O., management of road affairs by board of - commissioners, 98 - - Dayton, O., city manager plan in, 175 - - Defectives, treatment of, in Westchester County, N. Y., 201 - - Delaware, lack of accounting law in, 122 - - Democracy, spirit of, in early nineteenth century, 25-26 - - Denver, selection of sheriff by mayor in, 133; - classification as an urban county, 154; - constitutional provisions affecting government of, 155-156; - commission form of government in, 156; - power of mayor in, 156; - unified control in, 174 - - Deputy (chief) county officers, importance of, and relation to - elective superiors, 50 - - Direct primary, doubtful value of, in county government, 48 - - District attorney (state), origin of, in colonial Connecticut, 12-13; - popular interest in, 46; - elected on false issue of law enforcement, 107-108; - functions of, 134; - essentially a local officer, 155; - _see_ New York (state); - _see also_ Prosecutor - - District attorney (federal), method of selection contrasted with that - of local prosecutors, 33 - - - Efficiency, Bureau of (in Los Angeles County), 191 - - Elective road officials, 96 - - Electric railways, effect on rural life and government, 23 - - Engineering services, duplication of in Milwaukee, 62 - - England, importance of its precedents in colonies, 17 - - Erie County, N. Y., form of county government in, 114 - - Essex County, N. J., classification as urban county, 154; - county park system in, 163; - office of supervisor in, 173-174 - - Examiners (state), character of service rendered to local officials, - 123 - - Executive, how absence of, militates against proper law enforcement, - 34-35, 74 - - - Federation, proposed in Alameda County, Cal., 159-160 - - Feeble-minded, removed from county control, 83 - - Fees, attraction of, to politician and disposition of, 50-51; - of coroner, 50; - theory of system, 51; - failure of system, 51, 202; - abolishment of, in Los Angeles County, 173 - - Finance, laxity in methods of, 70; - in bridge construction, 183 - - Fire protection, proposed as county function in Alameda County, Cal., - 160 - - Flaherty _v._ Milliken, decision in, involving sheriff’s liability, 53 - - Florida, uniform accounting law in, 122 - - Freeholders, Board of Chosen, (N. J.), 173 - - - Georgia, uniform accounting law in, 122 - - “Good roads” movement, effect on highway administration, 95, 140 - - Governing body, ill-adapted for executive functions, 41; - insufficient control over elective county officers, 41; - _see also_ Boards of supervisors, Freeholders, Commissioners - - Governor, formerly appointed county officers in Kentucky, 28; - ineffective control over county officers, 36; - suggestion that sheriffs be appointed by, 133; - county officers appointed by, in Massachusetts, 158 - - - Hamilton County (O.), _see_ Cincinnati - - Haviland, Dr. C. Floyd, on treatment of insane in Pennsylvania, 88 - - Health (public), neglected in rural communities, 60; - beginnings and basic idea of movement for, 83; - county as a unit for administration of, 143; - program of, needed in rural sections, under county control, 195 - - Highways, as a unifying factor in modern life, 94; - amount spent in U. S. in 1913, 94; - growing state control over, 95; - diminution of county control over, 140 _et seq._; - state aid for, 141; - _see also_ Roads and bridges - - Home office, relations to county of London, 166 - - Home rule (county), 145-150; - text of provisions in California constitution, 207-218; - proposed constitutional amendment in New York, 247-250 - - Hospital service, duplication of agencies for, in Milwaukee 61; - _see also_ County hospital - - Hudson County, N. J., court house scandal in, 7; - boulevard commission in, 38; - separate powers of commission, 38; - park system, 39; - building of court house in, 75; - classification as urban county, 154; - supervisor in, 173-174 - - Humanitarian functions of county, 80-93 - - - Idaho, establishment of counties in, 22; - county local option in, 150 - - Illinois, Southern and New England influence on county system of, 21; - county officers under first constitution of, elective, 28; - system in, 52; - insane in penal institutions of, 87; - report of State Charities Commission on county jails, 91-92; - Sabbath law enforcement in, 106; - special county legislation in, 116; - optional county government forms in, 147; - _see_ Cook County - - Indiana, origin of county in, 20; - county officers under first constitution elective, 28; - county government scandal in 1898, 37; - powers of county commissioners reduced by establishment of council, - 37; - illegal payments by county officers in, 78; - law enforcement in, 107; - uniform reporting in, 122 - - Industrial revolution, indirect influence on county government, 23 - - Insane, removed from county control, 83; - care of, by counties, 87-89; - first hospital for, at Utica, N. Y., 137; - _see_ Cook County, Ill., New Jersey, Illinois, Louisiana, - Pennsylvania - - Institutions (state), _see_ Insane, Penitentiaries, Reformatories, - etc. - - Iowa, county township system in, 20; - methods employed by supervisors in Woodbury County, 76-77; - bridge lobby in legislature of, 101; - state control of highways in, 142; - _see_ Polk County - - - Jail, _see_ County jail - - Jersey City (N. J.), _see_ Hudson County, N. J. - - Judiciary (state), relation of county officers to, 129-132; - importance of reorganization, 131; - (federal) cited as instance of appointive method of selection, 131 - - “Jungle,” the, 34-42 - - Justices of the peace, duties of, in colonial Virginia, 17; - functions in Virginia, 27; - power to commit children to almshouses in New York State, 85; - reorganization of, 131; - jurisdiction of, 132 - - - Kansas, county-township system in, 20; - report of roads and highways committee, 101; - uniform accounting law in, 122 - - Kentucky, influence of Virginia upon county organization of, 20; - county officers made appointive in eighteenth century, 28; - reaction against appointive system in, 29; - lack of accounting law in, 122; - county local option in, 150 - - Kings County, N. Y., former office of supervisor-at-large in, 40 - - Koochiching County (Wis.), county health organization in, 196 - - - Labor, provisions in Los Angeles County charter concerning, 239 - - Law enforcement, lax under county officers, 70, 74; - made a political issue, 107; - unification of local agencies for, suggested, 133; - _see_ Nullification - - Leadership, importance of, in county affairs, 176 - - Legislation (county), uniformity in, 112 - - Legislative representation, often based upon county, 56 - - Lewis, O. F., on county jails in New York, 91 - - Libraries, _see_ County libraries - - Local government, restricted functions of, in early nineteenth - century, 27; - new burdens placed upon, as result of congestion of population, 58 - - London, functions of county of, 165; - County Council an example of county government unification, 164-166 - - Long ballot, its effect on organization of county government, 34; - contributions of county to, 62 - - Los Angeles County, Cal., charter of, 61, 149, 172, 219, _et seq._; - county candidates on ballot of, 62; - civil service in, 191; - public defender in, 200 - - Louisiana, police jury in, 21; - insane in parish jails, 87; - uniform accounting law in, 122; - county local option in, 150 - - - Macy, V. Everit, on operation of poor law in New York State, 84-85; - superintendent of the poor, 200-203 - - Madison, James, influence in favor of retaining original county - system in Virginia, 29 - - Mail facilities, effect on rural life and government, 24 - - Maine, influence of Massachusetts precedents in, 19; - lack of accounting law in, 122 - - Marshall, John, influence in favor of retaining original Virginia - county system, 29 - - Marshals, U. S., method of selection contrasted with that of sheriff, - 33, 133 - - Maryland, county government, 19; - lack of accounting law in, 122; - highway progress in, 142; - county libraries in, 199 - - Massachusetts, origin and early history of county in, 9; - spoils system in, 52; - county prisons in, 90; - uniform accounting law in, 122; - abolition of coroner’s office in, 133; - leader in establishing state penal institutions, 137; - reform institutions in, 137; - state aid in highway construction in, 142; - metropolitan district of, 154 - - Medical examiner, suggested as a substitute for coroner, 60; - in Massachusetts, 133; - _see_ also Chief medical examiner - - Medical referee (in New Hampshire), 134 - - Michigan, township-supervisor system in, 20; - uniform accounting law in, 122; - state penitentiary in, 137; - county local option in, 150 - - Middle West, insane in almshouses, 87-88; - New England influences in, 104 - - Milwaukee, Wis., report of City Club of, regarding city and county - offices, 61; - county government in, 114; - proposals for city-county consolidation in, 152; - relations to county, 154 - - Minnesota, alternative plans of county government in, 22; - uniform accounting law in, 122; - county local option in, 150; - county libraries in, 199 - - Mississippi, origin of county system in, 21; - county officers elective in, 29; - lack of accounting law in, 122 - - Missouri, county-township system in, 20; - alternative plans of, county organization in, 21; - county officers elective in, 29; - poor law and almshouse administration in, 86; - equalization of taxes in, 110; - lack of accounting law in, 122; - county libraries in, 199 - - Monroe County, N. Y., absence of road records in, 98 - - Montana, establishment of counties in, 22; - county local option in, 150 - - Mosquito Commission, in Hudson County, N. J., 39 - - - Nassau County, N. Y., work of County Association in, 7; - recommendations of official commission in, for county home rule, 148 - - National Municipal League, its report on city-county consolidation, - 153, 154 - - Nebraska, alternative plans of county organization in, 21; - activity of bridge builders in legislature of, 102; - county libraries in, 199 - - Nevada, uniform accounting law in, 122 - - New England, influences operating on local government in, 17; - formation of first counties in, 18; - county-town relations in, 143 - - New Hampshire, limited powers of commissioners in, 37-38; - convention, powers and duties of, 38; - lack of accounting law in, 122; - appointive judiciary in, 131 - - New Jersey, local assessors in, 19; - office of supervisor in, 39-40; - law affecting sheriff’s appointments, 52; - extent of merit system in counties of, 52; - insane in penal institutions of, 87; - county legislation in, 115-116; - state civil service regulation in, 127; - the surrogate in, 130; - appointive judiciary in, 131; - optional county government forms in, 147; - _see_ Essex County, Hudson County - - New Mexico, establishment of county system in, 22; - uniform accounting law in, 122 - - New York (city), special legislation for counties of, 117; - abolition of coroners in, 134; - city-county consolidation proposals in, 152; - extent of city-county consolidation in, 156-157; - metropolitan district compared to London, 164 - - New York (county), large fees of sheriff in, 51 - - New York (state), counties of, discussed in constitutional convention, - 2-3; - supervisors in towns of, 19; - elective method applied to sheriffs and county clerks in, 29; - district attorneys and county judges made elective in, 29; - extent of merit system in counties of, 52; - legal relation of sheriff to his deputies in, 52-53; - requirements as to county advertising, 53; - almshouses in, 82; - improvement of condition of poor in, 84; - New England influences in, 104; - enforcement of anti-racing laws in, 106; - under-assessment of taxes by local officers, 109; - equalization of taxes in, 110; - county law in, 114; - uniform reporting law in, 121; - civil service regulation in, 127; - State Board of Charities, its jurisdiction, 128; - comptroller, his powers over county officers in, 128; - the surrogate in, 130; - state prisons in, 137; - first state reformatory in, 137; - “state” poor in, 138; - committee on State Police, 139; - highway control in, 142; - County Government Association, its recommendations concerning county - home rule, 148; - metropolitan district of, 154; - proposal for county manager in, 178; - classification of county accounts in, 184; - public health movement in, 195; - county libraries in, 199; - _see also_ Erie County, Kings County, Monroe County, Orange County, - Nassau County, Prison Assn., Westchester County - - New York _Times_, its proposals for abolishment of counties in New - York State, 152 - - Niagara County, N. Y., district attorney quoted concerning rural post - office robberies, 138 - - Niagara Falls, N. Y., city manager plan in, 175 - - North Carolina, influence of Virginia precedents on, 19; - lack of accounting law in, 123; - public health movement in, 195; - county physicians in, 195; - home-study clubs in, 204-205 - - North Dakota, accounting and reporting legislation in, 122 - - Northwest, importance of county as unit of government in, 22; - New England influences in, 104 - - Nullification, 104-111 - - - Ohio, county-township system in, 20; - county officers in first constitution elective, 28; - extent of merit system in counties of, 52; - pioneer in county reporting, 121-122; - state penitentiary in, 137; - highway progress in, 142; - county libraries in, 198-199; - _see_ Cleveland, Cincinnati, Darke County - - Oklahoma, uniform accounting law in, 122; - public defender in, 199 - - Omaha, long ballot in, owing to elective county officers, 63 - - Orange County, N. Y., (County “A”), irregularities of officers of, - 70-71 - - Ordinance of 1787, county officers under, appointive, 28 - - Oregon, establishment of counties in, 22; - county local option in, 150; - proposal for county manager in, 178; - county libraries in, 199 - - - Parks, county system in Essex County, N. J., 163 - - Party, organization, importance of county as unit of, 55; - baneful effects upon county administration, 191 - - Payments, frequency of illegal, 188 - - Pennsylvania, commissioners in, 19; - party organization in, 55; - care of dependent children in, 86-87; - treatment of insane in, 88-89; - state constabulary in, 140 - - Pennybacker, J. E., on highways, 140 _et seq._ - - Philadelphia, classification as an urban county, 154 - - Personnel, importance and limitations of, as factor in good - government, 67; - administrative, 191; - _see_ Civil service - - Police, proposed as county function in Alameda County, Cal., 160; - _see_ Constabulary - - Police functions, county officers unable to perform, in complex - communities, 58 - - Political boss, origin of, in county government, 47-48 - - Polk County, Iowa, awarding of bridge contracts in, 100 - - Poor, care of, entrusted to county governments, 14-15; - former treatment and present scientific handling of, 82; - superintendents of, in N. Y. State, powers of, 85; - overseers of, in N. Y. State, commitments by, 85; - importance of records concerning, 190; - administration of laws dealing with, 200; - _see_ Missouri, N. Y. State, Pennsylvania - - Poverty, prevention of, 201 - - Press (county), small circulation, lack of independence, 54; - need for improving, 194 - - Prison Association, in New York State, secretary of, quoted, 91 - - Prisoners, classification of, 83, 84; - jurisdiction of county over, 90; - classification of, systematically violated, 91; - transfer of certain classes of, to state institutions advocated, - 136-137 - - Probation, importance of records concerning, 190 - - Professional politicians, great opportunity of, in obscurity of county - government, 47 - - Prosecutor, appointment of, advocated, 135; - _see_ District attorney - - Public defender, the, 199-200 - - Public Efficiency Society, work of, in Cook County, Ill., 7 - - Publicity, importance in county affairs of, 182 - - Purchasing, duplication of systems in Milwaukee, 62; - significance of better methods of, 181; - agent, 189; - consolidation of local agencies for, 190, 200, 201 - - - Qualifications (legal) of county officers, lack of, 50 - - Quick, Herbert, on county government in Iowa, 76-77; - characterization of county government by, 194 - - - Race track legislation, enforcement of, by local county officers, - 106-107 - - Readjustments of county system, 129-144 - - Recall, provisions in Los Angeles County charter concerning, 240-244 - - Reconstruction, of county government, 168-180; - formula for, 169 - - Recorder, appointive, 172 - - Records, usual lack of, in road management by counties, 98; - in Westchester County almshouse, 200-201 - - Reporting, importance of uniform, 121 - - Responsibility, lack of in organization of judiciary, 131; - necessity for fixing in counties, 170-171 - - Rhode Island, origin of county in, 9; - influence of Massachusetts institutions in, 19; - sheriffs appointed by legislature in, 29; - lack of accounting law in, 123 - - Roads and bridges, 94-103; - under Los Angeles County charter, 229-231 - - Rochester, N. Y., proposals for city-county consolidations in, 152 - - Rural politics, influence of county press on, 55 - - Rural voter, civic capacity of, 44, 170 - - - St. Louis County (Mo.), city-county consolidation in, 153 - - Salmon, Dr. Thomas W., on county almshouse care of insane, 89 - - San Bernardino County, Cal., adoption and amendment of county charter - in, 30, 31, 149 - - San Francisco, classification as an urban county, 154; - city-county consolidation in, 158-159 - - Saxon kingdoms, the original of English counties, 23 - - Secor, Alson, on bridge lobby at Des Moines, 101-102 - - Sectionalism, stimulated by governmental organization in some states, - 97 - - Selectmen, functions in colonial Virginia, 16; - functions of, in New England, 27 - - Sheriff, maladministration of, in a central N. Y. county, 4; - historical origin of, 11; - court duties of, 12; - duties of, in Virginia, 17; - elective officer in Pennsylvania since 1726, 28; - in New Jersey after Revolution, 28; - falsity of theory underlying his election, 32; - large fees of, in New York County, 51; - appointing power restricted in New Jersey, 52; - relation to deputies according to N. Y. courts, 52-53; - principal police agency in early local governments, 58; - conflict with other police agencies, 60, 61; - limitations as jail keeper, 90; - as enforcer of state laws in N. Y. State, 107; - imperfectly controlled by county judge, 130; - functions as court officer discussed, 132; - suggestion that governor appoint, 133; - inability of, in dealing with crime, 139; - encroachment upon functions of, by Department of Correction in N. Y. - City, 157; - appointive method of selection of, proposed, 171; - importance of records of, 190; - _see_ Rhode Island - - Short ballot, the basic principle of county reconstruction, 169-170; - meaning of, 181 - - Solicitor, _see_ District Attorney - - South, development of county in, 9; - the insane in county almshouses of, 87 - - South Carolina, influence of Virginia precedents on, 19; - lack of accounting law in, 123; - appointive judiciary in, 131 - - Southwest, importance of county as unit of local government in, 22 - - Special legislation, testimony of county officer concerning, in N. Y. - constitutional convention, 4 - - State constitutions, provisions of, concerning counties, 112 - - ---- control in taxation, 126 - - ---- examiners in Ohio, 121 - - ---- government, stiffening hold on highway matters, 95; - influence in county affairs, 112-119 - - ---- legislatures, power over counties, 112 - - ---- party organization, built upon county units, 55 - - ---- supervision of accounts recommended, 185 - - State’s attorney, _see_ District Attorney - - Suffolk County, Mass., _see_ Boston - - Suffolk County, N. Y., work of Taxpayers Assn. in, 7 - - Superintendent of the poor, appointive method of selection proposed, - 171 - - Supervisor (town), functions of, in N. Y., 27; - elective officers in N. Y. since 1691, 28; - in Hudson County, N. J., 40; - influence in road affairs, 97; - _see_ Board of supervisors, Essex County and Hudson County, N. J. - - Surrogate, jurisdiction of, in probate matters, 130 - - Surveyor, appointive, 172; - _see_ County surveyor - - System (of government), importance of, as contrasted with personnel, - 66, 74, 78 - - - Tammany Hall, its influence exercised through control of county - offices, 55 - - Tax administration, inappropriateness of town as unit for, 144; - dual system of, in California, 160 - - ---- collector, appointive, 172 - - ---- laws, nullification of, by local officers, 108 - - Taylor, Graham, on humanitarian functions of county, 80-81 - - Tehama County (Cal.), charter of, 149 - - Telephone, effect on rural life and government, 24 - - Tennessee, influence of early Virginia precedents on county - government, 20; - county officers of, made appointive, 28; - uniform accounting law in, 122 - - Texas, American county system established in, 22; - lack of accounting law in, 123; - county local option in, 150 - - Town, dominant idea in local government of New England, 17; - relation of county to, in New England, 143; - inappropriateness of, for performance of certain functions, 143-144 - - Township officers in Los Angeles County charter, 225-227 - - Treasurer, elective in Massachusetts, 27; - appointive, 172; - _see_ county treasurer - - Tuberculosis, effect upon general public health movement of fight - against, 195 - - Turnpike companies, as road builders and operators, 94 - - - Uniformity in county legislation, 112 _et seq._ - - Urban communities, growth of, 57 - - Urban counties, 57-65 - - Utah, establishment of counties in, 22; - lack of accounting law in, 123 - - - Vermont, lack of accounting law in, 123 - - Virginia, origin of counties of, 16; - constitutional convention, discussion concerning local government - in, 29; - reaction against appointive system of, 29; - lack of accounting law in, 123; - highway progress in, 142; - independent cities of, 153 - - - Westchester County, work of Research Bureau, 7; - patronage in political advertising, 53-54; - recommendations of official commission in, for county home rule, - 148; - auditing practices in, 184; - discrepancies between estimates, etc., for poor relief in, 184; - _see_ County planning, V. Everit Macy - - Westchester County Chamber of Commerce, its activities in county - planning, 197; - in activities for better county government, 204 - - Westchester County Research Bureau, statement concerning budget - making, 186-187 - - Western Reserve, New England influences in, 20, 104 - - West Virginia, uniform accounting law in, 122 - - Wisconsin, compromise plan of county government, township system in, - 21; - spoils system in, 52; - provisions for county graduate nurse in, 196; - county libraries in, 199 - - Wyoming, auditing system in, 122; - county libraries in, 199 - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - -In a few cases, obvious punctuation errors have been corrected. - -Page 27: “Massachussetts had always had it” changed to “Massachusetts -had always had it” - -Page 142: “cases to impofe standards” changed to “cases to impose -standards” - -Page 192: “comparative efficiency of employes” changed to “comparative -efficiency of employees” - -Page 236: “comparative efficiency of employes” changed to “comparative -efficiency of employees” - -Page 238: “No officer or employe of the county,” changed to “No officer -or employee of the county,” - -Page 245: “No attorney, agent, stockholder or employe of any firm” -changed to “No attorney, agent, stockholder or employee of any firm” - -Page 253: “other powers, duties and responsibilties” changed to “other -powers, duties and responsibilities” In Appendix C, page 248, a -footnote has been created to contain the explanation text. - -In the Index, the spelling of Polk County was corrected. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COUNTY *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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S. Gilbertson—A Project Gutenberg eBook - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; - text-indent: 1em; -} - -.p0 {text-indent: 0em;} -.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} - -abbr[title] { - text-decoration: none; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} -h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - -ul.index { list-style-type: none; } -li.ifrst { - margin-top: 1em; - text-indent: -2em; - padding-left: 1em; -} -li.isub1 { - text-indent: -2em; - padding-left: 2em; -} - -.small { - font-size: 0.8em; -} -.big {font-size: 1.2em;} - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} -table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; width: 80%; font-size: 1.1em;} -table.autotable td { padding: 3px; } -table.autotable th { padding: 3px; } -.x-ebookmaker table {width: 95%;} -.x-ebookmaker .thin {width: 70%;} -.thin {border-collapse: collapse; width: 50%; font-size: 1.1em;} -.page {width: 3em;} -.chapter {font-size: 1em;} - -.tdr {text-align: right;} -.tdt {border-top: solid;} -.tdb {border-bottom: solid;} -.tdtd {border-top: dotted; border-width: thin;} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - font-variant: normal; -} /* page numbers */ - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.allsmcap {font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ - -img { - max-width: 100%; - height: auto; -} -img.w100 {width: 100%;} -img.w10 {width: 5%;} -.x-ebookmaker .w10 {width: 10%;} - -.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} -@media print {.poetry {display: block;} } -.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} - - -.figcenter { -margin: auto; -text-align: center; -page-break-inside: avoid; -max-width: 100%; -} - -/* Footnotes */ -.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} - -.fnanchor { -vertical-align: super; -font-size: .8em; -text-decoration: none; -} - - - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - - </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The County, by H. S. Gilbertson</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The County</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>The "Dark Continent" of American Politics</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: H. S. Gilbertson</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 6, 2022 [eBook #67350]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: deaurider and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COUNTY ***</div> - - -<p class="center p0 p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img001"> - <img src="images/i001.jpg" class="w100" alt="THIS IS A NEW YORK COUNTY—ALL OFFICERS ELECTED -INDEPENDENTLY OF EACH OTHER AND CO-ORDINATED THEORETICALLY BY ELABORATE -LAWS. HEADLESS, IRRESPONSIBLE, INEFFICIENT, OBSCURE." /> -</span></p> -<p class="center caption">THIS IS A NEW YORK COUNTY—ALL OFFICERS ELECTED -INDEPENDENTLY OF EACH OTHER AND CO-ORDINATED THEORETICALLY BY ELABORATE -LAWS. HEADLESS, IRRESPONSIBLE, INEFFICIENT, OBSCURE.<br /></p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h1> <span class="big"> The County</span><br /> -The “Dark Continent” of American Politics</h1> - -<p class="center p0 p2"> By</p> - -<p class="center p0"> H. S. Gilbertson</p> - -<p class="center p0 p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img000"> - <img src="images/i000.jpg" class="w10" alt="Decorative image" /> -</span></p> - -<p class="center p0 p2"> <span class="big">New York</span></p> - -<p class="center p0"> The National Short Ballot Organization<br /> -1917 -</p> -</div> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</span></p> -<p class="center p0 p2">The Knickerbocker Press, New York</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE">PREFACE</h2> -</div> - - -<p>The American people have never ceased, nor do they give any signs -of ceasing, in their effort to master the mechanics of political -democracy. Curiously, however, they have quite neglected one of the -most promising of all the approaches to this study—the government of -counties. It is in the belief that a discussion of this subject would -tend to throw a great new light upon the “democratic experiment” that -the author has prepared this volume.</p> - -<p>This is not a hand-book or a treatise on counties. Such a work cannot -be successfully carried through without a much wider and more thorough -research into the subject than has as yet been attempted. The author -hopes that this present work will do something to suggest and stimulate -such research. In the meantime the outlines of a very real and very -important “county problem” are visible and they mark the scope of this -volume.</p> - -<p>The reader will doubtless note the complete absence of any -discussion of the county in its relation to the educational system. -The explanation of this omission lies in the great difficulty of -distinguishing anything like a universal interest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</span> of the county in -this branch of public administration, apart from those of the state -government and of the smaller divisions, except in the levying of taxes -and the distribution of tax money.</p> - -<p>To <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Richard S. Childs, Secretary of The Short Ballot Organization, -the author is indebted for the suggestion that the book should be -written, and for criticisms of the manuscript. Assistance of the most -helpful sort during the manuscript stage was also rendered by <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> -Herbert R. Sands, of the New York Bureau of Municipal Research, and by -<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Otho G. Cartwright, of the Westchester County Research Bureau.</p> - -<p>Inasmuch also as it has not seemed advisable to encumber the text with -an excessive number of footnotes, the author wishes to acknowledge -particularly his debt to <abbr title="Professor">Prof.</abbr> John A. Fairlie’s volume, <i>The -Government of Counties, Towns, and Villages</i>, which was the source -of much of the historical material, and to <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Earl W. Crecraft, whose -studies of Hudson County, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr>, have been drawn upon at considerable -length.</p> - -<p class="right"> <span class="smcap">H. S. Gilbertson.</span></p> - -<p class="p0"> <span class="smcap">New York</span>,<br /> - January 15, 1917. -</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class="autotable"> -<tr> -<th colspan="2"> -CHAPTER -</th> -<th class="page tdr"> -PAGE -</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">A Political By-way</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_1">1</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">Just What Is a County</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_9">9</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">A Creature of Tradition</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_16">16</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">Falling Afoul of “Democracy”</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_25">25</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">The Jungle</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_34">34</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">A Base of Political Supplies</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_43">43</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">Urban Counties</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_57">57</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">County Governments at Work</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_66">66</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">The Humanitarian Side</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_80">80</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">Roads and Bridges</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_94">94</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">Nullification</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_104">104</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">State Meddling</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_112">112</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">State Guidance</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_120">120</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">Readjustments</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_129">129</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">County Home Rule</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_145">145</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">Consolidation</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_151">151</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">Reconstruction</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_168">168</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">Scientific Administration</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_181">181</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">XIX.</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">The County of the Future</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_193">193</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#APPENDIX_A">Appendix A</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">Constitutional County Home - Rule in California</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_207">207</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#APPENDIX_B">Appendix B</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">The Los Angeles County - Charter</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_219">219</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#APPENDIX_C">Appendix C</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">Proposed County Home Rule - Amendment in New York</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_247">247</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#APPENDIX_D">Appendix D</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">Proposed County Manager - Law in New York</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_251">251</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#APPENDIX_E">Appendix E</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">The Chief Medical Examiner - in New York City</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_257">257</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapter"> -<a href="#APPENDIX_F">Appendix F</a> -</td> -<td> -<span class="smcap">A County Almshouse in Texas</span> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_266">266</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td colspan="2"> -<a href="#BIBLIOGRAPHY">Bibliography</a> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_275">275</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td colspan="2"> -<a href="#INDEX">Index</a> -</td> -<td class="page tdr"> -<a href="#Page_285">285</a> -</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="The_County"><span class="big">The County</span></h2> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I"><span class="big">CHAPTER I</span><br /> -A POLITICAL BY-WAY</h2> -</div> - - - -<p>To close up the underground passages to political power, to open up -government and let in the daylight of popular opinion and criticism, -to simplify organization, to make procedure more direct, to fix -unmistakably the responsibilities of every factor in the State; that -has been the strategy of the reconstructive democratic movement in -America in the last fifteen years. Four hundred American cities, -without regret and with little ceremony, have cast aside the tradition -that complexity is the price of liberty. They have started afresh upon -the principle that government is public business to be administered as -simply, as directly, as openly and as cheaply as the law will allow. -Inasmuch as their former governments were not adapted to that ideal, -they have hastened to make them over. Contrary to prediction, the -palladium of liberty has not fallen. Business<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span> goes on as usual, public -business in a way that is amazingly satisfactory, as compared with the -“good old” days.</p> - -<p>Where will the movement stop? Have all the secret passages been closed? -Have all the dark alleys of local politics been lighted? Or does work -for explorers lie ahead?</p> - -<p>In 1915 the constitutional convention then in session at Albany, was -surveying the foundations of the political structure of New York, -undertaking to make adjustments to the sweeping changes that had -come over the life of the state in the previous twenty-year period. -Committees were chosen to rake the far corners of the system for -needed adjustment. Hundreds of experts were summoned and hundreds of -citizens voluntarily appeared to press their views and their wants. -The committee having in charge the organization of the <em>state</em> -government listened to an ex-president, the heads of two leading -universities, prominent efficiency experts and every important state -officer. The committee on <em>cities</em> gave audience to the mayor -and chief legal officers of every important city in the state, while -the conference of mayors was sufficiently interested to send one of -its number to stump the state for an amendment which would promote -the welfare of New York cities. The work of these divisions of the -convention was of deepest concern to the state. It received from the -press and the public no small amount of interested comment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span></p> - -<p>There was also a committee which touched on an interest that includes -every inhabitant—county government. One might have imagined that this -body too could have attracted at least one or two celebrities. There -are sixty-one counties in New York State. Everybody lives in one. They -safeguard property, personal and civil rights. But not so. Two or three -public hearings; no ex-presidents; no college heads; no considerable -number of interested private citizens—such was the tangible display of -awakening to the subject at hand.</p> - -<p>At a singularly appropriate moment, however, a brand-new association -of clerks of the boards of supervisors was formed. Several members -of the body appeared in person before the convention. The committee -appealed to them to enrich its fund of information concerning the home -government. They were given a free rein to tell of the needs of their -counties.</p> - -<p>In view of collateral facts, the testimony of this notable group of -public servants is peculiarly illuminating. The representative of a -central New York county was there and blandly did he announce that his -people were perfectly satisfied with their county government; they -would not dream of modifying it. The clerk from a Hudson River county -was equally optimistic, and went to some pains to show in detail just -how very well his county was governed. Similar testimony was presented -from a county in the capital district. Then up spoke the clerk from -near the borders<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span> of Pennsylvania: the people of this neighboring -state had conceived so great an admiration for the form of his county -government that they were longing to substitute it for their own rather -simpler system.</p> - -<p>Now for the collateral facts. Not more than two months following this -hearing, officers of the National Committee on Prison Labor got word -of misdoings at the jail in the central New York county and succeeded -in securing a Grand Jury investigation. The details of their findings -scarcely lend themselves to print. Enough to say that the sheriff’s -deputies had made a practice of allowing both men and women prisoners -to come and go at will and permitted most disreputable conditions to -prevail in the prison. Shortly after the committee hearings the state -comptroller completed his investigation of the financial affairs of -the Hudson River county. His report reeks with accounts of flagrant -and intentional violations of the laws on the part of not one but -nearly all of the county officers. As for the clerk from the capital -district, he was confronted at the hearing itself with several pieces -of special legislation passed, at the instance of the sheriff and the -superintendent of the poor, for the increase of salaries of deputies -over the head of the local governing body. That this appeal was not -so much in the interests of the county as of “political expediency” -and at the expense of the taxpayers, he cheerfully admitted. But as -for the near-Pennsylvania<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span> county, that was the earthly home of a man -who had conceived a clever method of breaking into the county treasury -by having the board of supervisors create for his benefit, contrary -to law, the position of “county custodian.” Once firmly settled in -his new position he persuaded the board to turn over to him (quite -illegally) their responsibility for auditing the claims against the -county, and persuaded the county treasurer to cash any warrant that -might have his “O. K.” When he had made away, in this manner, with some -ninety thousand dollars, the comptroller discovered his misdoings. Of -the whole bad mess, the solution which the “custodian” selected was -suicide. But the government of that county had not been fundamentally -changed to meet the defects of organization revealed in these -disclosures.</p> - -<p>A collection of isolated facts? Familiar American graft and -inefficiency? Perhaps. But in the cities and in the states the public -has been going after such things. In the counties of New York the -people apparently did not know that such conditions were present. The -clerks who appeared at Albany and were, for the most part, the sole -representatives of their several counties, seem to have told the truth, -at least about the people’s complacency, but they might have been -more accurate and more complimentary if they had labeled it “lack of -knowledge.”</p> - -<p>From coast to coast a deep silence broods over county affairs. Can -it be that, while cities have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> been reveling in franchise scandals -and police have been going into partnership with vice interests, -while state legislatures have been lightly voting away public money -on useless political jobs and extravagant public institutions, the -county alone is free from every breath of scandal and is a model of -official uprightness? Scores of municipal leagues and city clubs -and bureaus of municipal research are delving into city affairs and -finding opportunities for betterment at every turn of the hand. -But the number of county organizations that are doing critical and -constructive work could be numbered on the ten fingers, or less. Many -of the colleges offer courses specifically on municipal government, -but the “one pervasive unit of local government throughout the United -States” is disposed of with a brief mention. No political scientist -has ever had the ambition to plow into the soil, so that while there -is now available a five-hundred-page bibliography of city government, -there has never been written a single volume<span class="fnanchor" id="fna1"><a href="#fn1">[1]</a></span> devoted exclusively to -counties. Journalists for the most part have left the subject severely -alone.</p> - -<p>And yet in those few instances where the county has been put under the -microscope or has been given more than a passing thought, the reward -of the investigators’ labors have always been so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span> certain and rich as -to excite wonder as to how much further the shortcomings of the county -extend. In Hudson County, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr>, a few years ago, the cost of the court -house which had been fixed at nine hundred thousand dollars, threatened -to run up to seven million dollars. Impressed by this striking -circumstance, a body of citizens formed themselves into a permanent -Federation to look deeper and longer into this back alley of their -civic life. They found that the court house incident was but the most -dramatic of a hundred falls from grace. The Public Efficiency Society -of Cook County, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr>, the Westchester County Research Bureau, the -Taxpayers’ Association of Suffolk County, the Nassau County Association -in New York and the Tax Association of Alameda County in California -have all been richly repaid for their investments in county government -research. Sporadic cases? Possibly. And then again perhaps there is -something basically defective in the system.</p> - -<p>But is it all a matter of importance?</p> - -<p>If universality and magnitude of cost count for anything, yes. Nearly -all the inhabitants of the United States live in a county and nearly -every voter takes part in the affairs of one. There are over three -thousand such units. In their corporate capacity they had in 1913 a -net indebtedness of $371,528,268 (per capita, $4.33), which was a -growth from $196,564,619 in 1902 (per capita, $2.80). In that year they -spent for general<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span> government, $385,181,760, which is something like -one third the cost of the federal government for the same period. Of -this amount, $102,334,964 was for general management. Through these -county governments the American people spent for highway purposes, -$55,514,891; for the protection of life and property, $15,213,229; for -the conservation of health, $2,815,466; for education, $57,682,193; -for libraries, $364,712; for recreation, $419,556 (mostly in the -single state of New Jersey); for public service enterprises, $189,122; -for interest charges, $17,417,593; upon structures of a more or less -permanent nature, $89,839,726.</p> - -<p>The figures, though of course not to be taken too seriously, are in -some cases as impressive for their paucity as in others for their -magnitude, for throughout a large part of the United States the county -is the sole agency of local government.</p> - -<p>Counties pretty much throughout the nation are the corner-stone of the -system of partisan government and organization.</p> - -<p>Counties, for this variety of reasons, therefore, would seem to be a -fit subject for scrutiny as to their relation to some of the vital -issues of American life.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn1"><a href="#fna1">[1]</a> <i>Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social -Science</i>, May, 1913, contains a number of important monographs on -the subject.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II"><span class="big">CHAPTER II</span><br /> -JUST WHAT IS A COUNTY?</h2> -</div> - - -<p>Before our forefathers had “brought forth upon this continent a new -nation,” there was no universal standard relationship in the colonies -between the local and the general colonial or state governments. In -Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, the towns had begun as -separate units; then they federated and gradually developed an organic -unity; that is, the localities produced the general government. In the -South, on the other hand, the local governments had more the semblance -of creatures of the general government designed to meet the expansion -of the earliest settlements into wide and therefore less wieldy units -for administration.</p> - -<p>By the time of the constitution of 1789, it became possible to -standardize the division of labor of governing the continent. In -the center of the scheme were placed the states, which reserved to -themselves all the governmental power there was, except what the -constitution specifically conferred upon the federal government. -Henceforth, whatever may have been its historical origin or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> its -ancient traditions, every local division of government was to content -itself with such functions as were to be portioned out to it by -superior state authority. It was to have no “inherent” powers. It was -to act simply as an agency of the state, which had power at will to -enlarge or diminish the local sphere of activity or wipe it off the map -entirely.</p> - -<p>Now the duties which state governments assumed in the early years -of the republic were as simple as necessity would allow. This was -preeminently the day of “as little government as possible.” The people -of the states covenanted with themselves, as it were, to stand guard -over life, liberty and property. It was a broad enough program, but it -was the custom in those days to interpret it narrowly—no humanitarian -activities beyond the crude attempts to deal with the more obvious -phases of poverty; no measure of correction in the modern sense; no -“public works.” As an incident in meeting these obligations, the -constitutional convention and the state legislatures met and laid -down statutes or codes of conduct affecting these elementary needs -of a civilized people. They defined the various crimes (or adopted -the definitions of the English common law); they legalized a civil -procedure. It was definitely settled that the voice of the whole people -should control in determining <em>what</em> the state should do for its -citizens.</p> - -<p>Then came the question of getting the means<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span> for applying these -abstract principles to daily life, of bringing to every man’s own -door the means for enforcing his rights. Had the American people -proceeded from this point along logical lines they would have cut the -administrative machinery to fit their state-wide policies. But it was -not so ordered. The officers of the <em>state</em> had determined upon -the policies; the officers of the <em>localities</em> were to execute the -policies. The period of the American Revolution, with its deep-seated -distrust of kingly power, was the beginning of an era of decentralized -administration which gained rather than diminished in force for as -much as two generations. For the purpose, the existing counties served -as instruments ready to hand and their status now became fixed as the -local agencies of the state government. New counties were formed from -time to time as needs arose. In each of these counties was a loose, but -more or less complete organization, which it will now be fitting to -describe.</p> - -<p>More important perhaps than any other enforcing agent of the county, in -these still primitive days, was the sheriff, who sooner or later became -a fixture in every American colony. This most ancient officer of the -county had been perpetuated through the centuries from Saxon and Norman -times. He had inherited nearly all of the powers and prerogatives -of his historical prototype as they obtained in England during the -seventeenth century. He did not preside over a court in the county,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> -but he could make arrests for violation of the law, with or without a -warrant. If his task was too much for one man, he could summon to his -aid a <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">posse comitatus</i> of private citizens. And inasmuch as he -was obliged not only to apprehend, but to hold his prisoner for trial, -it very naturally fell to him to take care of the lock-up or jail.</p> - -<p>There had been established, beginning with Connecticut, in 1666, a -system of local courts, whose jurisdiction in most states came to -be co-extensive with the county. Around this institution centered -the official life of the county, so much so that the county capitol -is universally known as the “court house.” The sheriff from its -beginnings acted as the high servant of this court, in the disposition -of prisoners, the execution of judgments, the service of warrants of -arrest and in similar duties.</p> - -<p>To the account of Connecticut is also to be credited the most unique, -and in many ways most important county officer of modern times. In -the development of its criminal law, England had never worked out -a system of local prosecuting officers. The colonies in the early -days had assigned the duty of representing the state’s interest to -the magistrates. But in 1704 there was authorized for each county -in Connecticut an attorney “to prosecute all criminal offenders ... -and suppress vice and immorality.” From this beginning came the -distinctively American officer who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> is variously known as district -attorney, prosecutor of the pleas, solicitor, or state’s attorney.</p> - -<p>Since the business of the county court (which formerly included -administrative as well as judicial matters) was too important not to -be recorded, there was established a clerk of court whose duties are -summarized in his title. In more recent times, however, the functions -of this officer have been both expanded and limited, according to -the amount of the transactions in the county. So that, in the larger -counties each court, or sometimes a group of courts, have a clerk -whose duties are solely concerned with judicial matters, while in less -important counties the “county clerk” finds it easily possible to serve -in no less than a dozen different capacities. It is the county clerk -who ordinarily issues marriage licenses and receives for filing, real -estate deeds, mortgages and a variety of other papers.</p> - -<p>And then, without apparent good reason, the colonists had brought -over from England the coroner. In the days of Alfred the Great this -officer had had an honorable and useful place in the realm. As a sort -of understudy of the sheriff, he took the latter’s place when he was -disabled. Meanwhile he was the King’s local representative, charged -with the duty of laying hands on everything that seemed to be without -an owner and taking possession of it in the name of the King. But -through the lapse of time, the “Crowner” had lost both dignity and -duties until there was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> little left except for him to take charge of -the bodies of those who had died by violence or in a suspicious manner, -seek the cause of death and locate, if possible, the person responsible -for the circumstance.</p> - -<p>So much for the organization to administer local justice, which is the -irreducible minimum of county government. In early colonial times (and -even yet in certain states), the judges and other judicial officers had -performed important duties outside this limited field of administering -justice. But in time the processes involved in the payment of salaries -and the up-keep of a county building, created in sizable counties a -“business” problem of no mean proportions. Since in most states these -costs have been charged against the county, it has been necessary to -install appropriate machinery of fiscal administration. In every county -a board of directors, variously selected and denominated, has taken -over the management of material things. With the help of a variety of -minor administrative officers like the assessors, the treasurer and -other fiscal officers, it raises and appropriates money; it audits -claims against the county; it borrows money.</p> - -<p>Around this judicial and administrative nucleus was built the universal -American county. In the rural sections it expanded to meet the lack of -any other local government. As an incident to the theory that the state -is responsible for at least a minimum of protection of human life, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> -state government had taken upon itself the care of indigents. This duty -it usually turned over directly to the county. The county authorities -have also had control (often exclusively so) of rural roads and bridges.</p> - -<p>In the performance of these various functions the American people seem -to have thought it quite unnecessary for the county to be supplied -with the proper apparatus for doing its own policy making. Or, to look -at the matter from the other side, they deemed it quite appropriate -that the policy-making part of the state government, which is the -legislature, should not control the hands and feet, which in matters of -local concern consist of the county officials. Elaborate general laws -were enacted to prescribe in minute detail the daily round of routine -of each officer. Why should he or why should the people think? It was -not the purpose of the state that they should. And without thinking, -there could be no differences of opinion; without differences of -opinion, no “issues”; without issues, no real politics.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III"><span class="big">CHAPTER III</span><br /> -A CREATURE OF TRADITION</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>It all came about in this way:</p> - -<p>The first settlers in the permanent Virginia colony found a climate -that was mild and a soil that was fertile. Numerous rivers radiating -through the country furnished a natural means for transportation. -Indians were not a serious menace. The settlers themselves were of the -landed gentry, closely identified with the established English Church.</p> - -<p>Out of such a combination a very definite polity inevitably grew. The -people were destined to spread themselves far and wide; agriculture was -to be their chief pursuit; little government would be needed and the -forms and substance of democracy would have at best a slow growth.</p> - -<p>For many years the local government consisted primarily of small groups -of settlements which were called hundreds or parishes and were presided -over by a vestry of “selected men.” When the plantations were large and -scattered, government was sometimes supplied by the owners themselves. -But in 1634 in Virginia, the example of English<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span> institutions took -firmer root and eight shires or counties were formed and made the -unit of representation in the colonial assembly and for purposes of -military, judicial, highway and fiscal administration. The officers -were the county lieutenant (the militia officer), the sheriff (who -acted as collector and treasurer), justices of the peace and coroners. -All were appointed by the governor of the colony on the recommendation -of the justices, and the latter thus became a self-perpetuating body of -aristocratic planters controlling the county administration. This body -of appointed justices constituted the county court, which to this day -in some of the southern states is not only a judicial body, but also -corresponds to the board of supervisors or the county commissioners in -other localities.</p> - -<p>Such was one line of descent. The Virginians, like most of their -contemporaries, knew little and cared less for political science. -They simply turned to their English experience, pieced together some -old-country institutions and adapted them to the new world. Their -experiment succeeded for the time being at least. It could scarcely -have failed under such simple conditions.</p> - -<p>Of quite a different sort were the influences at work in New England. A -severe climate, a rocky soil and menacing Indians drove the colonists -into compact communities, where they could live by shipping and -fishing. They too were fortunate in striking an environment that -rather<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> exactly fitted their old-country experience. For they were -a homogeneous, single-minded body of people with firm traditions of -democracy and a common religious faith. From the congregational form -of organization that was characteristic of the Puritan movement to -the town meeting for purposes of civil government, was a single easy -step. Thus the “town” idea came to hold the center of the stage in New -England local affairs. But it never had the all-sufficiency in its -sphere which the county had in the South, and even New England had to -recognize a need for more comprehensive subdivisions. And so, in 1636, -Massachusetts was divided into four judicial districts in each of which -a quarterly court was held. In 1643 four counties were definitely -organized, both as judicial and militia districts, and before the -middle of the century there was established a system of representative -commissioners from each town, who met at the shire town to equalize -assessments. The office of county treasurer was created in 1654. Later -a militia officer was appointed, and within a few years county officers -were entrusted with the duty of registering land titles, recording -deeds and probating wills—functions transferred in part from town -officers and in part from the governor and council.</p> - -<p>So from Virginia and Massachusetts flowed the two streams of -institutional influence, the former tending to make the county the -exclusive organ of local government, and the other emphasizing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> the -town. Maryland, though it had started out with a somewhat special type -of organization borrowed from the County Palatine of Durham, with its -manors and hundreds, later came under the sway of Virginian precedents -and three counties were established there in 1650. The Carolinas, which -were not thoroughly organized until the eighteenth century, followed -the Virginia plan in its main outlines. Georgia’s development was not -well begun until after the Revolution. Connecticut, Rhode Island, New -Hampshire and Maine all followed the lead of Massachusetts, though the -first two of these states minimized the importance of the county to an -even greater extent.</p> - -<p>To these two lines of influence the central states added the idea of a -distinct administrative authority, which was composed in New York of a -new body made up of the supervisors of the towns, in New Jersey of the -local assessors and in Pennsylvania of special commissioners. These -new departures were established in the latter part of the seventeenth -century. In all of these states, it should be noted, the township also -existed for a limited number of purposes, such as the care of the poor, -for election, administration and for purposes of taxation.</p> - -<p>The westward movement of population had begun before the Revolution. -Following in general the parallels of latitude of their native -soil, the pioneers carried their local institutions with them for -transplantation, regardless of the wholly different<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> underlying -conditions that now confronted them. In their closely populated, -homogeneous settlements the New England pioneers that crossed over into -the Western Reserve had been accustomed to act through town meetings. -Nothing would do now but a reincarnation of the old institutions. The -six-mile rectangles into which the surveyors had divided the western -territory gave them their opening. There was accordingly developed in -the open prairie among the isolated homesteads a unit of government -that at least superficially resembled the old New England town. It was -but a geometrical expression, to be sure, but the mere shadow of it -seems to have given satisfaction. But in 1802, when the state of Ohio -was carved out of this territory, this exotic growth was cut short -and the “county-township” system of Pennsylvania was adopted. Indiana -followed Ohio in this step and the system came to predominate in the -Middle West, as for example, in Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.</p> - -<p>The instinct for harking back to precedents appeared also in the -early history of Michigan. When it was organized as a territory it -was divided up into counties. But in 1825, under the stimulus of -immigration from New York where the township-supervisor plan was in -vogue, townships had to be established for particular purposes to meet -the prevailing demand for this type of self-government.</p> - -<p>In the South, Kentucky and Tennessee took<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> their cues from Virginia -and established the justices in control of the county administrative -affairs. Mississippi and Alabama took Georgia for their model.</p> - -<p>In Louisiana, the parish authority corresponding to the board of -supervisors or commissioners is the police jury, which is elected by -wards very much on the principle of the New England town.</p> - -<p>In the country beyond the Northwest Territory, the clash of New England -and southern influences was met by an interesting compromise. In -Illinois, for instance, the earliest settlement had been made under -southern auspices. The county type of local government was therefore -established, but of the style employed in Ohio and Indiana rather -than in Kentucky. In 1826, however, the justices were made elective -by precincts and later the township was made a corporation for the -purposes of school, road, justice and poor relief administration. By -1848 the “town idea” had grown strong enough to force the adoption of a -provision in the new constitution for a plan to afford each county an -option between the two systems. The northern counties quickly adopted -the township plan, while the southern ones clung to the original -forms. Wisconsin at an even earlier date (1841) had effected a similar -compromise which, however, was swept away seven years later when the -township system was made mandatory by the constitution. At a later -period Missouri (1879), Nebraska (1883),<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span> Minnesota (1878) and Dakota -(1883) permitted the adoption of similar optional laws.</p> - -<p>In the new Southwest, the Northwest, the Rocky Mountain region and the -far West, owing in part to the comparative sparsity of settlement and -in part to the thinning out of the definite historical influences, the -county has acquired a greater importance than anywhere in the country -and the towns or townships, while they have been erected in a number of -the states, play but an insignificant part in local government. When -Texas became an independent republic, the American county system was -substituted for the earlier Mexican local government. Before the middle -of the nineteenth century counties had been established in New Mexico, -Utah and Oregon; ten years later in Nebraska and Washington; by 1870 in -Colorado, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and Arizona.</p> - -<p>And so, the institution of the county has been driven westward in -obedience to precedent and through the instinct for imitation. Of -thoughtful foresight, of definite planning for a serviceable career, -about the same measure was applied as in the case of Topsy, who “jest -growed.” It could not be otherwise. Local government in pioneer days -had to be thrown together more or less on the “hurry-up” plan. On -the western prairies as in colonial Virginia, public needs were so -limited that it really mattered comparatively little what agencies were -employed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span></p> - -<p>Counties once established acquired a tendency to “stick” tenaciously to -nearly their original form. Even in the seventeenth century the county -in England was well into a decline. Its disintegration had begun with -the growth of populous centers, that demanded more government, both in -quantity and in variety. The seven Saxon kingdoms whence counties grew, -had ceased to be either natural or convenient self-governing units. -In a later period they have ceased to be even important subdivisions -for the central administrative departments, and they have been crossed -and recrossed by the lines of sanitary and other districts until the -original county may be said to be scarcely distinguishable.</p> - -<p>In America even sharper and more pervasive social forces have been -assaulting this ancient institution. In our thinking of the Industrial -Revolution it has been customary to dwell upon its effects in urban -districts. This movement made the modern <em>city</em>. But its effect -did not stop there. Modern mechanical devices have also made the -original county boundary lines obsolete. Steam railway lines have -brought into close communication points which were once too distant -to be traversed easily and often, under all sorts of conditions. -Electric railways, in many instances have supplemented the process. -The automobile, particularly of the cheapest type, has brought within -easy reach of the court house points which a hundred years ago, when -the stage-coach<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> was the standard of locomotion, were too remote for -frequent communication. And, finally, the extension of mail facilities -and the telephone have minimized the importance of face-to-face -business intercourse beyond anything ever dreamed of when counties were -first made.</p> - -<p>Counties as we see them on the map often fail to take account of the -sweeping changes in the character of populations. On the western -prairies they were formed for a sparsely distributed people following -chiefly agriculture. In the midst of these regions at numerous points -have sprung up great centers of manufacture and commerce like Chicago, -Kansas City, <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Paul, and Omaha. In their train have followed the -multifarious problems of the modern city, which require a very -particular sort of governmental treatment.</p> - -<p>To these conditions the county as an institution has consistently -maintained an attitude of stolid indifference. Division of old counties -goes on from year to year. (Bronx county separated from New York in -1914, to the accompaniment of a costly new court house and several -hundred new jobs and no benefit to the taxpayers and citizens except -a heavy increase in taxation.) But who can recall two counties that -have consolidated? Such an exhibition of modernity and of the spirit -of progressivism it is apparently not in the nature of the county to -afford.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV"><span class="big">CHAPTER IV</span><br /> -FALLING AFOUL OF “DEMOCRACY”</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>And yet we should do the subject less than justice were we not to -recall an historical adventure that befell the county in the period -of its coming of age, when it was assuming something like its typical -American form.