Elements of Civil Government | Page 7

different names by which this civil unit is known.
In the State of Mississippi it is called the Beat, and this name is no
doubt derived from the original purpose of the organization, as the
jurisdiction of a watchman or constable.
In Delaware it is called the Hundred, which is the old English
subdivision of a county, supposed to contain one hundred families, or
one hundred men able to bear arms in the public service.

In the New England States, in New York, and in Wisconsin it is called
the Town, from the old Anglo-Saxon civil unit, which antedates the
settlement of England by its Saxon invaders, and is probably older than
the Christian era.
In Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
Montana, New Jersey, the Carolinas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and parts of
Illinois, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, it is called the Township, only a
variation of name from the "town," and having the same origin.
In California it is called the Judicial Township, and in parts of the
Dakotas it is called the School Township.
In Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and
parts of Illinois and Nebraska, it is called the Election Precinct, from
the fact that it was the subdivision made for the convenience of voters.
In Georgia it is called the Militia District, from the fact that each
subdivision furnished a certain proportionate number of men for the
militia service of the State.
In Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia, it is called the Magisterial
District, from the fact that it was constituted as the limit of the
jurisdiction of a local magistrate.
In Louisiana it is called the Police Jury Ward, perhaps for the reason
that from each one of these subdivisions a warden was elected to
administer the parish government.
In Maryland and Wyoming it is called the Election District, from the
fact that it was the subdivision made for the convenience of voters.
In Tennessee it is called the Civil District--probably, next to "town" or
"township," the most fitting name for the smallest subdivision of civil
government.
In Texas it is called the Justice's Precinct, as being the limit of a
justice's jurisdiction.

In some of the New England States, also, districts which have not the
entire town organization are provisionally called Plantations or Grants,
being subject to the administration, in some local affairs, of other
towns.
But under whatever name the civil unit may exist, it is the primary seat
of government. In many cases the original reason for the name has
disappeared, while the character of the government has greatly changed,
and been modified and developed from the first crude forms.
THREE GENERAL CLASSES.--As a result, there are at present but
three general classes into which we need subdivide the civil unit in the
various States: these are the Civil District, which would include the
"Beat," "Hundred," "Election Precinct," "Militia District," and
numerous other classes, embracing about one half the States of the
Union; the Town, which has its fullest development in the New
England States; and the Township, which in some States has nearly the
full development of a New England town, while in other States it has a
looser organisation, approximating the civil district of the Southern and
Southwestern States.

THE CIVIL DISTRICT, PROPER.
We shall treat of the various forms of the civil unit which we have
classed under the general name of civil district before we speak of the
town and the township, because they are simpler and much less
developed, and therefore naturally constitute the simplest form of the
civil unit.
NUMBER, SIZE.--In number and size, civil districts vary widely in
different States and in different counties of the same State. There are
rarely less than five or more than twelve districts to the county.
PURPOSES.--The division of the county into districts, each with its
own court of law, brings justice to the people's doors. It secures officers
to every part of the county, thus affording better means for the

punishment of crimes. It provides a speedy trial for minor offences and
minor suits. It aids the higher courts by relieving them of a multitude of
small cases. As each district has one or more polling-places, it secures
convenience to the electors in casting their votes.
GOVERNMENT.--The functions of the civil district arc judicial and
executive, and lie within a narrow range. Its government possesses no
legislative or corporate power whatever; it can not make a single law,
however unimportant. Within a narrow jurisdiction or sphere, it applies
the law to particular cases, and this is the chief purpose for its existence.
Whenever the civil unit possesses more powers than are herein set forth,
it is more properly described under the township in the next chapter, no
matter what name it may go by locally.

CITIZENS.
The