[63]. A deed is a document by which one person conveys land to another. It is the duty of the purchaser to make sure that his deed is valid and that the seller has a good title to the land which he sells. This he can ascertain by examining the records in the registry of deeds. In some states a plan known as the Torrens System is in operation. Intending purchasers submit their deeds to the registration official, who examines them. If he finds that the title is good, he registers the deed and thereafter the title may not be questioned. Where the Torrens System is not in operation a purchaser can get his title insured by paying a premium to a title insurance company.
[64]. There is a widespread impression that the government of the New England towns, being a close approach to a direct democracy, has been a great and consistent success. These towns have been pictured by some writers as little Utopias, free from state interference, and privileged to manage their own affairs in their own way. Unhappily this portrayal does not square with the facts. Small agricultural communities, such as the New England towns used to be, can manage their local affairs satisfactorily under almost any form of government. But when population grows, and factories come in, and local activities are multiplied—then the problems of a town are akin to those of a city and have to be handled in the same way.
[65]. In some of the New England states there are places of twenty, thirty, or even forty thousand people which are still governed as towns. (See p. [175].)
[66]. See the chart facing this page.
[67]. According to the census of 1920 these twelve cities are as follows: New York, 5,612,151; Chicago, 2,701,212; Philadelphia, 1,823,158; Detroit, 993,737; Cleveland, 796,836; St. Louis, 772,897; Boston, 747,923; Baltimore, 733,826; Pittsburgh, 588,193; Los Angeles, 575,410; San Francisco, 508,410; Buffalo, 505,875.
[68]. If you make your home in a rural community, you will become acquainted with most of your neighbors within a week; you will know all about them, and (if they can find it out) they will know all about you. But if you go as a stranger to live in a city apartment, with only thin walls separating you from your neighbors, you may remain there for months or even for years without becoming acquainted with any of them. You may not even know your neighbor’s name, save for seeing it on his door. Neighborliness is a trait of human nature which disappears in the great cities. In the city a man’s friends are not his neighbors as a rule, but persons of his own occupation or interests who may live a considerable distance away. This is an important difference, for it means that townships and villages have a unity which the wards and districts of large cities do not possess.
[69]. The shortest city charter ever granted is the charter of London, given by William the Conqueror in 1066. It contains exactly sixty-six words. The longest is the present charter of New York City, which fills a closely-printed book of 1478 pages.
[70]. It was understood that by applying a general charter law or municipal code to all the cities of a state, or to all the cities of a certain class, the legislature would be discouraged from enacting special laws for particular cities. But that is not what resulted. Legislatures adopted the plan of passing laws which were general in form but which by the nature of their provisions could apply to some one city alone. For example: The Ohio legislature on one occasion provided that “Any city of the first class, having a population of more than 150,000, wherein a public avenue of not less than 100 feet in width is now projected, to be known as Gilbert Avenue, is hereby authorized to issue bonds, etc.” This law, on its face, applied to all cities of the first class; in reality it gave special privileges to one particular city.
[71]. A few states, although unwilling to grant municipal home rule, have gone part way in that direction by establishing what is known as the Optional Charter system. The legislature, under this plan, draws up several different types of charter. A city may by popular vote adopt any one of these but is not permitted to make a special charter for itself. The merit of this plan is that it allows a city a considerable amount of choice without opening the door for all manner of rash local experiments, many of which bring controversy and lawsuits because they run foul of the state constitution or laws. The various optional charters are so framed as to be in harmony with the general laws of the state. This plan is used in New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia. Ohio has both the home rule and the optional charter system; in addition there is a general charter law for such cities as do not take advantage of the other opportunities.
[72]. Surprisingly few mayors have ever gone any higher in the public life of the state or nation. Most mayors, when they finish their terms, drop but of sight. There are some exceptions, of course, the most noteworthy being Grover Cleveland, who served as mayor of Buffalo before he was elected governor of New York and, later, President of the United States. Before becoming Secretary of War in President Wilson’s cabinet, Newton D. Baker served two terms as mayor of Cleveland, and Brand Whitlock was thrice mayor of Toledo before he became minister to Belgium. A few other mayors have become governors, ambassadors, or members of Congress; but when we remind ourselves that nearly 400 men have held the office of mayor in the fifty largest cities of the United States since 1900, we may well wonder what became of all the rest. Apparently the office of mayor is not a good political stepping-stone. Is the fault with the office or with the men who usually occupy it?