</p> - -<p>It was about the time of the Revolution when the atmosphere was -particularly uncomfortable for “tyrants” and for every created thing -that could be given the semblance of “tyranny.”</p> - -<p>“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of -repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the -establishment of an absolute tyranny over those States.” So ran the -Declaration of Independence, and if it was not a precise statement of -fact, it was at least an accurate gauge of the fighting public opinion -that was making political institutions. King George’s “frightfulness” -seems to have been chiefly and most concretely brought into the public -eye in the colonies by the acts of “swarms of officers” that had been -sent over “to harass our people and eat out their substance.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span></p> - -<p>From the point of view of the British Empire, it was a stiffening up -of the colonial administration to make effective the Navigation Acts, -the Stamp Acts, and similar measures. But it had come too late. Through -a century and a half the spirit of independence had grown firmer and -firmer and the colonists’ sense of identity with the British Empire -had sensibly diminished. So that when the imperial revenue collectors -began to “swarm” on their shores, the colonists were goaded into a -smashing antimonarchical mood. It was no mere temporary fit of rage, -and when physical violence of the Revolution was over, the intellectual -upheaval steadily gathered new force through the influence of men of -the Jefferson school. One of the feats to which the statesmen of the -Revolution devoted themselves was devising means for preventing future -“swarms” and the “tyranny” they brought with them.</p> - -<p>What irritated them more than all else was the fact that these imperial -agents were not colonially selected and controlled. But now the people -had replaced the king. <em>They</em> would now select the officers. A -happy thought! But how to work it out; that was the question.</p> - -<p>It is easy enough to pick flaws in their handicraft, but it should be -borne in mind that the architects of the nineteenth century American -democracy were working in the dark without models or precedents and -without established principles of organization. It is easy now to look -back and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span> say: “You carried your ‘democracy’ too far. It would have -been not only enough, but infinitely more effective to have let the -people select simply the legislative or ‘policy-determining’ officers -and subordinated the administration to them. The thing to do was to -control the <em>source</em> of power. If you had been careful to separate -‘politics’ from ‘administration’ you would have saved our generation a -whole world of political woe.”</p> - -<p>But the fact is that the then existing institutions had come into -being as a patchwork development to meet successive new needs. As for -local government, there was so little of it and it ministered to such -elementary wants that very few serious questions of policy ever rose -within its jurisdiction. Moreover, the officers who came in time to -have regulative or semi-legislative functions, seem to have been from -the beginning, concerned with the details rather than the policies of -government. This was true of the justices of the peace in Virginia, the -selectmen in the New England town, the supervisors in New York, and the -assessors in New Jersey. There was no choice except between selecting -and controlling (or trying to control) administrative officers and -foregoing any part whatever in local affairs.</p> - -<p>It is of course not to be understood that no local officers were -elected before the Revolution. Massachusetts had always had its town -“selectmen” and even as early as 1854 each county elected its treasurer -and, beginning at a somewhat<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span> later date, the county lieutenants. -Supervisors were created as elective officers in New York in 1691, but -they were executive and representative officers from the very start. -And the same may be said of the town assessors in New Jersey (1693) -and the county assessors in Pennsylvania. But the real precedent for -“electing everybody” was set in Pennsylvania in 1703 when the sheriffs -were first chosen by the people—a step which was followed in 1726 by -the establishment of elective county commissioners.</p> - -<p>But immediately after the Revolution the new notions of democracy began -to work more aggressively. Virginia now organized counties and its -constitution stipulated that officers not otherwise provided for should -be elected by the people. Sheriffs and coroners were made elective -under the New Jersey constitution and New York took away the governor’s -power of appointment and vested it in a council of appointment, -which was composed of the governor and four senators chosen by the -legislature.</p> - -<p>There were cross-currents in this movement, however, and both in the -Northwest (under the ordinance of 1787) and in Kentucky and Tennessee, -county officers established in the closing years of the eighteenth -century were made appointive, in the one case by the governor and in -the other by the county judges. But in the new constitutions of Ohio -(1802), Indiana (1816), and Illinois (1818), the elective principle -worked without a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span> hitch. Mississippi, Alabama, and Missouri followed. -By 1821 the passion had seized New York State, and sheriffs and county -clerks were thereafter elected by the voters of the counties.</p> - -<p>In Virginia at the constitutional convention in 1829-30, local -government was the subject of an acrimonious discussion, with the -Jeffersonian influences seeking to break down the established power of -the self-perpetuating justices, who were charged with inefficiency, and -establish in their place the New England town system. But Madison and -Marshall, who were both members of the convention, successfully upheld -the existing order. By the middle of the century both Virginia and -Kentucky succumbed to the democratic influence and there was a complete -reaction from the appointive system. New York extended the elective -idea to district attorneys and county judges, and Massachusetts and New -Hampshire in due time made similar alterations.</p> - -<p>In the states west of the Mississippi the tendency to put all the -county officers in the elective class was assumed from the start to be -the only method of insuring popular control.</p> - -<p>“The rule of the people” at last captured the whole country, except -Rhode Island, where even the sheriff is still appointive.<span class="fnanchor" id="fna2"><a href="#fn2">[2]</a></span> The -movement was at its height during the long period of democratic -control from Jackson to Buchanan, and it had behind it the powerfully -stimulating spirit of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> the new West. It was the conception of -practical, direct, but superficial thinkers and politicians. To be -sure, the particular appointive system in use in New York and other -eastern states under the earlier constitutions had behaved badly. The -Jacksonians leaped headlong at the conclusion that the trouble lay in -the idea of appointment <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">per se</i>. Other alternatives they did not -for a moment consider, but with an air of supreme finality declared -that “the people must rule”—by electing as many officials as could be -crowded on the ballot.</p> - -<p>The fact also that the county possessed no satisfactory appointing -power left no other course but to let the people undertake the -intricate work of an executive. So that through the passing of the -years that single course has materially multiplied the number of -elective officers—the people themselves, enamored with the dogma that -“the cure for democracy is more democracy” looked on complacently while -complication has been heaped upon complication.</p> - -<p>In the almost unique opportunity for a simplified government which -has been presented to the people of any county, they have strenuously -and successfully resisted the change. Such an instance happened a few -years ago in the county of San Bernardino, California. The people had -already adopted a county charter in which the powers of the county were -vested in a single small board of elective officers somewhat on the -commission<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span> plan now in use in many American cities. It was regarded -by many as the highest type of modernized county organization adopted -up to that time anywhere in the United States. But in the interval -that elapsed between the adoption of the charter and its going into -effect, someone discovered (or thought they discovered) that the people -were about to be deprived of their ancient liberties and that a local -oligarchy was about to be erected. Soon petitions were in circulation -and this perfectly good charter, which had been adopted but never tried -out in practice, was amended so as to nullify the very principle of -organization which pointed to greater simplicity and a better fixing of -responsibility.</p> - -<p>For nearly a century popular government has been galloping down the -highway that leads to governmental confusion. Nowhere does the record -state that because the people elected long strings of officers, the -people therefore <em>controlled</em> those officers. All the while the -services which government could render have become more and more -numerous and the public needs of the people more pressing. And all the -while too, the filling and holding of office for office sake has been -vested with exaggerated importance, so that the county more perhaps -than any other civil division has been the home of fictitious political -“issues.” At regularly recurring intervals the nation-wide county -system has been shaken to its foundations over the private futures -of their local Tom Joneses<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> and Tom Smiths. One of these respective -gentlemen must leave his growing law practice and sacrifice his time -to his county by serving papers for the county judge or prosecuting -criminals before the Grand Jury. And none but the people is competent -to judge which of the two it shall be.</p> - -<p>Is the district attorneyship to be filled? Then, properly speaking, -there would seem to be nothing to do but to search for the highest -technical ability in sight and place it above the influences of any -consideration but that of preserving the civil rights of the whole -people. It is a simple criterion, around which no “issue” could -properly arise. But popular government has regularly and almost -universally thrown the selection of the public prosecutor over into -the political arena, where tests of fitness for specific duties count -not half so much as a good campaign speech or the ability to swing a -township into the Republican or Democratic column.</p> - -<p>In the same way many sheriffs might have set before them the plain duty -to obey the rigid prescriptions of the statutes. But American democracy -has all but universally decreed that sheriffs shall be selected after -the manner of discretionary, policy-determining officers. As for the -coroner, who would suppose that his grim services could be made the -subject of interested, intelligent popular discussion? But the coroner, -in a majority of states, is on the “ticket,” a subject ostensibly -for the citizens to weigh in the balance with a view<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> to the fittest -selection. And then the ballot nearly always bears the candidates -for the office of county clerk. He, like the sheriff, has his duties -minutely described in the laws, to the dotting of an “i” and the -crossing of a “t.” But in the estimation of many good citizens it is -of supreme importance that a good Republican or a deserving Democrat -should be placed in the office, in order, presumably, that the office -forms may be arranged for the filing cases according to the historical -doctrines of one or the other of the national parties.</p> - -<p>Never was there a serious movement to elect United States marshals or -district attorneys. Other and more satisfactory methods of selection -have been employed. But for the analogous officers in the states, -nothing but popular choice would satisfy the temper of the young -American republic.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn2"><a href="#fna2">[2]</a> By the legislature.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V"><span class="big">CHAPTER V</span><br /> -THE “JUNGLE”</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>The long “bed-quilt” ballot of county officers, as a Chicago -newspaperman called it, at first innocently, and then maliciously, -deceived, misled and disfranchised the “average citizen.” As to the -manner in which this result was brought about, more hereafter.</p> - -<p>But aside from all that, the long ballot principle turned out to -be the father of irresponsible organization. Each elective officer -received his commission straight from the people; his accountability -was solely and directly to them. No officer was to be entrusted with -much power for the fear that he might emulate King George and enslave -the county. Government generally was regarded as a natural but more or -less necessary enemy of the people to be tied with a short rope lest it -break loose and do incalculable damage.</p> - -<p>To the devotees of this theory, the idea that the county should have -a directing executive head, if indeed it ever received consideration, -was apparently too suggestive of Hanoverian monarchy to be seriously -entertained. This was to be a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> “government of laws, not of men”—the -people would see that all went well.</p> - -<p>It was such a spirit, no doubt, that guided the development of -the county system in an eastern state, which the writer studied a -few years ago. In the course of this effort the interrelations of -officers in a typical unit were diagrammed—with the result shown in -frontispiece. It was found, for instance, that the county clerk who -was “directly responsible to the people” was given duties to perform -under some twenty different laws, the enforcement of which under the -constitution was charged upon the governor as the chief executive of -the state. In fulfillment of these obligations he was found to be -under the direction, among others, of the superintendent of banking, -the superintendent of insurance, the commissioner of excise and the -secretary of state. For the routine of his office he was answerable -to the local board of supervisors. The sheriff, who “took his orders -from the people,” was found to be answerable to the supervisors, the -surrogate and the county judge. The district attorney was put down as -subject to at least three minor state officers besides the governor -and the board of supervisors. The county treasurer looked up (or was -supposed to) to the state commissioner of excise, the state board of -tax commissioners, the commissioner of education, the comptroller and -the state treasurer.</p> - -<p>And in all this wilderness of conflicting responsibility there was, be -it reiterated, no single officer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> who could be called the executive. -The governor, it is true, had power to remove and fill vacancies, but -even this negative control was conditioned by the fact that there -were sixty-one counties in the state, that some of them were hundreds -of miles from the capital and that the governor was charged with a -thousand other responsibilities besides looking after the counties. It -was true that the state comptroller was given power to examine into -the fiscal affairs of the various counties, but this safeguard was of -limited value in practice, owing to the small number of examiners which -the legislature provides.</p> - -<p>No, the ingenious Anglo-Saxon mind had discovered a substitute for -efficient personal supervision! If a given officer were to go wrong or -neglect his duties, then the supervisors were authorized to go to the -district attorney and persuade him, if possible, to take action on the -officer’s bond or to institute a criminal prosecution. If the district -attorney was negligent in the matter, the supervisors might go to the -governor with charges of neglect of duty. But if the original officer -in question was just lazy, slow or inefficient, then everybody simply -could wait “till he got round” to doing his duty.</p> - -<p>To this day this circumambulation in the name of democracy actually -fulfills the conception of popular rule for no inconsiderable body -of political leaders. Where the system goes wrong, they inject a -little more confusion, a little more irresponsibility<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span> into the plan -of government. Take, for instance, the Indiana system. In 1898 the -county government became the subject of a state-wide scandal and was -made the political issue of the year. The governor in his biennial -message followed the good old American custom: more complications, more -division of responsibility. He recommended a system of “safeguards” -which had the effect of taking away power (and responsibility) from -the county board (commissioners) and vesting it in a brand-new body -known as the council, composed of seven members, three elected from the -county at large, and one from each of the four councilmanic districts. -This council was made the tax-levying and money-appropriating body -for the county and no money could henceforth be drawn from the county -treasury except upon their appropriation. It also was given the -sole authority to issue bonds and borrow money. And so the county -governments in Indiana were blocked at just one more point and the -county commissioners were made just one shade less accountable than -they were before the enactment of this ingenious piece of “reform” -legislation.</p> - -<p>Two of the New England states developed equally clever methods of -breaking down financial responsibility. New Hampshire, with its boards -of commissioners elected by the people of the counties would seem to be -well-equipped with fiscal agencies. But not so! The commissioners<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span> may -only recommend appropriations for county expenses—and a “convention,” -consisting of the members of the House of Representatives of the -various towns then allows, or disallows, them. Such an institution was -created many years ago. Connecticut goes New Hampshire one better by -constituting the convention of the local members of <em>both</em> houses -of the legislature. The convention may not only vote the amount of the -general county appropriation, but the appropriation for any specific -items of county expenditures for the two fiscal years following, or for -the repairs and alterations of county buildings.</p> - -<p>Democracy via complication was applied also in the state of New Jersey, -when the legislature of 1898 took from the board of chosen freeholders -(supervisors) of Hudson County the control over the Hudson County -Boulevard. An act passed in that year created a separate new commission -of three members to be elected by the people, upon which was conferred -powers comparable to those of a separate municipality. The commission -was even given the right to maintain a separate police force, to own -and operate a separate electric lighting plant, to employ its own -cleaning and repairing force and to act in other ways entirely separate -from the county road and highway system and independent of the street -departments of those municipalities through which the road lies. This -independent body was authorized to fix its own appropriations and -make them mandatory<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span> upon the board of chosen freeholders, to let all -contracts for the construction of the roads under its charge and to -employ a separate engineer.</p> - -<p>When Hudson County began to lay out its park system, the disintegration -of the county system was carried a step further. Another wing was added -to the amorphous county structure, a Park Commission to be composed -of four members. These were not to be elected like the Boulevard -commissioners, or appointed by an executive, as is done in most cities, -or chosen by the board of chosen freeholders, but appointed by the -Judge of the Court of Common Pleas! This commission also became a -separate corporation, like the Boulevard Commission, and now has power -to requisition appropriations on the board of chosen freeholders.</p> - -<p>But the end of the tale is not yet. In 1912, Hudson County undertook -the extermination of mosquitoes. Another independent board! More -independent mandatory powers of appropriation! And the appointment -of six members in this instance was vested in the Judge of the -Supreme Court. Add to this layout a board of elections, appointed by -the governor, on the nomination of the chairmen of the two leading -political parties, and you have the county jungle in all its primeval -grandeur.</p> - -<p>The people of New Jersey were thoroughly consistent in 1900 when -their legislature broke with precedent and undertook to supply their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> -counties of the first class with some sort of a head by creating -the office of county supervisor. The governing boards of these -counties were at that time composed of representatives from various -municipalities. So it was decided, in order to give the whole people a -voice in the government, to have the new officer elected at large. The -legislature had no notion of giving anyone any new power. They proposed -to further subdivide existing power. True, the law under which this new -office was created, designates the supervisor as the chief executive. -But, as has so often been the case in city charters, this designation -proved to be only a fiction. The law gave the supervisor the right to -remove subordinates, but no instrumentality with which to investigate -the conduct of hundreds of county officers and employees and thus to -make his authority effective. Moreover, he was crippled by the fact -that the board of freeholders might reverse his decisions and reinstate -the officers or employees suspended. But what is of more importance, -the supervisor was given no power of original appointment.</p> - -<p>Similarly, Cook County, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr>, acquired a president of the board of -county commissioners, who is elected by the people. Kings County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, -before consolidation with New York City, had a supervisor-at-large. -But neither of these dignitaries has or had any powers of appointment -comparable to, let us say, those of the mayor of Cleveland or of New -York. In the general run of counties,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> the executive is not a single -officer but the governing board itself. Where the “town plan” is in -vogue, as in certain Illinois counties, and throughout New York State, -this body may be very large and unwieldy and is wholly incapable of -supervising administrative detail, except through small committees, -with the added division of responsibility which that implies.</p> - -<p>And so, county government everywhere was conceived in a spirit of -negation. The people elect their boards of supervisors or county -commissioners, hoping thereby to keep their fingers on the public purse -through direct agents. The supervisors, in their turn, undertake to -regulate the finances of the sheriff, the district attorney, the county -clerk and the rest. But, lo, these officers are no subordinates of -theirs; they are the people’s humble servants. The supervisors may set -out upon a program of economy and efficiency, including, let us say, -the standardization of supplies. But the county clerk may not recognize -their superior authority, preferring to run his office, to suit his -personal convenience; and if the supervisors undertake to check him he -may find some way of appealing to the people. The superintendent of the -poor, the treasurer and the auditor may likewise go their respective -paces in defiance of all superior authority. If in the course of their -official routine these officers collect sundry fees, they may account -for them or not, as they please, so far as the governing body is -concerned. They<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span> may be reached by some slow process of litigation, but -never in the direct summary way that is employed in private business. -It is a fatally ineffectual procedure. And when a dozen or nineteen -officers, chosen by popular election, are thrown together, it is -clear that every one of them is the legal peer of every other, since -everyone acknowledges a common superior. And since the people are a -rather too unwieldy body to look after the details of county business, -each officer must be a law unto himself. And it is perhaps just as -well that none of them has been designated as an official chief, since -the <em>facts</em> of organization would refute and nullify any such -arrangement.</p> - -<p>It is as though a board of directors were charged with the control of -a private enterprise, but were expressly denied the power to select -the manager and heads of departments to whom they might delegate their -authority over details.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI"><span class="big">CHAPTER VI -</span><br /> -A BASE OF POLITICAL SUPPLIES -</h2> -</div> - - -<p>In the course of its democratic adventures the county was incapacitated -for standing on its own feet. When every independent elective officer -became a law to himself, the county ceased to be a single government. -Politically it became then little more than a convenient way of -speaking of a group of officers whose field of activity was closely -related. In these very close relations lay the material for serious -conflicts of interest that brought friction, delays, inaction. County -governments could really get nowhere. Their energies were consumed in -standing still and keeping alive. Since separate officers of the county -had no common superior, the county could not move in any particular -direction; no more than an army of self-directing divisions, each with -a will of its own.</p> - -<p>Moreover there came to be counties which could not even organize -themselves, even after the imperfect fashion described in the laws of -the state. The people grew in numbers, their interests increased in -complexity and county affairs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> sank into comparative insignificance. -In their theory of pure democracy via the ballot, they spread out -their interest in county officers so thin that no single officer got -sufficient attention to make him realize their influence. County -candidates were mixed up on the ballot with a multitude of others, -state, national and municipal, so that it was practically certain -that not only unknown but often undesirable citizens would step into -power with the “people’s” stamp of approval. The voters of New York -have been electing coroners (or have been thinking they did). When -a few people in 1914 began to delve into the history of the office, -they turned up an astonishing situation. Scarcely one of the men who -had been elected to the office in a period of twelve years could be -said to have had even a modest part of the qualifications required for -the positions. Some of the worst rascals of all had been elected in -reform administrations and as one coroner admitted on the stand, the -controlling purpose in mind in the selection was that of “balancing the -ticket” so that geographical sections and racial and religious elements -would get their proper share in the spoils.</p> - -<p>Rural electorates probably have done better all along the line with -their county officers than the voters in the cities. Measured by the -standards of personal acquaintanceship, the candidates for county -office have perhaps nearly always been known quantities in the rural -districts. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span> “glad-hander” and the accomplished back-slapper has -gotten on famously. They have made a business of knowing everybody. And -yet they have sometimes, as private individuals, failed to reveal to -their most intimate friends the qualities which have made them unfit -for a public trust. Placed in offices of conspicuous responsibility -where the sunlight of public opinion and criticism has beat upon them, -it is impossible that many men would have gone far wrong. But since -the work of county officers has had little to do with the shaping of -public policies upon which the average voter has any opinion; since the -county jail has not been a public museum where men were wont to take -their friends and families, and since there has been nothing especially -interesting about the serving of a warrant of arrest or attachment, the -officers involved have not always revealed their innermost personal -qualities. Year after year a smiling popular sheriff might go on doing -these services in the most expensive, inefficient way, with here and -there a touch of corruption; and the great body of voters who met him -every week at the lodge would be none the wiser. In the same way the -voters might elect a “good fellow” superintendent of the poor. They -might continue to know him as a good fellow but it has been a rare -constituency that has followed him up in his official duties to know -how “good” he was to the unfortunates under his care and to the public -in general. It has been a rare good fellow who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> has combined in his -single person the ability to shake every right hand and kiss every -baby in the county, with a really modern, scientific knowledge of the -treatment of poverty.</p> - -<p>The county clerk upon assuming office shuts himself away in a forest -of filing cases and meets the public officially only as they come to -him for a marriage license or to file a deed or mortgage. And as for -the coroner, mostly people have been glad to leave him severely alone, -trusting that no untoward mishap will bring them into his clutches. -For all ordinary purposes they have regarded him as a grim joke, not -knowing that in many cases a misstep on his part might result in the -escape of a criminal or spoil the case of a litigant entitled to -damages or of a policyholder to his insurance.</p> - -<p>A possible exception to this inconspicuousness is the district -attorney. American communities appear to have reserved high political -honors to the most efficient and best advertised “man-hunter.” A white -light of public interest has always beat upon the public prosecutor. -Many a reputation for skill and courage and all-around general -administrative ability has been built up around a record of convictions -of notorious criminals. The district attorney with a sense of the -dramatic has usually been in line for the governorship of his state. It -seems also to be regarded as conducive to efficiency that this officer -should be controlled directly through the ballot.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span></p> - -<p>And so, the system of popular election has given no assurance that, -though the people may know them ever so well as individuals, they -would know their candidates in the sense that fixes their electoral -responsibility.</p> - -<p>What has had to be done, but what the people of the county have been -unwilling or unable to do for themselves, has given to a public-minded -fraction of the community the opportunity of their lives. They have -generously taken over the people’s government and run it for them.</p> - -<p>Gradually there has come to life a new profession, a governing class, -with leadership, discipline and resources. To the acknowledged head -of this fraternity have come aspirants to public honors and seekers -after favors. Power and influence have been laid at his feet. He has -become the virtual dictator of the county’s political destinies. The -laws underlying the organization of the county government have not been -changed; but there has grown up, quite outside the statute books and -outside the court house itself, a second government that has supplied -the great lack in the official, legal one, the lack of a definite head. -The new factor in the county’s affairs has come to exercise the powers -of an executive. <em>Theoretically</em> the people have elected his heads -of departments; practically he has chosen them himself. The people have -retained the forms while he has arrogated to himself the substance of -political power.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span></p> - -<p>He is with us yet, this clever, dominating, often silent personage, -sometimes in a single individual, sometimes in a group, sometimes -benevolent, respectable and public-spirited, sometimes brutal and -mercenary. It may not always be easy to find him, but he is <em>always -present in every American county</em>; for there is no stable government -without him.</p> - -<p>For the development of his peculiar talents the county is a -particularly favorable environment. For the county, in a word, is in -the shadow—the ideal condition for complete irresponsibility, which is -the father of bossism.</p> - -<p>But what do the voters do if they do not in fact elect their officers?</p> - -<p>It is now perfectly well known to students of political science that -what the usual run of voter does in such a case is to ratify one or -the other set of candidates who have been previously culled over by -the county committee of either party. It is true that, under the -direct primary system, independent voters may start a revolt if the -politicians do something that is particularly “bold” and “raw.” But -even that privilege is of questionable value, for it breaks down even -the kind of responsibility that obtains under the rule of an unofficial -executive, since the boss, if criticized for a bad selection, is -always able to fall back upon the explanation that “the people did it -themselves.”</p> - -<p>And when the votes have been counted and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> candidates chosen, what -of the citizens and the politicians then? Armed with a certificate of -election “direct from the people,” the sheriff, the coroner, the county -clerk, owe no <em>legal</em> allegiance to anyone save to them. But the -people have finished watching the election count and have gone home and -back to work on concerns which are infinitely more absorbing than any -which affects the county government.</p> - -<p>Then there comes into play another political allegiance which is not -of law. The “governing class,” which gave the separate county officers -their jobs, is not in business for its health. It does not put men -in paid positions out of pure bigness of heart. It performs a public -service and it earns a right to collect a toll. <em>And it collects!</em> -The bosses collect “theirs” not only in terms of power to name the -officers whom the people shall elect, but insofar as no bothersome -civil service law is in the way they select also the subordinates. And -through this power of appointment they exercise various other powers -which make them to all intents and purposes the real seat of final -authority in the county.</p> - -<p>And so we see the workings of a natural law. In nature the organism -that survives is that naturally selected one that adapts itself to -its environment. Just so the American democracy has adapted itself -to the difficult political situation which it has itself created. -The political unit, which in the present instance is the county, is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> -legally without a head; forthwith instead of going to pieces, it grows -this necessary piece of anatomy outside its own body, and lo, an -altogether unworkable system is made tolerably workable!</p> - -<p>One reason why the boss flourishes so bountifully in the county is -the almost complete lack of any special legal qualifications for -filling the offices (except the district attorneyship). Anybody can be -a county clerk. He need only appoint as his chief deputy a faithful -easy-going person who has been on the job for years at a stretch and -has made himself indispensable as a master of the details of the -office. This deputy will, of course, be the real county clerk and he -will draw a comparatively modest salary because he is of no direct use -to the “organization,” while the elected official collects the high -compensation, spends a little time in the office every day, dividing -the rest between the interests of the “ring” and his own legitimate -private business, which goes right on as usual throughout his term.</p> - -<p>Another attraction in the county offices is the large fees which are -paid in probably the majority of counties in lieu of stated salaries. -The county clerk collects from the person immediately benefited, a sum -fixed by statute for each document filed. The sheriff makes similar -collections for the service of each legal process. The coroner draws -from the county a fixed amount for each inquest.</p> - -<p>The theory of the fee system is, first, that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> service is paid for -by the party whom it most concerns and secondly, that a specific reward -for a specific service will be an incentive to the officer to do his -duty. Nearly everywhere, however, the theory has worked out very badly. -It is doubtless proper that every person who receives special service -should contribute accordingly to the expense of government. In small -counties where the work of the county is limited there seems also to be -much to be said in favor of the officer keeping the fees. But in large -counties having an enormous business the compensation from this source -is often all out of proportion to the amount of service rendered. It -would seem, for instance, that the sheriff of New York County, who is -never a man of special training, would be amply compensated for his -routine services by a salary of $12,000. But in addition to this sum -he is now (1916) receiving annually about $60,000 in fees. The county -treasurer of Cook County, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr>, within very recent years, is said -to have pocketed during his four-year term about the better part of -$500,000,—he was never willing to tell the public just what the amount -was and the law has protected his policy of silence.</p> - -<p>But it must not be supposed that these rich prizes remain the personal -property of an individual officer. Nor is it to be supposed that the -numerous deputyships which often provide berths at a much higher -compensation than would be allowed for the same service under private -auspices,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> go to enrich the head of the office. No, the man or the -men, who put the sheriff or the county treasurer where they are have a -great deal to say about the disposition of this money. In New Jersey, -lest a single county officer should take himself too seriously in this -respect, the law provides that all appointments of the sheriff shall be -confirmed by the board of freeholders—and confirmation means control. -If the Cook County treasurer had kept the fees of his office, it is -hardly to be supposed that the county commissioners for years would -have bitterly fought to prevent an accounting for these funds.</p> - -<p>The county is indeed a wonderfully bountiful base of supplies for the -spoilsmen. The circumstance goes far to explain the slow growth of -the merit system in this branch of government. Civil service laws are -in force to-day in eighteen counties in New York, four in New Jersey, -one in Colorado, one in Illinois, two in California and the more -important counties in Ohio. That is the extent of the merit system in -counties. Even in states like Massachusetts, Illinois and Wisconsin, -where state-wide civil service laws affecting cities are in operation, -appointments in the county offices are filled on the principle of -“to the victor belong the spoils.” In New York State the courts have -enunciated a principle with reference to the relation between the -sheriff and his deputies which has the effect of fortifying the system -against attack and its most prolific outlet. For, said the court in -Flaherty<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> <em><abbr title="versus">vs.</abbr></em> Milliken,<span class="fnanchor" id="fna3"><a href="#fn3">[3]</a></span> “the relation between a sheriff and -his appointees is not merely that the sheriff is responsible for the -default of his appointee, but that the appointee for said default -is <em>liable to the sheriff and to no one else</em>.” “The practical -operation of this rule of personal agency,” says the New York Civil -Service Commission, “is in large measure to open the door for political -purposes of persons in whom no real trust is reposed. These offices are -in practice found to be a haven for political spoilsmen....”</p> - -<p>But “spoils” often connotes something besides jobs that pay salaries -or fees. In Westchester County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, where county affairs are known -to the public rather more intimately than elsewhere (owing to the -activities of the local Research Bureau), it has been found that -perhaps the richest patronage of all is in the county advertising. The -state of New York requires, for instance, the publication in every -county of the complete session laws of the legislature, in two papers. -It means the setting up in newspaper type of two or more large legal -volumes of intricate matter that no one could possibly use in that -form. Then there are multitudinous formal legal notices that issue from -the various offices at the court house, that rarely, in the nature of -the case, interest more than the two or three parties who may never see -them at all. Every paper<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> that prints this material gets paid, often at -a much higher rate than it would be compensated for ordinary commercial -work. In one case an honest printer in Westchester County was so -indiscreet and independent as to submit to the Board of Supervisors -a bill at something approximating a fair rate,—$600. His rivals -remonstrated and undertook to get him to raise his figure—they were -charging $1060 for the same matter. But the independent said: “No, $600 -is the legal price and moreover it is good pay.” The board audited his -claim and of course cut down the rival papers accordingly,—but never -thereafter did the county printing go to the man who wanted to be fair -to the public.</p> - -<p>Papers that go in for public advertising could not in many cases exist -without it. Indeed many papers are created for the purpose of absorbing -this business. Their circulation is usually limited to a few hundred -copies. They cannot afford to criticize the administration in power or -to express themselves independently on any public issue. Where there -are several such organs in a county (Westchester has about twenty) the -newspaper field tends to be closed effectively against the type of -legitimate journal which would exercise a wholesome influence on public -opinion.</p> - -<p>Just to what extent and how intensely this stifling influence exists -throughout the country is one of the really dark secrets of the county -problem. It shows its head in so many widely separated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> places and -there are so many feeble “boiler-plate” weekly papers that carry county -advertising, that one is led to suspect that it is a very pervasive -factor, especially in rural politics.</p> - -<p>The importance of county spoils is not merely local. Throughout the -northern states, except in New England, the county is undoubtedly the -strongest link in the whole nation-wide system of party organization. -Party politicians hoot when reformers suggest that local politics -has nothing to do with the tariff or the Mexican question. And they -are right! Whether properly or improperly, it has <em>very much</em> -to do with these questions, or rather with the selection of the men -who handle them. The power, for instance, of Tammany Hall in national -politics is measured by its power to swing the most populous county in -what is usually a pivotal state. Its power in the county is in direct -ratio to the number of offices with which it may reward party service.</p> - -<p>Party organization for a great part of the country has the county -committee as its basis. This is especially true of the Republican -Party in Pennsylvania where the present organization dates back prior -to the Civil War. The state committee is chosen from districts based -upon counties and the state machine is an assembling of all the local -cogs and wheels. Politicians think and talk in terms of counties -in their party councils and in the legislature. State machines are -principally an assemblage of county units.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span> In many states legislative -representatives are chosen from county districts.</p> - -<p>Trace the political record of the members of Congress. An astonishing -proportion have come up either through county offices or through state -legislative positions filled by general county tickets. To that extent -the national legislature is the fruit of the county system. And is it -not safe to say, with the selection of certain Congressmen in mind, -that the stream of national politics is poisoned at the source?</p> - -<p>It is not strange that machine politicians have come to look upon the -county as a source whence blessings flow. The county has both created -and sustained them!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn3"><a href="#fna3">[3]</a> New Jersey courts have rendered a diametrically opposite opinion.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII"><span class="big">CHAPTER VII</span><br /> -URBAN COUNTIES</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>The county has been put to its severest test in modern urban -communities.</p> - -<p>In the latter part of the eighteenth century began the -away-from-the-farm movement. The discovery of steam power and its -application to every department of industry began to draw men, -women and children from their homes to earn a livelihood in the -new industrial order. It became necessary for them to congregate -in factories; they could no longer spread themselves out over the -countryside. Out of the factory system came the city, came hundreds of -cities along the coasts and rivers and even on the open prairies. New -methods of transportation accelerated the process. The movement has -never stopped; not even yet, when more than a third of the country’s -inhabitants are living in cities of twenty-five thousand inhabitants -and more. Out of the growth of cities came congestion of population; -out of congestion, problems of very existence without number.</p> - -<p>The colonial heritage of local government was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> wholly unadapted to -any such emergency. In simple pioneer communities it was easy to -provide government that met the unexacting standards of the times. -Efficient government was not a live issue. Government, good or bad, -was little needed and there was little of it. And if that little was -ill-conceived, what matter?</p> - -<p>But the time came when local government began to feel the strain of new -responsibilities. Cities failed miserably—“conspicuously.” Counties -failed even more miserably but without observation. It was not so much -that local government was called upon to perform more services, but -that it was to adapt itself to new conditions of service, to execute -old forms of service in a more intensive fashion. For instance, in -a general way, the state had charged the county with the protection -of life. Under rural conditions the obligation seems to have been -performed tolerably well, because violations of the law are rarer where -population is thin. A sheriff, with the help of a few constables and -the power to summon citizens to his aid in times of special emergency, -was all the police that was needed in most communities. With the growth -of the city the police problem was intensified even out of proportion -to the numbers of the people. Keeping the peace came to mean no longer -the mere matter of quelling disturbances. The city with its teeming -population not only bred violence and disorder, but it afforded -opportunities for immunity through<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span> concealment. A new police problem -quite foreign to the capacities of the ancient office of sheriff grew -up. The city had to meet the professional, scientific criminal with -specialized instrumentalities and organization. Crowds on the congested -city streets had to be taken care of and numerous other incidentals of -the congested city had to be foreseen.</p> - -<p>The city likewise developed an entirely new problem of public charity, -which quite outgrew the capacities of that amateur sociologist, the -county poormaster.</p> - -<p>The coroner, too, sadly missed the mark in numerous cases. In the -new industrial order in the cities, not only was criminal violence -multiplied but industrial fatalities added heavily to the terrors of -city life for the working class. The civil liabilities which were -imposed upon employers and upon insurance companies made it more than -ever important that every sudden or suspicious death be investigated -with the utmost scientific thoroughness. Such service it was of course -impossible for the untrained elective political coroner to render, and -the world will never know the costly mistakes that are chargeable to -his inexpertness.</p> - -<p>In the fullness of time court organization also revealed the necessity -for differentiation between various classes of cases which were -presented for settlement. Again, the protection of life against -communicable diseases and of property against<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> fire were two functions -that the rural local government had completely overlooked or neglected, -and when urban conditions arose in the midst of the county there was -nothing in the original local government machinery that could be made -to respond to these needs. The county was apparently stereotyped to -minister to local conditions as they were conceived in the seventeenth -and eighteenth centuries. Its organization was merely adapted to -perform the simple cut-and-dried services that had been laid down for -it in centuries gone by. Its expansion into new and bigger fields of -service seems never to have been seriously considered.</p> - -<p>But the pungent fact is that counties, when they have ceased to serve -the needs of urban life, have been so slow to retire from the field.</p> - -<p>What state has stripped the sheriff of his power to interfere in a riot -or a strike to the infinite annoyance of the thousand per cent. more -competent police force of the city? How very few states have shown the -coroner the door and replaced him with a scientifically trained medical -examiner! Not less ridiculous the board of county supervisors in great -cities like Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee, solemnly ruling over a -territory almost identical in its extent with the bailiwick of the city -authorities. Why should not a single body do all the local regulating?</p> - -<p>And so, the urban county problem is first of all a question of -ill-adapted instruments of government<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> perpetuated long past their -period of utility.</p> - -<p>In the second place it is a matter of duplication and conflict of -organization and effort as between the city and the county. When the -charter in Los Angeles County was revised in 1912 it was found that in -the urban communities three separate groups of officers were charged -with keeping the peace: the sheriff and his deputies, the constables -of the several townships and the police of the city. Their duties -were substantially the same, they covered the same ground. The public -scattered its civic attention accordingly. It was this same state -of California which within the last twenty years has authorized its -cities to have separate tax assessors—two sets of officials to go -out and get precisely the same information. Ever since that time the -taxable property in the city has been rated differently by the two sets -of officers. And the reason? Apparently a double one: to enable the -individual counties to beat down their proportion of the state tax and -at the same time to allow the cities to raise their valuations and keep -down the tax rate. The political value of a double set of officers is -of course not to be overlooked.</p> - -<p>An unpublished report of the City Club of Milwaukee reveals a -paralleling of city and county services at numerous points. The city -was found to be maintaining an emergency hospital, a tuberculosis -sanitarium and a corps of milk inspectors, while the county maintained -similar services<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span> through a general hospital, a tuberculosis -sanitarium, a visiting physician and a district nurse. The county jail -and the police station were in close proximity but under separate -jurisdictions. Where the county handled public works through an -engineering department the city operated through a highway department, -each unit requiring practically the same sort of administrative and -technical direction. City and county did their purchasing separately -and in the respective public works departments there was a duplication -of testing laboratories and of engineering and other service records. -Separate city and county regulative or governing bodies added -materially both to the expense of government and to the number of -elective officers.</p> - -<p>Then again, the urban county, including judicial officers, has -contributed more to the length of the ballot than any other division -of government. In the year 1910 before the adoption of the present -charter, the Los Angeles city ballot, which has been frequently -exhibited as a horrible example, contained the names of candidates for -forty-five separate offices. Twenty-eight of these belonged to the -county-township system!</p> - -<p>The Chicago voter, as the result of the early influences plus the -additions to the number of offices which have been made from time to -time, casts a ballot for about twenty-five candidates, including the -sheriff, the treasurer, county clerk, clerk of the probate court, clerk -of the criminal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span> court, president of the county commissioners, ten -county commissioners, judge of the county court. The voter in Omaha, in -addition to the usual run of county officers, selects also thirty-two -deputy tax assessors, all on a single ballot. In most states these -officers are chosen on the same day and on the same ballot with a long -list of state and judicial officers, so that the county election is -only an incidental and minor issue in the whole complicated business.</p> - -<p>On election day the urban county offices are usually found at the -bottom of the ballot. Usually numerous and obscure enough in their own -right in the country districts, their contributions to the obscurity of -voting in the city are more than doubly important.</p> - -<p>When to an immoderately long ballot, to duplication of functions -as between county and city, there is added a multiplicity of local -government units, all considerations of responsibility in government -or intelligence of citizenship fall to the ground. Such is the case -in Cook County, Illinois, where the Bureau of Public Efficiency -has issued a striking little pamphlet on <i>The Nineteen Local -Governments in Chicago</i>. (The number has since been increased -to twenty-two.) Twenty-two separate taxing bodies, and one hundred -and forty-four officials which every Chicago voter is expected to -choose! Is it a wonder that “<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Voter,” to quote the title of an -accompanying cartoon, is “dazed?” As the pamphlet says: “The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> large -number of local governments in Chicago, with their very large number -of elective officials, independent of one another, operates to produce -not only inefficient public service but an enormous waste of public -revenues. The present multiplicity of governing bodies, with a lack -of centralized control and the long ballot, results in confusing -complexity and makes gross inefficiency and waste on a large scale -inevitable.”</p> - -<p>The city too has proven itself an altogether unfavorable environment -for clean, active county citizenship. A thousand and one preoccupations -and distractions in the city have strongly tended to drive the -populace to forget that it even lives in a county. The county does -little for the city dweller. It does not keep his house from burning -or his pockets from being picked. It does not build the streets on -which he travels nor perform any humane services which could stir his -admiration. The sheriff is no neighbor of his nor does he hear of -that officer from one year’s end to another, unless it be his rare -fortune to be a party to some legal action. The newspapers, to be -sure, are apt to give a great deal of space to criminal trials and -feature the activities of the district attorney. But even that is apt -to be directed more to metropolitan sensationalism than to helpful -citizenship.</p> - -<p>The greater the power entrusted to the municipalities within the -county, the more interesting things it is given to do, in just that -measure does<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span> the county itself suffer from inattention on the part of -the citizens, till the extreme is reached in a condition described in -a report on Cook County by <abbr title="Professor">Prof.</abbr> F. D. Bramhall of the University of -Chicago:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“The city corporate stands in the mind of most men for their local -government; it has its picturesque history, its visible physical -embodiments, its corporate personality, its stimulus to the pride -of its people and its claim upon their loyalty. The county can make -no such appeal, and it is a political fact to be reckoned with that -however you may urge that the county is an essential part of city -government, that the city electorate is almost equivalent to the -county electorate, and should assert an equal proprietorship, it is -almost impossible to overcome the obsession that the county is an -alien thing. There is no more serious consequence of the parceling out -of our local governmental powers and the shattering of responsibility -for our municipal housekeeping than just this forfeiture of the sense -of identification with government and the force of local patriotism -which should be a tremendous asset for American political government.”</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>Without a doubt, the urban, and particularly the metropolitan county, -is the county at its worst.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="big">CHAPTER VIII</span><br /> -COUNTY GOVERNMENTS AT WORK</h2> -</div> - - - -<p>“Granted the truth of all you say; that every county officer stands on -his independent pedestal of authority, that the county is a headless -institution where responsibility is scattered in a thousand different -directions; that urban counties are the weakest brothers in the -political family—granted all that, but what of it?”</p> - -<p>So cogitates the “average American”—or so it would seem. If he reads -his county paper consistently he has been held in his seat over and -over again by the hackneyed lines of Pope:</p> - -<p class="p0 poetry"> -“For forms of government let fools contest;<br /> -What e’er is best administered is best.”<br /> -</p> - -<p>After a long course of mental stimulation along these lines, we are -quite prepared to hear him remark that after all what really counts -for government is <span class="allsmcap">MEN</span>—an observation which is supposed to -silence all contradiction. Your “average” friend, if he has more than -an average political energy, then goes out and helps to see that the -“right sort” of man is elected coroner.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span></p> - -<p>There is undoubtedly more than an element of truth and wisdom in all -these sentiments. The industrial world is coming more and more to -believe that the great essential in coöperative effort of any sort is -not plan of organization, not methods, but personnel—men. And even -government presents instances of men who have “made good” conspicuously -against a form of organization which favored insubordination, against -the interference of invisible powers, against the hundred and one -cunningly devised handicaps to good administration.</p> - -<p>We might with good grace take kindly to a system that brought -distinguished, capable, honest, well-qualified men for the public -service. If we could get good men and good administration as the normal -output of the existing systems of county government, there would be -satisfaction all around.</p> - -<p>But does the typical American government work that way? We shall -examine in this chapter the relationships between the system, the men -and the product.</p> - -<p>To get the right angle on the subject, we should put ourselves in the -position of, let us say, the sheriff of Pike County. He is a likable, -popular fellow—that is how he happens to be sheriff. His likability, -his popularity, have made him a particularly valuable adjunct of the -Pike County Republican (or Democratic) organization. In the election -campaign he has proven himself a vote-getter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span>, he has given the -organization a respectable tone. And now that he is in office his -congenital good nature has not been changed. His popularity has been -due to his unfailing loyalty to his friends and supporters. These good -people swarm about him on the first day of his term and he has it not -in his heart to refuse the only favor within his power to grant.</p> - -<p>So much for one set of claimants upon his favor. But there is also the -whole body of his supporters, the general electorate and the tax-paying -contingent of the county; they have a claim upon him too and the new -sheriff enters upon his duties with a sincere desire to serve them by -running his office in the most efficient and economical manner. The -significant part of the whole business is that these two ambitions are -more than likely to prove inconsistent. Personal friendship dictates -that he should hand out deputyships to “the boys” of his own heart; -public service, that he should ignore the claims of friendship and -man his office with competent assistants, regardless of personal, -political or ecclesiastical connections. And so the new officer, -through a situation not of his own making, is caught in a dilemma. -Probably nine out of ten county officials either resolve the difficulty -on the grounds of friendship or strike a compromise between their -conflicting desires—and the efficiency of the office in either case -is impaired. Every man coming into an office with favors to dispense -has strings attached<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> to his person. He cannot look his public duties -quite squarely in the eye, but has always to qualify every new plan, -every selection of a subordinate with “What will the county chairman -say?” And if he has ambitions to hold office for a second term, or to -go higher, he is naturally careful about irritating the goose that lays -the golden egg. For the county chairman is not apt to be keen about the -plans for economy or reducing the number of jobs for “the boys.” Such -plans do not fit in with his requirements.</p> - -<p>The system hamstrings the man. Once a county officer in New Jersey -needed two additional clerks. Believing, however, that the board of -chosen freeholders was following a strict program of economy, he went -to them asking for four new men, with the thought that his requisition -would be cut in half. But not so. The official and the board were of -opposite parties. A member of the board came around and remarked that -“you need <em>eight</em> new men.” The officer is said to have taken the -hint and jobs were accordingly provided for four deserving members of -each of the leading parties.</p> - -<p>In such cases it is clearly not personality but the system that -dominates.</p> - -<p>The enforced division of allegiance between party and people is but -a single source of personal inefficiency. Under the much lauded -“government of laws” that reaches the heights of absurdity in the -county, the chance of effective law<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> enforcement is reduced to a -minimum. Take it for instance in the exact compliance with statutory -procedure. The sale of a piece of real estate for non-payment of taxes, -for instance, must be conducted in accord with a detailed series of -steps set forth in the law, or the title of the property is clouded. -Claims for payment for services rendered or material supplied, may -also be legally allowed only after the proper formalities have been -observed. And in countless other directions the efficiency of the -county officers and employees must be measured principally by a -meticulous obedience to the law.</p> - -<p>But contrast the necessity with the performance: The former chief of -the Bureau of Municipal Accounts in the Comptroller’s office of an -eastern state, after examining the affairs of fifty-six counties, -was able in 1914 to say: “In not a single county examined has there -been found compliance with every provision of law. On the contrary, -in each of the counties examined serious irregularities in financial -transactions have been disclosed, and the taxpayers’ money illegally -expended, in some cases beyond recovery.”</p> - -<p>The comptroller’s agents examined the affairs of county “A.” Of the -transactions for the year ending October 31, 1913, they said: “County -administration during that year was carried on, in many important -respects, illegally, and in many cases the officials completely ignored -the law, resulting in waste of public money, amounting<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span> to many -thousands of dollars.” The former treasurer of this county, according -to the official report, “had, it would seem, no proper conception of -the legal duties imposed upon him. He made payments of unauthorized -drafts of committees of the board.... His important statutory duty to -pay only on proper legal authority apparently constituted meaningless -words.” The same authority reported that:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“The board of supervisors ordered payments that were without authority -of law, to the extent of many thousands of dollars. The illegalities -in the audits of the board of supervisors were particularly -objectionable because of the fact that many of the subjects of -criticism were called to the board’s attention in the report of -a former examination. Illegal payments under such circumstances -became a defiance of legal restriction.... The administration of -the poor fund was not in accord with the law and through a failure -of the officials to understand the requirements of the law and the -necessities of the county, the lack of proper coöperation between the -county treasurer, the superintendent of the poor, and the board of -supervisors, confusion resulted in the poor fund finances and a large -deficit accumulated which was financed by illegal temporary loans.... -The county has suffered to a material extent from inefficiency, -indifference to law and neglect.”</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>That discoveries were by no means local or unique is indicated by -periodical complaints that have come up from other parts of the -country.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span></p> - -<p>Was it men, as such, or was it not also a system that gave rise to the -evidences of bad government in County “B.”? Did it simply <em>happen</em> -that the treasurer, the county judge, the district attorney, the -sheriff and the justices of the peace were all breaking the laws at -once? Is it to be supposed that law-breaking flourished naturally in -the atmosphere of that particular region? The performances of these -officers are both so instructive and picturesque that they will bear a -brief recounting here.</p> - -<p>The examiners of the affairs of this county a few years ago turned up -this quaint little document:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="right"> - -“<span class="smcap">Ellenberg Center</span>, <abbr title="November">Nov.</abbr> 21, 1900.</p> -<table class="thin"> -<tr> -<td colspan="3"> -County of....................., <abbr title="Doctor">Dr.</abbr>, to Wellington Hay. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td colspan="2"> -1898, Sept. 22. To 7 days’ labor with deputy sheriff looking up stolen horse -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -$14.00 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> - -</td> -<td> -To paid all expenses per above -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -15.60 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td colspan="2"> -</td> -<td class="tdr tdt"> -$29.60 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>“<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Hay performed services in following up two horse thieves who had -stolen his horse at my request as sheriff, one of the men, George -Burnham, had several indictments against him in this county and all -who knew his doings were anxious for his capture, I certainly think -<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Hay should be paid.</p> - -<p class="right"> -“<span class="smcap">C. W. Vaughan</span>,<br /> -“<i>Late Sheriff</i>.”