r
insignificant, and that the community should be at once regulated
and free. In no country in the world does the law hold so absolute a
language as in America, and in no country is the right of applying it
vested in so many hands. The administrative power in the United States
presents nothing either central or hierarchical in its constitution,
which accounts for its passing, unperceived. The power exists, but its
representative is not to be perceived.

We have already seen that the independent townships of New England
protect their own private interests; and the municipal magistrates
are the persons to whom the execution of the laws of the State is most
frequently entrusted. *i Besides the general laws, the State sometimes
passes general police regulations; but more commonly the townships and
town officers, conjointly with justices of the peace, regulate the minor
details of social life, according to the necessities of the different
localities, and promulgate such enactments as concern the health of the
community, and the peace as well as morality of the citizens. *j Lastly,
these municipal magistrates provide, of their own accord and without
any delegated powers, for those unforeseen emergencies which frequently
occur in society. *k

[Footnote i: See "The Town-Officer," especially at the words Selectmen,
Assessors, Collectors, Schools, Surveyors of Highways. I take one
example in a thousand: the State prohibits travelling on the Sunday; the
tything-men, who are town-officers, are specially charged to keep watch
and to execute the law. See the Laws of Massachusetts, vol. i. p. 410.

The selectmen draw up the lists of electors for the election of the
Governor, and transmit the result of the ballot to the Secretary of the
State. See Act of February 24, 1796: Id., vol. i. p. 488.]

[Footnote j: Thus, for instance, the selectmen authorize the
construction of drains, point out the proper sites for slaughter-houses
and other trades which are a nuisance to the neighborhood. See the Act
of June 7, 1785: Id., vol. i. p. 193.]

[Footnote k: The selectmen take measures for the security of the public
in case of contagious diseases, conjointly with the justices of the
peace. See Act of June 22, 1797, vol. i. p. 539.]

It results from what we have said that in the State of Massachusetts the
administrative authority is almost entirely restricted to the township,
*l but that it is distributed among a great number of individuals.