GOVERNMENT OF.
Taxing Districts.— Under a decision of the Supreme Court, a taxing district is any section of a State described in a statute or order as to be assessed, without respect to the civil or po litical divisions which may have been made for election purposes. A remarkable instance was the city of Memphis, Tenn., which, when ruined by plundering politicians, abandoned its city charter and constituted itself the taxing dis trict of Shelby County, to escape suits against the city as a corporation. See also TAXATION.
Internal Revenue Districts are established for the collection of internal revenue and come under the supervision of the Treasury Depart ment. The country is divided into 66 districts, each in charge of a collector; as a rule the dis tricts follow the State lines, but the revenues from some States are so large that the States are divided into several districts, as New York into Kentucky into five and Illinois into four. See INTERNAL REVENUE SYSTEM.
Customs Districts have been established to administer the tariff laws and to collect the customs duties. (See Durv.) In each of these districts is a port of entry and in several of these ports the collections are made by a staff of officials, consisting of a collector, appraiser, naval officer, surveyor, inspectors and gaugers, the number varying with the size and commer cial importance of the port.
Rural Districts and Divisions.— The coun ties of the Southern and far Western States and the towns and townships of the North Cen tral and North Atlantic States are divided into smaller districts for special local administrative purposes, such as elections, fire, schools, roads, health, water, etc. In the South and Far West,
country districts are generally larger than the subdistricts of towns or townships in other States, and to some extent have supplanted the system of township government. The other rural administrative districts, such as county council, town, borough, village, etc., are dis cussed under their individual headings.
Election Districts sometimes comprise an entire town or township, but the larger towns or townships of the North Atlantic and North Cen tral States often contain more than one voting precinct, especially where a town consists of two or more villages. See ELEcTioNs.
Fire Districts seldom conform to other boundary lines; in villages and smaller cities the fire district comes within the village or city limits. Fire companies are strictly regulated as to their response to alarms in a particular dis trict, but such companies are often called from one village to the aid of nearby towns or vil lages. Most States have a fire marshal whose principal duty is the prevention of fires. See also FIRE PROTECTION ; BUILDING LAWS.
Health Districts are confined to counties. The health officer and his assistants are usually county boards, having jurisdiction throughout the county, and their chief work is to prevent epidemics and to create satisfactory sanitary conditions. See SANITARY SCIENCE AND PUBLIC