The Three Types of Local Organization.—­We have now seen that in New England the town had the most important functions of local government, and this is called, therefore, the town type; while in Virginia the county had the greater share of governing powers, and there we find the county type.  Virginia influenced the colonies that lay south of her, so that the county type was found also in the Carolinas and Georgia.  In the middle colonies there existed both counties and towns, and here there was a much more equal division of powers between these organizations.  Hence we call theirs the mixed or township-county type of local government.

Local Government in the West.—­The people who migrated to the new States west of the Alleghenies carried with them the forms of local government which have just been described as growing up in the colonies.  This statement needs some modification, for nowhere in the West was the pure town type adopted.  Everywhere in the North we find the mixed type, while the Southern States have, in general, the county type.  In the latter the county commissioners, elected at large or from precincts, together with other county officers, exercise most of the local powers of government.

Two Forms in the North.—­In the greater number of the States that have the mixed type, the county is governed by a board of commissioners elected by either of the methods just mentioned as prevailing in the South.  In a few States (such as Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin), the county board is composed of supervisors, who represent the towns, villages, and wards of the county.  Here we find the town meeting, copied after that of New England or New York, and the town government has more functions than in those States where commissioners compose the town board.

Local Self-Government.—­Such is the way in which local government has come about in the various States of the Union.  Rooted in the systems that Englishmen have developed through the centuries, adapted to the new life and the peculiar conditions of the colonial period, it has spread with the population throughout the land.  The management of local affairs by the people and their chosen representatives is a sound principle of government which holds a firm place in every part of our country.

* * * * *

SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS AND REFERENCES.

1.  Which type of local government exists in your State?  Can you account for its origin?

2.  Is the system of local government uniform throughout your State?  If so, why is this true?  If not, can you account for the lack of uniformity?

CHAPTER IV.

THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES.