282 MISC. PUBLICATION 218, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
established the provincial government of New York after driving out 
the Dutch in 1664”, that “‘the main features of county government 
have not been changed i in the 146 years [in 1933, 156 years] since New 
York became a State’’, and that ‘‘where changes have been made 
they are of a patchwork character” (147, pp. 11-13). Such state- 
ments apply with almost equal force to every othe’ State, for though 
many States are younger than New York, each has a form of govern- 
ment copied from one of the original patterns. 
Failure to reorganize local political units not only results in a need- 
less multiplicity of governments but perpetuates a political structure 
that is no longer in harmony with the present economic organization. 
There are many units that lack the size and wealth to operate with 
efficiency and economy, and at the same time there is a needless 
duplication and overlapping of functions. Moreover, there are too 
many officials and too many spending agencies. This condition is 
particularly aggravated in the States where county and township 
governments both prevail. To illustrate: Indiana has 92 counties 
and about 275 county commissioners, nearly 650 county councilmen, 
and more than 1,000 township trustees. In addition there are more 
than 3,000 members of various county advisory boards and more 
than 1 000 elected county administrative officials. In Pennsylvania 
there are 67 counties with more than 1,500 administrative officials. 
In Georgia there are 159 counties with a host of county officers, and 
in Texas 254 counties. 
When the smaller units of government are considered, the situa- 
tion is even more complex. In Michigan, according to the President’s 
Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership (154), there are 
about 6,800 school districts, with more than 27,000 directing officers, 
and more than 1,200 townships, with more than 15,000 officers. Illinois 
has about 12,000 school districts, more than 1,400 road districts, and 
more than 1,500 townships. All told, there are about 16,000 local 
governments in Illinois. In Ohio there are a total of more-than 10,000 
officers for 1,300 townships. Pennsylvania has 1,500 townships with 
more than 13,000 officers and more than 2,500 school districts with 
nearly 13,500 officials. New York has 932 towns, 520 villages, 2,000 
special districts, and nearly 10,000 school districts. Even the little 
State of New Jersey has 21 counties, 51 cities 252 boroughs, 23 towns, 
233 townships, 1 village, and 2 village townships—a total of 583 units 
of government, exclusive of school districts. 
In Michigan in 1928 there were 83 counties, 1,269 townships, and 
6,873 school districts, or a total of 8,225 units, not cluding cities 
and villages. ‘‘These units elected 43,902 officers—a vast army of 
tax wasters and a veritable battalion of death in resisting local 
government reform’’ (Reed (188)). 
One authority estimates that there are at least 250,000 govern- 
mental agencies in the United States (133, p. 95). He says on a 
later page: 
The number of officials required to run these petty governments is enormous. 
: Their support constitutes a permanent charge against taxpayers before 
any services for the benefit of citizens are performed. In New York, for example, 
over 36 percent of the expenditures of counties and over 20 percent of the ex- 
penditures of towns from 1918 to 1921 went for the support of general govern- 
ment, constituting practically an overhead cost antecedent to the performance 
of governmental functions. 
