_The Town Clerk._--Besides the selectmen, there are various other officers of the town, the number varying according to its size and importance. One of the most important of these is the _clerk_, who performs some duties discharged by the county clerk in states outside of New England. The town clerk is elected at the annual town meeting, and is frequently reëlected from year to year. His principal duties are to keep the records of the town meetings, and of the meetings of the selectmen, issue marriage licenses, and keep registers of births, marriages, and deaths. _Assessors and Treasurer._--In the large towns there are assessors of taxes, who prepare tax lists; in the smaller ones, as stated above, the selectmen act as assessors. In all of the towns there is a town treasurer who receives and takes care of all taxes collected from the citizens, turning over to the proper officers the portion which goes to the state and to the county. He also keeps an account of all receipts and disbursements and makes an annual report to the town meeting. _Overseers of the Poor._--To care for the pauper and dependent class there are usually one or more overseers of the poor elected by the town meeting, though in the smaller towns the selectmen perform this duty. Their principal function is to determine who shall receive public aid. _Constables._--In every town one or more constables are elected. Formerly this office, like that of sheriff, was one of dignity and influence, but it has lost much of its early importance. As the sheriff is the peace officer of the county, the constables are the peace officers of the town. They pursue and arrest criminals and execute warrants issued by the selectmen and by the justices of the peace. In addition they sometimes summon jurors and act as collectors of the taxes. _School Committee._--Generally there is also a school committee elected at the town meeting. It is charged with establishing and visiting schools, selecting teachers, prescribing the courses of instruction, and appointing truant officers. _Other Town Officials_ are justices of the peace; road surveyors or similar officers with other titles, charged with keeping public roads and bridges in repair; field drivers and poundkeepers, who take up and keep stray animals until claimed by their owners; fence viewers, who settle disputes among farmers in regard to partition fences and walls; sealers of weights and measures, who test the accuracy of scales and measures; surveyors of lumber; keepers of almshouses; park commissioners; fish wardens; inspectors of various kinds; and a host of other minor officials, some of whom bear queer titles, and many of whom serve without pay or receive only trifling fees for their services. In some of the small towns, officials are so numerous as to constitute a goodly proportion of the population. The town of Middlefield (Mass.), for example, with only eighty-two voters recently had a total of eighteen officials.[2]