f men for the
militia service of the State.

In Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia, it is called the _Magisterial
District_, from the fact that it was constituted as the limit of the
jurisdiction of a local magistrate.

In Louisiana it is called the _Police Jury Ward_, perhaps for the
reason that from each one of these subdivisions a warden was elected to
administer the parish government.

In Maryland and Wyoming it is called the _Election District_, from the
fact that it was the subdivision made for the convenience of voters.

In Tennessee it is called the _Civil District_--probably, next to
"town" or "township," the most fitting name for the smallest
subdivision of civil government.

In Texas it is called the _Justice's Precinct_, as being the limit of a
justice's jurisdiction.

In some of the New England States, also, districts which have not the
entire town organization are provisionally called _Plantations_ or
_Grants_, being subject to the administration, in some local affairs,
of other towns.

But under whatever name the civil unit may exist, it is the primary
seat of government. In many cases the original reason for the name has
disappeared, while the character of the government has greatly changed,
and been modified and developed from the first crude forms.

THREE GENERAL CLASSES.--As a result, there are at present but three
general classes into which we need subdivide the civil unit in the
various States: these are the _Civil District_, which would include the
"Beat," "Hundred," "Election Precinct," "Militia District," and
numerous other classes, embracing about one half the States of the
Union; the _Town_, which has its fullest development in the New England
States; and the _Township_, which in some States has nearly the full
development of a New England town, while in other States it has a
looser organisation, approximating the civil district of the Southern
and Southwestern States.

THE CIVIL DISTRICT, PROPER.

We shall treat of the various forms of the civil unit which we have
classed under the general name of civil district before we speak of the
town and the township, because they are simpler and much less
developed, and therefore naturally constitute the simplest form of the
civil unit.

NUMBER, SIZE.--In number and size, civil districts vary widely in
different States and in different counties of the same State. There
are rarely less than five or more than twelve districts to th