The city judiciary.

The city

as an administrative district.

Members are elected for four years, a part of the members being chosen every second year.1

The judicial authority of many of the smaller cities is vested in a mayor's court, which tries cases arising under the city ordinances, and has the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace to determine prosecutions for misdemeanors and felonies committed within the county. The larger cities are provided with a police court held by one or more police judges, who are elected for three years. The police judge has jurisdiction over offences against the city ordinances, and misdemeanors committed within the city or within four miles of the city limits. He also has the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace to deal with criminal cases within the county. The records of the police court are kept by a clerk of the police court, who is either appointed or elected for three years. In cities not otherwise provided for, the council may, on recommendation of the mayor, appoint a police justice who has the same judicial authority as the mayor.

The city, like the other local divisions, is an administrative district of the State. When a city becomes identical in its corporate limits with the township in which it is situated, all township offices are abolished, and the duties of these officers are henceforth performed by the corresponding officers of the city. The only exceptions to this rule are justices of the peace and constables, who are retained and are elected at the municipal elections. The property and books of the township now fall into the possession of the city, which takes the place of the township by assuming all of its interests and rights. The mayor and police of the city enforce the State laws within the city limits, the police court like1School Code, §§ 3886,3897.

wise, and the city board of education and board of health carry out the general educational and sanitary laws of the State. However, the chief business of the city is to attend to its own municipal affairs.

Government

Bryce, American Commonwealth, I., ch. 42, "The State Judiciary;" Ford, American Citizen's Manual, Part II., ch. 3, "Functions of State Governments;" Wilson, The State, ch. 15, "Functions of Government," ch. 16, "Objects of Government;" Woolsey, Political Science, I., Part 2, ch. 4, “Sphere and Ends of the State;" Bluntschli, Theory of the State, Eng. trans., Book V., "The End of the State;" Willoughby, Nature of the State, ch. 12, "The Aims of the State;" Munroe Smith, "State Statute and Common Law" (in Political Science Quarterly, II., 105; III., 136); Holmes, The Common Law; Robinson, Elementary Law; Kent, Commentaries on American Law; Hurd, Habeas Corpus; Pomeroy, Municipal Law; Schouler, On Domestic Relations; Washburn, On Real Property; Redfield, On Wills; Page, Wills; Parsons, On Contracts; Kinkead, Court Practice; Swan's Treatise on the Law relating to the Powers and Duties of Justices of the Peace and Constables in the State of Ohio.

Constitution of Ohio (1851), Art. XIV., "Jurisprudence;" Bates, Annotated Ohio Statutes, IL. 1776-1789, "Domestic Relations," 1790-1883, "Relations Arising upon Contracts," 2281-2333, "Property," 2678-3294, "Civil Procedure," 3297-3483, "Criminal Procedure."

43. THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT

Government, according to our State constitution, was al functions. instituted for the equal protection and benefit of the

people, and the constitution was itself established for the purpose of securing the blessings of freedom and promoting the common welfare.1 These statements show that the people of Ohio, who are the source of the political power of the State, do not regard their government as an end in itself, but as a means for promoting the interests of the governed. This fact is illustrated in the various kinds of work which the government undertakes to do. Thus the government seeks to protect the rights of the people and administer justice; it protects the life, property, health, and morals of the community through the exercise of its police power; it affords military protection in times of extraordinary danger; it encourages and supports the cause of general education; it maintains and supervises charitable and correctional institutions; it exercises a certain control over the economic interests of the community; and finally, it raises the money necessary to meet the expense thus incurred. All of these things are done by the government because they are common interests of society, and because, for the most part, they could not be accomplished without the agency of the government. These various governmental functions will be considered in the remaining chapters of this book.

44. THE PROTECTION OF RIGHTS

Society is based on the recognition of certain rights Legal of its members. The rights of personal security and rights. personal liberty, of property, domestic relations, and contracts are among the most important private rights which the law protects. It would be an extravagant

1

1 Constitution of Ohio (1851), Art I. § 2; Preamble.

Civil and criminal jurisdiction.

Common and statute law.

statement to say that the law creates these rights, but it defines and legalizes them, and, through the courts, affords the means to every person of securing redress against their invasion. While these rights are said to be "private" because they belong to citizens as individuals, several of them also belong to corporations. Thus a street railroad company, a city, or the State itself may own and dispose of property (i. e., have property rights), or enter into contracts. As an individual may suffer wrong by the invasion of his rights, or be guilty of encroaching on the rights of another, so also may a corporation suffer or commit injury in the same way. In all such cases, whether individuals or corporations are involved, the law provides the remedy, and the methods by which it may be obtained.

By virtue of their "civil jurisdiction," the courts apply both the methods and the remedy when the complaint is brought before them. Civil jurisdiction may therefore be defined as the power of the courts to try cases arising from injuries due to the invasion of private rights. Besides civil jurisdiction, the courts also have "criminal jurisdiction," that is, the power to try cases involving an offence against the rights of the community, and not merely against those of a single individual or corporation. Offences of this sort are called "public wrongs" or crimes, and are prosecuted in the name of the State. In exercising both kinds of jurisdiction the courts apply two kinds of law, the common law and statute law. Our common law may be described as "that portion of the English law which was in force in the American colonies before the Revolution, and which has not been annulled or superseded by any later law." It

'Morey, The Government of New York, 125.