<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span></p> - - - -<p>In this instance, <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Hay, a deputy sheriff, was charging the county -for chasing up <em>his own</em> horse. The county treasurer who paid this -claim was the one who, in spite of very definite provisions of law, had -failed to designate the banks which should have custody of the county -funds, and deposited them with a favored institution which paid the -county no interest; who failed to keep any cash book or any account -with any bank even on the stubs of his check book; who allowed at least -one creditor of the county to collect an illegal claim four times. -This is the county in which the county judge was found to have his -own private law offices elaborately furnished with all the up-to-date -filing devices and blanks, all at the public expense; in which the -coroner reports that between the 13th and the 19th of May he had worked -<em>fifteen days</em> and collected in full from the county. The records -of practically every other officer in the county revealed similar -irregularities and a similar lack of any fine sense of the interests of -the public.</p> - -<p>Did it just <em>happen</em> that the people of county “A” or county “B” -elected none but law-breakers to office? Was it the character of the -officers which alone was responsible for “inefficiency, indifference to -law and neglect?” Would the condition have been different with another -average set of men in office?</p> - -<p>This is certain: that upon the officers of county “A” was imposed -the duty of enforcing laws<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> which were both intricate and difficult -for a layman to find, and when found, to understand. But over and -above all this, there was no constant discipline of a responsible -organization and no certain and swift penalty for non-compliance with -or disobedience of the law.</p> - -<p>So difficult is the case, in fact, that it would seem from reports -emanating from different parts of the country, that county officers -have long ceased to worry about the legality of most of their acts. A -common practice is not to investigate the law at all but to look back -over the work of predecessors and follow in their tracks—an easier and -more natural method for the untrained mind than to seek legal authority -for action at its fountainhead in the statutes. But it makes a joke of -the statutes! And when, in the absence of a powerful executive head, -these written laws, which constitute most important connecting link, -between the various county officers, are broken, the directing hand of -the state is perforce withdrawn.</p> - -<p>The failures of government in these counties were due in no small -measure at least to the system, rather than to the individual men. No -mere “good” man would necessarily have been better qualified or more -inclined to look up the law and follow it implicitly. For it is not of -such qualities that political “goodness,” from the voters’ standpoint, -consists!</p> - -<p>Nor are these minor delinquencies the sole products of the evil system. -In Hudson County,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span> New Jersey, with a citizenry somewhat less alert -and with state officials a little less vigilant, the essential factors -present in the counties mentioned gave rise to positive conscienceless -and willful waste of public funds. The story is illuminating:</p> - -<p>The building of the court house was begun under an act of the -legislature which authorized a committee of the board of chosen -freeholders to purchase such lands and erect such county buildings -as might be needed. The committee was empowered to appoint its own -counsel and architect to go ahead and build. The only limitation upon -its powers was that it should spend not to exceed four fifths of one -per cent. of the county ratables. This was a restriction which, under -the amount of ratables as of the time when the project was authorized, -would have permitted a maximum expenditure of about $1,580,000. But -before even the contracts had been let the growth in valuations had so -increased that the committee might legally spend $7,500,000.</p> - -<p>The original figure for the cost of the court house had been $990,000, -but before the citizens of the county were aroused it reached -$3,328,016. Investigation revealed such extravagance and carelessness -with the county’s money in every detail, that the legislature in 1911 -abolished the committee and created a court house commission, the -members of which were to be appointed by the Justice of the Supreme -Court.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span></p> - -<p>The building of county court houses under just such auspices and -with a similar outcome is a characteristic bit of local history the -country over. But county shortcomings do not always stop at willful -extravagance. Sometimes it is a tale of grafting of the grossest sort, -of which typical conditions a story is related by Herbert Quick, who -had charge of an investigation into the affairs of Woodbury County, -Iowa, some twenty years ago. The county supervisors apparently had -traveled unobserved, unchecked, along the same road but further, as the -officers of county “A” and the court house committee of Hudson County. -Says <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Quick:</p> - -<p>“A supervisor would draw thousands of dollars from the road and bridge -funds on his own warrant, put the money in his pocket, and account -for it by turning in receipts for road or bridge work. Some of this -work was done and some was not. Most of the receipts were signed by -political supporters of the supervisors. To some of them were signed -names of persons who never existed.</p> - -<p>“Everything the county bought was extravagantly bought. Any dealer who -was willing to put in padded bills could get the chance to sell his -goods.</p> - -<p>“There was a regular system of letting bills go unpaid so that the -persons furnishing the goods would put in the statements the second -time, after which they would be paid twice—once to the firm to which -they were really owing, and again<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> to one or more of the county ring. -In most cases the merchant furnishing the goods never knew of the -double payment. They had a system of orders and receipts by which the -merchant was kept in ignorance.</p> - -<p>“In some cases the approaches to bridges were built and charged twice, -once to the road fund and once to the bridge fund. The man who did the -work got one payment and the grafters got the other. The people paid -twice in these cases, and sometimes three times.</p> - -<p>“A merchant sold some blankets to the county for the use of the -prisoners in the jail. He was allowed about a hundred dollars on the -county claim register, but refused to accept the payment and sued the -county. In court he recovered judgment for all he claimed, and was paid -out of the judgment fund. The general fund claim he had refused to -accept showed as unpaid. Somebody on the inside went to him and got an -order for ‘any sums due me from the county’ and drew the original bill -over again. So the county paid the original allowance, the amount of -the judgment, and the costs of the lawsuit. Rather dear blankets!</p> - -<p>“Orders of this sort were drawn in the names of the people who had been -dead for years.</p> - -<p>“This is a sample of the sort of work which prevailed in that county, -and which plunged the county into debt from which it will not recover, -the way things generally go, for generations.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span></p> - -<p>In Indiana the leaven of obscurity and irresponsibility had long been -working when the state board of accounts took up its work in 1909. The -records of that office since that time show that more than one million -six hundred thousand dollars had been charged against local officials -and partly recovered. The board states that in their belief fully -ninety per cent. of this was not due to deliberate wrongdoing but to an -indulgent indifference, resulting in an almost endless confusion and -incomplete accounts. Like the county officers in many another state, -the officials in the Indiana counties, according to a message of former -Governor Mount, “had been following precedents on an ascending scale.”</p> - -<p>If the whole trouble lies in the personnel of government, there is -either no real county problem or else the problem is unsolved. If it -is merely a matter of men, the voters of the county need only, when -the next election falls due, to “turn the rascals out” and elect more -promising successors. But then that is what the voters have been doing -these many years, and county government has not materially improved!</p> - -<p>But if when the “good man” theory has been tested to the limit and -found wanting, nothing else appears, may it not be suggested that the -system has much to do with the man first in his selection and then in -the influence that determines his conduct? The officers in the counties -cited were creatures of the flesh. They found themselves<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> involved in -an organization which not only gave them little or no moral support, -but which actually surrounded them with temptation to loaf, to commit -errors and to steal. They were under no discipline to obey the law or -to treat the interests of the county with any due consideration.</p> - -<p>In the realm of government, as in the department of horticulture, it -would appear that figs are not gathered from thistles.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX"><span class="big">CHAPTER IX</span><br /> -THE HUMANITARIAN SIDE</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>But the delinquencies of the county are not wholly related in terms -of finance. Some good friend of the system is sure to come forward -with the remark that “county policies, like every other branch of -the business, may be expensive, but it has a good deal of wholesome -humanity about it.”</p> - -<p>A view that is worth examining!</p> - -<p>To the lot of the county, acting through the machinery and under the -influences which have been described, has fallen in large part, the -extensive and important governmental burden of looking after the poor -who are always with us, the sick in mind and those in prison. The -magnitude of this task in a populous center may be gathered from this -summary of the humanitarian functions of Cook County, by <abbr title="Doctor">Dr.</abbr> Graham -Taylor.</p> - -<p>“It housed, fed and cared for about eleven thousand prisoners in the -county jail, nearly ten thousand of whom required medical treatment for -infectious diseases.</p> - -<p>“It gathered in, temporarily cared for and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> committed to state asylums -or discharged, 2334 insane patients.</p> - -<p>“It assumed and maintained care for 10,597 delinquent and dependent -children.</p> - -<p>“It isolated and stamped out contagion.</p> - -<p>“It housed, fed and furnished medical and surgical treatment for 34,000 -sick people, 1000 tuberculosis patients, and 3000 aged, infirm or -irresponsible people.</p> - -<p>“It supplied food, clothing and fuel to about 200,000 persons; buried -978 pauper and friendless dead, and granted $165,000 to 350 indigent -mothers for the support of 1126 children. To perform this service it -required the full time of 3000 employees and part time of about 10,000 -others. The appropriations of Cook County for 1913 total $7,072,486.96.”</p> - -<p>Such is the budget of what we may call the human problem of a great -metropolitan county. Between the services rendered in such a unit and -those of a sparsely settled, back-country county, almost anywhere in -the United States, the difference is one of degree rather than of kind.</p> - -<p>This is the ancient heritage of the church, which it has gradually -transferred to the shoulders of the State, beginning at a time when -the treatment of unfortunates was yet mostly a matter of getting -undesirable citizens out of the way without actually assassinating -them. The recipients of relief in early times were all treated as just -so much of a public charge and all were obliged to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> wear the letter -“P.” There was no science of penology, and the insane were treated -as possessed of devils. Modern institutional care was practically -undreamed of.</p> - -<p>But the care of unfortunates within the last half century has come -under the dominion of the scientific spirit. The old way was to -“bunch” all kinds of poor and all kinds of dependents and all classes -of criminals, regardless of all antecedent circumstances and all -hope of betterment. Science, on the other hand, has demanded first, -investigation into the causes and nature of crime and deficiency, then -classification of cases. New York led the way in the treatment of -these social relief problems by starting the process of segregation. -In the early part of the nineteenth century the almshouses in America -and the workhouse in England began to be built, as an expedient for -facilitating investigation of applicants and decreasing expense. These -institutions were soon used to house all sorts and conditions of men, -women and children. Says one authority<span class="fnanchor" id="fna4"><a href="#fn4">[4]</a></span>:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“If you went into an almshouse in any of the counties of this State -as recently as the ’70s of the last century, you would have found a -mixture of the aged, who were in the almshouse simply because they -were old and misfortune had come to them and they had lost their -money and were therefore obliged to spend<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span> their last days in the -almshouse. In addition, you would find children of all ages, beginning -with infants. A large number of infants, especially illegitimate -children, would be housed in the same building and would be cared -for promiscuously with the older groups. You would also find large -numbers of the insane, as there was no separate provision for them at -that time. So with the epileptic and feeble-minded and every class of -dependent vagrant and inebriate. It was a veritable dumping-ground for -all sorts and conditions of humanity.”</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>In the movement for segregation of cases the first step was to secure -a prohibition against the commitment of children to the almshouses. -Special provision was later made for the insane. From time to time -other classes of cases, including the feeble-minded, the epileptics and -vagrants, have been transferred for appropriate treatment elsewhere. -Later came the public health movement, the basic idea of which is -the segregation of the sick poor from those who are sound in body -but destitute. Even at the present time the almshouses are used for -inebriates.</p> - -<p>In a later period the standards for the treatment of prisoners have -been advanced somewhat more slowly but along the same scientific -principle of classification and segregation, but less with reference to -psychological and sociological causes or the nature of crime than to -the conveniences of administration. But segregation has been prescribed -by law in generous measure according to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span> certain crude principles of -decency and justice. Thus the New York Prison law provides at least ten -classifications, involving separation of men from women, men from boys, -persons awaiting trial from those under sentence, civil prisoners and -witnesses from criminal prisoners.</p> - -<p>So much for the modern standards. Against such standards the success or -failure of the county as a humanitarian agency must be measured.</p> - - -<h3>THE POOR</h3> - -<p>First as to the poor.</p> - -<p>We can do no better than to recount the performances of certain typical -states. Certainly in New York the substantial improvement of this -class has come through no strong impulse within the county itself, but -rather as the result of the activities of unusually strong volunteer -organizations which forced the fact of the evil conditions upon the -attention of the officers and the people of the county and upon the -state in general. But lest it should be supposed that New York State -is a model in this field, let it be recorded that when by more or -less of an accident <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> V. Everit Macy, a real friend of scientific -charity, was elected to the office of superintendent of the poor, he -found a system more ideally fitted to take care of “the boys” in the -“organization” than the poor themselves. In describing the system he -said:</p> - -<p>“The law ingeniously divides responsibility so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> that the superintendent -has no power over the admissions to the almshouse or hospitals or of -children to institutions but only the negative power of discharge, -while the local committing officials have little control after the -adult or child is committed. This often results in setting up an -endless chain of commitments and discharges, for, as fast as the -superintendent discharges an adult or a child, the local official may -recommit.</p> - -<p>“The superintendent is on a salary but practically all the overseers -are paid on a <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">per diem</i> basis, and the justices of the peace are -paid a fee for each commitment. If an Overseer issues an order for -groceries or signs a commitment, he can collect his two dollars for a -day’s work.</p> - -<p>“Could ingenuity devise a more absurd and wasteful method of relieving -suffering or one where responsibility and control could be more -disastrously divided to the injury of the taxpayer and the poor?”<span class="fnanchor" id="fna5"><a href="#fn5">[5]</a></span></p> - -<p>The same authority is responsible for the statement that “the -greatest injustice to the individual and injury to the state is now -done through the haphazard handling of the cases of delinquent and -destitute children.” Overseers of the poor, justices of the peace, -police magistrates and judges can all commit children and most of these -officials have a monetary interest in committing. Few of them have -any means of investigating cases before acting and fewer still have -any training to fit<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span> them to deal wisely with either the destitute or -delinquent child.</p> - -<p>But what of other states?</p> - -<p>In Missouri where poor relief is a function of the county court, a -county almshouse is maintained and a certain amount of outdoor relief -is dispensed. Professor Isador Loeb<span class="fnanchor" id="fna6"><a href="#fn6">[6]</a></span> of the University of Missouri -reports:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“While the county board is authorized to maintain a county hospital -for the sick poor, this has been done in only one county. Nine -counties still use the primitive system of sending the poor to board -with private families. Most of the counties in abandoning this system -have bought a farm and employed a superintendent to look after the -poor and use them as far as possible on the farm. As a result the -almshouse in the majority of the counties is a farmhouse, and the -county is apparently more interested in the successful management of -the farm than the welfare of the inmates. While a number of counties -have erected modern buildings, the physical conditions in most of the -almshouses are very bad.”</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>With respect to Pennsylvania, the special agent of the department of -public health and charities writes<span class="fnanchor" id="fna7"><a href="#fn7">[7]</a></span>:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“Twenty-seven counties have now accepted the Children’s Aid Society as -their agent for the care of dependent children. In the other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> counties -nearly every possible method of caring for children is represented -in the courses chosen. Where the township system is in use, the few -dependent children are placed out by adoption or indenture, by the -overseers themselves. Several counties have built homes for the -children, an expensive method, with no merit so far as the favorable -situation of the children is concerned. Some of the overseers place -the children in institutions, while others use private homes to some -extent, controlling and supervising the children themselves.”</p> -</blockquote> - - -<h3>THE INSANE</h3> - -<p>In no branch of humanitarian service is segregation, classification, -even to the point of individual treatment, more essential than in the -care of the insane. New Jersey puts no inconsiderable number of her -mentally afflicted on a par with offenders against the criminal law -for, according to the Commission on the Care of the Mental Defectives -for the year 1913, fifteen counties had confined insane persons in -penal institutions, in some cases for periods of from 85 to 223 days. -The State Charity Commission in Illinois recently reported that in -spite of a provision of the statutes forbidding such practices, only -eleven of the 102 counties did not so offend. Louisiana is reported to -have many lunatics in its parish jails.</p> - -<p>In but few states are there no insane in the county almshouses, for -at least temporary confinement, and particularly is this true in the -South<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> and Middle West. In such institutions a condition sometimes -prevails that staggers imagination. For the state of Pennsylvania, <abbr title="Doctor">Dr.</abbr> -C. Floyd Haviland has summed up the situation in these words:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“As a result of the existing system, in these institutions, custodial -care is generally substituted for active remedial treatment directed -to the improvement or the recovery of the insane as such. As a -rule, medical treatment for physical ills is satisfactory, although -such is not invariably the case. With but few exceptions, the -county institutions have no special medical facilities, nor can -it be expected that such facilities can be provided under present -conditions, for, with the comparatively small number of patients -treated in the respective institutions, such provisions would require -a prohibitive <i xml:lang="it" lang="it">per capita</i> expense; but as a result of such -lack of facilities, mechanical means of restraint and confinement -are substituted for proper personal treatment and attention. With -but a limited number of attendants, enclosed exercise yards and -personal restraint and seclusion must inevitably result. Under -existing conditions, one cannot blame the caretakers of the insane for -resorting to such means, for while restraint and seclusion can and -should be abolished, they cannot be successfully abolished without -the substitution of other means of dealing with the disturbed insane, -such as hydrotherapy, occupational training, and close personal -supervision. In this connection it is agreeable to note that little -evidence was obtained of actual physical abuse, but that gross neglect -exists is indisputable.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span></p> - -<p>“That the theory of county hospitals for the chronic insane only -does not obtain in actual practice is but a necessary result of the -prevailing custom of determining the question as to whether a patient -shall be committed to a state hospital, regardless of prognosis or -medical issues, in many instances the decision being made by local -lay authorities without medical advice. It is certain that many acute -cases have lapsed into chronicity in the county hospitals simply for -lack of proper treatment. Dreary, desolate wards, lack of recreation, -or other means of exciting or maintaining active interest are alone -sufficient not only to hinder improvement or recovery, but must -necessarily result in actually hastening the terminal process of -deterioration.”<span class="fnanchor" id="fna8"><a href="#fn8">[8]</a></span></p> -</blockquote> - -<p>Writing concerning the treatment of the insane in Texas, <abbr title="Doctor">Dr.</abbr> Thomas -W. Salmon, of the National Committee for Mental Hygiene calls county -almshouse care of the insane the “saddest and most sordid spectacle -in American community life.” For a graphic picture of the practical -significance of the system in one of the almshouses in that state the -reader is urged to read the extracts from <abbr title="Doctor">Dr.</abbr> Salmon’s address in the -Appendix of this volume.</p> - - -<h3>COUNTY PRISONS</h3> - -<p>But what of the treatment of the prisoner?</p> - -<p>The county theoretically has very little to do<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span> with persons convicted -of serious offenses. By far the greater number of the inmates of the -prison are persons awaiting trial and therefore presumably innocent of -wrongdoing. The minimum standard of justice demands that such persons -be kept apart from hardened criminals. We shall see how this and other -standards are observed in the county.</p> - -<p>To begin with, it should be noted that the head of the jail, -universally, is the sheriff. Bear in mind that this officer in -forty-seven states is elective, that his term is usually very short, -that he is usually ineligible to succeed himself and that he has -numerous special duties to perform. It is therefore obvious that -nothing but an exceptional piece of good luck can bring to the head of -the jail an expert penologist. Often, too, he will be under contract -with the board of supervisors to supply the prisoners with food at as -good a profit to himself as may be.</p> - -<p>In this atmosphere it is certainly not to be expected that the finest -flowers of penology should grow. Massachusetts has so far fallen -below standard as to call forth this stinging description from the -Massachusetts Prison Association:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“In fact, in the county prisons nothing is done but to give the -inmates custodial care. The man who goes to the reformatory is dealt -with with a definite purpose to reform him. Another man goes to a -county prison and comes out unchanged.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span></p> - -<p>“Even worse is the indiscriminate association of all sorts of -criminals in the county prisons. Beginners in crime are forced into -close contact with hardened criminals. Men who are committed for -being too poor to pay their fines for petty offenses, are compelled -to associate with men who have spent their lives in crime. The county -prison is, inevitably a school of crime.”<span class="fnanchor" id="fna9"><a href="#fn9">[9]</a></span></p> -</blockquote> - -<p>The Prison Association in New York State is scarcely more complimentary -concerning the prison conditions in that state. According to <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> -O. F. Lewis,<span class="fnanchor" id="fna10"><a href="#fn10">[10]</a></span>, its secretary, the requirements of the statutes -respecting the classification of prisoners appear to be systematically -violated. Jails are frightfully overcrowded. The buildings are faultily -constructed and unsanitary. For a prisoner to make a six-months’ stay -in one of them is to undergo “the most serious possible contamination.”</p> - -<p>The condition of the jails in Illinois is apparently no better, for -the State Charities Commission reported recently,<span class="fnanchor" id="fna11"><a href="#fn11">[11]</a></span>, there had been -little improvement since the first examination of the former State -Charities Board in 1870. A large majority of the jails were reported to -be old and unsanitary. In seventy-two of one hundred and two counties, -the law requiring the segregation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span> of minors from adults was violated -and in eleven counties there was no provision for women.</p> - -<p>And so it goes. The county as a truly humanitarian agency has most -lamentably failed. As to the underlying cause of the failure, this is -suggested in a remark of the state prison inspector of Alabama in his -report for 1914: “Publicity is not only a political antiseptic, but -is the sure antidote for most, if not all, our governmental ills.” A -justifiable inference from this declaration would be that counties -are suffering from the lack of publicity. In the immunity from the -restraint which such a purifying influence would supply the elementary -human instincts of county officials has full sway—such instincts as -the inspector had in mind when he said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“The vile, pernicious, perverting, fee system beggars description, and -my vocabulary is inadequate to describe its deleterious and baneful -effects. It inculcates into the management of our jails greed for the -Almighty Dollar; persons are arrested because of the dollar and shame -to say, are frequently kept in captivity for months, in steel cages, -for no other reason than the Almighty Dollar.”</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>The organization of the county for political purposes to secure -the utmost obscurity and irresponsibility breaks the force of any -humanitarian public opinion that might be developed for the betterment -of the lot of the unfortunate. The same influences render the county -practically<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> uninhabitable for the expert administrator, who would -be likely to direct popular attention to the evil conditions which -we have described. His place has been preëmpted by the hanger-on and -the wire-puller to whom charity means the dispensing of favors to -“deserving” workers of all political faiths. In <em>this</em> sense the -county is a very humane institution, and a very open-handed one. It -serves well such local officials as the overseer of the poor in an -up-state New York county who presented this remarkable annual report to -his superior:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“I am a little late with my report. I hope you will excuse me and -overlook the matter. Like last year, there are no county poor here; -but if you will allow me $5.00 <em>for keeping them off</em>, you will -oblige,</p> - -<p class="center p0"> -“Yours respectfully,<br /> -“——.”<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>This claim was paid and the poor were presumably “kept off” -indefinitely.</p> - -<p>There is not a little evidence to support the statement that many -county officers believe that they have satisfied the requirements of -humanity when they have taken care of their own personal wants. Such -officers, and the system of which they are part, are very good—to -themselves.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn4"><a href="#fna4">[4]</a> Bailey B. Burritt, in <i>Proceedings of the Second Conference for -the Study and Reform of County Government</i>, pp. 6, 7.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn5"><a href="#fna5">[5]</a> <i>First Conference for Better County Government</i>, p. 22.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn6"><a href="#fna6">[6]</a> <i>Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social -Science</i>, May, 1913, p. 56.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn7"><a href="#fna7">[7]</a> <i xml:lang="la" lang="la"><abbr title="opus citatum">Op. cit.</abbr></i>, p. 168.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn8"><a href="#fna8">[8]</a> <i>The Treatment and Care of the Insane in Pennsylvania</i>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> -68-69. Philadelphia, 1915.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn9"><a href="#fna9">[9]</a> <i>Leaflet.</i> 1911.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn10"><a href="#fna10">[10]</a> <i>Proceedings of the Third Conference for the Study and Reform of -County Government</i>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 6-7.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn11"><a href="#fna11">[11]</a> <i>Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social -Science</i>, May, 1913, p. 70.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X"><span class="big">CHAPTER X</span><br /> -ROADS AND BRIDGES</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>To the county in most of the states has also been committed from early -times, the obligation to carry forward what is now generally recognized -as one of the greatest of unifying, nationalizing, civilizing factors -in this or any time—highways. Through these avenues of communication -the people of the wilderness were to break their solitude, establish -common understandings and give value to the products of the earth by -creating markets for their distribution. Over the highways access was -to be had with schools and churches.</p> - -<p>From the colonial period and well down into the nineteenth century, -the construction and maintenance of roads was, in diminishing degree, -a private enterprise, operated by turnpike companies primarily for -the benefit of their stock-holders rather than that of the public. -Gradually road making came to be regarded as a public function, at -first in respect to the repairs upon the private toll roads and then in -original construction. In the year 1913 the amount which counties of -the country spent upon their highways had mounted to $55,514,891.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span></p> - -<p>To the fulfillment of this great function the county brought those -weaknesses of governmental organization, that lack of equipment, that -defective loyalty to the service of the whole people which have been -described heretofore. The erection of a road system was a demand for -broad, foreseeing knowledge and appreciation of the needs of the whole -county, high technical skill in the art of road making and adequate -financial arrangements. The county supplied none of these.</p> - -<p>What the county did supply and how it supplied it may be worth the -recital, even though in these days of the “good-roads” movement the -state government is constantly stiffening its hold upon highway matters.</p> - -<p>To begin with, the whole public road function is rooted, historically, -in the tradition of the people’s infinite political versatility and -infallibility. The true democrat of the nineteenth century never -doubted his ability to select and control the human agents for -executing a technical and difficult engineering problem, which has -baffled the resources of modern specialists. And so, to this day, the -management of road construction and care over a great portion of the -country is entrusted to a farmer, a blacksmith, a plumber or some other -species of layman who has sufficient popularity with his neighbors -and the county chairman to get himself chosen as town supervisor. In -some states the rôle of road manager is played<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span> by the somewhat better -equipped county surveyor, who, however, like the supervisor, is picked -in the majority of cases because of his vote-getting qualities rather -than for any technical training.</p> - -<p>Under these circumstances the roadmaster is apt to enter upon his -public duties with a sense of his obligation not to the whole community -and its ultimate interest, but to those articulate sections of the -people who are most likely to make themselves felt on the next election -day. As a certain highway engineer illustrated the situation: “Here’s -$10,000 to spend on roads. Here also is Jeff Browning up on Nut Creek, -who wants quite a little road work done. Of course, Jeff lives fifteen -miles from the county seat, and there’s fifteen miles of bad roads -between his place and town, <em>but Jeff voted the whole settlement for -me</em>, and he has some idle teams, and we’ll just help him along by -spending some money at his place.” It is one of the familiar processes -of practical politics and the imagination should have no difficulty in -picturing any number of equally accommodating transactions.</p> - -<p>Quite as serious an aspect of road control directly by elective -officers is that it gives too great and too convenient an opportunity -for layman advice and prejudice to bear upon a technical problem. One -curious idea which is prevalent in middle western rural districts -is that a road, in order to be a road, must be on a section line, -regardless of the contour of the land, the convenience<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span> of users of the -highway or the character of the soil. The engineer above quoted tells -of a very bad hill about two miles north of Poplar Bluff, <abbr title="Missouri">Mo.</abbr> “The -grade,” says <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Edy, “must have been something like twelve per cent. -in places. It was estimated that by going around this hill, a grade of -six per cent. could be obtained, increasing the distance but slightly, -and traversing almost worthless ground. The owner, however, would -neither give nor sell a right of way, holding that unless the road were -maintained ‘on the line’ it would not be a real road. Something like -$400 was spent on this bill in an effort to make it passable, when half -that amount would have made a permanent road in a new location.”</p> - -<p>Of course, when the organization of the county gives to Jeff Browning -and the philosopher of Poplar Bluff the predominating influence in road -affairs, there can be nothing in the way of a county road policy or -road plan that is based upon the economic and social needs of the whole -people. The system enthrones petty rural sectionalism and narrowness -and condones a form of graft which is without doubt as vicious in -principle as the stealing of a street railway franchise. Where the -township supervisor is the responsible official the case is at its -worst for it means just so many more executive units to be watched, -just so many more standards of road construction, just so many more -independent road plans.</p> - -<p>The “business” end of county road administration<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span> is often weighted -down to earth with the same sublime faith in the wisdom of the average -citizen. Rarely have counties maintained anything that approximated -adequate records of cost or serviceability of their roads and bridges -or data upon which they could construct a satisfactory policy of -construction, if indeed their governing bodies have dreamed of the need -or the value of such aids. Even of so highly developed a community as -Monroe County, New York, in which the City of Rochester is situated, -it could be said concerning the office of highway superintendent that -“the only record now kept is a bill book in which are entered all -claims against the county highway fund which are paid through the -superintendent’s office, all payrolls and all claims for personal -service.”<span class="fnanchor" id="fna12"><a href="#fn12">[12]</a></span></p> - -<p>Much the same lack of appreciation for facts was revealed in a cruder -way in a grand jury investigation during 1912 of the methods of the -Board of Commissioners in Darke County, Ohio, where it was discovered -that minutes were rarely read and contracts were voted twenty at a time -and sometimes without the formality of a vote, in direct violation of -the law.</p> - -<p>From another middle western state comes an illuminating description -of the method of awarding bids on bridge construction: “Each -competitor submitted his own drawings and an estimate to a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span> board of -commissioners, not one of whom had the least technical knowledge or -practical experience, but was ‘led away’ generally <em>by the size of -the drawing</em> and the accompanying estimate.</p> - -<p>“The result was shoddy work, insufficient piers or abutments, piles not -driven down to any safe and permanent depth and finally a bridge that -was built for appearance, not durability nor permanency. Just as soon -as we had a flood bringing down logs, stumps and trees, some of these -would strike or swing against the piers and down came the structure, -floating away or lodging in the stream, causing a jamb to accumulate, -holding up the stream and overflowing land for miles.</p> - -<p>“It took many years to get a system where an engineer designed a bridge -with details of construction, steel or iron cylinders filled with -concrete as piers, and a superintendent of construction who knew his -business to take charge of the work.</p> - -<p>“Thus we spent thousands of dollars for bridges to be erected simply -to see them carried out; in one instance twice. But the cost and -failure combined in time brought forth such protests that such a system -would not be tolerated longer; but the waste was done and the money -practically thrown away.</p> - -<p>“In county road repair and construction we were no better. The -district boss was elected politically, and of course he rewarded his -commissioner friends by working the road fund. He dared not complain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> -of short hours or little done or sitting by the road discussing how -to ‘fix the election,’ and usually the work was done just before the -nomination and election. The ‘dump of dirt’ was left in a pile, not -even leveled; every team avoided it if possible, and when winter then -came it was ‘slurry’ and mud. No ditches or outlets for same were made -or cleaned out, and if any suggestion was made for improvement, you -were told ‘it was good enough before you came and you can get out if -you don’t want to stay.’”</p> - -<p>In Polk County, Iowa, an investigation in 1912 disclosed the fact that -the board of supervisors had paid out $100,000 for contracts without -asking for bids. They never required plans or specifications of any -bridge to be constructed. Bridges had been ordered without any idea of -what they would cost. No guarantee bond was required and bridges were -accepted without inspection. Certain companies had been favored to the -exclusion of others and the result was that in many counties bridges -were built at a cost fifty per cent. higher than their reasonable value.</p> - -<p>To the rich opportunities for “turning an honest dollar” which lurked -in such systems and in such an attitude on the part of the public -officers, the “powers that prey” have been keenly alive. The tale that -was told a few years ago, with a multitude of specifications, by a -few enterprising farm journals in the Middle West, rivals, except in -dramatic quality and the size of the sums involved,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span> the characteristic -falls from grace which have been heretofore associated with ward -aldermen and legislators hailing from wicked urban districts. It was a -serious indictment of county officialdom which is contained in a letter -of the chairman of the Roads and Highways Committee of the lower house -in Kansas, who wrote in 1913:</p> - -<p>“I know there are comparatively few county commissioners who profit -personally by the manipulations of the bridge companies but the -representatives of the companies are shrewd men who understand -thoroughly that the average county commissioner is very jealous of his -bridge patronage, and brooks no interference with his handling of the -bridge business with a free hand. Consequently the bridge men play this -feature to the limit and to their own profit.”<span class="fnanchor" id="fna13"><a href="#fn13">[13]</a></span></p> - -<p>That Iowa was inoculated with the same germ is suggested by remarks of -Alson Secor, the editor of <i>Successful Farming</i>:</p> - -<p>“The bridge men are not depending upon a lobby at Des Moines, or any -state capitol, to put through what they want, or to prevent legislation -that will make bridge letting competitive. They work to elect or defeat -supervisors. They finance state supervisors’ annual meetings and give -the watchdogs of the public treasury that contains your tax money such -a good time that the ‘boys’<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span> fall under lasting obligations to the -bridge companies.</p> - -<p>“Bribe the lawmakers? Oh, no! You can’t say that. It isn’t a bribe -to hand a man a line of soft talk, is it? It isn’t a bribe to give a -county official a hilarious good time at a summer resort, is it? Or to -pay his hotel bills when he attends the state meetings? No—a thousand -times no—legally.</p> - -<p>“But the bridge men get there just the same. They have for years -prevented any legislation that would give them a dollar’s worth of -bridge work for a dollar’s worth of taxes.”</p> - -<p>So well satisfied were the favored bridge builders with the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">status -quo</i> in Nebraska in 1913 that they are said to have maintained at -the state legislature a powerful lobby to oppose by corrupt methods a -bill whose one purpose was to require bidders to furnish estimates on -uniform blanks. The information thus obtained would have been placed -on file at the state capitol and made available to all who might wish -to compare the cost of construction in different counties—light would -have been let into the operations of the counties in bridge-building -matters.</p> - -<p>It would seem, then, that the <em>system</em> did have much to do with -waste of public funds and inefficiency of every sort and was the basis -of a certain amount of corruption, in all the states mentioned. It was -not all simply a matter of “good” men and “bad” men. But the breakdown -of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> county in highway affairs is fast becoming ancient history, not -directly, through a process of regeneration, but through forces playing -upon the county from without which we will again identify for the -present simply as the “good-roads” movement, of which more hereafter.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn12"><a href="#fna12">[12]</a> From an unpublished report of the Rochester Bureau of Municipal -Research, 1915.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn13"><a href="#fna13">[13]</a> <i>Successful Farming</i>, June, 1913.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI"><span class="big">CHAPTER XI</span><br /> -NULLIFICATION</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>Every now and then we shall have to remind ourselves that the county -made the politician, rather than the other way round.</p> - -<p>And the county in its turn, is pretty well rooted in the good graces of -human nature. When American counties had been formed and their legal -status as subordinates of the state had been established, the people -throughout the length and breadth of each of the states were pretty -much of one mind in the fundamental standards of personal conduct. A -tradition of strict morality dominated New England. Its dominion was -not seriously questioned. The South and the middle states may not have -been so strict but they were homogeneous in their own brand of morality.</p> - -<p>Then in due time two movements took place in the northern states. -Just as the constitution follows the flag so the Puritan morality -(more or less modulated and diluted) trailed the westward drift of New -England population, first into New York, then into the Western Reserve -and finally into the Middle West and Northwest.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> But another force -contended for mastery with the New England influence. The growth of -the cities and particularly of the factory centers was simultaneous -with the great waves of immigration from central and southern Europe. -With the new immigration came a conflicting standard of morality. The -German and southern European immigrants particularly, brought with -them liberal ideas of Sabbath observance. They also loved their beer -and red wine. In time they upset the moral balance of the cities, -coming into sharp collision with the New England (we might also say, -American) conception of the Sabbath and with the total abstinence idea -which began to get a firm foothold in the nineteenth century. This -complex influence gave us the setting for at least one phase of that -never-ending feud that rages between New York City and “up-state.” -It pitted Chicago against rural Illinois. It made Cincinnati a more -or less alien city in Ohio. It gave us a permanent body of citizens -who resent having their conduct dictated (as they apparently view it) -from above. Preponderantly foreign in their origin, they are loud in -their proclamation of their rights as American citizens, while the -New England element, still most influential on the whole in the rural -districts, is properly horrified at the low estate of virtue in the -cities.</p> - -<p>It was inevitable that this clash of interests should be reflected -in politics. Our curiously illogical state system lent itself most -obligingly,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span> if albeit rather ludicrously, to a compromise; the New -England conscience should get the necessary laws and the “foreign -element,” where its political force predominated, should control their -enforcement! The state of Illinois has carried on its statute books -a law requiring the closing of saloons on Sundays, which applies -uniformly throughout the state. Never till recently was a serious -attempt made to enforce it in the city of Chicago, which was quite in -accordance with the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">modus vivendi</i>. Then, in 1915, a new mayor -took it into his head to close the saloons up tight. On a bright Sunday -afternoon the populace, thirsty and indignant, turned out and demanded -their American rights. The mayor’s attitude came from reading the law -literally but without a due regard to the great body of voters who are -“for the law but ‘agin’ its enforcement.”</p> - -<p>The state system regularly provides against such mistakes of official -judgment by carefully divorcing the <em>duty</em> to enforce from the -<em>incentive</em> to enforce. The New York laws forbid the placing of -wagers on horse races. They stand there presumably as a monument to -the enlightened conscience of a majority of the people. They were -not enacted as an expression of moral sentimentality to be ignored -at will, but as an instruction for the governor, the administrative -establishment of the state and the courts to carry out. The statute -is of course obeyed in all counties where there are no race tracks -and no facilities for placing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span> bets! But in the other counties? The -legislature has provided no means of execution other than the locally -controlled peace officers, the sheriffs and the constables. These are -the servants of the state, to be sure, and they are sworn to protect -its laws. But in a more direct human way they are of the county, bound -to the local hotel keepers, the local retail merchants and the jitney -bus owners whose business thrives on the patronage of the race-track -crowd. Local public opinion in the race-track district flouts the will -of the people of the state and it says to the state, as President -Jackson said to the Supreme Court, “You have made your decision; now -enforce it.”</p> - -<p>Only occasionally does moral sentiment run strong enough to force -the governor to be in fact as well as in theory the real head of the -state in the sense that he employs state instruments to enforce state -desires. Such an incident occurred a few years ago when the governor of -Indiana was compelled to order out the militia to enforce a law against -race-track gambling because he had no power to compel the elective -sheriff or other local officers to do their duty.</p> - -<p>In practical politics this clash of moral standards produces not -only the anomalous situation referred to but often the strictly -administrative matter of law enforcement is consciously and designedly -a political issue. The popular desire to graduate or temper the -enforcement of the law is doubtless the real secret of interest which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> -so often centers in the election of a district attorney. Shall we have -a “liberal” administration or shall we “clap on the lid,” that is -about the form the question takes—euphony for: “Shall the prosecutor -shut his eyes and ignore the law, or shall he obey it according to -his official oath?” The liberal candidate goes before the people with -promises to go easy and the strict morality candidate to make the way -of the transgressor hard.</p> - -<p>Which is right? For the present it matters little. It remains simply to -point out that since the organization of the state and county provides -no organ of expression for local policy, the people in their infinite -capacity to adapt themselves to a hard condition proceed to make a -policy-determining body out of a strictly administrative officer, like -the district attorney or the sheriff.</p> - -<p>Nullification shows itself also in the administration of the tax law. -Most of the states derive a portion of their revenues from the general -property tax. But the power of taxation lies in the legislature and -no state has its own local agents directly and fully responsible to -a central authority for fixing the valuations upon which the levy -is based. The county (except where state revenues are derived from -distinct sources) is required to contribute its proportionate share to -the central treasury and is left to do the right thing by the state, -with such supervision as will be hereafter noted. The people of the -county are allowed to select their own assessors, on the theory that a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span> -man on the ground knows valuations better than any outside impartial -person and that no one is more competent to select such a man than his -own neighbors.</p> - -<p>And so it happens, just as in the case of the sheriffs, that the local -tax officers are confronted with conflicting obligations. They must -take their choice, on the one hand, between strict observance of the -law and unpopularity, with the probable loss of their jobs at the end -of their term, and popularity with prospects of possible political -advancement and a more or less assured living, on the other. Inasmuch -as there is never any question as to which of these courses is the -more practical and immediately profitable, the tax assessors of the -county invariably find it infinitely to their personal advantage to -serve the locality that pays their salaries. Assessors in the sister -counties do likewise; with the ultimate result that general competition -arises among the counties as to which shall value property lowest and -thus pay the smallest proportion of the state’s tax. The system is -ideally designed to reward dishonesty and perjury and punish faithful -obedience to the law. For, as a former New York State Tax Commissioner -has said, “Under assessment is the rule throughout the state, and in -nearly all the tax districts intentionally and purposely so.” The range -of these assessments is well known to be anywhere between twenty-five -and ninety per cent. of the full value of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span> property. And the -assessors “make their own laws as to the basis of assessing property, -in deliberate violation of the statutes and then proceed to make oath -to the assessment rule that they have assessed all property at its full -value.” That what is true of New York is equally true of most other -states where an analogous system prevails, is the testimony of tax -authorities.</p> - -<p>These frailties of human nature the states have weakly connived at by -the provisions they have made for equalization of assessments. It is -the old story of reform via complication and, as one county attorney in -New York has testified, “equalization in this state is an abomination, -a joke, a cover for deals and trades, a means of purchase and sale, -in its results most unfair and unjust, based on the assumption of -accomplished perjury, in itself a chief cause of the perjury.” A -Missouri authority corroborates by remarking:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“The county board of equalization ... does little to improve the -situation as it is affected by the same conditions which influence -the acts of the assessor. Much the same is true of the state board -of equalization which consists of the Governor, Secretary of State, -State Auditor, State Treasurer and Attorney-General. This board has -authority to equalize assessments among the counties, but not among -different persons or property within the county. The officials who -make up this board have neither the time, information nor powers to -adequately correct the evils. <em>Political considerations also affect -the solution of the problems.</em>”</p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span></p> - -<p>But the way to a sincere and logical system is not easy. Popular -sentiment seems to favor the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">status quo</i>. For the first time in -the history of this country, Governor Cox of Ohio in 1913 persuaded -the legislature to establish a unified plan of organization for local -assessment. Inasmuch as taxation is the prerogative of the state -government, he proposed a system of tax assessment which would have -made this idea an actual as well as a legal fact. The law would have -abolished the locally elected assessor in the counties. Full control -would have been placed in the hands of the state government, since -the Governor would appoint the local officials. There would probably, -in the nature of things, have been an end to log-rolling and to -competition between the counties to “beat” the state. The law was -passed, but it was so unpopular that Governor Cox’s opponent in the -succeeding election used it for political capital. One of the earliest -and proudest achievements of his administration was the repeal of this -law.</p> - -<p>And so our old friend the “average citizen” finds it often acceptable -to have a county government that is not built in strict conformance -with logic. It is a complicated mechanism to be sure, but what matter, -if he can employ a chauffeur to run it? To meet just such specific -demands as this the professional politician and his illogical system -have arisen and continue to exist.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII"><span class="big">CHAPTER XII</span><br /> -STATE MEDDLING</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>Now the other side of the story.</p> - -<p>While the county nonchalantly and with seeming impunity has been -breaking all the inconvenient statutes, the state in its own peculiar -way has been working out a method of “taking it out” of the county -for the indignities of nullification. The state’s “big stick” (which -it does not always employ to a public purpose) is a policy of -meddlesomeness which expresses itself through special legislation. Of -which, more herewith.</p> - -<p>In times gone by, when counties were almost universally located in -the open country, and before the rush for the cities had set apart -centers of population which developed their special mechanism of local -government, it was doubtless appropriate that constitutions should -impose upon legislature the duty to legislate “uniformly” for all -counties, even to the point of anticipating some of their more detailed -needs.</p> - -<p>Practically every state legislature was given a considerable, if not -complete, power to bend the county to its will in every particular of -government.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> In the logic of the law, the county was a subdivision of -the state before it was an organ of strictly local government. The -legislature might erect new counties or change boundary lines at will, -with the one limitation in some states that its decision is subject to -a local referendum. It might also erect new county offices in addition -to those mentioned in the constitution and fix their powers and duties. -Long ago it became the accepted principle of law that local authorities -might exercise only such powers as were specifically conferred upon -them.</p> - -<p>The theory was, apparently, that since counties exist to execute the -will of the whole state and have the same general duties to perform, -all counties can and must perform them in the same manner. It is a -plausible theory. If a county is to administer justice it needs a -judge, a sheriff, a prosecutor and a court clerk. And each of these -officers in the several counties should follow as closely as possible -an identical or similar procedure. Every county must have a fiscal -agency, a governing board, and be required to observe certain minimum -standards in the handling of the funds entrusted to its care.</p> - -<p>Uniformity up to this point is doubtless not burdensome but helpful. -But by carrying a good idea too far the legislatures have often gone -beyond the point of setting up a general organization and procedure -and have descended into minor details which would usually best be -determined in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> the light of the more perfect knowledge of local -conditions which the people of the locality may be expected to possess.</p> - -<p>The New York legislature, for instance, has accepted the inertia of -long-standing custom and permitted to stand on the statutes a county -law under which the boards of supervisors in all counties, except those -of New York City, are organized in precisely the same manner. No regard -for the far-reaching historic shifts of population; no thought as to -how deeply the social and political unity of a particular county may -have been shattered by the growth of great cities in the midst of apple -orchards or grain fields. The law has passively assumed that voters -are voters (just as “business is business” and “pigs is pigs”) whether -they reside in a crowded city or sparsely settled countryside where -everybody knows everybody else’s business and has plenty of time to -play politics.</p> - -<p>And so it turns out that Erie County, containing the city of Buffalo, -with its half million inhabitants surrounded by a farming district, -is equipped with the same general form of government as the rough and -sparsely settled counties of Warren and Essex in the Adirondacks.</p> - -<p>In other states, for Buffalo substitute Cleveland, or Chicago or -Milwaukee—great cities unequally yoked with an agricultural population -of divergent interests.</p> - -<p>It is inevitable under the circumstances that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span> the states through their -legislatures should do a good deal of polite nullifying on their own -account. The provisions of the constitutions relating to legislative -powers over counties, instead of being strictly construed have -ingeniously circumvented. What some legislatures could do in defiance -of good political science but yet without legal evasion the California, -New Jersey and other legislatures have accomplished by stretching the -meaning “general” or “uniform.”</p> - -<p>Take the California practice. In the words of the constitution the -legislature is required to establish “a system of county government -which shall be uniform throughout the state.” But it happens that -these counties range in population from a few hundred to over half a -million, and in area from 755 to 23,000 square miles. Some are strictly -rural, while, at the other extreme, is one geographically identical -with the city of San Francisco. All sorts of combinations of urban -and rural conditions intervene. Some of the territory is traversed by -steam railroads and trolley lines and some of it is inaccessible to a -stage coach. But all of it is “uniformly” governed. Inasmuch as the -legislature never could bring itself to withhold its hand from the -minute details of county business, it had to find a way to “beat” the -constitution. It placed each of the fifty-six counties in a separate -class, and passed fifty-six “general” laws, each applying in fact to a -single county, but not mentioning the county by name!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span></p> - -<p>In Illinois the habit of special legislation has led the Bureau of -Public Efficiency to remark that: “The General Assembly of Illinois -might with propriety be added to the list of nineteen local governing -bodies of Cook County, for it is continually interfering in an -arbitrary manner in matters of local administration.”</p> - -<p>New Jersey has sinned quite as grievously and its courts have -consistently upheld the act even against a provision of the -constitution which expressly prohibits the legislature from “regulating -the internal affairs of towns and counties.”</p> - -<p>But lest the full import of these statements should be lost, the -following titles of special county bills in a single session of a New -York legislature, are cited in evidence:</p> - -<ul class="index"> -<li class="isub1">Authorizing conveyance of land on Holland Avenue.</li> -<li class="isub1">Striking out the provision authorizing county treasurer to appoint an -attorney.</li> -<li class="isub1">Regulating tax collection procedure.</li> -<li class="isub1">Fixing compensation of unskilled laborers.</li> -<li class="isub1">Correcting 1915 tax roll.</li> -<li class="isub1">Creating a county auditor.</li> -<li class="isub1">Increasing salary of sheriff, etc.</li> -<li class="isub1">Levy of taxes to meet cost of sanitary trunk sewer.</li> -<li class="isub1">Regulating management of penitentiary and workhouse.</li> -<li class="isub1">Creating commissioner of charities.</li> -</ul> - -<p>Too often the motive of the legislators has not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span> been to make the -county the state’s more obedient servant, but to “bleed” it to the -utmost for political purposes. Back of the real difficulties of -adjusting the state’s responsibilities to the idea of local control -over administrative details, is too evident the suspicion that the -political machine needs the county very much “in its business.”</p> - -<p>For this reason, doubtless, special legislation affecting counties -is so often inseparably associated with the forcible opening of -the county treasury. New York City in recent years has suffered -grievously from mandatory salary increases, imposed in many cases by -a party of the opposite political faith from the one in control over -the local budget. Thus in 1915 out of a total budget allowance of -$7,003,716.82 for county purposes, the sum of $4,858,773.47 or 69.1 -per cent. represented mandatory appropriations which could not be -increased or diminished by the local budget makers either because the -exact amount was fixed by law or because the power of fixation was -conferred upon other officers than the appropriating body of the city. -Many of the measures in question dealt with the salaries of clerks, -stenographers and messengers. Of the total allowance in the same year -for personal services (salaries, etc.) of $5,809,481.75, 78 per cent. -or $4,576,985.75 was beyond local control. While by far the greater -proportion of these sums were just and necessary, the margin of waste -which represented one hundred<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span> per cent. politics, was, without a -doubt, exceedingly large.</p> - -<p>Nor have the legislatures been led to take this course for reasons of -public economy. In thus appropriating other people’s money according -to its professedly superior knowledge of the state’s needs, it does -not often appear to give heed to standards of experience or of service -rendered. Often it is but the old story of the influences back of the -bill with this title: “An Act, providing for the appointment by the -sheriff of —— County, of an undersheriff, fireman and court officers, -and for their compensation and duties.” When the truth came out it -appeared that the sheriff and the board of supervisors were of opposite -parties. The sheriff (whether rightly or wrongly) was not to be put -aside. He simply appealed over the heads of his “superiors” to a higher -authority for what he wanted—and got it. The people had elected a -Board of Supervisors, to manage the county finances, but at the moment -when this body might have effected a just economy, it was forcibly -stripped of their powers.</p> - -<p>Theoretically the legislature in the case cited intervened, but what -probably happened was that someone saw the representative in the -legislature from the county in question and he “fixed” it with the -proper committee. The speaker let the bill go through on the floor of -the legislature.</p> - -<p>From the standpoint of the local politician or petty officeholder who -is looking for special<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span> privilege, via the back-door method, and of -the home legislator who does the “fixing,” special legislation is thus -doubtless a benevolent privilege which enables men to put various local -people in their debt for future purposes. For the “organization” of -the dominant party, the power to give to or withhold from the local -municipalities is often not the least important element of its power.</p> - -<p>As for the county, for its sins of nullification it would seem to be -appropriately penalized, particularly if it belongs in the metropolitan -class. It has been placed under a sort of patriarchal discipline, -robbed of much of its individuality and initiative; its responsible -officers subjected to humiliation from subordinates; its resources -diverted to partisan uses.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII"><span class="big">CHAPTER XIII</span><br /> -STATE GUIDANCE</h2> -</div> - - -<p>At this point the indictment of the county ceases. It is not an -altogether hopeless situation. The very thoroughness of the county’s -failure is the chief promise of ultimate redemption.</p> - -<p>Not because the county is constructed on an unsound political theory, -not because it has shocked the sense of humanity, but because of its -riotous misuse of public funds, it has begun to attract the attention -of higher authorities.</p> - -<p>Where does the county’s money go? It has been strongly intimated in -previous chapters that the citizens of the county and sometimes even -the county officers know little and care less. Is it economically run? -No one can easily tell, without knowing what other county governments -are costing, service for service and unit for unit. And no one can make -such a comparison between counties unless they have some common basis -of understanding. To establish standards in the use of terms, to make -in other words, each county tell its financial story in a language -understood throughout the state, to bring the information<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span> from the -various counties together for comparison, to insist upon a sufficiently -detailed description of financial activities, is the object of uniform -reporting.</p> - -<p>And who can force such a coming together for a common understanding -other than the state itself?</p> - -<p>Among the states where county government is of appreciable importance, -Ohio was the pioneer in the direction indicated by this suggestion. -The law enacted in that state in 1902 approached the county problem -with the conviction that what was needed above all else was more -light—in an administrative sense; that when the shortcomings of county -government could be reduced to statistics and comparisons (invidious -if necessary) could be made between various units, then some real -improvements might be reasonably expected. Provision was made in the -enactment for a state Bureau of Inspection and Supervision of Public -Offices which should install a uniform system of public accounting, -auditing and reporting in every office in the state. A corps of field -agents known as state examiners were employed on a civil service basis -to make personal examinations in each of the taxing districts. The -findings of the examiners are published, and if money is due the county -the enforcement of the law is left first to the county prosecuting -attorney and then to the attorney general.</p> - -<p>New York followed the lead of Ohio by passing in 1905 a law which -requires counties, villages<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> and cities, to report annually to the -comptroller on forms prescribed by him.</p> - -<p>“Indiana and Ohio,” says Professor John A. Boyle,<span class="fnanchor" id="fna14"><a href="#fn14">[14]</a></span> “has gone -into the science and art of uniform accounting very seriously and -very effectively. The Indiana law (1909, ch. 55, amended March 3, -1911), creates a Department of Inspection and Supervision of Public -Offices having jurisdiction over every public office in the state. -The administration of the law was entrusted at the outset to one -state examiner, two deputies, one clerk, and fifty-two field agents -working on a civil service basis. Uniform accounting is prescribed and -installed. Comparative statistics are compiled by the state examiner -and published annually, so that the fruits of this department are -available to the public.”</p> - -<p>Wyoming has a fair system of audit.</p> - -<p>The North Dakota law, while it requires the state examiner “to -prescribe and enforce correct methods,” does not call for a uniform -system. Massachusetts, Kansas, Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Florida, -Tennessee, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Washington, -Minnesota, West Virginia, Louisiana, California and Michigan have -more or less complete systems of state financial supervision. The -“black sheep” among the states in this respect are Alabama, Arkansas, -Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, -New Hampshire, North<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, -Utah, Vermont and Virginia.</p> - -<p>Now for the results of this supervision.</p> - -<p>Professor Boyle has summed up the sort of assistance that the state -bureaus of accounting have been able to give. One instance of such help -is that where county officers had been accustomed in the past to take -long and expensive junkets to inspect public buildings, expert advice -under the new system has been rendered to them in much cheaper form -through the investigators of the state. Examiners have also been able -to point out to county officers many deviations from the letter of the -law, the strict compliance with which is of the most vital importance -in the performance of certain county functions, such as taxation. -In a similar way they have checked up illegal charges against the -county, inadequate audit (or no audit at all), instances of additional -compensation (under various guises) for personal service, illegal -temporary loans and misapplication of funds.</p> - -<p>It will at once be seen that the mere possibility of a state examiner’s -visit will have an admonitory effect which in itself will often be -sufficient to keep an official in the straight and narrow path. The -county, in conforming to the reporting requirements, derives a local -benefit wholly apart from any obligation to the state. Upon the basis -of a sound and permanent system of accounting the local officers are -in a position accurately to inform the county of their doings and -make comparison<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span> of a financial transaction of one year with those of -previous years. Herein is one foundation stone of a scientific budget.</p> - -<p>Under a complete system of state regulation not only are the forms and -standards of uniform accounting established, but a staff of expert -examiners is created to determine by periodical investigation, whether -or not these standards are lived up to.</p> - -<p>The remarkable conditions preceding the establishment of the Ohio -Bureau and the important services which it has rendered the state, -are revealed in the following summary<span class="fnanchor" id="fna15"><a href="#fn15">[15]</a></span> of its findings in counties -during the first ten years of its existence.</p> - -<p class="center p0"><strong>STATEMENT OF FINDINGS TO NOVEMBER 15, 1912</strong></p> - -<p class="center p0"><small>COUNTIES</small></p> - -<table class="autotable small"> -<tr class="tdt tdb"> -<th> -<i>Year</i> -</th> -<th> -<i>Findings <br />for Recovery</i> -</th> -<th> -<i>Illegal <br />Payments</i> -</th> -<th> -<i>Unclaimed <br />Moneys</i> -</th> -<th> -<i>Total <br />Illegal</i> -</th> -<th> -<i>Returns</i> -</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -1903 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -$50,268.93 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -$18,808.91 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -$807.92 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -$69,884.76 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -$10,741.93 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>1904 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -57,805.54 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -2,504.41 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -10,339.95 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -70,649.90 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -2,222.31 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -1905 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -246,280.58 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -7,421.87 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -25,389.52 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -279,091.97 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -24,847.83 -</td> -</tr> -<tr class="tdtd"> -<td> -1906 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -295,082.80 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -14,227.52 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -5,218.21 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -314,528.53 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -232,156.78 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -1907 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -646,397.50 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -115,906.91 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -18,049.13 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -780,353.54 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -322,911.08 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -1908 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -103,764.26 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -43,333.31 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -9,829.15 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -156,928.92 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -41,171.53 -</td> -</tr> -<tr class="tdtd"> -<td>1909 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -410,282.51 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -320,137.17 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -23,219.42 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -753,639.10 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -66,219.91 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>1910 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -146,024.04 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -106,410.00 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -22,241.18 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -274,675.22 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -24,438.36 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>1911 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -233,547.24 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -129,007.02 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -7,921.90 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -370,476.16 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -37,735.34 -</td> -</tr> -<tr class="tdtd"> -<td>1912 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -112,926.80 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -No report -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -118.26 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -113,045.06 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -96,015.16 -</td> -</tr> -<tr class="tdt tdb"> -<td> -Ttls -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -$2,302,379.30 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -$757,759.32 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -$123,134.54 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -$3,183,273.16 -</td> -<td class="tdr"> -$858,460.23 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span></p> - - -<h3>TAX ADMINISTRATION</h3> - -<p>A branch of local fiscal administration which is in far less -satisfactory shape is that of taxation. In no department is -“nullification,” as has been already shown, more constant and -serious. The situation is complicated. In seventeen of the states, -including every one north of the Ohio and Potomac rivers, and east of -the Mississippi, except Illinois, Indiana and Maryland, the county -as a whole has very little to do with assessments for the general -property tax, the unit for assessment in that section being the town -or township. That in nearly all these states the general property tax -may be said to have broken down, would seem to be indicated by the -establishment of a permanent state tax commission or commissioner in -all of them except Pennsylvania. In thirty-one states in the South and -West, the county is the unit of assessment, and in its favor it may be -said that in this rôle it has proven a far more satisfactory performer -than the town. The county is small enough to serve as a convenient -unit for assessment operations and assessment records and furnishes -the basis of a system of fewer units than if the town were the basis. -Under the county plan, moreover, there are fewer opportunities for -communities to compete against each other in their effort to escape -their just share of the general burden of government. It is significant -that most of the western states have seen the advantages<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span> of the county -as the local unit of administration.</p> - -<p>But the county, for all that, appears to be incapable of standing -on its own feet in tax matters. Even under the most favorable -circumstances there remains an important duty for a state commission to -supervise the work of the county assessor or board of assessors to the -end that the letter of the law may be obeyed with the utmost uniformity -throughout the state. Such a commission must see that the county -does injustice to neither individuals nor the state through inequal -assessment and that the tax sales are in accordance with the law.</p> - -<p>The county, in short, has a useful place in the general scheme of tax -administration, but it must be a <em>supervised</em> unit.</p> - - -<h3>CIVIL SERVICE</h3> - -<p>In the administration of the civil service law the county also does -well to lean upon the state. The same considerations that apply in -accounting and tax matters apply with equal force in the selection of -the employees. Most of the counties are too small to serve as units in -which to install facilities for conducting examinations and publishing -useful records. The superior powers of the state commission over -the localities in these respects are emphatically not a destructive -check upon the county’s officers. They do not detract from local -responsibility. They simply enable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span> them to apply to their work the -most effective means available.</p> - -<p>In New York the state civil service commission regulates the service in -eighteen counties. In New Jersey the adoption of the civil service law -involving state control rests with the people of each county. Hudson, -Essex, Mercer, Passaic and Union counties have taken advantage of the -law.</p> - -<p>Administration apart from fiscal supervision in other departments, -such as charities, prisons and public health, has advanced much more -slowly than reform in the fields which have been mentioned. But every -indication for the future is toward greater control through accounting -and supervision. The county acts locally in the enforcement of state -obligations. The real trouble comes when one undertakes, arbitrarily, -to place any given county activity in the local or state category. -The catching of a thief, for example, is a very essential part of the -state’s most fundamental duty to protect property, but the locality -where the crime is committed is very keenly interested in having the -machinery of the county set to work to punish the deed. The locality -pays the sheriff his salary or his fees, but the state, in protecting -the property of its citizens, is probably justified in guarding against -extravagant or dishonest use by the people of the county even of their -own money.</p> - -<p>And so it is impracticable and not by any means necessary to give the -county quite unbridled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> liberty to control all its officers. Central -supervision is a middle course that protects the state and instead of -impairing, really conserves the county’s interests. The state, without -instructing the county as to <em>what</em> it may do with its purely -local powers, may lay a firm hand upon it in telling <em>how</em> to -use those powers effectively. Such a course is conceived in quite a -different spirit from the destructive sort of state meddling which was -described in the preceding chapter, which proceeds from the legislative -branch of the central government. What the state government actually -does when it regulates or supervises is to hold up the county official -to standards of performance. This is the proper work of officers or -boards in the administrative branch. It relates not to <em>what</em> -the county shall do as a matter of broad policy, but <em>how</em> the -county shall redeem its obligation in matters of routine, detail and -technique. The state agency may have only the power to “visit and -inspect,” like the New York State Board of Charities, or it may, like -the Comptroller of the same state, actually impose forms of procedure. -In either case, local officers otherwise unstimulated to efficient -work, as they must be under the present system of government, are thus -given moral support from a responsible quarter. They are subjected to -a cold, unescapable comparison with other officers in other localities -and they are given the benefit of expert advice on many obscure and -complex phases of public administration.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn14"><a href="#fna14">[14]</a> See <i>Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social -Science</i>, May 1913. <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 199-213.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn15"><a href="#fna15">[15]</a> <abbr title="Professor">Prof.</abbr> John H. Boyle, <i xml:lang="la" lang="la"><abbr title="opus citatum">op. cit.</abbr></i>, p. 203.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV"><span class="big">CHAPTER XIV</span><br /> -READJUSTMENTS</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>So much by way of accepting counties as they are. “State guidance” goes -a long way as a palliative of unsatisfactory conditions. It is a sort -of permanent first aid to the injured.</p> - -<p>But the county needs surgical treatment! In some cases it is well to -<em>fix</em> responsibility. In extremities it becomes necessary to -<em>amputate</em>.</p> - -<p>Bear in mind, to begin with, the fact that the county at bottom is -really a piece of the state, a local agency. The prevailing practice -of local election of officers and its logical sequence, local -nullification, have done much to obscure the real interests of the -state at the county court house, till the average run of citizens have -long forgotten that the distinction exists; that officers like the -sheriff, district attorney, public administrator and coroner are not -strictly local officers at all but subordinates of the general state -government.</p> - -<p>By far the most important branch of general administration with -which county officers serve is the judiciary. Counties, except in a -few states, are the units for selection of judges having original<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span> -jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases which involve moderate -amounts of money and less than the most serious offenses. With the -county court also is generally associated probate jurisdiction, which -is exercised in some of the eastern states by a special officer known -as the surrogate, who may be a judge as in New York, or a purely -ministerial officer, as in New Jersey.</p> - -<p>Legally the judiciary is more nearly a part of a state system than any -other branch of the county organization. The decisions of the judges -are of course subject to appeal to a higher state court—that is an -important form of control. Sometimes, as in California, a part of the -salary of the county judge is paid from state funds. Probably too the -greater popular respect that hedges about the bench is sufficient to -set it apart from much of the sinister influence that often affects -the other officers of the county. Nevertheless, the county court in -common with other divisions of the judiciary, is subject to a wide -variety of disintegrating forces. It has a variegated allegiance: to -the people (in most of the states) for its original selection, to the -county governing body for many incidental items of financial support, -and to higher judicial authority for confirmation or revision of its -decisions. It does not control its executive agents, such as the -sheriff and the county clerk, who are usually independent elective -officers.</p> - -<p>The readjustment of this situation can hardly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span> be effected -satisfactorily apart from a complete reorganization of the state’s -judicial system. This will undoubtedly involve, among other things, a -much more complete central control on the part of a state chief justice -and a judicial council. The courts must be organized with a keener -appreciation that a judge in rendering just and learned decisions is a -part of a business machine—he is waiting on customers; that there is -no sound reason why the judicial department should defy the principle -of responsibility any more than a department which serves the public in -another way.</p> - -<p>In the general overhauling of the systems, perhaps the elective county -judge will disappear. But liberty, for all that, will not vanish from -the earth. States as diverse in their location and composition as New -Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey and South Carolina never drifted -quite completely into the habit of “electing everybody,” and they are -good states. The Federal judiciary, too, is appointive, and it is -not more culpable, by standards of either the progressiveness or of -administrative efficiency, than most of the state courts.</p> - -<p>The earthquake, we may hope, will also shake up the justices of the -peace, who in any self-respecting organization of the courts will -either disappear or be linked up, as the American Judicature Society -proposes, in a county system, with the county judge in control. The -justices are now associated with the town or a corresponding<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> division -of the county and deal with very minor (but not for that reason -insignificant) civil and criminal cases, or act as a tribunal for -preliminary hearings and commitments. In cities the office has steadily -and hopelessly decayed by transfer of its jurisdiction to other courts -and through the abuses of the fee system. It was established moreover -when means of transportation were few and difficult and districts -consequently had to be made small in order to meet the convenience -of the litigants who came seeking justice. But times have changed! -Circumstances favor larger districts and infinitely better control over -this branch of the judiciary.</p> - -<p>In making over the courts we cannot properly overlook the machinery -for enforcing judicial decisions. This is the function of the sheriff. -Where, in the reconstructed scheme of things shall he come in? Our -forefathers committed themselves to the theory of the separation of -powers, these three: the legislative, the executive and the judicial. -Under this scheme of things the duty of judges is to find or interpret -the law: nothing more. The sheriff as an executive officer is therefore -always independent of the court: he is the enforcer of state laws which -come to him in the form of very specific instructions by way of court -decisions. Such instructions are issued in the interest of parties to a -legal controversy.</p> - -<p>But the sheriff is not the only law enforcer in the county. The state -has made the board of supervisors<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span> (or board of commissioners) and -county officers its agents in enforcing various state laws. And so -the question arises: why not bring all the enforcing agencies under a -single control? Two ways suggest themselves. If the judicial system is -to be a unified state affair, then judicial-decision enforcing should -also be a state concern and the county should keep its hands off. In -practice this would mean that the governor or some other general state -officer should appoint the sheriffs on the same principle which is -employed in the federal government, wherein the President appoints U. -S. marshals. But, if on the other hand, the county government is to be -considered as a general local agency of the state for enforcing all its -laws, then nothing remains but to put it up to the local governing body -or some local chief executive to select the sheriff. Such is the method -which has been applied in the city and county of Denver, Colorado, -where the mayor is the chief executive of the consolidated governments.</p> - -<p>And what of the coroner? Every authority worthy of credence is agreed -that this office, above all others in the county, has long outlived its -usefulness. That one small head should contain the necessary skill of -criminal investigator, medical expert and magistrate is far too much to -expect of any ordinary mortal. A few states, following Massachusetts, -which abolished the coronership in 1877, have created an office under -various titles, such as “medical examiner,” “county physician”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span> (New -Jersey), “medical referee” (New Hampshire), etc. They have modernized -the coronership by stripping it of its magisterial powers and taking -it off the ballot. In most cases the new medical officer is an expert -pathologist and his services are often of the greatest value in -criminal and civil actions and to the cause of science. In New York -City the coroners now in office in the five boroughs will go out of -office on January 1, 1918, their powers of investigation will then -be transferred to a chief medical examiner appointed by the mayor, -and a corps of assistants who will be equipped with ample laboratory -facilities. The judicial duties of the coroner will be turned over to -the city magistrates.</p> - -<p>As for the district attorney,<span class="fnanchor" id="fna16"><a href="#fn16">[16]</a></span> his proper relations to a criminal -trial and to the public seem to be generally misunderstood. He is the -state’s advocate as against the breaker of the law. But it is no part -of his business to send every alleged offender to the penitentiary. -The efficiency of the prosecutor is not to be determined by a high -record of convictions. He is not, properly, a man-hunter. Nor is it his -province to decide when he shall bear down hard upon offenders and when -he shall soften justice. His functions, in short, are administrative -and not political. And when that fact is admitted every reason why he -should be popularly elected falls. In the ideal county,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> efficiency in -the administration of justice will not be a perennial local campaign -issue, for the prosecutor will be appointed by some responsible state -authority, such as the governor or attorney general, not as a reward -for political services but on the basis of merit and fitness. Or if, -perchance, it shall be deemed unwise so to centralize authority, -it would at least be logical to let the county authorities do the -appointing.</p> - -<p>There remains to be disposed of the clerk of court.<span class="fnanchor" id="fna17"><a href="#fn17">[17]</a></span> His relation -to the bench is rather a closer one than that of the sheriff, so close -that in some jurisdictions it has not been thought a violation of the -theory of the separation of powers to allow the judge or the whole -court to appoint him. Such indeed would seem the proper course. But -in many counties the business of court-clerking is hardly onerous -enough to engage a separate officer and the duties have accordingly -been transferred to the county clerk. This officer usually performs -a variety of functions, among which are his services as clerk of the -county board and as the local custodian or register of legal papers -required to be filed under certain state laws. In counties where this -“bunching” of functions has to be resorted to, the least that should -be done by way of readjustment should be to help along the unification -of the county government by vesting the appointment of the county -clerk in the county board or a county<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span> executive to be established. -In the larger counties where the volume of county business warrants a -separation of functions, there seems to be no sound reason why such -duties as the filing of papers should not be in the hands of an officer -appointed by some state official, to represent him in the locality. -In this way certain counties at least would be completely divested -of responsibilities of which they appear never to have acquitted -themselves too well. The county’s ultimate place in the sun is being -determined by a stripping process: the state is taking up its work.</p> - -<p>Thus in the domain of charities. We pointed out in Chapter IX that -the county was hopelessly deficient in caring for the insane, the -defectives and the criminals. Modern methods, which are humane methods, -have come to demand strict classification as the very starting point -for treatment. But unless the number of subjects for treatment is -reasonably large, the expense of such classification is prohibitive. -Most counties cannot supply the numbers. They find themselves in the -predicament of a rural sheriff who has in custody an average of perhaps -six prisoners. If his county were to obey the law it would have ready -at all times an establishment which provided special accommodations for -almost forty different classes of inmates.</p> - -<p>Under these circumstances the only course is to transfer as many -classes of prisoners as possible to the care of a larger unit of -government that is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span> able economically to segregate. This transfer -actually began in some of the older states in the eighteenth century. -Massachusetts led the movement by erecting a special prison on -Castle Island for the most desperate type of convicts. In 1796, New -York began the construction of two state prisons in New York and -Albany. In 1816, Ohio built a state penitentiary at Columbus and in -1839, Michigan completed its first state prison at Jackson. Reform -institutions in this country began to be established in Massachusetts -in 1846 when juvenile offenders were removed from local jails and -state prisons. Since then separate institutions for boys and girls -have been established in nearly all of the eastern states. New York in -1877 erected the first reformatory to which adult convicts could be -committed under an indeterminate sentence.</p> - -<p>As for the care of the insane, this was the first department of -public welfare administration that was taken over by the whole state, -beginning with the establishment of the first hospital in Utica, New -York, in 1843. From time to time other states have followed New York’s -example until nearly every state has one or more hospitals. With -the increase in the number of institutions in a given state further -segregation and classification of inmates has been possible. State -institutions now furnish the means for appropriate education for the -mentally defective who formerly were left to shift for themselves in -mismanaged<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span> county almshouses. The deaf, dumb and blind have been taken -care of in similar fashion. Indeed, the function of county poor relief -would now seem to approach as its ideal, the complete transfer to the -state of all charity functions except possibly a certain amount of -temporary “out-door” relief. But even this rather narrow field has been -invaded, for, in New England and New York, at least, a class of “state -poor” is known to the statutes.</p> - -<p>That the county has often sadly broken down in the guardianship of -life and property is a fact which has come into prominence within -very recent years. As the police force of the big cities become -more and more efficient the field of operation for criminals is -transferred to the suburbs, to the small towns and villages and to -the open country and the police problem in the rural sections takes -on a semi-metropolitan aspect. Good roads, the automobile and the -telephone have facilitated the business of thugs and burglars as well -as of honest citizens. Said the district attorney of Niagara County, -New York, recently, “Nearly every post office safe in Western New -York has been robbed, and I do not now recall anybody having been -convicted for these crimes. The ordinary constable or deputy sheriff -can serve subpœnas and make a levy under an execution providing he is -feeling well, but as a general rule he is incapable of coping with even -a third-class criminal.” Numerous other equally forcible official<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span> -statements of the same tenor have been collected by the New York -Committee on State Police.</p> - -<p>To cope with these crimes of violence and cunning the untrained, -politically selected sheriff of the typical rural county is but -sadly equipped. He is a temporary elected official to begin with, -unschooled in the ways of criminals and unfamiliar with any of the -vast paraphernalia of investigation that go to make up a modern police -system. Certain parts of the country moreover have peculiar periodical -disturbances on a larger scale than criminals operate—riots, lynching -parties, flood disasters, strikes. These occasions demand the temporary -mobilizing of a comparatively large, well-organized and disciplined -force to handle the situation with firmness and fairness. It is no -place for the crude old-fashioned sheriff’s posse.</p> - -<p>At the present time it is the frequent practice on such occasions to -call out the state militia. But while this organization has often -doubtless rendered effective service, police duty is not its proper -occupation. Every year enlistments fall far below the adequate figure -because young men in business and professional life deem it obnoxious -to leave their appointed tasks to do a professional policeman’s work. -In the discussion of “preparedness” measures it has frequently been -proposed that the militia be enlisted solely for national defense and -that a special fighting force be developed for state police duty. If -such a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span> force were organized on a permanent basis it would practically -relieve the sheriff and the constables from police duty.</p> - -<p>A model for such a force is found in the Pennsylvania State -Constabulary, which has been in existence since 1902. This is an -organization of two hundred and twenty mounted policemen formed -into four companies under a superintendent of police. Every year it -patrols 660,000 miles of rural roads and not only keeps the rural -sections singularly free from criminals but has performed numerous -other distinctive services. It has prevented disastrous fires and mine -explosions, quelled riots, stopped illegal hunting and maintained -quarantine during epidemics of disease. It was this constabulary that -handled the tremendous crowds at the Gettysburg Centennial in 1913. -The force is made up of picked men who are taught the laws of the -commonwealth and schooled to enforce them with absolute impartiality -against offenders of all classes. It has been free from politics and -has won the respect of all classes of the people.</p> - -<p>In the domain of highways<span class="fnanchor" id="fna18"><a href="#fn18">[18]</a></span> the county, under the pressure of the -good-roads movement, has been rapidly yielding its control to the -central government. The good-roads problem simply<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> outgrew the county. -It could not be handled efficiently through so small a unit. In the -course of railway development everywhere the old lines of tributary -traffic by wagon road from the farms to the shipping centers were -greatly modified. Their objective point came to have no particular -reference to the boundaries of the county or the location of the county -seat. Traffic from one county destroyed the roads of another without -supplying any compensatory advantages to the latter. Modern road -construction, particularly since the advent of the automobile, created -technical engineering problems far beyond the capacity of the local -officials to solve. Without the aid of better equipped agencies than a -unit so small as the county could afford most of the rural roads of the -county must have gone to rack and ruin, to say nothing of their meeting -the demands of present day traffic. But forty-two state governments, -up to 1915, had come to the rescue, either by supplying financial aid, -authorizing the employment of convict labor or by furnishing expert -advice founded upon scientific research. Up to the year 1914 only -Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas had -made no provision whatever for state participation in road work.</p> - -<p>But the significant point to be noted here is the strong tendency -to take entirely out of the hands of the county the whole burden, -financial and otherwise, of the great trunk lines and in many<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> cases -to impose standards and specifications for construction even where the -county does its own road building. Thus, Massachusetts, up to January -1, 1914, had completed more than one thousand miles of state highway -through the issuance of state bonds and the levying of automobile -taxes, the counties being required to refund the state twenty-five -per cent. of the cost of construction. New York established a highway -department in 1898 and has authorized bond issues of $100,000,000 for -a state system of roads which has already reached an advanced stage -of construction. Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and California have made -much progress toward a state road system, the California plan calling -for two main highways running the length of the state and a system of -laterals connecting the county seats with the trunk lines. The state of -Iowa has gone so far as to place all road work in the state under the -direction of its highway department.</p> - -<p>And so, the dominion of the county is being invaded at sundry points. -The unification of the judiciary (which it must be admitted has not -yet progressed very far), the gradual transfer of the charity and -correctional work to the state government, the establishment of a -state police and the more imminent abridgment of county control over -highways—these movements unmistakably and definitely seem to point the -ultimate displacement of the county as an important agent of public -service in particular fields.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span></p> - -<p>But that is but one side of the story. For while, on the one hand, the -importance of the county is threatened in particular fields there seems -to be before it in other directions a career of greater usefulness than -ever before. This present observation, however, applies only to those -states where the town or township has come in for particular emphasis, -or where, as will be suggested later in the discussion, the principle -of federation may be adopted by a number of contiguous municipalities -as a step toward consolidation of local governments.</p> - -<p>In a number of states where the New England influence has been strong -the town is frequently the unit (though not always exclusively) for -the custodianship of certain records such as deeds and mortgages, for -public health administration, for commitment of paupers, for road -construction and maintenance or for tax assessment and collection.</p> - -<p>The relation of the county to the town in these concerns is analogous -to that of the state to county in such matters as the care of the -insane and the control of trunk-line highways. It is a question of -finding a unit large enough (and not too large) to fit the problem in -hand. Public health, for example, is largely a matter of controlling -sources of disease in milk and water supply, which under modern methods -of living are usually much more widely distributed than the area which -is served. Effective control in that case would simply mean<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span> control -through a unit larger than the town, to wit: the county, unless control -on a still wider scale should prove feasible. Similarly in the matter -of police protection: the town constable is an anachronism in these -days of rapid transit. The county is a more appropriate police unit -than the town. Town custodianship of records means duplication, lack of -standards and waste. Town commitment of paupers to the county almshouse -or poor farm is a temptation on the part of the smaller locality to -shift its burdens on to the shoulders of the whole county.</p> - -<p>When it comes to highway construction, the high technical skill which -needs to go into the work is a commodity which comes too high for a -town and even, as we have pointed out, for the county.</p> - -<p>But the most serious misfits of town government are the local agents -of tax administration. Wherever the town is the smallest tax unit not -only is the number of officials needlessly multiplied, but diverse -standards of property valuation are set up and competition is resorted -to between towns with a view to escaping their just share of taxation. -Without a dissenting voice the recognized tax experts of the county are -firmly of the opinion that the town as a unit of tax assessment and tax -collection must give way to the county.</p> - -<p>And so, the readjustments that are working out the ultimate destiny of -the county are not wholly of a negative sort. It is not all a matter of -trimming the county’s wings.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn16"><a href="#fna16">[16]</a> Variously designated in different states as state’s attorney, -prosecutor of the pleas, county attorney and solicitor.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn17"><a href="#fna17">[17]</a> In Pennsylvania known as the “prothonotary.”</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn18"><a href="#fna18">[18]</a> This discussion of highway matters is based principally upon a -monograph by J. E. Pennybacker, Chief of Road Economics, Office of -Public Roads, Department of Agriculture. Y. B. Separate, 1914.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV"><span class="big">CHAPTER XV</span><br /> -COUNTY HOME RULE</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>Some counties indeed are awakening to a sense of their identity and are -asserting with much vigor their ability to organize and manage many -concerns which have been conspicuously mishandled either by the state -authorities or by the smaller local units.</p> - -<p>Nowhere has the need for “readjustment” to meet this demand been more -keenly appreciated than in California. Elsewhere in these chapters -we have referred to the great diversity in the underlying social and -physical conditions in that state. To meet this situation fifty-six -“general” laws (that were not general at all) had been enacted, for as -many counties. No other method of individualizing county government -had been resorted to until 1911. At that time the progressive leaders -in the legislature wished to bring government, all down the line, -into sympathy with standards of simplicity and efficiency that were -then beginning to be accepted. For a time county government seemed to -present an insuperable obstacle: how could a state system be devised<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> -that would square with these new ideas? Then it was remembered that -for upwards of thirty years the <em>cities</em> of California had been -determining for themselves what municipal officers should be chosen, -how they should be chosen and what powers they should exercise. -California was a pioneer in municipal home rule and the system had -worked pretty much to everybody’s satisfaction.</p> - -<p>Inasmuch, however, as counties have much more intimate relations with -the state government it seemed impracticable to allow them quite so -large discretion as the cities, in determining the powers they should -enjoy. And so, the California amendment gives the people of the county -freedom to determine the form and detail of the county organization, -subject to the proviso that each of the necessary county officers such -as sheriff, district attorney, etc., must be maintained to execute the -state law within the county. Members of the county board of supervisors -must be elected, but not necessarily by districts. All other county -officers, except the superior court judges, may be either elective or -appointive in a manner set forth in a county charter.</p> - -<p>The procedure by which California counties may take advantage of the -home-rule privilege is as follows: A board of fifteen freeholders is -elected, either in pursuance of an ordinance adopted by three fifths of -the members of the board of supervisors, or of a petition signed by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> -fifteen per centum of the qualified electors of the county, computed -upon the total number of votes cast therein for all candidates for -governor at the last preceding gubernatorial election. Within one -hundred and twenty days from the time their election is declared the -board of freeholders must prepare and cause to be published a charter -for the government of the county. Within sixty days after its first -publication (unless a general election intervenes) the charter is -submitted to the voters of the county for adoption or rejection. It is -then submitted to the legislature at its next session for approval or -rejection but not for amendment. But since a California legislature -in thirty-seven years has never been known to reject a charter or -a charter amendment of a city, the outlook for a policy of county -non-interference would seem to be good.</p> - -<p>It may be, however, that the California plan is too radical a change -for states which have not yet granted freedom to their cities. A less -sweeping way of affording relief from iron-clad forms of government is -found in the statutes of Illinois, New Jersey and other states, through -which it is possible for any county to pass from one prescribed form to -another by petition and popular election. Similar laws are in operation -in a number of states permitting cities to adopt the commission plan, -and in four states the cities may make a choice between three or four -forms under an optional law.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span></p> - -<p>Following the passage of such a city law in New York, the County -Government Association and the official commissions on the -reorganization of government in Nassau and Westchester counties -memorialized the constitutional convention of 1915 for amendments which -would authorize the counties to adopt a plan of organization suited to -their local needs. These associations formulated the question of county -adjustment for “up-state” New York counties in these words:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>First: That the Legislature should be required by the Constitution -to provide optional plans of county government, any one of which any -county may adopt by a vote of the people.</p> - -<p>Second: That the Legislature should in such plans confer upon the -Board of Supervisors or other governing body in such county such -powers of local legislation as the Legislature may deem expedient.</p> - -<p>Third: That the Constitution should require that no such plan of -government should be imposed on any county until approved by the -electors thereof and that no amendment to any plan of government -should affect any county which has previously adopted such plan, -unless such amendment is accepted by such county, or unless such -amendment relates to some state function.</p> - -<p>Fourth: That the Constitution should require that all laws relating -to the government of counties should be general both in terms and in -effect, except that special or local laws relating to such government -may be passed, but shall take effect only on approval of the county -affected.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span></p> - -<p>The California amendment has been put to use in the four counties of -Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Tehama, and Butte, all of which have their -special “home-rule” charters. Its early use is contemplated in Alameda, -Napa and Santa Barbara counties. Since 1911 the scope of the amendment -has been broadened so as to permit of considerable latitude in the -consolidation of city and county governments.</p> - -<p>Such is the counter-movement to centralized state control. In no wise -are the two in the least inconsistent, for the latter tendency is to -limit the subjects in which the county acts in the capacity of a local -state agent while the former concerns itself simply with <em>methods</em> -of performing service under local popular control.</p> - -<p>The home-rule movement, if it may so be indicated, is practical -evidence that people are regarding counties as something more than mere -geographical expressions. Counties are <em>thinking</em> units. They are -capable of framing local policies. Therefore they would extend their -opportunities to think and to express themselves.</p> - -<p>This idea seems to be at the bottom of the local option policy of the -organized anti-liquor forces throughout a great portion of the country. -Shrewd tactics, of course, has a good deal to do with it, for county -and other forms of local option are but the thin side of a wedge to -state-wide and even nation-wide prohibition. But for the present -at least, organizations like the Anti-Saloon League<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> realize that -counties are very handy and convenient units of public sentiment and -have been instrumental in securing county option laws in many states, -including Idaho, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, -Montana, Oregon, Texas. Incidentally, the county option plan makes the -public policy district in liquor matters coincide with districts for -enforcement, thus minimizing the danger of nullification.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI"><span class="big">CHAPTER XVI</span><br /> -CONSOLIDATION</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>The battle cry of local freedom comes up loudest from urban centers. -The simple reason is that the counties were devised originally for -communities in a state of nature—a few people, widely scattered, all -but oblivious to the existence or need of government. City communities -on the other hand are highly complex, individualized, differentiated -units. Accordingly, their governmental garments must be custom-made.</p> - -<p>City governments indeed were instituted partly to escape the -strait-jacket inflexibility of the counties. Gradually, as we have -seen, they elbowed the county governments into a dark corner, to the -infinite debasement of the sheriff, the coroner, the poor master and -the tax collector and other typical accessories of the county.</p> - -<p>But almost everywhere, at some point short of full county annihilation, -the pressure of the city stopped. Perhaps it was the politicians who -intervened, to save “the boys” at the court house; or perhaps it -was the feeling that seems to have settled down upon our political -thinking, that counties, like death and taxes, have to be.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span></p> - -<p>Within very recent years, bold spirits in some of the metropolitan -centers have begun to feel that the county, in their particular -communities, was a public nuisance and have been “going” for it. -Thus the New York <i>Times</i>, when the New York Constitutional -Convention was in session in 1915, delivered not a few strokes for a -proposition to abolish existing boundaries of the sixty-one counties -and substitute therefor eight administrative districts. Cleveland, -Ohio, reformers would like to have that city divorce itself from the -rural part of Cuyahoga County. In Rochester, a recent survey has -suggested a similar course with reference to Monroe County. Studies -have also been made recently (1916) by the City Club of Milwaukee. -A member of the city commission in Jersey City has recently caused -to be passed in the legislature a bill providing for a vote on -consolidation of municipalities in Hudson County on a sort of borough -plan. In Cincinnati the question of consolidation of the city with -Hamilton County was recently opened, apparently for the first time, -in newspaper discussions. In the 1916 New York legislature there was -under discussion a bill extending control of the board of estimate -and apportionment in New York City over the employees of the five -counties within the city. This was in line with a recent report by the -chamberlain and the commissioner of accounts of New York City submitted -to the Constitutional Convention, which pointed out the advantages -of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span> abolition of counties in New York City and the transfer of -their functions to the control of the city authorities. <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis City -actually accomplished the fact in 1876 when it separated from <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> -Louis County. Baltimore and a number of Virginia cities have long been -separated (for historical rather than reformatory reasons, however,) -from the surrounding rural or suburban territory.</p> - -<p>In practice, the process of relocation of county boundary lines is very -much like the reversing of a long series of court decisions. Local -tradition and the gradual crystallizing of the interests of local -politicians militate powerfully to maintain the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">status quo</i>. And, -yet, for all that, the shifting of boundary lines must inevitably come, -if local governments are to meet their obligations.</p> - -<p>Just where and by what criteria the new lines are to be laid is no -easy question to decide; our metropolitan centers are of such various -origins and in such differing degrees of development. The committee -on City-County Consolidation of the National Municipal League in -a preliminary report rendered in 1916 seeks to classify the urban -communities in this fashion:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“The simplest type of urban county is that in which the geographical -limits of the two local units are identical and the population has -grown up out of a single well-defined historical nucleus. Among other -communities there would fall within this classification the cities<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span> of -Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco and Baltimore and eighteen cities -in Virginia.</p> - -<p>“A second type is that in which a single city furnishes an -overwhelming proportion of the population, but occupies a relatively -small part of an otherwise rural territory. Among the cities which -fall in this classification are Buffalo, Milwaukee and Cleveland.</p> - -<p>“The third type is that in which a city of predominating size -and importance is surrounded by a number of smaller but vigorous -municipalities which have grown up not as suburbs of the main city, -but out of independent historical beginnings. Cases in point are the -two largest counties of New Jersey, Hudson and Essex.</p> - -<p>“A fourth type is one which contains several strong municipalities, -no one of which has achieved a position of undisputed leadership. -Alameda County, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>, which contains the cities of Oakland, Alameda -and Berkeley will serve to illustrate.</p> - -<p>“The most advanced type of the city-county problem involves the -adjustment of the political to the physical and social unity of a -great urban area, regardless of established boundaries of either -cities or counties. The metropolitan districts of New York and -Massachusetts are the most conspicuous illustrations of this problem.”</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>The key to reconstruction is the same in every case: simplification. -Eliminate duplication of civil divisions; substitute one government for -two or many (in the case of Chicago, twenty-two!). There is a good deal -of <em>logic</em> in a separate local<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span> government to serve as a state -agency. But everywhere the people have waived the right or privilege of -a logical government when they have illogically insisted upon selecting -their officers locally. When the district attorney, for instance, is -chosen by the electors of the county he may be legally the state’s -representative but he is <em>practically</em> a local officer in very -much the same sense as the mayor. Then why, for legal fiction’s sake, -distinguish between the city and the county?</p> - -<p>One American city-county has not only seen the inefficiency and -hypocrisy of the dual system but has actually wiped out the last -semblance of distinction between the two divisions. The story is told -in legal form in Article XX of the Colorado constitution:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“The municipal corporation known as the city of Denver, and all -municipal corporations and that part of the quasi-municipal -corporation known as the County of Arapahoe, in the state of Colorado, -included into the exterior boundaries of the said city of Denver, as -the same shall be bounded when this amendment takes effect, are hereby -consolidated and are hereby declared to be a single body politic and -corporate, by the name of the city and county of Denver.”</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>By this same amendment the city and county were declared to be a single -judicial district of the state, and county officers were disposed of by -prescribing that</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“the then mayor, auditor, engineer, council (which shall perform the -duties of a board of county commissioners), police magistrate, chief -of police and boards, of the city of Denver shall become respectively, -said officers of the city and county of Denver, and said engineer -shall be <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ex-officio</i> surveyor and said chief of police shall be -<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ex-officio</i> sheriff of the city and county of Denver; and the -then clerk and <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ex-officio</i> recorder, treasurer, assessor and -coroner of the county of Arapahoe and the justices of the peace and -constables holding office within the city of Denver, shall become, -respectively, said officers of the city and county of Denver, and the -district attorney shall be <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ex-officio</i> attorney of the city and -county of Denver.”</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>In 1913 an amendment to the Denver charter, adopted by popular vote, -provided for the commission form of government with the usual divisions -of administration into five departments respectively of Property, -Finance, Safety, Improvements and Social Welfare. To some one of these -commissionerships was assigned jurisdiction over each of the several -county officers, as appropriately as the conditions would permit.</p> - -<p>The process of amalgamation was made complete when in May, 1916, Denver -abandoned the commission plan and made the mayor chief executive of the -county as well as of the city, with appropriate appointing power.</p> - -<p>In New York, consolidation has extended to most of the fiscal -functions, tending to leave<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span> intact only so much of the original -county structure as is incidental to the administration of justice, -including the courts themselves, the sheriff in his capacity of court -executive and the court clerks. The functions of the county treasurer -have been transferred to the city chamberlain and the comptroller, -and the department of taxes and assessments has been attached to the -city organization. The separate governing bodies of the five counties -have been swept away and their powers transferred to the city Board -of Estimate and Apportionment and Board of Aldermen. New York City -also has not only taken over the function of public charities, but -its Department of Corrections has been steadily encroaching upon the -prerogatives of the sheriffs. The future issue of city consolidation -there is accordingly reduced to a matter of abolishing the five -counties and transferring their functions to officers under city -control and making the independent elective officers such as the -sheriff, district attorney, clerk and register appointive by either -city or state authorities.</p> - -<p><span class="fnanchor" id="fna19"><a href="#fn19">[19]</a></span>In spite of much that remains to be done, consolidation has -proceeded to an advanced stage also in Boston, though hardly in a -direct line towards greater simplicity. Before it became a city in 1820 -a conflict had arisen as to the jurisdiction<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> of the town, and of the -court of sessions for Suffolk County, respecting highways and taxation. -The legislature thereupon abolished the court and transferred its -administrative functions to the mayor and council of Boston. Boston, -however, is not geographically identical with Suffolk County, since -the latter for the purposes of the administration of justice, includes -the city of Chelsea and the towns of Revere and Winthrop. Boston has -the title to all the real and personal property of Suffolk County but -also pays the entire expense of its administration. The treasurer and -auditor of accounts of the city act in similar capacities for the -county of Suffolk. But there are seven elective county officials and -several, virtually independent of each other, who are chosen by the -governor or the justice of the Superior Court.</p> - -<p>This situation as to the actual political Boston is confusing -enough. Metropolitan Boston on the other hand, comprises thirty-nine -municipalities situated in five counties, which make up a compact -community of a million five hundred thousand inhabitants. These centers -have every facility for communication and transportation. And the state -has indeed recognized the unity of the district by establishing such -agencies of administration as the metropolitan park commission and the -metropolitan water and sewer board.</p> - -<p>San Francisco has proceeded so far as to have a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span> single governing body -and a single set of fiscal officers for city and county.</p> - -<p>With this, the recital of actual accomplishments toward formal -consolidation is about complete. The advantages of consolidation as -they appear to a disinterested observer are obvious. But the process -is usually difficult in the extreme, especially as it relates to the -equitable distribution of assets and liabilities of the parts to be -consolidated. New York City only accomplished this by assuming the -debts of the outlying counties and municipalities. But in the course of -nineteen years not even that generous concession has sufficed to the -vigorous local spirit of Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Richmond.</p> - - -<h3>FEDERATION</h3> - -<p>Where immediate consolidation at a single stroke is out of the -question, as is apparently almost always the case, a more easy -transition is suggested by the recommendations of the City and County -Government Association of Alameda County, California. Realizing -that a powerful local sentiment in the outlying territory militated -irresistibly against annexation to the city of Oakland or, in fact, any -form of complete organic union of the municipalities in the county, -this Association has proposed as the logical first step to a more -economically organized county, a plan of federation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span></p> - -<p class="center p0 p2"><span class="figcenter" id="i002"> - <img src="images/i002.jpg" class="w100" alt="ORGANIZATION CHART For the City and County of Alameda and its Boroughs as Proposed in -the Tentative Charter Submitted by the City and County Government -Association" /> -</span></p> -<p class="center caption">ORGANIZATION CHART<br /> For the City and County of Alameda and its Boroughs as Proposed in -the Tentative Charter Submitted by the City and County Government -Association</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span></p> - -<p class="center p0 p2"><span class="figcenter" id="i003"> - <img src="images/i003.jpg" class="w100" alt="SKETCH of PROPOSED CITY and COUNTY of ALAMEDA SHOWING PROPOSED BOROUGHS" /> -</span></p> -<p class="center caption">SKETCH of PROPOSED CITY and COUNTY of ALAMEDA SHOWING PROPOSED BOROUGHS</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span></p> - -<p>Under the proposed plan the governing body would consist of one -councillor from each of twenty-one districts. Unlike the present -board of supervisors in Alameda County, the new body would have only -legislative functions. The functions of the county, as a public -corporation, would be broadened to include a number of interests -which the municipalities are conceived to have in common. Police -protection, for instance, would revert from the cities back to the -county, where it was originally lodged, on the theory that crime -thrives in a certain social and physical environment and knows nothing -and cares less for corporate limits. And inasmuch also as the ravages -of fire and disease are the interests of a territory rather than the -corporate boundaries of a city, the control of these perils would -also be transferred to the county. The installation of the plan would -also result in the abolishment of the dual system of tax assessment -and tax collection. To the smaller units would be left jurisdiction -over their more distinctively local affairs such as public works. The -identity of the individual cities, which would be known as “boroughs,” -would thus remain intact, for they would retain their local governing -bodies to frame strictly local policies. At the same time the general -organization of the local government would provide for the common -interests of the constituent members.</p> - -<p>Some such plan of federation, as a transition step toward unity, would -seem to commend itself<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span> to several important counties which are made -up of communities like those which compose Alameda County. How these -communities in the face of increased cost of government and the greater -demands for public service are much longer to resist some measures -toward greater organic unity it is difficult to conceive.</p> - -<p>Even in the domain of public works the desirability of unified control -is often of much importance. Thus in Essex County, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr>, it was -discovered as early as 1894 that no adequate provision for a public -park system could be worked out by the separate municipalities in -that distinctly urban county. In the case of certain thorough-fares -which ran through two or more of these cities, it was highly desirable -to effect some sort of a continuous, uniform improvement. Certain -lowlands, also, were found to lie partly in one municipality and partly -in another, so that neither city could act to advantage independently. -Some of the cities had no available space for park purposes, while -others had the space, without the resources or the need for developing -it. From every point of view the obvious course to pursue led to -a general consolidation of park interests, and a comprehensive -well-balanced park plan, county-wide in its scope. And so there was -created a county park commission which has exclusive jurisdiction over -park developments and maintenance. It is noteworthy however that this -commission, as we have already indicated, was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span> not made an integral -part of the existing county government but a separate corporation; the -heads of this new department of government were made appointive by the -judges of the Supreme Court in order that politics might be eliminated -from its control. Had the metropolitan area been under a single -municipal control, no such complication would have been necessary. The -county government was deemed unfit to represent the unity of interest -throughout the several communities when an important new undertaking -was under consideration.</p> - -<p>Of the realization of the idea of the metropolitan unification under -county control the London County Council<span class="fnanchor" id="fna20"><a href="#fn20">[20]</a></span> is the world’s most -striking and instructive example. London, through the centuries, as -some of our American cities have done in a lifetime, had grown from -a multitude of small independent local communities into a single, -continuous metropolitan district. However, the constituent units, of -which the ancient city of London is but one, retained their historic -identities and clung to their historic institutions. In this peculiar -way London perhaps resembles the metropolitan district of New York or -Boston or Essex County in New Jersey. From time to time new units of -administration were laid down to correspond to modern needs, until the -system of local government was complexity itself. In 1855, Parliament -took the first<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span> step toward adjusting this situation, creating the -Metropolitan Board of Works which, in the thirty-three years of its -life, was responsible for much of the city’s physical improvement. -But corruption and scandal entered its ranks and it was legislated -out of existence. The London County Council was then established -with a membership composed of one hundred and eighteen councillors, -two members being chosen from each of the fifty-seven “parliamentary -boroughs” or election districts and four from the city of London. From -within or without its own membership the councillors select nineteen -aldermen who serve for a six-year term. Through its committees the -Council gets into touch with its various problems of the county, while -engineering, medical, financial and other experts are held responsible -for actual administration. A “clerk” who is chosen by the Council is in -fact the coördinator of the whole system, somewhat in the manner of a -city manager in the United States. A comptroller serves as the fiscal -agent of the Council.</p> - -<p>Upon the county of London thus organized are imposed many of the -functions which in America are almost universally entrusted to cities: -extensive authority over public health, all matters relating to -fire protection, all metropolitan street improvement projects, the -construction and maintenance of bridges that cross the Thames, the -administration of the building laws and the maintenance of tenement -houses. The Council has also limited<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> powers over what we in this -country term “public utilities”; it has power to establish technical -schools and to build and maintain parks and recreation centers. Its -financial powers, while subject in their exercise to the control of the -Home Office, are comprehensive.</p> - -<p>Nor is the county of London but a city by another name. The -metropolitan boroughs have their separate identity and a very real -authority, including a certain control over public health and public -lighting. In any conflict between the boroughs and the county the Home -Office acts as the final arbiter.</p> - -<p>London county has a record of which it has good reason to be proud. To -its credit it has a long list of mighty public works, conceived and -executed in a spirit of public service. Apparently neither graft nor -the spoils system have obtained a foothold. Here is a county which -has become so conspicuous and interesting to its citizens that they -form themselves into local political parties, founded upon genuine -differences of opinion and policy to make their citizenship felt in its -government. In the seats of the governing body sit, not the typical -office seeker to which we are accustomed in America, but men of the -influence and ability of Lord Rosebery, afterwards the prime minister -of England, and Sir John Lubbock.</p> - -<p>All of which would seem to go to prove that even at this late date, -the county is capable of a very honorable service, if it is taken -seriously.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span></p> - -<p>The whole problem is of utmost importance to the future of American -cities. Aside from the obvious economies of a single local government -as opposed to two or more, it seems essential that the future -development of large centers of population should not be hampered -by conflicting policies of a double or multiple system of local -governments. It is obvious, moreover, that perils which continually -threaten the population of urban communities, such as fire, crime and -contagious diseases, constitute unified problems which are co-extensive -with congested areas. It would seem essential that the control of these -perils should be a unified one and that too much reliance should not be -placed upon a spirit of coöperation between different units.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn19"><a href="#fna19">[19]</a> See Hormell, O. C. “Boston’s County Problems,” <i>Annals American -Academy of Political and Social Science</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 134 <i>et -seq.</i></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn20"><a href="#fna20">[20]</a> See Munro, <i>Government of European Cities</i>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 345 <i xml:lang="la" lang="la"><abbr title="et sequentes">et. -seq.</abbr></i></p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII"><span class="big">CHAPTER XVII</span><br /> -RECONSTRUCTION: PRINCIPLES, PRECEDENTS AND PROPOSALS</h2> -</div> - - -<p>We have been at some pains to put the county into right relationships. -Ideally, it is to be a supervised local division of the state -administration (such supervision to insure strict accountability but -to be unobstructive); it is to be relieved by the state of not a few -incompatible, back-breaking burdens; it is to have (with some necessary -limitations) a free hand in making over its internal organization for -whatever obligations of public service may be laid upon it in the -future. In some respects its greatest service is to consist in receding -entirely from public service, while in other respects its importance -should be greatly enhanced.</p> - -<p>Practically, these external adjusting movements will proceed -concurrently, with varying speed, according as the need for the one -or the other may exist or be recognized. Their full fruition will -still leave the county, within its restricted sphere, with a very -distinct and honorable body of functions to perform. And for this, -the county, now so largely an unfit instrument of a self-governing,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> -self-respecting community, must be made over from within.</p> - -<p>The basic formula of reconstruction is not far to seek. In every state -the forward looking part of the citizenry which interests itself -in better government for long toyed with the theory of “checks and -balances,” which might be denominated for popular purposes as “safety -via complication.” Past generations put a premium on <em>ingenious</em> -political devices. Just as to some people medicine which is not bitter -is not efficacious, so to the old school of political reformers, -government was dangerous if it could be seen through and understood. -But ingenuity and complexity in city government “came high.” The cost -of them was “conspicuous failure.” In the end the people rebelled and -the end of the old way of thinking about government was in sight. -Witness: the movements of those cities which since 1901 have so -cheerfully though so thoughtfully “scrapped” the historic dogma by -the act of adopting the “commission” plan. Ingenious, complicated, -inefficient, corrupt, city governments have given way literally by -the hundreds to a new system, the corner-stone principle of which is -simplicity: one set of officials to elect and watch; one place to go to -get things done; one source to which to direct criticism when things go -wrong.</p> - -<p>In a word, the Short Ballot, in its fullest implication. It is not -simply that there should be few officers to elect. County candidates -are not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span> especially obscure to rural voters and the ballots in the -country districts are not often absurdly long. The farmer probably -makes a better job of it when it comes to making up his ticket than -any other class of citizen. It is also necessary that “those officers -should be elective which are important enough to attract <em>and -deserve</em> examination,” that is, officers who stand at the sources of -public policy—not sheriffs or coroners or county clerks; not officers -who simply follow out a statutory routine, but those who are supposed -to lay out programs of county action.</p> - -<p>And then, the Short Ballot connotes unification of powers. For what -does it avail to watch, to criticize a single set of officers if all -the while the really important work of the county is performed and the -really important damage is committed by the officials who are obscure -and therefore unwatched?</p> - -<p>County government, as it stands, is the very personification of -non-conformity to these approved principles of political organization. -Starting, therefore, at the base of an ideal structure, let us proceed -to the task of reconstruction.</p> - -<p>Under ideal home-rule conditions the county will have been brought face -to face with the obligation to stand on its own feet. It will look -about for appropriate means to redeem that obligation. The electorate -will be made responsible for its collective conduct by virtue of -accurate representation in the county’s council. Responsibility<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span> will -first be secured in the very make-up of the governing body, which is -the source of power in any popular government. No stereotyped uniform -plan of organization will do; no slavish copying of the “New England” -type, or the “southern” type: counties differ too widely for that. But -natural and legitimate cleavages of public opinion will be recognized -and represented. Minor geographical divisions which have a distinct -identity may be given a separate voice in the county board, but if the -county is a geographical and social unit, the form of the governing -body will reflect the fact. And if the county is co-extensive with a -city, that circumstance will be given due weight.</p> - -<p>But the county board will be something more than an epitomized -electorate. It will be clothed, as such bodies rarely are, with the -power not only to discover what the people want, but to translate their -wishes into deeds of administration. Instead of working as now through -alien instruments in the person of independent officials, it will -control the operating mechanism of the county, which will be of its -own selection. Shall we take away from the people the power to choose -the sheriffs, the county clerk, the surveyor, the superintendent of -the poor? Yes, take away the selection, but reinforce their control. -Abandon the separation of powers? Yes, do away with the three-ring (or -perhaps twelve- or twenty-ring) circus, and get down to the serious -business of government. For<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> business never was successfully organized -except on the principle that the head controls the tail and all that -intervenes. In terms of law, the county board, subject of course to -state legislative and administrative supervision, will exercise all the -powers of the corporation, including those of appointment, of revenue -raising and of appropriation.</p> - -<p>A long step toward the fulfillment of these principles in actual -life has been taken in the county of Los Angeles, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>, one of those -communities in which the doctrine of complexity was once carried -to absurd extremes. But the new charter of this county, which was -the first to be adopted<span class="fnanchor" id="fna21"><a href="#fn21">[21]</a></span> under the home-rule provisions of the -constitution, proceeded in great measure in the light of the theory -exemplified by the commission plan in the cities. The supervisors -are retained on the elective list as the constitution requires, but -the county superintendent of schools, coroner, public administrator, -county clerk, treasurer, tax collector, recorder and surveyor, all of -whom were formerly elected by the voters, are now appointed by and -are responsible to the county governing body, which is the board of -supervisors. The sheriff, the auditor, the assessor and the district -attorney are still elective. In thus extending the power of the -board of supervisors, the charter framers require that, with a few -exceptions, the officers shall be chosen from competitive lists on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span> -the basis of merit and fitness. The fee system is abolished. The Los -Angeles achievement, while it falls far short of the measure of unity -which is present in many counties governed by the commissioner system, -is important as a recent conscious step toward greater simplicity.</p> - -<p>And now that we have perfected a mechanism for expressing the general -will of the people of the county, it remains to arm the governing -body more effectively with the means for translating mere wishes into -concrete acts of administration. To put it otherwise, we must mobilize -the operating departments under effective leadership.</p> - -<p>Recall, first, our statement in an earlier chapter that the county -in the United States is almost universally devoid of a definite -executive head. One exception is the two first-class counties of New -Jersey (Hudson and Essex) where until recent years the so-called -board of chosen freeholders were elected from districts. Under these -circumstances the need was felt for some agency to represent the -unity of interest among the several localities, in the government -of the county. Accordingly, the office of supervisor was conceived. -The incumbent is elected by the people of the county and has powers -not unlike those of the mayor in many cities. He is required “to be -vigilant and active in causing the laws and ordinances of the county -to be executed and enforced.” Subject to the civil service law he has -power to suspend and remove but not to appoint subordinates.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span> He may -propose legislation and veto resolutions.</p> - -<p>Fifteen years of experience have not commended this institution to -wider adoption. With one or two exceptions the supervisors, like most -mayors of cities, have not been men of force or imagination and they -have been controlled, apparently, by the same political elements as the -board of freeholders upon which they were supposed to have served as a -check.</p> - -<p>As these pages are being written, a single county in the West, almost -unconsciously it would seem and under influences that upon the surface -seem reactionary, has taken one of the longest progressive steps toward -administrative unity ever taken by an American county. The county in -mind is Denver, Colorado. Ever since the constitution was amended in -1902 the city and county have been geographically identical. Article -XX, Section 2, stipulates that “the officers of the city and county -of Denver shall be such as by <em>appointment</em> or election may be -provided for by the charter.” On May 9, 1916, Denver abandoned the -commission plan of government and vested the appointment of city <em>and -county</em> officials in the mayor.</p> - -<p>The New Jersey and Denver experiments point in the general direction -of administrative unity; they do not come within hailing distance of -the expectations which seem to be justified by recent developments -in American cities. For after all, the practical problem is the same -in every civil<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span> division: to dispose effectively and economically -of the visible supply of work to be accomplished or service to be -rendered. And this, some of the more aggressive of our cities, such -as Dayton and Springfield, 0., Niagara Falls, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, and some forty -others have essayed to do through a form of organization which is unity -and simplicity reduced to its lowest terms: the plan of the typical -business corporation. A board of directors to represent the people; a -city manager to appoint and direct the heads of departments—that is -all there is to it. And it works!</p> - -<p>In similar fashion the people of our counties will surely consent to -a reorganization of <em>their</em> public affairs. The members of the -county boards will not follow the example of some of our present county -commissioners and personally descend to the management of the details -of administration. They will learn the art of delegating authority -without losing control. And just as the people will have simplified -their problem of citizenship by concentrating their attention on the -governing group, so the representative body will focus administrative -responsibility in a chief subordinate. To be specific, the county -of the future will employ a manager chosen appropriately with sole -reference to his fitness to manage public affairs and without regard to -residence, religion or views on the Mexican situation, who will pick up -the authority of the county where the board of directors leaves it off.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span></p> - -<p>With the installation of the manager with adequate powers, the county -will have supplied the largest single essential in any collective -effort: leadership. Without that directing, driving force it is hardly -strange that counties, up to the present, have headed for nowhere in -particular.</p> - -<p>And leadership in county affairs signifies specifically what?</p> - -<p>To begin with, it will now be possible to build up the correct sort -of subsidiary organization. For instance, with such leadership it -should not have been necessary, for the lack of a proper executive -responsibility, for Hudson County in New Jersey to impose upon the -local judges the odd function of selecting a mosquito commission, and -to dispose the rest of the appointing power as the fancy of the moment -might dictate.</p> - -<p>A county manager who has the power to appoint and discharge will of -course be in a position to issue orders with a reasonable assurance -that they will be obeyed without a writ of mandamus or some other -form of judicial intervention. Public business will be speeded up -accordingly.</p> - -<p>And then, the presence of a responsible executive will supply -an indispensable condition of a scientific budget. The finance -committee of the governing board is no proper substitute, for, as -<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Cartwright<span class="fnanchor" id="fna22"><a href="#fn22">[22]</a></span> says: “Such a committee cannot have either the -understanding of the full meaning<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span> of the budget, or the personal -interest in properly performing the work of preparation that an -executive head should have who is personally responsible in very large -degree for the success or failure of the entire county administration. -The man who is officially responsible ought personally to lay the -plans, summoning to his aid such advisers as he deems best suited to -give him counsel.” The budget is the financial plan or program in a -given year. It must see the needs of the county in their unity. It is -the proper occupation of a single directing mind which is continuously -and intimately in touch through his subordinates, with every need of -the county. Not that the county manager will have the “power of the -purse” and dictate the financial policy of the county. On the contrary, -he will simply formulate the financial program for his employers to -accept or reject, in whole or in part as they see fit.</p> - -<p>The county manager will also act as a balance against any undue -pressure from any geographical division in the county or any division -of the public service. He will discover possible new services or better -methods of performing old services. In short, he will be the specially -accredited agent of the county board in carrying out its policies and -the initiating force of public opinion. Through the governing board -and the county manager there will be a clear and direct succession of -authority from the people to the scullion at the almshouse and the -assistant turnkey at the county jail.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span></p> - -<p>A proposal that practically squares with this formula was put forth -some years ago by a group of Oregon citizens under the leadership of W. -S. U’Ren, in a proposed amendment to the state constitution. Under the -projected scheme the county business would be in the hands of a board -of three directors to be elected by the voters of the county for terms -of six years. This board would have power to “make all expedient rules -and regulations for the successful, efficient and economic management -of all county business and property.” It would be necessary, however, -to employ a business manager who would be the “chief executive of the -county”; the choice of this officer not to be limited to the state -of Oregon; his salary to be determined by the board. With him would -rest the appointment of the subordinate county officers. The board of -directors would be empowered to audit bills, either directly or through -an auditor.</p> - -<p>A more complete and detailed plan of county government, following the -same general principles, was embodied in a bill introduced in the New -York legislature in 1916.<span class="fnanchor" id="fna23"><a href="#fn23">[23]</a></span> It provided that any county, except those -comprising New York City, might adopt the statute by petition and -referendum. The county would therefore be governed by a board of five -county supervisors who would act through a manager, whose duties would -be:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>(<i>a</i>) To attend all meetings of the board of supervisors;</p> - -<p>(<i>b</i>) To see that the resolutions and other orders of the board -of supervisors and the laws of the state required to be enforced by -such board, are faithfully carried out by the county, including all -officers chosen by the electors;</p> - -<p>(<i>c</i>) To recommend to the board of supervisors such measures as -he may deem necessary or expedient for the proper administration of -the affairs of the county and its several offices;</p> - -<p>(<i>d</i>) To appoint all county officers whose selection by -the electors is not required by the constitution, except county -supervisors and the county auditor or comptroller, for such terms of -office as are provided by law.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>Subject to resolutions of the board of supervisors, he shall:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>(<i>e</i>) Purchase all supplies and materials required by every -county officer, including the superintendent of the poor;</p> - -<p>(<i>f</i>) Execute contracts on behalf of the board of supervisors -when the consideration therein shall not exceed five hundred dollars;</p> - -<p>(<i>g</i>) Obtain from the several county officers reports of their -various activities in such form and at such times as the board of -supervisors may require;</p> - -<p>(<i>h</i>) Obtain from the several county officers itemized estimates -of the probable expense of conducting their offices for the ensuing -year, and transmit the same to the board of supervisors with his -approval or disapproval of each and all items therein, in the form of -a tentative budget.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span></p> - -<p>(<i>i</i>) Perform such other duties as the board of supervisors may -require.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>In the exercise of these duties the county manager would have power to -examine witnesses, take testimony under oath and make examination of -the affairs of any office.</p> - -<p>Inasmuch as the constitution of New York State requires the election -by the people of the sheriff, district attorney, county clerk and -register, the method of choosing these officers could not be affected -by statute.</p> - -<p>The Alameda County plan referred to in the preceding chapter provides -for a city-and-county manager who would have charge not only of county -administration but of the execution of the policies of the several -constituent boroughs.</p> - -<p>Such are a few definite proposals for fundamental political -reconstruction of the county. Recalling, again, the low estate of our -<em>city</em> governments, a decade since, the hope for an early and -thoroughgoing betterment of the county system, in the department of -fundamental structure, would seem to be not altogether vain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn21"><a href="#fna21">[21]</a> November, 1912.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn22"><a href="#fna22">[22]</a> Otho G. Cartwright, Director of Westchester County Research Bureau.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn23"><a href="#fna23">[23]</a> For text see Appendix, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 251-256.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"><span class="big">CHAPTER XVIII</span><br /> -SCIENTIFIC ADMINISTRATION</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>Better county government, however, involves a good deal more than a -mere skeleton of organization. It is not enough to provide the means -for fixing responsibility in a general though fundamental sense, in -officers who are conspicuous and powerful. That is the beginning of -efficiency. And yet “responsibility” in its greater refinements, in -its more intimate applications, is precisely the key to what all the -various prophets of better government and public administration are -preaching. Turn on the light! That is what the Short Ballot movement -proposes by the more sweeping fundamental changes in the structure. -Turning on the light is also essence of the doctrine of better -accounting, better auditing, better budget making, better purchasing -and the whole tendency to greater publicity in the conduct of public -affairs.</p> - -<p>Those county commissioners out in Kansas and Iowa who paid too much for -their bridges—what was the real trouble with them? A writer in the -agricultural journal which exposed these scandals wound up his article -with an exhortation to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span> people to “elect good honest men.” Such -advice was at least a shade or two more constructive than the political -preaching of a century ago (which still has its adherents) that public -officials tend inevitably to become thieves and crooks; that the best -that we can do is to tie their hands by ingenious “checking” and -“balancing” devices until it is almost impossible for them to move. -To-day one group of political reconstructionists says: “Give these -officers plenty of power, and then watch them,” and another group, -supplementing the former, says: “Give officers the means of knowing -exactly what they are doing; give also the public the means of watching -intelligently and minutely; and if their public servants go wrong it is -‘up to the people,’” actually as well as formally. One is quite safe in -assuming, for instance, that the offices of those middle western county -officials were terribly “shy” on reliable data on bridge construction -with which to meet the wiles of the combined contractors.</p> - -<p>To begin with, what kind of a bridge was most needed? Did they have -records as to the volume and weight of traffic which was likely to come -over the structure? Did they seek light from an engineer of untarnished -reputation or did they just trust to their “horse sense” and the fact -that they “had lived there all their lives and they ought to know, if -anybody did”? What did the records in the county engineer’s office show -as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span> to the relative durability and maintenance expense of steel bridges -as against wooden bridges, under the peculiar local conditions?</p> - -<p>Then as to the bids on the proposed structure: how did these compare -with the cost of bridges of equal tonnage in other states and counties? -How about the current state of the steel market—would it be better to -buy now or wait a few months until business at the mills was likely to -be slack?</p> - -<p>How about financing the bridge project? Should the cost be borne out -of the current year’s revenues, should it be covered by a ten-year -bond issue or should the next generation of taxpayers be saddled with -payments long after the bridge had outlived its usefulness?</p> - -<p>A board of supervisors or a county manager or a county engineer armed -with an answer to this series of extremely pertinent questions and a -modicum of common honesty would be proof against ninety-nine per cent. -of the “slick” deals which are so often “put over” on an unsuspecting -public and their easy-going servants.</p> - -<p>The science of public administration consists principally in knowing -<em>exactly</em> where you are and what you are doing—knowledge -gained through experimentation, investigation and comparison and by -consultation of authoritative standards and with authorities themselves.</p> - -<p>We will illustrate this principle in a few of its applications:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span></p> - - -<h3>ACCOUNTING</h3> - -<p>The accounting system of any organization, public or private, is useful -in proportion to the definiteness of its analyses or classifications, -according to what is most important to be known. Thus, in New -York State, the statutes authorize boards of supervisors to allow -claims on the basis: (1) of specific amounts imposed by state law, -such as the stated salaries of judges, (2) of amounts fixed by the -board of supervisors under authority of law. In at least one county -(Westchester) it was formerly the custom to lump a great variety of -claims under the second heading—under the title “county audited -bills”—a procedure which was satisfactory enough perhaps, if to know -the <em>authority</em> for payment were the only information desired. -By such a system it was impossible to tell the cost of running any -county office or department without actually tracing each voucher back -to its source. Thus, it was found that, in the year 1907 the budget -authorization for the superintendent of the poor was $17,485.61, while -the expenditures shown by the treasurer’s report were $108,906.58 -and the actual cost of the office, when proper additions were made -from the “county audited bills,” was $118,464.33. Discrepancies of an -equally serious nature were revealed in the case of most of the other -offices. The accounting system through its inexact classifications gave -information which was useful in protecting the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span> treasurer but which -was practically without value as a description of what the county’s -departments were doing and how economically they were doing it.</p> - -<p>Exact classification is also essential to the last degree in the -making of the budget, to the end that actual experience in the way of -revenues received and funds disbursed may be made the reliable basis -of future activities. In a well-ordered system of state supervision of -local accounts the classifications will be made by a state official -who will have the power to enforce compliance upon the part of the -fiscal officer in each county. So that in time each county will have -the inestimable advantage of being able to compare its finances with -those of other similar units. A proper accounting system will proceed -so far in its analysis as to provide a large amount of data concerning -the cost of <em>units</em> of service rendered and materials consumed. -Among other things, it will reveal at any and all times precisely what -is the condition of the county’s assets both in the shape of funds and -of investments; it will show how much the county actually owes and is -to owe at any future date.</p> - - -<h3>THE BUDGET</h3> - -<p>On the basis of accounts that tell in detailed classification the -needs and the resources of the county, the governing body will be able -to embark<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span> upon the financial voyage of each new year with chart and -compass. At a stated time before the budget-making period the heads of -departments, having before them the records of transactions and costs -in previous years, will frame their requests for future service. But -because of the exactness of the estimates required to be submitted, any -request for an increase of appropriation will stand out as a shining -mark. The department head will thereby be thrown on the defensive, will -be obliged to explain himself. The knowledge of that condition will -have a distinctly beneficial effect upon any desire of his to seek -increased appropriations without careful consideration.</p> - -<p>The governing body will proceed, moreover, with the certitude that -the public has at its disposal the means of knowing in detail what -its government is costing. The business of the year will be treated -as a program of public service; and in the framing of that program -every interested citizen and group of citizens will be urged to take -part through the medium of public hearings. As the Westchester County -Research Bureau says: “It would be easy to provide an opportunity for -the filing of either objections or additional suggestions by taxpayers -and for consideration of these at public hearing at the county seat -before the board of supervisors by public notice of such filing and of -such public hearing. Such hearings would doubtless speedily end such -abuses as are exemplified in our bulletin on the Purchase of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span> County -Supplies. In the face of public objection, few supervisors would vote -affirmatively for appropriations for such extravagant expenditures. The -difference in result would be that between the action of an informed -public, able to deliberate in advance upon proposed expenditures, and -the absence of action of a public ignorant of the character of such -proposed expenditures—the usual condition under present methods of -budget provision for public funds.</p> - -<p>“It is easy to prevent the official adoption over public objection of -extravagant estimates. It is difficult to prevent extravagant misuse -of public funds appropriated in lump sums, or to rectify such misuses -after such expenditures have been incurred.”<span class="fnanchor" id="fna24"><a href="#fn24">[24]</a></span></p> - -<p>Complete knowledge and complete mutual confidence and understanding on -the part of the public on the one hand and its agencies of government -on the other—that is the big and seemingly reasonable promise of a -budget system of the right sort. It cannot be put into operation in the -fullest extent without those structural changes in county government -with which we have already dealt.</p> - - -<h3>AUDITING AND PURCHASING</h3> - -<p>A special field in which exact knowledge is particularly essential as -a safeguard against theft is that of the auditor. To many a county -treasurer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span> the auditing demands of the government appear to be met when -some basis of authority for a payment has been established. Sometimes -even then the authority in question is not a legal one for often it may -not be established by reference to the letter of the statute but by the -precedents set by previous incumbents. Not “What does the law say about -it?” but “What did —— do in such cases?” is apt to be the question -uppermost in the mind of the official. How many millions of good money -have slipped through county treasurers’ hands through such a procedure -will never be known. The state examiner who has not discovered many an -old-fashioned county where many such illegal payments have been made is -rare indeed.</p> - -<p>But such post-mortem checking of illegal payments is, for the most -part, but a sad business. Modern standards of auditing organization -and practice aim to insure more completely that the authority for -payment shall be established <em>before</em> payment. The auditor should -certainly be wholly independent of the disbursing officer and some -authorities would also insist, of the appropriating body. Least of all -should the auditing be done by the appropriating body itself or through -its committees (as is true in some states) for such an audit through -lack of first-hand consideration and definite fixing of responsibility -rapidly degenerates into a perfunctory performance. It is even the -practice in some counties to audit bills in full board by acclamation!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span></p> - -<p>And since so large a portion of county claims are for material and -supplies for use in the construction and maintenance of roads, -bridges and institutions, the work of audit cannot fail to be closely -associated with the purchasing system. The purchasing agent by -whatsoever name called, is, after all, a special sort of auditor, -dealing with a variety of commodities instead of funds. As in every -other branch of public service, successful purchasing depends primarily -on exact information, relating in this case, to standards of utility -of various articles, the present and the probable future state of the -market, the exact condition of present supplies, the honest fulfillment -of contracts. Such information may come through stock ledgers, -inspectors, trade journals or chemical tests.</p> - -<p>In the county of Alameda, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>, as a result of investigation, publicity -and political pressure resulting in changes in the purchasing procedure -in the county offices, the sum of $810,205 was saved on the one -item of cost of elections in the years 1912-1916. Blank affidavits -of registration dropped from $16.50 to $3.30 per thousand, election -ballots from $22.12 to $1.65. On advertising, election proclamation, -etc., there was a saving during the period of 1700 per cent. And -this is by no means an unique experience. It is typical of results -obtained under careful scientific purchasing methods in public work -everywhere.<span class="fnanchor" id="fna25"><a href="#fn25">[25]</a></span> Accurate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span> records, a study of unit costs, “pitiless -publicity,” standardization and elimination of senseless waste and lost -motion constitute the explanation. The Tax Association is now urging -the consolidation of public purchasing agencies throughout the county -in order to take advantage of the still greater economies which accrue -to the large buyer.</p> - - -<h3>OTHER FORMS OF ACCOUNTING</h3> - -<p>It is not only in its material interests that the county will be in -need of exact information. Where the county comes into contact with -the human factor the importance of working in the daylight cannot be -overlooked. It will not do for the officer in charge of the poor to -keep records “under his hat” concerning the inmates under his charge. -Similarly, the probation officer will investigate and account for the -delinquencies and the special needs of his wards, in a really informing -way. And the sheriff, so long as he shall be the peace officer of -the county, will furnish a record of crimes committed within his -jurisdiction which will possibly lead to suitable preventive measures.</p> - -<p>It is a high standard of administrative efficiency which we have set -up. No single county so far as we know, measures up to it at present. -No county, apparently, without compulsion from the central state -government, has even made any serious progress along these lines except -at the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span> instigation of a privately supported research bureau or tax -association. County administrative organization and procedure is virgin -soil for constructive civic effort.</p> - -<p>But administrative procedure is not more important to county betterment -than the personnel of the organization. “Politics” in administration -has come to mean the antithesis of scientific standards. Mediocrity and -incompetency sit enthroned where party expediency takes precedence over -the interests of the whole county.</p> - - -<h3>THE MERIT SYSTEM</h3> - -<p>Therefore abolish “politics!” No single county of its own initiative -has taken a more important step toward that end than Los Angeles, -California, under its special home-rule charter, which is not—able for -the advanced character of its civil service provisions. Among other -things it creates a bureau of efficiency, consisting of the civil -service commission (three members), the secretary thereof and the -auditor of the county. To quote the language of the charter, the duty -of this bureau is that of “determining the duties of each position in -the classified service, fixing standards of efficiency, investigating -the methods of operation of the various departments and recommending to -the board of supervisors and department heads measures for increasing -individual, group and departmental efficiency, and providing for -uniformity<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span> of competition and simplicity of operation.” The commission -is required to “ascertain and record the comparative efficiency of -employees in the classified service” and has power after a hearing, -to “dismiss from the service those who fall below the standards of -efficiency established.”<span class="fnanchor" id="fna26"><a href="#fn26">[26]</a></span></p> - -<p>With a combination of a structure of government designed to fix general -responsibility, an administrative procedure designed to let daylight -into public business and an administrative personnel free to serve the -interests of the public, the people of the county will be in a position -to just about get what they want, within the measure of power granted -to the locality under the laws of the state.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn24"><a href="#fna24">[24]</a> “The Making of the County Budget,” Westchester County Research -Bureau, 1912.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn25"><a href="#fna25">[25]</a> Excellent results have been obtained by the purchasing agent of -Onondaga County, New York, <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Frank X. Wood.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn26"><a href="#fna26">[26]</a> For full text of provisions, see Charter of Los Angeles (Appendix -B).</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX"><span class="big">CHAPTER XIX</span><br /> -THE COUNTY OF THE FUTURE</h2> -</div> - - - - -<p>In our mind’s eye we have now completely made over the system. -Metropolitan counties have retired from the field; the remainder have -in a large measure been put in command of their own destinies through a -generous extension of the home-rule principle. The county politician of -the conventional type has been extinguished and single-minded service -of the whole people has replaced a hyphenated allegiance that put the -county chairman in the place of highest honor.</p> - -<p>What could such a county do for its citizens?</p> - -<p>It should be kept in mind that this county of the imagination with -which we are particularly concerned will be practically confined to -rural and semi-rural localities. Here, even while we dream, a very -actual metamorphosis is going on which inevitably promotes a sense of -community interest. Thanks to Alexander Graham Bell and Henry Ford, the -countryside is getting together in spite of itself! The rural gentry -will think in bigger units and the basis of its allegiances will be -correspondingly broadened. And a more fundamental<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span> accomplishment for -county betterment could not well be conceived, for, as Herbert Quick -has asked: “Did you ever know a man that was proud of his county?” The -answer to which he gives himself: “I knew but one such man and his -relations were all in county offices.”</p> - -<p>The county of the past has lacked opportunity to “do itself proud.” -The county of the future will be equipped to do interesting things in -an interesting way. But it must develop policies—real politics—as -a substitute for the interest that has made place hunting and place -holding a basic rural industry. The farmer of the future must be -given something more wholesome to think about “during the long winter -evenings” than who is to be the next coroner; and he must cease to -measure his freedom by the number of offices he attempts to fill with -his ballot.</p> - -<p>But before county citizenship is raised to the point of appreciation -of the new order a benevolent deed of violence must be done to a -power in the community noted principally for sycophantic approval of -the administration in power, an utter lack of either conscience or -ideas, and “patent insides”—the county official newspaper. The cheap -“boiler-plate” weekly must go the way of old Dobbin and in its place -will come some means yet to be devised, for putting out official -advertising that really advertises and furnishing news that is not only -“fit to print,” but worth the while.</p> - -<p>When these mechanical essentials of an efficient<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span> local democracy shall -have been acquired the county will be in a position to formulate a -genuine program of service. As to the ingredients for the same a few -suggestions may be in order:</p> - - -<h3>PUBLIC HEALTH</h3> - -<p>Contrary perhaps to general opinion, the rural sections of the -country are not conspicuously free from a public health problem. All -the squalor, bad housing and contagion is not in the crowded city -tenements. Rural citizens have perhaps much more to learn about pure -milk and water, for instance, than their city brethren. But the public -health movement has struck the country districts. It seems to have come -principally by way of the nation wide attack on tuberculosis. During -the past six or seven years there has been a remarkable campaign for -institutions for the care of persons afflicted with this malady. It -is something entirely distinct from the idea of caring for the pauper -sick, for it has been found difficult to persuade many people in need -of proper treatment to go to an institution to which a long-standing -stigma is attached. New York now has such special institutions in -about half of its counties. In the South, North Carolina has made -more important progress than any other state. Ninety of its hundred -counties have part-time county physicians, while the other ten have -county health officers devoting their entire time and energies to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span> -the preservation of public health and the prevention of disease. The -standard for the selection of these officers is very high.</p> - -<p>Wisconsin has enacted a statute authorizing the board of supervisors of -any county to employ a graduate trained nurse whose duties are:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“To act as a consulting expert on hygiene for all schools not already -having medical inspection either by physician or visiting nurse, to -assist the superintendents of the poor in their care of the poor in -the county who are in need of the services; to give instruction to -tuberculosis patients and others relative to hygiene measures to be -observed in preventing the spread of tuberculosis; to aid in making -a report of existing cases of tuberculosis; to act as visiting nurse -throughout the county and to perform such other duties as a nurse and -hygienic expert as may be assigned to her by the county board.”</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>That the spirit of the new public health movement is taking hold to -some extent in Minnesota is the testimony of a local authority<span class="fnanchor" id="fna27"><a href="#fn27">[27]</a></span>:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“Koochiching County has the first and only county health organization -in the state. The county commissioners and the county school board -there see the economy of hiring a medical man to preserve the health -of the community and to keep the children in school the maximum number -of days each term.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span></p> - -<p>“Furthermore, they have chosen a health officer with a proper point -of view; one who believes that a health department should be an -educational agency more than a police bureau; one who reserves the -‘police club’ for exceptional emergencies, but who is ever ready -to instruct and convert. In Koochiching County the authorities are -laying the foundation for a type of citizenship that is not only -going to grow up healthy, but will be so well informed that it will -observe sanitary laws and insist upon proper health safeguards. A -county health organization similar to the one in Koochiching County, -or a better one if it can be afforded, is needed in every Minnesota -county, southern as well as northern, but particularly in the pioneer -district.”</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>The public health movement in counties is by no means limited to the -cited states.</p> - - -<h3>COUNTY PLANNING</h3> - -<p>An example full of suggestive possibilities for almost any locality -comes to us from Westchester County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> It is a district which -is partly suburban and partly rural and has had very little unity -excepting a political one. The lines of railroad travel run not to -a common center within the county but to the Grand Central Terminal -in New York City. This situation the Westchester County Chamber of -Commerce set about to alleviate at least in some degree by means of -a county physical plan which would facilitate communication<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span> between -sections and possibly tend to distribute population more evenly. The -plan calls for a carefully thought-out system of roads, parks and -sewers. It is a private undertaking, but <em>cities</em> have official -planning commissions; why not counties? What could better serve as the -starting point for a broad, comprehensive program for a modernized -county to undertake?</p> - - -<h3>COUNTY LIBRARIES</h3> - -<p>Quite as fundamental to the welfare of the rural county as turnpikes -and bridges is the awakening of its intellectual life. The school -system is becoming everywhere more highly centralized, so that -educational policies and administration are controlled from the state -capitol. But the schools only meet the demand in an elementary limited -way, leaving the adult population and the graduate of the common and -high schools for the most part unprovided for. The United States -Commissioner of Education has discovered that “probably seventy per -cent. of the entire population of the country have no access to any -adequate collection of books or to a public reading room. In only about -one third of the counties of the United States is there a library of -five thousand volumes or more. In only one hundred of these do the -villages and country people have free use of the libraries.”</p> - -<p>In 1901 an Ohio county through a legacy left<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span> by one of its citizens -was enabled to meet this deficiency at least partially by establishing -the first county library. It has grown rapidly and now has not only a -central building but a number of sub-stations. The county is said, as a -result of this beginning, to have experienced a general awakening which -has been evidenced in good county pikes, county parks and a hundred -other tangible ways.</p> - -<p>Following the example of Ohio, county library laws were passed in -Wyoming, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Maryland, Oregon, Nebraska and -New York. California has twenty-seven county libraries.</p> - - -<h3>THE PUBLIC DEFENDER</h3> - -<p>Throughout Oklahoma and in Los Angeles county a humanitarian public -opinion has manifested itself in the erection of a new county office, -that of public defender. The purpose of this new institution is to -put the impecunious litigant actually as well as legally on an equal -footing with his opponent, whether he be a defendant in a criminal -action or a party to a civil suit. Hitherto the law had prescribed -that every defendant should have counsel, even if it be at the state’s -expense. But the lawyers assigned to this somewhat thankless task -(in a pecuniary sense) were either young and inexperienced or too -busy with more lucrative practice to give the “charity”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span> cases the -attention they deserved. Under the new system the salaried defender is -a man comparable in his ability to the district attorney; he gives his -entire time to the county and has a number of assistants. The defender -serves also as an investigator for the court and often in this capacity -discovers circumstances which justify the judge in mitigating sentence. -Incidentally, two years experimentation with this office in Los Angeles -has shown that a considerable saving can be made as against the old -method of employing various lawyers in private practice.</p> - -<p>While the public defender will doubtless acquire greatest importance in -city counties, rural communities will not fail to provide opportunities -for his services.</p> - - -<h3>AN IDEALIZED POORMASTER</h3> - -<p>For another piece of successful experimentation we must again revert -to Westchester County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, this time to the work of V. Everit Macy, -the superintendent of the poor elected in November, 1914. <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Macy -entered upon his public duties, a man of wealth and long experience in -social welfare work. He found the poor administration of the county at -its political worst: petty graft in commitments and the purchase of -supplies, an archaic almshouse, a notable absence of informing records, -neglect of proper medical examinations. He began at the source of the -trouble by eliminating “politics,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span> in the making of appointments, -by the simple expedient of requiring applicants for positions to -state their qualifications. In time he had surrounded himself with a -group of trained social workers, men and women who, according to one -observer,<span class="fnanchor" id="fna28"><a href="#fn28">[28]</a></span> “are as unlike the staff commonly found with a poor-law -officer as the faculty of a university is unlike that of a one-room -country school.” The simple recital of a few of his achievements in -his first two-year term presages, perhaps, the county of the future -as somewhere in sight of its highest efficiency as a humanitarian -agency. <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Macy systematized records, required physical and medical -examination of all inmates, weeded out mental defectives and sent them -to custodial institutions, started competitive bidding in the purchase -of supplies (saving $18,000 in the first year), improved the diet -of inmates and their general level of health, tripled the amount of -produce raised upon the county farm, made the hospital a preventive -agency instead of a place for treating cases suffering obviously from -disease.</p> - -<p>The superintendent’s basic interest, by the way, is the ultimate -causes and prevention of poverty, and to this end he has instituted -investigations and records of the habits, occupations and every other -matter concerning the inmates that might throw light upon their present -condition.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span></p> - -<p>In the handling of children’s cases, his work has been particularly -effective. To begin with, unnecessary commitments, which had been -encouraged by the fee system prevailing in New York, have been -prevented. And during the first year of the term 311 children ceased -to be public charges, some of those previously committed having -been transferred to state homes, some having been placed in foster -homes, but the far greater number, 239, having been returned to their -relatives. Inasmuch as the annual cost to the county for each committed -child was $237, the public saving accomplished through this systematic, -intelligent handling of the child problem was over $17,000.</p> - -<p>Before <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Macy’s first term had expired he had so far won the -confidence of the board of supervisors and the public in general that -they accepted plans for centralizing the public welfare work of the -county in a great plant for which nearly $2,000,000 has already been -appropriated. Within the confines of this new establishment will be -accommodated the almshouse, the county hospital and the county jail. -The office of superintendent of the poor, in the meantime has been -abolished (January 1, 1917) and a new officer to be known as the -commissioner of charities and correction, and having greatly extended -jurisdiction, will take his place.</p> - -<p>It is a new conception which <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Macy has given us of the once -melancholy job of the poormaster<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span> and he has new revelations of the -possibilities of his position in store.</p> - - -<h3>CITIZEN ORGANIZATION</h3> - -<p>But movements for better rural health, better library facilities, -better physical development and for a better conception of public -humane obligations do not spring out of the air. Always they are the -product either of some personal initiative or some organized effort. -Does any county clearly lack that element of citizen leadership? -Then the obvious need of the county is to bridge that gap. The rural -population of America suffers (the word is all too weak) for the -lack of a public community sense. Every “average” rural citizen is -a unit, he does not travel in droves—so much for his independence. -On the other hand, he has not fully learned the art of coöperation -and legitimate compromise. The end of this condition, however, will -doubtless come by way of his growing realization of a community of -private interest developed through such special organizations as -county chambers of commerce, boards of trade and county agricultural -associations.</p> - -<p>Sometimes such bodies, founded with the idea of promoting a common -material advantage, as, for instance, by enhancing the value of local -real estate or attracting capital to local industries, discover by a -gradual process that the government is an indispensable leverage to -achieving the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span> particular ends in view and that existing government is -a decidedly ineffectual instrument. It was through such a metamorphosis -that the Chamber of Commerce in Westchester County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, progressed -in its program of county planning, to a study of and attack upon -the faulty system of taxation, to plans for a revision of county -government and finally to an active interest in county home rule -through constitutional revision. County chambers of commerce are also -doing much to beat down the barriers of distrust that have existed -between the farmer and the business man. By a commingling of the two -in a common organization both have often come to an understanding of -their mutual interest in good roads, good schools and all the other -appurtenances of a developed community.</p> - - -<h3>COUNTY STUDY CLUBS</h3> - -<p>An interesting effort to stimulate a healthy county consciousness -through a different intellectual means is being undertaken in North -Carolina. Under the auspices of the University of North Carolina -“home-county clubs” have been established in many counties and, -according to the prospectus, the members “are bent upon intimate, -thoughtful acquaintance with the forces, agencies, tendencies, drifts -and movements that have made the history we study to-day, and that -are making the history our children will study to-morrow.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span> The club -studies are mainly concerned with rural problems. Each county is -compared with itself during the last census period, “in order to learn -in what particulars it has moved forward, marking time or lagging to -the rearward.” But also it is compared with other counties of the -state, in every phase of the study, in order to show its rank and -standing.... “Meanwhile the state as a whole is being set against the -big background of world endeavor and achievement.”</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Such are just a few of the signs of the broadening of rural community -life. To plan, to put before the public for discussion and approval, -and to execute just such projects as these is the constructive -opportunity of the county of the future. It is a program which will tax -the county’s citizenship and statesmanship. It is the county’s real -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span>“politics.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn27"><a href="#fna27">[27]</a> <abbr title="Doctor">Dr.</abbr> I. J. Murphy of the Minnesota Public Health Association.</p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn28"><a href="#fna28">[28]</a> See Winthrop D. Lane, “A Rich Man in the Poor House,” -<i>Survey</i>, <abbr title="November">Nov.</abbr> 4, 1916. Reprinted in pamphlet form by the County -Government Association, White Plains, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr></p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX_A"><span class="big">APPENDIX A</span><br /> -CONSTITUTIONAL COUNTY HOME RULE IN CALIFORNIA</h2></div> - - - -<blockquote> - -<p>[In response to a considerable demand for a reorganization of certain -counties the Legislature of California in 1911 submitted to the people -the amendment to Art. XI. of the constitution which appears herewith. -It was adopted October 10, 1911. For summary and comments see <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> -145-147 of the text.]</p> -</blockquote> - - -<p><i>County charters.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 7½.</span> Any county may frame a charter for its own -government consistent with and subject to the Constitution (or, having -framed such a charter, may frame a new one), and relating to matters -authorized by provisions of the Constitution, by causing a board of -fifteen freeholders, who have been for at least five years qualified -electors thereof to be elected by the qualified electors of said -county at a general or special election. Said board of freeholders -may be so elected in pursuance of an ordinance adopted by the vote of -three fifths of all the members of the board of supervisors of such -county, declaring that the public interest requires the election of -such board for the purpose of preparing and proposing a charter for -said county, or in pursuance of a petition of qualified electors of -said county as hereinafter provided. Such petition,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span> signed by fifteen -per centum of the qualified electors of said county, computed upon the -total number of votes cast therein for all candidates for Governor at -the last preceding general election at which a Governor was elected, -praying for the election of a board of fifteen freeholders to prepare -and propose a charter for said county, may be filed in the office of -the county clerk. It shall be the duty of said county clerk, within -twenty days after the filing of said petition, to examine the same, -and to ascertain from the record of the registration of electors of -the county, whether said petition is signed by the requisite number of -qualified electors. If required by said clerk, the board of supervisors -shall authorize him to employ persons specially to assist him in -the work of examining such petition, and shall provide for their -compensation. Upon the completion of such examination, said clerk -shall forthwith attach to said petition his certificate, properly -dated, showing the result thereof, and if, by said certificate, it -shall appear that said petition is signed by the requisite number of -qualified electors, said clerk shall immediately present said petition -to the board of supervisors, if it be in session, otherwise at its -next regular meeting after the date of such certificate. Upon the -adoption of such ordinance, or the presentation of such petition, -said board of supervisors shall order the holding of a special -election for the purpose of electing such board of freeholders, which -said special election shall be held not less than twenty days nor -more than sixty days after the adoption of the ordinance aforesaid -or the presentation of said petition to said board of supervisors; -<em>provided</em>, that if a general election shall occur in said county -not less than twenty days nor more than sixty days after<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span> the adoption -of the ordinance aforesaid, or such presentation of said petition to -said board of supervisors, said board of freeholders may be elected -at such general election. Candidates for election as members of said -board of freeholders shall be nominated by petition, substantially in -the same manner as may be provided by general law for the nomination, -by petition of electors, of candidates for county offices, to be -voted for at general elections. It shall be the duty of said board of -freeholders, within one hundred and twenty days after the result of -such election shall have been declared by said board of supervisors, -to prepare and propose a charter for said county, which shall be -signed in duplicate by the members of said board of freeholders, or a -majority of them, and be filed, one copy in the office of the county -clerk of said county and the other in the office of the county recorder -thereof. Said Board of Supervisors shall thereupon cause said proposed -charter to be published for at least ten times in a daily newspaper of -general circulation, printed, published and circulated in said county; -<em>provided</em>, that in any county where no such daily newspaper is -printed, published and circulated, such proposed charter shall be -published for at least three times in at least one weekly newspaper, of -general circulation, printed, published and circulated in such county; -and <em>provided</em>, that in any county where neither such daily nor -such weekly newspaper is printed, published and circulated, a copy of -such proposed charter shall be posted by the county clerk in three -public places in said county, and on or near the entrance to at least -one public schoolhouse in each school district in said county, and -the first publication or the posting of such proposed charter shall -be made within fifteen days<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span> after the filing of a copy thereof, as -aforesaid, in the office of the county clerk. Said proposed charter -shall be submitted by said board of supervisors to the qualified -electors of said county at a special election held not less than thirty -days nor more than sixty days after the completion of such publication, -or after such posting; <em>provided</em>, that if a general election -shall occur in said county not less than thirty days nor more than -sixty days after the completion of such publication, or after such -posting, then such proposed charter may be so submitted at such general -election. If a majority of said qualified electors, voting thereon at -such general or special election, shall vote in favor of such proposed -charter, it shall be deemed to be ratified, and shall be forthwith -submitted to the Legislature, if it be in regular session, otherwise -at its next regular session, or it may be submitted to the Legislature -in extraordinary session, for its approval or rejection as a whole, -without power of alteration or amendment. Such approval may be made -by concurrent resolution, and if approved by a majority vote of the -members elected to each house, such charter shall become the charter of -such county and shall become the organic law thereof relative to the -matters therein provided, and supersede any existing charter framed -under the provisions of this section, and all amendments thereof, and -shall supersede all laws inconsistent with such charter relative to the -matters provided in such charter. A copy of such charter, certified and -authenticated by the chairman and clerk of the board of supervisors -under the seal of said board and attested by the county clerk of said -county, setting forth the submission of such charter to the electors of -said county, and its ratification by them, shall, after the approval -of such charter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span> by the Legislature, be made in duplicate, and filed, -one in the office of the Secretary of State and the other, after being -recorded in the office of the recorder of said county, shall be filed -in the office of the county clerk thereof, and thereafter all courts -shall take judicial notice of said charter.</p> - -<p>The charter, so ratified, may be amended by proposals therefor -submitted by the board of supervisors of the county to the qualified -electors thereof at a general or special election held not less than -thirty days nor more than sixty days after the publication of such -proposals for ten times in a daily newspaper of general circulation, -printed, published and circulated in said county; <em>provided</em>, -that in any county where no such daily newspaper is printed, published -and circulated, such proposed charter shall be published for at least -three times in at least one weekly newspaper, of general circulation, -printed, published and circulated in such county; <em>provided</em>, -that in any county where neither such daily nor such weekly newspaper -is printed, published and circulated, a copy of such proposed charter -shall be posted by the county clerk in three public places in said -county, and on or near the entrance to at least one public schoolhouse -in each school district in said county. If a majority of such qualified -electors voting thereon, at such general or special election, shall -vote in favor of any such proposed amendment or amendments, or any -amendment or amendments proposed by petition as hereinafter provided, -such amendment or amendments shall be deemed to be ratified, and shall -be forthwith submitted to the Legislature, if it be in regular session, -otherwise at its next regular session, or may be submitted to the -Legislature in extraordinary session, for approval or rejection as a -whole, without power of alteration<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span> or amendment, and if approved by -the Legislature, as herein provided for the approval of the charter, -such charter shall be amended accordingly. A copy of such amendment -or amendments shall, after the approval thereof by the Legislature, -be made in duplicate, and shall be authenticated, certified, recorded -and filed as herein provided for the charter, and with like force and -effect. Whenever a petition signed by ten per centum of the qualified -electors of any county, computed upon the total number of votes cast -in said county for all candidates for Governor at the last general -election, at which a Governor was elected, is filed in the office of -the county clerk of said county, petitioning the board of supervisors -thereof to submit any proposed amendment or amendments to the charter -of such county, which amendment or amendments shall be set forth in -full in such petition, to the qualified electors thereof, such petition -shall forthwith be examined and certified by the county clerk, and if -signed by the requisite number of qualified electors of such county, -shall be presented to the said board of supervisors, by the said -county clerk, as hereinbefore provided for petitions for the election -of boards of freeholders. Upon the presentation of said petition to -said board of supervisors, said board must submit the amendment or -amendments set forth therein to the qualified electors of said county -at a general or special election held not less than thirty days nor -more than sixty days after the publication or posting of such proposed -amendment or amendments in the same manner as hereinbefore provided in -the case of the submission of any proposed amendment or amendments to -such charter, proposed and submitted by the board of supervisors. In -submitting any such charter, or amendments thereto,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span> any alternative -article or proposition may be presented for the choice of the electors, -and may be voted on separately without prejudice to others.