PART I. OUR GOVERNMENT: TOWN, CITY, AND STATE. CHAPTER I. TOWN AND CITY GOVERNMENT. MAN A SOCIAL BEING. A life of solitude is unnatural. Man everywhere enjoys society. In all parts of the world and in all time people have lived in communities. NEED OF Government. Whenever men live in a community, they are placed under certain mutual obligations. Unless these obligations were regarded, society would prove a failure. Man is selfish as well as social. The weak must, therefore, be protected from the strong. Moreover, there are common interests which require united action. This united action may be for the common defence of the community or for the general welfare of all. THE TOWNSHIP. The unit of government is generally the town. In many parts of our country this is called a township. Where the population is dense and houses are close together, side by side, so that within a small area there is a large population, the government is generally under the form of a city. A town includes the people who are permanent residents within a certain. limited and prescribed territory, usually occupying but |