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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2013
Developments in rural local government during 1944 included little that was wholly novel. Few state legislatures were in regular session, and those which met gave rather less attention than usual to local governmental problems. Nevertheless, several significant statutes and constitutional amendments became effective, and the convention which framed a new constitution for Missouri took numerous steps toward the modernization of local government in that state. In addition, particular local units in various states took action under preëxisting legal authority to improve their governmental forms or practices. As is usually the case, some proposals in the direction of betterment were defeated.
I. Areas
A type of governmental area which is becoming increasingly popular is that for providing rural fire protection. Kentucky, in 1944, authorized the establishment of fire protection districts upon petition by fifty-one per cent of the registered voters of the territory proposed to be included. Like some other laws of its kind, the Kentucky statute provides that the governing boards of such districts may either operate fire departments or contract for receiving fire protection from municipalities or other fire protection districts.
The number of soil conservation districts continued to grow rapidly. As of December 15, 1944, 1,203 such districts, including approximately 3,107,451 farms, had been established in the 45 states having soil conservation district laws. Only the three New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire were without legislation authorizing the organization of districts of this nature.
1 Seventy-six such districts were organized in Illinois between 1936 and 1944, bringing the total number of districts in the state, as of the beginning of the latter year, to 91.
2 Acts of Kentucky, 1944 (reg. sess.), ch. 133.
3 Data supplied by Soil Conservation Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture.
4 Constitution of Missouri (1945), Art. VI, secs. 3, 5, 17, 30. This constitution was framed by a convention which assembled in September, 1943, and ended its sessions on September 29, 1944. Its provisions relating to county government are considered in this article notwithstanding that the constitution was not ratified by the voters of the state until February 27, 1945. Brief discussions of the provisions of the new constitution, including those concerning local government, will be found in Bradshaw, William L., “Missouri's Revised Constitution,” School and Community, Vol. 30, pp. 220–226 (Sept., 1944)Google Scholar; Bradshaw, William L., “Missouri's Proposed New Constitution,” in this Review, Vol. 39, pp. 61–65 (Feb., 1945)Google Scholar; Loeb, Tess, “New Constitution for Missouri,”. National Municipal Review, Vol. 34, pp. 165–167, 178 (Apr., 1945).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5 Laws of North Dakota, 1944 (spec. sess.), ch. 30; Acts and Joint Resolutions of South Carolina, 1944 (reg. sess.), pp. 1212, 1316; Wager, Paul W., “County Government,” Municipal Year Book, 1945, pp. 244–248.Google Scholar
6 Constitution of Missouri, 1945, Art. V, secs. 18–21.
7 New Jersey Revised Statutes, 1944 Cumulative Supplement, secs. 40: 21–30.1 to 40: 21–30.19; Acts of Virginia, 1944, ch. 21.
8 Acts and Joint Resolutions of South Carolina, 1944 (reg. sess.), p. 1414; ibid. (spec. sess.), p. 2310.
9 Cf. William L. Bradshaw, “Missouri's Revised Constitution,” loc. cit.
10 Information supplied by R. A. Gray, secretary of state of Florida.
11 Letter to the writer from Sibyl Pool, secretary of state of Alabama, Montgomery, Dec. 12, 1944.
12 Information supplied by R. A. Gray, secretary of state of Florida.
13 Acts and Joint Resolutions of South Carolina, 1944 (reg. sess.), p. 1571; State Proposals Voted Upon in 1944 (Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce, Washington, April, 1945), p. 27.
14 Letters to the writer from Sam W. Mitchell, secretary of state of Montana, Helena, Dec. 1, 1944; Sibyl Pool, secretary of state of Alabama, Montgomery, Dec. 12, 1944.
15 Letter to the writer from A. E. Johnson, deputy secretary of state of Wyoming, Cheyenne, Dec. 1, 1944. Cf. this Review, Vol. 38, p. 1094.
16 Constitution of Missouri, 1945, Art. VI, secs. 12, 13.
17 Wager, Paul W., “County Government,” Municipal Year Book, 1945, pp. 244–248Google Scholar; City Managers' News Letter (International City Managers' Association, Chicago), June 1, 1944; Renne, R. R., “Rural County Can Be Efficient,” National Municipal Review, Vol. 33, pp. 448–451 (Oct., 1944)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; E. W. W., “Warwick County Adopts Manager Plan,” note in ibid., p. 561 (Nov., 1944).
18 Letter to the writer from Robert S. Farrell Jr., secretary of state of Oregon, Salem, Dec. 4, 1944.
19 Acts of Virginia, 1944, ch. 204. The voters of Fairfax county had declined, in 1940, to approve either a special legislative charter providing for an executive secretary or the “county executive” plan of government provided by general optional statutes. See this Review, Vol. 35, pp. 1108, 1114.
20 Willmott, John F., “Machine Beats County Charter,” National Municipal Review, Vol. 33, pp. 583–587 (Dec., 1944)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Elwyn A. Mauck, note in ibid., p. 634.
21 City Managers' News Letter (International City Managers' Association, Chicago), Mar. 15, 1944, Jan. 15, 1945.
22 Donovan, J. J., “Personnel Developments in 1944,” Municipal Year Book, 1945, pp. 139–143Google Scholar; Acts of Kentucky, 1944 (reg. sess.), chs. 131, 132.
