amination; witnesses are examined; and the jury give their opinion in writing as to the cause and manner of the death. Such inquiry is called a coroner's inquest.

10. The District Attorney is a lawyer who attends all courts in the county in which persons are tried for crimes, and conducts the prosecution. As all crimes and breaches of the peace are considered as committed against the State, and prosecuted in its name, this attorney is sometimes called state's attorney, or prosecuting attorney.

11. Other Officers.-There are often other officers in each county; such as, assessors, who assess the value of each one's property so that it may be known what tax he shall pay; collectors of taxes; a county surveyor; a superintendent of schools.

12. Elected.-County officers are generally elected by the people of the county, for terms of from one to four years. Some of them are, in some of the States, appointed by some authority prescribed by the constitution or laws of the State.

13. Whom They Represent. While the different county officers are alike in this respect, that their jurisdiction extends only to their particular county, and also in this fact, that in their official acts they act as representatives or agents of the people; they differ from each other in this, that while some represent the people of the whole State (and in that sense may be called state officers), others represent only the people of their own county. Thus, when a sheriff arrests a man for crime, it is the State which arrests him by the hand of its agent in that county; when the district attorney prosecutes him, it is the State which is trying him for the crime against itself. (See page 80, footnote.) On the other hand the county commissioners commonly act only as agents of their county. Some officers may represent the State in some of their duties, and he county in others.

CHAPTER XIII.

TOWN OFFICERS.

1. Towns. In all the States except those far west and most of the Southern States, each county is subdivided. These subdivisions are called towns at the East, and townships at the West and South. At the West and South a village or city is often called a town. But in this book we shall use the word town as meaning an organized subdivision of a county. In those States where towns do not exist, the county exercises all the local governmental powers and has all the necessary officers. It must be remembered, then, that this chapter does not apply to all the States.

2. Chief Officer. Since a town is a corporation, it must, like a county, have some one to represent it and act for it. The principal officer, or board, whose duty this is has different names in different States. In the New England towns there are what are called selectmen, three or more in each town. In a few States there are trustees of townships. In a few other States there is in each town one such officer, called supervisor. The powers and duties of these officers are the most numerous and important in New England, where the town is the most important division of the State. They have duties with regard to taking charge of the town property, laying out and repairing roads, collecting taxes, providing for the poor, etc. In those States where the county is the more important division, the town officers have fewer of these duties, and the county officers have more.

3. Treasurer.

There is often a town treasurer, with duties, in his own town, analogous to those of a county treasurer.

4. Town Clerk.-A town clerk in each town keeps the records, books, and papers of the town. He records in a book the proceedings of town meetings, the names of the persons elected, and such other papers as are required by law to be recorded.

5. Constables.-There are several constables in each town. Their principal duties are to serve all writs and processes issued by justices of the peace. The business of a constable in executing the orders of a justice of the peace is similar to that of a sheriff in relation to the county courts.

6. Highways. For the repairing of highways and bridges, a town is divided by the proper officers into as many road districts as may be judged convenient; and a person residing in each district is chosen, called overseer or supervisor, or surveyor of highways, whose duty it is to see that the roads and bridges are repaired and kept in order in his district. In some cases a tax is laid for the purpose, and ordinary laborers do the work. In others, each one taxed may work on the road himself a certain number of days, or he may pay the tax, according as he wishes.

7. Overseers of the Poor provide for the support of paupers belonging to the town, who have no near relatives able to support them. In some States there is in each county a poor-house, to which the paupers of the several towns are sent to be provided for; the expense to be charged to the towns to which such poor persons belonged.

8. Other Officers.-There are often in every town other inferior officers: assessors and collectors of taxes (see Chap.

XV.); certain school-officers; fence-viewers, who settle disputes as to division fences; pound-keepers, who take charge of stray animals; sealers, who keep correct copies of the standard of weights and measures; and others.

9. Elected. Most town officers are elected by the electors of their respective towns at the annual town meetings, for terms of one year.

ment.

10. Town Meetings.-These are meetings of the electors held once a year in every town for the election of town officers and for certain other business. They exist only in New England and a few other States which have been under the influence of New England. At them the people not only elect officers, but take some share in the governFor instance, they have power to vote what money shall be raised for school purposes, for highways, and other purposes; what salaries shall be paid different officers; what proceedings shall be taken at law; and other powers. This, as far as it goes, is pure democracy. With a county it is different. The people of a county never meet together except to elect officers, and take no part, directly, in the direction of affairs.

CHAPTER XIV.

CITIES AND VILLAGES.

1. Reasons for Incorporation.-A city, or a village,* is a particular portion of a town which has become so thickly populated that a different kind of government is needed

*The word village very often means only a collection of houses, or of people living near one another, but in this chapter we shall use the word for an incorporated village. In Connecticut and Pennsylvania an incorporated village is called a borough.

For instance, where

from that of the rest of the town. there are many people who use the streets, sidewalks will be necessary, and where the houses are near to each other, as in the ordinary village, fire-engines and fire-companies will be necessary to prevent the whole place from being destroyed; and if the population is still more dense, as in a city, many other regulations are necessary-such as, with regard to police, water supply, cleaning the streets, sewers, etc. towns do not have the power to regulate these things. is thought best that the people living in those thickly populated portions should do it themselves. The legislature of the State gives them these powers by incorporating them into a village or city.

But

It

2. Charter. Whenever, therefore, the inhabitants of any portion of a town become so numerous as to require a government with more powers than the rest of the town, they petition the legislature for a law incorporating them into a village, or, if they are very numerous, a city. The law or act of incorporation is usually called a charter. The word charter is from the Latin charta, which means paper. The instruments of writing by which kings or other sovereign powers granted rights and privileges to individuals or corporations were written on paper or parchment, and called charters. In this country it is commonly used to designate an act of the legislature conferring privileges and powers upon cities, villages, and other corporations.

3. Its Contents.-The charter describes the boundaries of the city and village, prescribes what officers it shall have, and what shall be their powers and duties.

4. City Officers.-The chief executive officer of a city is a mayor. A city is divided into wards of convenient size, in each of which are chosen one or more aldermen (usually two) and such other officers as are named in the charter.