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Read Ebook: Studies in Civics by McCleary J T James Thompson

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The arrest of criminals, the serving of legal papers, and the carrying out of the decisions of justices of the peace, make it necessary to have one or more other officers.

What are such officers called? How many in each town? Why? Look up the history of this office; it is interesting.

The public schools of the town may be managed either by a town board of trustees, who locate all of the school-houses, engage all of the teachers, and provide necessary material for all of the schools in the town; or the town may be divided into districts, the school in each being managed by its own school board.

Does the township system or the district system prevail in this state? Name some state in which the other system prevails.

How Chosen.--In this country most of the public officers are chosen by the people interested. The great problem of election is how to ascertain the real will of those entitled to express an opinion or have a choice. And all the arrangements for conducting elections have in view one of two things: either to facilitate voting or to prevent fraud. The town serves as a convenient voting precinct.

Find out from the statutes or from the town manual or by inquiry, when the town meeting is held; how notice is given; how it is known who may vote; who are judges of election; how many clerks there are; how voting is done; how the votes are counted and the result made known; what reports of the election are made. Give the reason for each provision. Can a person vote by proxy? Why? What is to prevent a person from voting more than once? If the polls are open seven hours, and it takes one minute to vote, how many persons can vote at one polling place? What may be done in case there are more than that number of voters in the town? How are road overseers elected, and in what part of the day? Why then? What other business is transacted at town meeting? How do the people know how much money will be needed for the coming year's improvements? How do they learn the nature and expense of last year's improvements?

Give four general reasons for our having towns.

PRACTICAL WORK FOR STUDENTS.

Prepare in due form a petition to the proper authorities asking that a new town be organized. Be sure that the order establishing the new town is duly made out, signed, attested and filed. Give reasons for each step.

Who gives notice of the town meeting? When? How?

When does the town treasurer make his report to the persons appointed to examine his accounts? When does this examination take place? What is its purpose?

What report does the board of supervisors make to the people at the town meeting? When is it prepared? Why is it necessary?

Why so many preliminaries?

That the proper officers are in charge. That the order of business is announced and followed. That the polls are duly declared open. That the voting is done in exact accordance with law. That general business is attended to at the proper time. That reports of officers are duly read and acted upon. That appropriations for the succeeding year are duly made. That the minutes of the meeting are carefully kept. That the polls are closed in due form. That the votes are counted and the result made known according to law. That all reports of the meeting are made on time and in due form.

Town clerk must certify to proper officer the tax levied at town meeting.

The supervisors, after examining the petition carefully and being sure that it is in proper form and that it has been duly posted, will appoint a time and place of hearing and give due notice thereof.

When the day of hearing arrives they will examine the proofs of the posting and service of the notices of hearing before proceeding to act upon the petition.

Having heard arguments for and against the laying of the road, the supervisors will render their decision in due form.

In awarding damages, the supervisors will probably find four classes of persons: first, those to whom the road is of as much benefit as damage, and who admit the fact; second, those who should have damages, and are reasonable in their demands; third, those who claim more damages than they are in the judgment of the supervisors entitled to; and fourth, those who from some cause, do not present any claim. From the first class, the supervisors can readily get a release of damages. With the second, they can easily come to an agreement as to damages. To the third and fourth, they must make an award of damages. Let all of these cases arise and be taken care of.

The supervisors must be careful to issue their road order in proper form, and to see that the order, together with the petition, notices, affidavits and awards of damages, are filed correctly and on time. The town clerk must read the law carefully to ascertain his duty, and then perform it exactly. See that fences are ordered to be removed. Let one of the persons who feels himself aggrieved by the decision of the supervisors, "appeal" to a proper court. Let this be done in due form. As each step is taken, let the reasons for it be made clear.

Supervisors meet and assess road labor, and sign road tax warrants. When and how is this done?

How is the road tax usually paid? How else may it be paid? How does the overseer indicate that a person's tax is paid? If a person liable to road tax does not "commute," and yet neglects or refuses to appear when duly notified by the road overseer, what can the latter do about it? How is delinquent road tax collected? How can a person who has paid his tax prove that he has paid it?

Under which of the three great purposes of government mentioned in the preliminary chapter does the making of roads come?

THE SCHOOLS.

Does the town system or the district system prevail in this state? If the latter, tell how a school district is organized. Give an account of the organization of this district.

How many and what officers have charge of the schools? State the duties of each. Name the officers in this district. When are the officers chosen, and how long do they serve? Are all chosen at once? Why? How do they "qualify?" Are women eligible to school offices? To any other?

Did you ever attend the annual meeting? When is it held? Why held then? Who take part? What business is transacted? What are "special" school meetings?

What expenses must be met in having a school? Where does the money come from? How does the treasurer get it into his possession? What is to prevent his misusing it?

If you had a bill against the district, how would you proceed to get your money? If the district refused or neglected to pay you, what could you do? If some one owed the district and refused to pay, what could it do?

Who owns the school buildings and grounds? How was ownership obtained? If it seemed best to erect a new schoolhouse in some other part of the district, what could be done with the present buildings and grounds? Could the district buy land for other than school purposes? Could it lend money if it had any to spare? If the district had not money enough to erect its buildings, what could it do? What are the corporate powers of a district?

PRIMITIVE MODES OF ADMINISTERING JUSTICE.

