^overnmeii -f^ Cojnpiled by 'workers of the Writers' Frogram of the V.'ork Projects AcLr.inistration in the State of Illinois for the -■unericanisn Cori- nittee of the .-iinerican Legion Auxiliary, Department of Illinois 3S3: Townships and counties in the Middle '..'est are somewhat artificial political units. Shortly after the Ixevolutionary 'v.'ar the United States acquired that vust tract of land wost of the .i.llegheny ;.!ountdins r.nd north of the Ohio Kivor knovvn au the ITorth- v.'ost Territory, '..lien this territory \7as subdivided counties and townships ViCrc erected as well u.s states. Division into states ccjac more or less naturally, aided by such boundaries as rivers in some places, and by the associa- tions of the early settler s. Counties, too, thout'.h their boundaries v;erc often artifi- cial, grew largely through eroupinG3 of settlors. But both counties and tovmships Tfjcrc created as convenient divisions of state Governnent for local administration, TCVri^SEIF GOVZaN;.aJT DJ ILLHTOIS The tern "tovmship" has southerner ^ three meanings in Illinois, The first is the so-called Congres- sional to\mship. In opening the public lands to settlenent. Congress ordered them surveyed into tovmsl:ips, each six miles square, -nd each tovm- ship further subdivided into sections one iiilo square. These to\7nships and sections arc purely for the purpoae of describing land locations. They arc not units of government, ^. second forra of tov.-nehip is the school tovmship, usually the same in area and boundaries as the IConcrco- cional or land to^/nship. It ij a unit of the govcrn-ient in that it provides for the schooling of rainor children in its area. The third and most active typd is the political township or town. Its boundaries do not necessarily correspond to the land tov7nship3,but nay include parts of more than one land tovmship. Now Sngland Versus the South The early history of Il- linois is reflected in the citizens' attitude toward tovm- ship government. The southern- most counties of the state v/ere settled first, chiefly by people from southern states, Thes^ settler.3 followed their accustomed covcrnr.iental jjat- torn in v/hich the county w-s the smallest sub-division of the state, \ J Most of those v;ho came ^' ? into the northern part of the J state v/cre from Hev; England' t\ and the Middle Atlantic statos, si'Xv/here they had become familiar \ -jith the tovm or tovxship form vj»>>(5 ^'^ local government ;consequentr- ' ly, these settlers favored the type of jiOVwmi:iont they had knovm. Although in its constitution of 1848 Illinois provided for the establishment cf tovmships as govern- mental units, the requirements was optional. Seventeen counties in Il- linois, therefore, still do not have township government. They are: Alexander, Calhoun, Cass, Edv/ard:% Hardin, Johnson, Massac, I.Ienard, Honroe, Morg-n, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Scott, Union, and Wabash, T\-.'o others, Eendoraon and v/illiamjon; adopted tovmship government in 1907, ^1 T*-\— r "^ ' VJilliarason subsequently returning to the non-tovmship form. Township OiTicers The most important officer in the township is the supervisor. He has charge of poor relief, and is custo- dian of the road and bridge fund, and of all other township funds not con- trolled by such special taxing agencies as the library board, and the school, mosquito abatement and other districts. He is cxofficio a member of tho county board (except in Cook County), and has charge of to'.vnship elections and meet- ings. He may have as assist- ants other supervisors who are members of the county board but have no specific duties Jn the tovmship. The number of assistant supervisors varies according to population. Other officers of the township are tho clerk, the assessor, and the highway com- missioner. Each township elects at least two ;^usticos of the peace, but all such justices have county-wide jurisdiction . In addition, they servo, with the supervi- sors and tovm clerk, as the Tov/n Board of Auditors, Good and Bad Features in Tovmship Government The New England town meeting, often hig.ily praised as an instrument of self-government, was the ideal of the pioneers who sought to give every man a voice in local affairs. Unfort- unately, our Illinois townships have not-) achieved this ideal, imnual town mectin.;',s arc hold the first Tuesday in April. All legal voters are privi- Icdged to attend, transact business, and legislate for the township. Actu- ally, however, most of those who turn up at the meetings come because they have selfish political intorostc,or "axes to grind . " Township organization is also cumbersome. In populous counties the largest number of tovmship supervi- sors makes an unwieldy county board. Necessary co-operation between town- ship and county governments often is difficult to obtain. On tho other hand, tovmship or- ganization brings government closer to the people in rural districts. There arc less likely to bo neglected districts in the county v;hen the cit- izens can fix the responsibility di- rectly on local officers, and can make their will knovm quickly and in- formally. In spite of additional ex- pense and trouble, those gains may be vrorth the cost. County Government in Illinois A coionty not under tovmship organization has a governing body of three com- missioners elected by the en- tire county. 