</p> - -<p>Every special election held under the provisions of this section, -for the election of boards of freeholders or for the submission of -proposed charters, or any amendment or amendments thereto, shall be -called by the board of supervisors, by ordinance, which shall specify -the purpose and time of such election and shall establish the election -precincts and designate the polling places therein, and the names of -the election officers for each such precinct. Such ordinance, prior -to such election, shall be published five times in a daily newspaper, -or twice in a weekly newspaper, if there be no such daily newspaper, -printed, published and circulated in said county; <em>provided</em>, that -if no such daily or weekly newspaper be printed or published in such -county, then a copy of such ordinances shall be posted by the county -clerk in three public places in such county and in or near the entrance -to at least one public schoolhouse in each school district therein. In -all other respects, every such election shall be held and conducted, -the returns thereof canvassed and the result thereof declared by the -board of supervisors in the same manner as provided by law for general -elections. Whenever boards of freeholders shall be elected, or any such -proposed charter, or amendment or amendments thereto, submitted, at a -general election, the general laws applicable to the election of county -officers and the submission of propositions to the vote of electors, -shall be followed in so far as the same may be applicable thereto.</p> - -<p>It shall be competent, in all charters, framed under the authority -given by this section to provide, in addition to any other provisions -allowable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span> by this constitution, and the same shall provide, for the -following matters:</p> - -<p>1. For boards of supervisors and for the constitution, regulation and -government thereof, for the times at which and the terms for which the -members of said board shall be elected, for the number of members, -not less than three, that shall constitute such boards, for their -compensation and for their election, either by the electors of the -counties at large or by districts; <em>provided</em>, that in any event -said board shall consist of one member for each district, who must be a -qualified elector thereof; and</p> - -<p>2. For sheriffs, county clerks, treasurers, recorders, license -collectors, tax collectors, public administrators, coroners, surveyors, -district attorneys, auditors, assessors and superintendents of schools, -for the election or appointment of said officers, or any of them, for -the times at which and the terms for which, said officers shall be -elected or appointed, and for their compensation, or for the fixing of -such compensation by boards of supervisors, and, if appointed, for the -manner of their appointment; and</p> - -<p>3. For the number of justices of the peace and constables for each -township, or for the number of such judges and other officers of such -inferior courts as may be provided by the Constitution or general -law, for the election or appointment of said officers, for the times -at which and the terms for which said officers shall be elected or -appointed, and for their compensations, or for the fixing of such -compensation by boards of supervisors, and if appointed, for the manner -of their appointment; and</p> - -<p>4. For the powers and duties of boards of supervisors and all other -county officers, for their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span> removal and for the consolidation and -segregation of county offices, and for the manner of filling all -vacancies occurring therein; <em>provided</em>, that the provisions -of such charters relating to the powers and duties of boards of -supervisors and all other county officers shall be subject to and -controlled by general laws; and</p> - -<p><span class="fnanchor" id="fna29"><a href="#fn29">[29]</a></span>4½. For the assumption and discharge by county officers of certain -of the municipal functions of the cities and towns within the county, -whenever, in the case of cities and towns incorporated under general -laws, the discharge by county officers of such municipal functions is -authorized by general law, or whenever, in the case of cities and towns -organized under section eight of this article, the discharge by county -officers of such municipal functions is authorized by provisions of the -charters, or by amendments thereto, of such cities or towns.</p> - -<p>5. For the fixing and regulation by boards of supervisors, by -ordinance, of the appointment and number of assistants, deputies, -clerks, attachés and other persons to be employed, from time to time, -in the several offices of the county, and for the prescribing and -regulating by such boards of the powers, duties, qualifications and -compensation of such persons, the times at which, and terms for which -they shall be appointed, and the manner of their appointment and -removal; and</p> - -<p>6. For the compensation of such fish and game wardens, probation and -other officers as may be provided by general law, or for the fixing of -such compensation by boards of supervisors.</p> - -<p>All elective officers of counties, and of townships, of road districts -and of highway construction divisions therein shall be nominated and -elected<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span> in the manner provided by general laws for the nomination and -election of such officers.</p> - -<p>All charters framed under the authority given by this section, in -addition to the matters herein above specified, may provide as follows:</p> - -<p>For offices other than those required by the Constitution and laws of -the State, or for the creation of any or all of such offices by boards -of supervisors, for the election or appointment of persons to fill such -offices, for the manner of such appointment, for the times at which -and the terms for which such persons shall be so elected or appointed, -and for their compensation, or for the fixing of such compensation by -boards of supervisors.</p> - -<p>For offices hereafter created by this constitution or by general law, -for the election or appointment of persons to fill such offices, for -the manner of such appointment, for the times at which and the terms -for which such persons shall be so elected or appointed, and for their -compensation, or for the fixing of such compensation by boards of -supervisors.</p> - -<p>For the formation, in such counties, of road districts for the care, -maintenance, repair, inspection and supervision only of roads, highways -and bridges; and for the formation, in such counties, of highway -construction divisions for the construction only of roads, highways -and bridges; for the inclusion in any such district or division, of -the whole or any part of any incorporated city or town, upon ordinance -passed by such incorporated city or town authorizing the same, and upon -the assent to such inclusion by a majority of the qualified electors of -such incorporated city or town, or portion thereof, proposed to be so -included, at an election held for that purpose; for the organization, -government, powers and jurisdiction<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span> of such districts and divisions, -and for raising revenue therein, for such purposes, by taxation, upon -the assent of a majority of the qualified electors of such districts -or divisions, voting at an election to be held for that purpose; for -the incurring of indebtedness therefor by such counties, districts or -divisions for such purposes respectively, by the issuance and sale, -by the counties, of bonds of such counties, districts or divisions, -and the expenditure of the proceeds of the sale of such bonds, and for -levying and collecting taxes against the property of the counties, -districts or divisions, as the case may be, for the payment of the -principal and interest of such indebtedness at maturity; provided, -that any such indebtedness shall not be incurred without the assent -of two thirds of the qualified electors of the county, district or -division, as the case may be, voting at an election to be held for -that purpose, nor unless before or at the time of incurring such -indebtedness provision shall be made for the collection of an annual -tax sufficient to pay the interest on such indebtedness as it falls -due, and also for a sinking fund for the payment of the principal -thereof on or before maturity, which shall not exceed forty years -from the time of contracting the same, and the procedure for voting, -issuing and selling such bonds shall, except in so far as the same -shall be prescribed in such charters, conform to general laws for the -authorizing and incurring by counties of bonded indebtedness, so far as -applicable; provided, further, that provisions in such charters for the -construction, care, maintenance, repair, inspection and supervision of -roads, highways and bridges for which aid from the State is granted, -shall be subject to such regulations and conditions as may be imposed -by the Legislature.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span></p> - -<p>Whenever any county has framed and adopted a charter, and the same -shall have been approved by the Legislature, as herein provided, the -general laws adopted by the Legislature in pursuance of sections four -and five of this article, shall, as to such county, be superseded -by said charter as to matters for which, under this section it is -competent to make provision in such charter, and for which provision -is made therein, except as herein otherwise expressly provided; and -except that any such charter shall not affect the tenure of office of -the elective officers of the county, or of any district, township or -division thereof, in office at the time such charter goes into effect, -and such officers shall continue to hold their respective offices until -the expiration of the term for which they shall have been elected, -unless sooner removed in the manner provided by law.</p> - -<p>The charter of any county, adopted under the authority of this section, -may be surrendered and annulled with the assent of two thirds of the -qualified electors of such county, voting at a special election, -held for that purpose, and to be ordered and called by the board of -supervisors of the county upon receiving a written petition, signed and -certified as hereinabove provided for the purposes of the adoption of -charters, requesting said board to submit the question of the surrender -and annulment of such charter to the qualified electors of such county, -and, in the event of the surrender and annulment of any such charter, -such county shall thereafter be governed under general laws in force -for the government of counties.</p> - -<p>The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to any county -that is consolidated with any city.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn29"><a href="#fna29">[29]</a> This paragraph was adopted as an amendment, <abbr title="November">Nov.</abbr> 3, 1914.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX_B"><span class="big">APPENDIX B</span><br /> -THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY CHARTER</h2> -</div> - - - -<blockquote> - -<p>[This was the first charter to be drafted and adopted by the people -of a county under the amendment of the California constitution (<i xml:lang="la" lang="la"><abbr title="quod vide">q. -v.</abbr></i>). For summary and comment on its provisions see <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 172-173. -Date of adoption: <abbr title="November">Nov.</abbr> 7, 1912.]</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>We the people of the County of Los Angeles, do ordain and establish for -its government this</p> - - -<h2>CHARTER</h2> - -<h3>ARTICLE 1.</h3> - -<p class="center p0"><i>Name and Rights of the County</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 1</span>: The County of Los Angeles, as it now exists, is a body -corporate and politic, and as such has all the powers specified by the -constitution and laws of the State of California, and by this Charter, -and such other powers as are necessarily implied.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 2</span>: The powers mentioned in the preceding section can be -exercised only by a Board of Supervisors, or by agents and officers -acting under their authority or by authority of law or of this Charter.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 3</span>: The corporate name shall be “County of Los Angeles,” -which must be thus designated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span> in all actions and proceedings touching -its corporate rights, properties and duties. Its boundaries and county -seat shall remain the same as they now are, until otherwise changed by -law.</p> - - -<h3>ARTICLE II.</h3> - -<p class="center p0"><i>Board of Supervisors</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 4</span>: The County of Los Angeles shall have a Board of -Supervisors consisting of five members, each of whom must be an -elector of the district which he represents, must reside therein -during his incumbency, must have been such an elector for at least -one year immediately preceding his election, and shall be elected by -such district. Their terms of office shall be four years, each shall -hold until his successor is elected and qualified, and they shall each -receive a salary of $5000 per year payable monthly from the County -Treasury. They shall devote all their time during business hours to the -faithful service of the public.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 5</span>: The County is hereby divided into five supervisor -districts, the boundaries of which shall be and remain as they now are -until otherwise changed as provided in this Charter.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 6</span>: At the general election to be held in November, 1914, -supervisors shall be elected from the First and Third Supervisor -districts, whose terms shall begin at noon on the first Monday after -the first day of January, 1915, and end at noon on the first Monday -in December, 1918; provided, that each shall hold office until his -successor is elected and qualified.</p> - -<p>At the general election to be held in November, 1916, supervisors -shall be elected from the Second, Fourth and Fifth districts, whose -terms shall begin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span> at noon on the first Monday after the first day of -January, 1917, and end at noon on the first Monday in December, 1920; -provided, that each shall hold office until his successor is elected -and qualified.</p> - -<p>At each general election after November, 1916, there shall be elected, -either two or three supervisors, as the case may be, for terms of four -years, beginning at noon on the first Monday in December next after -their election, and ending at noon on the first Monday in December, -four years thereafter.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 7</span>: The Board of Supervisors may, by a two-thirds vote -of its members, change the boundaries of any supervisor district. No -such boundaries shall ever be so changed as to affect the incumbency -in office of any supervisor. Any change in the boundaries of any -supervisor district must be made within one year after a general -election.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 8</span>: Whenever a vacancy occurs in the Board of Supervisors -the Governor shall fill such vacancy, and the appointee shall hold -office until the election and qualification of his successor. In such -case, a Supervisor shall be elected at the next general election, to -fill the vacancy for the unexpired term, unless such term expires on -the first Monday in December succeeding said election.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 9</span>: The Board of Supervisors shall elect a Chairman, who -shall preside at all meetings. In case of his absence or inability to -act, the members present must, by an order entered of record, select -one of their number to act as Chairman <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">pro tem</i>. Any member of -the Board may administer oaths, when necessary in the performance of -his official duties. A majority of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span> members shall constitute a -quorum, and no act of the Board shall be valid or binding unless a -majority of the members concur.</p> - - -<h3>ARTICLE III.</h3> - -<p class="center p0"><i>General Powers of the Board of Supervisors</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 10</span>: The Board of Supervisors shall have all the -jurisdiction and power which are now or which may hereafter be granted -by the constitution and laws of the State of California or by this -Charter.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 11</span>: It shall be the duty of the Board of Supervisors:</p> - -<p>(1) To appoint all county officers other than elective officers, and -all officers, assistants, deputies, clerks, attachés and employees -whose appointment is not provided for by this Charter. Except in the -cases of appointees to the unclassified service, all appointments by -the Board shall be from the eligible civil service list. The Board -shall provide, by ordinance, for the compensation of elective officers -and of its appointees, unless such compensation is otherwise fixed by -this Charter.</p> - -<p>(2) To provide, by ordinance, for the number of Justices of the Peace -and Constables, to be elected and appointed, respectively, in each -Township. The Board may also provide, by ordinance, for the number and -fix the compensation, of such other judges and inferior officers of -such inferior courts as are now, or may hereafter be, provided by the -constitution or by general law.</p> - -<p>(3) To provide, by ordinance, for the number of assistants, deputies, -clerks, attachés and other persons to be employed from time to time -in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span> several offices and institutions of the county, and for their -compensation and the times at which they shall be appointed.</p> - -<p>(4) To provide, by ordinance, for the creation of offices other than -those required by the constitution and laws of the State, and for the -appointment of persons to fill the same, and to fix their compensation.</p> - -<p>(5) To require, if deemed expedient, any county or township officer, -or employee, before or after entering upon the duties of his office, -or service, to give bond for the faithful performance thereof, in such -penal sum as may be fixed by the Board.</p> - -<p>(6) To provide, publish and enforce, a complete code of rules, not -inconsistent with general laws or this Charter, prescribing in detail -the duties, and the systems of office and institutional management, -accounts and reports for each of the offices, institutions and -departments of the county.</p> - - -<h3>ARTICLE IV.</h3> - -<p class="center p0"><i>County Officers Other Than Supervisors</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 12</span>: The elective county officers other than members of -the Board of Supervisors shall be: Sheriff, District Attorney and -Assessor.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 13</span>: At the general election to be held in November, 1914, -a District Attorney shall be elected, whose term shall begin at noon -on the first Monday after the first day of January, 1915, and end at -noon on the first Monday in December, 1916. At the same election a -Sheriff and Assessor shall be elected, whose terms shall begin at the -same time and end at noon on the first Monday in December, 1918. At the -general election to be held in November, 1916, and every four years<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span> -thereafter, a District Attorney shall be elected, whose term shall be -four years, beginning at noon on the first Monday in December following -his election and ending at noon on the first Monday in December four -years thereafter. At the general election to be held in November, -1918, and every four years thereafter, a Sheriff and Assessor shall -be elected, whose terms shall be four years, beginning at noon on the -first Monday in December following their election, and ending at noon -on the first Monday in December, four years thereafter. All elective -county officers shall hold office until their successors are elected -and qualified.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 14</span>: The appointive county officers shall be:</p> - -<ul class="index"> -<li>Auditor.</li> -<li>Board of Education, Members of.</li> -<li>Board of Law Library Trustees, Members of.</li> -<li>Civil Service Commission, Members of.</li> -<li>Coroner.</li> -<li>County Clerk.</li> -<li>County Counsel.</li> -<li>Fish and Game Warden.</li> -<li>Health Officer.</li> -<li>Horticultural Commissioner.</li> -<li>License Collector.</li> -<li>Live Stock Inspector.</li> -<li>Probation Committee, Members of.</li> -<li>Probation Officer.</li> -<li>Public Administrator.</li> -<li>Public Defender.</li> -<li>Purchasing Agent.</li> -<li>Recorder.</li> -<li>Registrar of Voters.</li> -<li>Road Commissioner.</li> -<li>Superintendent of Charities.</li> -<li>Superintendent of Schools.</li> -<li>Surveyor.</li> -<li>Tax Collector.</li> -<li>Treasurer.</li> -</ul> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span>Such other officers as may hereafter be provided by law shall also be -appointive.</p> - -<p>The Tax Collector shall be ex-officio License Collector.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 15</span>: All fees collected by any county officer, Board or -Commission shall be paid into the County Treasury on the first Monday -of each calendar month, together with a detailed statement of the same -in writing, a duplicate copy of which shall be filed with the Auditor -at the same time.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 16</span>: Whenever a vacancy occurs in an elective county -office other than a member of the Board of Supervisors, the Board -shall fill such vacancy, and the appointee shall hold office until the -election and qualification of his successor. In such case, there shall -be elected at the next general election an officer to fill such vacancy -for the unexpired term, unless such term expires on the first Monday in -December succeeding said election.</p> - - -<h3>ARTICLE V.</h3> - -<p class="center p0"><i>Township Officers</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 17</span>: The Board of Supervisors must provide, by ordinance, -for not less than one Justice of the Peace and one Constable in each -township, and may provide for more in townships where population -and the business therein require a greater number; provided, that, -until the Board shall so provide for such Justices of the Peace and -Constables, the number of each thereof in each<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span> township shall continue -as now or hereafter provided by law; provided, further, that if the -Legislature shall hereafter, instead of the system of Courts of Justice -of the Peace now established by law, substitute some other system of -inferior courts, then and in that event, it shall not be compulsory -upon the Board of Supervisors to provide any number for, and the Board -may discontinue the existence of all Justices of the Peace in the -several townships, if such discontinuance be allowed by law, and the -Board may provide for such number of inferior Judges or Justices as may -be necessary for the needs of the county under such substituted system.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 18</span>: Justices of the Peace shall be nominated and elected -at the times and in the manner and for the terms, now or hereafter -provided by general law. Constables shall be appointed by the Sheriff -from the eligible civil service list.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 19</span>: The compensation of Justices of the Peace and of -Constables shall be fixed by the Board of Supervisors, and must be by -salary only, which need not be uniform for the several townships, nor -proportionate to population therein. Their duties and qualifications -shall be such as are now, or which may hereafter be prescribed by law, -or by this Charter.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 20</span>: All fees collected by any Justice of the Peace or -Constable shall be paid into the County Treasury, on the first Monday -of each calendar month, together with a detailed statement of the same -in writing, a duplicate copy of which shall be filed with the Auditor -at the same time. The fees to be so paid into the Treasury by each -Constable shall include all fees charged and collected by him for -service of any writ or process of any court or for any act or service -done or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span> rendered by him, or which he has power or which it is his duty -to do or render, in his official capacity; and every Constable shall -enter in the fee book kept by him all such fees charged and collected -by him and pay the same into the County Treasury as above provided, -without deduction for any such acts or services purporting or claimed -to have been done or rendered by him as a private citizen.</p> - - -<h3>ARTICLE VI.</h3> - -<p class="center p0"><i>Duties of Officers</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 21</span>: The County Counsel shall represent and advise the -Board of Supervisors and all county, township and school district -officers, in all matters and questions of law pertaining to their -duties, and shall have exclusive charge and control of all civil -actions and proceedings in which the county, or any officer thereof, is -concerned or is a party. He shall also act as attorney for the Public -Administrator in the matter of all estates in which such officer is -executor, administrator with the will annexed, or administrator, and -the County Counsel shall, in every such matter, collect the attorney’s -fees allowed therein by law and pay the same into the County Treasury.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 22</span>: The Superintendent of Charities shall be under the -direction of the Board of Supervisors, and shall exercise a general -supervision over, and enforce rules and regulations for the conduct -and government of, the charitable institutions of the county. He -shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the Board of -Supervisors or by law.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 23</span>: Upon request by the Defendant or upon order of the -Court, the Public Defender shall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span> defend, without expense to them, all -persons who are not financially able to employ counsel and who are -charged, in the Superior Court, with the commission of any contempt, -misdemeanor, felony or other offense. He shall also, upon request, give -counsel and advice to such persons, in and about any charge against -them upon which he is conducting the defense, and he shall prosecute -all appeals to a higher court or courts, of any person who has been -convicted upon any such charge, where, in his opinion, such appeal -will, or might reasonably be expected to, result in a reversal or -modification of the judgment of conviction.</p> - -<p>He shall also, upon request, prosecute actions for the collection of -wages and of other demands of persons who are not financially able to -employ counsel, in cases in which the sum involved does not exceed -$100, and in which, in the judgment of the Public Defender, the claims -urged are valid and enforceable in the courts.</p> - -<p>He shall also, upon request, defend such persons in all civil -litigation in which, in his judgment, they are being persecuted or -unjustly harassed.</p> - -<p>The costs in all actions in which the Public Defender shall appear -under this section, whether for plaintiffs or for defendants, shall be -paid from the County Treasury, at the times and in the manner required -by law, or by rules of court, and under a system of demand, audit -and payment, which shall be prescribed by the Board of Supervisors. -It shall be the duty of the Public Defender, in all such litigation, -to procure, if possible, in addition to general judgments in favor -of the persons whom he shall represent therein, judgments for costs -and attorney’s fees, where permissible, against the opponents of such -persons, and collect and pay the same into the County Treasury.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 24</span>: Subject to rules and regulations which shall be -adopted by the Board of Supervisors, by ordinance, the Purchasing Agent -shall be the buyer of furniture, fixtures, tools, supplies, materials -or other articles of personal property for the county and for county, -township and all other officers.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 25</span>: Each county or township officer, Board or Commission -shall have the powers and perform the duties now or hereafter -prescribed by general law, and by this Charter, as to such officer, -Board or Commission.</p> - - -<h3>ARTICLE VII.</h3> - -<p class="center p0"><i>Road Department</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 26</span>: The Board of Supervisors may provide for the -formation of road districts for the care, maintenance, repair and -supervision of roads, highways and bridges; and for the formation of -highway construction divisions for the construction of roads, highways -and bridges; for the inclusion in any such district or division of -the whole or any part of any incorporated city or town upon ordinance -passed by such incorporated city or town authorizing the same, and upon -the assent to such inclusion by a majority of the qualified electors -of such incorporated city or town or portion thereof proposed to be so -included at an election held for that purpose; for the organization, -government, powers and jurisdiction of such district or division, for -raising revenue therein for such purposes, by taxation, upon the assent -of a majority of the qualified electors of such district or division, -voting at an election held for that purpose; for the incurring of -indebtedness therefor by the county, district<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span> or division for such -purposes, respectively, by the issuance and sale, by the county, of -bonds of the county, district or division, and the expenditure of the -proceeds of the sale of such bonds, and for levying and collecting -taxes against the property of the county, district or division, as the -case may be, for the payment of the principal and interest of such -indebtedness at maturity; provided that any such indebtedness shall -not be incurred without the assent of two-thirds of the qualified -electors of the county, district or division, as the case may be, -voting at an election held for that purpose, nor unless before or at -the time of incurring such indebtedness, provision shall be made for -the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest on such -indebtedness as it falls due, and also for a sinking fund for the -payment of the principal thereof on or before maturity, which shall -not exceed forty years from the time of contracting the same; and the -procedure for voting, issuing and selling such bonds, except insofar -as the same shall be otherwise prescribed in this Charter, shall -conform to general laws for the authorizing and incurring of bonded -indebtedness by counties so far as applicable; provided, further, that -the construction, care, maintenance, repair and supervision of roads, -highways and bridges for which aid from the state is granted shall be -subject to such regulations and conditions as may be imposed by the -Legislature.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 27</span>: The Road Commissioner, subject to such rules and -regulations as shall be prescribed by the Board of Supervisors, shall -have direction and control over all work of construction, maintenance -and repair of roads, highways and bridges, other than work done under -contract, and it shall be his duty to examine and inspect contract -work<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span> as the same progresses and to see that the same is properly -performed, and when completed to file his written approval thereof with -the Board of Supervisors. He shall also have the control and management -of all county rock quarries and gravel pits, and of all other -materials, property and instrumentalities necessary for and connected -with the construction, maintenance and repair of roads, highways and -bridges.</p> - - -<h3>ARTICLE VIII.</h3> - -<p class="center p0"><i>Constabulary Department</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 28</span>: There is hereby created a Constabulary Department, -consisting of the Sheriff and of all Constables, who are hereby made -<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ex-officio</i> Deputy Sheriffs.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 29</span>: The Sheriff shall be the head of said Department, -and shall so organize the same as to give the county efficient and -effective police protection. Each Constable shall be subject to the -orders of the Sheriff and must serve process within his township, or -elsewhere, when requested, and he shall also perform all the duties -required of him by law.</p> - - -<h3>ARTICLE IX.</h3> - -<p class="center p0"><i>Civil Service</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 30</span>: On or before the first day of July, 1913, the Board -of Supervisors shall appoint three persons as members of the Civil -Service Commission, who shall so classify themselves as that one shall -serve until the first Monday in December, 1915, at noon, one until -the first Monday in December,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span> 1917, at noon, and one until the first -Monday in December, 1919, at noon. Before the first Monday in December -of each alternate year after 1913, the Board of Supervisors shall -appoint one person as the successor of the member of the Commission -whose term shall then expire, to serve for six years. Any vacancy on -the Commission shall be filled by the Board of Supervisors for the -unexpired term. Each member of the Commission shall serve until his -successor is appointed and qualified. Not more than one member shall be -an adherent of the same political party. No member shall hold any other -salaried county office, nor shall he have been, within the year next -preceding his appointment, an active executive officer in any political -organization. Each member shall have been a resident of the county -for the five years next preceding his appointment, and his name shall -be upon the state and county assessment rolls at the time thereof. -The Board of Supervisors by a four-fifths vote of all the members may -remove a member of the Commission during his term of office, but only -upon stating in writing the reasons for such removal and allowing him -an opportunity to be publicly heard in his own defense. The Commission -shall elect one of its members president.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 31</span>: Each member of the Commission shall receive a -compensation of Ten Dollars for each meeting thereof attended by him, -not to exceed five meetings in any calendar month. The Commission shall -appoint and fix the compensation of a Chief Examiner, who shall also -act as Secretary. This position shall be in the competitive class. -The Commission may appoint and fix the compensation of such other -subordinates as may be necessary.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 32</span>: For the support of the work of the Commission, the -Board of Supervisors shall annually levy and collect a tax on all -taxable property in the county, at the rate of not less than one-half -of one cent on each One Hundred Dollars of assessed valuation thereof. -Any part of the tax so levied for any fiscal year not expended during -such fiscal year, or required to defray expenses incurred during -such year, shall on the first day of January next succeeding the end -thereof, be placed in the general fund of the county.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 33</span>: The Civil Service of the county is hereby divided -into the unclassified and the classified service.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The unclassified service shall comprise:</p> - -<p>(a) All officers elected by the people.</p> - -<p>(b) In the office of the District Attorney: The Chief and one other -deputy, one secretary, and three detectives; and special counsel and -special detectives for temporary employment.</p> - -<p>(c) In the office of the Sheriff: The Under Sheriff, or Chief Deputy. -In the office of the Assessor: The Chief Deputy.</p> - -<p>(d) Superintendents, principals and teachers in the school system.</p> - -<p>(e) Members of the County Board of Education.</p> - -<p>(f) Members of the Civil Service Commission.</p> - -<p>(g) All officers and other persons serving the county without -compensation.</p> - -<p>The classified service shall include all other positions now existing -or hereafter created.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 34</span>: The Commission shall prescribe, amend and enforce -rules for the classified service,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span> which shall have the force and -effect of law; shall keep minutes of its proceedings and records of its -examinations and shall, as a Board or through a single Commissioner, -make investigations concerning the enforcement and effect of this -Article and of the rules and efficiency of the service. It shall make -an annual report to the Board of Supervisors.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The rules shall provide:</p> - -<p>(1) For the classification of all positions in the classified service.</p> - -<p>(2) For open, competitive examinations to test the relative fitness of -applicants for such positions.</p> - -<p>(3) For public advertisement of all examinations.</p> - -<p>(4) For the creation of eligible lists upon which shall be entered -the names of successful candidates in the order of their standing in -examination. Such lists shall remain in force not longer than two years.</p> - -<p>(5) For the rejection of candidates or eligibles who fail to comply -with the reasonable requirements of the Commission in regard to age, -residence, sex, physical condition or who have been guilty of crime or -of infamous or disgraceful conduct or who have attempted any deception -or fraud in connection with an examination.</p> - -<p>(6) For the appointment of one of the three persons standing highest on -the appropriate list.</p> - -<p>(7) For a period of probation not to exceed six months before -appointment or promotion is made complete, during which period a -probationer may be discharged or reduced with the consent of the -Commission.</p> - -<p>(8) For non-competitive examinations for minor positions in the county -institutions when competition is found to be impracticable.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span></p> - -<p>(9) For temporary employment of persons on the eligible list until -list of the class covering the temporary employment is exhausted; and -in cases of emergency, for temporary employment without examination, -with the consent of the Commission, after the eligible list has been -exhausted. But no such temporary employment shall continue longer than -sixty days, nor shall successive temporary appointments be allowed. Nor -shall the acceptance or refusal to accept such temporary appointment on -the part of a person on the eligible list be a bar to appointment to a -permanent position from said eligible list.</p> - -<p>(10) For transfer from one position to a similar position in the same -class and grade and for reinstatement within one year of persons who -without fault or delinquency on their part are separated from the -service or reduced.</p> - -<p>(11) For promotion based on competitive examination and records of -efficiency, character, conduct and seniority. Lists shall be created -and promotion made therefrom in the same manner as prescribed for -original appointment. An advancement in rank or an increase in salary -beyond the limit fixed for the grade by the rules shall constitute -promotion. Whenever practicable, vacancies shall be filled by promotion.</p> - -<p>(12) For suspensions for not longer than thirty days and for leaves of -absence.</p> - -<p>(13) For discharge or reduction in rank or compensation after -appointment of promotion is complete, only after the person to be -discharged or reduced has been presented with the reasons for such -discharge or reduction, specifically stated and has been allowed a -reasonable time to reply thereto in writing. The reasons and the reply -must be filed as a record with the Commission.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span></p> - -<p>(14) For the appointment of unskilled laborers and such skilled -laborers as the Commission may determine in the order of priority of -application after such tests of fitness as the Commission may prescribe.</p> - -<p>(15) For the establishment of a bureau of efficiency, consisting -of the Commission, the Secretary thereof and the Auditor, for the -purpose of determining the duties of each position in the classified -service, fixing standards of efficiency, investigating the methods of -operation of the various departments, and recommending to the Board of -Supervisors and department heads measures for increasing individual, -group and departmental efficiency, and providing for uniformity of -competition and simplicity of operation. The Commission shall ascertain -and record the comparative efficiency of employees in the classified -service and shall have power, after hearing, to dismiss from the -service those who fall below the standard of efficiency established.</p> - -<p>(16) For the adoption and amendment of rules only after public notice -and hearing.</p> - -<p>The Commission shall adopt such other rules, not inconsistent with the -foregoing provisions of this section, as may be necessary and proper -for the enforcement of this Article.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 35</span>: In case of a vacancy in a position requiring peculiar -and exceptional qualifications of a scientific, professional or expert -character, upon satisfactory evidence that competition is impracticable -and that the position can best be filled by the selection of some -designated person of recognized attainments, the Commission may, after -public hearing and by the affirmative vote of all three members of -the Commission, suspend competition, but no such suspension shall be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span> -general in its application to such positions, and all such cases of -suspension shall be reported, together with the reason therefor, in the -annual reports of the Commission.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 36</span>: All examinations shall be impartial and shall deal -with the duties and requirements of the position to be filled. When -oral tests are used, a record of the examination, showing basis of -rating, shall be made. Examinations shall be in charge of the chief -examiner except when members of the commission act as examiners. The -commission may call on other persons to draw up, conduct or mark -examinations, and when such persons are connected with the county -service it shall be deemed a part of their official duties to act as -examiners without extra compensation.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 37</span>: All persons in the county or township service -holding positions in the classified service as established by this -Article, at the time it takes effect, whether holding by election or -by appointment, and who shall have been in such service for the six -months next preceding shall hold their positions until discharged, -reduced, promoted or transferred in accordance with the provisions -of this Article. The Commission shall maintain a civil list of all -persons in the county service, showing in connection with each name -the position held, the date and character of every appointment and -of every subsequent change in status. Each appointing officer shall -promptly transmit to the Commission all information required for the -establishment and maintenance of said civil list.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 38</span>: The Auditor shall not approve any salary or -compensation for services to any person holding or performing the -duties of a position in the classified service, unless the payroll or -account for such salary or compensation shall bear the certificate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span> of -the Commission that the persons named therein have been appointed or -employed and are performing service in accordance with the provisions -of this Article and of the rules established thereunder.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 39</span>: Charges against any person in the classified service -may be made to the Commission by any elector of the county, such -charges to be in writing.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 40</span>: In any investigation conducted by the Commission it -shall have the power to subpœna and require the attendance of witnesses -and the production thereby of books and papers pertinent to the -investigation and each Commissioner shall have the power to administer -oaths to such witnesses.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 41</span>: No person in the classified service, or seeking -admission thereto, shall be appointed, reduced or removed or in any way -favored or discriminated against because of his political or religious -opinions or affiliations.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 42</span>: No officer or employee of the county, in the -classified service, shall, directly or indirectly, solicit or -receive, or be in any manner concerned in soliciting or receiving, -any assessment, subscription or contribution for any political party -or political purpose whatever. No person shall, orally or by letter, -solicit, or be in any manner concerned in soliciting, any assessment, -subscription or contribution for any political party or purpose -whatever from any person holding a position in the classified service.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 43</span>: No person holding a position in the classified -service shall take any part in political management or affairs or -in political campaigns further than to cast his vote and to express -privately his opinions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 44</span>: Any person willfully violating any of the provisions -of this Article or of the rules established thereunder, shall be guilty -of a misdemeanor.</p> - - -<h3>ARTICLE X.</h3> - -<p class="center p0"><i>Labor</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 45</span>: In the employment of persons in the service of the -county, where sex does not actually disqualify and where the quality -and quantity of service is equal, there shall be no discrimination in -selection or compensation, on account of sex.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 46</span>: Eight hours shall constitute a day’s work for -mechanics and others engaged in manual labor in the service of the -county.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 47</span>: In fixing compensation to be paid to persons under -the classified civil service, the Board of Supervisors shall, in each -instance, provide a salary or wage at least equal to the prevailing -salary or wage for the same quality of service rendered to private -persons, firms or corporations under similar employment in case such -prevailing salary or wage can be ascertained.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 48</span>: Every person who shall have been in the service of -the county, continuously, for one year, shall be allowed a vacation of -two weeks on full pay, annually.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 49</span>: The Board of Supervisors shall prohibit enforced -labor without compensation as a penalty for the commission of public -offenses. The net earnings of all county prisoners, based upon -reasonable compensation for services performed, shall go to the support -of their dependents, and if such prisoners have no dependents, such net -earnings shall accumulate and be paid to them upon their discharge.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span></p> - - -<h3>ARTICLE XI.</h3> - -<p class="center p0"><i>Recall</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 50</span>: The holder of any elective or appointive county or -township office may be recalled by the electors at any time after he -has held his office six months. The provisions of this Article shall -apply to officials now in office, and to those hereafter elected -or appointed. Such recall shall be affected as follows: A petition -demanding the election or appointment of a successor to the person -sought to be recalled shall be filed with the Registrar of Voters, -which petition shall be signed by qualified voters equal in number to -at least fifteen per cent. of the entire vote cast within the county -for all candidates for the office of Governor of the state at the -last preceding election at which a Governor was elected (or at least -twenty-five per cent. of such vote cast within the district or township -for which the officer sought to be recalled was elected or appointed, -in case of an official not elected by or appointed for the county) -and shall contain a statement of the grounds on which the recall is -sought. No insufficiency of form or substance in such statement shall -affect the validity of the election and proceedings held thereunder. -The signatures to the petition need not all be appended to one paper. -Each signer shall add to his signature his place of occupation and -residence, giving street and number or if no street or number exist, -then such a designation of his residence as will enable the location -to be readily ascertained. To each separate paper of such petition -shall be attached an affidavit made by a qualified elector of the -county, stating that the affiant circulated that particular paper and -saw written the signatures<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span> appended thereto, and that, according to -the information and belief of the affiant, each of said signatures -is genuine, and the signature of a qualified elector of the county -(or particular sub-division thereof in which such signers are hereby -required to reside). Within ten days from the filing of such petition, -the Registrar of Voters shall, from the records of registration, -determine whether or not said petition is signed by the requisite -number of qualified voters, and he shall attach to said petition his -certificate showing such determination. If such certificate shows the -petition to be insufficient, it may be supplemented within ten days -from the date of the certificate by the filing of additional papers, -duplicates of the original petition except as to the names signed. The -Registrar of Voters shall, within ten days after such additional papers -are filed, ascertain from the records of registration, and certify -whether or not the names to such petition, including such additional -papers, are still insufficient, and if insufficient, no action shall -be taken thereon; but the petition shall remain on file as a public -record. The failure to secure sufficient names shall not prejudice -the filing later of an entirely new petition to the same effect. If -required by the Registrar of Voters, the Board of Supervisors shall -authorize him to employ, and shall provide for the compensation of, -persons necessary in the examination of said petition and supplementing -petition, in addition to the persons regularly employed by him in -his office. In case the Registrar of Voters is the officer sought to -be recalled, the duties in this Article provided to be performed by -him shall be performed by the County Clerk. If the petition shall be -found to be sufficient, the Registrar of Voters shall submit the same<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span> -to the Board of Supervisors without delay, whereupon the Board shall -forthwith cause a special election to be held not less than thirty-five -nor more than forty days after the date of the order calling such an -election, to determine whether the voters shall recall such officer. -If a vacancy occur in said office after a recall petition is filed, -and the office is elective, the election shall nevertheless proceed as -in this section provided. One petition is sufficient to propose the -recall of one or more officials and the election of successors to such -thereof as are elective. Nominations for any elective office under such -recall election shall be made by petition in the manner prescribed by -section 1188 of the Political Code. Upon the sample ballot there shall -be printed, in not more than two hundred words, the grounds set forth -in the recall petition for demanding the recall of the officer, and -upon the same ballot in not more than two hundred words, the officer -may justify himself. There shall be printed on the recall ballot, -as to every officer whose recall is to be voted on, the following -question: “Shall (name of person against whom the recall petition is -filed) be recalled from the office of (title of office)?” following -which question shall be the words “Yes” and “No” on separate lines, -with a blank space at the right of each, in which the voter shall, by -stamping a cross (x) indicate his vote for or against such recall. On -such ballots, under each such question there shall also be printed, -if the officer sought to be recalled be an elective officer, the -names of those persons who shall have been nominated as candidates to -succeed him, in case he shall be recalled at such election; but no vote -shall be counted for any candidate for said office unless the voter -also voted on the question of the recall of the person sought to be -recalled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span> therefrom. The name of the person sought to be recalled shall -not appear on the ballot as a candidate for the office. If a majority -of those voting on said question of the recall of any incumbent shall -vote “No” said incumbent shall continue in said office. If a majority -shall vote “Yes,” said incumbent shall thereupon be deemed removed from -such office, upon the qualification of his successor. The canvassers -shall canvass the votes for candidates for said office and declare the -result in like manner as in a regular election. If the vote at any such -recall election shall recall the officer, then the candidate who has -received the highest number of votes for the office shall be thereby -declared elected for the remainder of the term. In case the person who -received the highest number of votes shall fail to qualify within ten -days after receiving the certificate of election, the office shall be -deemed vacant and shall be filled according to law. If the incumbent of -an appointive office be recalled at such election, his successor shall -be appointed immediately after the canvassing of the vote.</p> - -<p>Before any petition can be filed under this section for the recall of -any person in the classified service of the county, there shall be -presented to, and be passed upon by, the Civil Service Commission, a -complaint in writing giving the grounds for and asking the removal of -such person. Such complaint must be considered and be finally acted -upon by the Commission within twenty days after such filing.</p> - -<p>Until such time as the Board of Supervisors shall appoint a Registrar -of Voters under the provisions of this Charter, the powers and duties -by this section conferred upon the Registrar of Voters shall be -exercised and performed by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span> County Clerk. In case, at any time -prior to the appointment of such Registrar of Voters, the County Clerk -shall be sought to be recalled, such powers and duties, in and about -the matter of such proposed recall, shall be exercised and performed -by some other officer or person to be designated by the Board of -Supervisors.</p> - - -<h3>ARTICLE XII.</h3> - -<p class="center p0"><i>Miscellaneous</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 51</span>: Each county or township officer, Board or Commission -shall appoint, from the eligible civil service list, for either -permanent or temporary service, all assistants, librarians, deputies, -clerks, attachés and other persons in the office or department of -such officer, Board or Commission, as the number thereof is fixed and -from time to time changed by the Board of Supervisors; provided, that -appointments to the unclassified service in their respective offices -and departments shall be made by such officers, Boards and Commissions, -without reference to such eligible list.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 52</span>: The compensation of any elective county or township -officer shall not be increased nor diminished during the term for which -he was elected, nor within ninety days preceding his election.</p> - -<p>No compensation for any position, nor of any person under civil -service, shall be increased or diminished without the consent of the -Civil Service Commission specifically given thereto in writing.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 53</span>: Whenever any person in the service of the county -is compelled to travel in the performance of his duty, he shall, in -addition to his regular<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span> compensation, be reimbursed for his actual -necessary expenditures for transportation, the hire of conveyances, and -for lodging and meals. An itemized account of such expenditures shall -be filed with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and be approved -by the Auditor before being paid. The Board of Supervisors shall fix -a maximum price to be paid for such lodging and meals, which shall be -uniform and be made applicable to all persons alike, including members -of the Board of Supervisors.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 54</span>: No attorney, agent, stockholder or employee of any -firm, association or corporation doing business under or by virtue of -any franchise granted by, or contract made with the county, shall, nor -shall any person doing such business, nor shall any person financially -interested in any such franchise or contract, be eligible to or hold -any appointive county office.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 55</span>: The District Attorney, Public Defender, County -Counsel, and their deputies, shall not engage in any private law -practice, and they shall devote all their time and attention during -business hours to the duties of their respective offices.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 56</span>: Nothing in this Charter is intended to affect, -or shall be construed as affecting, the tenure of office of any of -the elective officers of the county or of any district, township or -division thereof, in office at the time this Charter goes into effect, -and such officers shall continue to hold their respective offices until -the expiration of the term for which they shall have been elected -unless sooner removed in the manner provided by law; nor shall anything -in this Charter be construed as changing or affecting the compensation -of any such officer during the term for which he shall have been -elected. But the successors of each and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span> all of such officers shall be -elected or appointed as in this Charter provided, and not otherwise.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap"><abbr title="Section">Sec.</abbr> 57</span>: This Charter shall take effect at noon on the first -Monday in June, 1913.</p> - -<p>We, the undersigned members of the Board of Fifteen Freeholders of -the County of Los Angeles, in the State of California, elected at a -special election held in the said County on the 14th day of May, 1912, -to prepare and provide a Charter for the said County, under and in -accordance with Section 7 1-2 of Article XI of the Constitution of this -state, have prepared, and we do hereby propose, the foregoing as and -for a Charter for said County.</p> - -<p>IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we hereunto sign our names in duplicate this -twenty-fourth day of September, 1912.</p> - -<ul class="index right"> -<li><span class="smcap">Lewis R. Works</span>, <i>Chairman</i>.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Frederick Baker</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Willis H. Booth</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">T. H. Dudley</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">William A. Engle</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">David Evans</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">H. C. Hubbard</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">J. M. Hunter</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">George F. Kernaghan</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Frank R. Seaver</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">J. H. Strine</span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Charles Wellborn</span>.</li> -</ul> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX_C"><span class="big">APPENDIX C</span><br /> -PROPOSED COUNTY HOME RULE IN NEW YORK</h2> -</div> - - - -<blockquote> - -<p>[Below is the text of a constitutional amendment introduced in the -Legislature of New York in 1916 by the County Government Association -of New York State. The general object of this amendment is to limit -the amount of special legislation affecting counties by empowering -boards of supervisors to deal with many subjects of administrative -organization and detail over which at present they have no general -jurisdiction. The amendment anticipates legislation under which -counties by referendum would be able to adopt one of several -simplified forms of government in substitution for the existing form.]</p> -</blockquote> - - -<p class="center p0">CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Proposing the repeal of sections twenty-six and twenty-seven of -article three, the insertion of two new sections at the beginning of -article ten, to be numbered sections one and two, respectively, and -the renumbering and amendment of sections one to nine, respectively, -of article ten of the constitution.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span></p> - -<p>Section 1. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That sections twenty-six -and twenty-seven of article three be hereby repealed.</p> - -<p>§ 2. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That article ten of the -constitution be hereby amended by inserting therein two new sections -at the beginning thereof, to be numbered sections one and two, -respectively, to read as follows:</p> - -<p>§ 1. <span class="fnanchor" id="fna30"><a href="#fn30">[30]</a></span><em>Laws relating to the government of counties and to the -methods of selection, terms of office, removal and compensation of -county officers shall be general laws, both in terms and in effect. -The board of supervisors of any county, the members of which shall -be elected in the year one thousand nine hundred and seventeen or -thereafter, may repeal such sections of any law then in force as shall -relate to the foregoing subjects and affect exclusively such county. -The legislature may pass a law authorizing any county, except a county -wholly in a city, upon petition of a percentage of the electors thereof -to be determined by the legislature, to adopt one of such optional -forms of county government as may be set forth in such law. Such law -may authorize the selection of any county officer or officers by the -electors, by the board of supervisors or by other county officers, and -provide for the removal of officers so selected; it may confer upon the -board of supervisors such powers of local legislation, government and -administration as the legislature may deem expedient.</em></p> - -<p>§ 2. <em>There shall be in each county, except a county wholly included -in a city, a board of supervisors, to be composed of such members and -chosen by the electors of the county or of its several subdivisions -in such manner and for such period as is or may be provided by law. -In a city which includes an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span> entire county or two or more counties, -the powers and duties of a board of supervisors may be devolved upon -the municipal assembly, common council, board of aldermen or other -legislative body of the city.</em></p> - -<p>§ 3. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That sections one and two of -article ten of the constitution be renumbered respectively sections -three and four and be hereby amended to read as follows:</p> - -<p>§ [1]<i>3.</i> Sheriffs, clerks of counties, district attorneys and -registers, in counties having registers, shall be chosen by the -electors of the respective counties [once in every three years and as -often as vacancies shall happen, except in the counties of New York -and Kings, and in counties whose boundaries are the same as those of -a city, in every two or four years], as the legislature shall direct, -<em>unless and until the electors in the manner provided in section -one hereof shall adopt other methods of selection</em>. Sheriffs shall -hold no other office and [be ineligible for the next term after the -termination of their offices. They] may be required by law to renew -their security from time to time, and in default of giving such new -security, their offices shall be deemed vacant. But the county shall -never be made responsible for the acts of the sheriff. The governor -may remove any officer, in this section mentioned, within the term for -which he shall have been elected <em>or appointed</em>; giving to such -officer a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity of being -heard in his defense.</p> - -<p>§ [2]<i>4.</i> All county officers whose election or appointment is not -provided for by this constitution, shall be elected by the electors -of the respective counties or appointed by the boards of supervisors, -or other county authorities as the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span> legislature shall direct. All -city, town and village officers, whose election or appointment is not -provided for by this constitution shall be elected by the electors -of such cities, towns and villages, or of some division thereof, -or appointed by such authorities thereof, as the legislature shall -designate for that purpose. All other officers, whose election or -appointment is not provided for by this constitution, and all officers -whose offices may hereafter be created by law, shall be elected by -the people, or appointed as the legislature may direct. <em>Nothing in -this section shall prevent the transfer in whole or in part, of the -functions of any town or village officer to any county officer, or the -transfer in whole or in part of the function of any county officer to -any town or village officer.</em></p> - -<p>§ 4. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That sections three, four, five, -six, seven, eight and nine of article ten of the constitution be hereby -renumbered five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and eleven, respectively.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" id="fn30"><a href="#fna30">[30]</a> <span class="smcap">Explanation</span>:—Matter in <em>italics</em> is new; matter in -brackets [] is old law to be omitted.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX_D"><span class="big">APPENDIX D</span><br /> -PROPOSED COUNTY MANAGER LAW IN NEW YORK</h2> -</div> - - - -<blockquote> - -<p>[This is the text of a bill introduced in the New York legislature -at its session in 1916 at the instance of the County Government -Association of New York State. For summary and comment on its -provisions see <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 178, 179.]</p> -</blockquote> - - -<p class="center p0"><span class="big">AN ACT</span></p> - -<p class="center p0">PROVIDING AN OPTIONAL FORM OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT FOR COUNTIES NOT WHOLLY -INCLUDED IN A CITY</p> - -<p><em>The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and -Assembly, do enact as follows</em>:</p> - -<p>Section 1. Chapter sixteen of the laws of nineteen hundred and nine, -entitled “An act in relation to counties, constituting chapter eleven -of the consolidated laws,” is hereby amended by adding after article -fourteen-a a new article, to be article fourteen-b, to read as follows:</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">Article 14-b</span></h3> - -<p>§ 240. <em>Application of article. This article shall apply to all -counties which shall adopt the same in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span> the manner hereinafter -prescribed, providing that the question of its adoption may not be -submitted in counties included wholly in a city.