Government in the United States - National, State and Local

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Title: Government in the United States - National, State and Local
Author: Garner, James Wilford
Language: English
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[Illustration: CAPITOL, WASHINGTON, D.C.]

GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

National, State, and Local

JAMES W. GARNER

Professor of Political Science in the University of Illinois

New York Cincinnati Chicago
American Book Company
Copyright, 1911, 1913, 1919, 1920, by
James W. Garner

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London

Govt. U. S.
W. P. 29

Made in U. S. A.

PREFACE

My aim in the preparation of this book has been to present in an
elementary way the leading facts concerning the organization and
activities of national, state, and local government in the United
States. I have given rather greater emphasis than is customarily done in
textbooks of this character to what may be called the dynamics of
government, that is, its actual workings, as contradistinguished from
organization. Likewise, I have laid especial stress upon the activities
and methods of political parties, party conventions, primaries, the
conduct of political campaigns, the regulation of campaign methods, and
the like. The increasing importance of citizenship has led me to devote
a chapter to that subject. To encourage wider reading among students, I
have added to each chapter a brief list of references to books which
should be in every high school library. The great value of illustrative
material as a means of acquainting students with the spirit and actual
methods of government is now recognized. For the convenience of
teachers, I have therefore added at the end of each chapter a list of
documentary and other illustrative material, most of which can be
procured without cost and all of which may be used to advantage in
supplementing the descriptive matter in the textbook. To stimulate the
spirit of research and to encourage independent thinking among students,
I have also added at the end of each chapter a list of search questions
bearing upon the various subjects treated in the chapter.

I am under obligations to a number of teachers for reading the proof
sheets of this book and for giving me the benefit of their advice. Among
those to whom I am especially indebted are Mr. Clarence O. Gardner,
formerly assistant in political science in the University of Illinois,
Mr. W. A. Beyer, of the Illinois State Normal University, Mr. C. H.
Elliott, of the Southern Illinois State Normal University, Mr. E. T.
Austin, of the Sterling Township (Ill.) High School, and Mr. William
Wallis, Principal of the Bloomington (Ill.) High School.

J. W. GARNER

URBANA, ILLINOIS.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. LOCAL GOVERNMENT: TOWNS, TOWNSHIPS, AND COUNTIES 5

II. LOCAL GOVERNMENT, CONTINUED: CITIES AND VILLAGES 25

III. THE STATE GOVERNMENTS 57

IV. THE STATE LEGISLATURE 73

V. THE STATE EXECUTIVE 91

VI. THE STATE JUDICIARY 109

VII. SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS 125

VIII. POLITICAL PARTIES AND NOMINATING METHODS 144

IX. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNION 159

X. THE TWO HOUSES OF CONGRESS 174

XI. ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURE OF CONGRESS 197

XII. FEDERAL FINANCE, TAXATION, AND MONEY 217

XIII. THE REGULATION OF COMMERCE 236

XIV. OTHER IMPORTANT POWERS OF CONGRESS 248

XV. THE PRESIDENCY: ORGANIZATION AND MODE OF ELECTION 274

XVI. THE PRESIDENCY, CONTINUED: INAUGURATION, POWERS AND DUTIES 298

XVII. THE CABINET AND THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS 324

XVIII. THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY 353

XIX. GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES 369

XX. CITIZENSHIP 383

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 393

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 399

INDEX 411

GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

CHAPTER I

LOCAL GOVERNMENT: TOWNS, TOWNSHIPS, AND COUNTIES

=Kinds of Local Government.=--Most of us live under at least four
different governmental organizations: the government of the United
States, the government of a state, the government of a county, and the
government of a minor division, usually called a town or township. In
addition to (or sometimes instead of) the county or township government,
many of us live under a special form of government provided for urban
communities,--cities, villages, or boroughs,--where the population is
comparatively dense and where, therefore, the somewhat simple form of
government provided for rural communities is insufficient. If the people
of the smaller communities are allowed to choose their own public
officials and, within certain limits, to determine their own policies in
public matters of a local character, they have a system of _local
self-government_. If, on the contrary, they are governed by some distant
central authority which determines their local policies and by which
their local officials are appointed, they live under a system of
_centralized government_.

=Merits of Local Self-Government.=--In the United States, the privilege
of local self-government is regarded as one of the chief merits of our
political system, and it is often declared to be one of the inalienable
rights of the people. One great advantage of local self-government is
that it brings government near the door of every citizen, and permits
the people of each locality, who are most familiar with their own local
conditions and who know best what are their local needs, to regulate
their own affairs as they see fit. Also, such a system is well
calculated to secure responsibility. So long as the local authorities
are chosen by the community from its own inhabitants and are constantly
under the eyes of the people, to whom they are responsible, they can be
more effectively controlled by local public opinion than is possible
where they are chosen by authorities distantly removed. Another
important advantage of local self-government is that it serves as a
training school for the political education of the citizens. Allow them
the privilege of choosing their own local officials and of regulating
their own local concerns, and their interest in public affairs will be
stimulated and their political intelligence increased and broadened.
This not only will tend to secure more responsible government (local,
state, and national), but will produce a more active type of
citizenship.

=Importance of Local Government.=--With the growth and congestion of
population in centers, and the increasing complexity of our industrial
and social life, the importance of local self-government has enormously
increased. The local governments touch us at many more points to-day
than does either the state or the national government; they regulate a
far larger proportion of the concerns of our everyday life; and hence we
feel the effects of corrupt or inefficient local government more keenly
than we feel the effects of inefficient state or national government.
We depend largely upon our local governments for the maintenance of the
peace, order, and security of the community; for the protection of the
public health; for the support of our schools; for the construction and
maintenance of roads and bridges; for the care of the poor; and if we
live in a city, for protection against fire, for our water supply,
usually, and for many other services essential to our comfort and
happiness. Finally, the larger proportion of the taxes we pay goes
toward the support of local government--a fact which makes it very
important that our local governments should be efficiently, honestly,
and economically conducted.

=Types of Local Government.=--The form of local government existing in
each state is such as the state itself provides, the national government
having no authority whatever over the matter. Such differences as exist
are more largely the result of historical conditions growing out of the
early settlement of the states, than of any pronounced differences of
opinion among the people in regard to forms of government. Since
colonial times there have been three general types of local rural
government in America: the _town system_, in New England; the _county
system_, which originated in Virginia and spread to other colonies and
states; and the _county-township type_--a combination of the first two
forms--which developed in the middle colonies of New York and
Pennsylvania and was carried to many Western states by settlers from the
middle states, and is now the most common form to be found.

TOWN GOVERNMENT

=Town and County in New England.=--The characteristic feature of the
town system of government is that the management of local affairs
devolves mainly upon the town (or township, as it is usually called
outside of New England), while the county is little more than an
administrative district for judicial and election purposes. In some of
the New England states, where the town system originated and where it
exists in its purest form, the county is almost ignored as an area for
local government. In Rhode Island it performs practically no duties of
local government and is merely a judicial district; there no county
officers are to be found except the sheriff and clerks of the courts. In
the other New England states the county plays a more important part than
it does in Rhode Island, but in none of them does it share with the
towns in anything like an equal measure the burden of local government.

=The New England Town.=--The towns of New England are the oldest
political communities in America, some of them being older in fact than
the counties and states of which they are a part. Generally they vary
from twenty to forty square miles in area, and are irregular in shape,
being in this respect unlike the townships of many Western states, which
were laid out in squares, each with an area of thirty-six square miles.
In population they vary from a few hundred persons to more than 130,000
as is the case with New Haven, which, though an incorporated city,
maintains a separate town organization.

=Powers of Town Government.=--The functions performed by the town
governments are varied and numerous. The most important, however, are
the support and management of public schools, the laying out and
maintenance of roads, the construction of bridges, the care of the poor,
and in the more populous towns, fire protection, health protection, the
maintenance of police, lighting, paving of streets, establishment of
parks, public libraries, etc. The towns also have power to enact
ordinances of a police character, relating to such matters as bicycle
riding on sidewalks, the running of animals at large, etc.

In addition to the management of the purely local affairs of the
community, the town acts as the agent of the state government for
carrying out certain state laws and policies. Thus it assesses and
collects the state taxes, keeps records of vital statistics, enforces
the health laws of the state, and acts for the state in various other
matters. Finally, except in Massachusetts, the town is a district for
choosing members of at least one branch of the legislature, and
everywhere in New England it is a district for state and national
elections.[1]

[1] Fairlie, "Local Government," p. 147.

=The Town Meeting.=--The central fact in the system of town government
in New England is the town meeting, or assembly of the qualified voters
of the town. The annual meeting is usually held in the early Spring
(except in Connecticut, where it is generally held in October) and
special meetings are called from time to time as necessity may require.
All persons qualified as voters under the state laws are entitled to
attend and take part in the proceedings of the meeting. Formerly
non-attendance was punishable by a fine, but that is no longer resorted
to; it being supposed that each voter's interest will be sufficient
inducement to secure his presence. The attendance is larger in the towns
of New England than in the states of the West where the town meeting
exists, and it is larger in urban towns than in those of a rural
character. Formal notice must be given of the time and place of the
meeting, and this is done by a warrant issued by the selectmen, which
specifies also the matters of business to be considered. This notice
must be posted in conspicuous places a certain number of days before the
meeting. No other matters than those mentioned in the warrant can be
introduced or considered. The meetings are usually held in the town
hall, though in the early history of New England they were frequently
held in the church, which was thus a "meeting house" for civil as well
as for church purposes.

The meeting is called to order by the town clerk, who reads the warrant,
after which an organization is effected by the election of a presiding
officer called a moderator, and business then proceeds in accordance
with the customary rules of parliamentary law. The next order of
business is the election of the town officers for the ensuing year. This
done, appropriations are made for the payment of the public expenses of
the town, and the other measures necessary for the government of the
town are then discussed and adopted. The most interesting fact about the
New England town meeting is the lively discussion which characterizes
its proceedings. Any voter may introduce resolutions and express his
opinion on any proposition before the assembly. One great advantage of
this system of local government is its educative effect upon the
citizens. It affords a means of keeping alive interest in public affairs
and thus tends to develop a more intelligent citizenship. Important
measures may be carefully discussed and criticized before the final vote
is taken, and it is difficult to "railroad" or smuggle an objectionable
measure through, as is sometimes done in the legislatures and city
councils. Everything the officials and committees of the town have done
is subject to be criticized, everything they are to do is subject to be
regulated by the meeting. The final action of the meeting, therefore, is
pretty apt to represent the real wishes of the people.

=Conditions Unfavorable to Government by Town Meeting.=--Various causes,
however, are at work in some parts of New England to weaken the system
of government by town meeting and to render it less suited to the modern
conditions under which it must be operated. The growth of manufacturing
industries in many of the towns has introduced a conflict of interests
between factory owners and operators on the one hand, and farmers on the
other. The result is occasional squabbles and controversies which are
not favorable to government by mass meeting. The influx of foreigners
who are unaccustomed to local self-government and who are therefore
unfamiliar with the duties of citizens in self-governing communities has
in recent years also introduced an unfavorable element. Finally, the
caucus has gained a foothold in many towns so that the election of
officers and the determination of important policies are often
controlled by a small group of persons who get together prior to the
town meeting and prepare a "slate" which is put through without adequate
discussion. It is also to be noted that with the growth of population,
many of the towns have become too populous to be governed effectively by
mass meeting. Frequently the town hall is too small to accommodate all
the voters who attend, and satisfactory debate under such conditions is
impossible. Often when a town reaches this size it organizes itself into
a municipal corporation, and a city council takes the place of the
popular assembly, but there are many places of considerable size which
still retain the town organization.

=Town Officers.=--_Selectmen._--From the beginning of town government it
was necessary to choose agents to look after the affairs of the
community during the interval between town meetings. These persons were
called _selectmen_, and they have retained the name until the present
day.

Every town now has a body of selectmen chosen at the annual meeting,
usually for one year (in Massachusetts for three years) to act as a
general managing board for the community. The number for each town
varies from three to nine according to the size of the town, three being
the most usual number. Reëlections are frequent; one selectman in
Brookline, Massachusetts, served nearly forty years. Their duties vary
in the different towns. Generally they issue warrants for holding town
meetings, lay out roads, impanel jurors, grant licenses, abate
nuisances, arrange for elections, control the town property, hear
complaints, sometimes assess taxes (especially in the small towns), and
may appoint police officials, boards of health, overseers of the poor,
and other local officers if they are not chosen by the voters assembled
in the town meeting.

_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]

[2] Hart, "Actual Government," p. 172.

=Town Government in the West.=--Town government is not confined to New
England; it has been carried to many Western states where immigrants
from New England have settled, though in none of them does it possess
the vitality or play the important part in the management of public
affairs that it does in the older communities where it originated. In
the states of the South and the far West, there is no general system of
town government. Counties, however, are usually divided into districts
for a few unimportant purposes.

COUNTY GOVERNMENT

=The County.=--The county[3] is a civil division created by the state
partly for purposes of state administration and partly for local
government. New York city embraces within its boundaries five counties;
other cities, like Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Cincinnati, contain
within their limits the larger part of the population of the counties in
which they are situated. The population of a large majority of the
counties, however, is predominantly rural rather than urban in
character, and where there is a large city within a county, most of the
affairs of that portion of the county lying within the city limits are
managed by the city government.

[3] The corresponding division in Louisiana is called a parish.

_Population and Area._--The population of the counties, and their areas,
vary widely. Several counties in Texas in 1910 had less than 400
inhabitants each, New York county, on the other hand, had more than
2,750,000. The most populous counties are in the Eastern states, and
the least populous in the South and West. There are now about 3,000
counties in all the states, the number in each state ranging from three
in Delaware and five in Rhode Island to 244 in Texas. In proportion to
population Massachusetts has a smaller number (fourteen) than any other
state in the Union. In many states the minimum size of counties is fixed
by the constitution. The minimum limit where it is fixed by the
constitution is usually 400 square miles, though in some states it is
600 or 700 and in Texas it is 900 square miles. Where no such
restrictions have been prescribed, however, as in some of the old
states, the area is sometimes very small. In Rhode Island, for example,
there is one county with an area of only 25 square miles. New York has
one county (New York) with an area of 21 square miles, and another (St.
Lawrence) with an area of 2,880 square miles. On the other hand, Choteau
county in Montana has an area of over 16,000 square miles, being
considerably larger than the combined area of several of the smaller
states.

To prevent the legislature from creating new counties or altering the
boundaries of existing counties against the wishes of the inhabitants,
and to secure to the people home rule in such matters, the constitutions
of a number of states provide that new counties may be formed, or the
area of existing counties altered, only with the consent of the
inhabitants concerned, given by a direct popular vote on the question.

_Functions of the County._--The county is a judicial and elective
district, and the jails and courthouses and sometimes the almshouses are
county rather than town institutions. Outside of New England the county
is also often the unit of representation in the legislature; and it acts
as an agent of the state in collecting taxes and executing many laws.

=County Officers.=--_The County Board._--The principal county authority
is usually a board of commissioners or supervisors (in Louisiana it is
called the police jury), elected by the voters either from the county at
large or from districts into which the county is divided. In most states
it is a small board, usually three or five members; in some it is
larger, being composed of one member from each township in the county.
In a few Southern states (Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas), the county
court of justices of the peace still acts as the county board, as in
Colonial days.

This board is both a legislative and an administrative body for the
county, for the executive and legislative functions in local government
are not always kept so separate and distinct as they are in the state
and national governments. It levies taxes, appropriates money for
meeting the public expenses, has general control of county finances, has
charge of county buildings and other property, settles claims against
the county, approves bonds of county officials, and in many states it
establishes roads, lets contracts for the erection of bridges and other
public works and for repairing them, licenses ferries and sometimes
inns, saloons, peddlers, etc., cares for the poor and dependent classes,
and performs numerous other services which vary in extent and character
in the different states.

[Illustration: Pueblo County Court House, Colorado]

[Illustration: Polk County Court House, Florida]

_The Sheriff._--The most important executive officer of the county is
the sheriff. This office is a very ancient one, though it has lost much
of its former dignity and importance. The sheriff is elected by the
people of the county, in all of the states except Rhode Island (where he
is chosen by the state legislature), for a term ranging from one to four
years, the most usual term being two years. The sheriff is usually
assisted by a number of deputies, who are either regularly employed by
him or especially summoned in case of emergencies. He is the general
conservator of the peace of the county and is charged with attending the
court as its executive officer and with carrying out its orders, whether
it be to sell property for nonpayment of taxes, to seize and sell
property in execution of a judgment, or to hang a convicted criminal. He
has the power, and it is his duty, to arrest offenders and commit them
to the jail, of which he is usually the custodian, and to this end he
may summon to his aid the _posse comitatus_, which consists of the
able-bodied male citizens of the county. In case of serious disturbance
and riot he may call on the governor for the aid of the militia. He must
exercise reasonable care for the safe-keeping of prisoners in his
custody, and in some states he may be removed from office by the
governor for negligence in protecting them against mob violence. In some
of the Southern states he is _ex officio_ tax collector and in some he
is also _ex officio_ public administrator. Other duties of a special
nature are imposed upon sheriffs in different states.

_The Coroner._--Next to the sheriff among county officers in point of
origin is the coroner, whose principal duty is to hold inquests upon the
bodies of persons who are supposed to have died from violence or other
unlawful means. In such cases it is the duty of the coroner to impanel a
jury, usually of six persons, who from the testimony of witnesses, if
there are such, and with the aid of a physician or other expert, decide
the facts as to how the deceased met his death. A coroner's inquest,
however, is not a trial but merely an inquiry into the circumstances of
the death. By an old common-law rule, the coroner usually succeeds to
the office of sheriff in case the latter dies or for any other reason is
disqualified from acting.

_County Clerk._--Usually in every county there is an official called the
county clerk, who in most states serves both as the clerk of the county
board of commissioners, and as clerk of the county court and of the
circuit court. In the former capacity he keeps a record of the
proceedings of the meeting of the board. His books must contain a record
of all bids for the erection of county buildings, of all contracts let,
notices of elections ordered, licenses granted, roads laid out or
changed, and indeed of all transactions of the board. As clerk of the
court he must prepare and keep the docket of all cases for trial and of
the judgments entered, issue processes and writs, certify to the
accuracy of transcripts from the records of the court, and keep all
papers and records of the court. In Pennsylvania and Delaware the clerk
of the common pleas court is known as a "prothonotary"; in Massachusetts
the clerks of the probate courts are styled "registers of probate."

In a few states these two sets of duties are intrusted to different
officials, one of whom is styled the county clerk and the other the
clerk of the court. Usually the county clerk is also an election
officer, being charged with the giving of notices of elections, the
preparation of ballots, and the keeping of election records. County
clerks are usually elected by the people of the county for a period
ranging from one to four years, and reëlection is much more frequent
than is the case with other county officials, because of the greater
need of experience and familiarity with the duties of the office.[4]

[4] In Vermont and Connecticut, however, they are appointed by the
judges and hold during their pleasure, while in Rhode Island they are
elected by the legislature annually.

_County Treasurer._--An important county officer is the treasurer, who
receives and has custody of the state and county taxes, though in a few
states having the county system of local government there are special
tax collectors, and, as we have seen, in some of them these duties are
performed by the sheriff.[5] Nearly everywhere the office is filled by
popular election, though in a few states treasurers are chosen by the
county board or appointed by the governor. On account of the large sums
of money often intrusted to their keeping, they are usually placed under
heavy bond to insure the state and county against loss in case of
defalcation or other misapplication of the funds in their charge. County
treasurers frequently deposit the public funds in local banks and retain
for themselves the interest which they receive therefrom. Recently the
treasurer of Cook county, Illinois, agreed before his election to turn
over to the county all interest received by him on county funds
deposited in banks, and in 1904 nearly half a million dollars was thus
paid into the county treasury by him.

[5] Rhode Island is the only state in which there is no such official
as the county treasurer, the custody of local funds being intrusted
to the town treasurers.

_County Auditor._--In a number of states the office of county auditor
has been provided. Generally he keeps the accounts of the county, so as
to show the receipts and expenditures of the public moneys, and issues
warrants upon the treasurer for the payment of bills authorized by the
county board. In some states his duties are limited merely to an
examination of the accounts of county officers to see that they have
been properly kept and that there has been no misapplication of public
funds.

_Recorder of Deeds._--In all the states there are officials charged with
keeping records of certain legal documents such as deeds, mortgages, and
leases. They are designated by different names, the most usual being
register of deeds or recorder of deeds. They make exact copies of the
instruments to be recorded, enter them in large books, and keep indexes
by which such instruments can be readily found. In some states these
duties are performed by the county clerk. The importance of the office
is evident because upon the careful preservation and accuracy of the
records must depend in many cases our rights to property.

_School Officers._--In the states outside New England there is usually a
county superintendent or commissioner of schools and in most of the
Southern states a county school board. In a large majority of the states
the county superintendent is elected by the people, though in a few he
is appointed by the governor, elected by the local school boards, or
chosen in other ways. The principal duties of the superintendent of
schools are to examine teachers, issue certificates to teach, visit the
schools, organize teachers' institutes, give advice on educational
matters to teachers and school trustees, make reports to the state
superintendent of public education, sometimes decide questions appealed
to him from the district trustees, and in general watch over and promote
the educational interests of the county. County school boards in the
South establish schools as do the town school committees and school
district boards in other states.

_Other County Officials_ are the surveyor, who makes surveys of land
upon the application of private owners, prepares plats, and keeps
records of the same; superintendent or overseers of the poor, who have
charge of almshouses, hospitals, and poor farms where they belong to the
county; health officers or boards of health, whose duties are indicated
by their titles; and occasionally other minor officials with varying
titles and duties.[6]

[6] The county court and the justices of the peace are discussed in
the chapter on the state judiciary (chapter vi).

THE COUNTY-TOWNSHIP SYSTEM

In most states the general type of local government is that which we
have designated as the county-township system. It is a system in which
there is a more nearly equal division of local governmental functions
between the county and township than is found either in New England or
in the Southern states.

=The Two Types.=--Growing out of the fact that the county-township
system has two sources it has developed into two different types: the
New York or supervisor type and the Pennsylvania or commissioner type.

_A. New York Type._--In New York the town with its annual meeting early
made its appearance, though the town meeting there never exhibited the
vigor and vitality that it did in New England. Early in the eighteenth
century a law was enacted in New York providing that each township in
the county should elect an officer called a _supervisor_, and that the
supervisors of the several towns should form a county board and when
assembled at the county seat should "supervise and examine the public
and necessary charge of each county." In time the management of most of
the affairs of the county was devolved upon the board of supervisors,
and the system has continued to the present. This board is now composed
of not only the supervisors of the townships but also the
representatives of the various villages and wards of the cities within
the county. The county board thus represents the minor civil divisions
of the county rather than the county as a whole. It has charge of
various matters that in New England are managed by the towns. The town
meeting exists but it is not largely attended, and does not play the
important rôle in local government that it does in New England. This
system in time spread to those states, like Michigan, Illinois, and
Wisconsin, which were largely settled by immigrants from New York.

_B. The Pennsylvania Type._--As New York was the parent of the
supervisor system, Pennsylvania became the parent of the commissioner
system. Instead of a county board composed of representatives from the
various townships in the county, provision was made for a board of
commissioners elected from the county at large. The Pennsylvania system
spread to Ohio and from there to Indiana and later to Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In some states the
commissioners are elected by large districts into which the county is
divided for that purpose.

Thus, first to New York, and second to Pennsylvania belongs the honor of
predetermining the character of local government in the West. The
county-township system is the most widely distributed system of local
government in the United States, and seems destined to become the
prevailing system for the country as a whole.[7] The principal
difference between the two types consists in the presence of the town
meeting in the northern tier of states where the New York type prevails,
and its absence in the states where the Pennsylvania type was
introduced; in the different manner in which the county boards are
constituted; and in the relative importance of the county and township
in the local governments of the two groups of states.

[7] Goodnow, "Comparative Administrative Law," Vol. I, p. 178.

=Conflict of Different Systems in the West.=--An illustration of the
attachment of the people of different parts of the country to the local
institutions to which they were early accustomed, is found in the
conflict which took place in Illinois between the settlers in the
northern and southern parts of the state. The southern part of the
state was settled largely by people from the South, who brought with
them the Southern ideas of local government, and as they constituted the
bulk of the population of the state at the time it was admitted to the
Union, the system of county government was established by law throughout
the state; but the county board was organized on the Pennsylvania plan
and not according to the old Southern system. The northern part of the
state, on the other hand, was settled mainly by people from New England,
who were likewise strongly attached to the local government to which
they had been accustomed. They succeeded, therefore, in securing the
adoption of a clause in the constitution (1848), allowing the people of
each county to adopt the township system whenever the majority of the
legal voters of the county voting at any general election should so
determine. Under the operation of this "home rule" provision, 85 of the
102 counties of the state have adopted the township system. A somewhat
similar conflict occurred in Michigan, where the Pennsylvania
commissioner system was first introduced, but with the influx of
inhabitants from New York and New England dissatisfaction with that
system increased until finally it was displaced by the New York or
supervisor type.

=References.=--BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. xxix.
BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), chs.
xlvii-xlviii. FAIRLIE, Local Government in Towns, Counties and
Villages, chs. iv-v, viii-xi. FISKE, Civil Government in the U. S.,
chs. ii-iv. HART, Actual Government, ch. x. HINSDALE, American
Government, ch. lv. WILSON, The State (revised edition), secs.
1035-1043. WILLOUGHBY, Rights and Duties of Citizenship, pp.
260-265.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. A map of the state
showing its division into counties. 2. A map of the county showing
the towns, townships, supervisors' districts, or other civil
subdivisions. 3. A copy of a town meeting warrant. 4. A copy of
the proceedings of the county board or town meeting, as published
in the local newspaper. 5. The legislative manual or blue book of
the state in which lists of counties and their subdivisions, with
their population, area, officers, and other information may be
found. Usually this may be procured from the secretary of state. 6.
Reports of county officers. 7. Copies of the state constitution,
which may usually be obtained from the secretary of state; and, if
possible, a copy of the revised statutes of the state. 8. Volume of
the census report on population.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the distinction between local self-government and centralized
government? What are the advantages of a system of local
self-government?

2. Why should counties, towns, and cities be subject in some measure to
the control of the state?

3. What are the provisions in the constitution of your state in regard
to local government?

4. How many counties are there in your state? What is the area and
population of the largest? of the smallest?

5. How may new counties be created in your state? How may old counties
be divided? How are county seats located?

6. Enter in your notebook a list of the county officers in your county.
For how long a term is each elected?

7. Which one of the three forms of local government described above does
the system under which you live most nearly approach?

8. How many members are there on your county board? Are they called
commissioners or supervisors? Are they elected from the county at large
or from districts?

9. What are the political subdivisions of your county called, and how
many are there?

10. If you live in a state where the town system of local government
exists, make a list of the town officers and state their duties.

11. Is the town meeting a part of the system of local government where
you live? If so, how often is it held?

12. Are the public roads in your community under county or town control?
the poorhouse? the assessment and collection of taxes?

13. How many justices of the peace and constables are there in your town
or district? Give their names.

CHAPTER II

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, CONTINUED: CITIES AND VILLAGES

=Need of Municipal Government.=--The systems of local government
described in the preceding chapter are those which have been devised
mainly for rural communities, that is, communities containing a
scattered population engaged principally in agricultural pursuits. In a
sparsely settled community the governmental needs of the people are
comparatively few, and a simple governmental organization is sufficient
for supplying those needs. In a densely populated community, however, a
more complex and differently organized form of government must be
provided. When, therefore, a community becomes so populous that it
cannot be governed effectively by town meetings, small boards, and the
other forms of political machinery described in the previous chapter, it
is incorporated as a municipality, that is, the state gives it a charter
which confers upon it special powers and privileges and provides it with
a somewhat different type of local government for the exercise of those
powers. The minimum population necessary to constitute a city varies in
the different states. They all require, however, that there must be a
considerable number of inhabitants occupying a comparatively small area
of territory, before the community can be incorporated as a city. In
Illinois, for example, any community having at least 1,000 inhabitants
resident within an area not exceeding four square miles may become a
city. In some other states, a population of not less than 5,000 is
required, while in some a still larger number is required. The census
bureau of the United States, for statistical purposes, has at different
times taken 8,000 and 2,500 as the minimum population required to
constitute a city.

=Growth of Cities.=--One of the most remarkable political and social
facts of the past century was the growth of towns and cities. When the
Constitution of the United States went into operation there were but
thirteen cities in the whole country with populations exceeding 5,000
each. Only about four per cent of the people then lived under urban
conditions: rural life was the rule, and city life the exception. Since
the middle of the last century, however, there has been a remarkable
change in the relative proportion of the total population living in the
cities and in the country. According to the federal census of 1910 there
were 1,232 cities in the United States with a population of more than
5,000 each, and in them lived 42 per cent of all the people. The number
is now considerably larger. It is estimated that 90 per cent of the
people of Massachusetts now live in cities of over 5,000 inhabitants,
and in a few other states the urban population constitutes more than two
thirds of the whole. More than half the population of New York state is
now found in the city of New York alone. Even in several states of the
West, as Illinois, more than half the population is now living under
urban conditions. What is even more remarkable has been the rapidity
with which many American cities have grown to their present size. Thus
New York in a period of 100 years grew from a city of 50,000 inhabitants
to a city of more than 4,000,000. The growth of Chicago was even more
rapid. In 1907 there was still living in that city the first white
person born within its present limits. This person saw Chicago grow from
a petty prairie village to a city of more than 2,000,000 souls.

=Causes of City Growth.=--The causes that have led to the extraordinary
growth of cities are partly economic and partly social. With the more
general use of labor-saving machinery in agriculture the number of men
necessary to cultivate the farms and supply the world with food has
decreased relatively, leaving a larger number to engage in the
manufacturing and other industries which are generally centered in the
cities. One man with a machine can now do the work on the farm which
formerly required several, so that fewer farmers in proportion to the
total population are needed. On the other hand, the development of trade
and commerce and the rise of the manufacturing industries have created
an increasing demand for city workers. Many persons are also drawn away
from the country by the social attractions and intellectual advantages
which the cities offer. In the cities, good schools are abundant and
convenient. There also are colleges, libraries, picture galleries,
museums, theaters, and other institutions for amusement and education.
There the daily newspaper may be left at one's door often for a cent a
copy; there are to be found fine churches with pulpits occupied by able
preachers; there one finds all the conveniences of life which modern
science and skill can provide--everything to gratify the social
instinct, and little or none of the dullness of country life. These are
some of the attractions that lure the young and the old as well from the
rural communities to swell the population of the cities. These are the
forces that are converting us from a nation of country dwellers to a
nation of city dwellers.

=Consequences of City Growth.=--The congestion of the population in the
towns and cities has had far-reaching economic, social, and political
effects.

_Economic Results._--As the city population becomes more dense the
number of those who are able to own their own homes becomes less, and
thus the city tends more and more to become a community of tenants.
According to the census of 1900, while more than 64 per cent of the
families of the United States living on farms owned their own homes,
less than 35 per cent of those living in cities were owners of the
houses they occupied. In New York city the proportion was only about 12
per cent, and in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx it was less
than 6 per cent. Of these hardly more than 2 per cent owned homes that
were clear of mortgages.

_Social Results._--Another result of the movement of the people to the
cities is the evil of overcrowding. Manifestly where the area of a city
is limited, as is often the case, there must come a time when the
population will be massed and crowded together under circumstances that
are dangerous to the health, morals, and comfort of the people. In some
of the large cities to-day the conditions resulting from overcrowding
are truly shocking. According to the census of 1900, while the average
number of persons to a dwelling throughout the country as a whole was
about five, the number in New York city was nearly fifteen, and in the
boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx it was more than twenty. In several
parts of the city there are blocks containing more than 1,000 persons to
the acre. Under such circumstances the rate of mortality is necessarily
high, and immorality and vice are encouraged. In the great cities one
finds a large floating population with no local attachment or civic
pride, and thousands of persons, foreigners and natives alike, with low
standards of life. There also the individual is lost in a multitude,
and the restraining influence of public opinion, which is so powerful in
the country, is lacking. Thus the tendency to wrongdoing is greatly
accentuated.

_Political Results._--Finally, the growth of the cities has had
important political consequences, in that it has given rise to
conditions that have increased enormously the problems of local
government. As long as the population of the nation was predominantly
rural and the cities few in number and small in size, the difficulties
of local government were not serious. But the presence of such
conditions as those described above, together with the task which
devolves upon the city of performing so many services for the people
that are not required in sparsely settled communities, has made the
problem of city government the most difficult of all governmental
problems.

=Movement to Check Immigration to the Cities.=--The abandonment of the
farms and the movement of the people to the cities is viewed by many
persons with regret, not to say alarm. There are some who think that the
cities are the plague spots of the country, that city life tends to
produce an enfeebled race with low moral standards; that they are
tending to make of us a nation of tenants, tramps, anarchists, and
criminals; and that the economic welfare of the country is being
endangered by the drift away from the farm. Such a view, of course,
represents an exaggerated conception of the dangers, though it will be
readily admitted that the change is not without serious evils.

Lately we have heard a great deal of discussion among thoughtful men as
to the possibility of checking the movement of the young to the cities.
And notwithstanding the movement from the country to the city it is
evident that the conditions of rural life are much more favorable than
formerly. The daily free delivery of mail at the doors of the farmers,
the introduction of the telephone and the interurban railway, to say
nothing of the use of labor-saving machinery, have done much to add to
the attractiveness of country life and to diminish the hardships of farm
life and other rural occupations. But these advantages have not checked
the movement to the cities, and other remedies must be found.

=The Position of the City in the State.=--The city occupies a twofold
position in the state of which it is a part. In the first place, it is
an agent of the state for carrying out certain state laws and policies.
Thus it acts for the state when it protects the public health, cares for
the poor, maintains peace and order, supports education, and collects
the taxes for the state. In the second place, the city undertakes to
perform numerous services which are of interest to the people of the
locality alone and which do not concern the people of the state as a
whole. When acting in this latter capacity, the city is merely an organ
of local government and not an agent of the state. Thus the city
sometimes supplies the inhabitants with light and water, protects them
against fire, maintains sewers, disposes of garbage and other refuse,
builds wharves, docks, and bridges, and maintains public libraries,
museums, bath houses, and other institutions.

_State Control of Cities._--The organization, powers, and privileges of
the city are determined for the most part by the state constitution and
laws. In a few states the financial transactions of city officials are
subject to state inspection and audit, and in practically all of them
their power to levy taxes and borrow money is placed under restrictions.
It is felt that if the cities were left entirely free from state control
they could not always be relied upon by the state to carry out the laws
which they are charged with enforcing, and that in other respects their
action might not be in harmony with the general policy of the state. In
those matters, however, which are of purely local interest, the state
should interfere as little as possible. Interference in such cases is
contrary to the ideas of local self-government which Americans cherish
as one of their most valuable rights. However, the right of the people
living in cities to regulate their own local affairs according to their
own notions is not always recognized, and there are frequent complaints
that state legislatures have interfered when the interests of the state
did not justify it.

=The City Charter.=--The city, unlike the county, township, and other
minor civil divisions described in the preceding chapter, has a charter
granted to it by the state which gives the city more of the character of
a public corporation. The charter contains the name of the place
incorporated, a description of its boundaries, its form of organization,
and a detailed enumeration of the powers which it may exercise. It is
granted by the state legislature, though, unlike the charter granted to
a private corporation, such as a bank or a railway company, it is not a
contract but simply a legislative act which may be repealed or altered
at the will of the legislature. Thus, legally, the city is at the mercy
of the legislature. Its charter, indeed, may be taken away from it and
the city governed directly by the legislature in such manner as it may
choose, and this has sometimes been done in the case of cities which
grossly abused their powers or got themselves into such hopeless
financial condition that they were unable to meet their obligations or
properly discharge their duties.

_Methods of Granting Charters._--Formerly it was the custom in most
states for the legislature to frame a charter for each city as
application was made. The result was that different cities received
different kinds of charters, some more liberal than others. Besides, the
time of the legislature was taken up with the consideration of
applications for charters, and abundant opportunities were offered for
favoritism and for the use of improper influences upon members of the
legislature by cities that desired new charters or amendments to
existing charters. To avoid these evils many states adopted the practice
of passing a general law for the government of all cities in the state,
under which any community which desired to be incorporated as a city
might by fulfilling certain prescribed conditions be organized under
this general act, which then became the charter of the city. Under this
system all cities in the state would have practically the same
organization and powers.

_"Home Rule" Charters._--The feeling that the people concerned should be
given some power in framing the charters under which they are to be
governed has led in comparatively recent times to the adoption of "home
rule" provisions in the constitutions of a number of states--that is,
provisions allowing the people of each city, under certain restrictions,
to frame their own charters. Thus the Missouri constitution, adopted in
1875, allows each city of more than 100,000 inhabitants to prepare its
own charter, which, when approved by the voters, shall go into effect
provided it is not inconsistent with the state law. Other states having
"home rule" charter provisions in their constitutions are California,
Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Colorado, Oklahoma, Michigan, Wisconsin,
Texas, Ohio, Nebraska, Arizona, and Connecticut.

[Illustration: CITY HALL AND MUNICIPAL BUILDING, NEW YORK

The City Hall is in the foreground; the Municipal Building, containing
additional office room for city officials, is the tallest building
shown.]

_Powers of Municipal Corporations._--With the exception of a few cities,
of which Houston, Texas, is an example, the powers that may be
exercised by a city are specifically enumerated with great detail in the
charter, and where that is done no other powers may be exercised by the
city except such as are clearly incidental to, or implied in, those
enumerated. Thus when the city of New York wished to build an elevated
railway, it had to secure express authority from the legislature, which
body insisted that the work should be carried out under the supervision
of a state commission. Likewise when the city of Chicago wanted power to
prescribe the width of wagon tires to be used on its streets, recourse
had to be made to the state legislature for permission, though in
neither case was the matter involved one which concerned directly
anybody except the people of the cities affected.

=Legislative Interference in the Affairs of Cities.=--The power of the
state legislature over the cities has sometimes been employed to
interfere in their local affairs and to force upon the cities measures
or policies to which they were opposed. Thus the legislature of
Pennsylvania passed an act requiring the city of Philadelphia to build
an expensive city hall which cost the taxpayers of the city something
like $20,000,000, though it was not a matter of direct interest to the
people outside of the city. Likewise the legislature of Ohio required
the city of Cleveland to erect a soldiers' monument at a cost of
$300,000 against the wishes of the taxpayers who had to bear the
expense.

Sometimes the legislature employs its power of control over the cities
in the interest of the political party which happens to be in control of
the legislature, and it frequently passes laws relating to the hours of
opening and closing of saloons in the cities when local sentiment may be
opposed to such laws. But as to the moral right of the legislature to
enact such laws as the last mentioned, there is a difference of
opinion. The disposition of the legislature to interfere in the affairs
of the cities by means of special acts--that is, acts applying to a
single city--has come to be a crying evil and has been a cause of
complaint from the people of nearly every large city. The New York
legislature during a period of ten years passed nearly four hundred laws
applying to the city of New York.

=Constitutional Protection Against Special Legislation.=--To protect the
cities against special legislation and at the same time to remove the
opportunity which such a practice offers for bribery and the employment
of other improper means to secure special legislation or to prevent it,
when it is not desired, the constitutions of many states contain
provisions absolutely prohibiting the legislature from enacting laws
applying to particular cities except where general laws are
inapplicable. Where such constitutional provisions have been adopted,
the legislatures have frequently evaded them by a system of
classification by which acts are passed applying to all cities within a
class when in reality there may be but a single city in such a class.
And the courts have generally held such acts to be constitutional where
the classifications are not unreasonable.

The New York constitution recognizes that special legislation applying
to larger cities may sometimes be desirable, and instead of forbidding
such legislation absolutely it classifies the cities of the state into
three classes according to population,--New York City, Buffalo, and
Rochester constituting the first class,--and allows the legislature to
enact laws affecting a single city within a class, subject to the
condition that the proposed law must be submitted to the authorities of
the city affected, for their approval, and if disapproved it is void
unless repassed by the legislature. Likewise by recent amendment to the
constitution of Illinois the legislature of the state is allowed to
pass special laws affecting the city of Chicago alone, but such
legislation cannot take effect until it has been approved by the voters
of the city at a general or special election.

=Functions of Municipal Government.=--The functions and activities of
city government are numerous and varied, much more so, of course, in
large cities than in small ones. First of all, the problem of police
protection, the punishment of crime, and the care of the public safety
in a community where thousands of persons of all nationalities and with
varying standards of respect for law are living in close proximity, is
very difficult and requires a small army of officials which would be
entirely unnecessary in a rural community. Likewise the duty of caring
for the public health, of preventing the spread of disease, of securing
a wholesome water supply, of protecting the people against impure and
adulterated food, and of securing wholesome and sanitary conditions
generally, is very much greater in cities than in sparsely settled rural
districts or in villages and small towns. Then there are the problems of
fire protection, gas and electric light, street railway transportation,
the construction and maintenance of streets, education, building
regulations, the care of the poor and dependent class, disposal of
sewage and waste, the maintenance of hospitals, libraries, museums, and
other institutions, the regulation of traffic on the streets, and many
other activities too numerous to mention.

=The City Council.=--The legislative branch of most city governments is
a council composed of members elected by the voters for a term ranging
from one year in some of the cities of New England to four years in
certain other parts of the country, the most usual term being two years.
The number of members ranges from 9 in Boston to more than 130 in
Philadelphia. The city of New York has a council of 67 members; Chicago,
70; and San Francisco, 18. In the large majority of cities this council,
unlike the state legislatures, is a single-chambered body, though in a
few important cities, notably Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis, and
Louisville, it is composed of two houses.

_Mode of Election._--Generally, the members of the city council are
chosen by districts or wards, usually one member from each, though in
some cities several are elected from each district; in Illinois cities
two members are elected from each ward into which the city is divided.
Where the council is composed of two houses, the members of the upper
house are sometimes chosen from the city at large on a general ticket,
and the members of the lower house by wards. In San Francisco, where the
council is composed of but one house, the eighteen members are elected
from the city at large. The same is true of Boston, whose council under
the new charter is composed of but nine members.

The method of election by wards is open to the objection that it tends
to the election of inferior men and of men who are likely to consider
themselves the special representatives of their wards rather than the
representatives of the people of the city at large. On the other hand,
election from the city at large, or election of several members from
large districts on a general ticket, unless coupled with a system of
minority representation, is likely to give the majority party an undue
advantage. Perhaps the best plan would be to elect a certain number from
the city at large and the rest by wards.

Moreover, in some cities, of which Chicago is a conspicuous example, the
ward system has led to inequality of representation. Thus it has
sometimes happened that certain wards which are largely inhabited by the
worst elements of the population are over-represented as compared with
wards in other parts of the city inhabited largely by the better class
of citizens. Finally, where the ward system prevails, the ward becomes
the seat of a local political organization whose methods are so often
corrupt and dishonorable that they constitute a great hindrance to good
city government.

=Powers of City Councils.=--Unlike the state legislature, which is an
authority of general powers, the city council in America has only such
powers as are conferred upon it by the charter of the city. These powers
are numerous and varied and relate to such matters as the laying out and
care of streets, the protection of the public health, the regulation of
the sale of liquor, the control of places of public amusement, markets,
bathing places, traffic on the streets, the suppression of vice and
immorality, protection against fire, the disposal of waste, the lighting
of the streets, and in general the preservation of the good order and
peace of the community. Its powers are exercised usually through acts
called ordinances, which are framed and enacted after the manner
followed by the legislature in enacting laws for the government of the
state. The power of the council is frequently limited by the state
constitution or laws. Thus very frequently it is forbidden to incur
debts beyond a certain limit, or to levy taxes above a certain amount,
and frequently the purposes for which taxes may be levied and money
appropriated are carefully specified.

=Franchises.=--One of the most important powers of a city council is the
granting of franchises to street railway, gas, electric light, water,
and other public service companies to maintain tracks, wires, pipe
lines, etc., in the streets and other public places. As these franchises
are often of great value to the companies receiving them, a temptation
is thus created for the employment of bribery and other improper means
for securing concessions of this character. In some cities aldermen have
been paid large sums of money for their votes on franchise grants, and
indeed the practice has been so often resorted to that there is a
popular belief that most public utility franchises in the larger cities
are secured in this way. Formerly franchises were frequently granted for
long periods of years or for an indefinite period, and often without
adequate compensation to the city. This abuse became so common that the
people gradually came to adopt constitutional provisions or state laws
limiting the periods for which public service franchises could be
granted, and indeed a few, notably those which have adopted the
commission form of government, have gone to the length of making all
such grants subject to the approval of the voters of the city at an
election held for the purpose.

=The Mayor.=--The chief executive officer of the city is the mayor. With
a few unimportant exceptions he is elected by the qualified voters of
the city and serves for a term varying from one to four years, the most
usual term being two years. In Boston, Chicago, and New York city,
however, the term is four years.

=Powers and Duties.=--It is the duty of the mayor to enforce the
ordinances of the city and also such laws of the state as he may be
charged with executing. Like the sheriff of the county, he is a peace
officer and as such is charged with the maintenance of order and the
suppression of riots, and if a disturbance becomes so great that it
cannot be suppressed by the police he may, like the sheriff, call on the
governor for the militia. In some cities he is the presiding officer of
the city council, though not a member of it. Generally he is required
to submit messages to the council concerning the condition of the city,
and may recommend measures for its consideration. Practically everywhere
he has the power to veto ordinances passed by the city council, and some
mayors have made extensive use of this power. The council, however, may
pass an ordinance over the mayor's veto.

One of the important powers of the mayor is the appointment of
officials, though usually the assent of the council is necessary to the
validity of most appointments. In recent years there has been a
considerable extension of this power in a number of the large cities,
where the mayor has been given the absolute power of appointing the
heads of the administrative departments. Indeed, the tendency now seems
to be in the direction of concentrating larger powers of appointment in
his hands as a means of fixing responsibility more definitely. There is
also a tendency in the direction of giving him a large power of removal,
subject to the provision that the official shall be removed only for
good cause and that he shall be given a hearing and an opportunity to
answer the charges made against him.

Finally, the mayor usually has the power to grant pardons for violations
of the ordinances of the city, and this power is sometimes extensively
used. Thus during the year 1909 the mayor of Chicago released more than
1,100 offenders who had been committed to prison, or about 10 per cent
of the whole number committed. In some cities also he may remit fines
that have been paid for violations of city ordinances.

=Administrative Departments.=--_Single Commissioner System vs. the Board
System._--In every large city there are, in addition to the mayor, a
number of departments each charged with the conduct of some particular
branch of the city's affairs. They are organized on one of two
principles: each is under the control either of a board or of a single
commissioner. Each method of organization has its advantages and
disadvantages, but experience has shown that the single-headed
department is the one best calculated to secure efficiency and
responsibility, and it is the one most generally employed. The board
system is well adapted to secure deliberation, but not promptness and
unity of action nor responsibility, because one member may easily shift
the responsibility for an error or blunder upon his colleagues. But for
certain branches of administration such as the civil service, park
administration, school administration, assessments, and possibly others,
the board system has important advantages.

_Number of Departments._--The number of these administrative departments
varies widely among the different cities of the country. In general we
find the following departments: a finance department, a law department,
a health department, a fire department, a police department, a
department of charities, and a department of public works. In some
cities, however, the number of departments is much larger than this.
Thus in some we find a street cleaning department, a department of
buildings, a sewer department, a department of parks, a department of
docks, and so on.

_Choice of Heads of Departments._--The heads of these departments are in
most cases appointed by the mayor, to whom they are responsible, though
nearly everywhere the approval of the council is necessary to his
appointments. In recent years there has been more or less criticism of
the practice of choosing administrative officials by popular election.
In every large city there is a great mass of unintelligent voters who
are easily controlled by corrupt and scheming politicians. Moreover, it
is impossible for the voters in a large city, however intelligent they
may be, to become acquainted with the merits of all the numerous
candidates when there are a considerable number of offices to be filled.
It is believed by many municipal reformers, therefore, that better
results could be obtained by allowing the mayor to choose all the heads
of important departments, except possibly the chief finance officer, who
might properly be chosen by the people. For the selection of the large
number of subordinate officials, the best method yet devised is that
known as the civil service system, which has been introduced in most of
the larger cities. Under this system appointments are made on the basis
of merit and fitness, which qualities are ascertained by an examination
by a board of civil service commissioners.

=City Finances.=--One of the most remarkable features of American
municipal development has been the extraordinary growth of municipal
expenditures. The functions and activities of modern city government are
indeed so numerous and varied as to require a larger number of officials
and a greater expenditure of money than is required for the conduct of
any other of the various governments under which we live. By far the
larger part of the taxes contributed by those who live in the cities go
to meet the expenses of municipal government. In 1920 the budget of New
York city was over $270,000,000, while that of Chicago was about
$130,000,000, in each case the amount being about five times as great as
the appropriations for the support of the government of the state in
which the city is situated. The annual cost of operating our largest
city exceeds what was required to maintain the national government in
its early days, and is greater than the national budget of a number of
European countries to-day. New York city in 1910 had a debt almost as
large as the national debt, her annual interest account alone being in
the neighborhood of $30,000,000. The proper raising and expenditure of
such vast sums of money is one of the most difficult tasks of a city
government. For this purpose there are assessors, collectors,
treasurers, comptrollers or auditors, and various other officials. The
levying of the taxes is everywhere a power of the city council, though
in many states the amount of taxes which may be levied by it is
limited--usually to a certain percentage of the value of the taxable
property within the city, and in some states the limit is fixed so low
that the cities are handicapped in raising sufficient revenue to meet
their expenses. The purpose of such restrictions is to prevent
extravagance and wastefulness, and the history of many of our cities
proves that they have, in general, served a good purpose.

_Sources of Municipal Taxation._--The principal source of income for
city, as for state and county, purposes is the general property tax,
though cities are usually allowed to levy a great variety of other
taxes, such as taxes on certain trades and businesses. Street peddlers
are in many cases required to pay license fees. Before the liquor
traffic was prohibited, many cities derived a large portion of their
income from license taxes on saloons. Some cities receive a considerable
income from franchises granted to public corporations. Thus Chicago
receives a large percentage of the earnings of some of the street
railways, the amount aggregating more than $1,500,000 a year. In many
cities the expense of public improvements, particularly street paving
and the laying of sidewalks, is met by what are called "special
assessments," that is, assessments laid upon the owners of the property
benefited, in proportion to the benefits received from the improvement.

_Municipal Expenditures._--Appropriations are in most cities made by the
city council subject to certain rules and restrictions prescribed by
state law. In New York city, however, the budget is prepared by a board
of estimate and apportionment composed of a few high city officers, and
in a few other cities the preparation of the budget is intrusted to
other authorities than the city council. To secure accuracy and honesty
in the expenditure of city funds, provision is commonly made for
auditing the accounts of financial officials, and in a few states like
Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa, provision is made by law for state inspection
and audit of municipal accounts by state examiners. This plan has proved
very effective. In one state, these inspectors found that municipal
officials had misappropriated more than $500,000, over half of which was
recovered and turned into the proper treasuries. In a number of cities
where the commission form of government has been adopted provision is
made for monthly financial statements which must be published in the
local newspapers, and for annual examinations of city accounts by expert
accountants.

_City Debts._--For the construction of permanent improvements, the
erection of public buildings, and the establishment of commercial
enterprises such as waterworks and gas works, cities must borrow money;
and so one of the powers always given them is that of incurring debts.
This power, however, was greatly abused in the early history of our
municipal development--so much so that many cities found themselves on
the verge of bankruptcy. In order to check this evil, many states have
placed a limit upon the municipal borrowing power, and some have
provided that whenever a debt is incurred, provision shall be made at
the same time for payment of the interest and the principal within a
certain period of years. The debt limit is usually a certain percentage
of the assessed valuation of the taxable property within the city. It
ranges from 2 per cent in Boston, to 10 per cent in New York. In some
cases the limit is so low that cities have been handicapped in
constructing needed permanent improvements. Thus in Chicago, where
property has been assessed at only one fifth of its real value, the
result of the debt limitation has been to render extensive improvements
very difficult, and to compel the city to meet the expense of many
absolutely necessary undertakings out of its current revenues when the
cost should have been distributed over a period of years. Chicago, as a
consequence, has the smallest debt of any of the large cities of the
country.

=Police Protection.=--Where large numbers of people are living together
in close proximity the problem of maintaining order and preventing some
from violating the rights of others is very much greater than in
sparsely settled rural communities. One of the principal tasks of the
authorities in a city, therefore, is to provide police protection for
the inhabitants. This is done through the agency of a body of men
organized and uniformed somewhat after the manner of an army. The size
of this force varies ordinarily in proportion to the population of the
city. In New York city, for example, the entire police force numbers
more than 10,000 men--a body as large as the army of the United States
was in the early days of our history. In Chicago there are altogether
some 8,000 men in the police service of the city.

_Organization._--The management of the police force is usually under the
direction of an official called a commissioner, superintendent, or
chief, though in some cities it is controlled instead by a board. In a
few cities this board is appointed by some state official, usually the
governor, for it is believed by many persons that since the police are
charged with enforcing state laws as well as municipal ordinances, they
should be under state rather than local control. Where they are entirely
under local control, it is sometimes difficult to secure the enforcement
of such state laws as those requiring saloons to be closed at certain
hours during the night and on Sundays, especially when local sentiment
is opposed to such restrictions. Below the head of the police force are
usually deputy chiefs, inspectors, captains, sergeants, roundsmen, and
finally the patrolmen. The city is usually divided into precincts, in
each of which there is a police station under the charge of a sergeant
or some other official. A number of precincts are grouped together in
districts with an inspector in charge of each, and so on. In the large
cities there are also usually special detachments of the police force
organized for special services. Such are the mounted police, the bicycle
squad, the river and harbor police, the sanitary police, and the
detective force.

_Police Corruption._--The control of the police branch of the city
service is very difficult because of the opportunities for corruption
which are open to the members of the force. It has not infrequently
happened that the police in the large cities have systematically sold
the right to violate the law. Gambling houses, saloons, and other places
of vice sometimes regularly pay members of the police force for the
privilege of violating the law, and the heads of the force have
frequently found it impossible to prevent the practice. A recent police
commissioner in New York, for example, said that there was an organized
system among the police of his city for selling the right to violate the
law; that many of the captains and inspectors had grown rich out of the
proceeds, and that the system was so thoroughly intrenched that he was
powerless to break it up.

=Health Protection.=--In densely populated districts the danger from the
spread of disease is much greater than in rural communities where the
conditions which breed disease are less prevalent, and where the spread
of epidemics may be more easily prevented. In the smaller cities the
chief health authority is a board, but in the large cities there is
usually a department of health at the head of which is a single
commissioner. Other officials are inspectors of various kinds, analysts,
collectors of statistics, superintendents of hospitals, etc.

_Work of the Health Department._--Among the principal duties of the
health authorities are the inspection and abatement of unsanitary places
and the suppression of nuisances; the inspection of public buildings and
sometimes of private dwellings with special reference to drainage; the
removal of garbage and other refuse (in some cities); the inspection of
the city water supply; the inspection of food, particularly milk; the
control of certain establishments of an offensive character, such as
slaughterhouses, soap factories, and fertilizer factories; the
vaccination of school children and often of other persons, as a
precaution against smallpox; the isolation and quarantine of persons
suffering from contagious diseases; the maintenance of pesthouses and
hospitals; and the collection of vital statistics.

One great source of disease in cities is impurity of the food supply,
especially of milk, and much of the activity of the health department is
directed toward the inspection of milk and other food. Crowded,
ill-ventilated, and poorly constructed dwellings are another source of
disease, and many cities have undertaken to prevent this evil as far as
possible through tenement house laws and building regulations requiring
dwellings to be constructed according to plans prescribed by law. The
enforcement of these laws often devolves upon the health department,
which carries out a rigid system of inspection.

In recent years much more attention than formerly has been given to the
problems of health administration, and great improvement has been made.
So efficient is the health administration of some of our large cities
that the death rate in proportion to the population is actually lower
than it is in many small country towns where little or no attention is
paid to this important branch of administration.

=Fire Protection.=--The danger from fire, like that from disease, is
obviously greater in crowded cities than in country districts.
Therefore, every large city and most small ones maintain an organized
fire department. In the days of small cities reliance upon voluntary
unpaid fire companies was the rule, and this is true even to-day in many
of the smaller towns and cities. In the larger cities, however, there
are organized professional companies, the members of which give all
their time to the service and are paid regular salaries. New York city
has more than 5,000 men in its fire department, some 900 pieces of
apparatus including more than a dozen fire boats, and hundreds of
thousands of feet of hose. At the head of the department there is
usually an official called a fire chief or fire marshal, appointed by
the mayor. The rank and file of the department are under civil service
rules, the employment is of a permanent character, and many cities have
provided a system of pensions for members who have grown old or are
disabled from injuries.

Great improvement has been made in the methods of fighting fires and in
the character of the apparatus employed, so that the danger from loss by
fire has greatly diminished. Furthermore, the more general use of brick
and stone for building purposes in the larger cities has made the danger
from fire much less than in the old days when most houses were built of
wood. Many cities have what are called "fire limits," that is, districts
in which it is forbidden to erect wooden buildings.

=Municipal Public Utilities.=--People crowded together in cities depend
largely upon public service companies for their water supply, for
electric light and gas, for telephone service, and for the means of
transportation. The furnishing of each of these services, from the very
nature of the case, tends to become a natural monopoly. Moreover, such
companies must use the city streets in serving their patrons. It
follows, therefore, that they must be subject to public control,
otherwise the public might be charged exorbitant prices and the use of
the streets by the citizens unnecessarily interfered with. Before
engaging in a service of this kind, therefore, the street railway
company must secure permission from the city to lay tracks on the
streets and to operate cars thereon. Likewise a telephone or electric
light company must have permission to erect its poles on the streets or
alleys, and a gas or water company must have authority to tear up
pavements and put its pipes and mains under the streets.

[Illustration: MUNICIPAL LIGHTING, DENVER, COLORADO]

[Illustration: PART OF THE LOS ANGELES AQUEDUCT, CALIFORNIA

This Aqueduct is 11 feet in diameter and carries water from Owens River
246 miles to Los Angeles.]

_Franchises._--The permit thus granted is called a "franchise," and is
in the nature of a contract between the city and the company. Public
service franchises are often of great value to the companies which
receive them, for the business of these companies in a large city is apt
to be very profitable. Sometimes the dividends which they pay their
stockholders are very large, and not infrequently, to deceive the public
as to the real amount, the profits are concealed by "watering" the
stock, that is, by increasing it beyond the amount of the capital
actually invested. Experience has shown that in granting franchises
certain restrictions or conditions should be placed on the companies to
whom they are granted.

First of all, the duration of the franchise should be limited. Formerly,
it was not uncommon to grant franchises for fifty or one hundred years,
and indeed sometimes for an indefinite period. The objection to this
practice is that with the growth of the city, the increased value of the
franchise resulting from such growth goes entirely to the company, while
the city is deprived of the opportunity of making a better bargain with
the company. A franchise ought, however, to be for a period sufficiently
long to enable the company to derive a reasonable return on its
investment. Obviously, no company could afford to establish an electric
light plant or gas plant if its franchise were limited to a period as
short as five years. The better opinion now is that twenty or
twenty-five years is a reasonable period, and the constitution or
statutes of a number of states forbid the granting of franchises for a
longer period.

Frequently the franchise contains provisions in regard to the rates to
be charged and the quality of service to be performed. In many states
there are state commissions which have power to supervise the operations
of all public service corporations and in some cases even to fix the
rates which they shall be allowed to charge. As long as such rates are
reasonable, that is, high enough to allow the corporation a reasonable
return on its investment, the courts will not interfere.

It is now the practice to require public service companies to pay a
reasonable compensation for the franchises which they receive. This is
usually a certain percentage of the gross receipts, or sometimes, in the
case of street railway companies, a certain sum for each car operated.
When the compensation is a certain percentage of the receipts, provision
ought to be made for examination of the books of the company in order to
prevent the public from being defrauded of its share of the earnings.

=Municipal Ownership.=--Sometimes, instead of relying upon private
corporations to supply the people with water, gas, and electric light,
the city itself undertakes to do this. Very many cities own their
waterworks,[8] while some own their electric light plants, and a few own
their gas plants. In Europe, municipal ownership and operation of such
public utilities is very common, and even the telephone and street
railway services are often supplied by the city.

[8] The Census Bureau reported in 1916 that 155 of the 204 cities
having populations in excess of 30,000 owned their water supply
systems.

The advantages claimed for municipal ownership are that better service
will be furnished when the business is conducted by the city, because in
that case it will be operated solely with the interest of the public in
view; and, secondly, the cost of the service to the community will be
less because the earning of large dividends will not be the main end in
view. The principal objection urged against municipal ownership in the
United States is that "spoils" politics still play such an important
part in our city government that the management of such enterprises is
likely to fall into the hands of incompetent politicians and party
workers. Experience with municipal ownership has been satisfactory in a
great many cases where it has been tried, although the principle upon
which it rests is contrary to the notions of many people in regard to
the proper functions of government.

=Municipal Courts.=--In every city there are certain inferior courts
called by various names, police courts, magistrates' courts, or
municipal courts, which have jurisdiction over offenses against the
ordinances of the city. These courts constitute a very important part of
our governmental machinery, and they have rarely received the
consideration which their importance requires. They are practically
courts of last resort for a large number of persons charged with minor
offenses, and from them many ignorant persons in the large cities gain
their impression of American institutions. In the city of New York, for
example, more than 100,000 persons are brought before these courts every
year.

The magistrates who hold municipal courts are often men of little or no
legal training, and the experience of some cities has been that many of
them are without integrity. Recently there has been much discussion of
how to improve the character and usefulness of these courts, and in
several cities notable reforms have already been introduced. The Chicago
municipal court recently established is an excellent example of what can
be accomplished in this direction. It consists of thirty-one judges, and
the salary paid them is sufficiently large to attract well-trained
lawyers of respectability. The procedure of the court is simple and it
is so organized as to dispatch rapidly the cases brought before it, so
that justice is administered more swiftly, perhaps, in this city than in
any other in America.

=The Commission Plan of Government.=--The increasing dissatisfaction
with the government of our cities by mayor and councils has recently led
a number of cities to abandon the system for a new method known as the
commission plan. The principal feature of this method is that all the
powers of government heretofore exercised by the mayor and council are
intrusted to a small commission usually chosen from the city at large.
The plan was first put into operation in the city of Galveston after the
great storm of 1900 which destroyed the lives of some 6,000 of its
citizens and left the city in a condition of bankruptcy.

Under the new charter which was adopted, practically all the powers of
government were vested in a mayor and four commissioners, each of these
men being put in charge of one of the five departments into which the
administrative service was divided.

_Merits._--Several advantages are claimed for this plan of municipal
government. In the first place, it does away with the evils of the ward
system by providing that the commissioners shall be chosen from the city
at large, and this tends to secure the election of men of larger
ability. Again, it is argued that a small body of men is better fitted
to govern a city than a large council composed of members who consider
themselves the special representatives of the petty districts from which
they are chosen. The affairs of a city are necessarily complex and often
technical in nature and require for their special management skill and
efficiency. City government is often compared to the management of a
business enterprise like a bank or a manufacturing concern, which, as
experience has shown, can be better conducted by a small board of
directors than by the whole body of stockholders. Finally, the
concentration of the powers of the city in a small body of men tends to
secure a more effective responsibility than can be secured under a
system in which the responsibility is divided between the mayor and
council.

_Objections._--The chief objections that have been urged against the
commission plan are that, by intrusting both the legislative and the
executive power to the same hands, it sacrifices the principle of the
separation of powers--a principle long cherished in America. In the
second place, by doing away with the council, it sacrifices to a
certain extent the representative principle and places all the vast
powers of the city in the hands of a few men.

Nevertheless, the system has much to commend it, and it has been adopted
in about four hundred towns and cities.

=The City Manager Plan.=--A still more recent form of municipal
government vests the management of the affairs of the city in a single
person, called the city manager. He is paid a reasonably high salary and
is chosen by the commission because of his expert knowledge. This plan
has been introduced in Dayton, Springfield, and Sandusky, Ohio; Newburgh
and Niagara Falls, New York; Sumter, South Carolina; Jackson, Grand
Rapids, and Kalamazoo, Michigan; San Diego and Alameda, California; and
some seventy other cities and towns.

=Village Government.=--Differing from cities chiefly in size and in the
extent of governmental powers, are small municipal corporations
variously called villages, boroughs, and incorporated towns. The
procedure of incorporation is usually by petition from a certain number
of the inhabitants, and a popular vote on the question. The law
generally prescribes a minimum population, which is usually
small--sometimes as low as one hundred inhabitants.

_Village Officers._--The principal authority is usually a small board of
trustees or a council, consisting of from three to seven members elected
from the village at large, though in some instances the number is
larger, and some villages have the ward system. The village board is
empowered to adopt ordinances relating to police, health, and other
matters affecting the good order and welfare of the community. They may
levy taxes, borrow money, open and construct streets, construct drains,
establish water and lighting plants and the like, and may license
peddlers, hack drivers, and other persons who use the streets for the
conduct of their business. The chief officer of the village is the
mayor, president, or chairman of the trustees, elected either by the
voters or by the trustees. There is also usually a clerk or recorder, a
treasurer, a marshal or constable, and sometimes a street commissioner,
a justice of the peace, and an attorney.

When the population reaches a certain number, which varies in the
different states (pp. 25-26), the village organization is put aside, the
community organizes itself into a city, takes on a more elaborate
organization, receives larger powers, and undertakes a wider range of
activities.

=References.=--BEARD, American Government and Politics, chs.
xxvii-xxviii. BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), chs.
xlix-li. GOODNOW, City Government in the United States, chs. vi-xiii.
HART, Actual Government, ch. ix. HOWE, The City the Hope of Democracy,
chs. i-iv. STRONG, The Challenge of the City, chs. ii-iii. WILCOX, The
American City, chs. ii, iii, iv, v, vi, ix, x, xii, xiii.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. A copy of the city charter
or municipal code of the state. 2. A copy of the revised ordinances of
the city. 3. The volume of the last census report dealing with the
population of cities. 4. The latest census bulletin on statistics of
cities. 5. A map of the city showing its division into wards, police
and fire districts, sewer districts, etc., and the location of the
city building, police stations, fire stations, the source of the water
supply, parks, slum districts, etc. 6. A copy of the last city budget
and tax ordinance. 7. A copy of a paving or other public improvement
ordinance.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the population of the largest city in your state? its area?
How many cities in your state have a population of 8,000 or over? What
percentage of the total population is found in the cities? How much
faster has the city population grown during the past decade than the
rural population? What percentage of the population of your city is
foreign-born?

2. Why do cities require a different form of government from that which
is provided for rural communities?

3. What are the provisions in the constitution of your state, if any, in
regard to the government of cities?

4. How many representatives does the largest city of your state have in
the legislature? What proportion of the total membership is it? Are
there any constitutional restrictions upon the number of members of the
legislature which may be elected from any one city?

5. Are there any restrictions upon the power of the legislature of your
state to enact special legislation applying to a single city? If so,
what are they?

6. If you live in a city, when did it receive its present charter? What
are the provisions in the charter relating to the organization and
powers of the city?

7. Do you think the people of a city should be allowed to frame their
own charter and govern themselves without interference on the part of
the state legislature?

8. How many members are there in the city council of your city? Are they
chosen by wards or from the city at large? What is their term and
salary? In what ward do you live, and what is the name of the alderman
or aldermen from that ward?

9. For what term is the mayor of your city or town elected? To what
political party does he belong? Does he preside over the meetings of the
city council? What officers, if any, does he appoint?

10. Name the administrative departments in your city. Are they organized
according to the board system, or is each under the control of a single
official?

11. Does your city have a civil service law under which appointments to
the municipal service are made on the basis of merit? If so, what are
its principal provisions?

12. Does the city own and operate its waterworks plant, or is the water
supply furnished by a private company? Does the city own and operate any
of its other public utilities, such as the electric light or gas plant?
If not, what are the terms of the franchises under which they are
operated by private companies? Do these companies pay the city anything
for the privilege of using the streets?

13. What are the duties of the public utilities commissions in New York
and Wisconsin? Do you think the policy of regulation preferable to
municipal ownership and operation?

14. How is the cost of street and sidewalk paving met in your city,--by
special assessment on the property benefited, or by appropriation out of
the city treasury?

15. What is the method of garbage disposal in your city?

16. Describe the organization and activities of the health authority in
your city. What does it do to secure a supply of clean and pure milk?

17. Are there any improvement leagues or civic organizations working for
the uplift and good government of your city? What are their methods, and
what are some of the specific services they have rendered?

18. What are the principal sources of revenue in your village or city?
What is the rate of taxation on the taxable property?

CHAPTER III

THE STATE GOVERNMENTS

=Place of the States in Our Federal System.=--Proceeding upward from the
county, township, and city, we come to the state, the authority to which
the local governments described in the preceding chapters are all
subject. The consideration of state government properly precedes the
study of national government, not only because the states existed before
the national government did, and in a sense furnished the models upon
which it was constructed, but because their governments regulate the
larger proportion of our public affairs and hence concern more vitally
the interests of the mass of people than does the national government.

The states collectively make up our great republic, but they are not
mere administrative districts of the union created for convenience in
carrying on the affairs of national government. They do not, for
example, bear the same relation to the union that a county does to the
state, or a township to the county. A county is nothing more than a
district carved out of the state for administrative convenience, and
provided with such an organization and given such powers of local
government as the state may choose to give it. The states, on the other
hand, are not creations of the national government; their place as
constituent members of the union is determined by the Federal
Constitution, framed by the people of the United States, and their
rights and obligations are fixed by the same authority. Each state,
however, determines its own form of government and decides for itself
what activities it will undertake.

=Division of Powers.=--The Federal Constitution has marked out a
definite sphere of power for the states, on the one hand, and another
sphere for the national government on the other, and each within its
sphere is supreme. Upon the domain thus created for each the other may
not encroach. Each is kept strictly within its own constitutional sphere
by the federal Supreme Court, and the balance between the union and its
members is harmoniously preserved.

The states were already in existence with organized governments in
operation when the national government was created. The founders of the
national government conferred upon it only such powers as experience and
reason demonstrated could be more effectively regulated by a common
government than by a number of separate governments; they left the
states largely as they were, and limited their powers only so far as was
necessary to establish a more effective union than the one then
existing. Experience had taught them, for example, that commerce with
foreign countries and among the states themselves should be regulated by
a single authority acting for the entire country: only in this way could
uniformity be secured, and uniformity in such matters was indispensable
to the peace and perpetuity of the union. Accordingly, the national
government was vested with power over this and other matters which
clearly required uniformity of regulation, and the remaining powers of
government were left with the states, where they had always been. Thus
it came about that the national government was made an authority of
enumerated or delegated powers, while the states have reserved powers.

_Prohibitions._--It was thought wise, however, to prohibit both the
national government and those of the states from doing certain things,
and thus we find provisions in the Federal Constitution forbidding both
governments from granting titles of nobility, from passing ex post facto
laws, bills of attainder, etc. Likewise the states were prohibited from
entering into treaties with foreign countries, from coining money, from
impairing the obligation of contracts, and from passing laws on certain
other subjects which it was clearly unwise to leave to state regulation.

=Powers of the States.=--The powers left to the states, unlike those
conferred upon the national government, cannot be enumerated. They are
so varied in character, and so extensive, that an attempt to enumerate
them would involve cataloguing all the multitudinous business and social
relationships of life. The powers of the national government seem much
greater by comparison than those of the states, partly because they are
set forth in the Constitution and partly because of their application
throughout the entire country, but in reality they are not only far less
numerous but affect less vitally the great mass of the people. The
powers of the states include such matters as the regulation of the
ownership, use, and disposition of property; the conduct of business and
industry; the making and enforcing of contracts; the conduct of
religious worship; education; marriage, divorce, and the domestic
relations generally; suffrage and elections; and the making and
enforcement of the criminal law. In the division of governmental powers
between the nation and the state, says Bryce, the state gets the most
and the nation the highest, and so the balance between the two is
preserved.

"An American," says Mr. Bryce, "may, through a long life, never be
reminded of the federal government except when he votes at
presidential and congressional elections, buys a package of tobacco
bearing the government stamp, lodges a complaint against the post
office, and opens his trunks for a customhouse officer on the pier
at New York when he returns from a tour in Europe. His direct taxes
are paid to officials acting under state laws. The state or local
authority constituted by state statutes registers his birth,
appoints his guardian, pays for his schooling, gives him a share in
the estate of his father deceased, licenses him when he enters a
trade (if it be one needing a license), marries him, divorces him,
entertains civil actions against him, declares him a bankrupt,
hangs him for murder; the police that guard his house, the local
boards which look after the poor, control highways, impose water
rates, manage schools--all these derive their legal powers from his
state alone."

=Rights and Privileges of the States as Members of the Union.=--The
states have certain rights and privileges which are guaranteed them by
the Federal Constitution, and of which they cannot be deprived by the
national government without their consent.

_Republican Government._--Thus it is made the duty of the United States
to guarantee to every state in the union a republican form of
government, that is, a government by the chosen representatives of the
people of the state. In a few cases rival governments have been set up
in a state, each claiming to be the legitimate government and entitled
to the obedience of the people; the one recognized by the federal
authorities has always prevailed.

_Protection Against Invasion._--It is also made the duty of the national
government to protect the states against invasion. This is right and
proper, since the states are forbidden by the Constitution to keep ships
of war or troops in times of peace.

_Protection Against Domestic Violence._--Again, it is made the duty of
the national government to protect the people of the states against
domestic violence arising from insurrection or riots, _provided_ that
application has been made by the proper state authorities. The purpose
of this proviso is to remove the temptation to federal interference in
state affairs for political or other reasons against the wishes of the
people of the state. The ordinary procedure for the suppression of a
local disturbance is for the sheriff of the county, or the mayor of the
city, to make use of the local police, and if necessary he may call upon
the citizens to come to his aid. If this is not effective, the governor
may be called upon to order out the state militia for the suppression of
the riot. If, however, the riot should spread and assume such
proportions that the power of the state and local authorities is
insufficient, it becomes the right and duty of the governor, or the
legislature if it be in session, to call on the President of the United
States for the assistance of national troops. If in the President's
judgment the situation is one which warrants federal intervention, he
sends a detachment of troops from a near-by military post to restore
order. Many times in our history federal troops have been used to put
down riots where the state authorities had shown themselves incapable of
maintaining order; two recent examples being in connection with strikes
among the miners of Nevada in 1907, and of Colorado in 1914.

Ordinarily the President has no lawful right to interpose in the affairs
of the state by the employment of troops until he has received an
application from the governor or the legislature, but if the disturbance
is one which interferes with the operations of the national government
or with the movement of interstate commerce, the President may intervene
whenever in his opinion the situation calls for federal action. Thus
during the Chicago strike riots of 1894, President Cleveland ordered a
detachment of federal troops to that city against the protests of the
governor, upon being assured that the strikers were interfering with the
movement of the mails and with the conduct of interstate commerce and
were also disregarding the writs and processes of the United States
courts. The interference of the President was criticized by some
persons, but the great body of citizens approved his course, and the
United States Supreme Court upheld the validity of his action.

_Other Rights of the States._--Among the other rights of the states
under the Federal Constitution may be mentioned the right of equal
representation in the senate, a right of which no state can be deprived
without its consent, and the right of territorial integrity: no new
state may be created within the jurisdiction of another state, nor may
any state be formed by the junction of two or more states or parts of
states, without the consent of the states concerned.

=Obligations and Duties of the States.=--Rights and privileges usually
imply obligations, and so we find that the states owe certain duties to
one another and to the union of which they are a part, and the harmony
and success of the federal system are dependent in a large measure upon
the performance of these duties in good faith.

_Full Faith and Credit._--First of all, each state must give full faith
and credit to the acts, judicial proceedings, and records of the other
states. This means, for example, that a properly authenticated copy of a
will or deed duly executed in one state will be taken notice of and
rights depending on it will be enforced in other states as though the
instrument were made therein. Likewise, a marriage legally celebrated in
one state will usually be treated as valid in another state, and the
facts of a case at law will be recognized in other states without the
necessity of retrial. The provision as to full faith and credit does
_not_ mean that one state must enforce within its borders the laws of
other states, or that its courts in reaching their decisions are bound
by the decisions of the courts of its sister states. As a matter of
practice, however, courts in one state in deciding difficult questions
of law will examine the decisions of the courts of other states on
similar points for their own enlightenment, and will show respect for
these decisions, the degree of deference depending on the standing of
the judges rendering the decision and upon the similarity of the laws
and policies of the states concerned.

_Surrender of Fugitives from Justice._--In the next place, it is made
the constitutional duty of the executive of each state to surrender
criminals escaping from other states, in order that they may be returned
for trial and punishment in the state from which they have fled. The
demand for the surrender of such fugitives is made by the governor of
the state from which the criminal has fled, and the governor upon whom
the demand is made ought to comply with it unless for very substantial
reasons. There is no way, however, by which this obligation may be
enforced, and there have been many cases where governors have refused to
deliver up criminals escaping from other states--usually for the reason
that, in the governor's opinion, the fugitive would not receive a fair
trial in the state from which he had fled.

_Treatment of Citizens of Other States._--Still another obligation
imposed by the Federal Constitution on the states is that of treating
the citizens of other states as they treat their own citizens, i. e.,
without discrimination. But this obligation has reference rather to
civil rights than to political privileges. It does not mean that an
illiterate man who is allowed to vote in Illinois may go to
Massachusetts and vote where an educational qualification for the
suffrage is required; nor does it mean that a woman who is allowed to
practice law in one state may therefore practice in another state which
excludes women from engaging in that profession. What the provision does
mean, is that whatever privileges and immunities a state allows to its
own citizens, it must allow the citizens of other states on the same
terms, and subject to the same conditions and no more. Thus a state
cannot subject the citizens of other states to higher taxes than are
imposed upon its own citizens.

_Other Obligations._--Finally, it goes without saying that it is the
duty of each state to treat its sister states in the spirit of comity
and courtesy; to carry out the mandates of the Federal Constitution
relating to the election of senators, representatives, and presidential
electors so as to keep up the existence of the national government; and,
in general, to perform in good faith all their other obligations as
members of the union, without the performance of which the republic
would be a mere makeshift. The existence of the states is essential to
the union, and their preservation is as much within the care of the
Constitution as is the union itself. Indeed, the Constitution in all its
parts, said the Supreme Court of the United States in a famous case,
looks to an indestructible union of indestructible states.

=The State Constitution; how Framed.=--The governmental organization of
each of the states is set forth in a written instrument called a
constitution. Unlike the constitutions of some of the European states,
which were granted by kings, and unlike, also, those of the British
self-governing colonies, which were enacted by Parliament, all the
American constitutions now in existence were framed by constituent
bodies representing the people, and in most cases they were approved by
the people before they went into effect. As Mr. Bryce has remarked, the
American state constitutions are the oldest things in the political
history of America. Before the Federal Constitution was framed each of
the thirteen original states had a constitution of its own, most of them
being framed by popular conventions chosen especially for the purpose.

Later, when a territory asked to be admitted to the union as a new
state, Congress, through what is called an "enabling act," empowered the
people of the territory to choose a convention to frame a constitution
which, when submitted to the voters and approved by them, became the
fundamental law of the new state. In a number of cases, however, the
people of the territory went ahead on their own initiative, and without
the authority of an enabling act framed their constitution and asked to
be admitted, and sometimes they were admitted as though they had acted
under the authority of Congress. Whenever an existing state wishes to
frame a new constitution for itself, the usual mode of procedure is for
the legislature either to pass a resolution calling a convention, or to
submit to the voters the question of the desirability of a new
constitution. A resolution calling a convention usually requires an
extraordinary majority of both houses of the legislature, two thirds of
the members being the most common rule.

=Ratification of New Constitutions.=--When the draft of the constitution
has been completed by the convention, it is usually submitted to the
voters of the state at a general or a special election, and if it is
approved by a majority of those voting on the constitution, or (in some
states) of those voting at the election, it supersedes the old
constitution and goes into effect on a day prescribed. In some
instances, however, new constitutions were not submitted to popular
vote; instead, the convention assumed the right to put them into effect
without popular approval. Of the twenty-five state constitutions adopted
before the year 1801, only three were submitted to the voters for their
approval, but as time passed the practice of giving the people an
opportunity to approve or reject proposed constitutions became the rule.
In the twenty years between 1890 and 1910 eight new constitutions were
submitted to the people, and only five were put into force without
popular ratification, namely, those of Mississippi (1890), South
Carolina (1895), Delaware (1897), Louisiana (1898), and Virginia (1902).

=Frequency of New Constitutions.=--The frequency with which the states
revise their constitutions varies in different sections of the country.
In New England new constitutions are rare, while in the states of the
West and the South new constitutions are framed, on an average, at least
once in every generation and sometimes oftener. Since the Revolution
more than two hundred constitutions have been made by the states, though
some of them never went into operation. Several of the states within a
period of less than one hundred years have had as many as six, and a few
have had even more. The constitution of Massachusetts of 1780, with
several subsequent amendments, is still in force; but outside of New
England there are few constitutions that are more than thirty years old.
Some of the states, indeed, have inserted provisions in their
constitutions making it the duty of the legislature at stated intervals
to submit to the voters the question of calling a convention to revise
the existing constitution or to adopt an entirely new one. In this way
the people are given an opportunity to determine whether the
constitution under which they live shall be revised or superseded by a
new one, independently of the will of the legislature.

=Contents of State Constitutions.=--The early state constitutions were
brief documents and dealt only with important matters of a fundamental
and permanent character. They were remarkably free from detail and
rarely contained more than 5,000 words. As time passed, however, there
was an increasing tendency to incorporate in them provisions in regard
to many matters that had formerly been left to the legislature to be
regulated by statute, so that some of the constitutions of the present
day are bulky codes containing detailed provisions concerning many
matters that might more properly be dealt with by statute. The
constitution of Virginia, for example, has expanded from a document of a
few pages to one of seventy-five, from an instrument of about 1,500
words to one of more than 30,000. The present constitution of Alabama
contains about 33,000 words; that of Louisiana, about 45,000; and that
of Oklahoma, about 50,000. The Virginia constitution contains a lengthy
article on the organization of counties; one on the government of
cities, constituting a code almost as elaborate as a municipal
corporations act; one on agriculture and immigration; one on
corporations, containing fourteen sections; one on taxation and finance,
etc. The constitution of Oklahoma contains an article of seven sections
on federal relations, one of which deals with the liquor traffic;
elaborate provisions regarding the referendum and initiative; a section
describing the seal of the state; a detailed enumeration of those who
are permitted to accept railroad passes; an article on insurance; one on
manufactures and commerce; and one on alien and corporate ownership of
lands.

_Parts of a Constitution._--A typical constitution consists of several
parts: (1) a preamble; (2) a bill of rights; (3) a series of provisions
relating to the organization of the government and the powers and duties
of the several departments; (4) a number of miscellaneous articles
dealing with such matters as finance, revenue and debts, suffrage and
elections, public education, local government, railroads, banks, and
other corporations generally; (5) an article describing the procedure by
which amendments may be proposed and ratified; and (6) a schedule. Many
constitutions contain an article defining the boundaries of the state,
and most of them one on the distribution of the powers of government.
Some of the newer constitutions also prescribe numerous limitations upon
the legislature, so great is the popular mistrust of legislatures
to-day; while others lay down various rules as to the procedure of the
legislature. The schedule contains provisions for submitting the
constitution to the voters and making necessary arrangements for putting
the new constitution into effect.

=The Bill of Rights=, says Bryce, is historically the most interesting
part of the state constitution, and if we may judge by the space devoted
to these provisions and the attention paid to their framing, they
constitute a very important part of the constitution. In a sense they
are the lineal descendants of great English enactments like Magna
Charta, the Bill of Rights, and the Act of Settlement, and of the
various declarations of the Revolutionary Congresses in America. They
consist of limitations upon the government and of statements of the
fundamental rights of man.

_Some Provisions of the Bills of Rights._--Examining these bills of
rights, we find that they all contain declarations in favor of freedom
of religious worship, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and of the
press, and most of them forbid the establishment of a state church or
the appropriation of money for the establishment or support of any
religious denomination. Most of them contain declarations providing for
trial by jury in criminal cases, indictments by grand jury, the
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the right of the accused to a
speedy and public trial; a declaration of the right of citizens to bear
arms; the prohibition of excessive bail, cruel and unusual punishments,
general search warrants, and imprisonment for debt; the prohibition of
titles of nobility, ex post facto laws, and bills of attainder[9]; and
provisions forbidding the taking of private property except for public
purposes and then only when just compensation is made.[10] Many of them
contain philosophical enunciations of political doctrines such as the
assertion that all governments originate with the people, and are
instituted solely for their good; that all men are equal; that all power
is inherent in the people; and that the people have at all times the
right to alter, reform, or abolish their government. Some of the newer
constitutions declare that monopolies and perpetuities are contrary to
the principles of free government; that every citizen shall be free to
obtain employment wherever possible; that a long lease of office is
dangerous to the liberties of the people; that aliens shall have the
same rights of property as citizens; and so on.

[9] An ex post facto law is retroactive, making criminal an act that
was not a crime when committed, or increasing the punishment for past
crimes. A bill of attainder is a law convicting an accused person
without a trial, and imposing on him the penalties of treason.

[10] The inherent power of the state to take private property for
public use is called the right of eminent domain.

The real importance of the bills of rights, now that executive tyranny
is a thing of the past, is not very great.

=Amendment of State Constitutions.=--The practice of inserting in the
constitution many provisions which are temporary in character, makes
frequent alteration a necessity if the constitution is to meet the
rapidly changing needs and conditions of the state. Some of the early
constitutions contained no express provision for their own amendment,
but as time passed changes became manifestly necessary, and in time they
were all amended or supplanted entirely by new ones, notwithstanding the
absence of amending provisions. Ultimately the advantage of pointing out
in the constitution a legal and orderly way of amendment came to be
generally appreciated, and at the present time all of the constitutions
contain amending provisions. These clauses provide that amendments may
be proposed, either by a convention called by the legislature, or by the
legislature itself, usually by an extraordinary majority; in either case
the proposed amendment must be submitted to the voters for their
approval, and it becomes a part of the constitution only if ratified by
a majority of those voting on the proposed amendment or, in some states,
by a majority of those voting at the election at which the proposed
amendment is submitted. A new method of amendment by popular initiative
was adopted in Oregon in 1902. According to this method a proposed
amendment may be framed by the people by petition and submitted to a
popular vote without the necessity of the intervention of the
legislature in any form.

In spite of the restrictions imposed, most of the constitutions are
frequently amended. During the two decades from 1900 to 1919, 1500
amendments were proposed by the legislatures of the several states, or
by popular initiative, and of these about 900 were ratified. At the
general election of 1918, no less than 130 amendments were voted on by
the people of the different states, and a number of others were awaiting
the action of the legislatures soon to meet. In five western states
alone 270 amendments were submitted from 1914 to 1919.

=References.=--BEARD, American Government and Politics, chs.
xxii-xxiii. BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition),
chs. xxxiv-xxxv. DEALEY, Our State Constitutions, chs. ii-iii.
HART, Actual Government, ch. vi. HINSDALE, The American Government,
chs. xl, xli, xlix, l. WILSON, The State, secs. 1087-1095.
WILLOUGHBY, Rights and Duties of Citizenship, ch. x. WILLOUGHBY,
The American Constitutional System, chs. ii-x.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. THORPE's Constitutions
and Organic Laws, or POORE's Charters and Constitutions, both
published by the Government Printing Office. 2. Pamphlet copies of
state constitutions can usually be obtained from the secretaries of
state of the various states. 3. The legislative manual of the
state, where usually a review of the constitutional history of the
state may be found.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. In what two senses is the word "state" used? In what sense is New
York a state and in what sense is it not?

2. Were the states ever sovereign? What were the two views in this
country prior to the Civil War in regard to the sovereignty of the
states?

3. The constitution and laws of the United States are declared to be
supreme over those of the states; what is the meaning of that provision?
Does that mean that any law passed by Congress will override a
conflicting law passed by a state, even though the law passed by the
state is clearly within its powers?

4. Distinguish between _reserved_ powers and _delegated_ powers.

5. Do you believe the powers of the national government should be
increased so as to include the regulation of such matters as marriage
and divorce, the business of corporations, factory labor, and insurance?

6. What is the purpose of the commissions on uniform legislation in the
different states, and what are they seeking to accomplish? Is there such
a commission in your state?

7. Which of the following matters fall within the jurisdiction of the
United States and which within the jurisdiction of the states? (1) the
levying of tariff duties, (2) the transfer of land, (3) the building of
lighthouses, (4) the protection of religious worship, (5) the granting
of passports, (6) punishment of crime, (7) the granting of pensions,
(8) the regulation of labor in mines and factories, (9) the protection
of the public health, (10) the support of schools, (11) the regulation
of navigation, (12) the erection of fortifications.

8. Name some powers that may be exercised by both Congress and the
states; some that may be exercised by neither; some that may be
exercised by the states only with the consent of Congress.

9. May the United States government coerce a state? Suppose a state
should refuse or neglect to perform its constitutional duties as a
member of the union, could it be punished or compelled to fulfill its
obligations?

10. May a state be sued by a citizen of the state? by a citizen of
another state? by another state itself?

11. Suppose a state should refuse to pay a debt which it has incurred,
has the person to whom the debt is due any remedy?

12. Will a divorce granted in Nevada to a citizen of Massachusetts be
recognized as valid in Massachusetts?

13. Suppose a man, standing on the New Jersey side of the Delaware
River, should fire a shot across the river and kill a man in
Pennsylvania, would the governor of New Jersey be bound to surrender the
criminal upon demand of the governor of Pennsylvania, in order that he
might be tried in Pennsylvania?

14. What is the difference between a constitution, a statute, and a
charter? Between a written and an unwritten constitution?

15. When was the present constitution of your state adopted? Was it
submitted to the voters before being put into effect? How many
constitutions has your state had since its admission to the union? Were
they all adopted by popular ratification? Who was the delegate from your
county to the last constitutional convention?

16. How may the constitution of your state be amended? Is a majority of
those voting at the election necessary to ratify, or only a majority of
those voting on the proposed amendment? How many times has the present
constitution of your state been amended? Do you think the method of
amendment is too rigid?

17. What is the purpose of a preamble to a constitution? Does the
preamble of your constitution contain a recognition of God?

18. What are the provisions in the bill of rights to your constitution
in regard to the rights of an accused person? in regard to freedom of
the press? freedom of assembly? freedom of worship? right of the people
to change their government?

CHAPTER IV

THE STATE LEGISLATURE

=Powers of the State Legislatures.=--The powers of the state
legislature, unlike those of the city council and those of the Congress
of the United States, are not set forth in the constitution. In general,
a state legislature may exercise any powers which are not denied to it
by the Constitution of the United States or by the constitution of the
state. Its powers, in other words, are residuary in character, rather
than delegated or granted.

_Limitations._--In recent years, however, mainly on account of the
popular distrust in which our legislatures have come to be held,
numerous limitations upon their powers have been imposed by the
constitutions of many states. Thus they are frequently forbidden
absolutely to pass local or special laws where a general law is
applicable, or they are allowed to enact such laws only under certain
restrictions. In most states, also, the legislature cannot run the state
into debt beyond a certain amount, and its power to impose taxes and
appropriate money is generally restricted. Finally, its power of
legislation has been limited by the present practice of regulating many
important matters in the constitution itself. In the newer constitutions
especially we find a large number of provisions relating to schools,
cities, towns, railroads, corporations, taxation, and other matters. To
that extent, therefore, the legislature is deprived of its power of
legislation on these subjects.

_Extent of the Legislative Power._--In spite of the numerous
restrictions, however, the power of the legislature is very large. It
enacts the whole body of criminal law of the state; makes laws
concerning the ownership, use, and disposition of property, laws
concerning contracts, trade, business, industry, the exercise of such
professions as law, medicine, pharmacy, and others; laws relating to the
government of counties, towns, cities, and other localities; laws
concerning the public health, education, charity, marriage and divorce,
and the conduct of elections; laws concerning railroads, canals,
ferries, drainage, manufacturing, eminent domain, and a great variety of
other matters. The subjects concerning which the legislatures may enact
laws are indeed so numerous and varied that it would be impossible to
enumerate them all. For that reason the legislature is by far the most
important branch of the state government, and it is highly important
that it should be composed of honest, intelligent, and efficient
members. Unfortunately, however, in many states the legislature has
declined in public esteem. In the early days of our history the
legislative branch of the government was all-powerful. It was not only
practically unlimited as to its power of legislation, but it was
intrusted with the choice of many important officers of the state. Now,
however, there is a disposition to cut down its powers and place
restrictions on the exercise of those that are left to it. In many
states the people have secured the power to legislate for themselves by
means of the initiative and referendum (pp. 85-89); and, to diminish the
power of the legislature to enact useless laws, many constitutions limit
the length of the sessions to forty or sixty days in the hope of
compelling it to devote its time to the consideration of important
measures of general interest.

=Structure of the Legislature.=--Every state legislature to-day consists
of two houses. At first several states followed the example of the
Congress of the Confederation and tried the single-chamber system, but
they soon found its disadvantages serious, and substituted legislatures
with two houses. The principal advantage of a bicameral legislature is
that each house serves as a check upon the haste of the other and thus
insures more careful consideration of bills. Nevertheless, proposals
have recently been made in several states to establish a
single-chambered legislature, and the question was voted on by the
electors of Oregon in 1912 and in 1914, and by those of Arizona in 1916.

The lawmaking body popularly known as the legislature is officially so
designated in some states, but in others the formal name is the general
assembly or the legislative assembly, and in two, Massachusetts and New
Hampshire, the colonial title, "general court," is still retained. In
all the states the upper house is styled the senate. In most of them the
lower chamber is known as the house of representatives, though in a few
it is styled the assembly and in three the house of delegates.

Both houses of the state legislature are chosen by the people. The
principal differences in their make-up are, that the senate is a smaller
body and therefore each senator represents a larger constituency, the
senators in many states are chosen for a longer term, and usually the
senate is vested with special functions such as the approval of
executive appointments to office, and the trial of impeachment cases.

_The State Senate._--The size of the senate varies from seventeen
members in Delaware to sixty-seven in Minnesota, the average number
being about thirty-five. In about two thirds of the states the term of
senators is four years; in New Jersey their term is three years; in
Massachusetts it is one year; in the remaining states it is two years.
In about one third of the states the terms of the senators and the
representatives are the same. In some states the senators are divided
into classes, and only half of them retire at the same time.

_The House of Representatives._--The house of representatives everywhere
is a more numerous body than the senate, and in a few states the
disproportion is very great. Thus the New Hampshire legislature with a
senate of 24 members has a house of representatives of more than 400
members, the largest in any state, a body about as large as the national
house of representatives. The Connecticut legislature is composed of a
senate of 35 members and a house of representatives of 258 members;
Vermont has a senate of 30 members and a house of representatives of
246; Massachusetts has a senate of 40 members and a house of 240. The
smallest houses of representatives are those of Delaware and Arizona,
each consisting of 35 members.

_Apportionment of Senators and Representatives._--Senators and
representatives are apportioned among districts, usually on the basis of
population. Political units, however, are often taken into
consideration, and in some states such units rather than the number of
inhabitants are the determining element. Thus it is frequently provided
that each county shall be entitled to one senator, though the population
of some counties may be many times as great as that of other counties.
In some of the New England states the inequalities of representation are
so glaring as to constitute a great injustice to the more populous
towns. In Connecticut, for example, the members of the lower house are
distributed among the towns of the state, without regard to their
population. As a result each of the small towns of Union, Hartland,
Killingworth, and Colebrook, with an average population of less than
1,000 persons, has two representatives, while New Haven, with 133,000
inhabitants, has only two. Hartford, with about 99,000, has only two,
and so has Bridgeport with a population of 102,000, and Waterbury with
73,000. These four cities comprise about one third the population of the
state, but they have only one thirty-second part of the membership of
the house of representatives. A similar system of representation exists
in Vermont and in the senate of Rhode Island.

Moreover, as a result of "gerrymandering" by the political party in
control of the legislature the legislative districts are frequently so
constructed as to give the majority party more than its fair share of
representatives. As a result there are in some states great inequalities
of representation among the different counties or legislative districts.

In order to prevent large cities from controlling the legislature and
thereby dominating the state, a few constitutions limit their
representation in the legislature. Thus in New York it is provided that
no county, however populous, shall have more than one third of all the
representatives, and a somewhat similar provision is contained in the
constitutions of Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.

=Minority Representation in the Legislature.=--Where there are two
political parties in the state, it is worth considering whether some
provision should not be made for allowing each party to choose a number
of representatives in proportion to its numerical strength, or at least
for allowing the weaker party some representation in the legislature. It
not infrequently happens under the present system that the majority
party in the state succeeds in electing nearly all the representatives,
leaving the other party practically without representation, although it
may be strong enough to cast hundreds of thousands of votes in the
state as a whole. In the Oregon state election of 1906, for example, the
Republican party, with only 55 per cent of the voting strength, elected
eighty-eight members of the legislature, while the Democratic party,
though casting 34 per cent of the total vote, elected only seven
representatives.

The present constitution of Illinois contains a clause which makes it
possible for the minority party in each of the fifty-one legislative
districts into which the state is divided to elect at least one of the
three representatives to which the district is entitled. Each voter is
allowed three votes, and he may give one vote to each of three
candidates, or he may give all three to one candidate, or two to one
candidate and one to another. Usually the party having the majority in
the district elects two candidates and the minority party one, the
voters of the latter party concentrating all their votes on the one
candidate.

=Legislative Sessions.=--In the great majority of states the
legislatures hold regular sessions every two years. In New York, New
Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Georgia, and South Carolina the
legislature meets every year in regular session. Alabama is contented
with a session once in every four years. In California the session is
divided into two parts, the first being devoted exclusively to the
introduction of bills. The legislature then takes a recess of a month to
enable the members to consult their constituents in regard to the bills
introduced, after which it reassembles for the enactment of such
legislation as seems to be demanded. In all the states the governor is
empowered to call extraordinary sessions for the consideration of
special matters of an urgent character.

There is a popular belief that legislatures waste much of their time in
the consideration of petty matters, and in many states the constitution
either limits the length of the session,--sometimes to forty, fifty, or
sixty days,--or provides that where the session is prolonged beyond a
certain number of days, the pay of members shall cease. The wisdom of
limiting the sessions to such brief periods, however, is doubtful, and
several states that once imposed such restrictions have since removed
them.

=Legislative Compensation.=--In all the states, members of the
legislature receive pay for their services. This is either in the form
of a definite amount per year, term, or session, or so much per day. The
largest legislative salaries are those of Illinois ($3,500 per biennial
session), New York ($1,500 per year), Massachusetts and Ohio ($1,000 per
year), and Pennsylvania ($1,500 per biennial session). In New Hampshire,
on the other hand, the salary is only $200 per biennial session, in
Connecticut $300, and in South Carolina $200 for each annual session. In
thirty states the per diem method of compensation prevails, the amount
ranging from three dollars per day, which is the salary paid in Kansas
and Oregon, to ten dollars per day, in Kentucky, Montana, and Nebraska,
the most usual sum being four or five dollars per day. In several
states, however, the per diem compensation ceases, or is reduced to a
nominal amount, after the legislature has been in session 60 days or 90
days. Mileage ranging in amount from ten cents per mile to twenty-five
cents is usually allowed, and in a number of states there is a small
allowance for postage, stationery, and newspapers. In some states the
pay of the legislators is fixed by the constitution, and hence the
matter is beyond control of the legislature. Indeed, in only a few
states is the matter of legislative pay left entirely to the discretion
of the legislature without restriction.

In a number of them the constitution either forbids members to accept
free passes on the railroads, or makes it the duty of the legislature to
pass laws prohibiting the acceptance of such passes.

=Organization of the Legislature.=--Each house is usually free to
organize itself as it may see fit, though where the office of lieutenant
governor exists, the constitution designates that official as the
presiding officer of the senate.

_The Speaker._--The presiding officer of the lower house is styled the
speaker, and in all the states he is chosen by the house from its own
membership. He calls the house to order, presides over its
deliberations, enforces the rules governing debate, puts motions and
states questions, makes rulings on points of order, recognizes members
who desire to address the house, appoints the committees, signs the acts
and resolutions passed by the house, and maintains order and decorum. He
usually belongs to the political party which is in the majority in the
house, and in making up the committees and recognizing members for the
purpose of debate he usually favors those of his own party.

_The Clerk._--Each house has a clerk or secretary who keeps the journal
of the proceedings, has custody of all bills and resolutions before the
house, keeps the calendar of bills, calls the roll, reads bills, and
performs other duties of a like character. He is often assisted by other
clerks such as a reading clerk, an engrossing clerk, sometimes an
enrolling clerk, etc.

[Illustration: STATE CAPITOL, HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA]

[Illustration: STATE CAPITOL, SALEM, OREGON]

_Sergeant-at-arms._--To execute the orders of the house in preserving
good order and enforcing the rules, there is an officer called a
sergeant-at-arms. He usually has custody of the hall in which the
meetings are held, makes arrests when the house orders an outsider to be
taken into custody for contempt, compels absent members to attend
when ordered by the house to do so, and sometimes keeps the accounts of
the pay and mileage of members.

_Other Officers and Employees._--Usually, also, there is a chaplain who
opens the session with prayer, though he is not always a paid employee;
a postmaster; and a number of miscellaneous employees such as
doorkeepers, janitors, copying clerks, stenographers, pages, etc.[11]

[11] The California house of representatives, consisting of eighty
members, had in 1907 a total of 335 employees, with salaries ranging
from $3 to $8 per day. The senate, composed of forty members, had 228
employees. Since then an amendment to the constitution of that state
has been adopted, limiting to $500 per day the amount that may be
expended by the legislature for clerical assistance. In some other
states the number of employees of the legislature seems excessive, and
restrictions similar to that now found in the constitution of
California might not be out of place. Thus in 1903 there were 226
employees of the legislature of Illinois, 315 in Missouri, 299 in New
York, and 225 in Oregon. The expense account of legislative employees
in Illinois for the session of 1913 amounted to more than $95,000; the
amount in New York was over $250,000; and in Wisconsin over $76,000.
One of the arguments now being urged in some states in favor of a
single-chamber legislature is that it would make possible a material
reduction in the number of legislative employees and a corresponding
diminution of expenses.

_Committees._--For convenience in legislation the members of each house
are grouped into committees, the more important of which are those on
agriculture, corporations, finance or appropriations, ways and means,
judiciary, railroads, labor, education, manufactures, engrossment and
enrollment, and insurance. In the Western states there are usually
committees on immigration, mining, dairies, forestry, fish and game,
drainage, swamp lands, irrigation, levees and river improvements, etc.
The number and size of the committees vary in different states. In some
of the states there are as many as fifty or sixty committees, and
occasionally as many as forty members are placed on a single committee.
In addition to the standing committees of each house there are
frequently select committees appointed for special purposes, and there
are usually a number of joint committees made up of members of both
houses. In the New England states most of the committee work is done by
joint committees, there being usually only four or five standing
committees in each house.

=How Bills are Passed.=--Each house is empowered to frame its own rules
of procedure, but in order to insure publicity and careful consideration
of bills the state constitutions have placed restrictions upon the
legislature in the consideration and passage of bills. Thus in all the
states each house is required to keep a journal of its daily
proceedings; in most states it is provided that no law shall be passed
except by bill, that no bill shall embrace more than one subject, which
shall be clearly expressed in the title of the bill, that no money shall
be appropriated except by law, that every bill shall be read at least
three times before being passed, that no existing law shall be amended
by mere reference to its title but the amended portion must be set out
in full, and that the yeas and nays shall be recorded upon demand of a
certain number of members. Some states require that every bill shall be
referred to a committee, that every bill shall be printed and placed on
the desk of each member, that no bill shall be introduced after the
legislature has been in session a certain number of days, and that bills
of a local or private character shall be introduced only after public
notice has been given in the locality affected and to be valid must be
passed by a two-thirds majority of each house; and so on.

In general these constitutional restrictions represent an attempt to
eliminate the evils of undue haste, lack of consideration,
extravagance, and objectionable local and private bills, and to compel
the legislature to do its work openly, carefully, and in the interest of
the public good.

_Order of Procedure._--A common order of the procedure in passing bills
is the following: 1. Introduction and first reading. 2. Reference to a
committee. 3. Report of the committee. 4. Second reading. 5. Third
reading. 6. Vote on passage. 7. Enrollment. 8. Approval by the Governor.
This order of procedure, however, is often departed from under a
suspension of the rules or by unanimous consent.

Usually any member can introduce a bill on any subject and at any
time[12] except where the constitution forbids the introduction of bills
after a certain date, and some legislatures have even found a means of
evading this restriction. In most states a bill can be introduced by
filing it with the clerk. It is then usually read the first time, though
only by title, and referred to the appropriate committee for
consideration and report. The committee may "pigeonhole" it and never
report, or it may make a report so late in the session that
consideration of the bill is impossible. If the bill seems worthy of
being reported, the committee reports it to the house with a
recommendation that it be passed either with or without amendments, or
that it be rejected. If reported favorably it is placed on the calendar
for consideration in its turn. At this stage it is open for general
discussion and for amendment by the house. If the bill meets the
approval of the house, it is finally ordered to be engrossed and read a
third time. It is then put in shape by the committee on engrossment,
after which it is read a third time and finally passed. It then goes to
the other house, where the procedure is substantially the same. If
passed by the second house, it is ready for the signature of the
governor. If amended by the second house, it comes back to the first
house for concurrence in the amendments. If the first house refuses its
concurrence, a conference committee is usually appointed by the two
houses to consider and recommend a compromise. The bill is not ready to
send to the governor until it has been passed by both houses in exactly
the same form.

[12] In Wisconsin and some other states, "legislative reference
bureaus" furnish members with information regarding subjects of
proposed legislation, and aid them in the drafting of bills.

=Lobbying and Bribery.=--In all our states a large proportion of the
legislation enacted affects directly or indirectly the interests of
particular persons, classes, or localities. As a result, interested
parties bring great pressure to bear upon the members to pass certain
bills or to reject certain others.

_Methods of the Lobbyist._--Usually when the legislature meets, the paid
representatives of interested individuals, corporations, or local
governments appear on the scene to urge legislation in their interests
or to defeat bills introduced that are unfavorable to them. These
persons are known as "lobbyists," and the means they employ to secure or
prevent legislation are often improper and sometimes venal. Sometimes
money is used to bribe members to vote for or against pending measures,
and there are few states indeed where charges of this kind have not been
made. In one state recently, money was contributed in large quantities
by persons interested in preventing certain legislation, and the sum
thus contributed was known as the "jack pot" fund, out of which members
were handsomely paid for their votes. In a special message to the
legislature of New York state, Governor Hughes declared that certain
disclosures had "caused honest citizens to tingle with shame and
indignation and made irresistible the demand that every proper means
should be employed to purge and purify the legislature." The situation
described by the governor as existing in New York, unfortunately exists
in other states as well.

_"Strike" Bills._--Some of the great corporations maintain regularly
paid lobbyists at the state capitals when the legislature is in session,
not so much for the purpose of securing legislation in their interests
as to prevent the enactment of laws to which they are opposed. Sometimes
they are practically forced to have lobbyists on the ground to prevent
the enactment of what are called "strike" bills, that is, bills
introduced by unscrupulous members for the purpose of extorting money
from the corporations to pay for defeating them.

_Anti-lobbying Legislation._--The evils growing out of the practice of
the special interests in maintaining paid lobbyists near the legislature
have led to attempts in a number of states to restrict such abuses by
legislation. This legislation, in general, makes it unlawful to attempt
to influence improperly any legislator. In several states lobbyists are
required to make known the purpose of their business and to register
their names with the secretary of state, and after the adjournment of
the legislature to file a sworn statement of their expenses.

=Direct Legislation: the Initiative and the Referendum.=--The
legislature is not the only agency for enacting law and determining the
public policies of the state. Laws on certain subjects may be made by
the people themselves acting directly in their primary capacity as well
as through the agency of representatives. This is done through what are
called the initiative and the referendum. The initiative is a device by
which the people themselves may propose laws and have them submitted to
the voters for their approval or rejection. Through the referendum the
people reserve the power to approve or reject by popular vote certain
laws enacted by the legislature.

_Varieties of Referendum._--The referendum may be obligatory or optional
in character, that is, the approval of the electorate may be required by
the constitution before certain laws shall go into effect, or the
legislature in its discretion may refer a law to the people for their
opinion. Thus the constitutions of many states declare that no law for
increasing the debt of the state beyond a certain amount shall be valid
until it has been submitted to the voters and approved by them. Again,
the referendum may be mandatory or advisory in character. Under the
mandatory form, the legislature is required to carry out the will of the
electorate as pronounced on any subject referred to the voters, while
the advisory referendum is nothing more than an expression of opinion
which may or may not be followed by legislative action.

Again, the referendum may be state-wide in its scope, as where a general
law or question of public policy is submitted to the voters of the whole
state, or it may be of a local character, as where a law affecting a
particular community is referred to the voters thereof.

The referendum as a device for adopting constitutions and constitutional
amendments is as old as the republic itself, and is now the general
practice (pp. 65, 70). In all the states except Delaware proposed
amendments must be submitted to the voters at a general or special
election, and must be adopted by them before going into effect. The use
of the referendum for ordinary lawmaking is also an old practice, though
it is much more generally resorted to now than formerly. Thus very early
in our history it was employed for such purposes as the incorporation of
towns, borrowing money, the location of county sites, division of
counties, subscription to stock in railroads and other enterprises by
states, counties, or towns, and the levying of special taxes for the
support of schools. One of the important uses to which it was put was
the determination of the question whether intoxicating liquor should be
sold in a particular locality. In time what were called local option
laws were passed in many states, giving the people of towns, cities, or
other local divisions of the state the privilege of determining by
popular vote whether liquor should be sold within their limits. Other
matters that have frequently been made the subject of a referendum are:
the granting of the suffrage to negroes, and sometimes the
enfranchisement of women; the location of state capitals; the sale of
school lands; the incorporation of state banks of issue; the granting of
aid to railroads; the adoption of the township form of local government;
the construction of canals; the erection of public libraries; and many
other matters too numerous to mention. There is no state in which the
referendum is not provided by the constitution for certain kinds of
legislation, and there is hardly a general election held nowadays in
which the voters are not called upon to pass judgment upon some proposed
act of the legislature or some question of public policy.

In Illinois there has been enacted what is known as the "public opinion
law," which provides that upon petition by 10 per cent of the registered
voters of the state the legislature is required to submit to the voters
any question of public policy for their opinion. The popular vote,
however, is nothing more than an expression of opinion by the voters and
is not binding upon the legislature.

_The Oregon System._--The idea of the initiative and the referendum has
been carried out most fully in Oregon, whose constitution provides that
8 per cent of the voters may by petition propose an amendment to the
constitution, and when so proposed it must be submitted to the voters
and if approved by a majority of them the amendment becomes a part of
the constitution. Likewise the constitution of Oregon provides for the
initiation and adoption of ordinary laws by the people. It further
provides that upon the petition of 5 per cent of the voters any act of
the legislature, with certain exceptions, before going into effect, must
be submitted to the people for their approval, and if not approved by a
majority of those voting, it shall not go into effect. From 1904 to
1914, 130 constitutional amendments and statutes were submitted to
popular vote, of which 46 were adopted. For the information of the
voters, "publicity pamphlets" are provided, containing an explanation of
the measures upon which they are called to vote, together with arguments
for and against each proposition. In 1912 these arguments (on 37
measures) made a book of 252 pages.

_Initiative and Referendum in other States._--Various other states
(South Dakota, Utah, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Missouri, Maine,
Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arizona, Nevada, California, Washington,
Michigan, Ohio, North Dakota, Massachusetts, and Mississippi) have
established both the initiative and the referendum in some form or
other. The initiative and referendum are in use also in many cities,
especially those under the commission plan of government. Usually the
number who are empowered to initiate a proposed law or ordinance is 8 or
10 per cent of the registered vote. In Texas the referendum is applied
to the formulation by political parties of their party policies, 10 per
cent of the voters being allowed to propose policies which must be
submitted to the party for their opinion.

_Merits of the Referendum._--One of the chief merits of the referendum
is that it serves as a check on the vices, follies, and errors of
judgment of the legislature. Another merit claimed for the referendum is
its educative effect upon the electorate. Where the voters are
frequently called upon to pass judgment upon the acts of the legislature
or upon questions of public policy, they must, if they discharge their
duty properly, study the measures submitted to them and thus become
trained in public affairs. The enjoyment of such a privilege also tends
to stimulate their interest in political affairs and increase their
feeling of responsibility for the good government of the state.

The advantage of the initiative is that it puts in the hands of the
people the power to bring forward needed measures of legislation and
secure a vote on them whenever the legislature refuses to act in
obedience to the popular mind.

=References.=--BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. xxv.
BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. xxxix.
DEALEY, Our State Constitutions, ch. vii. HART, Actual Government,
ch. vii. REINSCH, American Legislatures and Legislative Methods,
chs. iv-x. WILSON, The State, secs. 1128-1142.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. The legislative manual
or blue book of the state. 2. A map showing the division of the
state into legislative districts. 3. Rules of procedure of the two
houses of the legislature. 4. Specimen copies of bills and
resolutions. 5. Messages of the governor to the legislature. 6. The
last volume of the session laws of the state.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. How many members are there in the senate of your state legislature?
How many in the house of representatives? What is the term of the
members of each house? What are the qualifications for membership? What
is the salary?

2. What is the principle of apportionment of the members of each house?
Are there any inequalities of representation among the districts or
counties from which the members are chosen? What county has the largest
number of representatives? What county the smallest number? Have any
charges been made that the state is "gerrymandered" in the interest of
the dominant party?

3. How many committees are there in each house? Of what committees are
your representatives and your senator members? What is the average
number of members on each committee? Name some of the most important
committees. What are the principal officers and employees of each house?

4. How often does the legislature of your state meet in regular session?
Are there any constitutional restrictions on the length of the sessions?
Have any extraordinary sessions been held in recent years? If so, for
what purpose? Are there any restrictions on the power of the legislature
when in extraordinary session?

5. How many acts were passed at the last regular session? How many joint
resolutions were adopted? What is the difference between an act and a
joint resolution?

6. What are the provisions in the constitution of your state in regard
to the procedure of the legislature in passing bills? Find out from the
rules of each house how a bill is introduced, considered, and passed.
How are special and local acts passed?

7. Is there a law in your state to regulate lobbying? What is the
penalty for accepting a bribe?

8. Is there a legislative reference bureau or other agency in your state
for collecting information for the benefit of members or for assisting
them in the preparation of bills?

9. Are there any provisions in the constitution of your state in regard
to the initiative or referendum? Do you know of any instance in recent
years in which the people of the state were called upon to vote on a
proposed legislative act or a question of public policy? Is there a
local option liquor law in your state? If so, have the people of your
county or city taken advantage of it?

10. Do you think members of the legislature when instructed by their
constituents to vote for or against a certain measure, should obey the
instructions, or vote according to their own judgment of what is best
without regard to the expressed will of the people?

11. Is there any organization in your state for studying the records of
members and for securing the election of honest and efficient
legislators?

CHAPTER V

THE STATE EXECUTIVE

=The Governor; Election and Qualifications.=--Each state has a chief
executive styled a governor, who is charged with the execution of the
laws. In all he is elected by the people. In nearly all, a plurality of
the popular vote is sufficient to elect, but in a few states a majority
is required and if no candidate receives a majority of the popular vote,
either the legislature makes the choice, or a second popular election is
held.

To be eligible to the office of governor, a man must have attained a
certain age, usually thirty years, and generally he must be a citizen of
the United States; in many states he must have been a citizen for a
period ranging from five to twenty years. He is also usually required to
have been a resident of the state for a period ranging from one to ten
years.

=Term.=--The term of the governor in twenty-five states is two years; in
the others it is four years except in New Jersey, where it is three
years. Formerly the term was one year in several states, but by 1920 all
of them had changed it to two years. A one-year term seems to have
little to recommend it, for experience is as necessary for the
successful administration of public affairs as for the conduct of
private business, and familiarity with the duties of an office of such
importance cannot be acquired in so short a time. However, where the
one-year term prevailed, it was customary to reëlect the governor to a
second term. In a number of states, the governor is ineligible to two
successive terms, the idea being that if reëligible he would make use of
his official power to secure his reëlection. A few state constitutions
wisely provide that he may hold office until his successor has
qualified, and thus the danger of a vacancy is obviated.

=Salary.=--The salary of the governor is everywhere comparatively small,
though in recent years the tendency has been to increase it. In three
fourths of the states now the salary is $5,000 per year or more. In
California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania,
it is $10,000 per year, and in Illinois it is $12,000. The smallest
salary is $2,500 per year, which is the amount allowed in Nebraska.
Frequently the state provides the governor with a residence styled the
"executive mansion." A contingent fund out of which to meet the expense
of emergencies in the execution of laws is usually placed at his
disposal, but this fund cannot be used for private purposes. Some
governors, however, have not been very careful to distinguish between
private and official purposes, and not infrequently the use made of this
fund has been the subject of legislative investigation and of popular
criticism.

=Organization of the Executive Department.=--The organization of the
executive department of the state government is different in one
important respect from that of the executive department of the United
States. In the national government the responsibility for the
administration of executive affairs is concentrated in the hands of the
President, and the heads of the various departments are all his
appointees; they are responsible directly to him for the discharge of
their duties, are, within the limits of the law, subject to his
direction, and may be removed by him for any reason which to him may
seem expedient. The executive power of the state, on the contrary,
instead of being concentrated in the hands of the governor, is really
divided between him and a number of other state officers, who are
generally elected by the people and over whom he has little or no
control. They are, in short, his colleagues rather than his
subordinates. This method of organizing the executive power has justly
been criticized on the ground that it introduces a division of
responsibility and lack of co-ordination in the state administration.
Thus, although the governor is charged with the execution of the laws,
he usually has no power to direct the attorney-general to institute
proceedings against a person or corporation for violating the law, as
the President of the United States might do in a similar case. Again, he
may have reason to believe that the state treasurer is a defaulter, but
in most of the states he has no power to examine into the affairs of the
treasurer's office, or to remove him from office. And so with the other
principal officers that collectively make up the executive department.
The responsibility of these officials is usually to the people alone,
and responsibility in such cases cannot always be enforced, for they are
elected for specific terms and cannot be removed before the expiration
of their terms, except by the cumbersome method of impeachment.

_The Lieutenant Governor._--In about two thirds of the states there are
lieutenant governors chosen for the same time and in the same manner as
the governor. About the only duty of this official is to preside over
the deliberations of the senate. In case of a vacancy in the office of
governor on account of death, resignation, or removal, or in case of his
absence from the state, the lieutenant governor performs the duties of
the office for the time being.

_Executive Councils._--Three of the New England states (Massachusetts,
Maine, and New Hampshire) have executive councils--survivals of
colonial days--which share the executive power with the governor to a
considerable extent. Their consent is necessary to the validity of many
of his acts, such as the making of appointments, the granting of
pardons, and the like. A modified form of the executive council is found
in a few other states.

=Other Executive Officers.=--Besides the governor, who is the chief
executive, there are in every state a number of state officers each in
charge of a particular branch of the administrative service.

_Secretary of State._--The first of these in rank is the secretary of
state, who is the custodian of the state archives and of the great seal
of the state; has charge of the publication and preservation of the
laws; countersigns the proclamations and commissions issued by the
governor and keeps a record of them; issues certificates of
incorporation to companies incorporated under the laws of the state; and
discharges other miscellaneous duties which vary in the different
states. He is elected by the people in all the states except a very few
where he is either appointed by the governor or chosen by the
legislature.

_The Treasurer_ of the state, as the name indicates, is the keeper of
the public moneys, such as taxes, trust funds, and the like, and upon
warrants issued by the auditor or other proper authority, he pays out
money appropriated by the legislature. Everywhere he is elected by the
people, usually for a short term, and is required to give a heavy bond
so as to insure the state against loss in case of his carelessness or
dishonesty. He is generally paid a salary, which is increased in some
cases by the practice of treasurers depositing the state's money in
banks from which they receive interest. The treasurer of a certain
Western state received thousands of dollars a year in this way, until
the legislature passed a law requiring him to turn into the state
treasury all moneys received in the form of interest on state deposits.

_Auditor._--Another financial officer found in all the states is the
auditor or comptroller, whose duties, in general, are to audit the
accounts of the state and issue warrants upon the treasurer for the
payment of moneys which have been appropriated by the legislature. A
warrant issued by the auditor is the treasurer's authority for paying
money out of the treasury, and without such an order he has no lawful
right to make a disbursement. Other duties of a miscellaneous character
are imposed upon auditors in the different states.

_Superintendent of Education._--Another important official is the
superintendent or commissioner of public education, who has charge of
the larger educational interests of the state. He supervises the
administration of the school laws, distributes the school fund among the
local districts, makes rules and regulations in regard to the holding of
teachers' institutes, makes reports to the legislature concerning the
educational conditions and needs of the state, and is frequently a
member of the state board of education and of the boards of trustees of
the state educational institutions.

_Other Officers._--Besides the officials mentioned above, there are a
multitude of other officers and employees in the larger states, such as
the commissioner of agriculture, the commissioner of immigration, the
commissioner of labor, state engineer, railroad commissioners,
superintendent of public works, state printer, factory inspectors, pure
food and dairy commissioners, state architect, land commissioner, mine
inspectors, superintendents of insurance, and many others too numerous
to mention. Of course, not every state has all these, but some of the
more populous ones such as New York and Massachusetts have most of them
and others in addition.

=The Governor's Powers.=--The powers and duties of governor may be
roughly grouped into four classes: (1) his share in the making of the
laws; (2) his power to execute the laws and administer the affairs of
government; (3) his military power; and (4) his power to grant pardons
for violations of the laws.

=Legislative Powers.=--_Power to Call Extra Sessions._--Everywhere he is
empowered to call the legislature together in extraordinary session. He
uses this power in case of emergencies, and also to secure the enactment
of needed legislation which has been overlooked or neglected by the
legislature at the regular session. In New York recently, when the
legislature adjourned without enacting a promised law against race track
gambling, the legislature was summoned in extraordinary session and
executive pressure and public opinion were brought to bear upon it to
compel the enactment of the law. Sometimes a great catastrophe occurs
when the legislature is not in session; for example, the California
earthquake, the Cherry mine disaster in Illinois, and the Galveston
storm, each of which required the immediate attention of the
legislature. In order to prevent the legislature when in extraordinary
session from taking action for which there is really no need, the
constitutions of most states forbid it to consider any subjects not
submitted to it by the governor; and in some states the length of an
extra session is limited to thirty or sixty days.

[Illustration: LABORATORY FOR TESTING FOODS]

[Illustration: ROAD MAKING, VIRGINIA]

_The Executive Message._--The governor is generally required to give the
legislature information concerning the affairs of the state and to
recommend the enactment of such laws as in his judgment the public good
requires, the idea being that he is more familiar than any one else with
the defects of the existing laws and with the legislative needs of
the state. This information, with the accompanying recommendations, is
communicated to the legislature in a message at the beginning of the
session,[13] and is often followed by special messages from time to time
recommending consideration of particular matters that may arise in the
course of the session. The weight which the recommendations of the
governor have with the legislature depends, of course, upon his
influence with the members and his standing with the people. If he
belongs to the same political party which is in control of the
legislature, and the party is not divided, or if he is especially
aggressive and is backed by a strong public opinion throughout the
state, his recommendations carry more weight than they would under
opposite conditions.

[13] The constitution of Illinois requires the governor to transmit a
message to the legislature also at the end of his term, summing up the
condition of affairs of the state at the time.

_The Veto Power._--Finally, in every state except North Carolina the
governor has the power to veto bills passed by the legislature. Owing to
fear of executive tyranny, the veto power was generally withheld from
governors for a considerable time after the Revolution; in fact, in only
two states (Massachusetts and New Hampshire) was this power granted to
the governor before the close of the eighteenth century. The worst fears
of executive tyranny, however, proved to be without foundation, and the
advantage of vesting in the hands of the governor the power to correct
the mistakes of the legislature by refusing to approve objectionable
laws soon came to be generally appreciated. Under the interpretation of
the veto power the governor may refuse to sign a bill either because, in
his judgment, it is inconsistent with the constitution which he has
sworn to support, or because he thinks it unwise or inexpedient, in
either case his judgment being conclusive. But manifestly, an absolute
veto is too great a power to intrust to a single person, however wise he
may be. The constitutions of all the states, accordingly, empower the
legislature to override the veto of the governor by repassing the vetoed
bill, in which case it goes into effect notwithstanding the executive
objection. To do this, however, a majority of two thirds or three fifths
of the members of the legislature is usually necessary, the idea being
that the judgment of so large a proportion of the legislature ought to
be allowed to prevail over that of the governor in case of a difference
of opinion. In the few remaining states a bare majority of the members
of the legislature may override the executive veto, though not
infrequently the statement of objections by the governor in his veto
message serves to convince some of those who voted for the vetoed bill
that it is unwise, and thus the veto will be sustained. When a bill is
presented to the governor for his signature he is allowed a period
ranging from three to ten days in which to consider it before taking
action. A subject of criticism in some states is the practice of the
legislature of delaying final action on many bills until the last days
of the session and then sending them all at once to the governor so that
the time allowed him for considering their merits is necessarily too
short.

A wise provision found in the constitutions of about thirty states is
one which allows the governor to veto particular items in appropriation
bills. Thus if the legislature passes a bill carrying appropriations for
a variety of objects, some worthy and others objectionable, the governor
is not under the necessity of approving or rejecting the bill as a
whole, but may approve the desirable portions and veto the others. In
this way wasteful and objectionable appropriations of the public funds
may be prevented without inconvenience. In a few states the governor may
also veto particular sections of other bills.

=Executive and Administrative Powers of the Governor.=--The governor is
generally charged by the constitution with taking care that the laws are
faithfully executed, though, as already stated, the executive power is
really divided between him and a number of colleagues.

_Power over State Officers._--He generally has a certain power of
oversight over the other principal state officers, but little power of
control over them. There is a tendency, however, to enlarge his power in
this respect.[14] Several constitutions, for example, empower him to
require reports from the principal officers, and in some states he is
given the right to examine into the condition of the treasurer's and
comptroller's offices and under certain conditions to remove the
incumbent from office. In a very few states, also, the governor may
remove sheriffs or mayors for negligence or abuse of power in the
enforcement of the state laws.

[14] By an important act passed in Illinois in 1917 a large number
of bureaus and commissions were consolidated and placed under the
authority of departmental heads appointed by the governor, who has
a large power of control over them. A number of other states have
since done likewise.

_Power of Appointment._--The governor's principal executive power
consists of the right to appoint certain officers and boards, and
sometimes to remove them, subject to certain restrictions. In the early
days of our history, many of the state officers were chosen by the
legislature, but with the growth of the democratic spirit the selection
of these officials was taken from the legislature and they were made
elective by the people. In a very few states the legislature still
retains a considerable power of appointment. In most states, however,
the governor appoints all officers not elected by the people. In a few
states he appoints the judges; in half a dozen or more he appoints
several of the principal state officers, such as the secretary of state
and the attorney-general, and in most of them he appoints some of the
important administrative officers and the members of various boards and
commissions. In New York, for example, he appoints the superintendent of
insurance and banking, the members of the two public service
commissions, the superintendent of public works, the commissioner of
agriculture, the commissioner of health, and other important officials.
In some states he appoints the railroad commissioners, the trustees of
public institutions, members of the state board of health, the members
of various examining boards, pure food commissioners, factory
inspectors, game commissioners, mining inspectors, and so on. As
compared with the President of the United States, his power of
appointment, however, is very small. Moreover, his power to appoint is
usually limited by the condition that his nominations must be approved
by the senate or the executive council where there is such a body.

_Power of Removal._--The governor can usually remove the officials whom
he appoints, but rarely any others. But the power of removal must exist
somewhere, because it would be intolerable to have to retain in the
public service men who are dishonest, incapable, or otherwise unfit. The
other methods of removal provided are impeachment, removal by resolution
of the legislature, and occasionally removal by the courts. Removal by
impeachment takes place by the preferment of a charge by the lower house
of the legislature and trial by the upper house. This method, however,
is cumbersome and is rarely resorted to--never in the case of minor
officials. Removal by resolution of the legislature is sometimes
employed for getting rid of unfit or corrupt judges. In several states,
the method of recall has been instituted, by which, on petition of 25
per cent of the voters, the officer must submit his case to the voters,
and if a majority of them pronounce in favor of his recall, he must
retire.

=The Military Powers of the Governor.=--In every state the governor is
commander in chief of the military forces of the state and also of the
naval forces where there are any--a power which means little in times of
peace. Whenever there are riots or serious disturbances, however, this
power becomes important. When the disturbance is too great to be
suppressed by the local authorities, the governor may order out a
portion of the militia and may, if he elects, take charge of it himself.
There are few states where the governor has not at some time or another
been compelled to make use of this power. Mobs sometimes break into
jails and take out prisoners and lynch them; and sometimes strike riots
occur in mining or manufacturing communities, in which cases the
governor may be called upon to send troops to the scene of the
disturbance and keep them there until quiet and order have been
restored.

_Power to Suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus._--A usual part of the
governor's military power is the right to suspend the writ of habeas
corpus in communities where great disorders prevail, that is, to suspend
the power of the courts to release prisoners charged with violations of
the law, thus leaving unhampered the power of the military authorities
to restrain persons they may imprison. This power, however, is one which
might be grossly abused; therefore many state constitutions forbid the
suspension of the writ except under extraordinary conditions, and a
few, indeed, permit it to be suspended only by the legislature.

_The Military Forces of the State_ consist usually of a number of
regiments of citizen soldiers, who are organized, uniformed, and
officered after the manner of the regular army of the United States, who
attend an annual encampment for purposes of drill and practice, and who
must always be ready to respond to the call of the governor. At the head
of the state militia is an officer called the adjutant general, through
whom the military orders of the government are issued and carried out.
The governor also has a military staff which accompanies him on
occasions of ceremony such as the inauguration of the President of the
United States, grand army reviews, and the like.

=The Pardoning Power.=--In every state the governor is vested with the
power of pardoning offenders against the laws of the state, but in most
states the exercise of the power is subject to restrictions. The purpose
of vesting this power in the governor is to make it possible to correct
the errors of courts and juries, as where subsequent to the conviction
evidence is brought to light showing that the person convicted is
innocent, and has been wrongfully convicted, or where it becomes evident
before the full penalty has been paid that the offender has been
sufficiently punished and should be released.

In many states boards of pardon have been provided for sharing with the
governor the responsibility for the exercise of this important
prerogative.[15] These boards are of two kinds: first, those whose powers
are limited to the hearing of applications for pardons and the making of
recommendations to the governor, who is not bound by their advice; and
second, those whose approval is necessary for the validity of any pardon
granted by him. Convictions for treason and in impeachment cases are
frequently excepted from the list of cases in which the governor may
grant pardons, though in the case of treason he is sometimes given the
power to suspend the execution of the sentence to await the action of
the legislature. In a number of states notice of an application for a
pardon must be published in the community where the applicant was
convicted, in order that the people of the community who have been
injured by his crime may have an opportunity to protest against the
granting of a pardon to him. Sometimes also the approval of the
presiding judge of the court in which the criminal was convicted is
necessary before a pardon may be granted. It is usual to require the
governor to make a report to the legislature at each session of all
pardons granted, and at the same time give the reason in each case why a
pardon was issued.

[15] In several states certain of the state officers, one of whom is
the attorney-general, serve as the pardon board; in others, it is the
senate; and in Massachusetts and Maine it is the executive council.

Generally with the right of pardon is included the power to grant
reprieves, that is, stays of execution; commutations, that is, the
substitution of a lesser punishment in the place of the one imposed; and
remission of fines and forfeitures. The right also usually includes the
power of amnesty or the power of granting by proclamation pardons to
large numbers of persons, as in the case of uprisings or insurrections
against the laws and authority of the state. A pardon may be absolute or
conditional; in the first case, it is granted without restriction; in
the second case, it is valid only on certain conditions, as where the
offender is required to lead an upright life or where he is required to
leave the state. Generally the governor of the state, unlike the
President of the United States, has no power to grant a pardon to an
individual offender before he has been convicted.

=State Boards and Commissions.=--One of the remarkable political
tendencies of recent years has been the multiplication of boards and
commissions to aid in the government of the states. Every state now has
a number of such boards, and in some of the populous commonwealths such
as New York and Massachusetts there are upwards of a hundred of them.
Hardly a legislative session passes that does not create one or two
commissions for some purpose or other. These boards or commissions fall
roughly into five classes, as follows:

First, many of these boards are of an industrial character, such as
boards of agriculture, food and dairy commissions, live stock, fish, and
mining commissions, and the like. In general their purpose is to promote
the agricultural, mining, and industrial interests, generally, of the
state, through the collection and dissemination of information
concerning the best method of conducting those industries.

A second class of boards are of a more distinctly scientific and
research character, such as boards of health, bureaus of labor and
statistics, geological commissions, forestry boards, and the like.
Although some of these, like the board of health, are charged with the
execution of certain laws, the general purpose of all of them is
scientific research and the collection of data.

A third class of boards are those charged primarily with the supervision
of certain businesses or industries affecting the public interest, and
with the enforcement of the laws relating to such businesses. Such are
the railroad commissions, commissions of insurance, public utility
commissions, commissions of inland fisheries, and the like. In some
instances these commissions not only have power to prescribe rules for
businesses affected with a public interest, but also to fix the rates
which they may charge.

A fourth group of commissions or boards are those charged with examining
applicants for admission to practice certain professions or trades such
as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, architecture, and plumbing. The
purpose of requiring such examinations is to secure a standard of
efficiency, and to protect society against quacks.

A fifth class includes those which have supervision over the public
institutions of the state, educational, penal, reformatory, charitable,
etc. In recent years there has been a marked tendency to consolidate
boards of this class, by putting all the charitable and penal
institutions under the control of a single board, or under two boards,
one for charitable and the other for penal institutions. In a few states
all the higher educational institutions are under one board.

Members of all these classes of boards are usually appointed by the
governor, though occasionally a board is made up of members chosen by
popular election.

_State Administrative Reorganization._--In 1917 a more systematic
organization of state administration was established in Illinois. Nine
main departments were established, each under a director, in place of a
large number of former offices, boards, and commissions. Similar
reorganizations have since taken place in a number of other states.

=The State Civil Service System.=--The number of persons necessary to
carry on the state government in its various branches is very large. In
order to provide a method by which subordinate employees can be selected
with regard to their fitness rather than with reference to their party
services, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Wisconsin, and other states
have enacted civil service laws establishing the merit system of
appointment.

The recent civil service laws provide, in general, for the
classification of all positions other than those filled by popular
election, by executive appointment, or by legislative choice, and for
appointment to these positions only after an examination of the
candidates. Generally, those who pass the examination successfully are
placed on an eligible list in the order of the grades which they
receive, and when an office is to be filled, the appointing officer is
required to make his choice from the three candidates highest on the
list. For the filling of certain positions requiring technical skill,
special non-competitive examinations are given and less consideration is
given to academic qualifications. Certain positions are not placed under
the civil service rules, and the appointing authority is allowed to make
his choice without the necessity of examinations. Such are the positions
of private secretary, chief clerk, and other employees who occupy a
confidential relation to the heads of departments.

The chief advantage of the examination system of filling civil service
positions is that it eliminates the evils of the spoils system and
places the public service on a merit basis. It must be admitted,
however, that the system is not perfect, because fitness for the
performance of administrative duties cannot always be determined by
examinations. Nevertheless, it is much better than the old method known
as the "spoils system," under which appointments were made for party
services; and it will in time, no doubt, be adopted in all the states.

=References.=--BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. xxiv.
BRADFORD, Lessons of Popular Government, vol. ii, ch. 32. BRYCE,
The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. xl. DEALEY, Our
State Constitutions, ch. v. FINLEY and SANDERSON, The American
Executive and Executive Methods, chs. iii, vi, vii, viii, ix. HART,
Actual Government, ch. viii.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. The legislative manual
of the state. 2. Copies of the governor's inaugural address,
messages to the legislature, veto messages, public proclamations,
etc. 3. Copy of the revised statutes (chapter on the executive
department). 4. Reports of the state officers to the governor.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the term of the governor of your state? the salary? Do you
think the salary is adequate? What are the governor's qualifications?
Compare the provisions of the present constitution with those of
previous constitutions in regard to these matters. Is the governor
eligible to succeed himself? Is it customary to reëlect the governor in
your state? What, in your opinion, are the relative merits of a one-year
term and a four-year term for the governor?

2. Suppose a question should arise as to who was really elected
governor, what authority would determine the matter? Are there any
circumstances under which the legislature may elect the governor? Is the
governor of your state required to vacate his office immediately at the
expiration of his term, or is he allowed to hold over until his
successor has qualified?

3. Make a list of the names of the men who have held the office of
governor of your state, indicating the years they served and the
political parties to which they belonged. (This information can be
obtained from the blue book or legislative manual or from some history
of the state.)

4. Does the constitution of your state provide for a lieutenant
governor? In general, what has been the type of men elected to this
office?

5. Make a list (from the blue book) of the offices in your state that
are filled by appointment by the governor. Do you think the appointive
power of the governor ought to be enlarged? Mention some offices now
filled by popular election which, in your opinion, should be filled by
executive appointment.

6. May the governor of your state remove officers appointed by him? If
so, under what conditions? May he remove any officers elected by the
people? If he finds that the treasurer of the state has misappropriated
a large amount of state money, can he remove him? May the governor of
the state remove any local officers? Thus if the sheriff should allow a
prisoner in his custody to be lynched by a mob or the mayor of a city
should refuse to execute a state prohibition law, may the governor
suspend or remove such officers for neglect of duty? If not, are there
any means of punishing the negligent officer?

7. What were the principal recommendations in the message of the
governor to the legislature at its last session?

8. May the governor of your state veto particular items in appropriation
bills? May he sign a bill after the adjournment of the legislature? May
he veto a bill upon grounds of public policy as well as upon grounds of
unconstitutionality? How many bills were vetoed by the governor at the
last session?

9. Is there a civil service law in your state? If so, to what offices
and employments does it apply? How are appointments made under the law?

10. For what purposes and under what circumstances may the governor use
the military forces in your state? Have there been any instances
recently in which the militia was ordered out? What is meant by the
governor's "staff"? Find out from the blue book how many regiments of
the national guard there are in your state.

11. Are there any restrictions on the power of the governor to grant
pardons? May he also grant reprieves and commutations? May he remit
fines and forfeitures? May he grant amnesties? Is there a pardon board
in your state? If so, how is it constituted and what are its powers? How
many pardons have been granted by the present governor?

12. May the courts control the governor by issuing writs to compel him
to do his duty or to restrain him from doing certain things? May he be
arrested for wrongdoing? May he be compelled to give testimony in the
courts? If not, why not? Is there any way by which an unworthy governor
may be put out of office before the expiration of his term? Describe the
procedure by which this is done.

CHAPTER VI

THE STATE JUDICIARY

=Function of the Courts.=--The legislature enacts the laws, the
executive officers enforce them, the courts interpret their meaning
and apply them to particular cases. The courts are also the
instrumentalities through which the rights guaranteed us by the
constitution and the laws are enforced. If your neighbor owes you a debt
and refuses to pay, if you make a contract with some one and he refuses
to perform the stipulations, if some one injures you in your person or
property, in these and countless other instances you must look to the
courts for protection or redress. They are the agencies for settling
disputes among men, for enforcing contracts, for trying and punishing
violations of the law, and for determining what our rights are when they
are drawn in dispute.

=Grades of Courts.=--(1) _Justice of the Peace._--At the bottom of the
judicial system stand the courts of the justices of the peace, which
have jurisdiction of civil cases involving small amounts, usually less
than $150, and of petty offenses against the laws. On a level with these
courts are certain municipal courts in the cities. The justice of the
peace is a magistrate of ancient origin, and in reality his court is
important since it is to this court that large numbers of persons resort
for the settlement of their disputes. Too little attention is given to
the choice of the men who fill this important office, and the result is
that the court of the justice of the peace has long been and still is
the weakest part of our judicial system. Generally there are several
justices in every town or township. Usually they are elected by the
people, though sometimes they are appointed. One of the sources of the
evils connected with the system is that they are paid fees rather than
salaries. This system of compensation often leads them to solicit
business and sometimes to divide their fees with lawyers who bring cases
to them for trial. They not only try petty civil and criminal cases, but
they have the power to conduct preliminary examinations into more
serious offenses in order to determine whether there is ground for
holding the accused for trial. In case the justice thinks the evidence
warrants the trial of the offender, he "binds" him over to await the
action of the grand jury.

(2) _County Courts._--Next above the court of the justice of the peace
is, in some states, the county court, so called because its territorial
jurisdiction embraces the entire county. This court has jurisdiction of
civil cases involving large amounts and of more serious criminal cases.
It also has the right to hear appeals from the justices of the peace.

(3) _Circuit Courts._--Still higher in the judicial organization, in
most states, are the courts whose territorial jurisdiction embraces a
larger area of the state--usually a group of counties--and which are
empowered to try any civil or criminal case without reference to the
amount in controversy or the character of the offense. They are
generally styled circuit courts, because the judge usually travels from
county to county holding court in each county in the district or
circuit. Sometimes, however, they are called district or superior
courts, and in a few states "supreme" courts.

(4) _The Supreme Court._--Finally, at the top of the judicial hierarchy
is the supreme court, or court of appeals, as it is sometimes called.
Unlike the other courts below, its jurisdiction embraces the whole
state, and the judges are elected or appointed usually from the state at
large. Unlike the other courts, moreover, instead of being held by a
single judge, it is held by a bench of judges, the number ranging from
three to nine in the different states. It has original jurisdiction in
certain cases, but its most important function is that of hearing
appeals from the decisions of the lower courts, and of deciding upon the
constitutionality of the laws. In cases appealed to it from the lower
courts, it has the final word of authority except where a federal
question is involved, in which case an appeal may be taken to the United
States Supreme Court.

=Courts of a Special Character.=--The justice's, circuit, and supreme
courts are found in all the states, though sometimes designated by
different names. In addition to these, however, we sometimes find other
courts of a more or less special character.

_Probate Courts._--Thus in many states there are separate probate courts
for the settlement of the estates of deceased persons, for dealing with
matters relating to wills and inheritances, and sometimes with matters
affecting orphans and minors. They are occasionally called surrogate's
or orphans' courts. In many states, however, there are no separate
probate courts, the probate business being taken care of by the county
court. In certain other states probate courts are separately provided
only for the more populous counties.

_Juvenile Courts._--Frequently in the more populous cities there are
also juvenile courts for the trial of youthful offenders.

_Equity Courts._--In a few states the distinction between law and equity
is still maintained, and equity jurisdiction is intrusted to a distinct
class of courts. Equity had its origin in the practice of the King of
England in early times in granting relief to suitors who, owing to the
deficiencies of the common law, could not obtain relief through the
courts of law. In time all such petitions came to be addressed to an
officer who stood very close to the king and who was called the
chancellor. Out of this office there were ultimately evolved the
chancery courts which administered justice, not according to the law,
but according to a less technical body of rules called equity. Thus
there came to be two bodies of rules according to which justice was
administered, and two classes of courts through which it was done. The
jurisdiction of equity courts included such matters as trusts, accounts,
fraud, mistake or accident, and the like. Equity could also prevent
wrongs, while law could only punish them.[16] Thus a court of equity
could command a person to do something for the benefit of an injured
person, or restrain him from committing an injury, while a court of law
could only award him damages after the injury had been done--a remedy
often worthless or inadequate. The English system of equity, like the
common law, was transplanted to America, and both are still in force
here except in so far as they have been modified by legislative acts.
England, however, abolished the separate system of equity courts in
1873, and left the law courts to administer equity wherever it was
applicable. Likewise, in the United States, separate equity courts have
been done away with in all except five states, leaving the same courts
to administer both law and equity.

[16] Baldwin, The American Judiciary, p. 133.

=The Judges of Courts.=--_Qualifications._--Generally no qualifications
for the judicial office are prescribed by law, except in a few states
where it is required that judges shall be lawyers or be "learned in the
law." As a matter of fact, however, judges are nearly always lawyers,
except in the case of justices of the peace and police magistrates,
where extensive knowledge of the law is not essential.

_Terms of Office._--The terms of the judges vary widely among the
different states. In the early days of our history, the judges generally
held their offices during good behavior or until the attainment of a
certain age, usually sixty or seventy years. With the growth of
democracy, however, most of the states came to adopt short terms for
judicial as well as for other public officials. Only in Massachusetts
and Rhode Island do the judges of the highest court now serve
practically for life. In New Hampshire they serve until they are 70
years of age. Elsewhere the tenure varies from two years, in Vermont, to
twenty-one years, in Pennsylvania. In Maryland, the tenure is fifteen
years; in New York, fourteen; in several, it is twelve, in some nine, in
many six. The advantage of a long term is that it enables the judges to
acquire experience and renders them less affected by political influence
and popular clamor.

_Methods of Choosing the Judges._--In early times the judges were chosen
either by the legislature or by the governor. Choice by the legislature
was objectionable because it often resulted in selection by political
caucuses and in a parceling of the judgeships among the different
counties or sections of the state. Appointment by the governor was
objectionable to many because it often resulted in the choice of
political favorites. Most of the states, therefore, abandoned these
methods of choice for popular election, Mississippi in 1832 being the
first state to adopt this method. Only in Delaware, Connecticut, New
Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine, are the higher judges
now appointed by the governor,--subject to the confirmation of the state
senate or the legislature,--and only in Rhode Island, Vermont, South
Carolina, and Virginia are they elected by the legislature. In all the
other states they are elected by the people.

The arguments in favor of popular election are that it is more in
harmony with the principles of popular government, and, it is claimed by
some, tends to secure a higher class of judges, thus doing away with the
evils of executive appointment and of legislative choice described
above. The objection to this method, however, is that it compels
judicial candidates to engage in political contests, and by making their
tenures dependent upon popular favor subjects them to the temptation of
shaping their decisions to meet the approval of the people, who,
obviously, are not always qualified to judge of the soundness of
judicial decisions involving intricate questions of law. Such a method,
it is claimed by some, tends to secure the election of able politicians
rather than of able judges.

_Compensation of the Judges._--The pay of the judges, like their terms
of service, varies widely among the different states. The salary paid
the judges of the highest court is not much more or less than the
governor's salary. The highest salary paid in any state to the judges of
the highest court is $13,700 per year, in the state of New York,[17] a
salary about as large as that of the justices of the United States
Supreme Court. In Illinois and a few other states, the justices of the
supreme court receive $10,000 a year. Many states pay less than $5,000 a
year. This scale of salaries is very low as compared with those in
England, where the highest judges receive $25,000, and the lowest, the
county judges, $7,500 a year. A few states have provided a system of
pensions for their higher judges who have served a certain number of
years or who have reached a certain age, after which they are allowed or
compelled to retire, but this provision has not yet become general.

[17] Trial court judges in certain districts receive $17,500 a year.

=Trial of Civil Cases.=--The cases brought before the courts for trial
are of two general classes: (1) civil actions and (2) criminal actions.
A civil action is a suit brought for the enforcement of a private right
or to secure compensation for damages on account of injuries sustained
through the violation of one's rights. Thus a creditor sues a debtor for
refusing to pay a debt; an owner sues to recover property which has been
wrongfully taken from him; a householder brings an action against his
neighbor for trespassing upon his premises; and so on. The person who
brings the action is called the _plaintiff_; the one against whom it is
brought, the _defendant_; and the two together are known as the
_parties_ to the action.

_Beginning of a Civil Case._--A civil suit is usually started by the
filing of a complaint containing a statement of the facts, with the
court, which then issues a summons directing the sheriff or constable to
notify the defendant to appear and make answer. If the plaintiff is a
creditor and has reason to believe that the defendant is preparing to
dispose of his property with the intention of defrauding him, he may ask
the court to issue a _writ of attachment_ authorizing the sheriff to
take possession of the property. Or if the defendant is in wrongful
possession of property belonging to the plaintiff the latter may ask the
court to issue a _writ of replevin_ requiring the officers to seize the
property and turn it over to the plaintiff. In both cases, however, the
plaintiff is required to give a bond for the costs of the suit and for
the return of the property in case the court should decide that it does
not properly belong to him. The defendant now makes an answer or plea in
which he denies the charges of the plaintiff as a whole or in part, or
admits their truth but denies the right of action, or maintains that the
court has no jurisdiction, or pleads something else in bar of the
action. The complaint of the plaintiff and the answer of the defendant
are known as the _pleadings_.

_The Trial._--The issue is now joined and the case is ready for trial.
If it is a suit in equity, it is tried by the judge alone without a
jury. If it is a suit at law, either party may demand a jury, but if
both parties agree to waive a jury trial, the case is tried by the judge
alone. Frequently civil cases are tried without juries, the parties
preferring to leave the decision to the judge. If, however, a jury trial
is preferred, a list of qualified persons is prepared and from this list
twelve persons, or six, as the parties may agree upon, are selected to
try the case. After the jury is sworn the attorney for the plaintiff
generally makes a statement of the facts upon which he rests his case.
He then calls his witnesses, who testify to their knowledge of the facts
as they are questioned by counsel. When the attorney for the plaintiff
has completed the examination of each witness, the attorney for the
defendant is allowed to cross-examine him. Witnesses are required to
confine their testimony to what they know to be the truth, and are not
permitted to tell what they believe to be true or what they have learned
from mere hearsay.

After the plaintiff has introduced all his evidence, the defendant's
case is presented in a like manner, the counsel for the plaintiff this
time conducting the cross-examination. When the evidence for the
defendant is all in, the plaintiff may introduce evidence in rebuttal,
after which the defendant may do likewise. The next step is the argument
of counsel. The attorney for each side addresses the jury and endeavors
to convince it that the evidence sustains the facts which he has
undertaken to prove. The burden of proof in civil cases is usually on
the plaintiff, and his attorney generally has the privilege of closing
the argument. If the plaintiff has failed to make out a case the judge
may dismiss the suit without giving the case to the jury, or if the
evidence is such as to admit of but one conclusion, the judge may direct
the jury to return a verdict in accordance therewith. But if the
evidence leaves the question as to the facts in doubt, the case is given
to the jury and it alone can make the decision. Before sending the jury
to their room the judge instructs them as to the law applicable to the
case, but generally in this country he cannot comment on the weight of
the evidence or express any opinion as to the facts. The jury, after
receiving its instructions, retires from the court room and deliberates
in secret. If, after a reasonable time, the jurymen cannot agree upon a
verdict they so report to the judge and are discharged, and the trial
must be gone through with again.

_Judgment; Execution_.--After the return of the verdict, the judge
enters judgment in accordance therewith. In most civil cases the
judgment, if for the plaintiff, requires the defendant to pay him a
certain sum of money as a compensation for the damages he has sustained.
If he refuses to pay, an "execution" is issued, that is, the sheriff is
required to seize and sell a sufficient amount of the defendant's
property to satisfy the judgment. If the suit is one in equity the
"decree," as the decision is called, is not usually for the payment of
damages but is a command to the defendant to do a specific thing, as,
for example, to carry out a contract or to pay a debt; or to refrain
from doing something, such as maintaining a nuisance to the injury of
the defendant.

_Appeal._--After the verdict has been rendered, the losing party may
generally take an appeal to a higher court on the ground that errors
were committed by the judge in the course of the trial, as, for example,
the admission of improper evidence or the exclusion of proper evidence;
or because the verdict was contrary to the law and the evidence. The
higher court either affirms the judgment of the lower court or reverses
it. If it affirms the judgment, it must then be carried out; if it
reverses the judgment a new trial is granted and the whole procedure is
gone through again.

=Trial of Criminal Cases.=--Criminal actions, unlike civil actions, are
brought, not by the injured party, but by the state whose peace and
dignity have been violated by the act complained of. The officer who
brings the action in the name of the state is called the _prosecuting
attorney_, the _district attorney_, or the _state's attorney_. He
conducts preliminary investigations into crimes and presents cases to
the grand jury for indictment. If the grand jury returns the indictment,
that is, decides that the accused shall be held for trial, the
prosecuting officer takes charge of the case and conducts it for the
state.

_The Arrest._--Usually the first step in the trial of a person charged
with crime is to cause his arrest. The person injured, or any one else
who may have knowledge of the crime, appears before a magistrate and
makes a complaint setting forth the facts in regard to the crime. If the
magistrate is satisfied as to the truth of the complaint, he issues a
warrant commanding the sheriff or some other police officer to arrest
the accused. The warrant must particularly describe the offense, the
place where committed, and the circumstances under which it was
committed, and must give the name of the person to be arrested. But in
some cases an arrest may be made without a warrant, as when an offender
is seen committing a crime or when an officer has good reason to believe
that the person who is charged with committing a crime is the guilty
person. In practice, policemen frequently arrest on mere suspicion, and
if they do so in good faith they will rarely be held liable for damages.
Any private individual, as well as an officer, may arrest without
warrant a person whom he sees committing a crime. He may also arrest a
person whom he suspects of having committed a capital crime, although
without personal knowledge of his guilt.[18]

[18] Baldwin, The American Judiciary, p. 227.

_Commitment._--When arrested the accused is brought before a justice of
the peace and examined. If the justice of the peace, after such
examination, believes that the accused should be held for trial, he is
committed to jail. If the offense is a minor one it can be tried by the
justice of the peace. If it is a more serious crime the justice of the
peace can hold the offender to await the action of the grand jury.

_Habeas Corpus Proceedings._--If at any time it is alleged that a person
is unlawfully deprived of his liberty, a judge may issue a writ of
habeas corpus and inquire into the case. In this way an accused person
may be set free if there is no sufficient reason for holding him.

_Bail._--If the offense is not a capital one, the accused can secure his
release from the jail while awaiting trial by giving bail. That is, he
can get one or more persons to obligate themselves to pay to the state a
certain sum of money should he fail to appear for the trial at the time
set. Such persons are called sureties, and they have a certain power of
control over the accused as a means of insuring his appearance for the
trial. The constitutions of all the states allow the privilege of bail
except in capital cases, and they all declare that the amount of bail
required shall not be excessive, that is, shall not be more than is
sufficient to insure the appearance of the accused for trial. What this
amount is must be determined by the judge according to his own
discretion, due regard being paid to the gravity of the offense, the
nature of the punishment, and the wealth of the defendant or his
friends. If the offender has been bound over to await the action of the
grand jury, the next step in the proceedings is the indictment.

_The Grand Jury_ is one of the ancient institutions of the common law.
The number of persons constituting the grand jury was originally
twenty-three, but many of the states have changed this, a common number
being fifteen. The grand jury is chosen by lot from a carefully prepared
list of persons in the county, qualified to serve. The members are sworn
in on the first day of the term of court and are then "charged" by the
judge to make a diligent inquiry into all cases of crime that have been
committed in the county, and to return indictments against such persons
as in their opinion should be held for trial. They then retire to their
room and conduct their investigations in secret.

_The Indictment._--It must be remembered that the procedure of a grand
jury is not in the nature of a trial of the accused; it is only an
inquiry to ascertain whether there is sufficient evidence of guilt to
warrant his being put on trial. In conducting this investigation, the
grand jury hears only one side of the case, that of the prosecution,
neither the accused or his witnesses being heard. The prosecuting
attorney attends the sessions of the grand jury and aids it in the
conduct of its inquiries. He prepares the indictment and it is often
upon his recommendation that the grand jury decides to indict or not to
indict. In some states the procedure of indictment by grand jury for all
offenses, or for all except the most serious ones, has been done away
with, the accusation taking the form of an "information" filed by the
prosecuting attorney. One of the reasons given for abolishing the grand
jury is that it is often a source of delay since it can be called only
when the court is in session, and in some communities the court is not
in session for long periods in every year.

_The Arraignment._--After the accused has been indicted the next step is
to bring him before the court and arraign him. The charge is first read
to him and he is directed to plead. If he pleads guilty, no further
action is taken and the judge imposes the sentence. If he pleads not
guilty, the trial proceeds. If he has no counsel to defend him, the
court appoints some member of the local bar to act as his attorney, and
the lawyer so designated is under a professional obligation to undertake
the defense and do all in his power to clear him. In this way the
murderer of President McKinley was enabled to have the benefit of
counsel. Many writers on criminal law, indeed, contend that the state
ought to employ regular public defenders for accused persons just as it
employs public prosecutors, since it should be equally interested in
seeing an innocent man acquitted as in seeing a guilty one convicted.[19]

[19] In several instances provision has recently been made for such an
officer; for example, in Los Angeles.

_Selection of the Jury._--The next step is the impaneling of a jury of
twelve persons to try the case. The law requires that the jury shall be
selected from the community in which the offense was committed, in order
that the accused may have the benefit of any good reputation which he
may enjoy among his neighbors. The jury is chosen by lot from a list of
persons qualified to perform jury service, and the jurymen are sworn to
return a verdict according to the law and the evidence. Each side is
allowed to "challenge," that is, ask the court to reject, any juror who
has formed an opinion of the guilt or innocence of the accused or who is
evidently prejudiced. In addition, each may reject a certain number of
jurors "peremptorily," that is, without assigning a cause.

_The Trial._--After the jury has been impaneled, the prosecuting
attorney opens the trial by reciting the facts of the case and stating
the evidence upon which he expects to establish the guilt of the
accused, for the law presumes the prisoner to be innocent, and the
burden of proof to show the contrary rests upon the state. The procedure
of examining and cross-examining the witnesses is substantially the same
as in the trial of civil cases. There are well-established rules in
regard to the admissibility of evidence and the weight to be attached to
it, and if the judge commits an error in admitting improper evidence or
in excluding evidence that should have been admitted in the interests of
the accused, the prisoner may, if convicted, have the verdict set aside
by a higher court and a new trial granted him. One of the rules of
procedure is that the jury must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt,
from the evidence produced, that the accused is guilty.

_Verdict; Sentence._--After being charged by the judge as to the law
applicable to the case, the jury retire to a room where they are kept in
close confinement until they reach a unanimous verdict. If they cannot
reach an agreement, they notify the judge, who, if satisfied that there
is no longer any possibility of an agreement, discharges them; then the
accused may be tried again before another jury. If a verdict of not
guilty is returned, the court orders the prisoner to be set free; if a
conviction is found, sentence is imposed and the punishment must be
carried out by the sheriff or some other officer. The usual punishment
is fine, imprisonment in the county jail or state penitentiary, or
death inflicted by hanging or electrocution. In a few states, notably
Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, and Kansas, punishment by
death has been abolished.

_Probation; Reformation._--Imprisonment is generally for a specified
period, though recently in a number of states the indeterminate sentence
has been provided, that is, the judge is allowed to sentence the
offender for an indefinite period, the length of which will depend upon
the behavior of the prisoner and on the promise which he may show of
leading a better life after being released. When thus released he may be
placed on probation and required to report from time to time to a
probation officer in order to show that his conduct is satisfactory. If
unsatisfactory, he may be taken up and remanded to prison. The tendency
now in all enlightened countries is to adopt a system of punishment that
will not only serve as a deterrent to crime but at the same time help to
reform the criminal and make a better citizen of him. The old idea that
the purpose of punishment was revenge or retribution has nearly
everywhere disappeared, and in place of the severities of the old
criminal code we have introduced humane and modern methods which are
probably just as effective in deterring others from wrongdoing, and
besides conduce to the reformation of many unfortunate criminals.

=References.=--BALDWIN, The American Judiciary, chs. viii, xii,
xiv, xv, xvii, xxii. BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch.
xxvi. BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. xli.
HART, Actual Government, ch. ix. MCCLEARY, Studies in Civics, chs.
ii, vii. WILLOUGHBY, Rights and Duties of Citizenship, ch. vii.

=Illustrative Material.=--1. The legislative manual or blue book of
the state. 2. A map showing the division of the state into judicial
districts. 3. Copies of legal instruments, such as warrants of
arrest, indictments, subpoenas, summonses, etc.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the several grades of courts in your state? In what judicial
district or circuit do you live? Who is the judge for that district or
circuit?

2. What are the terms of the supreme court justices? The circuit or
district judges? The county judges? Do you think these terms are too
short? Would a good behavior term be better?

3. What is the pay of judges in your state? Do you think these salaries
are large enough to attract the best lawyers of the state? Are the
salaries fixed by the constitution or by act of the legislature?

4. How are the judges chosen? Has the existing method given
satisfaction? Do you think judges should engage in politics? Where they
are chosen by popular election, should they canvass the district or
state as other candidates do?

5. Are there separate chancery (equity) courts in your state? separate
probate courts? separate juvenile courts? If not, what courts have
jurisdiction of such matters as belong to such courts?

6. How are justices of the peace in your state chosen? What is the
extent of their jurisdiction in civil cases? in criminal cases? What is
the method of compensating justices of the peace?

7. How often is the circuit court held in your district? How often the
county court?

8. How are juries selected in your state? How could a better class of
jurors be selected? Do the good citizens show a disposition to shirk
jury duty? What are the merits and demerits of the jury system? Do you
think a unanimous verdict ought to be required in criminal cases?

9. Is the grand jury retained in your state for making indictments? If
not, how are indictments prepared? What is the difference between an
indictment and an information?

10. Why are citizens never justified in resorting to lynch law even when
there is a flagrant miscarriage of justice? Has there ever been a case
of lynching in your county?

11. What are some of the causes for the "delays of the law"? How could
delays be shortened and the trial of cases made more prompt?

12. What are the qualities of a good judge? Upon whom are the rights of
the people most dependent, the executive officers or the judges?

CHAPTER VII

SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS

=Nature of the Elective Franchise.=--The right of suffrage, that is, the
right to take part in the choice of public officials, is sometimes said
to be a natural and inherent right of the citizen, but in practice no
state acts upon such a principle. The better opinion, as well as the
almost universal practice, is that suffrage is not at all a matter of
right, but a privilege bestowed by the state upon those of its citizens
who are qualified to exercise it intelligently and for the public good.
No state allows all its citizens to vote; all the states restrict the
privilege to those who are at least twenty-one years of age; all confine
the privilege to those who are _bona fide_ residents of the community;
and some require educational, property, and other qualifications of
various kinds. On the other hand, eight states allow aliens who have
formally declared their intention of becoming citizens, to vote equally
with citizens in all elections.[20] The terms "voter" and "citizen,"
therefore, are not identical or synonymous.

[20] These states are Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska,
Oregon, South Dakota, and Texas.

=Existing Qualifications for Voting.=--In the early days of our history
restrictions on the voting privilege were much more numerous and
stringent than now. Most of the early constitutions limited the
privilege to property owners, and some prescribed religious tests in
addition. It is estimated that at the beginning of the nineteenth
century not more than one person in twenty had the right to vote,
whereas now probably the proportion is two in five.

_Federal Restriction._--In the United States the power to prescribe the
qualifications for voting in both national and state elections belongs
to the individual states, subject only to two provisions: in fixing the
suffrage they cannot abridge the privilege (1) on account of race,
color, or previous condition of servitude, or (2) on account of sex. The
first provision is found in the Fifteenth Amendment to the Federal
Constitution, adopted in 1870, and its purpose was to prevent the states
from denying the privilege of suffrage to negroes who by the Fourteenth
Amendment, adopted in 1868, had been made citizens of the United States.
The second provision is in the Nineteenth Amendment adopted in 1920.
These provisions do not, however, prevent the states from limiting the
privilege on other grounds, such as illiteracy, criminality, vagrancy,
nonpayment of taxes, and the like.

_The Residence Requirement._--In the first place, all the states require
residence for a specified period in the state and in the election
district in which the voter exercises his privilege of voting. The
purpose of this requirement is to confine the franchise to those who
have become identified with the interests of the community, and to
exclude outsiders or newcomers who are unfamiliar with local conditions
and unacquainted with the qualifications of the candidates. The required
length of residence in the state ranges from three months in Maine to
two years in most of the Southern states, the more usual requirement
being one year. The period of residence required in the county or
election district is shorter, the most common requirement being three
months in the county and one month in the election district.

_Educational Tests._--In addition to this requirement, nearly one third
of the states insist upon some kind of educational test. Connecticut in
1855 was the first state to require ability to read and write.
Massachusetts followed her example shortly thereafter, and the precedent
set by these two states was soon followed, with modifications, by
California, Maine, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Washington.

The adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, which indirectly
conferred the right to vote on the negro race, and the unfortunate
results which followed the enfranchisement of the large mass of blacks
in the South, led some of the Southern states to adopt educational and
other restrictions to diminish the evils of an ignorant suffrage.
Mississippi in 1890 took the initiative, and required ability either to
read the constitution of the state or to understand it when read by an
election officer. South Carolina followed her example in 1895, but with
the modification that an illiterate person who was the owner of at least
$300 worth of property should not be disfranchised. Louisiana, Alabama,
North Carolina, Virginia, Oklahoma, and Georgia followed with
restrictions based on similar principles. In several of these states,
however, the educational qualification does not apply to those who were
voters in 1867 (when the negro race was still unenfranchised), or to
their descendants, or to those who served in the army or navy during the
Civil War. But in 1915 the Supreme Court of the United States decided,
in the case of Oklahoma, that these so-called "grandfather" provisions
were unconstitutional.

_Other Persons Excluded._--Most of the states deny the right to vote to
convicted criminals, idiots, and insane persons; some, particularly
those of the South, insist that the voter must have paid his taxes; some
exclude vagrants, paupers, and inmates of public institutions.

=Woman Suffrage.=--For a long time women everywhere were denied the
right to vote, even long after their civil disabilities had been
removed. The principal arguments advanced by the opponents of woman
suffrage were: that active participation of women in political affairs
would tend to destroy their feminine qualities by forcing them into
political campaigns, and thus causing them to neglect their children;
that it would tend to introduce discord into family life by setting
husband against wife on political issues; that since women are incapable
of discharging all the obligations of citizenship, such as serving in
the army, militia, or police, they ought not to have all the privileges
of citizenship; that a majority of the women did not desire the
privilege of voting; and that men could be trusted to care for the
interests of the whole family.

[Illustration: VOTER CASTING A BALLOT]

[Illustration: WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARADE, WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 3, 1913]

_Arguments in Favor of Woman Suffrage._--In favor of giving the ballot
to women, it was argued that differences of sex do not constitute a
logical or rational ground for granting or withholding the suffrage if
the citizen is otherwise qualified; that women should be given the
ballot for their own self-protection against unjust class legislation;
that since millions of them had become wage earners and were competing
with men in nearly every trade and occupation and in many of the learned
professions, the argument that the wage earner should have the ballot as
a means of defense applied equally to women as to men; that since the
old civil disabilities to which they were formerly subject, such as the
inability to own real estate, enter into contracts, and engage in
learned professions had been removed, it followed logically that their
political disabilities should be removed also; and that since many of
them had become property owners and taxpayers it was unjust to permit
the shiftless nontaxpaying male citizen to take part in choosing public
officials and at the same time deny the right to women taxpayers.
Moreover, it was argued that the admission of women to a share in the
management of public affairs would elevate the tone of politics and
conduce to better government. Women are vitally interested in such
matters as taxation, education, sanitation, labor legislation, pure food
laws, and better housing conditions in the cities, and it was maintained
that in those states where they had been given the right to vote they
had been instrumental in securing wise legislation on many of these
subjects. Finally, it was argued, the fact that some women do not care
for the privilege is no reason why it should be denied to those who do
desire it.

_The Enfranchisement of Women._.--These arguments in favor of suffrage
for women gradually made a strong appeal to the men and one state after
another conferred a limited suffrage on women citizens. At first they
were allowed to vote in school elections, or in municipal elections, or
on proposed bond issues (if they were taxpayers). From this it was a
short step to equal suffrage with men in all elections and by 1920 there
were some sixteen states in which this right had been conferred upon
women. In the meantime various foreign countries, including England and
even Germany, had granted the full right of suffrage to women. After
long agitation on the part of American women, Congress in 1919 submitted
to the state legislatures an amendment to the Federal Constitution
providing for full woman suffrage in all the states, and this nineteenth
amendment was ratified in 1920.

=The Duty to Vote.=--The better opinion is that the exercise of the
suffrage is not only a high privilege conferred by the state on a select
class of its citizens, but is a duty as well. Among the great dangers of
popular government are indifference and apathy of the voters. If popular
government is to be a success, we must have not only an intelligent and
honest electorate but also one which is wide-awake and vigilant. Under a
democratic system of government like ours, the character of the
government is largely what the voters make of it. If we are to have
capable and honest officials to enact laws and enforce them, the voters
must see to it that such men are nominated and elected and compelled by
the pressure of a vigorous and alert public opinion to the faithful
performance of their duties. Every voter should inform himself as to the
qualifications of candidates for office and as to the merits of policies
upon which he is called to express an opinion, and having done this, he
ought to go to the polls and contribute his share to the election of
good men and the adoption of wise public measures.

_Compulsory Voting._--The question has sometimes been discussed as to
whether one who possesses the privilege of voting ought not to be
legally required to exercise it just as the citizen is compelled to
serve on the jury or in the militia. Several European countries, notably
Belgium and Spain, have adopted a system of compulsory suffrage under
which failure to vote is punishable by disfranchisement, an increase of
taxes, publication of the name of the negligent voter as a mark of
censure, etc. But however reprehensible the conduct of the citizen who
neglects his civic obligations and duties as a member of society, it is
hardly the province of the state to punish the nonperformance of such a
duty. Moreover, if required by law the duty might be exercised as a mere
form and without regard to the public good. Better results are likely to
be obtained by treating it as a moral duty and a privilege rather than a
legal obligation. But public opinion ought to condemn the citizen who
without good cause neglects his obligations to society, one of which is
the duty to take part in the election of those who are responsible for
the government of the country.

=The Registration Requirement.=--Nearly all of the states now require as
a preliminary condition to the exercise of the suffrage that the voter
shall be "registered," that is, that he shall have his name entered on a
list containing the names of all qualified voters in the election
district who are entitled to take part in the election. The purpose of
this requirement is to prevent double voting and other abuses of the
electoral privilege. In densely populated districts it is impossible for
the election judges to know personally all the voters, and hence without
some means of identifying them it would be difficult to prevent persons
outside the district from taking part in the election or to prevent
those properly qualified from voting more than once. In a few
communities, however, the old prejudice against such a requirement still
prevails; for example, the constitution of Arkansas declares that
registration shall not be required as a condition to the exercise of the
elective franchise.

_Methods of Registration._--Two general types of registration
requirements are now in existence. One is the requirement that the voter
shall present himself in person before the board of registration prior
to each election and get his name on the list. The chief objection to
this requirement is that it constitutes something of a burden to the
voter and often disfranchises him on account of his negligence or
inability to register on the day prescribed.

The other type of registration requirement is in force in Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania, and many other states. Where this system prevails, when
the voter's name is placed on the registration list, it is kept there so
long as he remains in the district, and it is unnecessary for him to
register each year. The principal criticism of this plan is that the
registration list is less likely to be correct, because the names of
persons who have died or moved away are likely to be kept on the list;
whereas under the other method they would be stricken off.

=Time of Holding Elections.=--National elections for the choice of
President and Vice President are held on the Tuesday after the first
Monday in November every four years. Elections for representatives in
Congress are held on the same date, in most states, every second year.
Elections for state officers are generally held on the same day as
national elections, though where state officers are chosen annually,
state elections of course come oftener. A few states, however, prefer to
hold their elections at a different date from that on which national
elections are held. Four states, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, and
Virginia, hold theirs in the odd years, while national elections always
occur in the even-numbered years. A few others which have their
elections in the even-numbered years hold them at a different time of
the year from that at which national elections are held. Thus Arkansas
and Maine hold their state elections in September, Georgia holds her
election in October, and Louisiana holds hers in April.

In many of the states an attempt is made to separate national and state
elections from municipal elections in order to encourage the voters to
select municipal officers without reference to state or national issues.
Thus in New York, where national and state elections occur biennially in
the even-numbered years, city elections are held in the odd-numbered
years. Likewise, in Illinois, city elections are held in April, while
state and national elections are held in November. So, too, in some
states judicial elections are held at a different date from other
elections, in order to minimize the influence of party politics in the
selection of judges.

Other local elections--township, county, and village--are held in some
cases at the same time as the state election, and in other cases such
elections, or some of them, are held on different days.

=Manner of Holding Elections.=--Before an election can be held, due
notice must be given of the time and place at which it is to be held and
the offices to be filled or the questions of public policy to be
submitted to the voters. For the convenience of the voters the county or
city is divided into districts or precincts each containing a
comparatively small number of voters, and for each district there is
provided a polling place with the necessary number of booths, ballot
boxes, and other election paraphernalia. The responsibility for
preparing the ballots, giving notice of the election, and providing the
necessary supplies is intrusted to certain designated officials.
Sometimes the county clerk, sometimes the city clerk, and sometimes, as
in the large cities, a board of election commissioners, performs these
duties.

_Election Officers._--At each polling place, on election day, there is a
corps of election judges or inspectors, poll clerks, ballot clerks, and
the like. Each party is allowed to have one or more watchers, and
frequently there is a police official to maintain order at the polls.
While the polls are open, electioneering within a certain number of feet
of the election place is forbidden, and usually no person except the
election officers, the watchers, and the person who is casting his
ballot are allowed in the polling room. Every polling place is equipped
with one or more voting booths which must be so constructed as to insure
secrecy on the part of the voter while he is marking his ballot. The
polls are opened at a designated hour, and before the balloting begins
the ballot boxes must be opened and exhibited to show that they are
empty, after which they are locked and the casting of the ballots
begins.

=Evolution of the Ballot.=--In the early days of our history, voting was
by _viva voce_, that is, by living voice. Each voter as he appeared at
the polling place was asked to state the names of the candidates for
whom he desired to vote, and this he did in a distinct voice that could
be heard by the bystanders as well as the election officials. The
obvious objection to such a method was that it did not secure secrecy,
and moreover it stimulated bribery because it was easy for a person who
purchased a vote to see that the vote was delivered as paid for. The
states soon began to experiment with the method of voting by ballot, and
the advantages were so evident that in time this method was adopted in
all of them, the last state to abandon the old method being Kentucky in
1891.

At first written ballots were generally used; then it became the
practice for each candidate to print his own ballots; and later each
party would put on the same ballot the names of all the party candidates
and have them printed at the expense of the party. Each of these methods
had its disadvantages. When the last method prevailed, for example, the
ballots of the different parties were printed on different colored
paper, so that it was easy to ascertain a voter's intentions by the
color of the ballot in his possession. These ballots were distributed
days before the election and were frequently marked by the voter before
going to the polls. Such a system not only made secret voting difficult,
but it afforded abundant opportunities for using undue influence over
certain classes of persons to compel them to vote for particular
candidates. To remove these and other evils which increased as time
passed, the Australian ballot system, with modifications, was introduced
into this country, first by the state of Massachusetts in 1888, and in
one form or another it is now found in practically all the states.

=The Australian Ballot.=--The distinguishing features of the Australian
system are the following: The names of all the candidates of every
political party are placed on a single ballot; this ballot is printed at
public expense and not by the candidates or parties; no ballots are
distributed before the election, and none are obtainable anywhere except
at the polls on election day, and then only when the voter presents
himself to vote; and the ballot can be marked only in voting booths
provided for the purpose, and in absolute secrecy.

The Australian system has been more or less modified in all the states
where it has been introduced, so that it really does not exist in its
pure form anywhere in this country, the nearest approach to it being the
Massachusetts system. The prevailing forms may be reduced to two general
types: the "office column" type, of which the Massachusetts ballot is a
good example; and the "party column" type found in Indiana and many
other states.

_The "Office Column" Ballot_ has the names of the candidates for each
office arranged in alphabetical order under the title of the office, and
to vote such a ballot it is necessary for the voter to look through each
column, pick out the candidate he favors, and mark a cross in a blank
space opposite each name for which he votes. To do this requires not
only considerable time, but a certain amount of intelligence and
discrimination.

[Illustration: OFFICE COLUMN BALLOT Part of Massachusetts Ballot of
November, 1908]

[Illustration: PARTY COLUMN BALLOT Part of Indiana Ballot of November,
1908]

_The "Party Column" Ballot_ arranges the candidates, not under the
offices which they are seeking, but in parallel columns according to
political parties, there being a column for each party. Opposite each
candidate's name on the "party column" ballot is a blank space, and at
the head of each column is a circle and usually a device or emblem to
indicate the party. By making a mark in this circle the voter may cast a
ballot for all the candidates of the party. This is called "straight"
voting. He may if he wishes, however, vote a "split" ticket by putting a
cross in the blank spaces opposite the names of candidates of his choice
in the different columns. The chief objection that has been urged
against this type of ballot is that by making it so easy to vote a
"straight" ticket, it encourages strict party voting, whereas
independent voting, especially in city elections, should be encouraged
by every possible means.

The "office column" ballot, on the other hand, encourages independent
voting by making it just as difficult to vote a "straight" ticket as a
"split" one. In Massachusetts there has been a remarkable amount of
independent voting, due partly to the form of ballot used. The "office
column" type of ballot is now used for all elections in about one fourth
of the states, and in a number of others for municipal elections.

=Ballot Reform.=--In recent years there has been considerable discussion
of the subject of ballot reform, and not a little experimenting with
different schemes. Political reformers generally demand the abolition of
the "party column" form, or at least the abolition of the party circle,
as a means of discouraging straight party voting, but the professional
politicians insist upon its retention. Whatever may be the form
ultimately adopted, one reform is desirable, namely, greater
simplification, to the end that the electoral franchise may be exercised
more intelligently and easily. In some of our states the number of
elective offices has increased to such proportions, and the ballot to
such size, that it has become a real burden to vote it.

A ballot used in Chicago in 1906 contained the names of over 330
candidates and was over two feet in length and nearly two feet in
width. From this bewildering array of names the voter was compelled
to pick out his choice for the following offices: state treasurer,
state superintendent of public education, trustees of the
University of Illinois, representative in Congress, state senator,
representative in the state assembly, sheriff, county treasurer,
county clerk, clerk of the circuit court, county superintendent of
schools, judge of the county court, judge of the probate court,
members of the board of assessors, judges of the municipal court
for the two-year term (nine to be elected), members of the board of
review, president of the board of county commissioners, county
commissioners (ten to be elected on general ticket), trustees of
the sanitary district of Chicago (three to be elected), clerk of
the municipal court, chief justice of the municipal court, judges
of the municipal court (nine to be elected), judges of the
municipal court for the four-year term (nine to be elected). In
Oregon in the election of 1912 the ballot contained the names of
177 candidates and 37 laws and amendments.

To vote ballots containing many names requires a good deal of care, if
not experience, to avoid error which will result in having it thrown
out, for the regulations governing the marking of the ballot are very
strict and must be observed if the vote is to be counted. Accordingly,
elaborate instructions covering large sheets are posted throughout the
election district and at the polls for the guidance of the voters, and
these have to be carefully studied by inexperienced voters who desire to
avoid mistakes. Sample ballots also may be provided for practice. One
result of the increasing complexity of the ballot is to give an
undesirable advantage to the professional politicians who understand how
to vote such ballots, and to discourage those who are not politicians.

_Voting Machines._--A few states have adopted voting machines,
especially for their large cities. These are so arranged that the voter
may, by going into a booth and pulling a number of knobs, register his
vote quickly and without the danger of spoiling his ballot. When the
polls are closed the results are already recorded on a dial, and the
long delay in counting the returns is eliminated. The chief objection to
the voting machine, however, is the expense, and this has prevented its
more general adoption.

=Formalities of Voting.=--When the voter presents himself at the
polls[21] he must announce his name and address to the election
officials. If his name is found on the registration list, he is given a
ballot and his name entered on the poll book. He then enters a booth,
where he marks his ballot, for which purpose he is allowed to remain
therein not exceeding a certain length of time. He must not mark his
ballot in such a way that it can be identified after it has been placed
in the ballot box, and no erasures are allowed. If he spoils his ballot
he will be given another, and if he is physically unable to mark it, or
if, in some states, he is illiterate, he will be allowed the assistance
of two persons representing different political parties. His right to
vote may be challenged, in which case he will be required to identify
himself or "swear in" his ballot, a record of which must be duly kept.
When he has marked his ballot he must fold it in such a manner as to
conceal its face, and hand it to one of the election judges, who
announces the name of the voter; the fact of his voting is recorded, and
the ballot placed in the box.

[21] Most states have laws allowing voters to leave work for a certain
length of time on election day without deduction of wages. A few states
provide means for taking the votes of those who are necessarily absent
on business on election day. Many states provide for taking the votes
of men serving as soldiers in time of war.

At a certain hour prescribed by law the polls are closed, after which
the votes are counted; and when this task is complete the returns are
announced. Generally the ballots must be preserved for several months in
order that an opportunity may be offered for a recount in case the
election is contested. Usually the ballots cannot be reopened and
recounted except by order of a court or of the committee on elections of
the legislature.

=Legislation Against Fraudulent Voting; Corrupt Practices Acts.=--For a
long time in this country there was little legislation designed to
regulate the conduct of elections and to protect the exercise of the
electoral privilege against fraud. The principal evils of the old system
were: lack of secrecy in voting; the use of separate ballots printed by
the candidates or their party organizations; the distribution of these
ballots before election day; lack of means for identifying the voters;
bribery, intimidation, treating, and the use of other objectionable
means for influencing voters; "repeating"; ballot box "stuffing"; and
the like. To eliminate or diminish these and other evils, practically
all the states have passed laws of one kind or another. They are
generally known as corrupt practices acts and are, for the most part,
based on the English law of 1883. Much of this legislation is detailed
and complex, and some of it is still in the experimental stage.

The corrupt use of money in elections has come to be one of the greatest
political evils of our time. The buying of votes is a very common
practice in some communities, and unfortunately is not as strongly
condemned by public opinion as it should be. Some 50 per cent of the
voters in one county of Ohio were disfranchised by the court for selling
their votes in the general election of 1910. The growth of great
corporations, many of which desire legislation in their interest, or
immunity from unfavorable laws, has introduced a more or less
corrupting element in our political life. Some states have enacted laws
forbidding corporations, under heavy penalties, from making
contributions to the campaign funds of political parties. Others have
forbidden the practice of political committees of assessing office
holders for campaign purposes. Some have gone to the length of
forbidding "treating" and other similar means of influencing voters.
Some limit the amount of money that may be spent by a candidate or his
friends in the conduct of his campaign, usually specifying the purposes
for which expenditures may be made. Thus the Connecticut and New York
laws allow expenditures only for such matters as the rent of halls,
compensation of speakers and musicians, fireworks, printing,
lithographs, advertisements, traveling expenses, postage, telegrams,
hiring of carriages to take voters to the polls, and the like. A few,
however, prohibit the hiring of carriages, and some forbid the giving
away of liquor at elections. Some states require candidates to make
sworn itemized statements of the expenditures incurred by them on
account of the election, and some fix the maximum amount that may be
expended. Thus in New York a candidate for governor may expend only
$10,000 on account of his candidacy; candidates for other state officers
are permitted to spend $6,000. The need of limitations was illustrated
by the fact that the Democratic candidate for governor of New York in
1906 spent over $256,000 in the prosecution of his candidacy, and a
candidate for state senator spent $30,000 to secure an election.[22] A
recent candidate for the United States senate in a Western state
admitted that his aggregate expenses were $107,000, and another
testified that he spent $115,000 in the effort to secure an election.

[22] Fuller, "Government by the People," p. 150.

_State Contributions to Party Campaign Funds._--In the belief that the
state ought to bear a part of the candidate's expenses, to the end that
the poor office seeker may be more nearly on an equal footing with the
candidate of means, Colorado recently passed a law providing that the
state should contribute to the campaign fund of each political party a
sum of money equal in amount to twenty-five cents for every vote cast by
the party for governor at the preceding election. The law allowed the
candidates themselves to spend their own money to aid in their election,
but prohibited other persons or corporations from making contributions.
In short, the expense was to be borne by the state and the candidate
alone. This Colorado law, however, was declared unconstitutional by the
state courts.

_Other Restrictions._--In some states also the expenditures of party
committees are limited, and such committees are required to make sworn
statements of their expenditures and the purposes for which they were
made. Several states prohibit the payment by other persons of a voter's
poll tax where the payment of such a tax is a condition to the voting
privilege.

Everywhere there are laws against bribery, intimidation, fraudulent
voting, and most of the other election offenses. More and more, public
sentiment demands that elections shall be free from the taint of
corruption, to the end that the results shall represent the real choice
of the people and thus popular government made to be what its founders
intended that it should be.

=References.=--BEARD, American Government and Politics, pp.
453-457; also ch. xxiii. FULLER, Government by the People, chs.
ii-vi, viii-xi. GARNER, Introduction to Political Science, ch. xv.
HART, Actual Government, ch. iv.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. Legislative manual or
blue book of the state. 2. The election laws of the state. 3. Copy
of instructions to voters. 4. Specimen ballots.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the qualifications for voting in your state?

2. When were women first allowed to vote in your state?

3. Are there any offices in your state held by women?

4. How many voters are there in your state?

5. Is there a registration requirement?

6. Do you think the right to vote should be restricted to persons who
are able to read and write?

7. Give the date on which state elections are held in your state; city
elections; judicial elections. Why should national, state, and city
elections be held on different dates?

8. Name some offices in your state now filled by popular election which
in your opinion should be filled by appointment.

9. Who are the election officers in your county?

10. What is the usual location of the polling place in your ward or
precinct?

11. Explain the difference between a "party column" and an "office
column" ballot. Which type of ballot is used in your state? In case the
former is used does it contain a party circle and a party symbol at the
head of each column?

12. Procure a specimen ballot used at the last election and explain how
to mark and cast it.

13. Are voting machines used in your state? If so, where?

14. Is there a law in your state against the improper use of money in
elections? Does it specify the purposes for which campaign expenditures
may be made? Are candidates required to make sworn statements of their
election expenses? Are there any limitations on the amount a candidate
is allowed to spend?

15. Do you think corporations should be prohibited from making
contributions to the campaign funds of political parties?

CHAPTER VIII

POLITICAL PARTIES AND NOMINATING METHODS

=Nature and Functions of Political Parties.=--Political parties are
organized by groups of voters for the purpose of promoting the success
of the policies in which they believe, and in order to secure the
nomination and election of public officials who are in sympathy with
those policies. Men differ in their opinions on matters of government as
they do on matters of religion, and hence they come to constitute well
differentiated groups. Whenever such a group becomes large enough to
prosecute a concerted policy and organizes itself for the purpose of
furthering its views in governmental matters, it becomes a political
party. A political party is, therefore, composed of voters who hold
substantially the same opinions in regard to certain public questions or
certain principles of government. It is a purely voluntary organization,
however, and any voter may decline to ally himself with any party, or,
having done so, may change to another party whenever he wishes, or he
may unite with others of a like mind and form a new party. While men can
probably further the cause of good government best by means of
organization and concert of action, no citizen should think more of his
party than he does of his country, and whenever the purposes of a
political party are prostituted for other ends than the public good no
voter should feel morally bound to continue his support of such a party.

[Illustration: A NATIONAL NOMINATING CONVENTION]

_National Parties._--Under a system of popular government where public
policies are determined by the people and public officials are chosen by
popular election, political parties are inevitable if not essential.
Almost from the beginning, therefore, we have had political parties in
this country, each believing in certain policies and each endeavoring to
gain control of the government in order to carry out those policies. For
the promotion of policies that are national in character, such as those
relating to the tariff, the currency, or the foreign policy of the
country, national parties have been formed with organizations extending
throughout the entire country.

_Local Parties._--For the most part the organization of the national
parties extends downward through the states and their local
subdivisions, and are made use of in local as well as in national
elections. As the issues which divide the people in national elections,
however, are not always the same as those which divide them in state and
local elections, we sometimes have a realignment of parties in local
contests, and sometimes new parties of a local character are organized.
This, in fact, is to be desired for the reason that issues of a local
character ought not to be determined with reference to the views of men
on issues of a national character. It is wrong, for example, for
Democrats and Republicans who agree upon the issues involved in a
municipal election to oppose each other in such a contest merely because
they do not agree on the expediency of a protective tariff or of a gold
standard in money matters. In purely local elections national party
lines should cut no figure; local issues should be judged wholly on
their merits without reference to national questions.

=Existing Political Parties in the United States.=--At the present time
there are two great political parties in the United States, the
Democratic party and the Republican party, each with an organization
extending to every part of the country, and together including the great
majority of the voters.

_The Democratic Party._--In a general way, we may say that the
Democratic party is composed of men who believe that the sphere of the
national government should not be extended beyond what a strict
interpretation of the Federal Constitution warrants; that the rights of
the states should be interfered with as little as possible; and that the
activities of government, whether national, state, or local, should be
kept down to a minimum so that the individual shall be allowed the
largest measure of freedom consistent with the maintenance of order,
peace, and security. This party has uniformly opposed a protective
tariff, ship subsidies, imperialism, and the extension of the powers of
the national government through "constructions" of the Constitution. On
the money question the party has not always been united, though for the
most part it has opposed the single gold standard and favored a
bimetallic standard coupled with the free coinage of silver as well as
of gold.

_The Republican Party_ has contended for a liberal interpretation of the
Federal Constitution, especially those parts relating to the powers of
the national government, which it desires to see extended; it has shown
less sympathy than the Democratic party for the rights of the states; it
is the champion of the protective tariff, of internal improvements under
federal auspices, of colonial expansion, liberal pensions for soldiers
and sailors of the Civil War, of subventions for the merchant marine,
negro suffrage, and of a gold monetary standard. From the accession of
the Republican party to power in 1860 with the election of Abraham
Lincoln as President, down to 1913, it controlled the executive
department of the national government continually with the exception of
eight years when Grover Cleveland was President (1885-1889; 1893-1897).
During most of that period it controlled Congress, though several times
the Democratic party had a majority in one or the other house and
occasionally for a short time it was in the majority in both houses.

Some state governments are controlled by one party, and some by the
other. Since 1875 the Democratic party has usually been in power in
nearly all of the Southern states, and the Republican party in more than
half of the other states; but in some states control often shifts from
one party to the other.

_The Progressive Party_ was organized in 1912 mainly but not wholly by
those members of the Republican party who felt that this party was not
sufficiently progressive in its policies and that it attached rather too
much importance to the interests of special classes and too little to
the rights of the masses of the people. First of all, it advocated a
larger social and industrial justice for men and women, especially the
working classes. It favored national jurisdiction over such matters as
cannot be effectively regulated by the states; public ownership of
forests, coal and oil lands, and water power; and suffrage for women. At
the election of 1912 the new party polled a total vote of 4,100,000 for
its presidential candidate, Theodore Roosevelt; but a few years later
the party went out of existence.

_The Prohibition Party._--Besides the Democratic, Republican, and
Progressive parties, there are several minor parties with organizations
of a national character. The oldest of these is the Prohibition party,
organized in 1872 to promote the movement for the abolition of the
manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. Since its organization,
it has regularly nominated candidates for President and Vice President
of the United States, and in many states it nominates candidates for
state offices and for the legislature. Not infrequently it has succeeded
in electing some of its candidates to the legislature, and it has been
instrumental in securing the enactment of local option laws and even
state-wide prohibition laws in several states.

_The Socialist Labor Party_, organized in 1892, advocates government
ownership of land, railways, telegraph lines, and other means of
production and transportation. _The Socialist Party_, organized in 1904
mainly from the Socialist Labor party, advocates essentially the same
views. At the election of 1912 it cast about 900,000 votes throughout
the country, and in 1916 about 600,000. In 1919 a large section of the
party, composed of radicals who advocate the Bolshevist régime of
government by the working class, split off and formed the _Communist
Party_.

=Party Organization.=--Political parties, like other associations which
have ends to promote, must have organization. For the conduct of
national campaigns, each of the parties has a national organization; for
state purposes there is a state organization; and usually there are a
county and a district organization. The characteristic feature of party
organization is the use which is made of committees. The organization
everywhere consists of a committee, at the head of which is a chairman,
and which has also a treasurer and usually a secretary. The chairman is
usually an experienced political leader; sometimes he is at the same
time an office holder.

_The Convention._--The policies of the party are formulated by a
convention which is a representative gathering composed of delegates
chosen directly by the members of the party or by local conventions. The
national convention, to be described hereafter, is composed of a
certain number of delegates from each state, while the state convention
is composed of delegates chosen from the counties, the legislative
districts, or other units. The county convention is composed of
delegates from the districts into which the county is divided, and the
city convention of delegates from the wards or precincts. This is the
usual rule, but here and there are variations. The state convention
formulates the principles of the party and sets them forth in a document
called the platform; it nominates the candidates of the party, except in
those states where they are nominated by a direct primary; and it
appoints the central committee, selects the chairman, and transacts such
other business as may come before it. It is, in short, the supreme
sovereign authority of the party in the state. It is usually a large
body, sometimes comprising 1,000 or more delegates, and in Massachusetts
as many as 2,000.

_Committees._--The committee is a select body for carrying on the
campaign and attending to such other matters as may be intrusted to it.
The national committee is composed of one member from each state; the
state committee, usually of delegates from the counties or legislative
districts. The New York Republican state committee is composed of one
delegate from each congressional district in the state, while the
Democratic committee consists of one delegate from each of the fifty-one
senatorial districts of the state. Similarly, the county committee is
made up of delegates representing the political units into which the
county is divided, towns, precincts, etc. Sometimes the county committee
is a very large and representative body. The Republican committee of New
York county is made up of about 700 delegates, each delegate
representing 200 Republican voters in the county.

In the cities, there is not only the general city committee, but also a
local committee for each ward or precinct. These ward committees come
into close relation with the voters, and the success of the party
depends to a large degree upon their activity.

=Primaries.=--As soon as political parties were definitely formed it
became necessary to devise some sort of machinery for selecting the
candidates which the party desired to put forward. In the beginning
candidates for local offices were presented to the voters upon their own
announcement or by a caucus (an informal meeting of the leading men of
the party) or a primary (a mass meeting of the members of the party). In
time the caucus, except as a means of selecting candidates for offices
in legislative bodies, fell into disrepute, and the method of nomination
by a convention composed of delegates representing the party became the
accepted method. The delegates are chosen by the members of the party at
an election called a primary, so called because it is the first or
original meeting of the party voters in the process of choosing public
officials.

_Former Lack of State Control._--The calling of the primary, the manner
of conducting it, and the fixing of the party test, that is, the
determination of who may take part in the primary, are matters which for
a long time were regulated by each party according to its own notions,
without interference upon the part of the state. In short, it was
assumed that the state had no interest in the manner in which political
parties nominated their candidates, and it therefore kept its hands off.
The control of the primaries, particularly in the more populous centers,
fell into the hands of a small number of political leaders, or "bosses,"
who virtually dictated the nominations. Sometimes the primaries were
held at times or places unknown to the bulk of the members of the
party, or at inaccessible places, or in rooms inadequate to accommodate
the mass of the voters. They were sometimes packed with henchmen of
certain candidates; sometimes large numbers of the voters were kept away
by "sluggers" or were intimidated by domineering leaders; sometimes the
qualifications for participating in the primary were fixed in such a
manner as to exclude the great mass of the voters. Men of other parties
were sometimes brought in to aid in effecting the nomination of
particular candidates, ballot boxes were "stuffed" or other frauds
committed, and often the votes were fraudulently counted. In short, the
abuses became so intolerable as to create a widespread demand for the
regulation of primaries by law so that the results might more truly
represent the real opinions of the members of the party.

_State Regulation of Primaries._--Accordingly, one state after another
began to pass laws regulating the holding of primaries, on the ground
that the state was as much interested in the nomination of candidates as
it was in the election of those nominated, for it was obvious that
unless nominations were fairly made and unless the candidates selected
really represented the free choice of the people, popular government
would be at an end, since in many communities a nomination was
equivalent to an election. At first, the laws enacted by the states for
the regulation of primary elections were simple, and were designed to
prevent only a few of the worst abuses that had grown up. They usually
applied only to the large cities, and in many cases they were optional
in character, that is, they applied only to such communities as chose to
conduct their primaries in accordance with the laws thus passed.
Beginning about 1890, however, the legislatures here and there began to
enact state-wide primary laws which were mandatory upon all localities
and all parties, and applied to nominations for the great bulk of the
offices filled by popular election.

=Existing Primary Laws.=--At present nearly every state has a law
regulating in some way the holding of primary elections. In general,
these laws apply to every organized political party that cast at least a
certain number of votes at the preceding election; and they provide that
the primaries of all such parties shall be held on the same day (in some
states at the same polling places, and by the same officials that hold
the regular elections), and in accordance with the rules and safeguards
governing the regular elections. They fix the date on which the
primaries shall be held and require that due notice shall be given
thereof; they prescribe the manner of nominating delegates (and such
candidates for public office as are chosen directly by the primaries);
they provide for the use of official ballots printed at public expense;
they contain provisions in regard to the organization and powers of the
party committees, and in general they regulate everything relating to
the conduct of the primaries that would be a subject of regulation if
they were regular elections.

_The Party Test._--One of the most difficult problems in the enactment
of legislation concerning the primary election is how to prescribe
fairly the qualifications that must be possessed by those who shall be
allowed to participate in the primary. It is often embarrassing and
disagreeable for a voter when he appears at the polls to cast his vote
to be compelled to reveal his party affiliation, yet unless he is
required to do so, the adherents of one party might easily participate
in the primary of another with a view to bringing about the nomination
of its weakest candidates. Thus in a Western city some years ago where
the primary law did not require a declaration of party affiliation, a
large number of the members of one party entered the primary of the
opposite party and brought about the nomination of their weakest
candidate for mayor, and thus at the regular election the party to which
the "invaders" belonged was easily able to defeat him with its own
candidate. An "open" primary is open to any and all voters. Most primary
laws, however, insist upon a statement by the voter of his party
affiliation as a condition to participation in the primary, which is
therefore called a "closed" primary. Usually the test of membership is
that the voter must have affiliated with the party at the last election,
and sometimes he must pledge himself to support at the coming election
the candidates nominated at the primary of the party in which he
participates.

As a closed primary is an election by the members of a political party,
independents, or those who are not adherents of any party, are not
allowed to participate. This discourages reform movements by independent
voters, but there seems to be no way to remedy the matter. Sometimes an
exception is made in the primaries for the nomination of candidates for
city offices, on the ground that party lines should not be strictly
drawn in local contests and that independent movements should be
encouraged.

=Nominations by Conventions.=--Before the introduction of the method of
nominating candidates by the direct primary, to be described hereafter,
the universal method of nomination was by convention, and this is still
the prevailing method in many states.

_Preliminary Organization of a Convention._--The convention, as
previously stated, is composed of delegates chosen at a primary
election. The date and place of holding the convention are announced by
the party committee some weeks in advance. It is called to order by the
chairman of the committee, after which a temporary chairman of the
convention is elected, and not infrequently a spirited contest takes
place over the election, especially when there is likely to be a
struggle for the nomination of the principal officers which the
convention has been called to nominate. The temporary chairman, upon
taking the chair, usually delivers an address in which he extols the
party for its achievements in the past, after which usually four
committees are appointed: one on organization, one on rules, one on
resolutions, and one on credentials.

_Convention Committees._--Frequently rival delegations appear from some
county or district, and the convention must decide which one is entitled
to seats. Questions of this kind are referred to the committee on
credentials, which, after hearing both sides, reports to the convention
recommending which delegation shall be seated, and the recommendation of
the committee usually, though not always, is approved. Sometimes,
however, both contesting delegations are seated, each delegate being
allowed half a vote.

The committee on rules frames the rules of procedure by which the
business of the convention is to be transacted; its report is usually
adopted without alteration.

The committee on permanent organization proposes the names of candidates
for permanent chairman, secretary, and such other officers of the
convention as may be needed. The officers suggested by this committee
are usually elected, though sometimes the convention elects a different
ticket.

The chairman of the committee on resolutions presents a draft of the
platform, which is adopted by the convention, usually, though not
always, without change.

_The Nominations._--The convention is now ready for the chief business
for which it was called, namely, the nomination of candidates which the
party desires to put forward for the offices to be filled at the coming
election. The names of the candidates are usually presented to the
convention in highly eulogistic speeches, and the nominations are
generally seconded by one or more delegates. The balloting then proceeds
until the nominations are all made. Sometimes where more than two
candidates are placed in nomination no one of them is able to secure a
majority, and a "deadlock" ensues, lasting maybe for days or even weeks,
and terminated by the nomination of a "dark horse."

_Objections to the Convention Method._--When deadlocks occur, the "dark
horse" chosen is likely to be an inferior candidate. Another objection
to the method of nomination by convention is that the nominations are
frequently determined by a small number of leaders or "bosses" who
control the convention, and thus the nominations do not represent the
choice of the party. How a convention may be thus controlled by a few
politicians is thus stated by a careful writer who is fully conversant
with party methods:[23]

[23] Fuller, "Government by the People," pp. 61-63.

"The program of the convention, in practice, is almost always
decided upon down to the minutest detail, before the convention
meets. The party leader, or 'boss,' and his lieutenants discuss the
relative claims of candidates and decide who shall be nominated.
The party platform is written and submitted to the 'boss' for his
approval. The officers of the convention are agreed upon and their
speeches revised. All this is outside the law, which ignores the
existence of the party leader and assumes that the delegates are
free to exercise their own judgment. The real interest in the
convention is usually centered in the secret conferences of the
leaders which precede it and in which the contests over the
nominations are fought out, sometimes with much stubbornness. The
'slate' is finally made up by agreement between leaders who control
a majority of the delegates in the convention. The leaders of the
minority may either surrender or they may register their protest
by presenting the names of other candidates in the convention with
the certainty of defeat, for it is rare in state conventions that
there is so equal a division of strength as to leave the result in
doubt.

"While the leaders are settling what the convention is to do, the
delegates are left to their own devices, ignorant of what is going
on in the 'headquarters' where the leaders are assembled. They are
not consulted and their advice is not asked. It often happens that
they do not know whom they are to nominate until they hear for the
first time in the convention hall the names of the candidates
agreed upon by the leaders. Although the law gives them the right
to bring forward the names of other candidates, they seldom
exercise it, and the delegate bold enough to disobey orders is
regarded with disapproval."

=Nomination by the People: the Direct Primary.=--About 1889, because of
growing dissatisfaction with the convention system, some of the states
began to experiment with the method of popular nomination, that is,
direct nomination by the primary instead of by convention. Instead of
calling on the voters to choose delegates to a convention to which the
task of nomination was intrusted, they were now called upon to vote
directly for the candidates themselves. It was said that if the voters
were competent to choose delegates to a convention they were equally
competent to select the candidates themselves. The movement for the
direct primary, as it was called, spread rapidly particularly in the
South and West. Thus the convention has been done away with in a large
number of states except where it is still retained to frame platforms,
appoint the central committee, and select delegates to the national
convention, and in some states it has been abolished even for these
purposes, other means having been provided for taking care of these
matters.

_Objections._--The direct primary has been criticized because under it
candidates for state offices need to canvass the entire state in order
to become acquainted with the voters--a task which requires much time
and is very expensive. Such a system, it is argued, gives the candidate
of leisure and wealth a decided advantage over the poor man who cannot
afford the large expense involved.

The direct primary method, however, has given general satisfaction where
it has been adopted.

=Nomination by Petition.=--While most candidates for public office are
nominated by the recognized political parties, the laws of many states
allow candidates to be nominated also by petition of independent voters.
The procedure of nomination by petition is for the candidate or his
friends to prepare a nomination paper or petition containing the title
of the office to be filled, together with the name and residence of the
candidate, get a certain number of voters to sign it, and then file it
with the proper election officer. The number of signatures necessary to
nominate varies according to the nature of the office to be filled and
the population of the district or territory over which the jurisdiction
of the office extends. Thus in New York a petition for the nomination of
a candidate for a state office must contain the signatures of at least
12,000 legal voters (including at least 50 from each county), while in
Massachusetts 1,000 is sufficient. For the nomination of candidates for
local offices the number of petitioners required is smaller. Thus in New
York candidates for the legislature may be nominated by 500 voters; in
Massachusetts candidates for local offices may be nominated by petitions
signed by one per cent of the number of voters.

=References.=--BEARD, American Government and Politics, chs. vii,
xxx. BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. xlv.
FULLER, Government by the People, chs. iv, v, xi. HART, Actual
Government, ch. v. MERRIAM, Primary Elections, chs. i, v.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. Legislative manual or
blue book of the state. 2. Copy of the primary election law of the
state. 3. Democratic and Republican campaign textbooks. 4. Copies
of party platforms. 5. Specimen ballots. 6. Copies of delegates'
credentials, nomination certificates, petitions, etc.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Do you consider political parties essential under a system of popular
government? Would it be better if there were in each state of the Union
at least two strong political parties instead of one, as is virtually
the case in some of the Southern states as well as in some of the North?

2. Do you think every voter ought to join some political party and
support its candidates and policies? Suppose he does not approve the
candidates which it has nominated and the policies which it has adopted,
what should he do? Ought independent voting to be encouraged? If so,
why?

3. How many votes were cast by the Democratic party in your state for
governor at the last election? How many by the Republican party?

4. How is the state central committee of each party constituted in your
state? Who are the members from your county or district?

5. At what places were the last state conventions of the Democratic and
Republican parties held in your state? How many delegates were there in
each?

6. How are municipal officers nominated in your state?

7. Is there a primary law in your state? If so, what are its provisions?

8. Has the method of nomination by direct primary been introduced into
your state? If so, to what offices does it apply? How are members of
party committees selected? What test does the primary law of your state
provide for participation in the primary? Does it permit the people to
express their choice for United States senator? In what order are
candidates arranged on the primary ballot? Did a large proportion of the
voters take part in the last primary election? What is the date fixed
for holding the primary?

9. Are any officers nominated in your state by conventions?

10. If candidates are nominated by a direct primary in your state, what
is the method devised for preparing the platform of the party?

CHAPTER IX

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNION

=The Articles of Confederation.=--The Continental Congress, which
managed the common affairs of the Union during the early stages of the
Revolution, was a body whose authority was not defined by any
constitution or fundamental law. It assumed large powers in the belief
that the people, relying upon its patriotism and wisdom, would acquiesce
in its acts. As yet, however, the states were not closely united, and
each was free to go its own way. As time passed, the advantages of union
became more manifest, and the states began to recognize the desirability
of creating a common government with larger powers and with definite
authority. After a debate lasting off and on for more than a year,
Congress adopted in November, 1777, an instrument called the Articles of
Confederation, which was to go into effect when ratified by all the
states.

_Ratification of the Articles._--During the years 1778 and 1779, all the
states except Maryland ratified the Articles. Maryland withheld her
approval because she doubted the advantage of a union among states, some
of which held vast territory in the West while some did not. The states
claiming lands northwest of the Ohio River were Virginia, New York,
Massachusetts, and Connecticut. As these lands had been wrested from
Great Britain while that power was weakened by her war with all the
states, Maryland insisted, as a condition to her adhesion, that the
states claiming these lands should surrender them to the nation for the
benefit of all the states. This argument appealed to the sense of
patriotism and justice of the states claiming this northwestern
territory, and in the course of the next few years they ceded most of
their lands to the United States for the common benefit. When it became
certain that this would be done, Maryland ratified the Articles, and the
Confederation of the states was completed.

=Government under the Articles.=--The Confederation thus formed was
styled a "firm league of friendship" under the name of "the United
States of America," and its declared purpose was to provide for the
common defense of the states, the security of their liberties, and their
mutual and general welfare. To secure these ends the states bound
themselves to assist each other against all attacks upon either or all
of them, upon any pretense whatever.

For the management of certain affairs common to the states composing the
Confederation, the Articles provided for an annual Congress of delegates
to be chosen by the states, no state to be represented by less than two
members or more than seven. Unlike the Continental Congress, the
Congress of the Confederation was given express power to deal with
certain affairs, and therefore it did not have to assume the powers it
exercised. Among these were the power to declare war and make peace; to
send and receive diplomatic representatives; to enter into treaties; to
make rules regarding captures on the high seas; to grant letters of
marque and reprisal; to settle disputes between the states, upon
petition of the disputants; to regulate the alloy and value of coin,
whether struck under the authority of Congress or by the states; to fix
the standard of weights and measures throughout the United States; to
regulate trade and intercourse with the Indians; to make rules for the
government of the land and naval forces; to establish post offices; and
a few other powers of a like character.

No provision, however, was made for an executive department or for a
national judiciary, with the single exception of a court of appeal in
cases involving captures on the high seas in time of war.

_Prohibitions on the States._--In the interest of the general peace and
security, the states were forbidden, except with the consent of
Congress, to send diplomatic representatives to foreign countries, or
enter into treaties or alliances, or levy any duties on articles
imported from abroad, if such duties should conflict with the provisions
of foreign treaties; or keep ships of war in times of peace; or engage
in war; or grant letters of marque and reprisal.

=Defects of the Articles of Confederation.=--Although the Articles of
Confederation proved of great value in securing concert of action among
the states in certain matters, the weaknesses of the union which they
created and the defects of the governmental machinery provided by them
soon proved serious.

_The States Retained too Much Power._--The union turned out to be the
loosest sort of a league, in which the states for the most part did as
they pleased. Each retained its own sovereignty and could not be
compelled to perform its obligations as a member of the Confederation.
Some of them deliberately violated the treaty of peace with Great
Britain, and the Congress was unable to prevent such infractions.
Congress being thus powerless to carry out the stipulations of the
treaty, Great Britain refused to perform her obligations thereunder.
Since no executive department and no courts were created to enforce and
apply the laws passed by Congress, the nation had to depend upon the
states to carry out its will.

_The Congress was not well Organized._--In the organization and
procedure of Congress there were serious defects. No member could serve
for more than three years in six, and each state paid its own members
and might recall them at pleasure. Thus the dependence of the
representative upon his state was emphasized and his character as a
national representative minimized. Worse than this was the provision
that allowed each state, regardless of its population and size, but one
vote in Congress. Thus Georgia with a population of only a few thousand
souls enjoyed the same power in all matters of national legislation that
Virginia did, although the population of Virginia was some sixteen times
as great. Still another serious weakness was the rule which required the
assent of nine states to pass any important bill, such as those for
borrowing or appropriating money, issuing bills of credit, declaring
war, entering into treaties, coining money, building war ships, raising
military forces, selecting commanders, and the like. As it was
frequently impossible to secure the concurrence of so large a proportion
of the states, needed legislation was often prevented by the opposition
of a few members or by the lack of a quorum. Thus in April, 1783, there
were present only twenty-five members from eleven states, nine being
represented by only two members each. It would have been possible,
therefore, for three members to defeat any important measure.[24]

[24] Andrews, "Manual of the Constitution," p. 38.

_Congress had No Power of Taxation._--Not only were the defects in the
organization and procedure of Congress of a serious character, but the
powers conferred upon it by the Articles of Confederation were so meager
that its authority was little more than a shadow and carried little
weight. One of the essential powers of government is that of taxation,
yet the Congress had no authority to impose a dollar of taxes on any
individual in the land. Money was needed to pay the soldiers who were
fighting the battles of the country, to pay the salaries and expenses of
diplomatic representatives who had been sent to Europe to negotiate
treaties and solicit the aid of foreign friends, to pay interest on
loans incurred in France and Holland, to defray the cost of building war
ships and equipping the army, and to meet the various other expenses
which every government must needs incur, yet the government of the
Confederation was powerless to raise the necessary funds by taxation. In
the absence of all power to levy and collect taxes, Congress adopted the
policy of apportioning the national expenses among the states. But no
state could be compelled to contribute a dollar toward its quota; some
of them in fact contributed little, and most of those which did respond
to the appeal of Congress did so grudgingly and tardily. Of the
$15,000,000 apportioned among the states between 1781 and 1786 less than
$2,000,000 was actually paid in. Often there was not a dollar in the
treasury of the Confederation to pay the obligations of the government.

Two attempts were made to amend the Articles of Confederation so as to
give Congress power to levy a five per cent tariff duty on imported
goods, but since it required the assent of each of the thirteen states
to adopt an amendment, the scheme fell through, in both cases on account
of the opposition of a single state.

_Congress had No Power to Regulate Commerce_, either with foreign
countries or among the states themselves. This was a serious defect.
Each state had its own tariff system and its own customhouses, and
collected its own duties on goods brought into its ports from abroad. As
each state was anxious to exploit this source of revenue for itself, it
naturally framed its tariff regulations and tonnage laws in such a way
as to attract foreign commerce to its own ports. And so it was with
regard to commerce among the states themselves. Each framed its trade
regulations with its neighbors according to its own selfish interests
and without regard to the general good. The result was continual
jealousies, dissensions, and sometimes reprisals and retaliations. New
York levied an import duty on certain articles brought in from its less
fortunate neighbors, Connecticut and New Jersey, and each in turn
retaliated as best it could. For purposes of foreign and interstate
commerce, each state was a nation itself, and the Confederation was a
nonentity.

=The Annapolis Convention.=--The worst evils described above reached a
climax in 1786, and the political leaders of America such as Hamilton
and Washington were convinced that the government of the Confederation
must either be revised or superseded entirely by a new system. In
September, 1786, there assembled at Annapolis, Maryland, a convention of
delegates from five states, namely, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, and Virginia, called at the instance of the legislature of
Virginia to take into consideration the subject of uniform trade
regulation among the states, the lack of which had come to be one of the
chief evils of the Confederation. So few states were represented that
the convention decided not to enter upon the business for which it had
been called, but instead determined to put forth an effort to bring
about the assembling of a convention representing all the states and
empowered to take into consideration the question of a general revision
of the Articles of Confederation so as to render them more adequate to
the needs of the nation. Accordingly, a resolution prepared by Alexander
Hamilton, one of the delegates from New York, was adopted, calling on
the states to appoint delegates to a convention to be held at
Philadelphia on the second Monday in May next, for the purpose of
revising the Articles of Confederation.

=The Constitutional Convention of 1787; Personnel.=--In pursuance of
this resolution, all the states except Rhode Island promptly appointed
delegates, the failure of Rhode Island being due to her satisfaction
with the Confederation, under which she enjoyed larger commercial
advantages than she could hope to enjoy if the Articles were amended so
as to take away from the states their control over commerce. Altogether
fifty-five members sat in the convention at one time or another, though
only thirty-nine signed the Constitution. From Virginia came George
Washington, Edmund Randolph, and James Madison; from Massachusetts,
Rufus King and Elbridge Gerry; from Connecticut, William Samuel Johnson
and Roger Sherman; from New Hampshire, John Langdon; from New York,
Alexander Hamilton; from New Jersey, William Livingston and William
Paterson; from Pennsylvania, Benjamin Franklin, Robert and Gouverneur
Morris, Jared Ingersoll, and James Wilson; from Delaware, John
Dickinson; and from South Carolina, John Rutledge, Charles Pinckney, and
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Some of the delegates, as Benjamin
Franklin, had been members of the Albany Congress as far back as 1754;
some had been members of the Stamp Act Congress of 1765; most of them
had served in the Continental or Confederation Congresses; and a number
of them were signers of the Declaration of Independence. A great many of
them had served in the legislatures of their states, and of the whole
number there was not one who had not had some legislative experience.

=The Work of the Convention of 1787.=--When the convention had been duly
organized, "plans" of a proposed constitution were submitted by the
delegations of several states, and these became the bases of the
discussion which followed.

_The Virginia Plan._--The plan submitted by the Virginia delegation
represented the views of delegates from the larger and more populous
states, and the Constitution as finally adopted embodied more largely
the features of this plan than those of any other. The most important
resolution of this plan was that a national government ought to be
established consisting of a supreme legislative, judiciary, and
executive. This resolution, adopted in committee of the whole, went
directly to the root of the chief evil of the existing system, which
contained no provision for an executive or a judicial department. It
recognized also what has come to be a fundamental doctrine of American
political science, namely, the separation of the legislative, executive,
and judicial functions.

_The New Jersey Plan._--The views of delegates from the small states
were embodied in the New Jersey plan, which was laid before the
convention by William Paterson. In general, the New Jersey plan provided
for the retention of the principal features of the existing system,
except that it proposed to enlarge the powers of Congress so as to make
its authority more effective. This was all, in the judgment of the small
states, that was necessary to remove the existing evils.

_The Problem of Representation in Congress._--The convention without
much discussion decided that Congress should consist of two chambers or
houses instead of one as was the case under the Articles of
Confederation. This done, the next problem was to determine the basis of
representation in each. This proved to be one of the most difficult
tasks of the convention. The delegates from the large states insisted
that representation in both houses should be based on population, so
that a state such as Virginia with sixteen times the population of
Georgia should have sixteen times as many representatives in Congress.
But to this system of proportional representation, the delegates from
the small states objected. They maintained that the importance of a
state was not to be measured by its population; that the states were
sovereign political entities, and when it came to participation in the
government of the nation they were all equal, large and small alike.
There was no more reason, said a delegate from one of the small states,
why a large state should have more representation in Congress than that
a large man should have more votes than a small man. For a time the
differences seemed irreconcilable, and more than once it looked as if
the convention would be disrupted on this question. The spirit of
compromise triumphed, however, and it was finally agreed that the states
should be represented equally in the senate but in proportion to their
population in the house of representatives. As a result of this rule,
Nevada to-day with a population of less than 100,000 sends the same
number of senators to Washington as does New York with a population of
some 10,000,000 souls. New York, on the other hand, sends forty-three
representatives to Congress while Nevada sends but one. This was the
first great compromise of the Constitution.

_The Question of Counting the Slaves._--The next problem, which was
almost equally difficult and which likewise had to be settled by
compromise, was the question of whether the slaves should be counted in
determining the population of the state for purposes of representation.
The delegates from the Southern states argued that slaves were an
important factor in contributing to the wealth and power of the country
and should, therefore, be counted for purposes of representation. To
this argument the delegates from the Northern states, where the slave
population was inconsiderable, objected on the ground that the slaves at
law were treated merely as property and were not allowed to vote in the
states where they resided. The discussion over this question was long
and at times exciting, but finally a compromise was reached by which it
was agreed that in determining the population for purposes of
representation, all the white population but only three fifths of the
slaves should be counted. At the same time it was decided that direct
taxes among the states should be apportioned on the same basis. This
compromise was favorable to the slave states in that it gave them an
increased number of representatives, but it was unfavorable in that it
increased their proportion of direct taxes. This is known as the
three-fifths compromise.

_Federal Regulation of Commerce._--Another question which became the
subject of heated discussion related to the national control of
commerce. The Northern states wished Congress to be given the power to
regulate commerce, but the Southern states, which at the time furnished
the principal articles of export, feared that the power might be
employed in such a manner as to injure their commerce, and might also be
used to prohibit the slave trade and thus prevent the Southern planters
from stocking their farms with laborers. They accordingly insisted that
Congress should be expressly prohibited from interfering with the
importation of slaves, and that it should be allowed to pass navigation
acts only by a two-thirds majority of both houses. The whole matter was
finally settled by a compromise which forbade Congress to interfere with
the importation of slaves before the year 1808, but which allowed it to
pass laws by a majority vote for the regulation of commerce. This was
the last great compromise of the Constitution.

_Other Compromises._--Many other questions were settled on the basis of
compromise, though none of them occasioned so much discussion as the
three mentioned above. Some have regretted that such compromises as that
which allows the states equality of representation in the senate, as
well as the one which allowed representation on the basis of the slave
population, should have ever found their way into the Constitution; but
it is certain that without these compromises the Constitution could
never have been adopted.

After the settlement of the questions mentioned above, the work of
framing the Constitution proceeded with less difficulty. Finally, on
September 17, the completed draft was signed by thirty-nine delegates,
after which the convention adjourned. A few were absent and did not sign
for that reason; others, such as Gerry of Massachusetts and Mason of
Virginia, disapproved of the Constitution and refused to attach their
signatures.

=Ratification of the Constitution.=--Before adjourning, the convention
resolved to send the draft of the Constitution to Congress with the
request that it should transmit the instrument to the legislatures of
the several states and that these in turn should submit it to
conventions for ratification. It was agreed, moreover, that when it
should have been ratified by conventions in nine states it should go
into effect between the states so ratifying.

_Opposition to the Constitution._--As soon as the text of the
Constitution was made known to the people of the states, a flood of
criticism was turned loose on it from almost every part of the country.
Those who approved the Constitution and favored its ratification were
called Federalists; those who opposed it were called Anti-Federalists.
The principal grounds of opposition were that in providing for a
national government with extensive powers the Constitution had
sacrificed, to a large degree, the rights of the states; that such a
government would prove dangerous to the liberties of the people; that
the President for which the Constitution provided might become a
dictator and a tyrant; that the senate would be an oligarchy; and that
the Federal Constitution, unlike those of the states, contained no bill
of rights for the protection of the people against governmental
encroachment upon their inherent rights such as freedom of speech,
freedom of press, freedom of religious worship, freedom of assembly, and
the like. The last mentioned objection was removed by the assurance on
the part of the friends of the Constitution that in the event of
ratification they would endeavor to have the Constitution amended at the
earliest opportunity in such a way as to provide proper safeguards for
the security of these rights, a promise which was carried out soon after
the new government went into effect, by the adoption of the first ten
amendments.

_Ratification by the States._--The first state to ratify the
Constitution was Delaware, one of the small states whose delegates in
the Philadelphia convention had been strongly opposed to changing the
existing system. This state ratified on December 6, 1787, without a
dissenting vote. Its action was shortly followed by Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut, the last three of which were small
states whose delegates in the Philadelphia convention had also been in
the opposition. In Pennsylvania, however, the Constitution was ratified
with less unanimity and only after a fierce struggle in which the
Anti-Federalists attacked almost every part of it. Massachusetts was the
next to ratify, although by a narrow majority, many of the leading
citizens being opposed or indifferent. Maryland and South Carolina
followed, and finally the favorable action of New Hampshire on June 21,
1788, insured its success, since nine states had now ratified and the
Constitution could be put into effect between the states that had so
ratified. Four days later, before news of the ratification of New
Hampshire was received, Virginia fell in line and ratified, in spite of
the powerful opposition of Patrick Henry, Mason, Lee, and others.

Attention was now turned to New York, where the opponents of the
Constitution were believed to be in the majority. Geographically, New
York was like a wedge which divided the Union into two parts, and hence
its adhesion was especially desirable. Because of its favorable
commercial position, the state enjoyed great advantages under the
Articles of Confederation, since it could collect and turn into its own
treasury the duties on all articles coming into its ports from abroad--a
privilege of which it would be deprived under the Constitution. There
was good reason, therefore, why it should hesitate to exchange its
position for one less favorable. When the state convention assembled to
take action on the Constitution, it was found that about two thirds of
the members were at first opposed to ratification. Among the friends of
the Constitution, however, was Alexander Hamilton, whose powerful
argument prevailed, and the Constitution was ratified by a majority of
three votes.

Rhode Island, like New York, enjoyed a favorable position under the
Articles of Confederation, and was not in sympathy with the
Constitution. She refused to ratify and remained out of the Union until
May, 1790, more than a year after the Constitution had gone into effect.
North Carolina likewise refused to ratify until November, 1789.

_The Constitution Goes into Effect._--When the ratification of the
Constitution had been assured, the old Congress of the Confederation
enacted that the new government should go into effect on March 4, 1789.
In the meantime senators and representatives were elected as the first
members of the new Congress, and George Washington was chosen President.
Thus the old Confederation passed away and the new Republic entered upon
its great career.

=The System of Government Created.=--The government created by the
Constitution is federal in character; that is, it consists of a system
of national and state government under a common sovereignty. It is a
republic as contradistinguished from such a limited monarchy as the
British; that is, it is a government having a popularly elected
executive rather than a titular executive who holds his office for life
by hereditary tenure, who is politically irresponsible, and who governs
through ministers who are responsible to the Parliament for his acts. It
is also distinguished from confederate government or that form in which
the states are practically sovereign and in which the general government
is nothing but the agent of the states for the care of a very few things
of common concern, such as defense against foreign aggression. Finally,
the American system is one of popular rather than of aristocratic
government, that is, it is government by the masses of the people
instead of government by the favored few.

=References.=--ANDREWS, Manual of the Constitution, ch. ii. BEARD,
American Government and Politics, ch. iii. BRYCE, The American
Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. ii. FISKE, Critical Period of
American History, chs. vi-vii. HINSDALE, American Government, chs.
vii-xi.

=Documentary Material.=--1. The Articles of Confederation. 2. The
Constitution.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Trace the steps leading up to the meeting of the convention which
framed the Constitution.

2. How were the delegates to the convention chosen? What, in general,
was the nature of their instructions? Who was the oldest delegate? the
youngest? the most distinguished? Who of them were signers of the
Declaration of Independence? Who acted as president of the convention?

3. Name the members of the convention who refused to sign the
Constitution.

4. Why did Hamilton, the author of the resolution calling the
convention, take so little part in the work of making the Constitution?

5. Why did not New York send its ablest men to the convention?

6. Did the convention organize itself into committees for the
transaction of business?

7. What was the attitude of some of the delegates from the Eastern
states toward the West?

8. In general, what part of the country was in favor of the Constitution
and what part opposed?

9. What were some of the objections urged against its adoption?

10. Why was the Constitution not submitted to a direct vote of the
people as is the custom with state constitutions?

11. When the draft of the completed Constitution was laid before the
Congress of the Confederation, did that body make any changes in it
before submitting it to the states?

12. Might North Carolina and Rhode Island have remained permanently out
of the Union? If so, what would have been their status?

13. Do you think the time has come when the best interests of the
country require a new Constitution? What is your opinion of the
proposition that the country has outgrown the Constitution?

14. What, in the light of more than a century's experience, do you
consider some of the defects of the Constitution?

CHAPTER X

THE TWO HOUSES OF CONGRESS

=The House of Representatives.=--The Constitution provides that the
national house of representatives--the lower house of Congress--shall
consist of members chosen every second year by popular election. Under
the Articles of Confederation members of the old Congress were chosen
annually, but that term was too short to enable them to acquire that
familiarity with their duties which is essential to efficient
legislation. The term of a representative begins on the 4th of March in
the odd-numbered years, though Congress does not meet until the first
Monday in December following, unless the President calls it together in
extraordinary session earlier.

=Sessions of Congress.=--There are two regular sessions of every
Congress; the long session which begins on the first Monday in December
of the odd-numbered years and lasts until some time in the following
spring or summer; and the short session which begins on the same date in
the even-numbered years and lasts until the 4th of March following, when
the terms of all representatives expire. Each Congress is numbered,
beginning with the first, which began March 4th, 1789. The sixty-seventh
Congress began March 4, 1921, and will end March 4, 1923. Extraordinary
sessions are sometimes called by the President to consider matters of
special importance which need to be acted upon before the meeting of the
regular session. From 1789 to 1921 there were only nineteen such
sessions, the last being that called by President Harding to meet in
April, 1921, to consider tariff and revenue measures and readjustment of
international relationships.

=Number and Apportionment of Representatives.=--The Constitution
provided that the first house of representatives should consist of
sixty-five members, but that as soon as a census of the inhabitants
should be taken the number was to be apportioned among the several
states on the basis of population, not exceeding one for every 30,000 of
the inhabitants. After each decennial census is taken a new
apportionment is made by Congress on the basis of the new population.
The total number of representatives at present is 435,[25] being in the
proportion of one member for every 211,877 inhabitants, which is known
as the congressional ratio. The largest number from any one state is
forty-three, the number from New York. Pennsylvania has thirty-six,
Illinois twenty-seven, Ohio twenty-two, and so on down the list. Five
states are entitled to but one member each, namely, Arizona, Delaware,
Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming. As the population of several of these
states is less than the congressional ratio, they might not be entitled
to a single member but for the provision in the Constitution which
declares that each state shall have at least one representative.

[25] Each of the Territories is represented in Congress by a delegate
who is allowed to serve on certain committees and to take part in
debate but not to vote. The Philippine Islands are represented by two
Resident Commissioners, and Porto Rico by one. By courtesy they are
allowed seats in the house of representatives, like territorial
delegates, and may serve on committees.

The numbers of representatives after each census have been as follows:
1790, 105; 1800, 141; 1810, 181; 1820, 212; 1830, 240; 1840, 223; 1850,
234; 1860, 241; 1870, 292; 1880, 325; 1890, 356; 1900, 386; 1910, 435.

=Election of Representatives.=--The Constitution provides that
representatives shall be chosen in each state by vote of such persons as
are qualified to vote for members of the lower house of the legislature
of that state. Thus it happens that the qualifications for participating
in the choice of national representatives varies widely in the different
states. But the choice must be made by the people, not by the
legislature or by executive appointment, and, under the Fifteenth and
Nineteenth Amendments to the Federal Constitution, the states cannot, in
fixing the suffrage, discriminate against any class of persons because
of their color, race, or sex. Subject to these restrictions the states
are practically free to limit the right to vote for national
representatives to such of their citizens as they may see fit. It is
true that the Fourteenth Amendment declares that whenever a state shall
limit the right of its adult male citizens to vote except for crime its
representation in Congress shall be proportionately reduced, but this
provision has never been enforced. Some statesmen hold that it was
really superseded by the Fifteenth Amendment.

[Illustration: UNITED STATES SENATE CHAMBER]

[Illustration: UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES]

_Manner of Choosing Representatives._--As in fixing the qualifications
of the electors of representatives, so in the choosing of them, the
states are left a free hand, subject to the provision of the
Constitution which gives Congress power to alter the regulations of the
states in regard to the manner and time of choosing members. For a long
time Congress did not exercise its power in this respect and each state
chose its representatives when it wished and in such manner as it
pleased. Some states chose their representatives on general ticket from
the state at large, while others chose theirs by districts; some chose
by secret ballot, while others did not. To secure uniformity in regard
to the method of choice, Congress enacted in 1842 that representatives
should be chosen by districts of contiguous territory containing
populations as nearly equal to the congressional ratio as possible.
In 1871 it enacted that they should be chosen by written or printed
ballots (later choice by voting machine was also permitted). In 1872
it enacted that representatives should be chosen on the same day
throughout the Union, namely, Tuesday after the first Monday in
November.[26]

[26] By a subsequent act, those states whose constitutions provided a
different day for choosing representatives were exempted from the
provisions of this law. In pursuance of this act, elections for members
of Congress in Maine are held in September.

"_Gerrymandering._"--When the number of representatives to which each
state shall be entitled has been determined, after the decennial census,
it devolves upon the legislature to divide the state into as many
districts as it is entitled to representatives.[27] In the exercise of
this power the political party in control of the legislature may arrange
the districts in an unfair manner so as to make it possible for the
party to elect a larger number of representatives than its voting
strength entitles it to. This is done by putting counties in which the
opposite party is in a large majority in the same districts so that it
may choose a few members by large majorities, while the other party
carries the remaining districts by small majorities. Thus the voting
strength of the party in power is economized while that of the other
party is massed in a few districts and made to count as little as
possible. This practice is known as "gerrymandering" and has often been
resorted to by both the two great political parties, sometimes in such
a manner as to result in flagrant injustice to the minority party.

[27] In case the legislature neglects to redistrict the state when
additional representatives have been assigned to it, the latter are
chosen from the state at large. In 1916, for example, Pennsylvania
elected four such representatives; Illinois, Texas, Montana, and Idaho,
two each; Alabama and West Virginia, one each.

The requirement that the districts shall contain as nearly equal
population as possible, is sometimes flagrantly violated. Thus one of
the Republican districts in New York recently contained 165,701
inhabitants while one of the Democratic districts had a population of
450,000. In 1910 one of the Illinois districts contained 167,000 while
another contained 349,000.

Sometimes districts are so constructed as to have fantastic shapes. Thus
a district in Mississippi some years ago was dubbed the "shoe string"
district from its long irregular shape. It followed the Mississippi
River for the whole length of the state though in one place it was less
than thirty miles wide.

=Qualifications of Representatives.=--To be eligible to the house of
representatives, a person must have been a citizen of the United States
for at least seven years, must have attained the age of twenty-five
years, and must be an inhabitant of the state from which he is chosen.
Residence in the particular district which the member represents is not
required by the Constitution or laws of the United States, but is nearly
always required by public opinion. A nonresident, however able and
distinguished he might be as a statesman, would have little chance of
election.

_Objections to the Residence Requirement._--This custom of insisting
upon residence in the district has frequently been criticized,
especially by foreign writers, as being a serious defect in our system
of representation. It contrasts widely with the practice in Great
Britain, where members of Parliament are very often chosen from other
districts than those in which they reside. London barristers of promise
are not infrequently chosen to represent country districts in which
they are practically strangers. The late William E. Gladstone, a
resident of Wales, represented for a long time a Scotch district. When
an important leader of any party in the House of Commons happens to be
defeated in his home district, it is a common practice for him to be
made a candidate in some district in which his party has a safe
majority. In the United States, in such a case, the man's service in
Congress would probably be ended.

Finally, one of the worst evils of the district system is that it tends
to make the member feel that he is the representative, not of the United
States as a whole, but of the locality which chooses him. Instead of
entertaining broad views upon purely national questions his views tend
to become narrow and he votes and acts with reference to the welfare of
his own district rather than with reference to the good of the whole
country. On the other hand, it may be said in favor of the district
system that it is better adapted to secure local representation and
makes responsibility to the member's constituency more effective.

=The Senate.=--_Purposes._--Regarding the desirability of creating a
national legislature of two houses there was little difference of
opinion among the members of the convention. Experience with a
single-chambered congress during the period of the Confederation had
revealed certain defects in such an organization. Moreover, all the
state legislatures except two were composed of two houses and these
exceptions were destined soon to disappear. If a state legislature ought
to consist of two houses, it was all the more important that the
national congress should be bicameral in organization, because, the
union being composed of states, it was desirable to provide a separate
house in which they could be represented as constituent political units
just as the other house was to be a body representing the people
without regard to political divisions. Aside from considerations growing
out of the character of the federal system, there were the usual
advantages which we associate with the bicameral system, such as
protection against hasty and ill-considered legislation, insurance
against the possible despotism of a single chamber, and the like. Having
decided that Congress should consist of two houses, the convention felt
that if the upper house was to exert an effective restraining influence
on the lower house it ought not to be a mere duplication of the latter
but should be differently composed. It should to a certain extent be a
more conservative body than the lower house, which, being elected by the
people, would incline toward radicalism; it should, therefore, be
smaller in size, its members should be chosen for a longer term and by a
different method, higher age and residence qualifications should be
required, and it should be given certain powers which were not conferred
on the lower house, such as a share in the appointing, treaty making,
and judicial powers.

_Term._--As already stated, the Constitution provides that the states
shall be represented equally in the senate. It also provides that each
state shall elect two senators and that each senator shall have one
vote. Under the Articles of Confederation, each state had one vote in
Congress, and the vote of the state could not be divided; but under the
Constitution the two senators from a state frequently vote on opposite
sides of a question, especially if they belong to different political
parties. On the question of the term of senators there was much
difference of opinion among the members of the convention. Some favored
a two-year tenure, some four years, some six, some nine, while Alexander
Hamilton favored a life tenure. The term finally agreed upon was six
years, which seemed to be long enough to give the senate an element of
permanence and independence, and yet short enough to secure
responsibility to the people.

_Classification of Senators._--The Constitution provided that
immediately upon the assembling of the senators after the first election
they should be divided into three classes and that the seats of those in
the first class should be vacated at the end of the second year, those
of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and those of
the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that thereafter
one third might be chosen every second year. The purpose of this
provision is to avoid having the entire senate renewed at the same time.
As a result, not more than one third are new and inexperienced members
at any particular time. When a new state is admitted to the Union, its
first two senators draw lots to see which class each shall fall in. In
1921 there were thirty-two senators in the first class, and their terms
expire March 4, 1923; thirty-two in the second class, and their terms
expire March 4, 1925; and thirty-two in the third class, and their terms
expire March 4, 1927. The three classes are kept as nearly equal as
possible.

_Reëlection of Senators._--While the term of a senator is six years, he
may be reëlected as often as his state may see fit to honor him, and in
practice reëlections have been frequent. Justin S. Morrill of Vermont,
John Sherman of Ohio, and William B. Allison of Iowa, each served
continuously for a period of thirty-two years. Nearly one third of the
senators in 1911 had served twenty years or more. Thus the senate is an
assembly of elder statesmen and is a more conservative and stable body
than the house of representatives.

=Mode of Election of Senators.=--In regard to the mode of election of
senators there was a wide difference of opinion among the members of the
convention. Some favored choice by the people; others favored election
by the lower house of Congress; some proposed appointment by the
President from persons nominated by the state legislatures; while others
proposed election by the state legislatures, which was the method
finally agreed upon. Choice by the legislature, it was felt, would be
the means of forming a connecting link between the state governments and
the national government and would thereby tend to attach the former to
the latter--an important consideration then, in view of the prevailing
jealousy of the state governments toward the national government.
Finally, it was believed that choice by the legislature would tend to
secure the election of senators of greater ability since the members of
the legislature would be more familiar with the qualifications of
candidates than the masses of the people could hope to be.

=Objections to the Method of Choice by the Legislature.=--One of the
practical objections to the original method of choosing senators was
that it frequently led to long and stubborn contests which sometimes
ended in deadlocks. Not infrequently the legislature failed to elect a
senator and the state was left with a vacancy in the senate. In such
cases the governor could not fill the vacancy by appointment as he did
when a senator died or resigned; the seat remained vacant until a
senator was chosen by the legislature. From 1890 to 1912 not less than
eleven states at one time or another were represented in the senate by
one member only, and in 1901 Delaware, on account of repeated deadlocks,
had no senator at all at Washington to speak for the state. Not
infrequently such contests were broken through the selection of a
second-rate man or by an alliance between the members of the minority
party and certain members of the majority.

_Bribery._--The breaking of deadlocks was sometimes accomplished by
bribery or other improper influences. Indeed charges of bribery and
corruption in connection with the election of senators came to be very
common, and there is little doubt that between 1895 and 1910 a number of
wealthy men found their way into the senate through the votes of
legislators who were liberally paid for their support. Under these
circumstances it was frequently said that the senate was no longer truly
representative of the interests of the people.

_Interference with Legislative Business._--A prolonged senatorial
contest also interfered too much with the regular business of the state
legislature. Where the session is limited to two or three months, as it
frequently is, the inroads upon the time at the disposal of the
legislature for looking after the needs of the state were
considerable.[28] Members were badgered by candidates, passions and
animosities were engendered, a party coloring was given non-partisan
measures, and the votes of members on legislative measures were
sometimes determined by the senatorial contest, rather than by the
merits of the measure on which they were called to vote.

[28] In 1897 the business of the legislature of Oregon was completely
tied up for months because a sufficient number of members of the lower
house, in order to prevent the election of a certain senator, absented
themselves from the chamber and prevented a quorum. Not a bill could be
passed or a dollar of money appropriated for meeting the current
expenses of the state.

=Popular Election of Senators.=--The dissatisfaction with the old method
of choosing senators led to a movement to secure an amendment to the
Constitution providing for the election of senators by the people. But
the senate itself for a long time blocked every attempt of this kind.
Five different times between 1893 and 1911 the national house of
representatives by a large majority proposed an amendment for this
purpose, but each time the senate refused its concurrence. In one form
or another the legislatures of thirty-one states approved of the method
of popular election and wherever a referendum was taken on the
proposition, as was done in California, Nevada, and Illinois, the
popular indorsement was overwhelming. Finally, in 1912, the senate
yielded, and both houses of Congress adopted a resolution proposing an
amendment providing for the popular election of senators, which was
ratified by the necessary number of states during the following year.
Under this seventeenth amendment the senators of each state are elected
by vote of such persons as are entitled to vote for members of the lower
house of the legislature.

The seventeenth amendment provides that whenever a vacancy occurs in the
senate the governor of the state in which the vacancy occurs shall issue
a writ of election for the filling of such vacancy, but that the
legislature may authorize the governor to fill the vacancy by a
temporary appointment, the appointee to hold until a senator may be
chosen by popular election. In practice special elections are rarely
called for filling vacancies. In most states the governor makes a
temporary appointment, the appointee holding until the next regular
election when the people elect his successor.

=Qualifications of Senators.=--The qualifications prescribed for
eligibility to the senate are the same in principle as those required of
representatives, though a little different in degree. Thus a senator
must be at least thirty years of age, must have been a citizen of the
United States for nine years and must be a resident of the state at the
time of his election. It was thought that the longer term and higher
qualifications would tend to give greater dignity and strength to the
upper chamber than would be found in the lower house, and at the same
time a higher average of ability.

There is no provision of the Constitution which requires a senator to be
a resident of a particular part of the state, but in some states there
is a custom that the two senators shall be taken from different
sections. Thus in Vermont custom requires that one senator shall come
from the section of the state east of the Green Mountains and the other
from the west side. Sometimes when there is a large city in the state it
is the custom to choose one of the senators from the city and the other
from the country. For a long time Maryland did not trust this matter to
custom but by law enacted that one of the senators should be an
inhabitant of the eastern shore and the other of the western shore.

=Character of the Senate.=--In the early days when the states were
generally regarded as sovereign communities, senators were looked upon
somewhat as ambassadors to the national government, and the right to
instruct them as to how they should vote on important questions was
sometimes claimed and asserted by the legislatures. Sometimes the
senators obeyed the instructions, sometimes they refused; and in the
latter case there were no means of enforcing obedience. Not infrequently
senators are "requested" by the legislature of the state which they
represent to vote for or against a particular bill.

The Senate undoubtedly possesses elements of strength and efficiency
which are not to be found in the lower house. As it is a much smaller
body, debate there can be carried on with more effectiveness, and the
individual member has greater opportunity to make his influence felt
upon legislation. The efficiency of the Senate is further increased by
the fact that its members are generally men of more mature age and
larger legislative experience, many of them having already served their
apprenticeship in the lower house. Moreover, owing to the longer term,
they are more independent of the popular opinion of the moment and,
therefore, under less temptation to yield to popular clamor and vote for
measures which their better judgment condemns. These facts, it may be
added, have tended to increase the attractiveness of the Senate as a
legislative body and to draw into it statesmen of larger ability than
the lower house has been able to attract.

At the same time, these elements of strength have to some extent been
sources of weakness. The attractions of the Senate have stimulated the
ambitions of rich men who have few other qualifications than the
possession of great wealth, and so it came to pass that a considerable
proportion of the members of the upper house were representatives of
great corporations and of other forms of wealth. This was not
necessarily an evil, but it was often said that the senators were
irresponsive to public opinion. Moreover, the Senate has been criticized
for usurping to a considerable extent the powers of the executive
department in regard to appointments and the conduct of foreign affairs,
and has encroached upon the powers of the lower house in respect to the
initiation of revenue bills. Finally, the tradition of senatorial
courtesy, which makes it possible for a single senator to deadlock
indefinitely the proceedings of the Senate, has been criticized as being
quite out of harmony with reasonable notions of legislative procedure.
All these charges, however, have been vigorously denied by many
defenders of the Senate. Some of them are well founded, but all in all,
the Senate compares favorably with the best upper chambers of other
countries.

=Decisions as to Congressional Elections and Membership.=--Each house of
Congress is the judge of the election, qualifications, and returns of
its own members, that is, it is empowered to determine whether a member
who claims to have been elected has been legally chosen and whether he
really possesses the qualifications prescribed by the Constitution for
membership in the house. It seems to be admitted that either house may
also refuse to admit a member for other reasons than those prescribed by
the Constitution, as, for example, for having been convicted of a crime
or because he is insane or suffering with a dangerous contagious
disease. Thus in 1900 the house of representatives refused to allow a
member from Utah to take his seat because he was living in violation of
the anti-polygamy laws, and in 1919 it excluded a Socialist member from
Wisconsin for disloyalty during the war.

_Contested Elections._--Frequently there is a contested election from a
state or district, that is, two men claim to have been elected to the
same seat, in which case the house must decide which one is entitled to
the seat. In such a case the claims of the contestant and the contestee
are heard by the committee on privileges and elections, which makes a
report to the house with a recommendation as to which shall be given the
seat. Unfortunately, contested election cases are not always settled on
their merits, the seat being usually given to the claimant who belongs
to the party which has a majority in the house. In England this source
of party favoritism is removed by vesting the settlement of cases of
contested elections in the courts, which are more apt to decide such
contests on their merits.

_Power of Expulsion._--When a member has once been admitted to his
seat, he can be deprived of it only by expulsion, and to prevent the
employment of this power for party purposes, the Constitution provides
that the concurrence of two thirds of the members shall be necessary to
expel a member. Several instances of expulsion have occurred in the
past. Senator Blount of Tennessee was expelled from the senate in 1797,
and a number of other cases occurred in each house during the Civil War.

=Compensation of Members of Congress.=--The Constitution declares that
senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for their
services, the same to be paid out of the treasury of the United States.
Under the Articles of Confederation, each state paid its own members of
Congress, and there was no uniformity in respect to the scale of
compensation. Some states paid much smaller salaries than others and in
order to reduce the burden of maintaining their representatives, the
states generally sent to Congress the fewest number of representatives
required, and as each state had only one vote, nothing was lost by
having a minimum number present. One other objection to the method of
state payment was that it tended to make the representative dependent
upon his state and caused him to feel that he was the representative of
a state rather than of the country as a whole.

In fixing the amount of the compensation of its members, Congress is
subject to no restrictions. It may fix the salary at any amount it
pleases, may make it retroactive in effect or may increase the amount at
any time during the term for which the members are chosen. The present
salary of senators and representatives is $7,500 per year, but the
Speaker of the house receives $12,000 per year. In addition, each member
receives an allowance for a secretary, a small sum for stationery, and
mileage of twenty cents per mile going and coming by the nearest route
between his home and the national capital. This mileage is intended to
cover the traveling expenses of the member and his family.

In some of the countries of Europe until recently members of Parliament
did not receive any compensation from the public treasury unless they
happened to be members of the cabinet; this was the rule in Great
Britain prior to 1911. Sometimes, however, members who represented the
socialist or labor party were paid by voluntary contributions by the
members of their party. The advantage of paying members of Congress a
reasonable compensation is that it enables competent men without private
incomes to serve the state equally with the well-to-do, who are not
dependent upon their public salaries for a livelihood.

_The Franking Privilege._--Another privilege which Congress allows its
members is to send their mail through the post office without the
payment of postage. The spirit of the law restricts the privilege to the
official correspondence of members, but the privilege is generally
abused. Thus a senator from South Carolina was recently criticized by
the post-office department for franking his typewriter through the
mails. President Taft in his annual message to Congress in December,
1910, dwelt upon the abuses of this privilege by members of Congress and
other government officials. The postmaster general in 1914 called
attention to a recent instance in which more than 300,000 pamphlets were
circulated under the frank of a member of Congress, the postage on which
would have amounted to $57,000. They related not to public business but
to the interest of a certain industry in which he was concerned.

=Rights and Privileges of Members of Congress.=--The Constitution
provides that members shall not be arrested in any case except treason,
felony, and breach of the peace, during their attendance at the
sessions of their respective houses and in going to and from the same;
and for any speech or debate in either house, they cannot be questioned
in any other place. The purpose of the first provision is to prevent
interference with members in the discharge of their high and responsible
duties, through arrest for trivial offenses or trumped-up charges. If a
member, however, commits an offense amounting to a breach of the peace,
his immunity from arrest ceases and he may be dealt with by the courts
as any other offender. The object of the second provision is to secure
to members absolute freedom of speech on the floor of Congress by
relieving them from the liability to prosecution for slander for
anything they may say in the course of debate.

_Disqualifications._--On the other hand, the Constitution provides that
no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member
of either house of Congress during his continuance in office. This
provision was adopted in pursuance of the view that the executive and
legislative departments should, as far as practicable, be kept separate.
Moreover, no senator or representative may, during the time for which he
is elected, be appointed to any civil office which shall have been
created or the emoluments of which shall have been increased during such
time. The purpose of this provision is to prevent Congress from creating
new offices or increasing the salaries of existing offices for the
benefit of members who might desire to be appointed to them.

=Special Functions of the Senate.=--The senate is not only a coequal
branch of the national legislature but it possesses in addition certain
powers not enjoyed by the lower house.

_Share in the Appointing Power._--First of all, it shares with the
President the power of appointment to federal offices. The Constitution
makes its approval necessary to the validity of all appointments made by
the executive, the idea being that the participation of the senate would
serve as a restraint upon the errors or abuses of the President and thus
insure the appointment of honest and capable men to office. But it was
never intended to give the senate anything more than the negative power
of rejecting the nominations of the President. It is his power to
nominate and that of the senate to approve or disapprove the nomination.
Nevertheless, there has grown up in the senate a practice by which the
senators from a particular state in which an appointment to a federal
office is to be made, claim the right to select the appointee themselves
and when they have agreed upon him to present his name to the President
for appointment; provided, of course, that they are of the same party as
the President. If the President refuses to comply with the request of
the senators from a particular state, and nominates an official who is
unacceptable to them, the custom of "senatorial courtesy," which has
become one of the traditions of the senate, requires that the senators
from the other states shall stand by their associates in question and
reject the nomination of the President. In this way the senate has, in
effect, assumed the power of dictating to the President appointments to
many federal offices in the states, such as those of postmaster, federal
judge, attorney, revenue collector, and the like. If the two senators
from a state belong to different political parties, the one with whom
the President is in political sympathy controls the federal patronage in
the state.

_Share in the Treaty-Making Power._--The senate also shares with the
President the power of making treaties with foreign countries. The
ordinary procedure is for the President, through the Department of
State, to negotiate the treaty, after which it is laid before the senate
for its approval. Approval by a two-thirds vote of the senators is
necessary to the validity of the treaty. The purpose of giving the
senate a share in the treaty-making power was to provide a check or
restraint upon the possible abuses or errors of the executive. The
extraordinary majority required for the approval of the treaty, however,
has frequently proved a handicap and led to the defeat of a number of
valuable treaties. Thus a small political minority can prevent the
ratification of a treaty and sometimes does so when it sees an
opportunity to reap political advantage thereby.

The Constitution speaks of the "advice and consent" of the senate, but
in practice all the senate does is to give its consent. In the early
days, however, the President not infrequently requested the "advice" of
the senate before starting the negotiation of a treaty, and if the
advice was unfavorable the proposed negotiations were abandoned. Even
now if the President has doubts as to whether a proposed treaty would
receive the approval of two thirds of the senate he will sometimes
consult with the members of the senate committee on foreign relations
and with other influential members, before beginning the negotiations.

The senate may reject a treaty _in toto_, and has done so in many
instances, or it may amend a treaty laid before it, in which case it
must be sent back to the government of the other country which is a
party thereto for concurrence in the amendments. After the senate has
consented to the ratification of a treaty, the President may ratify it
or not as he likes.

[Illustration: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.]

[Illustration: THE WHITE HOUSE,--THE PRESIDENT'S HOME AND OFFICE]

_The Senate as a Court of Impeachment._--Another special function of the
senate is that of acting as a court for the trial of impeachment
cases. The Constitution declares that the President, Vice President, and
all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on
impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes
and misdemeanors. Military and naval officers are tried by court-martial
and are not therefore liable to impeachment.[29] To impeach an officer is
to bring charges against him. So far as federal officers are concerned
this power belongs exclusively to the house of representatives, which
acts somewhat as a grand jury does in finding indictments against
ordinary criminals. When sitting as a court of impeachment the senators
are under a special oath, and when the President is on trial the chief
justice of the Supreme Court is the presiding officer instead of the
Vice President, who, in such a case, would be directly interested in the
outcome of the trial, since in the event of the conviction and removal
of the President he would succeed to the office. Managers appointed by
the house of representatives appear at the bar of the senate to
prosecute the charges preferred by the house, witnesses are examined,
evidence presented, and the accused is defended by counsel of his own
choosing. In order to prevent the employment of the impeachment power
for party purposes, the Constitution provides that the concurrence of
two thirds of the senators shall be necessary to convict.

[29] That members of Congress are not liable to impeachment was
determined in the case of William Blount, a senator from Tennessee in
1797, the senate deciding that it had no jurisdiction of the case.

The punishment which the senate may inflict in case of conviction is
limited to removal from office and disqualification from holding office
in the future. The Constitution makes it mandatory upon the senate to
remove the convicted official, but whether he shall forever be
disqualified from holding office in the future is left to the
discretion of the senate. In England the House of Lords, which tries
impeachment cases, is not limited in the extent of punishment which it
may inflict, but may, at its discretion, sentence the convicted official
to imprisonment or the payment of a fine. While the senate of the United
States cannot do this, the person convicted and removed may,
nevertheless, be indicted and tried by the courts as any other criminal
may.

The procedure of removing an officer by impeachment is so cumbersome and
unwieldy that it has rarely been resorted to. During our entire history
there have been only eight impeachment trials of federal officers, and
of these there were convictions in but three cases.[30] If this were the
only method of removal it would be difficult to get rid of corrupt and
incompetent officials, but it must be remembered that any federal
official except the judges may be removed from office by the President
for any reason that to him seems fit and proper; and the power is
frequently exercised.

[30] The first was that of Judge John Pickering of the United States
District Court of New Hampshire, March, 1803. The second was that of
Judge Samuel Chase, of the Supreme Court, March, 1804. James H. Peck,
District Judge of Missouri, was impeached in April, 1830; West H.
Humphreys, District Judge of Tennessee, May, 1862; Andrew Johnson,
President of the United States, February, 1868; William W. Belknap,
Secretary of War, March, 1876; Charles Swayne, Judge of the United
States District Court for Florida, 1905; and Robert W. Archbald, Judge
of the Court of Commerce, 1912. Of these, Pickering, Humphreys, and
Archbald were convicted and removed from office, while Humphreys and
Archbald were in addition disqualified from holding federal office in
the future. Belknap resigned before impeachment charges were preferred,
but the senate decided that it had jurisdiction, nevertheless, and the
trial was proceeded with only to result in his acquittal.

=References.=--ANDREWS, Manual of the Constitution, pp. 47-68. BEARD,
American Government and Politics, chs. xii-xiii. BRYCE, The American
Commonwealth (abridged edition), chs. ix-xii. HARRISON, This Country of
Ours, ch. ii. HART, Actual Government, ch. xiii. HINSDALE, American
Government, chs. xvii-xxiii. WILSON, Congressional Government, secs.
1273-1293.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. Copy of the Congressional
Directory. 2. Copies of the Congressional Record. 3. A map showing the
Congressional districts of the state.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. How many representatives in Congress has your state?

2. Is there any evidence that your state is "gerrymandered"?

3. In what congressional district do you live? How many counties are
there in the district? What is its population? How much does the
population vary from the congressional ratio? Who is your
representative? How many terms has he served? What is his party? By how
large a majority was he elected?

4. Who is the senior senator from your state? The junior senator? How
many terms has each served? To which of the three classes does each
belong?

5. If the first congressional ratio of one member for 30,000 inhabitants
were now in force, what would be the number of representatives in the
house? Give arguments for and against the proposition that a house of
435 members is too large.

6. Is the present salary of members of Congress sufficiently large to
attract the best men? Do you think the European custom of not paying
salaries to members of Parliament a wise one?

7. Do you think members of Congress are morally entitled to
"constructive" mileage, that is, for mileage not actually traveled, as
where one session merges into another?

8. Members of the British Parliament are elected for a term of five
years, those of the German Reichstag for five years, those of the French
Chamber of Deputies for four years. In view of these rather long terms,
do you think a two-year term for American representatives is too short?

9. Do you think the practice of members of Congress of distributing
large quantities of garden seed among their constituents at public
expense a wise or a vicious one?

10. Do you think public documents printed by authority of Congress
should be distributed free of cost to all who desire them?

11. What is your opinion of the practice of members of Congress of
printing in the Congressional Record long speeches never delivered in
Congress?

12. Would the nomination of members of Congress by direct primary be a
better method than nomination by convention?

13. What would be the advantage in requiring a newly elected Congress to
assemble shortly after the election instead of about thirteen months
thereafter, as is the present rule?

14. Ought the qualifications for voting for representatives in Congress
to be determined by national authority instead of by the states?

15. Ought a representative to be required to be a resident of the
district from which he is elected?

16. Do you think the states should be equally represented in the
senate?

CHAPTER XI

ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURE OF CONGRESS

=Organization of the Two Houses.=--_Officers._--Each house of Congress
is free to organize itself in such a manner as it pleases, and to choose
its own officers, except that the Vice President of the United States
is, by the Constitution, made the presiding officer of the senate. The
presiding officer of the house of representatives is called the speaker;
that of the senate, the president. Each house has one or more clerks who
keep the journals, call rolls, read bills, and have custody of all
bills, resolutions, petitions, and memorials; a sergeant-at-arms who
preserves order, has charge of the halls, pays members their salaries,
and performs various other duties[31]; a postmaster; a doorkeeper; a
chaplain; and other minor officials.

[31] The sergeant-at-arms of the house of representatives has custody
of the mace which is the symbol of the authority of the house. It is a
representation of the Roman _fasces_ in ebony, and is surmounted by a
globe and an eagle in silver. During the session it is kept in the
place provided for it near the speaker's desk, but when disorder breaks
out in the course of the debates, the sergeant-at-arms takes the mace
from its accustomed place and proceeds, bearing it aloft, to the part
of the house where the disorder prevails. He then commands order in the
name of the house, and if the display of the mace is not sufficient to
restore order, the house may order the disorderly member or members to
be arrested.

_Opening of a New Congress._--When a new Congress assembles, the house
of representatives is called to order by the clerk of the preceding
house. He then calls the roll of the members whose credentials or
certificates of election have been filed with him, and if a quorum is
present the house proceeds to the election of a speaker. The members of
each political party represented in the house have already in caucus
agreed upon their candidates, and they are now put in nomination before
the house by some member representing each party. Usually the action of
the caucus of the majority party is equivalent to an election, and the
house has only to ratify its choice. In several instances, however, the
election of the speaker involved long and bitter contests. Thus in 1849,
63 ballots were taken, and again in 1855-1856, 133 ballots were
necessary, and in each case a special rule was adopted permitting a
plurality to elect.

The senate, on the other hand, is always an organized body. The
presiding officer--the Vice President--at the opening of a new Congress
calls the senate to order, and the other officers, who hold during the
pleasure of the senate, resume their duties. The senate elects one of
its own members as president _pro tempore_ to preside over its
deliberations during the absence of the Vice President or in case there
is no Vice President, as has often happened.

_The Oath of Office_ is usually administered to the speaker by the
oldest member in point of service,--called "the Father of the
House,"--after which the speaker calls the other members to the
front--usually by state delegations--and administers the oath to them.
Newly elected senators are escorted to the Vice President's desk,
usually each by his state colleague, and are sworn in individually.

_Adoption of the Rules._--After the administering of the oaths of
office, the house adopts the rules of the preceding Congress for
regulating its procedure pending the adoption of new rules. Usually
this is a perfunctory performance and is carried through without
opposition. At the opening of the sixty-first Congress, however, strong
opposition was manifested toward the old rules and they were not
readopted until important amendments had been made in them.

After the adoption of the rules each house appoints a committee to
notify the other of its readiness for business, and the two then appoint
a joint committee to inform the President of the United States that
Congress is ready to receive any communication that he may be pleased to
make. The message of the President is then laid before each house and
the business of Congress proceeds.

=Quorum.=--The Constitution provides that a majority of each house shall
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but that a smaller
number may compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and
under such penalties as each house may prescribe.

_Old Method of Counting a Quorum._--For a long time the method of
ascertaining whether a quorum was present was by a roll call. If the
roll call failed to show the presence of a majority, the speaker ruled
that no quorum was present, even though every member of the house was
actually in his seat. In the course of time this rule came to be
frequently abused by the minority for the purpose of preventing
consideration of measures to which it was opposed. Thus in January,
1890, when the Republicans had only a slight majority in the house of
representatives, the Democrats were able, owing to the absence of a few
Republican members, to break a quorum and prevent consideration of
important measures, by refusing to answer to the roll call. On a notable
occasion in January, 1890, the roll call showed 161 yeas, 2 nays, and
not voting 165, the 165 who refused to vote being Democrats who were
opposed to the taking up of a certain measure which the Republicans
desired to pass. Under the rules the roll call did not show a quorum
present, though more than two thirds of the members were actually in
their seats.

_The New Method._--The Republican majority therefore adopted a new rule,
that members who were actually in their seats were to be counted by the
speaker as present, no matter whether they voted or not. The action of
Speaker Reed in enforcing this rule raised a storm of protest by the
minority, but he courageously stood his ground. The new rule was
readopted by the next Congress though the Democrats were then in the
majority, and it has been continued ever since with the exception of one
or two Congresses when the old rule was reverted to. Much of the
business of Congress is really done, however, when there is no quorum
present, this being permissible so long as the point of "no quorum" is
not raised by any member.

=Open Sessions.=--The ordinary sessions of both houses are open to the
public, though until 1794 the senate held its sessions in secret. When
the senate goes into executive session, as it may do when it is
considering nominations of the President to public office or is engaged
in considering treaties, the galleries are cleared, the doors closed,
and its deliberations are conducted in secret, though, the results of
its transactions usually leak out in some way.

=Seating of Members.=--Until 1913 each member of each house was provided
with a seat and a desk, but in that year the desks were removed from the
house of representatives in order to bring the members nearer together.
Prior to that date, seats were assigned to members by lot at the opening
of Congress, but the leader of the minority party and one or two other
members of long service were usually allowed to select their seats
without resort to the lot. The Democrats are seated on the right of the
speaker and the Republicans on the left. In the senate, each seat as it
becomes vacant is assigned to the member who first makes application for
it to the presiding officer. The house chamber is so large that members
in the rear seats are at a disadvantage, and speech making is carried on
with difficulty. In 1913, however, this inconvenience was diminished by
a reduction in the size of the hall by about one third of the floor
space.[32] The senate chamber is less spacious, and debate can be
conducted with much greater satisfaction and effectiveness. It would be
a great advantage if the number of representatives could be reduced to
250 or 300 so as to make the house less unwieldy, but there is little
probability that such a reform will ever be effected. If smaller in
size, the house could transact its business with more dispatch, give
more careful consideration to bills, and allow members a greater
opportunity for discussion.

[32] Two large office buildings have been erected near the Capitol for
the use of members of both houses.

=Committees.=--Obviously an assembly of more than 400 members cannot
legislate effectively as a whole; its work must be done largely by
committees. To some committee every measure and every petition is
referred, as are also the various recommendations of the President. In
the sixty-seventh Congress (1921-1923) there were thirty-four standing
committees in the senate and sixty in the house. Usually there are also
several select committees, and occasionally a few joint committees. In
the senate, the committees vary in size from three to sixteen members;
in the house from three to thirty-five.

The most important committees in the senate are those on appropriations,
commerce, finance, foreign relations, interstate commerce, judiciary,
military affairs, naval affairs, and public expenditures. The least
important are those on disposition of useless papers, University of the
United States, and Revolutionary claims, since there is little or no
business referred to them. The most important committees in the house
are those on ways and means, appropriations, banking and currency,
public expenditures, foreign affairs, interstate and foreign commerce,
judiciary, military affairs, naval affairs, public buildings and
grounds, rivers and harbors, and rules (twelve members now, formerly
five). The least important is that on the disposition of useless
papers.[33]

[33] There are obvious objections to a system in which legislation
is necessarily framed to a large extent by committees. These
objections are thus stated by Mr. Bryce in his "American
Commonwealth":

1. It destroys the unity of the house.

2. It prevents the capacity of the best members from being brought to
bear on any one piece of legislation, however important.

3. It cramps debate.

4. It lessens the cohesion and harmony of legislation by allowing each
committee to go its own way with its own bills just as though it were
legislating for one planet and the other committees for others.

5. It gives facilities for the exercise of underhand and even corrupt
influence, and encourages "log rolling."

6. It reduces responsibility by dividing it among different committees.

7. It lowers the interest of the nation in the proceedings of Congress.

8. It throws power into the hands of the chairmen of committees,
especially those which deal with finance and other great national
interests.

The chief advantage of such a system is that it enables the house to
deal with a far greater number of subjects than could be otherwise
dealt with, and thus makes possible the dispatch of a vast amount of
work, especially in killing off worthless bills.

_Method of Choosing Committees._--In the senate committee assignments
are nominally made by the senate itself, but in reality they are made
by two committees on committees selected by a caucus of the members of
each party, the recommendations of the two committees usually being
accepted by the senate without debate. Both parties are represented on
each committee, the dominant party, of course, being given a majority of
the places. Thus on a committee of thirteen members, the majority party
is usually represented by eight members and the minority by five; on a
committee of seventeen, the numbers are eleven and six respectively, and
so on.

In the house of representatives, from the beginning until very recently,
all the committees were appointed by the speaker, a power which gave him
great influence in shaping and determining the course of legislation,
since he might constitute the committees with reference to their
friendliness or unfriendliness toward legislative measures that were
referred to them for investigation and report. In making committee
assignments, however, the speaker was not entirely free to follow his
own individual preferences. Thus the tradition of the house required
that he must take into consideration the claims of members whose service
had been long and distinguished, while political gratitude led him to
reward with desirable committee assignments those to whom he was
especially indebted for his election as speaker. Seniority of committee
service was also taken into account when the chairmanship of an
important committee became vacant, the next ranking member of the
committee having a strong claim to be promoted to the vacancy. In 1911,
however, the house, then controlled by the Democrats, adopted a rule
providing for the election of all standing committees by the house; thus
making the method of choosing committees the same as in the senate.

In the house, the chairmanship of every committee, whether important or
unimportant, is given to a member of the dominant party, and of course
also a majority of the other places on the committee, the proportion
between the representation of the two parties being about the same as on
the senate committees.

=Introduction and Reference of Bills.=--After the appointment of the
committees the house is ready for the transaction of legislative
business. Bills are introduced by sending them, indorsed with the name
of the introducer, to the presiding officer's desk, where the fact of
presentation is entered on the journal and the bill is given a
number.[34] Thus the first bill introduced at the beginning of a new
Congress is designated as "S. 1," if presented in the senate, and "H. R.
1," if presented in the house of representatives.

[34] Private bills are delivered to the clerk instead of to the
speaker. The distinction between a public bill and a private bill is
that the former deals with matters of general interest to the public,
while the latter deals with matters of interest to a single individual
or a small class. An example of a public bill is one regulating
commerce; an example of a private bill is one granting a pension to a
particular individual, or settling a claim of a person against the
government. A distinction is also made between a bill and a resolution.
A bill deals with matters of a more fundamental and permanent
character, while a resolution deals with matters of a more temporary
and transient nature. Resolutions are of two kinds: joint and
concurrent. A joint resolution is passed like a bill and requires the
approval of the President but is cast in slightly different form and
is used for making small appropriations, the creation of commissions,
proposal of amendments to the Constitution, resolutions to admit new
states, ordering of printing, and the like. A concurrent resolution is
used for expressing the opinion of Congress on some question of
interest to that body alone and is not submitted to the President for
his approval.

_Reference to Committees._--The next step is to refer the bill to a
committee for consideration, and in the meantime it is printed and
placed on the desks of members. Reference to the appropriate committee
is usually made by the presiding officer, though the house may direct
that it shall be referred to a particular committee.

Some idea of the mass of legislative projects referred to the committees
may be gained from the fact that in the sixtieth Congress 27,114 bills
and resolutions were introduced into the two houses, and that of these,
7,839 were reported by the committees to which they were referred. We
have here a good illustration of the necessity of the committee system,
since it would have been a physical impossibility for either house as a
whole to have considered even slightly so many bills. The committees
sift out of the mass of proposed legislation such measures as they think
worthy of enacting into law, and report their recommendations to the
house as a whole.

_Committee Hearings._--Committees charged with the consideration of
important bills frequently hold public hearings at which interested
parties may appear and present arguments for and against the measures
under consideration. Thus the ways and means committee of the house in
1909 held public hearings at Washington for many weeks on the tariff
bill, and scores of persons appeared to advocate lower or higher rates
on various articles on which duties were to be imposed. Frequently
members who introduce bills appear before committees and urge favorable
action. The more important committees in each house have a regular day
in each week for meeting, and a few of those in the house of
representatives meet twice a week. Most of the committees, however, have
no regular meeting day, being called together by their chairmen as
occasion requires.

_Forms of Committee Action._--The committee to which a bill is referred
may pursue any one of the following courses: (1) It may report the bill
back to the house with a recommendation that it be passed; (2) it may
amend the bill and recommend that it be passed as amended; (3) it may
throw the bill aside and report an entirely new one in its place; (4) it
may report the bill unfavorably with a recommendation that it do not
pass; (5) it may "pigeonhole" the bill, that is, take no action on it at
all, or report it so late in the session that no opportunity is allowed
for its consideration. The latter method of disposal, sometimes called
"smothering," is the fate that awaits the great majority of bills
introduced into Congress. The "smothering" of bills became the subject
of so much complaint among members recently that the rules were amended
so as to allow members to demand that their bills be reported to the
house for consideration. The house, of course, may at any time instruct
a committee to report a bill for its action, but this is rarely done.

The report to the house is usually made by the chairman of the
committee, or some one designated by him. Not infrequently the minority
members of the committee also make a report opposing the recommendation
of the majority. The committee system of legislation is so thoroughly
established in Congress that a bill favorably reported stands an
excellent chance of being passed, while one adversely reported hardly
ever passes.

=Rules of Procedure.=--The Constitution provides that each house may
frame its own rules of procedure, though it requires certain things to
be done in the interest of publicity and to insure a reasonable degree
of careful deliberation. Thus each house is required to keep and publish
a journal which must show how motions are disposed of and the vote for
and against measures voted on. It also requires that on demand of one
fifth of the members present the yeas and nays upon a measure shall be
entered upon the journal. The purpose of this provision is to enable a
small number of members to put the house on record so that the people
may know how their representatives have voted on important measures.

_Filibustering._--This requirement serves a useful purpose, but it is
sometimes taken advantage of by the minority in "filibustering," that
is, in obstructing and delaying legislative proceedings. Thus a member
may move to adjourn or to take a recess and ask that the roll be called
and the yeas and nays on the question be entered upon the journal. If
one fifth of the members join in the demand, the roll must be called and
the process may be repeated indefinitely. On one occasion in the
fiftieth Congress the house remained in session eight days and nights,
during which time there were over one hundred roll calls on motions of
this kind.

_The Rules of the House of Representatives_ have evolved gradually out
of the experience of the house during its long existence, and have come
to be so complex and elaborate that they are really understood by only a
few of the members, principally those who have had long experience in
administering them. They have been revised from time to time, but except
in a few particulars they are essentially what they were in 1880. They
prescribe a certain order of business for each day's work, which,
however, may be departed from by unanimous consent of all the members or
by the adoption of a "special order" reported by the committee on rules.

_Committee of the Whole._--Revenue and appropriation bills are
considered by the house of representatives in committee of the whole.
When the house goes into committee of the whole, the speaker leaves the
chair and calls some one else to preside in his place, and the presence
of 100 members constitutes a quorum. Debate in committee of the whole
is conducted rather informally, and greater freedom of discussion is
allowed. It is when in committee of the whole that many of the lengthy
speeches printed in the _Congressional Record_ are supposed to be
delivered. In reality, however, only a small portion of these speeches
are actually delivered, for members after addressing the house a few
minutes often secure leave to print the remainder of their remarks.
Under this leave, members frequently print long speeches which have
little or no relation to the subject under consideration but are
intended for campaign purposes or for effect upon their constituents.
They are then franked through the mails to the voters throughout the
district which the member represents.

If the bill is a private bill, it is called up for consideration on
Friday, which is private bill day. Most of the private bills are
reported from the committees on claims and on pensions. Six or seven
thousand such bills are passed by each Congress, and they constitute
about nine tenths of the entire number enacted.

_Suspension of the Rules._--The regular order of business may be
departed from at any time on the demand of privileged committees like
those on ways and means, appropriations, elections, rules, and a few
others which have a sort of right of way in the house, because of the
urgent character of the matters with which they deal. Furthermore, by
unanimous consent, often granted, a particular member is allowed to
bring up a bill for consideration outside the regular order. Finally, on
two Mondays in every month and during the last six days of the session,
the rules may be suspended by a two-thirds vote and measures to which
there is little objection may be quickly passed and thus the business of
the house expedited.

=The Speaker and the Committee on Rules.=--No discussion of the
procedure of the house of representatives would be adequate without a
consideration of the part played by the speaker and the committee on
rules in determining the course and character of legislation.

_The English Speaker._--The speakership is an ancient office inherited
from England, where it originated in the fourteenth century, and is an
outgrowth of the practical necessities of legislative procedure. The
American speakership, however, differs widely from its English
prototype. The speaker of the House of Commons has no such power in
shaping legislation and controlling debate as does the American speaker.
He is in fact little more than a moderator with power to put motions,
state questions, and preserve order and decorum in debate. He is
entirely impartial, with no party prejudices.

_Powers of the American Speaker._--The American speaker, on the
contrary, is not merely the presiding officer of the house, but he is an
active party leader who seldom hesitates to give members of his own
party every possible advantage in the course of debate. His right to
appoint the committees of the house until 1911 gave him increased power
over the shaping of legislation, because of the fact that the
legislation of the house has come to be legislation largely by its
committees. As has already been said, he gave the members of his own
party all the chairmanships of committees, as well as a majority of the
places on every committee, so that they easily controlled the work of
the committees and hence of the house itself.

_Recognition._--Moreover, his power of recognition, especially before
1910, that is, the power to grant or withhold the right of discussion,
enabled him to a large degree to prevent consideration of measures to
which he was opposed and to cut off debate by members of the minority
party, joined with the Democrats and brought about several amendments
to the rules, one of which is designed to do away with the chief source
of complaint in regard to the power of recognition.

_Committee on Rules._--Still another source of the speaker's power until
1910 was his control of the committee on rules. The committee consisted
of five members, two from the majority, two from the minority, and the
speaker, who was the fifth member. The speaker appointed his four
associates on the committee and thereby controlled its decisions. If he
wished at any time to have the house take up a bill at the bottom of the
calendar instead of one at the top, or in any other respect depart from
the established order of procedure, he could call the committee together
(it was the one committee that had the right to meet when the house was
in session) and have it report what was called a "special order," to
that effect--an order which the house usually adopted. The opposition to
the power of this committee and more especially to its domination by the
speaker led in 1910 to the adoption of a rule depriving the speaker of
membership on the committee, increasing its size from five to eleven,
and taking the appointment of the committee out of his hands. Since then
it has been elected by the house, and is, it is asserted, a more
representative committee.

=Caucus Methods.=--It is a common practice for the representatives of
each party to hold a caucus before the beginning of the debate upon an
important measure, especially one of a political character, for the
purpose of deciding what shall be the policy of the party toward the
measure. Sometimes a rule is adopted by the caucus binding the members
of the party to vote for or against the bill on the floor. Thus in 1913
caucuses of Democratic and representatives declared the tariff and
currency bills to be party measures and pledged the members to vote for
the bills without amendment. This practice has been criticized on the
ground that where members have bound themselves to vote for a bill
before it has been discussed on the floor, debate is useless since their
minds are no longer open to argument. Perhaps a better procedure would
be to hold the caucus after the discussion has terminated but before the
final vote is taken.

=Final Stages of Procedure.=--The rules of the house of representatives
restrict the time which may be occupied by any member in debating a
measure to one hour, and this cannot be exceeded except by unanimous
consent. If he chooses, he may yield a portion of his time to some other
member. The chairman who reports the bill usually opens the discussion.
He is followed by the ranking member of the minority on the committee,
and these are followed by other members of the committee in their turn.

_The Previous Question._--After the discussion has proceeded for a time,
debate may be terminated and the house brought to a vote by means of the
previous question, which is moved in the form, "Shall the main question
now be put?" When ordered by the house it ends debate and brings the
house directly to a vote. This is an effective method for putting an end
to useless discussion of a measure and taking the sense of the house on
its passage. It is a common form of procedure in legislative bodies,
though the senate, until 1917, had no way of limiting debate.

_Voting on Bills._--Questions on the passage of bills are put by the
speaker as follows: "As many as are in favor say _aye_"; "As many as are
opposed say _no_"; the speaker determining the result by the sound of
the voices. If there is a doubt as to which side has prevailed, a
"division" is called for, in which case those in favor rise and are
counted after which those who are opposed rise and are counted. If there
is still doubt as to the result, "tellers" may be appointed to determine
the vote, in which case those in favor of the measure file between the
two tellers, who make a careful count, after which those opposed pass
between them and are similarly counted. If one fifth of the members
demand that a yea and nay vote be taken, the clerk must call the roll
and record each member's vote, and the result is published in the
journal so that the way in which a member votes may be known to his
constituents and all others who may be interested.

_Passage by the Second House._--When a bill is passed by one house, it
is signed by the presiding officer, after which it is transmitted to the
other house, where it goes through practically the same stages of
procedure as described above. If the bill is passed by the other house
without amendment it is "enrolled," after which it is ready for the
signature of the President. If, however, a bill as passed by one house
is amended by the other, it is customary to appoint a conference
committee, consisting usually of three members from each house, to
discuss the differences and suggest a basis of compromise. The committee
usually recommends that each house recede from its position on certain
points, and the result is reported to each house, which usually accepts
the agreement and the bill is passed. Many important bills are finally
passed in this way, though occasionally the two houses fail to reach an
agreement and the bill fails.

_Approval of the President._--When the bill is presented to the
President he is allowed ten days to make up his mind as to whether he
will sign or disapprove it. If he refuses to sign it, he usually returns
it to the house in which it originated, with a statement of his
objections, after which the house must proceed to reconsider it, and if
it is passed by a two-thirds vote it is sent to the other chamber and if
repassed by it by a two-thirds vote it becomes a law notwithstanding the
veto of the President. But in such cases the yeas and nays must be
entered on the journal of each house so that the record may show that
the bill was properly passed. In case the President does not approve the
bill and neglects to return it within ten days to the house in which it
originated, it becomes law in the same manner as if he had signed it,
unless Congress should adjourn in the meantime so that it cannot be
returned, in which case it does not become law. As a large number of
bills are usually sent to the President during the last ten days of the
session, an opportunity is thus afforded him for defeating bills by
neither signing nor vetoing them. This method of defeating bills is
popularly described by the term "pocket veto," a procedure sometimes
resorted to where the President does not approve a bill and yet does not
wish to take the responsibility for positively vetoing it.

=Procedure in the Senate.=--In the senate, partly by reason of its small
size, partly by reason of its permanence, and partly by reason of the
tradition of senatorial courtesy, the procedure is somewhat different
from that of the house of representatives. For example, the senate rules
are permanent, that is, they continue from one Congress to another and
do not have to be adopted anew every two years.

_The President of the Senate_ is little more than a moderator; indeed,
he may belong to a different political party from that which is in
control of the chamber--a situation that never happens in the house. He
does not appoint the committees of the senate, and so has no power of
predetermining the character of legislation. Moreover, he has no power
to control debate through the power of recognition. The traditions of
the senate require that he shall recognize the first senator who rises
to speak, and that he shall treat the members of both parties
impartially in according recognition for purposes of debate.

_Unlimited Debate._--Until 1917 one of the usages of the senate was the
right of unlimited debate. Owing to the small size of the senate, much
greater freedom of discussion is possible than in the house of
representatives, where there are more than four times as many members.
Debate can also be conducted with much more ease and is much more
effective, since the size of the hall is smaller and members are not
under the necessity of speaking at the top of their voices. While a
member of the house can rarely get an opportunity to deliver a speech
and then only for a few minutes, a senator may usually speak as long as
he pleases. Advantage of this privilege is frequently taken by senators
to deliver long speeches, not so much to convince their colleagues, as
to get their views before the country at large or to make an impression
on their constituents at home. Under the rules as they were before 1917,
there was no limit to a senator's right to debate. The privilege was
made use of occasionally near the close of a session for "filibustering"
purposes. Thus a few senators with strong lungs, large vocabularies, and
a liberal supply of documents from which to read, might consume the time
of the senate for weeks and prevent it from acting on measures to which
they were opposed. Many times in our history a single senator has forced
the senate to abandon the consideration of important measures, by
threatening to consume the remaining time of the session by speech
making. In the last days of one session of Congress, a senator from
Wisconsin spoke continuously for more than seventeen hours in an effort
to prevent action on a currency bill. Near the end of the 64th Congress
(March, 1917) a small group of senators filibustered to prevent the
senate from taking a vote on a bill to give the President authority to
arm American merchant vessels for defensive purposes, notwithstanding
the fact that nearly all the other senators desired to pass the bill.
Shortly thereafter the senate adopted a new rule which makes it
possible, by a two-thirds vote, to limit the debate on any measure to
one hour for each senator. The rule was applied in November, 1919, to
bring to an end protracted discussion of the treaty of peace with
Germany.

=References.=--BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. xiv.
BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), chs. xiii-xv.
HART, Actual Government, ch. xiv. HARRISON, This Country of Ours,
ch. iii. REINSCH, American Legislatures and Legislative Methods,
ch. i.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. The Congressional
Directory. 2. The House and Senate Rules. 3. Precedents of the
House of Representatives, published as a public document in 1909.
4. The Congressional Record. 5. Specimen copies of bills and
resolutions. 6. The last annual message of the President. 7. Copies
of committee reports. 8. Veto messages of the President. 9.
Diagrams of the house and senate chambers.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Why are rules of procedure necessary in legislative bodies?

2. For what purpose does the Constitution require each house to keep a
journal of its proceedings?

3. Which do you think the better practice, the American rule, by which
each house of Congress settles election contests of its own members, or
the English rule, which places that power in the hands of the courts?

4. What is the reason for allowing a small number of members of each
house to compel the attendance of absent members?

9. Do you think it would be a wise provision to permit the members of
the cabinet to occupy seats in Congress without the right to vote?

10. Trace a bill through Congress, showing the various stages through
which it must pass before becoming a law.

11. Of what committees is your representative a member? Is he chairman
of any committee?

12. Do you think the minority party should be given a larger
representation on the committees of Congress and larger privileges of
debate?

13. Give the names of the five most distinguished speakers of the house
of representatives since 1789.

14. Why is debate more effective in the senate than in the house of
representatives?

15. Which of the two houses exerts the greater influence in determining
national legislation? Give your reasons.

16. What are some of the so-called "usurped" powers now exercised by the
senate?

CHAPTER XII

FEDERAL FINANCE, TAXATION, AND MONEY

=The National Taxing Power.=--The lack of the power of Congress to levy
taxes was, as we have seen, one of the chief weaknesses of the Articles
of Confederation, voluntary contributions by the states being the chief
source of revenue for the national government. When, therefore, the
framers of the Constitution came to deal with this subject, they wisely
provided that Congress should have power to levy and collect its own
revenues. The power conferred is almost absolute, the only limitations
being that no duties shall be levied upon exports; that excises and
duties levied on imports shall be uniform throughout the United States,
that is, they shall be the same in amount on a given article everywhere;
and that where direct taxes are levied, they shall be apportioned among
the states on the basis of population.

=Forms of Federal Taxes.=--The two general forms of taxes recognized by
the Constitution are direct and indirect taxes. The only direct taxes,
in the sense of the Constitution of the United States, are poll taxes,
and taxes on real or personal property, all of which are required to be
apportioned among the states on the basis of population, whenever they
are levied.

On account of the obvious injustice of levying a tax on the states on
the basis of population, inasmuch as there might easily be twice as much
property in one state as in another having the same population, this
method has fallen into general disuse. Indeed, it has been resorted to
by Congress only five times in our history, and then only for very short
periods in each case. It does not seem likely that this method of
federal taxation will ever again be resorted to.

Until recently the two principal sources of federal revenue have been
duties on imports, and internal revenue, or excise taxes, on certain
articles produced in this country.

=Customs Duties.=--_Specific and Ad Valorem._--Customs duties are taxes
levied on articles imported into the United States from abroad. They are
of two kinds, specific and _ad valorem_. Specific duties are those
levied on the articles according to their weight or measurement without
regard to their value. Thus a duty of one and a half cents a pound on
imported tin plate, or five cents a pound on dyestuffs, or ten cents a
yard on silk would be specific. An _ad valorem_ tax is one levied with
reference to the value of the article. Thus a duty of 50 per cent on the
value of imported woolen goods is an example of an _ad valorem_ duty.
Sometimes both forms of duty are levied on the same article.

In favor of the specific duty is the ease of collection, since the
article has only to be weighed or measured and then assessed. But it is
often inadequate, since one yard of cloth or one pound of dye may be
many times more valuable than another, and so with many other articles.
One practical objection to the _ad valorem_ method is the opportunity
which is afforded for fraud in the matter of valuation, since in many
cases it is difficult to ascertain the real value of the article taxed.

_The Protective Tariff._--From the beginning of our existence as a
nation, reliance upon customs duties as a chief source of revenue has
been a part of our established policy. In 1921 the receipts from this
source were $308,025,102; and in many earlier years they were nearly
half of the entire ordinary income of the national government. Great
diversity of opinion, however, has existed in regard to what articles
should be taxed and the amount that should be imposed. The Republican
party has always insisted upon a tariff not only for revenue but also
for protection to American industries and American labor against the
cheap labor of the Old World. The Democratic party, on the other hand,
has generally opposed the protective feature and insisted upon a tariff
primarily for revenue.[35]

[35] But in 1916 a Democratic Congress laid a protective tariff on
imported dyestuffs to encourage a home industry.

_The Preparation of a Tariff Bill_ devolves upon the ways and means
committee of the house of representatives, where all revenue bills must
originate.[36] In 1916 Congress provided for the creation of a
bi-partisan Tariff Commission to investigate the operation of tariff
laws and to make reports with a view to furnishing Congress with
information for its guidance in the preparation of tariff bills.

[36] The senate, however, has the right to propose amendments. Thus the
tariff bill of 1894 was amended by the senate in nearly a thousand
particulars. Again, the tariff bill of 1909 was so altered by the
senate that it was in many respects a new bill, and the differences
between the two houses were settled by a conference committee.

_The Maximum and Minimum Principle._--In 1909 Congress adopted for the
first time the maximum and minimum principle of fixing tariff rates. The
law provided for a maximum and a minimum rate on many articles and
authorized the President to apply the minimum rate to goods imported
from countries which extend the same concession to articles imported by
their citizens from the United States and to apply the maximum rate to
others.

_Reciprocity Treaties._--At various times in the past reciprocity
treaties have been negotiated with foreign countries by which it was
provided that lower rates should be levied on articles imported from
such countries in return for reciprocal concessions of a similar kind
from them; or that there should be free admission of articles by one
country from the other.

=Collection of Customs Duties.=--The collection of the customs duties is
part of the work of the treasury department. The country is divided into
collection districts, in each of which there are one or more ports of
entry and customhouses at which all imported goods must be landed. In
each district there are a collector and a corps of appraisers, weighers,
gaugers, naval officers, surveyors, and the like.

By far the most important port of entry in the United States is the city
of New York, where the aggregate receipts for the year 1910 were two
thirds of the entire amount received from customs duties in the United
States. Until recently a number of the collection districts, however,
were unimportant, and in a few the expenses of administration exceeded
the receipts. Thus the receipts of the Georgetown (S. C.) district in
1910 were only $49.38, while the expenses were $265; the receipts of the
Rock Island (Ill.) district were $51.79 and the expenses $660; the
receipts of the Saco (Me.) district were $9.08 and the expenses $753.92.
In pursuance of an act of Congress passed in 1912, the President has
recently abolished or consolidated many of these districts, so that the
number is now only 49, whereas formerly it was 120. For a long time the
secretary of the treasury had urged Congress to authorize this reform,
mainly in the interest of economy, but it acted tardily.

When goods are purchased abroad to be imported into the United States,
the importer files with the United States consul at the foreign port
from which they are to be exported an invoice containing a list of the
goods and a statement of their value at the place where manufactured or
produced. The consul certifies to the correctness of the invoice and
sends a copy to the collector of the port at which the goods are to be
landed.

_Appraisals._--Upon arrival in the United States, the cargo is examined
by the customs officers to see that it corresponds with the description
contained in the invoice. If it is found that the goods are undervalued
the value will be raised by the appraiser. If there is evidence of
fraud, the goods will be confiscated or a heavy fine imposed on the
importer.[37]

[37] If the importer for any reason does not desire to remove his goods
immediately and pay the duty thereon, he may store them in a government
warehouse by giving a bond for double the amount of their value. He may
then withdraw them at any time within a year upon the payment of the
duties. If they are reëxported the payment of duties is not required.

There is a general board of appraisers to which appeals may be taken by
the importer on questions of valuation, and recently there has been
created a United States court of customs appeals for the determination
of various questions arising in the administration of the tariff laws.

=Internal Revenue Taxes.=--The second important source of federal income
is excise taxes, or what are popularly known as internal revenue duties,
that is, taxes on commodities produced in the United States.

_The Receipts_ from internal revenue taxes as compared with those from
customs duties were inconsiderable before the Civil War. In 1862,
however, Congress passed a comprehensive internal revenue law which
increased the tax on liquors and levied a tax on tobacco, besides
license taxes on various trades and occupations. So many articles were
taxed that the revenue from this source in 1866 amounted to more than
$309,000,000, the largest sum collected in one year from internal
revenue taxes until 1915. In 1917, in consequence of the war, the rates
of many taxes were increased and new taxes were levied on freight and
passenger transportation, express charges, telegrams, insurance
policies, theater tickets, automobiles and many other articles, and a
great variety of business transactions, such as stock transfers, bond
issues, etc. For some purposes the taxes on incomes, profits, and
inheritances (page 224) are called internal revenue. The following are
the principal items of internal revenue in the year ending June 30,
1921:

Income and profits tax $3,228,137,673
Distilled spirits 82,623,428
Tobacco 255,219,385
Estate inheritance tax 154,043,260
Tax on sales 282,222,065
Tax on tickets of admission 95,890,650
Tax on corporations 81,525,652
Tax on bonds, stock issues and transfers, etc. 72,468,013
Tax on transportation, telegraph and telephone 301,512,413

=Collection of Internal Revenue Taxes.=--For convenience in collecting
internal revenue taxes, the country is divided into some sixty
districts, not by act of Congress as is the case with customs districts,
but by the order of the President. Sometimes several states are grouped
into one district; sometimes a state is divided into several districts.
Thus there are four districts in Illinois, six in New York, and five in
Kentucky. In each district there is a collector who acts under the
supervision of the United States Internal Revenue Commissioner. The
collection of internal revenue taxes is a much more simple task than the
collection of customs duties, and is done for the most part by the sale
of stamps to the manufacturer, who is required to affix them on the
articles taxed. In assessing the tax on most articles their value is not
taken into consideration, and hence there is less opportunity for
arbitrary action on the part of the government officials and of course
less likelihood of controversy, than is the case with the administration
of the customs laws.

=Other Sources of Federal Revenue.=--Besides the receipts obtained from
tariff duties and internal revenue taxes, there are a number of other
sources of revenue such as those from the sale of public land, the tax
on national banks, fines and penalties for violations of the laws of the
United States, profits on coinage, naturalization, immigration, patent
office and other fees, etc.

_Income Taxes._--In very recent years (since 1918), the income tax, in
its various forms, has become the greatest of all the sources of revenue
for the federal government.

It was in 1862 that Congress levied for the first time a tax on incomes,
the rate varying from five to ten per cent according to the amount of
the income, all incomes below $600 being exempt from the tax. In 1872,
the law was repealed; but a demand for reviving this method of taxation
gradually increased, and it came to be a standing part of the national
platform of the Democratic party. Accordingly when the Democrats got
control of Congress in 1894, they enacted a law providing that all
incomes in excess of $4,000 a year should be taxed at the rate of two
per cent on the amount in excess of that figure. Shortly after the law
went into effect, however, the Supreme Court, overruling its former
decisions, decided, by a vote of five to four, that the law was
unconstitutional, mainly on the ground that a tax on income from
property was a direct tax in the sense of the Constitution, and not
having been apportioned among the states according to their population
was null and void. Sentiment in favor of such a tax, however, steadily
grew, and in 1913 the constitutional impediment was removed by the
sixteenth amendment.

Later in the year Congress levied an income tax, in connection with an
act to reduce tariff duties. The income tax is one per cent on each
individual's annual net income in excess of $3000 (or $4000 for husband
and wife living together), plus an additional tax of one per cent on net
income over $20,000 and not exceeding $50,000, two per cent on net
income over $50,000 and not exceeding $75,000, and so on up to six per
cent on net income over $500,000.

_The Corporation Tax._--Congress in 1909 passed a law imposing a tax on
corporations, joint-stock companies, and associations, to the extent of
one per cent on the net income of each in excess of $5,000 a year. In
the year 1912 the tax yielded $28,583,259. The next year the exemption
of $5,000 was removed, thus making the entire net income of corporations
liable to the tax.

_Inheritance Taxes._--During the Civil War and the war with Spain,
Congress levied a tax on inheritances, and the permanent adoption of
this form of taxation was strongly recommended by President Roosevelt in
his annual messages, but owing largely to the fact that many of the
states have passed laws of this kind, the idea has never commended
itself to Congress.

[Illustration: CUSTOMHOUSE, NEW YORK]

[Illustration: IN THE MINT AT PHILADELPHIA]

=Deposit of United States Funds.=--The taxes collected by the national
government, together with its other funds, are kept partly in the
treasury and partly in the nine subtreasuries located at Baltimore,
Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, St.
Louis, and San Francisco. In addition the secretary of the treasury is
authorized to designate national banks as depositories and to deposit
certain of the funds therein. In times of financial stringency or
threatened crises, this authority may be used by the secretary to
relieve the money market, by distributing the public funds among the
depositories.

=Federal Appropriations and Expenditures.=--Having studied the sources
of federal revenues, we come now to the subject of expenditures. Revenue
bills are prepared, as we have seen, by the ways and means committee of
the house of representatives. At first the appropriations of Congress
were embodied in a single bill prepared by the committee on
appropriations, but as the operations of the government expanded, the
appropriations came to be embodied in a number of bills, sixteen in
1920, prepared by nine different committees. The committee on
appropriations was responsible only for the half dozen more general
appropriation bills, while other committees prepared the the bills
appropriating large amounts for the army, navy, diplomatic service, post
office, Department of Agriculture, District of Columbia, Indian service,
and improvement of rivers and harbors. In 1921, however, the committee
on appropriations was enlarged and again entrusted with the preparation
of all the various appropriation bills, the house thus returning to the
earlier system of a single committee responsible for all expenditures.

The growth of national expenditures has been rapid. The appropriations
for 1916 reached the unprecedented amount of $1,637,583,682; those for
the period of the war (1917-1918), $32,427,000,000, including
$9,000,000,000 loaned to European allies. In 1921, the appropriations
were reduced to about $5,500,000,000.

=The National Debt.=--Whenever the revenues of the government are
insufficient to pay its expenses recourse must be had to increased taxes
or loans. In time of peace the ordinary revenues ought to be sufficient
to meet expenses, but when extraordinary expenses must be incurred as is
the case when war breaks out, or foreign territory is purchased, or some
great public work is to be constructed such as the digging of the Panama
Canal, the government must have recourse to the borrowing power. The
Constitution of the United States expressly confers upon Congress the
power to borrow money on the credit of the United States, and no
limitations whatever are placed on the exercise of the power, such as
are generally imposed on state legislatures by the state constitutions.

_United States Bonds._--The usual mode by which the government borrows
money is by the issue of its bonds, obligations similar in most respects
to promissory notes made by individuals. A government bond is simply a
promise to pay a certain sum at a particular time and with interest at a
certain rate. The bonds issued by the United States government are of
two kinds: "registered" and "coupon" bonds. A registered bond is made
out to the person who purchases it; a record is kept of it at the
treasury department, and when it is transferred to another person the
record must be changed so as to show the new owner.

The advantage of such a bond is that if it is accidentally destroyed or
lost the owner suffers no loss. The chief disadvantage is the difficulty
in transferring it. A coupon bond is one which has interest coupons
attached to it, which may be clipped off and presented to the treasury
for payment as the interest becomes due. The government keeps no record
of the owner and it may be transferred as any other personal property.
If a coupon bond is lost or destroyed, however, the owner cannot collect
the amount of the bond. United States bonds are issued in various
denominations and for periods of time which vary widely. Usually bonds
are sold to the highest bidder, but occasionally they are disposed of by
negotiation with capitalists on the best terms that can be secured.
During President Cleveland's administration $262,000,000 of bonds were
sold to New York capitalists in this way.

_Rate of Interest._--The rate of interest which United States bonds pay
has varied from time to time. The Revolutionary War debt bore six per
cent, and so did most of the civil war bonds. After the Civil War,
however, the rate at which the government was able to borrow steadily
declined, largely because of the desire of national banks to secure
United States bonds (page 232). The rate of interest on bonds now
outstanding ranges from two to five per cent.

_Growth of the National Debt._--When the Constitution went into effect,
the national debt, including the war debts of the states which were
assumed by the national government, amounted to about $127,000,000; but
by 1836 the debt was extinguished and there was a surplus in the
treasury which was distributed among the states. The enormous expenses
of the Civil War, however, had to be met largely by loans, and at the
close of the conflict (1866) the interest-bearing debt was more than
$2,000,000,000. During the next twenty years the debt was reduced to
about $600,000,000, but this amount was increased between 1895 and 1899
to about $945,000,000 on account of bond issues to replenish the gold
reserve and to meet a portion of the expenses of the war with Spain. On
June 30, 1915, the interest-bearing debt stood at $969,759,090. In
1917-19 five bond issues aggregating more than $21,000,000,000 were made
on account of the war with Germany.

In addition there is also a non-interest-bearing debt of $389,407,800,
of which $346,681,016 consists of treasury notes issued during the Civil
War, and popularly known as "greenbacks" from their color. The national
interest-bearing debt of the United States on June 30, 1921, amounted to
about $24,000,000,000. The total debt of England is now about
$40,000,000,000, that of France about $46,000,000,000, and that of
Germany over $30,000,000,000.

=The Monetary System.=--The coining of money is now regarded everywhere
as a proper if not a necessary function of government. Under the
Articles of Confederation, this power was possessed by the states as
well as by Congress, though in fact it was exercised by neither. The
framers of the Constitution decided that the most effective way of
securing a uniform system of money would be to place the whole matter
under the control of the national government, and so Congress alone was
given the power of coinage. At the same time, remembering how the states
had before 1789 flooded the country with paper money which in some
instances had become worthless, the framers of the Constitution wisely
decided to prohibit them from issuing bills of credit, that is, paper
designed to circulate as money. Likewise they were forbidden to make
anything but gold and silver coin a legal tender in the payment of
debts.

_The Acts of 1792 and 1834._--As soon as the new government under the
Constitution had gone into operation, steps were taken to provide a
system of metallic currency. In 1792, an act was passed providing for
the establishment of a mint at Philadelphia and for the striking of both
gold and silver coins.[38] The gold coins were to be the double eagle,
the eagle, the half eagle, and the quarter eagle; the silver coins were
to be the dollar, the half dollar, the quarter, the dime, and the half
dime.[39] As the market value of a given quantity of gold bullion was
then about fifteen times that of silver, the weight of the silver coins
was made fifteen times that of the corresponding gold coins. But as the
value of gold bullion presently began to increase in comparison with
silver, it was necessary to readjust the ratio so as to keep both in
circulation, and so in 1834 the weight of gold coins was reduced and the
ratio made sixteen to one.

[38] Later mints were established at Denver, San Francisco, and New
Orleans. Assay offices for refining and determining the purity of
bullion have been established at New York, St. Louis, Deadwood, Helena,
Boise, Carson City, Salt Lake, Seattle, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
To give strength and hardness to gold and silver coins an alloy of
copper equal to one tenth of their weight is added.

[39] In addition to the gold and silver coins mentioned above are the
five cent piece (nickel) and the one cent piece (copper).

_Demonetization of the Silver Dollar._--But soon the increase in the
supply of gold again disturbed the ratio, making the silver coins worth
more as metal than as money; and as the difficulty of keeping up the
adjustment seemed insuperable, Congress decided to abandon the attempt
and so in 1873 the silver dollar was practically "demonetized," that is,
was dropped from the list of coins, and other silver coins were made
subsidiary, that is, their weight was decreased so that the metal in
them was worth less than their face value, and they were made legal
tender for small sums only.[40]

[40] At the present time all gold coins and the silver dollar are legal
tender for all sums. The smaller coins, however, are legal tender for
small sums only, the amount ranging from twenty-five cents in the case
of the nickel and copper pieces to $10 in the case of the silver coins.

_Later Acts._--The opposition to the demonetization of the silver
dollar, however, became so great that it was restored by the act of
1878 and made full legal tender. But the free coinage of silver was not
restored; the act required the government to purchase and coin not less
than $2,000,000 nor more than $4,000,000 worth of silver bullion per
month. In the mean time the market value of silver had declined until
the amount of silver in a silver dollar was worth less than eighty cents
in gold, and it was believed that the act of 1878 by increasing the
demand for silver would restore its market value. This, however, did not
happen, and the market value of silver went on decreasing until at one
time the amount of silver in a dollar was worth only about forty-six
cents in gold. In 1890 Congress increased the use of silver by requiring
the secretary of the treasury to purchase monthly four and one half
million ounces of silver and pay for it with treasury notes which were
redeemable in coin at the option of the secretary and which were to be
canceled or destroyed when so redeemed. This act was repealed in 1893,
since which date the government has purchased very little silver bullion
for coinage purposes.

=Free Coinage.=--In determining its coinage policy, the government might
follow either of two methods: (1) It might coin any and all bullion
presented by its owners at the mints, or (2) it might purchase its own
bullion and coin only so much as the necessities of trade or other
considerations might require. The former policy is that of free coinage;
it is also unlimited coinage since it involves the coinage of all
bullion offered, without limit. From the very first, the practice of the
government in regard to gold has been that of free and unlimited
coinage; that is, any owner of gold bullion may take it to a mint and
have it coined without charge except for the cost of the alloy. Prior to
1873, the same policy was followed in regard to silver, thus maintaining
in theory at least a bimetallic or double standard. In 1873, however,
Congress abandoned the policy of free coinage of silver and adopted the
single gold standard. From then until now the government has coined no
silver bullion for private owners.

=Paper Currency.=--In addition to the metallic money described above
there is a vast amount of paper currency in the United States. This
currency may be classified under five different heads.

_Greenbacks._--First, there are the $346,681,016 of old United States
notes or "greenbacks," already described. They were issued during the
Civil War, they bear no interest, and are redeemable in coin upon the
demand of the holder. Since 1878 the practice of the government has been
not to retire them as they are redeemed but to reissue them and keep
them in circulation.

_Gold and Silver Certificates._--Second, there is a large amount of
currency in the form of gold and silver certificates. The law under
which such currency is issued provides that any owner of gold or silver
coin may deposit it in the treasury and receive in exchange an
equivalent amount of certificates. They are more convenient to handle
than coin, and are equally valuable for paying debts and purchasing
commodities. On the 1st of July, 1921, the amount of gold certificates
in circulation was $452,174,709; the amount of silver certificates,
$201,534,213. These two forms of currency constitute one eighth of our
entire stock of money in circulation.

_Sherman Treasury Notes._--A third form of paper money is the so-called
Sherman treasury notes issued in pursuance of the act of 1890 already
described. On July 1, 1921, there were $1,576,184 of them in
circulation. The law declares that they shall be redeemed in _coin_,
that is, either gold or silver, at the option of the government. To
prevent the threatened depletion of the gold reserve[41] and provide the
necessary gold with which to redeem the increasing issues of Sherman
treasury notes, bond issues aggregating $262,000,000 were issued during
the years 1894 and 1895. By the act of 1900 the policy of maintaining a
single gold standard was definitely adopted by Congress, and it was
provided that greenback notes, Sherman treasury notes, and other
securities of the government should be redeemable in gold.

[41] The gold reserve is a sum of money set aside for the purpose of
redeeming the old "greenbacks" or United States notes. An effort has
always been made to keep the amount above $100,000,000.

_National Bank Notes._--The fourth class of paper money is national bank
currency. A national bank, unlike other banks, not only receives
deposits and makes loans and performs the other functions of banks, but
also issues notes which circulate as money. There are about 8,200
national banks in the United States, with an aggregate capital of more
than $1,000,000,000 and with a total circulation of $729,550,513 of
notes outstanding (July 1, 1921).

_Federal Reserve Notes._--The federal reserve banks, established under
the act of 1913, not only receive deposits and make loans to other
banks, but also have power to issue federal reserve notes which
circulate as money. The amount in circulation July 1, 1921, was
$2,680,494,274. This constitutes by far the largest amount of paper
money in existence.

The total amount of money of all kinds in circulation on July 1, 1921,
amounted to $5,776,437,473, or a per capita circulation of about $53.40.

=The National Bank System.=--Any number of persons, not less than five,
may organize a national bank, the amount of capital required depending
upon the population of the town or city where the bank is located.
Prior to 1914 the organizers were obliged to purchase and deposit with
the government, bonds of the United States equal to one fourth of the
capital of the bank; now they may do so if they wish. The comptroller of
the currency then delivers to the bank notes equal in amount to the par
value of the bonds deposited. These notes when properly signed by the
president and cashier of the bank may then be loaned by the bank or
otherwise issued as currency, for though not a legal tender they are
commonly used as money. It must also be remembered that the United
States bonds deposited with the government remain the property of the
bank and it receives the interest on them just as any other owner would.

_Advantages of National Bank Currency._--If a national bank fails,
depositors may lose their money just as depositors of money in other
banks may, but the holder of a national bank note does not, for whenever
a bank is unable to redeem its notes, the comptroller of the currency
may sell the bonds which it has on deposit with him, and with the
proceeds redeem its notes. Hence a bank note is as safe as any other
form of currency. Moreover, national banks are subject to frequent and
careful examination by government examiners, and failures among them
occur with less frequency than among other banks.

