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.
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.
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
