criminal violence, or by a casualty, or by suicide, or suddenly when
in apparent health, or when unattended by a physician, or in prison,
or in any suspicious or unusual manner, the officer in charge of the
station house in the police precinct in which such person died shall
immediately notify the office of the chief medical examiner of the
known facts concerning the time, place, manner and circumstances of
such death. Immediately upon receipt of such notification the chief
medical examiner, or a deputy or assistant medical examiner, shall go
to the dead body, and take charge of the same. Such examiner shall
fully investigate the essential facts concerning the circumstances of
the death, taking the names and addresses of as many witnesses thereto
as it may be practical to obtain, and, before leaving the premises,
shall reduce all such facts to writing and file the same in his office.
The police officer so detailed shall, in the absence of the next of kin
of deceased person, take possession of all property of value found on
such person, make an exact inventory thereof on his report, and deliver
such property to the police department, which shall surrender the same
to the person entitled to its custody or possession. Such examiner
shall take possession of any portable objects which, in his opinion,
may be useful in establishing the cause of death, and deliver them to
the police department.
Nothing in this section contained shall affect the powers and duties of
a public administrator as now provided by law.
AUTOPSIES; FINDINGS
§ 1571-a. If the cause of such death shall be established beyond a
reasonable doubt, the medical examiner in charge shall so report to
his office. If, however, in the opinion of such medical examiner,
an autopsy is necessary, the same shall be performed by a medical
examiner. A detailed description of the findings written during the
progress of such autopsy and the conclusions drawn therefrom shall
thereupon be filed in his office.
REPORT OF DEATHS; REMOVAL OF BODY
§ 1571-b. It shall be the duty of any citizen who may become aware of
the death of any such person to report such death forthwith to the
office of the chief medical examiner, and to a police officer who
shall forthwith notify the officer in charge of the station-house in
the police precinct in which such person died. Any person who shall
willfully neglect or refuse to report such death or who without written
order from a medical examiner shall willfully touch, remove or disturb
the body of any such person, or willfully touch, remove, or disturb the
clothing, or any article upon or near such body, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.
RECORDS
§ 1571-c. It shall be the duty of the office of medical examiner to
keep full and complete records. Such records shall be kept in the
office, properly indexed, stating the name, if known, of every such
person, the place where the body was found and the date of death. To
the record of each case shall be attached the original report of the
medical examiner and the detailed findings of the autopsy, if any. The
office shall promptly deliver to the appropriate district attorney
copies of all records relating to every death as to which there is,
in the judgment of the medical examiner in charge, any indication of
criminality. All other records shall be open to public inspection as
provided in section fifteen hundred and forty-five. The appropriate
district attorney and the police commissioner of the city may require
from such officer such further records, and such daily information, as
they may deem necessary.
OATHS AND AFFIDAVITS
§ 1571-d. The chief medical examiner, and all deputy or assistant
medical examiners, may administer oaths, and take affidavits, proofs
and examinations as to any matter within the jurisdiction of the office.
§ 3. Section eleven hundred and seventy-nine of such charter is hereby
amended to read as follows:
BUREAUS
§ 1179. There shall be two bureaus in the department of health.
The chief officer of one bureau shall be called the “sanitary
superintendent,” who, at the time of his appointment, shall have been,
for at least ten years, a practicing physician, and for three years a
resident of the city of New York, and he shall be the chief executive
officer of said department. The chief officer of the second bureau
shall be called the “registrar of records,” and in said bureau shall be
recorded, without fees, every birth, marriage, and death, which shall
occur within the city of New York.
§ 4. Section twelve hundred and three of such charter is hereby amended
to read as follows:
MEDICAL EXAMINERS’ RETURNS
§ 1203. The department of health may, from time to time make rules
and regulations fixing the time of rendering, and defining the form
of returns and reports to be made to said department by the office of
chief medical examiner of the city of New York, in all cases of death
which shall be investigated by it; and the office of the chief medical
examiner is hereby required to conform to such rules and regulations.
§ 5. Section twelve hundred and thirty-eight of such charter is hereby
amended to read as follows:
DEATHS TO BE REPORTED
§ 1238. It shall be the duty of the next of kin of any person deceased,
and of each person being with such deceased person at his or her
death, to file report in writing, with the department of health within
five days after such death, stating the age, color, nativity, last
occupation and cause of death of such deceased person, and the borough
and street, the place of such person’s death and last residence.
Physicians who have attended deceased persons in their last illness
shall, in the certificate of the decease of such persons, specify,
as near as the same can be ascertained, the name and surname, age,
occupation, term of residence in said city, place of nativity,
condition of life; whether single or married, widow or widower; color,
last place of residence and the cause of death of such deceased
persons, and the medical examiners of the city, shall, in their
certificates conform to the requirements of this section.
§ 6. Such charter is hereby amended by inserting therein a new section,
to be numbered section fifteen hundred and eighty-five-a, and to read
as follows:
COUNTY CLERKS TO EXERCISE CERTAIN STATUTORY POWERS AND DUTIES OF
CORONERS
§ 1585-a. In the city of New York the powers imposed and the duties
conferred upon coroners by the provisions of title three of chapter
two of the code of civil procedure shall be exercised and performed
by the county clerk of the appropriate county, and said county clerk
shall, in the exercise and performance thereof, be subject to the same
liabilities and responsibilities as are prescribed in such title in the
case of coroners.
§ 7. Sections seventeen hundred and sixty-six to seventeen hundred
and seventy-nine, both inclusive, of chapter four hundred and ten
of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-two, entitled “An act to
consolidate into one act and to declare the special and local laws
affecting public interests in the city of New York,” and all acts
amending such sections, are hereby repealed.
§ 8. The officers and employees now exercising the powers and duties
which by this act are abolished, or are conferred or imposed upon the
office of chief medical examiner, including coroner’s physicians, shall
be transferred to the office of chief medical examiner. Service in
the office, board or body from which transferred shall count for all
purposes as service in the office of the chief medical examiner.
§ 9. All funds, property, records, books, papers and documents within
the jurisdiction or control of any such coroner, or such board of
coroners, shall, on demand, be transferred and delivered to the office
of the chief medical examiner. The board of estimate and apportionment
shall transfer to the office of the chief medical examiner all
unexpended appropriations made by the city to enable any coroner, or
board of coroners, to exercise any of the powers and duties which by
this act are abolished or are conferred or imposed upon such office of
chief medical examiner.
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.
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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.