a road, the
road surveyor may prosecute him, and he receives half the penalty for
himself. See the Laws above quoted, vol. i. p. 308.]

General Remarks On The Administration Of The United States Differences
of the States of the Union in their system of administration--Activity
and perfection of the local authorities decrease towards the
South--Power of the magistrate increases; that of the elector
diminishes--Administration passes from the township to the
county--States of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania--Principles of
administration applicable to the whole Union--Election of public
officers, and inalienability of their functions--Absence of gradation of
ranks--Introduction of judicial resources into the administration.

I have already premised that, after having examined the constitution of
the township and the county of New England in detail, I should take
a general view of the remainder of the Union. Townships and a local
activity exist in every State; but in no part of the confederation is a
township to be met with precisely similar to those of New England. The
more we descend towards the South, the less active does the business of
the township or parish become; the number of magistrates, of functions,
and of rights decreases; the population exercises a less immediate
influence on affairs; town meetings are less frequent, and the subjects
of debate less numerous. The power of the elected magistrate is
augmented and that of the elector diminished, whilst the public spirit
of the local communities is less awakened and less influential. *f These
differences may be perceived to a certain extent in the State of New
York; they are very sensible in Pennsylvania; but they become less
striking as we advance to the northwest. The majority of the emigrants
who settle in the northwestern States are natives of New England, and
they carry the habits of their mother country with them into that which
they adopt. A township in Ohio is by no means dissimilar from a township
in Massachusetts.

[Footnote f: For details see the Revised Statutes of the State of New
York, part i. chap. xi. vol. i. pp. 336-364, entitled, "Of the Powers,
Duties, and Privileges of Towns."

See in the Digest of the Laws of Pennsylvania, the words Assessors,
Collector, Constables, Overseer of the Poor, Supervisors of Highways;
and in the Acts of a general nature of the State of Ohio, the Act of
February 25, 1834, relating to townships, p. 412; besides the p