Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/858

 828 TOWN TOWNSHEND the unorganized parts of the state, the average area of the counties in these states in 1870 was 1,040 sq. m., and their average population 11,236 ; or excluding also the partly organized and settled states of the Pacific slope, their average area was 734 sq. m., and their average population 11,515, or about 15 inhabitants to the square mile. The affairs of the county are administered by its own officers chosen by the people of the county or appointed by other county officers. These are usually the court of county commissioners, assessor, treasurer, collector, superintendent of education, appor- tioners of roads, and superintendents of roads, besides certain judicial officers. In the middle, western, and northwestern states, excepting those above mentioned, and in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, a union of the town and county systems, which has been called the " compromise system," prevails. In these states the political power, which in New England is vested in the town and in the southern states in the county, is divided be- tween the two. The county is the political unit ; it is a body politic with the usual' corpo- rate powers ; but it is subdivided into towns or townships, which possess considerable politi- cal rights. Besides the county officers, there are town officers usually elected annually by the people of the town. They are clothed with minor political powers, but their action in more important matters is subject to re- vision by the higher county officers. In New York the powers of the county are exercised by a board of supervisors in which the towns of the county are represented as equal political communities. The supervisor who represents the town in the county board has other town duties, and is thus both an officer of the town and of the county. This is also the case in Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. In Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, the affairs of the county are usually managed by a board of three commis- sioners, who are elected from the body of the county and have no town duties whatever. In New York and the more eastern of the states where the mixed system prevails, the town in political importance approaches more nearly to that of New England ; but in some parts of the west the township (this word being there more common than town) is a mere geo- graphical division embracing 36 sq. m., and has very limited political functions. Town is often used popularly in the west to denote a small municipality, as a village. In none of the states outside of New England do the towns, or townships, as such, send represen- tatives to the legislature. Other forms of municipalities have been created by the differ- ent states. Boroughs and villages are corpora- tions with peculiar powers and privileges, such as have reference to special objects and are not granted to towns by general laws. In England there are municipal and parliamentary boroughs, the former being a town (some, as Liverpool, of the largest size) having a munici- pal government, and the latter a town or dis- trict- (sometimes including several municipal boroughs) that sends a member or members to parliament ; while in the United States a bor- ough is a municipal corporation that is usually expected to become a city at some future time, having powers less extensive than those of a city and different from those of a town. In the extent and variety of its powers the city is the most important municipality. In England a city is any town that either is or has been the see of a bishop and has a cathedral ; but in the United States the distinction between a town and a city usually refers to size and al- ways to the form of municipal government. The governing power of cities is usually vested in a mayor and council, composed of one or two boards ; but the details of the government vary greatly. Probably no two cities can be found whose charters or governments are pre- cisely alike. See Elliott's " New England His- tory " (Boston, 1857) ; Haines's " Township Organization" (Chicago, 1865) ; "The Origin, Organization, and Influence of the Towns of New England," by Joel Parker (Cambridge, 1867) ; and the article on " The Minor Political Divisions of the United States," by S. A. Gal- pin, in the "Statistical Atlas of the United States" (1874). Town manuals have also been published in New York and most of the New England states. TOWJVLEY, Charles, an English collector of works of ancient art, born in Lancashire, Oct. 1, 1737, died in Westminster, Jan. 3, 1805. He received his education on the continent, and during a residence in Rome between 1765 and 1772 he devoted his fortune largely to the purchase of ancient marbles, terra cottas, bronzes, gems, &c., aided by the advice and experience of Winckelmann and others. After his return to England, he added to his collec- tion by means of agents at Rome, and by pur- chasing that of Nollekens. After his death his collection of marbles was purchased by the nation for 20,000, and in 1814 his bronzes, coins, and gems became the public property at a cost of 8,200. All are now incorporated with the general collection of Greeco-Roman remains in the British museum. TOWNS, a N. E. county of Georgia, border- ing on North Carolina, and drained by the head streams of the Hiawassee river ; area, about 250 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 2,780, of whom 155 were colored. The surface is hilly and mountainous, and the soil generally fertile. The chief productions in 1870 were 5,090 bushels of wheat, 5,389 of rye, 61,990 of In- dian corn, and 8,927 of oats. There were 458 horses, 1,975 cattle, 2,575 sheep, and 4,183 swine. Capital, Hiawassee. TOWNSHEND. I. Charles, second viscount, an English statesman, born in 1676, died at Rain- ham, Norfolk, June 21, 1738. He succeeded to his title at ten years of age, and soon after