Closely associated with the office of sheriff is that of the coroner, an office not quite so ancient, but nevertheless with a long and interesting history. There are usually two or more coroners in a county, and, except in a few eastern and southern states, they are elected by popular vote. The New York law provides that there shall be four in each county having 100,000 population or more, and not more than four in other counties as the board of supervisors may determine; they are elected for a term of three years.1

It is the duty of the coroner to view the body of any person murdered, or killed by accident, or in any other manner involving suspicion of crime. The inquest is made by a jury, generally of six, empanelled by the coroner; witnesses are summoned; all facts relating to the death of the person which can be ascertained are recorded; and at the conclusion of the inquest the jury returns a verdict to the effect that the deceased met his death in some particular manner and, when foul play is unearthed, the offender or offenders may be named.

In New York the coroner may employ two competent surgeons to make post mortem examinations and to testify to the result of the same, and it is the common practice in all states to call some medical authority to give testimony at an inquest. Owing to the value of such evidence and the crude and ignorant methods often accompanying coroners' inquests, Massachusetts has provided for the appointment of expert medical examiners to give special attention to these important preliminary investigations. The coroner's verdict does not in any case, however, prevent independent action by the county prosecutor or grand jury.

In addition to the judicial and police officials of the county, there is a second important group, which may be designated as the financial officers. They are generally elective. First among these is the treasurer,2 who is to be found in every state except Rhode Island. His duties are primarily fiscal in character; he collects the taxes laid in the county, but sometimes he is assisted in this by special collectors; and he transmits to the central au

1 Exceptions for certain populous counties.

2 In Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Kentucky, and Louisiana treasurers are appointed by county boards and in South Carolina by the governor. Fairlie, op. cit., p. 122. In New York the term of the treasurer is three years, except in certain populous counties.

thorities the portion of the local revenues which goes to the state. He is the guardian of the county funds, and in many states he may select under the terms of the law the banks in which to deposit the money under his control. In the exercise of this power he often derives a large personal income, but some states have now required the officer to turn into the county treasury all interest accruing from deposits of public money. The law of New York orders the treasurer, if not otherwise directed, to designate in writing the banks in which county funds are to be deposited and to agree upon the rate of interest, which is to be credited to the account of the county. Of course, this leaves opportunity for favoritism, which will be advantageous to the treasurer, and there has been more than one case of private gain at public expense.

About one-third of the states, principally in the North Central group, have county auditors whose business it is to go over the accounts of all the officers of the county, to prepare a periodical statement of the county finances, and to issue warrants on the

treasurer.

In New York the legislature has not yet seen fit to create the office of auditor, except for one county, Erie, in which the city of Buffalo is located. The accounts for the four counties embraced within the area of Greater New York are audited by the comptroller of the city. In the other counties of the state the auditing has not been centralized; the board of supervisors audits and allows all accounts, but nearly all of the routine work is done by the clerk of the board, who is for many practical purposes the county auditor. An additional element of control is furnished by the provision requiring the treasurer to make a detailed annual statement to the board, but this system does not furnish the general supervision and scrutiny desirable, especially in wealthy and populous counties.

In a number of states, especially those in which the township is only slightly developed, notably in the South, there is a county assessor who is usually elected. It is his duty to make out the roll of all the taxpayers residing in the county and the value of property assessed against each person. Quite generally the taxpayers list their own property for the information of the assessor, but, of course, he may alter each valuation as he may see 1 A law of 1910 authorizes their appointment.

fit. Associated with the assessor there is sometimes a board of equalization, whose duty it is to pass upon the assessments of the entire county with a view to correcting inequalities, and to hear appeals from taxpayers protesting against the valuation assigned to their property. In New York, this work of equalization is done by the board of supervisors, who may, however, by majority vote, appoint three persons to be commissioners of equalization of the county.

In addition to the financial, judicial, and police groups of county officials, there are a number of officers connected with county administration. In almost one-half of the states there is a county clerk, who sometimes combines duties connected with the county court with entirely separate ministerial duties, such as keeping records of deeds and mortgages, or preparing ballots for elections. The county clerk in New York is elected for a term of three years;1 he serves as the custodian of election records, in all except the most populous counties, which have special authorities for this purpose; and he generally prepares ballots for primary and regular elections.

