The New York County System

Abstract

County government in New York, as in every other State, is more or less of a mystery to the average citizen. It is questionable whether, outside of the district attorney, and possibly the sheriff, very many people have any clear notion of the duties of any of the county officers. The activities of the counties are largely invisible and such as to attract very little interest or attention. On the other hand, counties use up a great deal of hard earned money and county officers loom up large on the political horizon at the general election.For this prevailing ignorance, the nature of the county itself is largely to blame. It is an anomaly, and its anomalous character is due to the perpetuation of an historical institution through the manifold changes of the last two centuries. The county assumed a logical and practical form in its beginnings in the seventeenth century. In later times as the State developed, the interests of the people became diversified and they distributed themselves in some sections sparsely like the people of the southern States and sometimes into compact communities, as, for instance, in Onondaga, Monroe and Broome Counties. The form of local government which was made to fit the Hudson settlements was extended westward.