23 Blandford, John B. Jr., “Administrative Organization,” Municipal Year Book, 1945, pp. 239–243Google Scholar; Donovan, loc. cit.
24 Everstine, Carl N., Pensions for County and Municipal Employees (Research Report No. 24, Research Division, Maryland Legislative Council, Baltimore, 1944), p. 14Google Scholar; Mauck, Elwyn A., note in National Municipal Review, Vol. 34, p. 45 (Jan., 1945).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25 Acts of Kentucky, 1944 (reg. sess.), chs. 49, 81; Acts of Louisiana, 1944, no. 184.
26 Olmsted, H. M., note in National Municipal Review, Vol. 33, p. 622 (Dec., 1944).CrossRefGoogle Scholar For the history of the establishment and work of the North Carolina Institute, as related by its founder, see Coates, Albert, The Story of the Institute of Government (National University Extension Association, Studies in University Extension Education No. 2, Bloomington, Indiana, July 1, 1944).Google Scholar The history and activities of another institute which has been active in in-service training—that of Pennsylvania State College—are summarized in The Institute of Local Government: Ten Year Progress Report, 1935–1945 (Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pennsylvania).
27 See this Review, Vol. 39, pp. 122–123, 359.
28 Kilpatrick, Wylie, note in National Municipal Review, Vol. 33, pp. 490–491 (Oct., 1944).Google Scholar
29 See supra, “Creation and Abolition of Offices.”
30 Laws of Mississippi, 1944, chs. 177, 294.
31 Acts and Joint Resolutions of South Carolina, 1944 (reg. sess.), p. 1572; State Proposals Voted Upon in 1944 (Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce, Washington, April, 1945), p. 27.
32 Acts of Louisiana, 1944, no. 277; Laws of Mississippi, 1944, ch. 277.
33 Laws of Mississippi, 1944, chs. 241, 251; Acts and Joint Resolutions of South Carolina, 1944 (reg. sess.), p. 1668; ibid. (spec. sess.), p. 2345.
34 Wager, Paul W., “County Government,” Municipal Year Book, 1945, pp. 244–248Google Scholar; Walter H. Blucher, “Planning Developments in 1944,” ibid., pp. 265–269.
35 Acts of Louisiana, 1944, no. 118. This legislation was ratified by a constitutional amendment approved at the 1944 election. State Proposals Voted Upon in 1944 (Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce, Washington, April, 1945), p. 24.
36 Cf. this Review, Vol. 31, p. 900; Vol. 34, p. 1158; Vol. 37, p. 1046; Vol. 38, p. 1104.
37 Constitution of Missouri, 1945, Art. VI, secs. 14, 16, 30.
38 “Health Developments in 1944,” Municipal Year Book, 1945, pp. 303–307; Paul W. Wager, “County Government,” ibid., pp. 244–248; Mauck, Elwyn A., notes in National Municipal Review, Vol. 33, pp. 562, 635 (Nov., Dec., 1944).CrossRefGoogle Scholar On the other hand, the health departments of Knox county and Knoxville, Tennessee, which were consolidated in 1943, were again separated. Mauck, loc. cit., p. 635.
39 Acts of Kentucky, 1944 (reg. sess.), ch. 122. The counties covered by the act are Boyd (Ashland), Campbell (Newport), Fayette (Lexington), Kenton (Covington), and McCracken (Paducah). In three of these five counties—Boyd, Fayette, and McCracken—city-county departments previously operated under other authority. Cf. Municipal Year Book, 1945, pp. 316, 317. A city-county board of health for Jefferson county and the city of Louisville was established in 1942. See this Review, Vol. 37, p. 1047.
40 Mountin, Joseph W. and Norman, Nina L., “Joint City-County Health Units,” Municipal Year Book, 1945, pp. 308–323.Google Scholar
42 Acts of Kentucky, 1944 (reg. sess.), ch. 133; Acts of Louisiana, 1944, no. 118; Laws of Mississippi, 1944, ch. 277.
43 See supra, “County and Town Executives.”
44 Constitution of Missouri, 1945, Art. VI, secs. 8, 9.
45 Constitution of Missouri, 1945, Art. VI, sec. 18. There are four such counties at present: Buchanan (St. Joseph), Greene (Springfield), Jackson (Kansas City), and St. Louis.
46 Mauck, Elwyn A., note in National Municipal Review, Vol. 33, p. 490 (Oct., 1944)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; William P. Lovett, note in ibid., pp. 633–634 (Dec., 1944). See this Review, Vol. 37, p. 1049.
47 See supra, “County and Town Executives.”
48 See supra, “New Functions,” “Functional Consolidation.”
49 Blucher, loc. cit.
50 Laws of New York, 1944 (reg. sess.), ch. 769.
51 Data supplied by Soil Conservation Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture.
52 Laws of New York, 1944 (reg. sess.), ch. 407; Mauck, Elwyn A., note in National Municipal Review, Vol. 34, p. 45 (Jan., 1945).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
53 Laws of New York, 1944 (reg. sess.), ch. 382; Acts of Virginia, 1944, p. 812.
54 Information supplied by Dr. Raymond Uhl, Bureau of Public Administration, University of Virginia.
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