The custody of the records of land is a county function in all the states except Connecticut and Rhode Island, where it is vested in the town clerk. In about half the states, the county has a special officer in charge of land records, known as a recorder or the register of deeds, who keeps a record of all titles to land within the county and of all mortgages, loans, and other instruments which affect such titles.

Everywhere, except in New England, certain educational functions are made county matters; and in a number of the southern states the management of schools is entirely in the hands of county authorities composed of boards and superintendents. In states where education is largely a township matter, as, for example, in Indiana, there is a county superintendent of education who has general supervisory powers over the trustees or directors of local school districts. In New York there is a school commissioner elected in each school commissioner district, of which some counties have two or more; in cities, however, there are special boards.2

1 In rural counties; special provisions are made for large cities.

2 Among the minor county officers may be included the surveyor, to be found in nearly all the states except the North Atlantic group, the superintendent of the county poor, and the health commissioners.

Town and Township Government

On the basis for classifying local governments laid down at the opening of this chapter- that of the organization and functions of the subdivisions of the county-the New England states stand in a group by themselves. In that section of the Union, every county is divided into towns, or, to use the word in a western sense, townships. Many diverting attempts have been made to trace the origin of these rural hamlets to that "great cradle of liberty, the forests of Germany," and as a matter of fact they do have a very long and interesting history. They have stood practically unchanged, especially in the more sparsely settled districts, in their form of government amid the political revolutions of the nineteenth century.' It is customary to call them pure democracies because they are governed by assemblies of all the voters in open town meetings, and possess most of the important powers which are elsewhere vested in county officials. Yet it is difficult to regard as democratic a system which is the basis for abuses in representation in the state legislature almost as gross as those swept away in England by the first great reform bill.2

The New England towns are very irregular in shape, owing to their having been originally settlements laid out roughly before an official survey was made. Generally speaking, they vary in size from twenty to forty square miles, although the western rectangular township containing six square miles is found in the northern part of Maine. The town is usually a rural region containing one or more "villages," varying in size from very small hamlets to settlements containing three or four thousand inhabitants. The more thickly populated urban centres are usually organized as city corporations distinct from the town, but this is not always the case. The town of Brookline, Massachusetts, between Boston and Newton, has a population of over 20,000 and yet retains its primitive town government. Even New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, have continued the town organization separate from the city government. The feature of the system which is most striking to the observer from the middle West is 1 Compare the extracts on p. 11, and on p. 556 of the Readings. 2 See above, p. 521.

the combination of rural with municipal government; for in most instances considerable villages and even small cities, containing a thousand or more inhabitants, are not separated from the surrounding agricultural district, but the whole of the "township" is governed by one meeting of all the electors, rural and urban.

The government of the town is vested in a town-meeting composed of all the voters and held annually and on special occasions. The meeting commonly assembles in the town hall and seems to be attended by a considerable proportion of the voters, especially in the rural regions. At the town-meeting the selectmen, or executive committee, the town clerk, assessor, treasurer, constable, and other officers are chosen by secret ballot, and matters relating to appropriations, streets, schools, and other local functions are discussed and determined. In rural districts where primitive conditions have been undisturbed by the rise of the factory system or by the influx of immigrants, and where every one knows everybody's business, the town-meeting preserves much of its ancient vitality and interest, but to a considerable degree the business of the meeting is determined in advance by a caucus of the adepts in rural politics.' It is only when there is some matter of special importance, like the laying out of an important street or the erection of a new school building or waterworks, that the town-meeting rises to the dignity of a deliberative assembly.

The administrative work of the town is done by a group of officers elected for terms of one or more years at the town-meeting. The chief executive officers of the town are the selectmen, varying in number from three to nine. Their emoluments and the character of their duties are largely determined by the size of the town. They may execute the special orders of the meeting, lay out highways, draw warrants on the town treasury, act as assessors, health officers, and election clerks, and grant licenses. The town clerk is an important and often an interesting character, for his knowledge of local matters and family histories is sometimes stupendous. He issues marriage licenses, serves as a registrar of marriages, births, deaths, records the proceedings of the town meetings, and in Connecticut and Rhode Island is a recorder of deeds, mortgages, and other documents relating 1 See Readings, p. 12, for the Boston caucus in colonial times.