'This body also functions as a board of health and a board of review. In both tovmship and non-tovmship county organisa- tion the county is the chief agency for the adrdinistration of state laws. Among its functions arc administration of finance, administration of Justice and preservation of peace, tax col- lection, maintenance of schools, health regulation, distribution of property of deceased persons, construction and maintenance of roads and bridges. In addition to the above-named duties, the county board (or comiiiis- sion) makes appropriations and levies taxes to meet them. It also builds and keeps up the necessary county buildings, find institutions, such as the courthouse, jciil, hospital, poor farm or almshouse. County Office rs Bosides board iiicmbcrs or commis- (c) si oners, county officers are: state's attorney, sheriff, coroner, clerk, treasurer, superintendent of schools, auditor, recorder, surveyor, public administrator, county superintendent of highways, and county superintendent of public welfare. The three last- naned are selected upon concurrence of the county board and state offi- cials; the others are chosen by popu- lar vote, Sach county also has one county judge and one clerk of the county court, A county of more than 70,000 population nay have in addition a probate judge and clerk of the pro- bate court. Other Units of Local Government Bcccusc of the state constitution Units the taxing power of the coun- ties, sonc desired local inprovcnente can be had only by setting up special units of govemricnt to take care of the needs. This has resulted in the formation of a large nusber of "dis- tricts," wit'h specific taxing and ad- ministrative powers. They are not parts of county govemnents, but us- ually have somo connection with than. Road districts arc found in counties lacking tovrnship organiza- tions, Each district elects a road corrJLssioner and clerk, the former correcponding to the to^wnship road conmissioncr. Land owr.ors nay roq.uc3t the for- mation of a drainage district wiiich vrould construct drains, ditches, or levees for sanitary, agricultural, or mining purposes. Petitions nust be signed by a majority of those holding at least one-third of tho ovmcrs of more than half the land. Forest preserve districts may bo needed in counties having natural forests. Other special taxing agen- cies include park,nosquite abatement, fire protection and sanitary- dis- tricts. The last-named are generally for the purpose of sewage disposal and protection of water supply. All these districts have their commissioners or trustees, and add to the complexity of govenwient in Illi- nois, The Citizen's Place in County and Town3;'.ip Gcvc-rn-'uent With local government split in- to a multitude of separate units, the citizen v;ho trios to keep informed on what his public servants are doing is at tLmes more than a little bewilder- ed. Not only must he keep an eye on the elected and appointed officials of his municipality (city or village), but also upon a host of township and county officers and commissioners. The number of special boards and com- missions tends to increase rather than decrease, adding to the citizen's confusion. Suggestions for reform, have boon made, but little can be done under the present state constitution. Efforts in recent years to revise the constitution have failed, and reform, if it is to come, is still a long way off. The citizen must make the best of it by taking every opportunity to make his voice heard and his influ- ence felt in his local governmental units: city, village, township, school district, and county. By fa- mi]i arizing himself vath the functions and duties of each unit, by vigilance at elections and town meetings, and by insisting upon good government, he mil come to realize the old truth that we get the kind of govcrnmolit our actions deserve. Cook County Gcvcrnment Nearly half the people of the state live in Cook County, Here a combination of city ways and small- town life (as found in the suburbs) complicates the already knotty prob- lem of government. Seventeen counties have non- (3) tovmship organization; eighty -four kcve tovmship organization, but Cook County has a cOi:ibination of both foms. 'Within the city of Chicago there are eight townships which have lost practically all governmental pov/ers. The tovmships outside the city linits have the usual township organization, except that their su- pervisors are not nenbcrs of the county board. County affairs arc ad- rainistered bj'- a boc-rd of fifteen con- missioners, ten of whom arc elected by the city, and five by the terri- tory outside the city. Cook Coimty voters elect, in addition to the commis- sioners, a long list of of- ficials, including the county clerk, county troasuror, county re- corder, sheriff, coro- ner, superintendent of schools, state's at- tomes'-, md 111 the judges and clerks of the circuit , superior, and probate courts, jvn enumeration of the governmental units in Cook County is almost incrcd ible. There arc 88 cities, villages and tov/ns; 210 school districts, 30 tovmships, 34 park districts, 3 sani- tary districts, 4C drainage districts, 2 mosquito abatement districts, 1 pub- lic health district, >-ind 1 drivcvifay maintenance district.