=Federal Reserve Banks.=--By an important act passed in 1913 Congress
provided for the creation of a series of federal reserve banks to be
located in different parts of the country. The committee intrusted with
the matter divided the United States into twelve districts, each of
which is to have one federal reserve bank, located respectively in the
following cities: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond,
Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San
Francisco. In each district the national banks are required to become
members of the federal reserve association, and to subscribe for its
stock. Other banks may do so, by conforming to certain requirements.

Federal reserve banks are under the supervision and control of a federal
reserve board consisting of the secretary of the treasury, the
comptroller of the currency, and five other members appointed by the
President. The federal reserve notes which they issue are guaranteed by
the United States government, and are secured by commercial paper--notes
and drafts--deposited in the treasury. It is expected that these banks
will provide a more adequate supply of money and credit when the need is
greatest, as during the crop-moving season, and at the same time give
greater stability to the business of banking.

=Federal Land Banks.=--In 1916 Congress passed the so-called rural
credits law, which provides for the organization of a series of banks
for lending money to farmers at low rates of interest and for long
periods of time. Such banks are under the supervision of the federal
farm loan board consisting of the secretary of the treasury and four
other members.

=References.=--ANDREWS, Manual of the Constitution, pp. 81-89,
104-118. BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. xviii. BRYCE,
The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. xvi. HARRISON,
This Country of Ours, pp. 58-65. HART, Actual Government, chs.
xxi-xxii. HINSDALE, American Government, secs. 341-373. LAUGHLIN,
Elements of Political Economy, chs. xxv-xxvii.

=Illustrative Material.=--1. Copy of the present tariff law. 2.
Specimens of various kinds of money in circulation. 3. Copy of the
last annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What were the sources of national revenue during the period of the
Confederation?

2. Why has the imposition of direct taxes on the states not been
resorted to with more frequency?

3. What is your opinion of the law levying taxes on incomes?

4. What is the amount paid by your state in internal revenue taxes? How
many internal revenue districts are in your state?

5. Are there any ports of "entry" or "delivery" in your state? Any
customhouses? If so, what is the amount collected by each? (See report
of the secretary of the treasury.)

6. Can you give the names of some articles now on the "free list"?
Mention some articles on which, in your judgment, the tariff rate is too
high. Mention some articles on which the tariff is levied according to
the _ad valorem_ method; the _specific_ method; both methods combined.
(See copy of the tariff law.)

7. With what countries do we have reciprocity commercial treaties? In
brief, what are the provisions of those treaties?

8. Why is an internal revenue tax imposed on such articles as
oleomargarine, filled cheese, and mixed flour?

9. What is the present rate on tobacco, cigars, distilled spirits, and
fermented spirits?

10. What was the total amount of the appropriations of Congress at the
last session? What were the largest items of expenditure?

11. What is the present mint ratio between gold and silver? the market
ratio? What is the actual weight of a silver dollar? What is Gresham's
law of coinage?

12. Which countries have a bimetallic monetary system? Which a single
silver standard? Which a single gold standard? What are the arguments
for and against free coinage of silver?

13. What would be the result of opening the mints to the free and
unlimited coinage of silver?

14. Name the different kinds of paper money.

15. What was the amount of the interest-bearing debt according to the
last report of the secretary of the treasury?

16. What do you understand by the terms "legal tender"? "fiat money"?
"seigniorage"? "suspension of specie payments"?

17. What is the penalty for counterfeiting the currency of the United
States?

[Answers to many of these questions may be found in the report of the
secretary of the treasury which may be obtained gratis from the
secretary.]

CHAPTER XIII

THE REGULATION OF COMMERCE

=The Power to Regulate Commerce.=--Under the Articles of Confederation,
as we have seen, Congress possessed no power to regulate commerce among
the states or with foreign nations. That power remained entirely with
the states. Each state accordingly made such regulations as it saw fit,
without regard to the general welfare. It was this want of commercial
power on the part of Congress that contributed as much as anything else
perhaps to the downfall of the Confederation. The Constitution as
finally adopted gave Congress the exclusive power to regulate commerce
among the states, with foreign countries, and with the Indian tribes,
which were then treated somewhat as foreign nations for certain
purposes. The only limitations placed on the power of Congress in this
respect were that no duty should be levied on goods exported from any
state; that no preference should be given by any regulation of commerce
or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another; and that no
vessels bound to or from one state should be obliged to enter, clear, or
pay duties in another.

=Regulation of Foreign Commerce.= In pursuance of the power to regulate
commerce with foreign nations Congress has enacted a large amount of
legislation relating to tonnage duties, duties on imports, quarantine,
immigration, the importation of adulterated foods, wines, teas, and
other food products, the conduct of navigation, the construction and
inspection of ships carrying passengers, pilotage, clearances, the
protection of shipping, the rights of seamen, the registration and
insurance of vessels, life-saving appliances, the use of wireless
telegraph apparatus, and the like. It was also in pursuance of this
power that the Embargo Act was passed in 1807 and the Nonintercourse Act
in 1809--both of which were in effect prohibitions rather than
regulations of commerce.

_The Navigation Laws_ prescribe with great detail how vessels registered
under the American flag shall be constructed and equipped for the
comfort and safety of their crews and passengers; how they shall be
inspected; rules that shall be observed to avoid collisions, how signals
shall be displayed, etc.; the forms of papers vessels must carry; how
the wages of seamen shall be paid, the nature of their contracts, etc.

_The Tonnage Laws_ prescribe the rate of tonnage duties that shall be
levied on vessels entering American ports. Tonnage duties, as the name
indicates, are a form of taxation calculated on the basis of the tonnage
admeasurement of the vessel; they are levied on American as well as
foreign ships, though the rate is higher on the latter than on the
former. Sometimes they have been higher on the vessels of some foreign
countries than on those of others, in which case they are known as
discriminating tonnage duties. Such discriminating duties are employed
for the purpose of favoring the commerce of those nations which extend
us commercial privileges and for shutting out or restricting that of
nations which discriminate against our trade. In pursuance of the power
to regulate foreign commerce, Congress prohibits foreign vessels from
engaging in the coasting trade, and permits only citizens of the United
States to serve as masters on vessels registered under the American
flag. Formerly only American-built vessels could be registered, but in
1914, after the outbreak of the great war in Europe, Congress passed an
act allowing ships built in foreign yards, when owned by American
citizens, to be registered under the American flag; and more than 100
such vessels have been so registered.

_Immigration._--By virtue of the commerce power Congress has enacted a
series of immigration laws imposing restrictions on the coming of
immigrants to our shores. For a long time immigration from Europe was
encouraged rather than restricted, but within recent years so many
undesirable persons have found their way to America that Congress has
been led to pass various laws designed to shut out the worst of them and
admit only the desirable ones.[42]

[42] According to the report of the commissioner general of
immigration, 1,218,480 immigrants arrived in the United States during
the year 1914. Of those who applied for admission into the country,
more than 33,000 were turned back. In 1916 the number of arrivals
dropped to 366,748; in 1920 it was 430,000.

First of all, the immigration laws exclude convicts, insane persons,
paupers and those likely to become paupers, persons suffering with
dangerous, loathsome, and contagious diseases; epileptics, persons
afflicted with tuberculosis, idiots, feeble-minded persons, polygamists,
anarchists, immoral persons, and others of this character.

In the second place, what are known as alien contract laborers are
prohibited from entering the United States, that is, persons who come
under contract already entered into, to perform labor, whether skilled
or unskilled. The law excluding this class was enacted in obedience to
the demands of the union laborers of the United States, who did not wish
to be subjected to competition with foreign laborers specially imported
for the purpose. Actors, teachers, lecturers, and members of other
professions are exempted from the law, and so are skilled laborers if
domestic laborers of like kind are not available in the United States.

A third group of excluded classes are Chinese laborers, the immigration
of whom was first prohibited in 1882.

A law of 1916 provides, with certain exceptions, that no alien shall be
admitted unless he can read English or some other language or dialect. A
law passed in 1921 limits the number of immigrants who may enter
annually from each country, to 3 per cent of the number already in the
United States, or a total of about 356,000.

There is now a head tax of eight dollars levied upon every immigrant who
is admitted. Persons whose steamship passage has been paid by others or
who have been otherwise assisted to come are not allowed to enter. When
an immigrant has been denied admission by the commissioner of
immigration at the port at which he has landed, he may take an appeal to
a special board of inquiry. If the decision of this board is against him
he may appeal to the United States commissioner-general of immigration,
and finally to the secretary of the department of labor. If the final
decision is against him, the steamship on which he sailed is required at
its own expense to transport him to the port from which he sailed.

_Quarantine._--In pursuance of the power to regulate foreign commerce,
Congress has enacted a volume of legislation in regard to quarantine and
medical inspection of ships and their passengers coming from foreign
ports. In most instances inspections are made by the United States
consul at the port from which the vessel sails, and a bill of health is
furnished the master of the vessel, but in some Asiatic and South
American ports regular medical inspectors are stationed. At various
ports along the coast, national quarantine stations have been
established at which inspections of incoming vessels are made and at
which they may be detained if found to have on board persons suffering
from dangerous contagious diseases.

_Pure Food._--Congress has also provided for the inspection of foods
imported from abroad. Whenever a vessel is found to have on board impure
or adulterated foods or teas, it is forbidden to land the cargo or is
allowed to land it only after certain conditions are complied with such
as the change of labels to correspond with the actual contents of
packages. In this way an attempt is made to protect the American
consumer against impure and unwholesome food products shipped here from
foreign ports.

=Interstate Commerce= has been interpreted to include the carriage of
passengers from one state to another; the transportation of commodities
of whatsoever character, including lottery tickets, obscene literature,
and any other objects which may be the subject of transportation; and
the transmission of ideas or information by telegraph or telephone from
a point in one state to a point in another. In short, interstate
commerce means not only transportation and traffic in articles but
intercourse and communication by the modern devices for transmitting
thought; and the power to prescribe the conditions under which such
intercourse may be carried on across state lines belongs to Congress.[43]
Congress controls also the coasting trade between parts of the same
state and the traffic on all rivers which flow into the ocean or the
Great Lakes and thus constitute highways of interstate or foreign
commerce.

[43] Under the commerce power. Congress has also enacted the white
slave law, and an act restricting the killing of birds that migrate
from one state to another.

[Illustration: IMMIGRATION STATION, ELLIS ISLAND, NEW YORK HARBOR]

[Illustration: IMMIGRANTS READY TO START WEST]

_Power Retained by the States._--Nevertheless it is often difficult in a
particular case to draw the line between acts which regulate interstate
commerce and acts which merely affect it without regulating it. The
Supreme Court in a long line of decisions has held that the states not
only have complete power of control over all commerce originating and
ending within their limits but that they may also enact legislation for
the protection of the public health, safety, good order, and morals of
their people even when such legislation affects commerce among the
states, the only restriction being that such legislation must be
reasonable and must not amount to a direct interference with interstate
traffic. The right of the states in this respect is known as the _police
power_--a power which is very extensive and of which they cannot be
deprived by Congress. Thus they may enact reasonable quarantine laws
forbidding the entrance into their territory of diseased persons from
other states or the importation of diseased live stock. Likewise they
may limit the speed of interstate trains running through their towns,
may require railroads to provide gates at crossings, safety appliances
for cars, and the like.

_The Original Package Doctrine._--A state, however, prior to 1920, could
not without the consent of Congress prohibit the importation of liquor
in original packages into its territory from other states, although it
might be a prohibition state.[44] But Congress itself, by an act passed
in 1913, prohibited the transportation of intoxicating liquors into
states having prohibition laws.

[44] Early in 1919 the eighteenth amendment to the federal constitution
was adopted, prohibiting the liquor traffic after one year.

Likewise, the states cannot impose taxes on passengers passing through
their territory bound for points in other states, or require interstate
trains to stop at county seats, or impose taxes on telegraph messages
sent to points in other states, or on bills of lading of freight
destined to points in other states, or on goods intended for
exportation, and so on.

=Regulation of Interstate Railway Traffic.=--For a long time Congress
took no action toward regulating railway traffic among the states, thus
leaving the railroads free to carry on their business as they pleased,
regardless of the interest of the public whom they served. But with the
enormous development of the railway system of the country gross evils
began to creep in, in the form of excessive rates, discriminations,
combinations for the suppression of competition, inadequate provision
for the safety of passengers, etc., in consequence of which a widespread
demand grew up for legislation bringing the railroads under governmental
control. The outcome of this agitation was the interstate commerce act
of 1887, the provisions of which have been amended and extended by
several subsequent acts, notably the Elkins act of 1903, the railway
rate law of 1906, and the interstate commerce law of 1910.

_Interstate Commerce Commission._--The law of 1887 created an interstate
commerce commission which now consists of eleven members appointed by
the President and paid a salary of $12,000 a year each, which commission
has general supervision of the execution of the several acts mentioned
above. It hears complaints against the railroads, makes investigations
upon petition, and to this end may summon witnesses and compel the
production of papers and records, and conduct hearings. If, after an
investigation, it finds that the law is being violated by a railroad
company, it may request the proper federal authorities to institute a
prosecution of the offending company, and the law requires that such a
prosecution shall be made. For a long time the commission had no power
to fix rates, but only the negative right to say that a given rate was
unjust and unreasonable. But by the act of 1906 it was given the power,
after a full hearing, to determine and prescribe just and reasonable
maximum rates and charges, as well as to prescribe regulations for the
conduct of railway traffic.

_The Laws Now in Force_ prescribe that all railway rates and charges for
carrying freight and passengers must be just and reasonable; that no
rebates, drawbacks, or special rates shall be granted to particular
shippers; that no discriminations shall be made as to rates or service
to certain persons or places; that no free passes, with certain
specified exceptions, shall be granted; that no greater charges shall be
made for a "short haul" than for a "long haul"; that no railroads shall
be allowed to transport commodities which they are engaged in producing,
with certain exceptions; that competing railways shall not be allowed to
pool their freight or earnings; that schedules showing rates, fares, and
charges shall be published and kept open for inspection and cannot be
changed except after thirty days' notice to the commission; that all
railroads shall keep their accounts according to a uniform system
prescribed by the commission; and that they shall make annually to the
commission a full and complete report of their business and earnings.

An important extension of the interstate commerce act was made in 1906,
when express and sleeping car companies, pipe lines used for
transporting oil from one state to another, and telegraph, telephone,
and cable companies engaged in sending messages from one state to
another or to foreign countries, were brought under the operation of the
law and their business subjected to the same conditions and restrictions
as those applying to railroads. By an act of 1912 railroads were
prohibited from owning, controlling, or having any interest in competing
water carriers, and by an act of 1913 provision was made for preparing a
valuation of all railroads in the United States.

Congress has also enacted laws requiring interstate railroads to equip
their cars with automatic couplers and other safety appliances, fixing
the liability of railway employers for injuries sustained by railway
employees, encouraging the arbitration of railway strikes, and
establishing an eight-hour work day on railways (1916). An act excluding
the products of child labor from interstate commerce (1916) was declared
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

In pursuance of acts of Congress passed in 1916 and 1918, the President
in 1918 took over the control of railroads, telegraphs, and telephones
for the duration of the war.

=Federal Anti-trust Legislation.=--The commerce clause of the
Constitution has also furnished the authority for some important
congressional legislation against what are popularly known as "trusts,"
that is, combinations of corporations or business associations formed to
avoid the wastes of competition and to secure economy of management. But
the control of the supply of a commodity means the elimination of
competition and usually the maintenance of high rates to the injury of
consumers. For a long time the greater part of the business of the
country was conducted by individuals, companies, or corporations, and
the advantages of competition were preserved to the public, but in the
course of the economic development of the country, corporations began to
consolidate for the reasons stated, with the result that the supply of
many commodities came to be controlled by single combinations. At first
the states undertook to deal with the problem by passing anti-"trust"
laws, but the business of so many of the more powerful organizations
was interstate in character that state legislation was inadequate to
deal with them.

_The Sherman Anti-"trust" Law._--Finally, in obedience to a widespread
popular demand, Congress took action in 1890 by passing what is
popularly known as the Sherman anti-"trust" act to protect trade and
commerce among the states against unlawful restraint and monopolies.
This act declared that every contract, combination in the form of trust
or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce among the
states or with foreign nations was illegal, and it prescribed
appropriate penalties for violations thereof. This law, however, applies
only to "trusts" which are in restraint of trade among the states or
with foreign nations. It has no application to those whose activities
are confined entirely within the boundaries of a single state; with such
"trusts" the states alone have the power to deal.

In pursuance of the act of 1890, prosecutions have been instituted in
the federal courts against a large number of "trusts," and some of them
have been broken up, but the larger number have escaped. In 1911, for
example, the Supreme Court decided that the Standard Oil and tobacco
"trusts" were illegal, and their dissolution was decreed.

_The Clayton Anti-"trust" Act._--In 1914 Congress passed another
important act directed against combinations in restraint of trade. In
brief, it prohibits price discriminations among purchasers, exclusive
trade agreements between manufacturers and retailers, the holding of the
stock of one corporation by another, and interlocking directorates. Like
the other anti-"trust" acts it applies, of course, only to persons or
corporations engaged in interstate commerce or trade. To enforce the act
a _federal trade commission_ was created. It consists of five members
appointed by the President, at a salary of $10,000 each.

=Federal Pure Food Legislation.=--The commerce clause of the
Constitution is also the source of some important legislation designed
to protect the public against impure, unwholesome, and adulterated foods
produced in the United States. We have already called attention to the
legislation of Congress against the importation of impure foods, and
teas from abroad. Still more recently Congress passed an interstate pure
food law prohibiting the transportation among the states and territories
of any food products which are adulterated or which contain foreign
substances not indicated in the labels. The law also provides for the
fixing of a standard of pure foods and other products transported from
one state to another or intended for interstate transportation, and
provides that they must come up to the standard prescribed.

_The Meat Inspection Law._--To protect the public against unwholesome
meat products, Congress enacted in 1891 a law which was strengthened in
important particulars in 1906, providing for the inspection of
slaughtering houses whose products are intended for interstate commerce.
The law requires the registration of all establishments engaged in
slaughtering animals the products of which are to be shipped into other
states or are intended for export. Each is given a number, and federal
inspectors are assigned to inspect the animals intended for slaughter,
to inspect their carcasses in certain cases, and to see that the
business of slaughtering is conducted under clean and wholesome
conditions. Animals found suffering with certain diseases are not
allowed to be slaughtered for food purposes, and meat discovered to be
unwholesome must be rejected. Supervision is also exercised over the
processes of packing and canning, and there are detailed regulations in
regard to labeling.

=References.= ANDREWS, Manual of the Constitution, pp. 89-95.
BEARD, American Government, ch. xix. COOLEY, Principles of
Constitutional Law, pp. 66-88. HART, Actual Government, ch. xxiv.
HINSDALE, American Government, secs. 374-380. JOHNSON, Railway
Transportation, ch. xxvi.

=Illustrative Material.=--Annual reports of the Interstate Commerce
Commission, of the Department of Agriculture, of the
Attorney-General, of the Commissioner of Navigation, of the
Commissioner of Immigration, and of the Public Health and Marine
Hospital Service.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What were the reasons for giving Congress control over foreign and
interstate commerce?

2. Why did the delegates from the Southern states oppose giving this
power to Congress?

3. What is meant by the "original package" doctrine?

4. Why should a railroad company be prohibited from granting rebates?
For charging more for a "short haul" than for a "long haul"? From
transporting the products of its own mines and manufactories? From
pooling its freight or earnings?

5. What are the arguments for and against granting government subsidies
for the upbuilding of the merchant marine?

6. What have been the principal reasons for the decline of the American
carrying trade?

7. What is the amount of money annually appropriated for improving the
rivers and harbors of the country?

8. How has the commerce clause of the Constitution been the source of
important extensions of the power of the national government? Mention
some important recent acts of Congress that have been passed in
pursuance of this clause.

9. Should Congress, in your judgment, impose greater restrictions upon
immigration than it now imposes?

10. Do you think Congress should have power to regulate the business of
life insurance? To regulate marriage and divorce?

11. Is the policy of governmental regulation of railroads preferable to
governmental ownership? Give your reasons.

CHAPTER XIV

OTHER IMPORTANT POWERS OF CONGRESS

THE POST OFFICE, COPYRIGHTS, PATENTS, THE ARMY, THE NAVY, ETC.

=The Postal Service.=--The beginnings of the postal service in the
United States date back to the action of the Continental Congress in
creating a post office department in 1775, and appointing Benjamin
Franklin as its head. Under Franklin's direction postal routes were
established throughout the colonies and the mails were carried over them
at intervals of one or two weeks. In 1776 there were twenty-eight post
offices located in the more important towns. The Constitution gave
Congress power to establish post offices and post roads, and when the
new government was established, the postal service was reorganized and
extended. In 1790, however, there were only seventy-five post offices in
the thirteen states, and less than 2,000 miles of post roads. The total
revenues were only $37,000, and the expenditures only $32,000. Now there
are more than 60,000 offices and over 25,000 different routes, with an
aggregate mileage of about 450,000 miles. A recent postmaster-general
has well said: "The postal establishment of the United States is the
greatest business concern in the world. It handles more pieces, employs
more men, spends more money, brings more revenue, uses more agencies,
reaches more homes, involves more details, and touches more interests
than any other human organization, public or private, governmental or
corporate." Some idea of the magnitude of the service may be gained from
the fact that during the year 1919 about twenty billion pieces of mail
were handled, more than $1,000,000,000 worth of domestic money orders
were issued, and more than 120,000,000 articles were registered. The
receipts for the year 1919 aggregated $364,847,126, and the expenditures
$362,497,635.

_The Postal Deficit._--For many years the postal service was operated at
a loss, the principal causes of the deficit being due to the loss
sustained by the government on the transportation of second-class matter
and through the rural free delivery service. During the fiscal year 1917
the loss on the former account aggregated $72,000,000 and on the latter
about half that amount. There is also a heavy loss on mail carried free
under the Congressional frank. Thus in 1917 more than 60,000,000 pounds
of such mail was carried, the postage on which would have cost more than
$20,000,000. Nevertheless by rigorous economy the deficit was made to
disappear in 1911 for the first time in thirty years. In 1917 there was
a surplus of more than $9,000,000.

=Mail Matter.=--Congress has power to decide what matter shall be
admitted to the mails and what shall be excluded. In addition to books
and printed matter generally it allows parcels of merchandise weighing
not more than seventy pounds to be carried through the mails; also
seeds, bulbs, roots, samples of flour, dried fruits, cut flowers,
geological and botanical specimens, soap, nuts, live queen bees, dried
insects, etc. On the other hand, the following matter is denied
admission to the mails: parcels weighing over seventy pounds; poisons,
explosives, live animals, liquors and other objects unsuitable for
transportation in the mails; obscene matter and articles adapted or
designed for immoral purposes; all matter relating to lotteries and
schemes for swindling the public, and, by acts of 1917, advertisements
of intoxicating liquor intended for distribution in prohibition states
and printed matter advocating treason, insurrection, resistance to the
laws, disloyalty, etc.

_"Fraud Orders."_--The mails are so frequently used by dishonest
concerns for circulating advertising matter designed to defraud the
public, that a law has been passed authorizing the postmaster-general to
withhold the privileges of the postal service from persons using it for
such purposes. In pursuance of this authority, he frequently issues
"fraud orders," instructing the local postmaster not to deliver mail to
specified fraudulent concerns. It was reported in 1913 that in two years
such concerns had swindled the people out of $129,000,000.

_Classification of Mail Matter._--Mail is classified into four different
classes: _first_, letters and postal cards; _second_, newspapers and
other periodical publications; _third_, printed matter not admitted to
the second class; and _fourth_, merchandise not comprehended in the
other three classes.

_The Rates of Postage_ on the different classes have varied in amount
from time to time. In the early history of the post-office department
the rates for transporting letters were regulated on the basis of the
distance carried, and according to the number of sheets in the letter,
the amount ranging from six to twenty-five cents. Since 1863, however,
there has been a uniform rate on letters irrespective of distance. In
1883 the rate was fixed at two cents; in 1917, three cents; in 1919, two
cents. Before 1847, when the adhesive postage stamps were introduced,
payment of postage was made in cash and the amount indorsed on the
envelope. Postal cards were introduced in 1872.

On the transportation of first-class mail the government realizes a
profit estimated at $60,000,000 per year, notwithstanding the long
distance much of it is carried. There is also a substantial profit
derived from foreign mail.

=Second-Class Matter= mailed by the publishers is carried at the rate of
1-1/2 cents a pound, with an added charge (depending on distance) for
advertising matter;[45] but newspapers are carried free to any office
within the county of publication except in cities having free delivery
service. The government has sustained heavy losses in carrying
second-class matter. In the year 1917 more than 1,200,000,000 pounds was
transported at a loss of over six cents per pound. It constituted over
60 per cent of all domestic mail, but yielded less than five per cent of
the postal revenues, the loss being greater than the profits realized on
all other classes of mail combined.

[45] The rate for other persons than publishers is four cents a pound.

_Should the Second-Class Rate be Increased?_--For some years there was
considerable agitation in favor of increasing the rate paid by
publishers, especially on magazines which are overloaded with
advertising matter and on other publications which are devoted largely
to advertising purposes. Successive postmasters-general urged a
readjustment of the rates, but until 1917 Congress took no action
further than to appoint a commission to investigate and report on the
subject. The two suggestions most considered were, that a higher rate
should be imposed on magazines than on newspapers in view of the fact
that the average distance of transportation is greater in the case of
magazines than in the case of newspapers, and that a higher rate be
imposed on advertising matter than on purely reading matter.

Against these arguments it was contended that the educational benefits
derived from the extensive circulation of second-class matter are very
great, and that for this reason the government can well afford to
contribute something toward the dissemination of advertising information
among the masses of the people. Moreover, it was argued that the
circulation of second-class matter is responsible for a large amount of
first-class matter and thus the government makes up in the increased
profits on first-class matter what it loses on second-class matter. Thus
it was said that fifty pages of advertising matter in a popular magazine
might lead to the writing of 50,000 letters. Consequently a reduction in
the volume of second-class matter would inevitably be followed by a
corresponding reduction in first-class matter.

Finally in 1917 Congress passed a law providing for a graduated increase
in the rates on the advertising portions of newspapers and magazines,
the amount depending on the distance carried.

=Free Delivery Service.=--The extension of _rural free delivery_ service
has been the most rapid and remarkable of all the undertakings of the
post office department. It began as an experiment in 1897, when less
than $15,000 was appropriated to test the advantage of free delivery in
country districts, and it has been extended until it now constitutes one
of the largest branches of the postal service, the annual expenditures
on account of the service exceeding $50,000,000. This is the largest
item of expenditure by the post office department on any of its services
except the transportation of mail on the railroads, which foots up
nearly $55,000,000. There are more than 40,000 rural free delivery
routes in operation, and nearly three billion pieces of mail are
annually delivered to 27,000,000 people along these routes. An
investigation made in 1909 showed that the postage on the average
amount of mail collected on a rural route was $14.92 per month, while
the average cost of the service was $72.17. The average cost of the
service on a rural route, therefore, exceeded the average revenue
derived from postage by $687 per year. On that basis the total loss on
the operation of the service was estimated to be about $28,000,000. But
while the loss to the government in money has been great, the advantage
to the country districts served has been notable. Besides the
convenience to the country residents it has brought them into closer
relation with the centers of population, made country life more
attractive and less monotonous, increased farm values, and encouraged
the improvement of country roads, since the department insists upon the
maintenance of the highways in good condition as a prerequisite to the
introduction and continuance of the service.

_Free Delivery in Cities._--Free delivery of mail in the larger towns
and cities was first introduced during the Civil War, and the service
has been extended to include all places of not less than 10,000
inhabitants or where the postal receipts are not less than $10,000 per
year. In 1885, provision was made by which immediate delivery ("special
delivery") of a letter upon its arrival at a city post office could be
secured by payment of ten cents.

=Registry Service.=--In 1855, Congress established the registry service,
by which upon the payment of extra postage--the extra rate is now ten
cents per letter or parcel--special care is taken of letters or parcels
registered. Thus the safe delivery of a valuable letter or parcel is
practically assured, and by a recent law the post office department has
provided a system of insurance against the loss of parcels mail--the
maximum amount allowed in case of loss being one hundred dollars.

=Money-Order Service.=--In 1864 the money-order service was established,
by which upon the payment of a small fee, ranging from three to thirty
cents according to the amount of the order, money may be sent through
the mails without danger of loss. At all the larger post offices and at
many of the smaller ones, international money orders may also be
obtained at rates ranging from ten cents to one dollar, payable in
almost any part of the world where the mails are carried. The primary
object of the postal money-order service is to provide for the public a
safe, convenient, and cheap method of making remittances by mail, and it
is the declared policy of the department to extend the service to all
post offices where its introduction is practicable.

=Postal Savings Banks.=--One of the most important extensions of the
postal service is the establishment of a system of postal savings banks,
authorized by an act of Congress passed in 1910.[46] This service has
long been performed by the governments of many other countries, and its
introduction into the United States had been strongly recommended by
successive postmasters-general for a number of years. The proposition
was also indorsed by both of the great political parties in their
national platforms. In favor of the proposition it was pointed out that
in many communities private savings banks are inaccessible, there being
only one such bank to every 52,000 of the population of the country, as
a whole; that on account of the popular distrust of private savings
banks in many communities, savings were hoarded and hidden and thus kept
out of circulation; that on account of the popular confidence in the
government the establishment of savings banks under its auspices would
cause the money now hidden to be brought out and put into circulation;
that it would encourage thrift and economy as well as stimulate loyalty
and patriotism among depositors; and that it would improve the
conditions of farm life, thus supplementing the work of the rural free
delivery service, the telephone, and the interurban trolley car.

[46] Already in 1906 a system of postal savings banks had been
established in the Philippine Islands, where it was giving entire
satisfaction.

The new law for the establishment of postal savings banks, as amended in
1918, provides that any person may deposit with the local postmaster of
any office which has been made a depository (there were over 7000 such
offices in 1918) any amount from one dollar up to $2500 and receive
interest thereon at two per cent per annum, provided the amount has been
on deposit at least six months. Detailed provisions are made for the
investment by the government of the sums deposited in the post offices
throughout the country. There were in 1919 over 565,000 depositors and
the total deposits were $167,323,260,--an average of nearly $300 per
depositor.

=Parcel Post Service.=--In many countries the post office department
also performs, through the parcel post service, what amounts to an
express business. Thus in a number of the European countries one may
send boxes or parcels weighing as much as fifty or even one hundred
pounds through the mails at very low rates of postage. In the United
States books and packages of merchandise may be sent through the mails,
but the weight of the package except in the case of books was until 1913
limited to four pounds.[47] The limitation as to weight and the
comparatively high rate of postage--sixteen cents per pound--made
resort to the express companies necessary much more than in Europe. For
some years there was a widespread agitation for the establishment of a
parcel post system in the United States, and in 1912 Congress provided
for the installation of such a system on January 1, 1913. The maximum
weight limit of parcels that might be transported through the mails was
increased to eleven pounds (and later to fifty pounds; seventy pounds
for short distances), and the list of mailable articles was enlarged so
as to include butter, eggs, meats, fruits, and vegetables. In 1914 books
were added to the list. The country is divided into zones according to
the distance from each post office, and the rate of postage varies both
with the weight and with the zone to which it is sent. About one billion
parcels, weighing over two billion pounds, are handled annually. So
popular is the service that in 1914 the postmaster-general recommended
that the government take steps toward acquiring the telegraph and
telephone service of the country.

[47] The United States has long had "parcels post" treaties with a
number of foreign countries, however, by which parcels weighing as much
as eleven pounds may be sent through the mails to those countries at
the rate of twelve cents per pound.

=Postal Subsidies.=--In recent years there has been considerable
agitation, principally by the postal authorities and the commercial
organizations of the country, in favor of extending our postal
facilities with certain foreign countries, notably South America and the
Orient, where they are now very inadequate. While most of the European
governments have quick and frequent postal communications with these
countries, ours are slow and infrequent. Most foreign governments have
adopted the policy of subsidizing private steamship lines to carry the
mails to out-of-the-way places. In 1891, Congress passed a law for this
purpose, but the amount appropriated is so small that the post office
department has not been able to extend our mail facilities with foreign
countries as rapidly as needed.

[Illustration: POST OFFICE, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY]

[Illustration: POST OFFICE, DES MOINES, IOWA]

=Shipping Board.=--With a view to building up the American merchant
marine, which in recent years had greatly declined, Congress in 1916
provided for the appointment by the President of a federal shipping
board composed of five commissioners with power to construct or purchase
merchant vessels suitable as naval auxiliaries and for the carriage of
American commerce. The board is also to supervise common carriers
engaged in transportation by water. As a war measure, the extent of its
building operations was greatly increased in 1917.

=International Postal Union.=--In this connection it may be noted that
practically all the countries of the world have joined in forming what
is known as the International Postal Union, for the reciprocal exchange
of mails between the post offices of all countries belonging to the
Union. The rates are fixed by a congress which represents the member
states and which meets, in normal times, every five years. A letter may
therefore be sent from one country to any other in the Union at a
uniform rate, which, with some exceptions, is five cents. By special
arrangement the rate on letters between the United States and the
British Isles has been reduced to two cents. Likewise the rate between
the United States and Canada or Mexico or most of the West Indies is by
special arrangement two cents.

=Classes of Post Offices.=--Post offices are grouped in four classes on
the basis of their gross annual receipts. First-class offices are those
whose gross receipts exceed $40,000 a year.[48] They are usually located
in buildings owned by the government, and in the larger cities there are
branch offices or sub-stations in different parts of the city.
Fourth-class offices are those whose annual receipts are below $1,000.

[48] The receipts of the New York post office are about $45,000,000 a
year.

Salaries of postmasters of the offices of the first three classes are
determined mainly on the basis of the receipts of the office. Fourth-class
postmasters receive no fixed salary, but instead are paid a percentage of
the value of the stamps cancelled. In the larger post offices there are in
addition to the postmaster one or more assistant postmasters and a force of
clerks and carriers, the number depending on the amount of business and the
size of the city. All postmasters are appointed after examinations under
the civil service rules. Postmasters of the fourth class are appointed by
the postmaster-general; those of the other three classes are appointed by
the President.

=Copyrights.=--The Constitution gives Congress the power to promote the
progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to
authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings
and discoveries. The purpose of the copyright law is to protect authors
from having their books and other writings republished without their
permission, and hence to prevent the rewards of their talent and
industry from being appropriated by others. In pursuance of this
provision Congress has enacted legislation enumerating the productions
for which copyrights may be granted, the conditions under which they may
be secured, and the terms for which the protection shall last. The law
provides that copyrights may be granted for books, musical compositions,
maps, works of art, photographs, and even for unpublished works. In the
case of published works two copies of the best edition must be deposited
with the register of copyrights at Washington. The ordinary form of
copyright notice is "Copyright, 19--, by A. B."

The term of the copyright is twenty-eight years, but it may be renewed
for another period of twenty-eight years. During the period of the
copyright the author has the exclusive right to print, publish, and sell
the article copyrighted, and in case of infringement he may have
recourse to the federal courts for damages on account of the loss
sustained. A copyright may be sold or otherwise transferred, but the
fact must be recorded by the register of copyrights.

_International Copyright._--Formerly the writings of an American author
might be republished in a foreign country without his consent, and thus
he had no protection outside of his own country. Accordingly, to secure
protection to American authors against the republication of their works
in foreign countries without their consent, Congress enacted laws in
1891 and 1909, looking toward the reciprocal protection of American and
foreign authors against infringement of the rights of each in the
country of the other. In pursuance of these acts a copyright will be
granted to a foreign author protecting him against the republication of
his works in the United States, provided the government of which he is a
subject will grant similar protection to American authors. But in the
case of foreign books published in the English language the book must be
printed and bound in the United States in order to secure the benefits
of copyright. International copyright treaties designed to secure
protection of this sort have been entered into between the United States
and a number of foreign countries.

=Patents.=--A patent is a form of protection granted by the government
to an inventor to secure to him for a limited period the exclusive
enjoyment of the fruits of his skill and industry. Patents were granted
by the state governments until the Constitution conferred this power on
Congress. In 1790 Congress passed a law authorizing the granting of
patents for new and useful inventions, and this law has been amended
and its scope extended several times since.

_The Patent Office._--In 1836, an office or bureau charged with
receiving applications, conducting examinations, and granting patents
was created in the department of state, but it was transferred to the
department of the interior in 1849. This office has grown to be one of
the largest and most important branches of the government service. It
has a large number of examiners and experts arranged in groups, each of
which examines the applications for patents for inventions of a
particular class.

_Conditions._--The applicant for a patent must declare upon oath that he
believes himself to be the original inventor of the article for which he
desires a patent, and he must submit with his application a full
description or drawing of the invention, and if demanded, also a model
of the same. The invention must be a useful one, for patents will not be
granted for inventions which have no practical or scientific value. If
the patent is refused by the commissioner of patents, the applicant can
take an appeal to the court of appeals of the District of Columbia. A
fee of fifteen dollars is charged for filing the application, and one of
twenty dollars for issuing the patent.[49] The term for which a patent
may be issued under the present law is seventeen years, which term may
be extended only by act of Congress. When a patent is granted the word
"patented" with the date on which it was issued must be placed on the
article in order that the public may have notice of the fact that it is
patented. During the term of the patent the inventor has the exclusive
right to manufacture, use, or sell the article, and in case of
infringement the law allows him to apply for an injunction to restrain
the infringer, or to sue for damages. Patents, like copyrights, may be
assigned or otherwise transferred, provided a record of the transfer is
made in the patent office.[50]

[49] Notwithstanding the large number of employees in the patent
office, the office is self-supporting by reason of the fees charged
and the large number of applications, the annual receipts amounting
to more than $2,000,000.

[50] An inventor who needs more time in which to perfect his invention
and to forestall the action of some one else may secure a caveat which
gives him a year in which to complete his invention.

Trade-marks are also registered by the patent office provided they are
to be used in interstate commerce. Trade-marks in other cases are
usually protected by state registration.

_Number of Patents Granted._--The inventive genius of the American
people is shown by the large number of patents which have been issued
since the first patent law was passed in 1790. The number granted during
the year 1919 alone amounted to 37,259. The annual reports of the
commissioner of patents, containing a list of the patents granted,
together with specifications and drawings of the inventions for which
patents have been issued, constitute a remarkable record of the growth
of the country along industrial and scientific lines.

=The Military Power of Congress.=--The Constitution confers upon
Congress the power to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal,
and make rules concerning captures on land and water. In England and
some continental European states the power of declaring war belongs to
the crown, though the means of carrying it on must be provided by the
legislative branch of the government. The framers of the Constitution,
however, with their distrust of executive power, wisely left the whole
matter to Congress. In the exercise of this power Congress has several
times declared war against foreign nations.

_A Letter of Marque and Reprisal_ is the technical term for a commission
issued to an individual by a belligerent government authorizing him to
prey upon the commerce of the enemy. The vessel commanded by a person
holding such a commission is called a _privateer_. Privateering was long
recognized as a legitimate mode of warfare, but the evils of the
practice, due mainly to lack of control over the person bearing a
commission of this sort, were so great that a congress of European
nations held in Paris in 1856 declared privateering to be abolished.
Although the United States has never formally adhered to this act, there
is no likelihood that our government will ever again resort to
privateering.

_Captures._--In pursuance of the power to make rules concerning captures
on land and sea, Congress has adopted a code of rules, though that
matter is regulated for the most part by international law. Formerly it
was the practice to allow the commander and crew a share of the proceeds
of prizes captured on the sea in time of war, but in 1898 a law was
passed abolishing prize money and providing that the proceeds from the
sale of prizes should be turned into the treasury of the United States.
In case of rebellion or insurrection the whole matter of the liability
of the property of insurgents is within the control of Congress. Thus
during the Civil War acts were passed for the confiscation of all
property of the Confederates used in the prosecution of the war, as well
as all abandoned property, that is, property belonging to persons who
were away from their homes and in the Confederate service.

=The Army.=--The Constitution expressly authorizes Congress to raise and
support armies, subject to the limitation that no appropriation for the
support of the army shall be for a longer period than two years. This
period corresponds to the term of Congress, and hence the limitation
serves to keep the army under the control of the people. There was more
or less jealousy of standing armies at the time of the adoption of the
Constitution, and for a long time the regular army of the United States
was very small; in 1898, for example, it was only 27,000 men.

_Present Strength of the Army._--By an act passed in 1916 provision was
made for increasing the peace strength of the regular army to 480,000
men; for establishing officers' reserve training corps at colleges and
universities; for maintaining camps for giving military training to
citizens who apply for it; and for creating a regular army reserve, the
members of which are to receive at least fifteen days' training each
year. Provision was also made for reorganizing the militia and for
increasing its strength ultimately to about 425,000 men. The expense of
the training camps and of equipping, training, and paying a small salary
to the officers and men of the organized militia and of the regular army
reserve is to be borne by the national government. After the beginning
of the war with Germany (1917), provision was made for raising a large
army by conscription of able-bodied young men between the ages of 21 and
31 years--later on between 18 and 45.[51] By the act of June 4, 1920, the
strength of the regular army was reduced to 150,000 men on October 1,
1921.

[51] In 1918 when the World War closed some 2,000,000 Americans were
under arms in France and about 2,000,000 were in the training camps and
schools in the United States.

_The General Staff._--In 1903 the office of "commanding general" was
abolished and in its place a general staff was created, to prepare plans
for the conduct of military operations. By the acts of 1916 and 1920 the
general staff was reorganized. At its head is a chief of staff with the
rank of major general, who in time of peace is the actual head of the
army. Among his assistants are: a chief of cavalry, a chief of field
artillery, a chief of coast artillery, a chief of infantry, and a chief
of chaplains.

_Military and Naval Expenditures._--The expenditures on account of the
military and naval establishments have increased enormously in recent
years. Before the war with Spain the appropriations for the maintenance
of the army did not exceed $50,000,000 per annum. The budget of
expenditures for the year 1922 as submitted to Congress by the President
aggregated nearly $4,000,000,000. It contained the following items: war
department, $390,000,000; navy, $478,000,000; pensions, $258,000,000;
veterans bureau, $438,000,000; interest on the national debt,
$976,000,000; total, $2,539,000,000, or more than 60 per cent of the
total, leaving less than 40 per cent for civil purposes. In the hope of
bringing about an agreement among the nations for a reduction of their
military and naval expenditures, a conference of the Powers, called by
President Harding, assembled at Washington in November, 1921. Here an
agreement was reached to reduce naval expenditures.

_Volunteers._--Except during the Civil War and the war with Germany,
resort has never been made to conscription for recruiting the army--a
practice almost universal in Europe. In most of our wars the chief
reliance has been on volunteers and the militia. Thus at the outbreak of
the Civil War the President was authorized to accept the services of
500,000 volunteers, and at the outbreak of the war with Spain in 1898,
the President called for 200,000 volunteers. It takes much training to
convert an inexperienced volunteer into an efficient soldier; but many
of our great battles have been fought chiefly by the volunteer forces.

=The Militia.=--The Constitution also authorizes Congress to provide for
calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress
insurrections, and repel invasions; and to provide for organizing,
arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of
them as may be employed in the service of the United States. The militia
as defined by act of Congress consists of all able-bodied male citizens
of the United States between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. That
portion of the militia regularly organized, uniformed, and occasionally
drilled and taught military tactics constitutes the national guard.[52]

[52] The actual strength of the national guard in 1921 was about
113,600 men. But the plans for its development contemplate an ultimate
strength of 425,000 men.

Each state organizes and controls its own militia, and the national
government has no control over it until it has been called into the
service of the United States, when it becomes subject to the rules and
discipline prescribed for the government of the regular army. In 1795,
Congress passed an act prescribing the conditions under which the
militia might be called into the service of the United States. This act
conferred on the President of the United States the power to call out
the militia whenever, in his judgment, it was necessary or expedient.
Such calls are addressed to the governors of the states, who are the
commanders of their several portions of the militia. When, however, the
militia has been mustered into the service of the United States the
President becomes their commander in chief. In pursuance of this
authority the President has called out the militia on two different
occasions; during the War of 1812 to repel invasion; and during the
Civil War to suppress insurrection. In 1898 when the war with Spain was
declared, the call was issued not for the militia but for
volunteers.[53] Nevertheless many of the volunteers who responded were as
a matter of fact members of the organized militia of their respective
states. In pursuance of authority conferred by Congress in 1916, the
President drafted the organized militia into the federal service in that
year for service on the Mexican border, and again in 1917 on account of
the war with Germany.

[53] This was due to the fact that there was doubt as to whether the
militia could be called out and sent abroad for the purpose of
prosecuting a war against a foreign country, in view of the
specification in the Constitution of the objects for which the militia
may be called into the service of the United States. Under the Act of
1916, the organized militia may be drafted into the service of the
United States for use anywhere if Congress declares that an emergency
exists. They were so drafted in 1917 and sent to Europe, not as
militia, but as a part of the regular army.

_The Naval Militia._--In a number of the seaboard states and some of
those bordering on the Great Lakes, there are organized bodies of naval
militia, with training ships loaned by the United States for the purpose
of drill and instruction. Like the land militia, the naval militia of
each state is under the control of the state and until called into the
federal service is under the command of the governor.[54]

[54] According to the report of the secretary of the navy for 1916, the
naval militia of the states numbered 9,170 men and 636 officers.

=The Navy.=--Congress is also authorized by the Constitution to provide
and maintain a navy. In pursuance of this authority, Congress created a
small naval establishment in 1794, but it amounted to little until the
War of 1812, when it was strengthened by the improvisation of a number
of war vessels which won brilliant victories over the ships of Great
Britain. Thereafter the navy was neglected until the necessities of the
Civil War required its rehabilitation. At the close of the war the
vessels in the service numbered 683, but they were sold or otherwise
disposed of, and what was once the most powerful navy in existence was
allowed to go to pieces. In 1881 a board of naval officers prepared a
somewhat elaborate naval program and recommended the construction during
the next eight years of some 120 naval vessels. The work was begun in
1883--a date which may properly be fixed as the beginning of our present
navy. The first important appropriation, that of 1883, was less than
$15,000,000. Each year the amount was increased until in 1917 it had
reached $535,000,000.

_Present Strength of the Navy._--The number of officers and enlisted men
in the navy in August, 1919, was 241,357, besides about 19,000 men in
the marine corps. The total number of vessels of all kinds for fighting,
built or in process of construction, was about 1070. These included 50
battleships, 18 armored cruisers of various types, 7 monitors, some 30
unarmored cruisers of different types, about 360 destroyers and torpedo
boats, about 160 submarines, 336 submarine chasers, and about 100
gunboats and patrol vessels.

According to the report of the Secretary of the Navy in 1919, the naval
standing of the great powers was as follows:

NUMBER OF SHIPS TOTAL TONNAGE

Great Britain 812 2,691,211
United States 339 1,070,576
France 222 552,755
Japan 129 540,426
Italy 237 287,923
Russia 101 254,148
Germany 36 116,886

For administrative purposes the ships of the navy are grouped into
fleets, and these are again subdivided into squadrons. Thus the North
Atlantic fleet is divided into a coast squadron and a Caribbean
squadron. Within each squadron there are usually a number of divisions.
There are navy yards where ships are either built or repaired at a
number of places on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts,[55] and there are
several training schools for recruits, and a naval academy at Annapolis
(founded in 1845), where young men are educated for service in the
navy.[56] There is also a naval war college at Newport, Rhode Island, for
advanced study of naval problems and questions of international law.

[55] Most of the ships of the navy have been constructed by contract
with private ship-building companies, but several experiments have been
made of government construction in the navy yards. Thus the battleship
Louisiana and several others were constructed by the government in its
own shipyards.

[56] For further information concerning the naval academy, see p. 338.

_Ranks._--Until 1862, the highest official rank in the navy was that of
captain, although the title commodore was popularly applied to officers
in command of a squadron. The following table is a list of the officers
of the navy, beginning with the highest, together with the corresponding
ranks in the army:

_Navy_ _Army_
Admiral. General.
Vice Admiral. Lieutenant General.
Rear Admiral. Major General.
Commodore.[57] Brigadier General.
Captain. Colonel.
Commander. Lieutenant Colonel.
Lieutenant Commander. Major.
Lieutenant. Captain.
Lieutenant, junior grade. First Lieutenant.
Ensign. Second Lieutenant.

[57] The rank of commodore no longer exists except for its survival on
the retired list. There are some twenty-five or thirty rear admirals.
The act of 1899, under which Dewey was appointed admiral, provided that
the office should cease to exist with his death, but in 1915 the rank
of admiral and vice admiral was reëstablished and the former rank is
now held by the commanders of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Asiatic
fleets.

_Marine Corps._--Officers in the Marine Corps have the same ranks as in
the army. While serving generally under the direction of the secretary
of the navy, the corps may serve with the army by order of the
President.

=Bankruptcy Legislation.=--The Constitution confers upon Congress the
power to pass uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the
United States. Bankruptcy is the condition of a person whose liabilities
exceed his assets, and a bankruptcy law is one which provides for the
distribution of the assets of such a person among his creditors and for
his discharge from further legal obligation to pay his debts, thus
enabling him to make a new beginning in business. The discharge is only
from the _legal_ obligation; the _moral_ obligation remains, and should
be fulfilled in case of ability to do so in the future.

_State Insolvency Laws._--Before the adoption of the Constitution the
states passed insolvency laws discharging debtors from their legal
obligations, and it has been held by the Supreme Court that they may
still pass such laws, subject to the condition that they can affect only
citizens of the state in which the law is passed, and apply only to such
contracts as may be entered into subsequent to the enactment of the law.
If there is a federal bankruptcy law in force it supersedes all
conflicting provisions in the state laws on the subject.

_Federal Acts._--Since the Constitution went into effect Congress has
enacted four different bankruptcy laws, namely, in 1802, 1840, 1867, and
1898, the first three of which were in operation only fifteen years
altogether. The present law--that of 1898--provides for both
"voluntary" and "involuntary" bankruptcy. Any debtor, except a
corporation, may voluntarily have himself adjudged a bankrupt by filing
a petition in a United States district court, showing that his
liabilities are in excess of his assets. Any debtor except a
corporation, a wage earner, or a farmer, may, against his will, upon
petition of his creditors, be declared a bankrupt under certain
conditions.

Bankruptcy petitions are referred to "referees" for examination and
report. After hearing the testimony on the petition the referee reports
his findings to the court, which makes its decision largely on the basis
of such findings.

=Implied Powers.=--After expressly enumerating in succession the various
powers of Congress, the more important of which have been described
above, the Constitution concludes with a sort of general grant,
empowering Congress to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper
for carrying into execution those enumerated above. This is sometimes
called "the elastic clause," since it is capable of being stretched by
interpretation to cover many matters that Congress might not otherwise
feel authorized to deal with. It is doubtful, however, whether it really
adds anything to the power of Congress, since that body would
unquestionably have authority to do whatever is necessary and proper to
carry into effect the powers expressly conferred upon it. It is a maxim
of constitutional construction that wherever power to do a particular
thing is conferred, the means for doing it are implied. Manifestly it
would have been impossible to set forth in detail all the incidental
powers necessary to be exercised in carrying into effect the mandates of
the Constitution relating to taxes, coinage, post offices, making war,
etc.