Arbitration.--Two boys who have a difference may "leave it to" some other boy in whom they both have confidence. And men did and do settle disputes in a similar way. They call it settlement by Arbitration.

A boy would hardly refer a matter for decision to his little brother. Why?

Boy-Courts.--Let us look at this boy-court again to discover its principal elements.

Thus we see that the principal elements of the courts of today, the establishment of justice as a public trust, the determination of the facts by means of witnesses and a jury, the application of the law by one or more judges, the right of appeal to a higher court, are not artificial, but in the nature of things. We inherited them from our primitive ancestors, and in that sense they may be said to have been imposed upon us. But their naturalness appears in the fact that boys when left to themselves introduce the same elements into their boy-courts.

CHANGES MADE IN COURSE OF TIME.

"It is not true, however, that a man is disqualified from serving on a jury simply because he has heard or read of the case, and has formed and expressed some impression in regard to its merits; if it were, the qualifications for jury service in cases that attract great attention would be ignorance and stupidity. The test, therefore, is not whether the juryman is entirely ignorant of the case, but whether he has formed such an opinion as would be likely to prevent him from impartially weighing the evidence and returning a verdict in accordance therewith."

In the Officers.--As has been said, there were in the old Saxon courts no court officers. But quite early the necessity for such officers became manifest. And several of the offices then established have come down to us. Some of them, however, have been so modified in the progress of time as to be hardly recognizable.

PROCEEDINGS IN A JUSTICE COURT.

PRELIMINARY TO TRIAL.

Sometimes on bringing an action or during its progress a writ of attachment is obtained. To secure this writ, the creditor must make affidavit to the fact of the debt, and that the debtor is disposing or preparing to dispose of his property with intent to defraud him, or that the debtor is himself not reachable, because hiding or because of non-residence. In addition, the creditor must give a bond for the costs of the suit, and for any damages sustained by the defendant. The justice then issues the writ, which commands the sheriff or constable to take possession of and hold sufficient goods of the debtor and summon him as defendant in the suit.

Another writ sometimes used is the writ of replevin. To secure this writ, the plaintiff must make affidavit that the defendant is in wrongful possession of certain personal property belonging to the plaintiff. The plaintiff then gives a bond for the costs of the suit and for the return of the property in case he fails to secure judgment, and for the payment of damages if the return of the property cannot be enforced, and the justice issues the writ. This commands the sheriff or constable to take the property described and turn it over to the plaintiff, and to summon the defendant as before.

Pleadings.--The next step in the process, in any of the cases, is the filing of an Answer by the defendant, in which he states the grounds of his defense. The complaint of the plaintiff and the answer of the defendant constitute what are called the pleadings. If the answer contains a counter-claim, the plaintiff is entitled to a further pleading called the Reply. The pleadings contain simply a statement of the facts upon which the parties rely in support of their case. No evidence, inference or argument is permitted in them.

Issue.--It is a principle of pleading that "everything not denied is presumed to be admitted." The fact or facts asserted by one party and denied by the other constitute the issue. If the defendant does not make answer on or before the day appointed in the summons and does not appear on that day, judgment may be rendered against him. If the plaintiff fail to appear, he loses the suit and has to pay the costs. For sufficient cause either party may have the suit adjourned or postponed for a short time.

Jury.--On demand of either party a jury must be impaneled. The jury usually consists of twelve persons, but by consent of the parties the number may be less. The jury is impaneled as follows: The justice directs the sheriff or constable to make a list of twenty-four inhabitants of the county qualified to serve as jurors in the district court, or of eighteen if the jury is to consist of six persons. Each party may then strike out six of the names. The justice then issues a venire to the sheriff or a constable, directing him to summon the persons whose names remain on the list to act as jurors.

Witnesses.--If any of the witnesses should be unwilling to come, the justice issues a subpoena commanding them to appear. The subpoena may contain any number of names and may be served by any one. It is "served" by reading it to the person named therein, or by delivering a copy of it to him. A witness, however, is not bound to come unless paid mileage and one day's service in advance.

THE TRIAL.

Opening Statement.--The usual procedure is as follows: After the jury has been sworn, the plaintiff's attorney reads the complaint and makes an opening statement of the facts which he expects to prove. The purpose of the opening statement is to present the salient points of the case, so that the importance and bearing of the testimony may be readily seen by the jury.

Evidence.--The evidence for the plaintiff is then introduced. Each witness, after being duly sworn, gives his testimony by answering the questions of counsel. After the direct examination by the plaintiff's attorney, the witness may be cross-examined by the attorney for the defendant. When the evidence for the plaintiff is all in, the defendant's attorney makes his opening statement, and then the witnesses for the defense are examined. The direct examination is now, of course, conducted by the counsel for the defendant, and the cross-examination by opposing counsel. When all the evidence for the defense has been introduced, the plaintiff may offer evidence in "rebuttal," that is, to contradict or disprove new matter adduced by the defense. And the defendant may then introduce evidence to refute matter first brought out by the rebuttal.

Argument.--The case is now ready for "argument." One attorney on each side addresses the jury. Each tries to show that the evidence adduced has proved the facts alleged in his pleadings, and each asks for a decision in favor of his client. Usually the side upon which rests the burden of proof has the closing argument.

Counsel must confine themselves to the law, the admitted facts and the evidence.

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