Civil Government in the United States Considered with Some Reference to Its Origins. Fiske John

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      Section 1. The New England Township.

      The most ancient and simple form of government.

      New England settled by church congregations.

      Policy of the early Massachusetts government as to land grants.

      Smallness of the farms

      Township and village

      Social position of the settlers

      The town-meeting

      Selectmen; town-clerk

      Town-treasurer; constables; assessors of taxes and overseers of the poor

      Act of 1647 establishing public schools

      School committees

      Field-drivers and pound-keepers; fence-viewers; other town officers

      Calling the town-meeting

      Town, county, and state taxes

      Poll-tax

      Taxes on real-estate; taxes on personal property

      When and where taxes are assessed

      Tax-lists

      Cheating the government

      The rate of taxation

      Undervaluation; the burden of taxation

      The "magic-fund" delusion

      Educational value of the town-meeting

      By-laws

      Power and responsibility

      There is nothing especially American, democratic, or meritorious about "rotation in office"

      QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

      Section 2. Origin of the Township.

      Town-meetings in ancient Greece and Rome

      Clans; the mark and the tun

      The Old-English township, the manor, and the parish

      The vestry-meeting

      Parish and vestry clerks; beadles, waywardens, haywards, common-drivers, churchwardens, etc.

      Transition from the English parish to the New England township

      Building of states out of smaller political units

      Representation; shire-motes; Earl Simon's Parliament

      The township as the "unit of representation" in the shire-mote and in the General Court

      Contrast with the Russian village-community which is not represented in the general government

      QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

      CHAPTER III.

       Table of Contents

      THE COUNTY.

      Section 1. The County in its Beginnings.

      Why do we have counties?

      Clans and tribes

      The English nation, like the American, grew out of the union of small states

      Ealdorman and sheriff; shire-mote and county court

      The coroner, or "crown officer"

      Justices of the peace; the Quarter Sessions; the lord lieutenant

      Decline of the English county; beginnings of counties in Massachusetts

      QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

      Section 2. The Modern County in Massachusetts.

      County commissioners, etc.; shire-towns and court-houses

      Justices of the peace, and trial justices

      The sheriff

      QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

      Section 3. The Old Virginia County.

      Virginia sparsely settled; extensive land grants to individuals

      Navigable rivers; absence of towns; slavery

      Social position of the settlers

      Virginia parishes; the vestry was a close corporation

      Powers of the vestry

      The county was the unit of representation

      The county court was virtually a close corporation

      The county-seat, or Court House

      Powers of the court; the sheriff

      The county-lieutenant

      Contrast between old Virginia and old New England, in respect of local government

      Jefferson's opinion of township government

      "Court-day" in old Virginia

      Virginia has been prolific in great leaders

      QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

      SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS

      BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

      CHAPTER IV.

       Table of Contents

      TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY.

      Section 1. Various Local Systems.

      Parishes in South Carolina

      The back country; the "regulators"

      The district system

      The modern South Carolina county

      The СКАЧАТЬ