CHAPTER I.

THE TOWN: WHY AND HOW ORGANIZED; OFFICERS; TOWN BUSINESS.


Necessity.--Now instead of a company going to an island to found new
homes, let us think of immigrants to a new part of a state.

Like the people on the island, they will need roads, bridges, and schools;
and they will desire to preserve the local peace. Hence they, too, will
need to organize as a political body.

Size.--Since these people are going to meet at stated periods to agree
upon the amounts to be put into public improvements and to select officers
to carry out their wishes, the territory covered by the organization
should not be very large. It should be of such a size that every one
entitled to do so can reach the place of meeting, take part in the work
thereof, and return home the same day, even if he has no team.

Basis.--Will anything be found already done to facilitate matters? Yes.
Those parts of the state open to settlement will be found surveyed into
portions six miles square. These squares are called in the survey
"townships," plainly indicating that they were meant by the general
government to be convenient bases for the organization of "towns." And
they have been so accepted.

Draw a township. Subdivide it into sections and number them in accordance
with the U.S. survey. Subdivide a section into forties, and describe each