are given because they illustrate the manner of election of the local officials; the first two schepens were elected by those having a share in the lands of the town; the schout, on the other hand, was selected by the schepens and confirmed by the Director and Council. Popular election was permitted only in the first choice of officials; thereafter the officers named their successors. We will note this system in detail.
The schout and schepens mentioned in this first charter to a Dutch town are the officers of the local court. The schout corresponded in the main to the modern prosecuting attorney,[1] although at times his duties partook of the nature of those of the sheriff, and at other times he presided over the court.[2] The schepens, whose title is sometimes translated magistrate, exercised both judicial and administrative functions. In the town of Wiltwyck they were to hold fortnightly courts, except during harvest-time, at which they were empowered to try without appeal civil cases where the value in controversy was below fifty guilders. They had jurisdiction of petty criminal offences, i. e., those in which there was no letting of blood, and in matters of greater moment they could apprehend criminals. But in addition to these judicial powers, the schepens had authority similar to those of the New England selectmen or the town-meeting. They could advise the Director and Council to pass orders concerning roads, the enclosure of lands, and the regulation of churches and schools;[3] and in certain cases could make and enforce orders without waiting for the consent of the Director.[4] But no provision was made in the charters granted to the Dutch towns for the direct action of the people in town affairs. There was no recognition of the town-meeting as a local political organization, but all ordinances, even of a local nature, must receive the approval of the Director and Council after they had been passed by the local court.[5]
- ↑ Brodhead, I. 453-454.
- ↑ N. Y. Col. Doc., XIII. 196 ; Instructions for Schout of New Amsterdam, April 9, 1660, N. Y. Col. Doc., XIV. 463.
- ↑ Charter of Wiltwyck, N. Y. Col. Doc., XIII. 196-198.
- ↑ N. Y. Col. Doc., XIII. 369, 370.
- ↑ The records are not wholly void of evidence of legislative or administrative activity exercised directly by the people in the Dutch towns before the English conquest. But in the few cases recorded, it appears to have been on extraordinary occasions, and not as an integral part of the local government.
In school and church matters there is some slight evidence of local action. See for Bergen, N. Y. Col. Doc., XIII. 232 and 319. In Brooklyn, on August 30, 1660, the magistrates, "pursuant to an order from the Honble Director-General", "convened all the inhabitants of the village of Breuckelen, talked to them and investigated, how much they could together contribute to the salary of Dr' Selyns" (N. Y. Col. Doc., XIV. 479). This sounds little like the independent action of the English town-meetings only a few miles distant from Brooklyn on the Long Island shores.