</em></p> - -<p>§ 241. <em>Submission of article. If prior to the first day of October -in any year one percentum of the registered electors of any county -shall file with the appropriate officer a petition for the submission -of the question of the adoption of this article, the said officer shall -prepare the following question to be submitted at the general election -held in that year, in the same manner as other questions are submitted: -“Shall article fourteen-b of the county law, providing for government -by a board of county supervisors and a county manager, apply to the -county of (name of county)?”</em></p> - -<p>§ 242. <em>Election of county officers. If a majority of all votes cast -on such proposition be affirmative, there shall be elected in the -county at the next succeeding general election, in the same manner -as are other county officers, five officers to be known as county -supervisors. The said county supervisors shall hold office for a term -of three years, commencing at noon on the first day of January next -succeeding their election; provided, however, that of those elected -at the first election under this article two shall hold office for -one year, two for two years, and one for three years, the designation -whereof shall be made on the election ballot.</em></p> - -<p>§ 243. <em>County supervisors; qualifications; vacancies and removals. -County supervisors shall be electors of the county. When a vacancy -shall occur, otherwise than by expiration of term, in the office of -county supervisor, the same shall be filled for the remainder of the -unexpired term at the next general election happening not less than -three months after such vacancy occurs; and until such vacancy shall -be filled the governor shall fill such vacancy by appointment.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span> A -county officer may be removed by the governor in the same manner as a -sheriff.</em></p> - -<p>§ 244. <em>The board of supervisors; organization, powers, compensation -of members. The county supervisors in each county adopting this article -shall constitute the board of supervisors of such county and the powers -and duties conferred and imposed upon the board of supervisors and -the officers and committees thereof in any general or special law are -hereby devolved upon the board so constituted, together with such other -powers, duties and responsibilities as may be conferred upon them by -law, to be exercised subject to the provisions of this article. When -the county supervisors elected within such county shall have qualified -the supervisors of the several towns and wards of cities within the -county shall cease to convene as a board of supervisors or to exercise -any of the powers and duties required to be exercised by the board of -supervisors of the county. The board shall elect one of its number -president, whose powers and duties shall be determined by said board, -and shall adopt rules for the conduct of its business. Each member -of the board shall receive an annual compensation not to exceed five -hundred dollars, the amount of which shall be determined by the said -board for attendance upon each of its meetings, provided, that the -total amount shall not exceed five hundred dollars. Such compensation -shall be a county charge and in addition to the actual necessary -expenses incurred for transportation in going to and from the meetings -of the board.</em></p> - -<p>§ 245. <em>Election officers. No person who shall hold or be elected -to any elective county office at or before the election at which this -article is adopted shall be removed therefrom under authority of this -article before the expiration of the term for which he was elected or -appointed to fill a vacancy.</em></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span></p> - -<p>§ 246. <em>The county manager; appointment; qualifications; tenure; -compensation. The board of supervisors shall appoint an officer who -shall be a citizen of the United States but who, at the time of his -appointment, need not be a resident of the county, to be known as the -county manager. The said county manager shall execute to the county -good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the county judge, -in a sum to be fixed by the board of supervisors, conditioned upon -the faithful performance of his duties. He shall not be personally -interested in any contract to which the county is a party; he shall -hold office at the pleasure of the board of supervisors, and upon -removal, the said board shall furnish him with a written statement of -the reasons for such action, signed by at least two members thereof. -The board of supervisors shall prescribe the salary of such county -manager and the compensation of the assistants and subordinates to be -appointed by him, which shall be a county charge and may be increased -or diminished at any time. A member of the board of supervisors, during -the term for which he is elected or appointed, shall not be eligible -for the office of county manager.</em></p> - -<p>§ 247. <em>Duties and powers of the county manager. The county manager -shall be the administrative agent of the board of supervisors. It shall -be his duty</em></p> - -<p>(<i>a</i>) <em>To attend all meetings of the board of supervisors</em>;</p> - -<p>(<i>b</i>) <em>To see that the resolutions and other orders of the board -of supervisors and the laws of the state required to be enforced by -such board, are faithfully carried out by the officers and employees of -the county, including all officers chosen by the electors</em>;</p> - -<p>(<i>c</i>) <em>To recommend to the board of supervisors such measures as -he may deem necessary or expedient<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span> for the proper administration of -the affairs of the county and its several offices</em>;</p> - -<p>(<i>d</i>) <em>To appoint all county officers whose election by the -electors is not required by the constitution, except county supervisors -and the county auditor or comptroller, and for such terms of office as -are provided by law.</em></p> - -<p><em>Subject to resolutions of the board of supervisors he shall</em></p> - -<p>(<i>e</i>) <em>Purchase all supplies and materials required by every -county officer, including the superintendents of the poor</em>;</p> - -<p>(<i>f</i>) <em>Execute contracts on behalf of the board of supervisors -when the consideration therein shall not exceed five hundred -dollars</em>;</p> - -<p>(<i>g</i>) <em>Obtain from the several county officers reports of their -various activities, in such form and at such times as the board of -supervisors may require</em>;</p> - -<p>(<i>h</i>) <em>Obtain from the several county officers itemized -estimates of the probable expense of conducting their offices for the -ensuing year, and transmit the same to the board of supervisors with -his approval or disapproval of each and all items therein, in the form -of a tentative budget</em>;</p> - -<p>(<i>i</i>) <em>Perform such other duties as the board of supervisors may -require.</em></p> - -<p><em>In the exercise of the foregoing duties, the county manager shall -have the same powers to examine witnesses, to take testimony under -oath and to investigate the affairs of every county officer which is -conferred by this chapter upon the boards of supervisors and committees -thereof.</em></p> - -<p>§ 248. <em>The administrative code. Within ninety days after the first -day of operation under this article, the board of supervisors shall -adopt, publish in pamphlet form and cause to be delivered to every -officer of the county, and to such other persons as shall apply<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span> for -the same, a code of administrative rules. Such code, subject to such -regulations concerning the conduct of various county officers as may be -made from time to time by the comptroller, shall contain the rules of -the said board on the following subjects</em>:</p> - -<p>(<i>a</i>) <em>The methods by which the county manager shall exercise -the duties imposed upon him in sub-divisions (e) to (i), inclusive, of -section two hundred and forty-seven of this article.</em></p> - -<p>(<i>b</i>) <em>The method by which, and the form in which, the several -county officers and employees shall order supplies and materials</em>,</p> - -<p>(<i>c</i>) <em>The form in which, and the times at which, the several -county officers shall submit the estimates of the probable financial -needs of their offices for the ensuing year</em>,</p> - -<p>(<i>d</i>) <em>The manner in which the county treasurer shall disburse -the funds of the county</em>,</p> - -<p>(<i>e</i>) <em>Such other regulations as shall be necessary to secure -the efficient conduct of the affairs of the county and its several -offices</em>.</p> - -<p>§ 249. <em>Application of certain laws. All general and special laws -applicable to the county shall remain in full force and effect except -in so far as they are in conflict with this article.</em></p> - -<p>§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX_E"><span class="big">APPENDIX E</span><br /> -THE CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER IN NEW YORK CITY</h2> -</div> - - - -<blockquote> - -<p>[An amendment of the New York City Charter (Chap. 284 Laws of 1915) -abolished the elective coroners in the five boroughs and created the -office of Chief Medical Examiner. This amendment was prepared by -representatives of the principal medical, legal and civic societies in -New York City working in conjunction with the Commissioner of Accounts -and representatives of the District Attorney’s office. It is believed -to embody important standards of organization and procedure in the -prosecution of public medico-legal investigations. The provisions of -the amendment will go into effect January 1, 1918.]</p> -</blockquote> - - -<p class="center p0"><span class="big">AN ACT</span></p> - -<p>To amend the Greater New York charter, and repeal certain sections -thereof and of chapter four hundred and ten of the laws of eighteen -hundred and eighty-two, in relation to the abolition of the office of -coroner and the establishment of the office of chief medical examiner.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span></p> - -<p><em>The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and -Assembly, do enact as follows</em>:</p> - -<p>Section 1. The office of coroner in the city of New York shall be -abolished on January first, nineteen hundred and eighteen, and after -this section takes effect, a vacancy occurring in such an office in any -borough shall not be filled unless by reason of the occurrence thereof, -there shall be no coroner in office in such borough, in which case the -vacancy in such borough last occurring shall be filled for a term to -expire on January first, nineteen hundred and eighteen. If, by reason -of the provisions of this section, the number of coroners in a borough -be reduced, the remaining coroner or coroners in such borough shall -have the powers and perform the duties conferred or imposed by law on -the board of coroners in such borough.</p> - -<p>§ 2. Title four of chapter twenty-three, sections fifteen hundred and -seventy and fifteen hundred and seventy-one of the Greater New York -charter, as re-enacted by chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the -laws of nineteen hundred and one, is hereby repealed, and in its place -is inserted a new title to be numbered four and to read as follows:</p> - - -<h3><span class="big">TITLE IV</span></h3> - -<p class="center p0"><span class="smcap">Chief Medical Examiner</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span></p> - -<table class="thin"> -<tr> -<td> -Section</td> -<td> -1570. -</td> -<td> -Organization of office; officers and employees. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td> -1571. -</td> -<td> -Violent and suspicious deaths; procedure. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td> -1571-a. -</td> -<td> -Autopsies; findings. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td> -1571-b. -</td> -<td> -Report of deaths; removal of body.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td> -1571-c. -</td> -<td> -Records.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td> -1571-d. -</td> -<td> -Oaths and affidavits. -</td></tr> -</table> - - -<h4>ORGANIZATION OF OFFICE; OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES</h4> - -<p>§ 1570. There is hereby established the office of chief medical -examiner of the city of New York. The head of the office shall be -called the “chief medical examiner.” He shall be appointed by the mayor -from the classified service and be a doctor of medicine, and a skilled -pathologist and microscopist.</p> - -<p>The mayor may remove such officer upon stating in writing his -reasons therefor, to be filed in the office of the municipal civil -service commission and served upon such officer, and allowing him an -opportunity of making a public explanation. The chief medical examiner -may appoint and remove such deputies, assistant medical examiners, -scientific experts, officers and employees as may be provided for -pursuant to law. Such deputy medical examiners, and assistant medical -examiners, as may be appointed, shall possess qualifications similar to -those required in the appointment of the chief medical examiner. The -office shall be kept open every day in the year, including Sundays and -legal holidays, with a clerk in constant attendance at all times during -the day and night.</p> - - -<h4>VIOLENT AND SUSPICIOUS DEATHS; PROCEDURE</h4> - -<p>§ 1571. When, in the city of New York, any person shall die from -criminal violence, or by a casualty, or by suicide, or suddenly when -in apparent health, or when unattended by a physician, or in prison, -or in any suspicious or unusual<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span> manner, the officer in charge of the -station house in the police precinct in which such person died shall -immediately notify the office of the chief medical examiner of the -known facts concerning the time, place, manner and circumstances of -such death. Immediately upon receipt of such notification the chief -medical examiner, or a deputy or assistant medical examiner, shall go -to the dead body, and take charge of the same. Such examiner shall -fully investigate the essential facts concerning the circumstances of -the death, taking the names and addresses of as many witnesses thereto -as it may be practical to obtain, and, before leaving the premises, -shall reduce all such facts to writing and file the same in his office. -The police officer so detailed shall, in the absence of the next of kin -of deceased person, take possession of all property of value found on -such person, make an exact inventory thereof on his report, and deliver -such property to the police department, which shall surrender the same -to the person entitled to its custody or possession. Such examiner -shall take possession of any portable objects which, in his opinion, -may be useful in establishing the cause of death, and deliver them to -the police department.</p> - -<p>Nothing in this section contained shall affect the powers and duties of -a public administrator as now provided by law.</p> - - -<h4>AUTOPSIES; FINDINGS</h4> - -<p>§ 1571-a. If the cause of such death shall be established beyond a -reasonable doubt, the medical examiner in charge shall so report to -his office. If, however, in the opinion of such medical examiner, -an autopsy is necessary, the same shall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span> be performed by a medical -examiner. A detailed description of the findings written during the -progress of such autopsy and the conclusions drawn therefrom shall -thereupon be filed in his office.</p> - - -<h4>REPORT OF DEATHS; REMOVAL OF BODY</h4> - -<p>§ 1571-b. It shall be the duty of any citizen who may become aware of -the death of any such person to report such death forthwith to the -office of the chief medical examiner, and to a police officer who -shall forthwith notify the officer in charge of the station-house in -the police precinct in which such person died. Any person who shall -willfully neglect or refuse to report such death or who without written -order from a medical examiner shall willfully touch, remove or disturb -the body of any such person, or willfully touch, remove, or disturb the -clothing, or any article upon or near such body, shall be guilty of a -misdemeanor.</p> - - -<h4>RECORDS</h4> - -<p>§ 1571-c. It shall be the duty of the office of medical examiner to -keep full and complete records. Such records shall be kept in the -office, properly indexed, stating the name, if known, of every such -person, the place where the body was found and the date of death. To -the record of each case shall be attached the original report of the -medical examiner and the detailed findings of the autopsy, if any. The -office shall promptly deliver to the appropriate district attorney -copies of all records relating to every death as to which there is, -in the judgment of the medical examiner in charge, any indication of -criminality. All other records shall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span> be open to public inspection as -provided in section fifteen hundred and forty-five. The appropriate -district attorney and the police commissioner of the city may require -from such officer such further records, and such daily information, as -they may deem necessary.</p> - - -<h4>OATHS AND AFFIDAVITS</h4> - -<p>§ 1571-d. The chief medical examiner, and all deputy or assistant -medical examiners, may administer oaths, and take affidavits, proofs -and examinations as to any matter within the jurisdiction of the office.</p> - -<p>§ 3. Section eleven hundred and seventy-nine of such charter is hereby -amended to read as follows:</p> - - -<h4>BUREAUS</h4> - -<p>§ 1179. There shall be two bureaus in the department of health. -The chief officer of one bureau shall be called the “sanitary -superintendent,” who, at the time of his appointment, shall have been, -for at least ten years, a practicing physician, and for three years a -resident of the city of New York, and he shall be the chief executive -officer of said department. The chief officer of the second bureau -shall be called the “registrar of records,” and in said bureau shall be -recorded, without fees, every birth, marriage, and death, which shall -occur within the city of New York.</p> - -<p>§ 4. Section twelve hundred and three of such charter is hereby amended -to read as follows:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span></p> - - -<h4>MEDICAL EXAMINERS’ RETURNS</h4> - -<p>§ 1203. The department of health may, from time to time make rules -and regulations fixing the time of rendering, and defining the form -of returns and reports to be made to said department by the office of -chief medical examiner of the city of New York, in all cases of death -which shall be investigated by it; and the office of the chief medical -examiner is hereby required to conform to such rules and regulations.</p> - -<p>§ 5. Section twelve hundred and thirty-eight of such charter is hereby -amended to read as follows:</p> - - -<h4>DEATHS TO BE REPORTED</h4> - -<p>§ 1238. It shall be the duty of the next of kin of any person deceased, -and of each person being with such deceased person at his or her -death, to file report in writing, with the department of health within -five days after such death, stating the age, color, nativity, last -occupation and cause of death of such deceased person, and the borough -and street, the place of such person’s death and last residence. -Physicians who have attended deceased persons in their last illness -shall, in the certificate of the decease of such persons, specify, -as near as the same can be ascertained, the name and surname, age, -occupation, term of residence in said city, place of nativity, -condition of life; whether single or married, widow or widower; color, -last place of residence and the cause of death of such deceased -persons, and the medical examiners of the city, shall, in their -certificates conform to the requirements of this section.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span></p> - -<p>§ 6. Such charter is hereby amended by inserting therein a new section, -to be numbered section fifteen hundred and eighty-five-a, and to read -as follows:</p> - - -<h4>COUNTY CLERKS TO EXERCISE CERTAIN STATUTORY POWERS AND DUTIES OF -CORONERS</h4> - -<p>§ 1585-a. In the city of New York the powers imposed and the duties -conferred upon coroners by the provisions of title three of chapter -two of the code of civil procedure shall be exercised and performed -by the county clerk of the appropriate county, and said county clerk -shall, in the exercise and performance thereof, be subject to the same -liabilities and responsibilities as are prescribed in such title in the -case of coroners.</p> - -<p>§ 7. Sections seventeen hundred and sixty-six to seventeen hundred -and seventy-nine, both inclusive, of chapter four hundred and ten -of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-two, entitled “An act to -consolidate into one act and to declare the special and local laws -affecting public interests in the city of New York,” and all acts -amending such sections, are hereby repealed.</p> - -<p>§ 8. The officers and employees now exercising the powers and duties -which by this act are abolished, or are conferred or imposed upon the -office of chief medical examiner, including coroner’s physicians, shall -be transferred to the office of chief medical examiner. Service in -the office, board or body from which transferred shall count for all -purposes as service in the office of the chief medical examiner.</p> - -<p>§ 9. All funds, property, records, books, papers and documents within -the jurisdiction or control of any such coroner, or such board of -coroners,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span> shall, on demand, be transferred and delivered to the office -of the chief medical examiner. The board of estimate and apportionment -shall transfer to the office of the chief medical examiner all -unexpended appropriations made by the city to enable any coroner, or -board of coroners, to exercise any of the powers and duties which by -this act are abolished or are conferred or imposed upon such office of -chief medical examiner.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX_F"><span class="big">APPENDIX F</span><br /> -A COUNTY ALMSHOUSE IN TEXAS</h2> -</div> - -<p class="center p0"><span class="smcap">By <abbr title="Doctor">Dr.</abbr> Thomas W. Salmon</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>[Portion of an address delivered at the meeting of the Association of -County Judges and Commissioners at Waxahachie, Texas, on February 11, -1916.]</p> -</blockquote> - - -<p>This particular Poor Farm is in one of the richest counties of the -state. The taxable property of that county is assessed at more than -$45,000,000. It contains no large cities (the largest has a population -of 15,000), all but two per cent. of the people are native-born and -the proportion of negroes is much less than in the state as a whole. -It would be difficult indeed to find in this wide land a county more -prosperous, more pleasant to live in or more truly American than this -one.</p> - -<p>Four miles west of the county-seat is the Poor Farm. There is a -substantial brick building for the poor and infirm which is heated by -steam and lighted by acetylene gas. Scattered around the main building -are some small wooden cabins, cheap in construction and not in very -good repair, but, on the whole, comfortable for the old people, the -paralytics and the epileptics who live in them. If we could leave this -Poor Farm, having seen so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span> much and no more, we could think of it -again only with feelings of pleasure that the county’s unfortunates -were provided for so comfortably; but standing alone is an old brick -building in which the insane are kept and this must be visited too. -It is a gloomy place, coming out of the bright October sun, but when -your eyes become accustomed to the shadows, you see what this county -has provided for the insane who are neglected by the great mother -state. You see that there is a clear space running around three sides -of the one large room which forms the entire interior of the building. -In the center and across the rear end of this room are fourteen iron -cages—four extending across the rear and ten back to back, down the -center. They are made of iron bars, the tops, backs and adjoining sides -being sheet metal. Near the top of each solid side, are seven rows of -holes about an inch in diameter. Their purpose is ventilation but they -serve also to destroy what poor privacy these cages might otherwise -possess. Each cage contains a prison cot or two swinging from the wall -while a few have cots upon the floor.</p> - -<p>In these cages, which are too far from the windows in the brick walls -for the sunlight to enter except during the short period each day when -it shines directly opposite them, abandoned to filth and unbelievable -misery lie the insane poor of this pleasant, fertile, prosperous -American county. Color, age and sex have no significance in this place. -All of those distinctions which govern the lives of human beings -elsewhere are merged in common degradation here.</p> - -<p>Men and women, black and white, old and young, share its horrors just -alike. They are insane and that fact alone wipes out every other -consideration and every obligation except that of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span> keeping, with food -and shelter, the spark of life alight. When, at dusk, the shadows -deepen, the creatures in this place of wretchedness cower closer in the -corners of their cages for there are no cheerful lights here as in the -other buildings and when the darkness blots out everything there are -only the moans of distressed human beings to tell you it is not a tomb. -Through the night, when persons with bodily illnesses are attended by -quietly treading nurses in the two fine hospitals which the nearby town -supports, these unfortunate men and women, who are sick in mind as well -as in body, drag through terrors which no human community would wish to -have its worst criminals experience.</p> - -<p>Each day brings to the poor creatures here light and food—as it does -to the cattle in the sheds—but it does not bring to them the slightest -hope of intelligent care, nor, to most of them, even the narrow liberty -of the iron-fenced yard. One attendant, a cheerful young man, is -employed by the county to look after the forty-odd inmates who at the -least compose the Poor Farm population. He used to be a trolley car -conductor but now he receives forty dollars a month for attending to -the inmates, male and female, who cannot care for themselves. He brings -back the feeble-minded when they wander off, he finds epileptics when -they fall in their attacks and he sees that all are fed. He is called -the “yard-man”; his duties are those of a herdsman for human beings. -His predecessor, a man of about sixty years of age, is serving a term -in the state penitentiary for an attack upon a little girl who was an -inmate of this Poor Farm. At his trial it was brought out that he had -served a previous term in another state for a similar offense.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span></p> - -<p>The present “yard-man” has not the slightest knowledge of any other -kind of treatment for the insane, nor has he had the slightest -experience in practical nursing or in caring for the mentally or -physically helpless. He has been employed here about a year. He found -the insane in these cages and he knows of no other way of keeping them. -All but three or four of them remain in their cages all day, crouching -on the stone floors instead of on the green grass outside. A feeble -white woman in bed, wasted and pale, who apparently has but a few -months to live, was pointed out in one of the cages and the “yard-man” -was asked if she would run away if she were permitted to have her bed -outside. He admitted that it was not likely but said that she was weak -and would fall out of bed. He was asked if it would be worse to fall -out of bed on the grass or on the wooden floor of the main building -than on the stone floor of her cage, but these matters were far outside -his experience and he had no reply to make.</p> - -<p>How much more knowledge and experience would have been required of this -young man if the county had seen fit to maintain a menagerie! No one -would think of entrusting the animals to one so wholly inexperienced -in their care. This young man might be employed as an assistant, but -he would never be placed in charge of an animal house full of valuable -specimens.</p> - -<p>Do not make the mistake of thinking that the wretched people who are -confined in these cages were selected from a larger number of insane -inmates of the Poor Farm on account of exceptional intractability -or because their brains have been so dulled by the final stages of -dementia that they are no longer conscious of their surroundings. -These people are not a few selected for such reasons;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span> they constitute -all but one of the avowedly insane who are housed in this Poor Farm. -They include persons as appreciative as you or I would be of the -loathesomeness of their surroundings and of the personal humiliation of -being confined in such a place. In one cage is a man who has delusions -which doubtless make it unsafe for him to have his liberty in the -community. He has not been allowed outside his cage <em>for a single -hour</em> in three years.</p> - -<p>This place was built twenty years ago. Perhaps the brain which planned -it is now dust, nevertheless its ignorant conception of the nature of -mental disease still determines the kind of care this county affords -the most unfortunate of all its helpless sick. Perhaps, too, the hands -which laid these bricks and forged these iron bars are now dead, -nevertheless they still stretch out of the past and crush the living -in their cruel grasp. The conception of mental diseases which gave to -this county this dreadful place did not even reflect the enlightenment -of its own period. Eighty years earlier Esquirol had stirred the pity -of France by a recital of miseries no worse than those which you can -see in this county to-day. Many years before this place was built, -Conolly had aroused public opinion in England to such an extent that -it was possible for cages such as these to exist in only the darkest -corners of the land. Thirty years before this grim structure arose -from the fair soil of Texas, Dorothea Dix was showing the inhumanity -of almshouse care of the insane in this country and members of our -legislatures were profoundly stirred by her descriptions of conditions -less abhorrent than those which exist to-day in the Poor Farm which -I have just described. Great reforms in the care of the insane have -extended over the entire country<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span> ever since these walls were built -but they have left this place untouched and it stands to-day, not -a pathetic but disused reminder of the ignorance and inhumanity of -another age and of another kind of civilization, but an actual, living -reality reproducing, with scarcely a detail lacking, conditions which -were described in pitying terms by the writers of four centuries ago.</p> - -<p>Standing in the doorway of this building you can see evidences of the -material greatness of the twentieth century; taking a single step -inside you can see exactly what the superstition, fear and ignorance of -the sixteenth century imposed upon the insane.</p> - - -<h3>THE INSANE IN COUNTY JAILS</h3> - -<p>The sufferings of the insane in the county Poor Farms would so stir -the compassion of the humane people of this state, could they but -walk among these fellow-citizens of theirs and witness the misery to -which they have been abandoned, that almshouse care would not survive -the next session of the legislature. Take away, however, the meager -attention given in the Poor Farms by those who, while they know nothing -of mental diseases or of how to care for them, are moved by kindly -impulses and recognize that the insane are sent to them for care and -not for punishment; take away this and substitute the harsh discipline -of the prison which is designed, by its painful memories, to restrain -evildoers from crime. Then some picture can be formed of the lot of -these poor sick people in county jails. Almost without exception, they -have committed no crime, unless it be a crime to suffer from mental -illness, but they share the lot of criminals and in many cases through<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span> -the fears of their jailers they are denied even the small liberties -allowed the criminals. Men and women, white people and negroes, -those scarcely out of childhood and those filled with the pains and -infirmities of age, those with types of mental disease which would -yield readily to even the simplest treatment and those doomed to mental -darkness all their days, I have seen them in the cells of the county -jails of Texas and learned their needs and witnessed their sufferings -at first hand. I can only say that I have never witnessed such depths -of misery as those in which these unfortunate people drag out the -months and years. Death releases some—the more fortunate—but the -others continue to exist in filthy cells without that hope of release -after a definite period, which cheers the criminals whose lot they -share. The rigors of the jail are intended to impress evildoers with -the terrors of the law but with few exceptions the prisoners in county -jails are young men, most of them in sturdy health. It is needless to -point out how much more severe punishment confinement in such places -is to the unfortunate insane, broken in health, many of them acutely -conscious of the terrible wrong which their state is inflicting upon -them and the prey to delusional and hallucinatory terrors, as well as -to those which depend upon actuality.</p> - -<p>In not a few instances I found the insane in solitary confinement, -simply on account of their mental disease, while the criminals enjoyed -the companionship of their fellows. Every convention of life is swept -away when these unfortunate people enter the jails. Women are bathed -by men in the presence of male prisoners, persons with elusions of sin -and impending punishment lie in cells which face the gallows, the weak -and helpless are not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span> even protected from physical violence, and, in -most cases, there is not the slightest semblance of personal care or -nursing. The jailers feel that they have discharged their full duty if -the insane are prevented from escaping. Persons convicted of serious -crimes enter the jails, serve their sentences and regain their liberty -while the insane, who have led upright lives and have contributed by -their honest toil to the prosperity of their state, lie in their cells -without hope of release. A pathetic fact is that the counties pay the -sheriffs more just for feeding the poor people than their care would -cost in the state hospitals for the insane. It is needless to dwell -further on the inhumanity and the injustice of confining the insane in -the county jails. It constitutes a blot upon the honor of the state -which every citizen would demand erased were the actual facts widely -known.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="BIBLIOGRAPHY"><span class="big">BIBLIOGRAPHY</span><br /> -THE COUNTY GENERALLY</h2> -</div> - - - - - -<h3><i>Books and Collections of Papers</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst">American Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia, -“County Government....” (<i>Its</i> Annals, <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 47, whole <abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 136.) -May, 1913. 326 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Fairlie, John A.</span>, <i>Local Government in Counties, Towns and -Villages</i>. New York, The Century <abbr title="Company">Co.</abbr>, 1906. 289 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> (The American -State series) Bibliography.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">The New York short ballot organization: <i>Proceedings of the First -Conference for better County Government</i>. Schenectady, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, <abbr title="November">Nov.</abbr> -13-14, 1914.</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>Book References</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Beard, C. A.</span> <i>American Government and Politics.</i> New and -<abbr title="revised edition">rev. ed.</abbr> New York, The Macmillan <abbr title="Company">Co.</abbr>, 1914. 788 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> See Index under -county.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Bristow, A. S. H.</span> “Counties.” (In <i>American and English -Encyclopædia of Law</i>. 2nd <abbr title="edition">ed.</abbr> Northport, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, 1898. <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 7:898-972.)</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Clark, F. H.</span> <i>Outlines of Civics</i>; being a supplement to -Bryce’s <i>American Commonwealth</i>, abridged edition, ... New York -and London, The Macmillan Company, 1899. 261 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> “The County”: <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> -148-178.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Fairlie, J. A.</span> “County Government.” (In <i>Cyclopædia of -American Government</i>, New York, 1914. <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> <span class="allsmcap">I</span>: 492-497.)</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Fisher, S. B.</span> “Counties.” (In Mack, William, <i><abbr title="editor">ed.</abbr></i> -<i>Cyclopædia of Law and Procedure.</i> New York, 1904. <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> -<span class="allsmcap">II</span>: 325-615.)</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Fiske, J.</span> <i>Civil Government in the United States, -Considered with some Reference to its Origin.</i> New <abbr title="edition">ed.</abbr>, with -additions. Boston, New York, Houghton, Mifflin & <abbr title="Company">Co.</abbr> 1904, 378 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> See -Index under county.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Flickinger, J. R.</span> <i>Civil Government as Developed in the -States and in the United States.</i> Boston, D. C. Heath & <abbr title="Company">Co.</abbr>, 1901. -350 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> See Index under county.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Goodnow, F. J.</span> <i>Municipal Home Rule; a Study in -Administration.</i> New York, The Columbia University Press, The -Macmillan <abbr title="Company">Co.</abbr>, agents, 1906. 283 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> See Index under county in United -States.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Marriott, Crittenden.</span> <i>How Americans are Governed in -Nation, State, and City.</i> New York and London, Harper & Brothers, -1910. 372 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> “Counties and Towns”: <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 256-259.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Miller, W. A.</span> <i>Civil Government, State and Federal; an -Exposition of our Policy.</i> Boston, New York, B. H. Sanborn & <abbr title="Company">Co.</abbr>, -1910. 264 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> “The County”: <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 23-37.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Moses, B.</span> <i>The Government of the United States.</i> New -York, D. Appleton & <abbr title="Company">Co.</abbr>, 1911. 424 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> (Twentieth Century Textbooks, -ed. by A. F. Nightingale.) “County Government”: <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 313-315.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Rader, P. S.</span> <i>Civil Government of the United States and the -State of Missouri.</i> <abbr title="Revised edition">Rev. ed.</abbr> Jefferson City, <abbr title="Missouri">Mo.</abbr> The Hugh Stephens -<abbr title="Company">Co.</abbr> 1912. 351 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> “Counties”: <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 246-257.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Sherman, W. H.</span> <i>Civics: Studies in American -Citizenship.</i> New York, London, The Macmillan <abbr title="Company">Co.</abbr>, 1905. 328 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> -“The County”: <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 48-53.</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>Magazine Articles and Monographs</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Bailey, W. L.</span> “The County Community and its Government.” In -<i>Annals of American Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 14-25.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Cartwright, O. G.</span> “Some needs to be considered in -Reconstructing County Government.” In <i>Proceedings of the First -Conference for better County Government</i>. 1914. The New York Short -Ballot Organization.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Childs, R. S.</span> “Ramshackle County Government.” <i>Outlook</i>, -May 3, 1916.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Gilbertson, H. S.</span> “The Discovery of the County Problem.” -<i>American Review of Reviews</i>, <abbr title="November">Nov.</abbr>, 1912. <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 46: 604-608.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Gilbertson, H. S.</span> “Elements of the County Problem.” In -<i>Annals of the American Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 13.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Taylor, G.</span> “The County, a Challenge to Humanized Politics and -Volunteer Co-operation” (president’s address at forty-first annual -meeting, National Conference of Charities and Corrections. 16 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr>)</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>Individual States</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Miller, E. J.</span> “New Departure in County Government: -California’s Experiment with Home Rule Charters.” <i>American -Political Science Review</i>, <abbr title="August">Aug.</abbr>, 1913. <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 7: 411-419.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Fairlie, J. A.</span> “County and Town Government in Illinois.” In -<i>Annals of American Academy</i>, May 1913. <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 62-78.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Illinois. <i>Laws, Statutes, etc.</i> A compilation of the laws of -Illinois, relating to township organization and management of county -affairs. 26th <abbr title="edition">ed.</abbr>, <abbr title="revised">rev.</abbr> Chicago, The Legal Adviser Pub. <abbr title="Company">Co.</abbr> 1910. 863 - <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Indiana, <i>State Board of Accounts</i>. Information concerning the -business in county and township offices during the fiscal year ending - <abbr title="December">Dec.</abbr> 31, 1911. (Indianapolis, 1912.) 352 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Lapp, J. A.</span> “Checks on County Government in Indiana.” -<i>Annals of American Academy</i>, May, 1913. <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 248-254.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Wilhelm, L. W.</span> <i>Local Institutions of Maryland.</i> -Baltimore, N. Murray, publication agent, Johns Hopkins University, -1885. 129 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> (Johns Hopkins University studies in Historical and -Political Science, 3rd <abbr title="series">ser.</abbr> <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 5-7.)</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Scroggs, W. O.</span> “Parish Government in Louisiana.” In <i>Annals -of American Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 39-47.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Bemis, Edward W.</span> “Local Government in Michigan and the -Northwest.” Read before the American Social Science <abbr title="Association">Assn.</abbr>, Sept. 7, -1882. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University, 1883. 25 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> (<i>Johns -Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science.</i> -1st <abbr title="series">ser.</abbr>, <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr>)</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Carter, C. P.</span> <i>The Government of Missouri.</i> Boston, -New York, Silver, Burdett and Company (1912). 171 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> (<em>with</em> -Lansing, Robert, <i>Government: Its Origin, Growth and Form in the -United States</i> ... New York, Boston, 1902). “The County”: <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> -39-47.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Loeb, I.</span> “County Government in Missouri.” In <i>Annals of the -American Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 48-61.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Paul W.</span> “County Management in New Jersey.” In <i>Proceedings -of the Conference for the Study and Reform of County Government</i> -(second meeting). 1914. The New York Short Ballot Organization.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— “The Movement for County Reorganization in New Jersey.” <i>Annals -of American Academy.</i> May, 1913. <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 255-257.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Gilbert, F. B.</span> Bender’s supervisors’, county and town -officers’ manual, containing the county, town, highway, general -municipal, tax and poor laws in full and all other statutes of the -state of New York, relating to boards of supervisors, town boards, -county and town officers, and the affairs and business of counties and -towns, as amended to the close of the legislature of 1912 ... 6th. <abbr title="edition">ed.</abbr> -Albany, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> M. Bender & <abbr title="Company">Co.</abbr>, 1912. 1349 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Cartwright, O. G.</span> “County Government in New York State.” -<i>Annals of the American Academy.</i> May, 1913. <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 258-270.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Gilbertson, H. S.</span> “The New York County System.” <i>American -Political Science Review.</i> <abbr title="August">Aug.</abbr>, 1914. <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 413-430.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Buck, Geo. S.</span> “The Organization of County Government.” In -<i>Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science</i>, New York. - <abbr title="January">Jan.</abbr>, 1915.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Rockefeller, L. K.</span> “County Government from the Comptroller’s -Standpoint.” <i>Proceedings of the Conference for the Study and Reform -of County Government</i> (third meeting). 1914. The New York Short -Ballot Organization.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Guess, W. C.</span> <i>County Government in Colonial North -Carolina.</i> 1911. 39 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> (The University of North Carolina.) The -James Sprunt historical publications pub. under the direction of the -North Carolina Historical Society, <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> <span class="allsmcap">II</span>, <abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> <span class="allsmcap">I</span>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">U’Ren, W. S.</span> “State and County Government in Oregon and -Proposed Changes.” <i>Annals of American Academy</i>, May, 1913. <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> -271-273.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Ramage, B. J.</span> <i>Local Government and Free Schools in South -Carolina.</i> Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University, 1883. 40 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> -(<i>Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political -Science.</i> 1st <abbr title="series">ser.</abbr>, <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 12.)</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Channing, E.</span> “Town and County Government in the English -Colonies of North America.” The Toppan prize essay for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span> 1883. -Baltimore, N. Murray, publication agent (<i>Johns Hopkins University -Studies in Historical and Political Science</i>, 2nd <abbr title="series">ser.</abbr>, <span class="allsmcap">X</span>) -2nd <abbr title="series">ser.</abbr>, <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 10.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Hitchcock, L. E.</span> <i>Powers and Duties of Sheriffs, -Constables, Tax Collectors, and other Officers in the New England -States.</i> With forms and precedents. 2nd <abbr title="edition">ed.</abbr> Boston, Little, Brown & -<abbr title="Company">Co.</abbr> 1914. 472 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Updyke.</span> “County Government in New England.” In <i>Annals of -American Academy</i>, May, 1913. <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 26-37.</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>Studies and Surveys of Individual Counties</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Alameda County, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr></i> Bulletins covering the investigation of -many phases of county administration. Tax Association of Alameda -County, 823 Oakland Bank of Savings Building, Oakland, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Cook County, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr></i> Surveys of various county offices, in -pamphlet form. Bureau of Public Efficiency, 315 Plymouth Court, -Chicago, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr> 1911-1916.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Monroe County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr></i> Government of Monroe County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, -organization and functions. The New York Constitutional Convention -Commission. 1915.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Nassau County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr></i> Government of Nassau County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, -description of organization and functions. Commission on the -Government of Nassau County, Mineola, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> 1915.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Suffolk County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr></i> First Annual Report of the Suffolk County -Taxpayers’ Association. 1915. (Secretary’s office, 44 Court Street, -Brooklyn, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>)</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Westchester County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr></i> Various pamphlet publications of the -Westchester County Research Bureau, 15 Court Street, White Plains, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> 1911-1916.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Hudson County, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr></i> The government of Hudson County. -(Dissertation for Ph.D. degree, Columbia University, 1915.) The -Citizens’ Federation of Hudson County issues reports on special phases -of Hudson County affairs from time to time.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Cuyahoga County, <abbr title="Ohio">O.</abbr></i> The Civic League of Cleveland, Guardian -<abbr title="Building">Bldg.</abbr>, Cleveland, publishes reports on county offices and methods from -time to time.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Milwaukee County, <abbr title="Wisconsin">Wis.</abbr></i> The Milwaukee County government, a -bulletin of the City Club (a joint report of the committee on county -administration, civil service and county institutions and buildings). -1915. The City Club of Milwaukee, <abbr title="Wisconsin">Wis.</abbr></li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>City-County Relations</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Bruere, H.</span> and <span class="smcap">Wallstein, L. M.</span> <i>Study of -County Government within the City of New York and a Plan for its -Reorganization.</i> Prepared for the New York Constitutional -Convention, 1915. 44 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr>, diagrams, tabulations.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency. <i>The Nineteen Local Governments -of Chicago</i>, 1915. 30 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr>, charts.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Hormell, O. C.</span> “Boston’s County Problems.” <i>Annals of -American Academy</i>, May, 1913. <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 134 <i xml:lang="la" lang="la"><abbr title="et sequentes">et seq.</abbr></i></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Hatmaker.</span> “Schenectady’s City-County Plan.” In <i>Proceedings -of the first Conference for better County Government</i>. The New York -Short Ballot Organization, 1914.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">King, C. L.</span> “Report of the City-County Committee of the -American Political Science <abbr title="Association">Assn.</abbr>” <i>American Political Science -Review</i>, <abbr title="February">Feb.</abbr>, 1914, <abbr title="supplemental">sup.</abbr>, <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 8: 281-291.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Long, P. V.</span> “Consolidated City and County Government of San -Francisco.” <i>American Political Science Review</i>, <abbr title="February">Feb.</abbr>, 1912, - <abbr title="supplemental">sup.</abbr>, <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 6: 109-121.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Ludington, A.</span> “The Relation of County to City Government in -New York.” <i>American Political Science Review</i>, <abbr title="February">Feb.</abbr>, 1912, <abbr title="supplemental">sup.</abbr>, -<abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 6: 73-88.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Paul, W.</span> and <span class="smcap">Gilbertson, H. S.</span> “Counties of the -First Class in New Jersey.” <i>American Political Science Review</i>, - <abbr title="February">Feb.</abbr>, 1914, <abbr title="supplemental">sup.</abbr>, <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 8: 292-300.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Young, T. P.</span> “The Separation of City and County Governments -in <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, History and Purposes.” <i>American Political Science -Review</i>, <abbr title="February">Feb.</abbr>, 1912, <abbr title="supplemental">sup.</abbr>, <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 6: 97-108.</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>Charities</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Burritt, B. B.</span> “County Management of Charities and Special -Institutions in our Own State (<abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>).” In <i>Proceedings of the -Conference for the Study and Reform of County Government</i> (second -meeting). The New York Short Ballot Organization.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Harris, E. F.</span> “Charity Functions of the Pennsylvania County.” -<i>Annals of American Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 166-181.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Haviland, C. F.</span> <i>The Treatment and Care of the Insane in -Pennsylvania.</i> The Public Charities Association. Philadelphia, -1915. 94 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Lane, Winthrop D.</span> “A Rich Man in the Poor House.” -<i>Survey</i>, <abbr title="November">Nov.</abbr> 4, 1916.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Macy, V. E.</span> “Administration of County Charities.” -In <i>Proceedings of the First Conference for better County -Government</i>. 1914. The New York Short Ballot Organization.</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>Civil Service</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Belcher, R. W.</span> “The Merit System and the County Civil -Service.” <i>Annals of American Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 101-111.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Paul, W.</span> “The County Employee.” <i>Annals of American -Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 81-84.</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>The Coroner</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst">Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency. <i>Administration of the Office -of the Coroner of Cook County, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr></i> 1911. 68 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Civic League of Cleveland</i> (formerly the municipal association). -<i>The Coroner’s office</i>, 1912. 30 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Du Vivier, J.</span> “Abolishment of the Coroner’s Office.” In -<i>Proceedings of the Conference for the Study and Reform of County -Government</i> (second meeting). 1914. The New York Short Ballot -Organization.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">New York Short Ballot Organization. <i>Abolishment of the office of -Coroner in New York City.</i> 1914. 16 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Schultz, O. T.</span> “The Coroner’s Office.” In <i>Annals of -American Academy</i>. May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 112-119.</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>County Courts and Court Clerks</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst">Bureau of Public Efficiency, <abbr title="November">Nov.</abbr>, 1912. 44 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> <i>Administration of -the Office of Clerk of the County Court of Cook County, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr></i></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Harley, H.</span> “The County Judiciary.” In <i>Proceedings of the -First Conference for better County Government</i>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">The Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency. <i>The Judges and the County -Fee Offices.</i> 1911. 15 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Woods, K. P.</span> “The Passing of County Courts.” (In Virginia.) -<i>Outlook</i>, <abbr title="January">Jan.</abbr> 31, 1903, <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 73: 264-265.</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>County Politics</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Jones, C. L.</span> “The County in Politics.” In <i>Annals of -American Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 85-100.</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>The District Attorney</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Gans, H. S.</span> “The Public Prosecutor: his Powers, Temptations -and Limitations.”... <i>Annals of American Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> -120-133.</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>Financial Administration</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Boyce, J. E.</span> “County Budgets: Economy and Efficiency in -Expenditures.” <i>Annals of American Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> -199-212.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Buck, Geo. S.</span> “The County Auditor.” In <i>Proceedings of the -first Conference for better County Government</i>. The New York Short -Ballot Organization. 1914.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Cartwright, O. G.</span> “County Budgets and their Construction.” -<i>Annals of American Academy</i>, <abbr title="November">Nov.</abbr>, 1915, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 223-234.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency. “The Budget of Cook County, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr>” - <abbr title="January">Jan.</abbr>, 1911. 54 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> “The office of Treasurer of Cook County, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr>” -1913. 68 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Cookingham, H. J., Jr.</span> “Taxation and County Government in -New York State.” In <i>Proceedings of the First Conference for Better -County Government</i>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Coker, F. W.</span> “Administration of Local Taxation in Ohio.” -<i>Annals of American Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 182-198.</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>Home Rule</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>National Municipal Review.</i> “County Home Rule,” <abbr title="January">Jan.</abbr>, 1913, - <abbr title="supplemental">sup.</abbr>, <abbr title="volume">v.</abbr> 2: 2-7.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Works, L. R.</span> “County Home Rule in California.” <i>Annals of -American Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 229-236.</li> -</ul> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span></p> - - -<h3><i>Prisons</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst">“Centralization of the Custody of Prisoners within the City of New -York.” Report of the Commissioner of Accounts, Transmitted to the -Mayor, <abbr title="February">Feb.</abbr>, 28, 1916.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Lewis, O. F.</span> “County Prisons.” <i>Proceedings of the -Conference for the Study and Reform of County Government</i>, first -meeting. The New York Short Ballot Organization, 1914.</li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>The Recorder</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst">“Administration of the Office of Recorder of Cook County, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr>” Report -prepared for the judges of the circuit court by the Chicago Bureau of -Public Efficiency, <abbr title="September">Sep.</abbr>, 1911. 63 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst">“The Recorder’s Office.” Civic League of Cleveland, <abbr title="March">Mar.</abbr>, 1914. Report - <abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 3, Efficiency Series. 25 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>Reorganization</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Childs, R. S.</span> “The County Manager Plan.” In <i>Proceedings of -the first Conference for Better County Government</i>. 1914. The New -York Short Ballot Organization.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— “A Theoretically Perfect County.” <i>Annals of American -Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 274-278.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">“The Short Ballot County Amendment.” Brief submitted to the -Constitutional Convention of New York, 1915. The New York Short Ballot -Organization, 1915. 16 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>The Sheriff</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Cawcroft, E.</span> “The Sheriff and a State Constabulary.” -In <i>Proceedings of the First Conference for Better County -Government</i>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Civic League of Cleveland. (Formerly the municipal association.) The -Sheriff’s office, 1912. 26 <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></li> -</ul> - - -<h3><i>State Administrative Supervision</i></h3> - -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Brindley, J. E.</span> “State Supervision of County Assessment and -Taxation.” <i>Annals of American Academy</i>, May, 1913, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 213-226.</li> -</ul> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span></p> - - -<h3><i>State Police</i></h3> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">“Why the Farms and Villages of New York State Need Protection.” 1915. -Committee for a state police, 7 East 42nd Street, New York, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst">“Why New York Needs a State Police.” 1915. Committee for a state -police.</li> -</ul> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX">INDEX</h2> -</div> - - -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Accounting, (uniform) in Ohio, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">significance of better, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">unit cost, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Administration, scientific, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>-<a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Advertising (political), as a source of patronage, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#countypress">County press</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Agricultural associations, importance in rural life, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Alabama, origin of county system in, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county officers elective in, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">report of prison inspector quoted, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county local option in, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="alameda">Alameda County</span>, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>, work of Tax Association in, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">home rule charter proposed in, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>-<a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">classification as an urban county, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">map of, diagram of proposed federation of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>-<a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">savings effected through better purchasing methods in, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">recommendations as to purchasing methods in, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Almshouse, description of early, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">insane in, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>-<a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in Westchester County, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>-<a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">a Texas, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>-<a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#south">South</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">American Judicature Society, proposals for county judiciary of, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">American Revolution, influence of its philosophy on local government institutions, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Appointive power, lack of, in county, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Appointive system, workings of, in eastern states, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Appointments, new method employed in Westchester County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Arizona, uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Arkansas, lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Assessment and taxation, county as a unit of, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">state control over, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="assessors">Assessors</span>, functions of, in New Jersey, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">elective officers since 1693, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">local selection of, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>-<a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Auditing, significance of better, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>; <a href="#Page_187">187</a> <i xml:lang="la" lang="la"><abbr title="et sequentes">et seq.</abbr></i></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Auditor, importance of independence of, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Automobile, effect on rural life and government, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Ballot, insignificance of county officers on, in many cases, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Baltimore, abolition of county government in, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">classification as an urban county, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> - -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span></li><li class="ifrst">Board of Chosen Freeholders, powers reduced in Hudson County, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="board">Board of Supervisors</span>, clerks of, in New York, appear before constitutional convention, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">function in fiscal administration of, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">duty of, in law enforcement, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>-<a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">how constituted in ideal county, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">text of provisions in Los Angeles County charter concerning, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>-<a href="#Page_223">223</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#governing">Governing body</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Boroughs, proposed division of Alameda County, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>, into, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="boston">Boston</span>, city-county consolidation in, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">metropolitan district compared to London, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Boundaries (county), made obsolete by conditions of modern life, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">power to change county, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">necessity for relocation of, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Boyle, <abbr title="Professor">Prof.