Chapter XXVIII: 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.