* The total is well over 400. Since each unit has at least three officers, adjiiinistra- tors of the county's govcrrj-ncntal af- fairs r.iake up 1 Siiiall army. Fortun- ately, no one citizen of the county is subject to all the units, although, if he lives in Chicago, he is ruled by a large number. The multiplicity of jurisdictions, many of thorn over- lappir^r, makes for waste and ineffi- ciency. Source, Illinois Voters' Handbook, 1939. iurdent reformers have urged var- ious plans for cutting down this army of officials and ''streamlining" the whole county. Hovievor, the suburban areas arc skeptical of anything that would draw them into closer union with city politics, and many thoughtful citizens have doubts as to the value of such a combination of pov/ors. Public Institutions in Cook County Because of its huge population, Cook CouTity must maintain more and larger institutions than are found in some states. Largest, yet inadequate to the demands made upon it, is the Oook County Hospital. This institution includes a general hospital, a tub- erculosis unit, and a separate department for the temporary care of the insane. A staff of 155 phj^sicians serves the hospital vrithout pajj There are 102 internes, chosen from graduates of first-class mcdic_l schools by examination, who receive bthing for their services but board and lodging. The Illinois Training School for Nurses, run in conjunction v^ith the hospital, supplies 200 nurses in training. Bed patients average 5, 100, and an even larger num.ber passes throufjh the out-patient department, (clinic and dispensary service). The Oak Forest institutions ii>- clude the hospital for needy tubercu- lar patients and the home for old people. In another group of institutions at Dunning, ten miles northwest of the heart of Chicago, are an infirmary, a hospital for the insane, ^-nd a county farm. The Juvenile Detention Home has custody of dependent, truant, and de- linquent children awaiting action of the Juvenile Court, Tlie county jail, vmere adults (4) are confined while waitinc trial or sefving sentence for certain types of offenses, contains more inmates than any state prison. The Bureau of Public Vielfare consolidates the social service func- tions of the county throu£,h six divi- sions: the Fa-nily Service Division, including blind relief, old age assist- ance, hone service of county physicians and a summer camp; the Institutions Ser- vice Division which doter.T.ines admis- sions to Oak Forest and Cook County I-ospital; the Court Service Division, which provides social services re- quired by the courts; the Rural Public Health Nursing Service, and the Be- havior Clinic of the Criminal Court , which gives psychiatric examinations v;hen required by the court. Where the Money Comes From In all co\inties of the state large suras of money are needed to carry on the public services administered by the county government. Generally speaking, the counties have but one m.ain source of rcvonuo, the tax Icwy on real property, Taxes also arc levied on personal property, but arc not high- ly productive, because of exemptions and concealnonts. A few governmental agencies dorivo funds from licenses and fees for privileges and services. In Cook County and other populous counties these fees amount to substan- tial sums. The tax rate is figured on each one hiondrcd dollars of assessed valua- tion. Assessed valuation is a percent- age of the actual valuation of the property, and is not uniform through- out the state. While one-third is considered the average base, one county may have a 25 per com; valuation in contrast to another county's 75 per cent. mAl/. (5) SUGGESTED BOOKS FOR READING Dcdd, Walter F. , and Ibdd, Sue Hutchinson. Government ir. Illinois. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1923. Mcrriam, Charles Edward; Farratt , Spencer D. , Lcpawsky, Albert. T:-.' Govornncr-t of the Metro - politan Rcf;ion of Chicar;o . Chicago: University of Chicago Fross, 1933, Trowbridge, Oliver R. , and Randle, Gilbert P. Illinois end the Nation. Chicago: A. Flcjiagan & Company, 1926. Goodman, L. Belle. Illinois Voters' Handbook . Chicago: Illinois League of Women Voters (sev- eral editions). Brovme, Richard G, , and Pearson, Irving F. The Illinois Citizen . Nev; York: The Macmillan Company^ 1939 Federal Writers' Project. Illinois Guide . Chicago: A. C. McClurg c> Company, 1939, (Es- pecially the chapter on Government.) STATE OF ILLINOIS, DEF^^RTMENT OF FIN.-JJCE, DIVISION OF REPORTS State-wide Sponsor of the . Illinois Vfriters' Project J ' J FEDER*X WORKS AGEtlCY John M, Carmody, Administrator WORK PROJECTS ^^MINISTRATION Hovjard 0, Hunter, Comjaissioner Florence Kerr, Assistant Commissioner Charles P. Casey, Acting AdiTiinistrator Evelyn S. Byron, Director Cojiimuiaity Service Programs Robert I, McKeaguo, Chief Public Activities Programs