</abbr> John A., on reporting and accounting laws, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Bramhall, F. D, on obscurity of urban counties, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Bridges, frauds in building of, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">awarding of contracts for, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>-<a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">awarding of contracts for, in Polk County, Iowa, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#road">Roads and bridges</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Bronx County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, formation of, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Budget, importance of adequate county executive in making of, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">nature of, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">significance of better, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">accounting basis for, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>-<a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Buffalo, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, relation to county, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#erie">Erie County</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Bureau of Inspection, etc., in Ohio, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Bureau of Public Efficiency, (Chicago), on special county legislation, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Butte County (<abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>), charter of, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">California, extent of merit system in counties of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county legislation in, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">salary of county judges in, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">highway progress and plans in, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">success of municipal home rule in, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county home rule in, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>-<a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county libraries in, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-<a href="#Page_219">219</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#alameda">Alameda County</a>, <a href="#la">Los Angeles County</a>, <a href="#sf">San Francisco County</a>, <a href="#assessors">Assessors</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cartwright, Otho G., quoted, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Charities, State Board of, in New York, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">modern methods in administration of, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">gradual abandonment of county as unit for administration of, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Chicago, candidates for county offices voted for in, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">law enforcement in, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county government in, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#cook">Cook County</a>, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="cme">Chief medical examiner</span> (in New York City), <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">text of law, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>-<a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Children, prohibition against commitment to almshouses, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">injustice done to destitute, under New York poor laws, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">treatment of, in Westchester County, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="cincinnati">Cincinnati</span>, Ohio, proposals for city-county consolidation in, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cities, reconstructive forces in American, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">greater need for government in, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">consolidation with counties, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>-<a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">importance solving the county problem of, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">commission government in, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Citizenship (rural), <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="civil">Civil Service</span>, slow growth of reform in counties, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">state control over, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>-<a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li> -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</span></li><li class="isub1">in Los Angeles County, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>-<a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>-<a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Clerk of Court, duties of, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">relation to the bench, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#clerk">County Clerk</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="cleveland">Cleveland</span>, Ohio, county government in, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">proposal for city-county consolidation in, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">relation to county, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Clinton County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, (County “B”), irregularities in county offices of, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>-<a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Colorado, establishment of counties in, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">extent of merit system in, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">provisions in constitution of, affecting Denver, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Commission plan of city government, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Commissioner of Charities and Correction, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="commiss">Commissioners</span> (county) in Pennsylvania, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Commitments to almshouses,—abuses of, in New York, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Comptroller (state), ineffective as check upon county officers without adequate examining staff, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Connecticut, origin of county in, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><span id="local">local system</span> of courts in, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">public prosecutor in, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">influence of Massachusetts precedents in, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">convention in, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">appointive judiciary in, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Consolidation (city and county), under California constitution, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in general, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>-<a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Constables, law enforcement by, in New York State, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="consta">Constabulary</span>, Pennsylvania, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in Los Angeles County charter, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Constitution (state), provisions concerning counties, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="cook">Cook County</span>, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr>, President of Board of Commissioners elected by people, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">large fees of treasurer in, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county commissioners prevent accounting for county treasurer’s fees, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">duplication of local governments in, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">humanitarian functions of, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">prisoners in county jail of, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">insane cared for by, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">dependent children cared for by, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">appropriations for, in 1913, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Coroner, origin of, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">falsity of theory underlying his election, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">fees of, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">failures in urban counties, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">abolition of, proposed, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">appointive, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#mass">Massachusetts</a>, <a href="#ny">New York</a> (city).</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Corruption and form of government, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Council, powers of, in Indiana counties, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Council of appointment in New York State, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="county">County</span>, the, treatment of problem in New York constitutional convention, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">popular apathy concerning, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">neglect of, in college courses, and by journalists, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">general statistics concerning, in <abbr title="United States">U. S.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>-<a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">colonial origin of, <a href="#Page_9">9</a> <i xml:lang="la" lang="la"><abbr title="et sequentes">et seq.</abbr></i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">legal relation to state government, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">general manner of its development, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>-<a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">decline of, in England, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">unadapted to urban conditions, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">its failure as a humanitarian agency, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">relation to state government, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">power to erect new, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">limitation on powers of, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">misuse of funds by, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li> -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span></li><li class="isub1">as unit for tax assessment, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">growing importance of, in certain directions, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">superiority over town as tax assessment and collection unit, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">abolishment of, proposed in New York City, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">the ideal, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— chambers of commerce, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— <span id="clerk">clerk</span>, duties of, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">independence of county judge, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">relation to the bench, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">appointment of advocated, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">appointive method of selection of, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">——committee, actual power in selecting county officers, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">basis of party organization, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— <span id="court">court</span>, consisted of justices of the peace in Virginia, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">its administrative functions in some states, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">jurisdiction of, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>-<a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#judge">County Judge</a>, <a href="#cook">Cook County</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— custodian, office of, created in a New York county, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— governments, lack of control over local policies, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">ineffectual in operation owing to lack of unity, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of popular interest in and its effects, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>-<a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">their stereotyped condition in face of new responsibilities, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">at work, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>-<a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">defects in, as affecting highway matters, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">general criticism of, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— health officers in North Carolina, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>-<a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— <span id="hospital">hospital</span> in Westchester County (<abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>), <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— <span id="jail">jail</span>, separate jurisdiction of, in Milwaukee, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">overcrowding of, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">buildings faultily constructed and unsanitary, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">need of publicity concerning, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in Westchester County (<abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>), <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">insane in, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>-<a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#cook">Cook County</a>, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— <span id="judge">judge</span> formerly appointed county officers in Tennessee, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#nys">New York</a> (state), <a href="#court">County Court</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— <span id="libr">libraries</span>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>-<a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— lieutenant, militia officer in colonies, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— manager, proposed, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">probable influence of, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>-<a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">proposed in Oregon, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in New York, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>-<a href="#Page_179">179</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in Alameda County, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">text of proposed law providing for, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>-<a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— officers, duties of, in colonial New England, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">effect of obscurity on, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">effect of divided allegiance upon efficiency of, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in Los Angeles County, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>-<a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">under Los Angeles County charter, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>-<a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— physician, in New Jersey functions of, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in North Carolina, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— <span id="plan">planning</span> in Westchester County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>-<a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— poor farm in Westchester County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— prisons, administration of, by counties, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>-<a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#jail">County jail</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— superintendent of schools appointive, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— <span id="survey">surveyor</span> as road master, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— <span id="treas">treasurer</span>, created in Massachusetts, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#cook">Cook County</a>, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Court houses, scandals characteristic of building of, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in Hudson County, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>-<a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Courts, differentiation of functions necessary in urban communities, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</span></li><li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#court">County Court</a>, <a href="#local">local system of</a>, in colonial Connecticut, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cox, Governor James J., efforts to improve tax assessment system in Ohio, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cuyahoga County, <abbr title="Ohio">O.</abbr>, <em>see</em> <a href="#cleveland">Cleveland</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Dakota, alternative plans of county government in territory of, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="darke">Darke County</span>, <abbr title="Ohio">O.</abbr>, management of road affairs by board of commissioners, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Dayton, <abbr title="Ohio">O.</abbr>, city manager plan in, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Defectives, treatment of, in Westchester County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Delaware, lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Democracy, spirit of, in early nineteenth century, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Denver, selection of sheriff by mayor in, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">classification as an urban county, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">constitutional provisions affecting government of, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>-<a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">commission form of government in, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">power of mayor in, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">unified control in, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Deputy (chief) county officers, importance of, and relation to elective superiors, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Direct primary, doubtful value of, in county government, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="da">District attorney</span> (state), origin of, in colonial Connecticut, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>-<a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">popular interest in, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">elected on false issue of law enforcement, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>-<a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">functions of, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">essentially a local officer, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#nys">New York</a> (state);</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#prosecutor">Prosecutor</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">District attorney (federal), method of selection contrasted with that of local prosecutors, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Efficiency, Bureau of (in Los Angeles County), <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Elective road officials, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Electric railways, effect on rural life and government, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Engineering services, duplication of in Milwaukee, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">England, importance of its precedents in colonies, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="erie">Erie County</span>, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, form of county government in, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="essex">Essex County</span>, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr>, classification as urban county, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county park system in, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">office of supervisor in, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>-<a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Examiners (state), character of service rendered to local officials, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Executive, how absence of, militates against proper law enforcement, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>-<a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Federation, proposed in Alameda County, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>-<a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Feeble-minded, removed from county control, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Fees, attraction of, to politician and disposition of, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>-<a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">of coroner, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">theory of system, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">failure of system, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">abolishment of, in Los Angeles County, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Finance, laxity in methods of, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in bridge construction, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Fire protection, proposed as county function in Alameda County, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Flaherty <i>v.</i> Milliken, decision in, involving sheriff’s liability, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Florida, uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</span></li><li class="ifrst"><span id="freehold">Freeholders</span>, Board of Chosen, (<abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr>), <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Georgia, uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">“Good roads” movement, effect on highway administration, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="governing">Governing body</span>, ill-adapted for executive functions, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">insufficient control over elective county officers, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#board">Boards of supervisors</a>, <a href="#freehold">Freeholders</a>, <a href="#commiss">Commissioners</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Governor, formerly appointed county officers in Kentucky, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">ineffective control over county officers, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">suggestion that sheriffs be appointed by, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county officers appointed by, in Massachusetts, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Hamilton County (<abbr title="Ohio">O.</abbr>), <em>see</em> Cincinnati</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Haviland, <abbr title="Doctor">Dr.</abbr> C. Floyd, on treatment of insane in Pennsylvania, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Health (public), neglected in rural communities, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">beginnings and basic idea of movement for, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county as a unit for administration of, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">program of, needed in rural sections, under county control, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Highways, as a unifying factor in modern life, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">amount spent in <abbr title="United States">U. S.</abbr> in 1913, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">growing state control over, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">diminution of county control over, <a href="#Page_140">140</a> <i xml:lang="la" lang="la"><abbr title="et sequentes">et seq.</abbr></i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">state aid for, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#road">Roads and bridges</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Home office, relations to county of London, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Home rule (county), <a href="#Page_145">145</a>-<a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">text of provisions in California constitution, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-<a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">proposed constitutional amendment in New York, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>-<a href="#Page_250">250</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hospital service, duplication of agencies for, in Milwaukee <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#hospital">County hospital</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="hudson">Hudson County</span>, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr>, court house scandal in, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">boulevard commission in, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">separate powers of commission, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">park system, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">building of court house in, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">classification as urban county, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">supervisor in, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>-<a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Humanitarian functions of county, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>-<a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Idaho, establishment of counties in, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county local option in, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="il">Illinois</span>, Southern and New England influence on county system of, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county officers under first constitution of, elective, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">system in, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">insane in penal institutions of, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">report of State Charities Commission on county jails, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>-<a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sabbath law enforcement in, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">special county legislation in, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">optional county government forms in, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#cook">Cook County</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Indiana, origin of county in, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county officers under first constitution elective, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county government scandal in 1898, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">powers of county commissioners reduced by establishment of council, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">illegal payments by county officers in, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">law enforcement in, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">uniform reporting in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Industrial revolution, indirect influence on county government, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Insane, removed from county control, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">care of, by counties, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>-<a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">first hospital for, at Utica, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</li> -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</span></li><li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#cook">Cook County</a>, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr>, <a href="#nj">New Jersey</a>, <a href="#il">Illinois</a>, <a href="#louisiana">Louisiana</a>, <a href="#pa">Pennsylvania</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Institutions (state), <em>see</em> Insane, Penitentiaries, Reformatories, etc.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Iowa, county township system in, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">methods employed by supervisors in Woodbury County, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>-<a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">bridge lobby in legislature of, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">state control of highways in, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#polk">Polk County</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Jail, <em>see</em> <a href="#jail">County jail</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Jersey City (<abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr>), <em>see</em> <a href="#hudson">Hudson County</a>, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Judiciary (state), relation of county officers to, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>-<a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">importance of reorganization, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">(federal) cited as instance of appointive method of selection, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">“Jungle,” the, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>-<a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Justices of the peace, duties of, in colonial Virginia, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">functions in Virginia, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">power to commit children to almshouses in New York State, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reorganization of, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">jurisdiction of, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Kansas, county-township system in, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">report of roads and highways committee, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Kentucky, influence of Virginia upon county organization of, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county officers made appointive in eighteenth century, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reaction against appointive system in, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county local option in, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="kings">Kings County</span>, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, former office of supervisor-at-large in, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Koochiching County ( <abbr title="Wisconsin">Wis.</abbr>), county health organization in, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Labor, provisions in Los Angeles County charter concerning, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Law enforcement, lax under county officers, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">made a political issue, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">unification of local agencies for, suggested, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#null">Nullification</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Leadership, importance of, in county affairs, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Legislation (county), uniformity in, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Legislative representation, often based upon county, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lewis, O. F., on county jails in New York, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Libraries, <em>see</em> <a href="#libr">County libraries</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Local government, restricted functions of, in early nineteenth century, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">new burdens placed upon, as result of congestion of population, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">London, functions of county of, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">County Council an example of county government unification, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>-<a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Long ballot, its effect on organization of county government, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">contributions of county to, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="la">Los Angeles County</span>, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>, charter of, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <i xml:lang="la" lang="la"><abbr title="et sequentes">et seq.</abbr></i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county candidates on ballot of, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">civil service in, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">public defender in, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="louisiana">Louisiana</span>, police jury in, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">insane in parish jails, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county local option in, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst"><span id="macy">Macy</span>, V. Everit, on operation of poor law in New York State, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>-<a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">superintendent of the poor, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>-<a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</span></li><li class="ifrst">Madison, James, influence in favor of retaining original county system in Virginia, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mail facilities, effect on rural life and government, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Maine, influence of Massachusetts precedents in, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Marshall, John, influence in favor of retaining original Virginia county system, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Marshals, <abbr title="United States">U. S.</abbr>, method of selection contrasted with that of sheriff, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Maryland, county government, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">highway progress in, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county libraries in, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="mass">Massachusetts</span>, origin and early history of county in, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">spoils system in, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county prisons in, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">abolition of coroner’s office in, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">leader in establishing state penal institutions, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reform institutions in, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">state aid in highway construction in, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">metropolitan district of, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Medical examiner, suggested as a substitute for coroner, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in Massachusetts, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> also <a href="#cme">Chief medical examiner</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Medical referee (in New Hampshire), <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Michigan, township-supervisor system in, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">state penitentiary in, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county local option in, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Middle West, insane in almshouses, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>-<a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">New England influences in, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Milwaukee, <abbr title="Wisconsin">Wis.</abbr>, report of City Club of, regarding city and county offices, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county government in, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">proposals for city-county consolidation in, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">relations to county, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Minnesota, alternative plans of county government in, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county local option in, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county libraries in, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mississippi, origin of county system in, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county officers elective in, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="mo">Missouri</span>, county-township system in, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">alternative plans of, county organization in, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county officers elective in, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">poor law and almshouse administration in, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">equalization of taxes in, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county libraries in, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="monroe">Monroe County</span>, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, absence of road records in, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Montana, establishment of counties in, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county local option in, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mosquito Commission, in Hudson County, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst"><span id="nassau">Nassau County</span>, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, work of County Association in, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">recommendations of official commission in, for county home rule, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">National Municipal League, its report on city-county consolidation, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Nebraska, alternative plans of county organization in, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">activity of bridge builders in legislature of, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county libraries in, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Nevada, uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">New England, influences operating on local government in, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">formation of first counties in, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county-town relations in, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">New Hampshire, limited powers of commissioners in, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>-<a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li> -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</span></li><li class="isub1">convention, powers and duties of, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">appointive judiciary in, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="nj">New Jersey</span>, local assessors in, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">office of supervisor in, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>-<a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">law affecting sheriff’s appointments, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">extent of merit system in counties of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">insane in penal institutions of, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county legislation in, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>-<a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">state civil service regulation in, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">the surrogate in, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">appointive judiciary in, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">optional county government forms in, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#essex">Essex County</a>, <a href="#hudson">Hudson County</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">New Mexico, establishment of county system in, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="ny">New York</span> (city), special legislation for counties of, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">abolition of coroners in, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">city-county consolidation proposals in, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">extent of city-county consolidation in, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>-<a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">metropolitan district compared to London, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">New York (county), large fees of sheriff in, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="nys">New York</span> (state), counties of, discussed in constitutional convention, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>-<a href="#Page_3">3</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">supervisors in towns of, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">elective method applied to sheriffs and county clerks in, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">district attorneys and county judges made elective in, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">extent of merit system in counties of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">legal relation of sheriff to his deputies in, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">requirements as to county advertising, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">almshouses in, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">improvement of condition of poor in, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">New England influences in, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">enforcement of anti-racing laws in, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">under-assessment of taxes by local officers, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">equalization of taxes in, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county law in, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">uniform reporting law in, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">civil service regulation in, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">State Board of Charities, its jurisdiction, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">comptroller, his powers over county officers in, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">the surrogate in, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">state prisons in, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">first state reformatory in, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“state” poor in, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">committee on State Police, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">highway control in, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">County Government Association, its recommendations concerning county home rule, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">metropolitan district of, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">proposal for county manager in, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">classification of county accounts in, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">public health movement in, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county libraries in, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see also</em> <a href="#erie">Erie County</a>, <a href="#kings">Kings County</a>, <a href="#monroe">Monroe County</a>, <a href="#orange">Orange County</a>, <a href="#nassau">Nassau County</a>, <a href="#prison">Prison <abbr title="Association">Assn.</abbr></a>, <a href="#westchester">Westchester County</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">New York <i>Times</i>, its proposals for abolishment of counties in New York State, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Niagara County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, district attorney quoted concerning rural post office robberies, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Niagara Falls, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, city manager plan in, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">North Carolina, influence of Virginia precedents on, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">public health movement in, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county physicians in, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">home-study clubs in, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>-<a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">North Dakota, accounting and reporting legislation in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Northwest, importance of county as unit of government in, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">New England influences in, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</span></li><li class="ifrst"><span id="null">Nullification</span>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>-<a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Ohio, county-township system in, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county officers in first constitution elective, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">extent of merit system in counties of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">pioneer in county reporting, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">state penitentiary in, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">highway progress in, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county libraries in, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>-<a href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#cleveland">Cleveland</a>, <a href="#cincinnati">Cincinnati</a>, <a href="#darke">Darke County</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Oklahoma, uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">public defender in, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Omaha, long ballot in, owing to elective county officers, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="orange">Orange County</span>, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, (County “A”), irregularities of officers of, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ordinance of 1787, county officers under, appointive, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Oregon, establishment of counties in, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county local option in, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">proposal for county manager in, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county libraries in, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Parks, county system in Essex County, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Party, organization, importance of county as unit of, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">baneful effects upon county administration, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Payments, frequency of illegal, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="pa">Pennsylvania</span>, commissioners in, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">party organization in, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">care of dependent children in, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>-<a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">treatment of insane in, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>-<a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">state constabulary in, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pennybacker, J. E., on highways, <a href="#Page_140">140</a> <i xml:lang="la" lang="la"><abbr title="et sequentes">et seq.</abbr></i></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Philadelphia, classification as an urban county, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Personnel, importance and limitations of, as factor in good government, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">administrative, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#civil">Civil service</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Police, proposed as county function in Alameda County, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#consta">Constabulary</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Police functions, county officers unable to perform, in complex communities, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Political boss, origin of, in county government, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>-<a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="polk">Polk County</span>, Iowa, awarding of bridge contracts in, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Poor, care of, entrusted to county governments, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>-<a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">former treatment and present scientific handling of, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">superintendents of, in <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> State, powers of, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">overseers of, in <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> State, commitments by, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">importance of records concerning, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">administration of laws dealing with, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#mo">Missouri</a>, <a href="#nys"><abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> State</a>, <a href="#pa">Pennsylvania</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Poverty, prevention of, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="countypress">Press</span> (county), small circulation, lack of independence, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">need for improving, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="prison">Prison Association</span>, in New York State, secretary of, quoted, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Prisoners, classification of, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">jurisdiction of county over, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">classification of, systematically violated, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">transfer of certain classes of, to state institutions advocated, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>-<a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Probation, importance of records concerning, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Professional politicians, great opportunity of, in obscurity of county government, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="prosecutor">Prosecutor</span>, appointment of, advocated, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#da">District attorney</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Public defender, the, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>-<a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Public Efficiency Society, work of, in Cook County, <abbr title="Illinois">Ill.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Publicity, importance in county affairs of, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</span></li><li class="ifrst">Purchasing, duplication of systems in Milwaukee, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">significance of better methods of, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">agent, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">consolidation of local agencies for, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Qualifications (legal) of county officers, lack of, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Quick, Herbert, on county government in Iowa, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>-<a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">characterization of county government by, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Race track legislation, enforcement of, by local county officers, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>-<a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Readjustments of county system, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>-<a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Recall, provisions in Los Angeles County charter concerning, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>-<a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Reconstruction, of county government, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>-<a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">formula for, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Recorder, appointive, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Records, usual lack of, in road management by counties, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in Westchester County almshouse, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>-<a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Reporting, importance of uniform, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Responsibility, lack of in organization of judiciary, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">necessity for fixing in counties, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>-<a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="ri">Rhode Island</span>, origin of county in, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">influence of Massachusetts institutions in, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">sheriffs appointed by legislature in, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="road">Roads and bridges</span>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>-<a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">under Los Angeles County charter, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>-<a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rochester, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, proposals for city-county consolidations in, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rural politics, influence of county press on, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rural voter, civic capacity of, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis County (<abbr title="Missouri">Mo.</abbr>), city-county consolidation in, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Salmon, <abbr title="Doctor">Dr.</abbr> Thomas W., on county almshouse care of insane, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">San Bernardino County, <abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>, adoption and amendment of county charter in, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="sf">San Francisco</span>, classification as an urban county, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">city-county consolidation in, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>-<a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Saxon kingdoms, the original of English counties, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Secor, Alson, on bridge lobby at Des Moines, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>-<a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sectionalism, stimulated by governmental organization in some states, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Selectmen, functions in colonial Virginia, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">functions of, in New England, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sheriff, maladministration of, in a central <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> county, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">historical origin of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">court duties of, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">duties of, in Virginia, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">elective officer in Pennsylvania since 1726, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in New Jersey after Revolution, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">falsity of theory underlying his election, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">large fees of, in New York County, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">appointing power restricted in New Jersey, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">relation to deputies according to <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> courts, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">principal police agency in early local governments, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">conflict with other police agencies, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">limitations as jail keeper, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">as enforcer of state laws in <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> State, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">imperfectly controlled by county judge, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">functions as court officer discussed, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">suggestion that governor appoint, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">inability of, in dealing with crime, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</span></li><li class="isub1">encroachment upon functions of, by Department of Correction in <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> City, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">appointive method of selection of, proposed, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">importance of records of, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#ri">Rhode Island</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Short ballot, the basic principle of county reconstruction, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>-<a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">meaning of, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Solicitor, <em>see</em> <a href="#da">District Attorney</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span id="south">South</span>, development of county in, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">the insane in county almshouses of, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">South Carolina, influence of Virginia precedents on, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">appointive judiciary in, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Southwest, importance of county as unit of local government in, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Special legislation, testimony of county officer concerning, in <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> constitutional convention, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">State constitutions, provisions of, concerning counties, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— control in taxation, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— examiners in Ohio, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— government, stiffening hold on highway matters, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">influence in county affairs, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>-<a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— legislatures, power over counties, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— party organization, built upon county units, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— supervision of accounts recommended, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">State’s attorney, <em>see</em> <a href="#da">District Attorney</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Suffolk County, <abbr title="Massachusetts">Mass.</abbr>, <em>see</em> <a href="#boston">Boston</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Suffolk County, <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, work of Taxpayers <abbr title="Association">Assn.</abbr> in, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Superintendent of the poor, appointive method of selection proposed, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Supervisor (town), functions of, in <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">elective officers in <abbr title="New York">N. Y.</abbr> since 1691, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in Hudson County, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">influence in road affairs, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#board">Board of supervisors</a>, <a href="#essex">Essex County</a> and <a href="#hudson">Hudson County</a>, <abbr title="New Jersey">N. J.</abbr></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Surrogate, jurisdiction of, in probate matters, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Surveyor, appointive, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#survey">County surveyor</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">System (of government), importance of, as contrasted with personnel, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Tammany Hall, its influence exercised through control of county offices, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tax administration, inappropriateness of town as unit for, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">dual system of, in California, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— collector, appointive, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">—— laws, nullification of, by local officers, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Taylor, Graham, on humanitarian functions of county, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>-<a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tehama County (<abbr title="California">Cal.</abbr>), charter of, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Telephone, effect on rural life and government, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tennessee, influence of early Virginia precedents on county government, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county officers of, made appointive, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Texas, American county system established in, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county local option in, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Town, dominant idea in local government of New England, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">relation of county to, in New England, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li> -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</span></li><li class="isub1">inappropriateness of, for performance of certain functions, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Township officers in Los Angeles County charter, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>-<a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Treasurer, elective in Massachusetts, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">appointive, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#treas">county treasurer</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tuberculosis, effect upon general public health movement of fight against, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Turnpike companies, as road builders and operators, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Uniformity in county legislation, <a href="#Page_112">112</a> <i xml:lang="la" lang="la"><abbr title="et sequentes">et seq.</abbr></i></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Urban communities, growth of, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Urban counties, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>-<a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Utah, establishment of counties in, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst">Vermont, lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Virginia, origin of counties of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">constitutional convention, discussion concerning local government in, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reaction against appointive system of, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lack of accounting law in, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">highway progress in, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">independent cities of, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index p2"> -<li class="ifrst"><span id="westchester">Westchester County</span>, work of Research Bureau, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">patronage in political advertising, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>-<a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">recommendations of official commission in, for county home rule, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">auditing practices in, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">discrepancies between estimates, etc., for poor relief in, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <a href="#plan">County planning</a>, <a href="#macy">V. Everit Macy</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Westchester County Chamber of Commerce, its activities in county planning, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in activities for better county government, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Westchester County Research Bureau, statement concerning budget making, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>-<a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Western Reserve, New England influences in, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">West Virginia, uniform accounting law in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Wisconsin, compromise plan of county government, township system in, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">spoils system in, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">provisions for county graduate nurse in, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county libraries in, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Wyoming, auditing system in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">county libraries in, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> -</ul> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker" /> - -<div class="chapter transnote"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_Notes">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> - - -<p>In a few cases, obvious punctuation errors have been corrected.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_27">27</a>: “Massachussetts had always had it” changed to “Massachusetts -had always had it”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_142">142</a>: “cases to impofe standards” changed to “cases to impose -standards”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_192">192</a>: “comparative efficiency of employes” changed to “comparative -efficiency of employees”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_236">236</a>: “comparative efficiency of employes” changed to “comparative -efficiency of employees”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_238">238</a>: “No officer or employe of the county,” changed to “No officer -or employee of the county,”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_245">245</a>: “No attorney, agent, stockholder or employe of any firm” -changed to “No attorney, agent, stockholder or employee of any firm”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_253">253</a>: “other powers, duties and responsibilties” changed to “other -powers, duties and responsibilities”</p> - -<p> In Appendix C, page <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, a -footnote has been created to contain the explanation text.</p> - -<p>In the Index, the spelling of Polk County was corrected.</p> -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COUNTY ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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