_Liberal vs. Strict Construction._--The question of the interpretation
of the scope and meaning of this grant of powers arose very early in the
history of the national government, in connection with the proposition
of Hamilton to establish a United States bank. Hamilton contended that
the authority to establish such an institution was clearly implied in
the power to borrow money and pay the debts of the United States. A
federal bank, he urged, was a proper if not a necessary means for
carrying into effect these important powers of Congress, just as the
establishment of a mint was necessary to carry out the power relating to
the coinage of money. Jefferson and his school of political thinkers,
however, held to a strict interpretation of the Constitution and
maintained that Congress had no right to exercise any power which was
not expressly conferred. The view of the "loose" or "liberal"
constructionists, however, prevailed, and from the beginning Congress
has relied upon the doctrine of implied powers for its authority to
legislate on many important questions.

_Examples of Implied Powers._--It was upon this authority that foreign
territory has been purchased and governed; that a protective tariff has
been levied; that a national bank was established; that legal tender
paper money has been issued; that the construction of the Panama Canal
has been undertaken; that ship subsidies have been granted; that postal
savings banks have been established; that education has been fostered;
and many other activities undertaken. The policy of liberal
interpretation was first adopted by Chief Justice Marshall of the
Supreme Court and his associates, and with rare exceptions has been
followed by the court throughout its entire history. The effect has been
to strengthen the national government and render it capable of
fulfilling the great purposes for which it was created. The whole
course of our political and constitutional history is different from
what it would have been had the view of the strict constructionists
prevailed.

=References.=--ANDREWS, Manual of the Constitution, pp. 120-148.
BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. xix. COOLEY,
Principles of Constitutional Law, pp. 94-111. FAIRLIE, National
Administration, chs. ix, x, xii. HART, Actual Government, ch. xxiv.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--Copies of the annual
reports of the Postmaster-General, the Librarian of Congress, the
Commissioner of Patents, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of
the Navy, all of which may be obtained gratis from the officials
mentioned.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Why should the postal service be conducted by the government? Should
the transportation of the mail be a government monopoly?

2. Should the rates of postage on second-class matter, in your opinion,
be increased? Why?

3. What are the advantages of a postal savings bank system?

4. Ought the government to establish a parcels post system? To what
extent do we already have a parcels post service?

5. Do you think our postal facilities with South America and the Orient
should be improved by means of ship subsidies?

6. What would be the advantage of making the tenure of postmasters
permanent?

7. Why should the granting of copyrights and patents be placed under the
jurisdiction of the national government rather than under that of the
state governments?

8. Why should the term of a copyright or patent be limited?

9. Socialists argue that since the granting of a patent to an inventor
secures to him a monopoly of the manufacture and sale of his invention,
the government ought not to grant patents for such purposes. What is
your opinion of this argument? Would it be better for the government to
compensate the inventor and remove the restrictions upon the manufacture
and sale of his invention?

10. Why are the appropriations for the maintenance of the army limited
to two years?

11. Should the expenditures on account of the army and navy, in your
opinion, be reduced?

12. What do you understand by the movement among the nations for
disarmament? Do you think disarmament desirable or practicable?

13. Tell something of the objects and results of The Hague Peace
Conferences. Give examples of some disputes between the United States
and other countries that have been settled by arbitration.

14. What is the purpose of a bankruptcy law, and why should the power to
enact bankruptcy legislation be conferred upon Congress rather than left
to the states?

15. What is the distinction between "implied" and "inherent" powers
under the Constitution? Give some examples of each.

16. Which in your judgment is the safer policy, that of strict
construction of the Constitution or liberal construction?

[Illustration: STATE, WAR, AND NAVY BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.]

[Illustration: MIDSHIPMEN OF THE NAVAL ACADEMY, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, ON
THEIR WAY TO A DRILL SHIP]

CHAPTER XV

THE PRESIDENCY: ORGANIZATION AND MODE OF ELECTION

=The Presidential Office.=--One of the weaknesses in the organization of
the government under the Articles of Confederation was, as we have seen,
the lack of an executive to carry into effect the resolutions of
Congress and the treaties of the United States. There was no doubt,
therefore, in the minds of the framers of the Constitution in regard to
the desirability of providing for an executive department coördinate
with the legislative department. It was accordingly declared that the
executive power should be vested in an officer called the President of
the United States.

_Proposed Executive Council._--While the convention was practically
unanimous in the view that the supreme executive power should be vested
in a single person, a good many members looked with favor on a
proposition to associate with the President an executive council which
should share with him the exercise of the executive power in certain
important fields. Most of the state constitutions then in force had
provided such councils, and now that a national executive with far
larger powers was being created there was all the more reason why it
should be placed to some extent under the guardianship of a council. But
the proposition was rejected, and in its place the Senate was charged
with acting as an executive council to the President in negotiating
treaties and the making of appointments, but in no other respects.

=Qualifications of the President.=--The Constitution requires that the
President shall be a natural born citizen of the United States,[58] that
he must have attained the age of thirty-five years, and must have been
fourteen years a resident of the United States. The same qualifications
are required of the Vice President.

[58] Or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of
the Constitution. This exception was made out of respect to the
distinguished men of foreign birth, such as Alexander Hamilton and
James Wilson, who were members of the convention that framed the
Constitution. As more than a hundred years have elapsed since the
adoption of the Constitution, the exception, of course, no longer has
any meaning.

=The Presidential Term.=--There was considerable discussion in the
convention regarding the term of the President. It was first decided
that the term should be seven years and the President made ineligible to
a second term, but upon further consideration the convention decided to
fix the term at four years and nothing was said in regard to
reëligibility. The result is, the President may serve as many terms as
the people may see fit to elect him. The following Presidents have been
elected to two terms: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson,
Lincoln, Grant, Cleveland, McKinley, and Wilson.[59] Cleveland, after
serving one term, was renominated by his party but was defeated by the
Republican candidate. He was then nominated for the third time by his
party and was elected. Washington declined a third term and his example
has been followed by his successors. The precedent thus established,
that the President shall serve only two terms, has become part of our
unwritten constitution, and but two attempts have ever been made to
break the custom.[60]

[59] Mr. Roosevelt became President by the death of President McKinley
about half a year after the beginning of the latter's second term. He
served out the unexpired term of Mr. McKinley and was elected to the
following full term of four years.

[60] The first was made by ex-President Grant, who in 1880 was a
candidate for the Republican nomination for a third term, but failed to
secure it. The second was made by ex-President Roosevelt in 1912.

=Mode of Election.=--No question consumed so much of the time of the
convention as that relating to the method of choosing the President.
Various schemes were proposed. A few members favored election by the
people; others urged election by Congress. Against the method of popular
choice it was argued that the people were not competent to choose a
chief magistrate for the entire country, and besides, under such a
system, they would be influenced by demagogues and scheming politicians.
Again, the tumults and disorders, the "heats and ferments" of a popular
election would convulse the community to the breaking point. Against the
method of election by Congress, it was urged that the President would be
a mere creature or tool of that assembly and would be under the
temptation of making promises or entering into bargains with influential
members in order to secure an election. Moreover, such a method was
contrary to the great principle upon which all the members were agreed,
namely, that the three departments of the national government should be
kept separate and independent of one another.

The clause as finally adopted provides that the President shall be
chosen, not directly by the voters, but by electors to be appointed in
each state in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, each
state to have as many electors as it has senators and representatives in
Congress.

_Breakdown of the Electoral Plan._--It was at first expected that the
electors of the different states, composed of leading citizens
presumably well acquainted with the qualifications of the candidates for
the chief magistracy, would meet at the state capitals, discuss among
themselves the strength and weaknesses of the several candidates, and
then exercising their full judgment, cast their votes for the fittest.
But the scheme quickly broke down in practice, and instead of a real
choice by small bodies of men, we have a system which amounts to direct
election by the masses of the voters, though the form of indirect
election is still followed. As soon as political parties were thoroughly
organized, the electors, who were intended to be men "capable of
analyzing the qualities adapted to the Presidential office," were
reduced to the position of party puppets who no longer exercised their
own judgment in choosing the President but merely registered, like
automata, the will of their party. As Ex-President Harrison once
remarked, an elector who should fail to vote for the nominee of his
party would be the object of execration and in times of very high
excitement might be the subject of a lynching.[61] So closely do the
electors obey the will of their party that we always know at the close
of election day, on Tuesday after the first Monday in November, when the
electors themselves are chosen, who will be the next President, though
in fact the electors do not meet in their respective states until the
following January, formally to register the choice of the people.

[61] "This Country of Ours," p. 77.

=Choosing Presidential Electors.=--In the beginning the presidential
electors of each state were chosen by the legislature, either by joint
ballot of the two houses sitting together, or by concurrent vote. In the
course of time, however, popular election of electors was introduced,
South Carolina (1868) being the last state to choose its electors by the
legislature.

_Choice by General Ticket._--When the system of popular choice of
electors was adopted, two different methods were followed: choice by
districts, and choice on general ticket from the state at large; but by
1832 all the states except Maryland had adopted the general ticket
method, and now there is no state which follows the district method.

Representatives in Congress, as we have seen, are elected by districts,
and hence the delegation in Congress from a particular state is often
divided between Democrats and Republicans. But not so with Presidential
electors; usually the party in the majority in the state, however small
the majority, chooses all the electors. Thus when the Democratic party
carried New York by a majority of hardly more than 1,000 votes in 1884,
the entire electoral vote was counted for Cleveland.[62]

[62] It sometimes happens that the electoral vote of a state is
divided, though the instances are rare. This may be due to the
personal unpopularity of one of the electoral candidates of the
majority party, or it may be due to the mistake of many voters in
casting their ballots for the candidate for elector at the head of
the ticket only, believing that they are thereby voting for the whole
ticket. As a result of the former cause, Harrison received one vote in
California in 1892, while Cleveland had the other eight. As a result
chiefly of the latter blunder, Taft received only two electoral votes
in Maryland in 1908, and Bryan received the other six. In 1916 the vote
of West Virginia was divided, Wilson receiving one vote and Hughes the
other seven.

Among the results of the rule which gives the entire electoral vote of
the state to one of the candidates, notwithstanding the size of the vote
polled by the other candidate, is that each party concentrates its
efforts in the large "pivotal" states whose votes are decisive, and
thereby bribery and fraud in such states are powerfully stimulated.

Candidates for the office of elector are nominated usually by the state
conventions of each party. No senator or representative or any person
holding an office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States is
eligible to the office of elector. Congress, under the Constitution, has
power to fix the day on which the electors shall be chosen, and it has
fixed the day as Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

_Electoral and Popular Vote._--Generally the candidate for President
whose electors receive the largest popular vote will also receive the
largest electoral vote; but this has not always happened, and usually
there is only a rough correspondence between the popular vote and the
electoral vote. Thus in 1860 Lincoln received only about forty per cent
of the popular vote, though he received a substantial majority (about
fifty-nine per cent) of the electoral vote. Again, in 1864 he received
only about fifty-five per cent of the popular vote, but ninety-one per
cent of the electoral vote. In 1912 Wilson received forty-two per cent
of the popular vote, and eighty-two per cent of the electoral vote. Such
discrepancies are due to the fact that the entire electoral vote of a
state is usually cast for the candidate who receives a plurality of the
popular vote of the state, however small it may be. A party, therefore,
may carry enough states by small margins to secure a majority of the
electors and yet be in a minority so far as the popular vote of the
entire country is concerned.

=Choice of the President by the Electors.=--The electors, on the second
Monday of January following their election, assemble in their respective
state capitals for the purpose of choosing the President.[63] The
Constitution as it now stands requires the electors to vote by ballot
for President and by a distinct ballot vote for Vice President, and make
separate lists of all persons voted for as President and of all persons
voted for as Vice President.

[63] The day on which the electors assemble must be the same throughout
the Union. The purpose of this requirement is to prevent deals or
bargains among the electoral "colleges" of the different states.
Moreover, meeting on the same day, the action of one state cannot be
used to influence that of another. In 1857 the electors of Wisconsin
were prevented by a snowstorm from assembling at the state capital on
the day fixed by law. On the day following they met and cast the vote
of the state for Frémont. But when the question of counting Wisconsin's
vote came up in Congress, objection was made that it had not been cast
on the day prescribed by law. As the vote of the state was not
decisive, the matter did not become serious.

_The Original Method._--The Constitution as originally adopted did not
require the electors in casting their ballots to indicate the person for
whom they were voting as President and whom for Vice President, or to
prepare distinct lists. The one who received the highest vote (if a
majority) was to be President, and the one receiving the next highest
number (whether a majority or not) was to be Vice President. The result
of this method of choosing the President was that as soon as political
parties were formed and the electors came to vote strictly on the basis
of party there would be a tie between the two persons highest on the
list, and as there was nothing to show on the record which was intended
for President and which for Vice President there would be no election.
This happened in 1801, when Jefferson and Burr each received
seventy-three electoral votes, and the choice between them had to be
made by the house of representatives as the Constitution provides.

_Twelfth Amendment._--To remove the difficulty, the Twelfth Amendment
was adopted in 1804, requiring the electors in preparing their ballots
to indicate their choice for President and their choice for Vice
President so that the person intended for the latter office could not be
confused with the person intended for President. The amendment also
requires a majority of the electoral vote to elect the Vice President as
well as the President.

_Restrictions on the Electors._--In casting their votes the electors are
prohibited from voting for candidates for both offices from the same
state as themselves. The purpose of this provision is to prevent the
electors from one state--if any state should ever become powerful
enough--from choosing both the President and the Vice President from
that state. This does not mean, however, that both the President and the
Vice President could not be elected from the same state, since the
electors of the other states are not prohibited from voting for two
candidates from the same state.

_Formalities and Precautions._--The Constitution requires the electors
of each state to sign, certify, seal, and transmit to the president of
the United States senate, a list of the votes cast for President and
Vice President. The statutes also require two additional lists to be
prepared, one to be sent to the president of the senate by special
messenger, and the other to be deposited with the nearest United States
district judge. These extra precautions are taken to prevent the loss of
the state's votes through accident or otherwise. This done, the office
of the Presidential elector expires and the electoral colleges cannot be
again summoned to correct errors or to make a new choice in case the
President elect should die before inauguration.

=Counting the Electoral Vote.=--The Constitution directs that the votes
transmitted to the president of the senate shall be opened in the
presence of both houses of Congress and that the votes shall then be
counted. The Constitution does not say who shall count the votes.
Apparently the framers believed that the process of counting would never
involve anything more than a simple act of addition. But in the course
of time disputed returns began to be sent in, and then the process of
counting came to involve the more difficult task of determining what
should be counted. Thereupon the question was raised, who shall count?
Was the president of the senate to count and the two houses act merely
as spectators, or was the president of the senate to open the votes and
the two houses do the counting? For a long time, when the disputes were
not serious enough to affect the result, the president of the senate was
allowed to count the vote and proclaim the result.[64] In 1865 by a joint
rule Congress assumed the right to count the electoral vote, thus taking
the power away from the president of the senate.

[64] Thus Jefferson as president of the senate in 1801, counted the
vote which elected him President of the United States and declared
himself duly elected. So did Adams in 1797. Suppose there had been a
serious dispute in either of these cases, could the president of the
senate have counted for himself the votes in dispute?

_The Disputed Election of 1876._--In 1876 a serious election dispute
arose, involving the presidency. Both Hayes and Tilden claimed to have
been elected, and the result depended upon which of two conflicting
lists of votes from Florida, Oregon, South Carolina, and Louisiana
should be counted. Under the joint rule mentioned above, either house
could reject a questionable vote. One of the houses was Democratic and
the other Republican, and because of the great excitement over the
matter, it was feared that the votes of many states might be rejected
for trivial reasons. After much discussion, in the course of which many
ugly threats were made, Congress agreed to the creation of an electoral
commission, to decide the disputed votes. The commission was to consist
of five senators, five representatives, and five justices of the Supreme
Court. As finally constituted it was composed of eight Republicans and
seven Democrats, and by a strict party vote the commission decided in
favor of Hayes in every case, thus insuring his election. The minority
accepted the result, but not without protest and criticism.

_The Act of 1887._--After this decision, Congress took up the task of
devising permanent rules for counting the electoral vote, and finally in
1887 it passed an elaborate act which now regulates the electoral count.
In brief, it places the responsibility so far as possible on the state
authorities, and provides that the determination of each state as to how
its electoral vote was cast shall, under certain conditions, be final.
If, however, a state neglects to settle its own election contests, and
double returns are transmitted to the president of the senate, the two
houses of Congress sitting separately must determine how the votes shall
be counted. But if the two houses fail to agree, as they did in counting
the vote of 1876, then the vote of the state is lost. The day fixed by
Congress for opening and counting the vote is the second Wednesday in
February.

=Election by the House.=--In case no candidate receives a majority of
the electoral votes, the choice devolves upon the house of
representatives. But in that case the house votes by states, each state
having one vote, irrespective of its number of representatives, and the
choice is made from the three candidates standing highest on the
list.[65] A quorum for the election of a President by the house consists
of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and the vote of a
majority of all the states is necessary to a choice.

[65] It was from the five highest before the adoption of the Twelfth
Amendment in 1804.

_Objections to Election by the House._--The objections to this method of
choice are obvious. It is undemocratic, because the house on which the
choice would devolve in any case would be, not the new house chosen at
the recent election, but the old house, which might indeed, as has often
happened, be in the hands of the political party defeated at the late
election. In the second place, under such a scheme, New York with a
population over 100 times as great as that of Nevada would have no
larger share in choosing the executive. In 1873, for example, had the
choice devolved upon the house, it would have been possible for 45
members (being a majority of the representatives of nineteen states) to
determine the choice in spite of the wishes of the other 247 members.
Finally, the state delegations in the house might be equally divided
politically, and hence fail to elect.[66]

[66] This would have happened in 1912; 22 state delegations were
Republican, 22 were Democratic, and 4 were equally divided.

_Instances of Choice by the House._--Twice has the electoral college
failed to make a choice, thus giving the election to the house of
representatives.

In 1801, there was a tie between Jefferson and Burr, each having the
vote of a majority of the electors. There were then sixteen states, of
which eight voted for Jefferson, six for Burr, and two were evenly
divided. On the thirty-sixth ballot the two divided states voted for
Jefferson and he was elected, as the electors had originally intended.

The second instance occurred in 1825, when the electoral vote stood as
follows: for Jackson 99; for Adams 84; for Crawford 41; and for Clay 37,
no one having a majority. Under the Twelfth Amendment Clay was dropped
from the list and the choice was confined to the three highest
candidates. There were then twenty-four states, and of these the
representatives of thirteen voted for Adams, seven for Jackson, and four
for Crawford.

=Election of the Vice President by the Senate.=--The Constitution also
provides that if no candidate for Vice President receives a majority of
the electoral vote the choice shall devolve upon the senate, in which
case the election shall be made from the two highest on the list. Two
thirds of the senate constitute a quorum for this purpose, and a
majority of the whole number is necessary to a choice. Only once has the
choice devolved upon the senate, namely, in 1836, when Richard M.
Johnson, candidate for Vice President on the ticket with Mr. Van Buren,
failed to receive a majority of the electoral vote. He was promptly
elected by the senate.

=Methods of Nomination.=--Neither the Constitution nor the laws of the
United States make any provision in regard to the nomination of the
candidates for President and Vice President. That is left entirely to
the regulation of the political parties themselves. In the early history
of the republic, before political parties had risen, no nominating
machinery was devised, for none was needed.

_Early Methods._--With the rise of political parties, however, the
method of nomination by congressional caucus was introduced; that is,
the members of Congress belonging to each political party assumed the
power of selecting its candidate in secret conclave. In this way
Jefferson was nominated by the Republican members of Congress in 1800
and 1804, Madison in 1808 and 1812, and Monroe in 1816 and 1820. In the
same way the Federalist members put forward their candidates. In some
cases, however, presidential candidates were nominated by state
legislatures. In the course of time, strong opposition grew up against
the method of nomination by members of Congress, and after 1824 the
caucus system was never again resorted to. The new nominating machinery
which took its place was the national convention, which came into use
between 1831 and 1840.

=The National Convention.=--A national convention to nominate candidates
for President and Vice President is composed of delegates from each
state and territory in the Union, the number to which each is entitled
being usually twice its number of senators and representatives in
Congress.[67] Altogether the national convention consists of about 1,000
delegates. For each delegate there is an alternate who attends the
convention and in case of the absence of the delegate, takes his place.

[67] Apportionment of delegates among the states on the basis of their
representation in Congress bears no relation to the party strength. For
some years there has been a growing sentiment in the ranks of the
Republican party in favor of reducing the representation in the
national convention of the Southern states where the Republican party
is practically nonexistent. In December, 1913, the Republican national
committee adopted a resolution prescribing that representation in the
national convention of 1916 should to a certain extent be based on the
number of the voters of the party in each congressional district. The
effect was to reduce the number of southern delegates by eighty-seven,
and the number of northern delegates by seven. The basis of
representation in the Democratic convention, however, remains
unchanged.

Formerly the four delegates-at-large of each party were chosen by the
state convention, and the other delegates by congressional district
conventions. When direct primary laws were introduced, some states
provided that the latter delegates should be selected by the voters of
each party at the primary, leaving the delegates-at-large to be chosen
as formerly by the state convention. In 1912 a number of states passed
what are known as "presidential preference primary" laws under which
delegates to the national conventions of that year were chosen. Some of
these laws permit the voters to choose their delegates to the national
convention but without allowing them to indicate their preference for
any presidential candidate; others allow a direct expression of the
popular preference for presidential candidates but make no provision for
binding the delegates to nominate the candidate preferred by the
majority of the voters; some, however, provide both for an expression of
the popular preference and for binding the delegates to the national
convention. More than one third of the states now have laws of one or
another of these three types.

_The Time and Place_ for holding the national convention are fixed by
the national committee. The date usually falls in the latter part of
June or early in July of the year the President is to be elected, and
the place is usually some large city centrally located.

=Procedure of a National Convention.=--The convention is usually held in
some spacious building especially erected for the purpose. Besides the
delegations of the states, there are the alternates, hundreds of
politicians who are not delegates, newspaper reporters, and thousands of
spectators from all parts of the country, for all of whom accommodations
are needed.

_Organization of the Convention._--The convention is called to order by
the chairman of the national committee, and the secretary of the
committee reads the call for the convention. Next come the choice of a
temporary chairman, and the appointment and report of committees on
credentials, on permanent organization, on rules, and on resolutions
much as in the state conventions described on pp. 153-155.

_The Platform_ is a series of resolutions commending the national
administration, or denouncing it, as the case may be, and setting forth
the position of the party on the political issues of the day.
Declarations are often made in the platform to attract or conciliate
large masses of voters, sometimes when there is no real intention of
carrying them out. The platform is usually adopted by the convention as
reported by the committee on resolutions, but sometimes important
changes are made on the floor after a spirited contest.

_The Nominations._--After the adoption of the platform, the nomination
of candidates for President is in order. The clerk calls the roll of the
states in alphabetical order so that each is given an opportunity to
present the name of its choice. The vote is then taken by a roll call of
the states, the chairman of each state delegation usually announcing the
vote of the state. Under the rules of the Republican party the delegates
vote as individuals, so that the vote of a state is often divided
between two or more candidates, unless the conventions which appointed
the delegates have instructed them to cast the vote of the state for a
particular candidate. According to the "unit rule" of the Democratic
party, the state delegations vote as units and not as individuals, so
that there is no division of a state's vote; the majority of each
delegation determines how the votes of the state shall be cast.[68] The
rules of the Democratic and Republican parties also differ in the
majority necessary to nominate a candidate.

[68] The convention of 1912 excepted certain states from this rule.

_The Vote Necessary to Nominate._--According to the rules of the
Republican party, a majority of the delegates is sufficient to
nominate, but under the rules of the Democratic party the concurrence of
two thirds of the delegates is required. Thus if there are 1,000
delegates in the convention, 501 may nominate under the Republican rule,
while 667 would be required under the rules of the Democratic party. The
large majority necessary to nominate in the Democratic convention has
often resulted in the defeat of the leading candidate and the nomination
of a "dark horse," that is, a candidate whose name has not been
previously presented to the convention or which has not been prominently
kept before it. Presidents Polk and Pierce were nominated in this way.

_Nomination of Vice President._--Usually there is little contest over
the nomination of the Vice President, the nomination usually being given
to some one supported by a defeated faction or group of the party, or to
a particular section of the country. Thus if the presidential nomination
goes to an Eastern man, the vice presidential nomination is likely to be
given to a Western man. In view of the comparatively large number of
Presidents who have died in office it is to be regretted that so little
consideration is given to the nomination of candidates for Vice
President.

_Notification of the Candidates._--The candidates are formally notified
some weeks later by a committee specially appointed for the purpose. The
nominee in a formal speech accepts the nomination and pledges himself to
support the platform. Usually this is followed by a letter of acceptance
in which the views of the nominee are elaborated more at length. This
completes the formalities of nomination, and the next step is to
inaugurate the campaign for the election of the nominees.

=Conduct of a Presidential Campaign.=--_The National Committee._--The
main task of managing the campaign falls on the chairman of the
national committee. This committee is made up of one member from each
state and territory, and is chosen by the national convention which
nominates the candidates.[69] The chairman is usually an experienced
political leader with a wide acquaintanceship, and is a trusted friend
of the presidential candidate, by whom, in fact, he is usually selected.

[69] In reality each state delegation names one of its own number as
the national committeeman from the state, and the committee thus
constituted is appointed by the convention.

Soon after the adjournment of the convention, the national committee
meets and organizes. In addition to the national chairman a treasurer
and a secretary are chosen. The treasurer raises and has custody of the
enormous funds expended in the conduct of the campaign. As the national
chairman may be compared to a general who commands the forces, the
treasurer is the man who raises the sinews of the war.

_Work of the National Committee._--The headquarters of the committee are
usually established in New York city, with branch offices in Chicago or
Washington, though during the campaign of 1908 the principal
headquarters were located in Chicago. The work of the committee is
usually divided among bureaus or divisions, one of which has charge of
the mailing of campaign literature, another is engaged in the tabulation
of reports, another looks after the employment and assignment of
speakers, another has charge of the organization of voters' clubs
throughout the country, etc.[70] Large quantities of campaign literature,
consisting of a "Campaign textbook," speeches of the candidates or of
members of Congress, pamphlets, leaflets, posters, lithographs, and in
fact everything calculated to influence the voters, are sent broadcast
throughout the country and particularly in the close or doubtful states
where the principal efforts of the committee are concentrated.[71]

[70] In 1908, the Democratic national committee had a labor bureau to
look after the labor vote, and a committee on college men's clubs to
look after the organization of college students into voters' clubs.

[71] In 1908, more than one million copies of Mr. Bryan's speech "Shall
the People Rule" were distributed, printed in all languages spoken in
the United States. Another million copies of his speeches on the
trusts, the tariff, guarantee of bank deposits, and injunctions were
also circulated.

_Activity of the Presidential Candidate._--Formerly it was not
considered proper for the presidential candidates themselves to take an
active part in the campaign by traveling about the country and making
speeches, but in recent years there has been a change in this respect.
Mr. Bryan in 1896 traveled about the country and delivered hundreds of
speeches in behalf of his candidacy, and he pursued a similar course in
1900 and again in 1908 when he was the Democratic candidate. In the
latter year, Mr. Taft, the Republican candidate, likewise entered
actively into the campaign and delivered more than 400 speeches in
thirty different states. In 1912 Mr. Wilson and Mr. Roosevelt made
extensive campaign tours and delivered many speeches. Similar tours were
made in later campaigns.

=Raising and Expenditure of Campaign Funds.=--The management of a
national political campaign requires the expenditure of large sums of
money for printing, postage, telegrams, express, rent of halls, music,
expenses of speakers, organizing clubs, and the like. This money is
spent solely under the direction of the national chairman, who until
recently was not required to render an account of the moneys contributed
for this purpose.

_The Raising of Campaign Funds._--Prior to 1884 the expenditures on
account of a national campaign were comparatively small and were raised
by the party in power largely by assessments on federal office-holders;
but the civil service law enacted in the year previous forbade
assessments of this kind and thus cut off an important source of supply.
More attention then began to be turned toward the great corporations,
many of which desired to become the beneficiaries of special legislation
or to secure immunity from government interference with the management
of their business. In a recent campaign, one corporation, a life
insurance company, contributed $200,000; one railroad company gave
$100,000; and many others $50,000. Sometimes a corporation contributes
equally to the campaign funds of both parties, on the principle that it
is a wise policy to be on good terms with each.

_Contributions of Corporations now Forbidden._--The raising and spending
of so much money as a part of the process of electing a President has
recently given rise to a demand that the sources of national campaign
contributions should be made public. Moreover, it is coming to be
regarded as an evil that the large corporations who desire beneficial
legislation or immunity from prosecution should have become the chief
contributors to campaign funds. This feeling led to the enactment by
Congress in 1907 of a law forbidding national banks and other
corporations which have charters granted by Congress, from making
contributions to the campaign funds of any party at any election,
national, state, or local. The law also prohibits any corporation,
whether chartered under the authority of the national government or not,
from making campaign contributions at any election at which the
President of the United States or any member of Congress is to be
chosen.

_Publicity of Campaign Contributions._--In 1910 Congress passed a law
requiring the treasurer of each national party committee to make and
publish after the election a sworn statement showing every contribution
of $100 or more received by him, every expenditure of $10 or more, and
the totals of all other contributions and expenditures.

Finally, in 1911, Congress went still further and passed a law requiring
the publication of such statements _before_ the election. The elections
affected by these acts are those of President and members of Congress.
The act of 1911 forbids any candidate for representative to spend or
promise more than $5,000, and any candidate for senator more than
$10,000, in his campaign. And such candidates are required to file
statements of all campaign receipts and expenditures.

=The Succession to the Presidency.=--The Constitution declares that in
case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death,
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, the same shall devolve upon the Vice President. In case of the
removal, death, resignation, or inability of both the President and the
Vice President, Congress is authorized to provide for the succession.
The only way in which the President may be removed is by impeachment and
conviction. President Johnson was impeached, mainly for the violation of
the tenure of office act, but the senate failed by one vote to convict
him. Had he been convicted the office would have been declared vacant.
There has been no instance of the resignation of a President.[72] Five
Presidents have died in office: Harrison, Taylor, Lincoln, Garfield, and
McKinley. In each case the dead President was succeeded by the Vice
President. No case of inability to discharge the duties of the
presidential office has ever been construed as existing, though in fact
such a case existed from July 2, 1881, when President Garfield was shot,
to September 19, when he died. A similar case existed during the period
in which President McKinley lingered on his deathbed, from September 6
to September 14, 1901. In neither case did the Vice President assume the
reins of office until death had made the office vacant. Likewise during
President Wilson's serious illness in 1919-1920, the Vice President did
not act.

[72] John C. Calhoun resigned the Vice Presidency to become a senator
from South Carolina. The statutes provide that the President shall
signify his resignation, in case he resigns, by a letter to the
secretary of state.

_Succession Law of 1792._--Congress provided by law in 1792 that in case
of the removal, death, resignation, or inability of both the President
and the Vice President, the president _pro tempore_ of the senate should
succeed, and after him the speaker of the house. There were several
practical and political objections to this arrangement, however. In the
first place, there might be considerable periods of time when there was
no president _pro tempore_ of the senate or speaker of the house, and
consequently no one to succeed in case of a vacancy.[73] Another
objection to the law--political in character--was illustrated by the
situation that existed in 1886. The Democratic Vice President Hendricks
had died, and in case the presidential office had become vacant it would
have been filled by a Republican president of the senate. Thus the
executive branch of the government would have passed from the hands of
the party that had carried the country at the last election, to the
other party, merely by the death of a public officer.

[73] From March 4 to October 10, 1881, there was no president of the
senate, and from March 4 to December 15 of the same year there was no
speaker, the new house not having met and organized. Had Vice President
Arthur died before Mr. Garfield's death there would have been no one to
succeed to the vacancy until October 10, when a new president _pro
tempore_ of the senate was chosen.

_Succession Act of 1886._--In 1886 Congress changed the law so as to
give the succession to the presidency to the members of the cabinet, in
the order of the creation of their departments, in case of the death or
removal of both the President and the Vice President. As the members of
the cabinet usually belong to the same party as the President and Vice
President, the office in such a contingency would remain in the control
of the party which elected the President at the last election. No
special provision has yet been made, however, in regard to the
succession in case the President elect and Vice President elect should
die after their election by the electoral college on the second Monday
in January and before their inauguration on the 4th of March. The
electoral college could not be reconvened because it becomes _functus
officio_ immediately after electing the President. As the law stands,
the succession would probably go to some member of the old cabinet, who
might be of the opposite party. In such a case, however, Congress might
provide for a special presidential election.

=References.=--ANDREWS, Manual of the Constitution, pp. 166-177.
BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. ix. BRYCE, The
American Commonwealth (abridged edition), chs. vi, vii, lii-liv.
FULLER, Government by the People, ch. vii. HARRISON, This Country
of Ours, chs. iv-v. HART, Actual Government, pp. 261-267. HINSDALE,
American Government, chs. xxix-xxxi. STANWOOD, History of the
Presidency. WOODBURN, The American Republic, pp. 116-136.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. Congressional
Directory. 2. Copy of the call for a national convention. 3.
Addresses of the temporary and permanent chairmen of the last
national convention. 4. The Democratic and Republican campaign
textbooks. 5. Copy of the election returns. 6. Specimen ballots
containing the names of candidates for presidential electors.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. How many votes is your state entitled to in the electoral college?
What proportion of the total electoral vote is that? Can you give the
names of any of the presidential electors from your state at the last
election?

2. What was the popular vote received by the Republican candidate for
President in your state at the last election? By the Democratic
candidate?

3. Name the Presidents who received only a minority of the popular vote.

4. Suppose a vacancy should occur in the electoral college of a state by
the death of an elector, is there any way by which it could be filled?

5. Suppose the candidate for President should die after the popular
election in November and before the meeting of the electors in January,
for whom would the electors cast their vote? Have there been any actual
instances of this kind?

6. Suppose the President elect should die before the votes are opened
and counted by Congress, who would be declared President?

7. Have there been any instances since 1820 in which a presidential
elector voted against the candidate of his own party?

8. What would be the principal advantage in extending the term of the
President and making him ineligible to succeed himself?

9. Do you think the custom a wise one which prohibits the President from
serving more than two terms?

10. What were the controversies at issue in the disputed election of
1876?

11. What were the objections to the method of nomination by
congressional caucus? Who was the last candidate to be nominated by this
method?

12. Tell something about the first national convention held in the
United States for the nomination of candidates for President and Vice
President.

13. How many parties nominated candidates for President and Vice
President in the last presidential election? Give the popular vote
received by each, in your state and in the country as a whole.

14. Read the platforms of each party and contrast their positions on the
leading political issues.

15. How many delegates is your state entitled to in the national
convention? Who were the delegates at large from your state in the last
Democratic national convention? In the last Republican national
convention?

16. Where did the Democratic and Republican parties hold their last
national conventions? Who was the permanent chairman of each?

17. What is your opinion of the "unit rule" followed by the Democratic
party? Of the "two-thirds" rule?

18. Do you think it would be a wise rule to apportion the delegates from
each state to the national convention on the basis of the party strength
rather than on the basis of population?

19. Since the people of the territories take no part in national
elections, ought they to be allowed to send delegates to the national
convention?

20. What is your opinion of the proposal to nominate candidates for
President and Vice President by direct primary as state officials are
nominated in many states?

21. What is meant by the doctrine of "availability" in choosing
candidates for President? What presidential candidates has your state
furnished?

22. Is Mr. Bryce's assertion that great men are rarely elected President
true? If so, why?

23. Do you think presidential candidates should make campaign tours and
deliver campaign speeches?

CHAPTER XVI

THE PRESIDENCY (CONTINUED): INAUGURATION; POWERS AND DUTIES

=The Inauguration.=--It is no longer the practice to notify the
President officially of his election, and so without certificate of
election or commission, he presents himself at the national capital on
the 4th of March to take the oath of office required by the Constitution
and to enter upon the discharge of his duties. Toward noon on that day
he proceeds to the White House, as the official residence of the
President is styled, where he joins the outgoing President and both are
driven to the Capitol, followed by a procession. _The oath of office_ is
usually administered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on a
platform erected for the purpose at the east front of the Capitol, and
in the presence of a vast throng of spectators from all parts of the
country.[74] Following the custom set by the first Chief Executive, the
President delivers a short _inaugural address_ in which he foreshadows
in a general way his policy as President, after which he returns with
the Ex-President to the White House, where he reviews for several hours
the procession of visitors.

[74] The oath of office was administered to President Washington in New
York city, then the temporary seat of government, by Chancellor
Livingston of New York state. In 1917, the 4th of March falling on
Sunday, President Wilson took the oath of office twice: on Sunday in
his office at the Capitol, and on the following day publicly in
connection with the inaugural ceremonies.

_Inaugural Pageantry._--The inauguration of the President is made the
occasion of a great pageant, to which hundreds of thousands of visitors
throng from every part of the Union. In the procession which escorts the
President to the Capitol are militia companies, headed by governors of
states, and civil organizations of every variety. Owing to the
inclemency of the weather which often prevails at this season of the
year, it has been proposed to change the date of the inauguration, but
since this will involve an amendment to the Constitution if the
inauguration is to take place at the beginning of the presidential term,
the success of the movement is doubtful.[75]

[75] When Vice Presidents Tyler, Johnson, Arthur, and Roosevelt
succeeded to the presidency, Congress was not in session and the oath
of office was administered without formalities. Mr. Arthur took the
oath in New York city before a local magistrate, and Mr. Roosevelt did
the same in Buffalo, where Mr. McKinley died. Vice President Fillmore,
however, took the oath of office as President in the presence of both
houses of Congress, which happened to be in session at the time of the
death of President Taylor.

=Compensation of the President.=--The Constitution declares that the
President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a
compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the
time for which he has been elected. He is also forbidden to receive any
other emolument either from the United States or from any state.

The salary of the President was $25,000 a year until 1873, when it was
raised to $50,000. In 1909 it was raised to $75,000. Besides this salary
there is an allowance of $25,000 a year for traveling expenses, and
allowances for clerks, automobiles, house furnishings, fuel, lighting,
etc., making in the aggregate some $250,000 a year. In the White House
the nation furnishes the President with both a private and an official
residence.

=Extent of the President's Powers.=--The powers of the President are
partly conferred by the Constitution, partly by acts of Congress and
treaties, and are partly the result of usage and precedent. The power
which has been wielded at any given time, however, has depended upon the
initiative and force of the President and the extent to which he enjoyed
the confidence of Congress and the people. Again, the power which may be
rightfully exercised depends upon the state of affairs under which the
office is administered. In time of war the power of the President may be
so expanded as to be limited in effect only by the necessities of the
national existence. The powers wielded by President Lincoln during the
Civil War were so great as to cause him to be frequently referred to as
a dictator. After the outbreak of the war with Germany in 1917 vast and
unprecedented powers were conferred on President Wilson by a succession
of far-reaching acts of Congress. Among the extraordinary powers thus
conferred on him were: the control of the manufacture and distribution
of commodities needful for war purposes, the requisition of ships and
other war supplies, the fixing of prices of coal, wheat, sugar, steel,
and various other commodities, the taking over and operation of private
ship-building plants, the closing of liquor distilleries and the seizure
of their stocks, the prohibition of exports to foreign countries, the
seizure of German ships in American ports, the making of regulations in
respect to the treatment of enemy aliens, and the taking over and
operation of railroads, telegraphs, and telephones.

=Classes of Powers.=--The various powers and duties which have been
conferred on the President by the Constitution and the laws may be
grouped under the following heads:

1. The power and duty of executing the laws, including the power to
appoint, direct, and remove public officers.

2. The management of the foreign affairs of the country.

3. The power to command the army and navy.

4. Legislative powers, including the sending of messages to Congress,
the calling of extra sessions, and especially the power to veto acts of
Congress.

5. The power to grant pardons for offenses against the laws of the
United States.

=Execution of the Laws.=--The President is the head of the executive
branch of the government, and it is his duty to see that the
Constitution is preserved, protected, and defended, and that the laws
enacted in pursuance thereof, the treaties made under its authority, and
the decisions rendered by the federal courts are enforced throughout the
United States. For these purposes the army, the navy, and the militia
are at his disposal, and in case of resistance to the laws and authority
of the United States, they may be employed by him in such manner as he
may direct, to overcome such resistance. Moreover, nearly all the civil
and military officers of the United States are appointed by him and are,
to a large degree, subject to his direction.

_The President's Responsibility._--Unlike the state governments, the
national government is so organized as to concentrate the power and the
responsibility for the enforcement of the laws in the hands of a single
executive. Those who are charged with aiding him in carrying out the
government are his own appointees, and their responsibility is primarily
to him alone.

=Power of Appointment.=--The Constitution declares that the President
shall, with the "advice and consent" of the senate, appoint all officers
of the United States whose appointment is not otherwise provided for by
the Constitution, except that Congress may vest the appointment of
inferior officers in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in
the heads of departments.[76] This is one of the most important powers
devolving upon the President, and probably consumes more of his time
than all his other duties together. In the early days of the
Constitution, the number of appointments was small, but as the
government service expanded, the number of offices to be filled steadily
increased until there are now about 11,000 important presidential
offices, that is, offices filled by the President and the senate. The
tenure of office act of 1820 fixed the terms of the great bulk of
federal offices at four years, and even where the term is not prescribed
by statute, it is the custom for most appointees to be replaced at the
expiration of four years, so that in practice the four-year tenure is
universal, except for federal judges, and each President must during his
term make appointments to nearly all the presidential offices. In making
these appointments he is not limited by any constitutional or statutory
requirements in regard to qualifications. He is the sole judge of the
fitness of candidates for appointments. The only limitation upon his
power is the necessity of securing the approval of the senate, a
requirement already discussed in chapter x, pages 190-191.

[76] The only officers appointed by the courts of law are clerks,
reporters, and other minor ministerial officers; but there are a large
number of inferior officers in the various departments who are
appointed by the heads of departments.

_Appointments to Minor Positions_ are often made upon the
recommendations of the representative in Congress from the district in
which the office is located, though many such appointments are now made
on the basis of examinations, under civil service rules. Obviously the
President or the head of the department could not fill the thousands of
minor positions of this sort without reliance upon the advice of others.
They cannot investigate personally every application for appointments of
this kind. It is natural, therefore, that they should accept the
recommendations of members of Congress, who are more apt to be
acquainted with the qualifications of applicants in their districts, and
who are familiar with local conditions.

=Power of Removal.=--While the Constitution expressly authorizes the
President to appoint officers, with the consent of the senate, it is
completely silent on the question of whether he may remove an officer,
either with or without the consent of the senate. The only provision in
the Constitution in regard to removal is that which relates to
impeachment. It might, therefore, be contended that the only
constitutional method of depriving an incumbent of an office to which he
has been appointed is by impeachment. But this process of removal is so
cumbersome and unwieldy that if it were the only means of getting rid of
incompetent office-holders many unfit persons would remain in office
indefinitely, and, besides, it would be impossible for the President,
upon whom the responsibility for the enforcement of the laws rests, to
surround himself with officials in whose integrity and fitness he has
confidence. Moreover, to resort to the process of impeachment to remove
a person from a petty inferior office would be very much like shooting
birds with artillery intended for destroying battleships.

From the first, therefore, it was recognized that there was another
process of removal than by impeachment. But there was a difference of
opinion as to whether that power lay with the President alone, or
whether he could remove only with the consent of the senate, as in the
case of appointments; or whether the power lay with Congress to
prescribe how removals might be made. The matter was threshed over in
the first Congress after the Constitution went into effect, and it was
decided that the President might remove alone, without the necessity of
securing the consent of the senate. But there was considerable fear that
he might abuse the power, and Madison is said to have declared that the
wanton removal of a meritorious officer would subject him to
impeachment.

_Early Practice._--For a long time the power of removal was used
sparingly. Several of the early Presidents, in fact, made no removals at
all, and during the first forty years of our national existence the
total number of officers removed probably did not exceed 100. With the
incoming of President Jackson, however, what is known as the _spoils
system_ was introduced; that is, large numbers of office-holders were
removed in order to make places for those who had rendered political
services to the party in power. Henceforth appointments were made
largely as rewards for party service, often without regard to merit and
fitness. Nevertheless, the right of the President to make removals for
any cause that seemed to him proper, or for any cause whatsoever,
continued to be recognized and acquiesced in by all parties until the
breach occurred between President Johnson and Congress in 1867.

_Act of 1867._--The action of President Johnson in removing officials
who were in sympathy with Congress greatly offended that body, and in
1867 a tenure of office act was passed forbidding the President to make
removals except with the consent of the Senate.[77] Thus the custom which
for seventy-eight years had recognized the unlimited right of the
President to remove officers without the necessity of securing the
consent of the senate was now reversed. The violation of this law by
President Johnson was the chief cause of his impeachment in 1868. With
the incoming of President Grant, however, the law was modified, and in
1887 it was repealed. Thus after a brief interval the original
interpretation was reverted to, and it has been followed ever since.

[77] While Congress was not in session, the President was to be allowed
the right to "suspend" officers for good cause, but he was required to
report all suspensions to the Senate at its next meeting and in case it
refused to concur in the suspension, the suspended officer was to be
allowed to resume his office.

_The Present Rule._--The right of the President to remove any federal
officer appointed by him, except the judges, for any cause whatsoever,
is now recognized, and Congress cannot abridge that right by prescribing
the conditions under which removals may be made. His power in this
respect is absolute and unlimited and may be employed for rewarding his
political friends and punishing his enemies as well as for getting rid
of incompetent and unfit persons in the public service.

=Power of Direction.=--Resulting from the power of removal is the power
of the President to direct the officers whom he appoints, in regard to
the discharge of their duties. Through the threat of removal, he may
compel obedience to his orders, though of course he cannot require an
officer to do an act which would amount to a violation of the law. Many
of the duties of federal officers are prescribed by law, and the
President cannot change these duties or require an officer to do his
duty differently from the way in which the law requires him to do it.
But the law expressly recognizes that the President has the power to
direct many officers as to their duties. Thus the secretary of state in
the negotiation of treaties and the settlement of disputes with foreign
countries is almost wholly under the control of the President. The
President may instruct him to begin negotiations with a particular
government or to cease negotiations, and the secretary must obey his
orders. So the President may direct the secretary of war in regard to
the disposition of the armed forces. In the same way he may order the
attorney-general to prosecute a "trust" or institute proceedings against
any violator of the federal laws, or may direct him to drop proceedings
once begun. Some officers, however, such as the secretary of the
treasury and the postmaster-general, are less under the direction of the
President, their duties being prescribed with more or less detail by
acts of Congress.[78]

[78] The act organizing the treasury department requires the secretary
of the treasury to make his annual report to Congress, while the other
cabinet heads make their reports to the President. It was the evident
intention of Congress to keep the secretary of the treasury more
closely under the control of the representatives of the people.

=The Civil Service System.=--For a half century following the
introduction of the spoils system by President Jackson, both parties
acted on the principle that the offices of the federal government were
the legitimate spoils of victory at the polls. Under such circumstances
the public service was demoralized and enfeebled, and the time of the
President and heads of the departments was taken up with considering
applications for office when it should have been devoted to more
important matters. After the Civil War, a movement was started which had
for its purpose the establishment of the merit system in the public
service and the elimination of the spoils system.

_The Civil Service Law of 1883._--The assassination of President
Garfield in 1881 by a disappointed office seeker aroused public opinion
to some of the worst evils of the existing system, and in obedience to
the demands of public sentiment, Congress in 1883 enacted the civil
service law which forms the basis of the present civil service system.
This law provided for the creation of a commission of three persons, not
more than two of whom should belong to the same political party. The
commission was charged with forming rules for making appointments to the
public service, and with carrying out the provisions of the law.

_The Classified Service._--The act provided for the classification of
the positions in the departments at Washington and in the customhouses
and post offices where at least fifty persons were employed, and for the
holding, under the supervision of the commission, of competitive
examinations to test the fitness of applicants for appointments to
positions in the classified service. The classified service now includes
the departmental service at Washington, the customs service, the post
office service, the railway mail service, the Indian service, the
internal revenue service, and the government printing service.

_Extent of the Classified Service._--At first the law applied to only
about 14,000 positions, but since then the number has been increased
from time to time by the creation of new offices and by orders of
Presidents extending the rules to other classes of positions. A large
extension, for example, was made by President Cleveland in 1896.
President Roosevelt also made large extensions, so that when he went out
of office there were about twice as many positions under the rules as
there were when he became President. In 1912 President Taft added over
36,000 fourth-class postmasters and 20,000 artisans employed in the navy
yards; and in 1917 President Wilson placed 10,000 first-, second-, and
third-class postmasters under the rules. Of 517,805 officers and
employees in the executive civil service in 1917, 326,899 were subject
to competitive examination.

_Exempt Positions._--Among the positions not under the rules and for
which competitive examinations are not required are the more important
presidential offices such as cabinet officers, assistant secretaries,
chiefs of bureaus, United States attorneys, marshals, judges,
ambassadors and ministers, besides a large number of minor officials
like private secretaries. The income tax and currency acts of 1913
exempted from the operation of the civil service laws employees who
collect the income tax and employees of the Federal Reserve Board. By an
act of the same year deputy collectors of internal revenue and deputy
marshals were withdrawn from the operation of the laws. These acts have
been criticized by civil service reformers.

_Examinations._--Civil service examinations are held at least twice each
year in every state and territory, and any citizen of the United States
is eligible to take the examination for any position to be filled. The
commission keeps a list of eligibles, that is, of persons who have
passed an examination, and whenever an appointment is to be made, it
certifies to the appointing authority a list of those who are qualified,
and from the three standing highest on the list the appointment must be
made. But in making the appointments preference must be given to persons
honorably discharged from the military or naval service by reason of
their disability resulting from wounds or sickness. The examinations are
required to be practical in character and of such a nature as to test,
as far as possible, the capacity and fitness of the applicants to
discharge the duties of the position for which they desire an
appointment.

No appointment is permanent until after six months of probationary
service, during which time the appointee must have demonstrated his
capacity for the office. The law also prohibits members of Congress
from making recommendations for appointments to positions in the
classified service except as to the character and residence of the
applicant, and also forbids the levying of assessments on government
employees for campaign purposes or the solicitation of contributions
from employees.[79]

[79] By a law of 1907, employees in the classified service are
forbidden to take active part in political campaigns, and this
prohibition has been construed to forbid service on political
committees, service as delegates to party conventions, publication
of newspaper articles of a political nature, membership in political
clubs, circulation of petitions of a political character, etc.

_How Removals are Made._--When an appointment has been made in pursuance
of the civil service rules, the appointee is protected from removal for
political reasons. The rules now in force declare that removals from the
competitive service can be made only for just cause and for reasons
stated in writing, with an opportunity to the employee to be heard.
"Just cause" is defined as being any cause not merely political or
religious, which will promote the efficiency of the service.

_The Effect_ of the competitive system has been to give the public
service the character of permanency and increased efficiency. The
administration may change at Washington, but the more than 200,000
officials under the civil service rules are not affected thereby. There
is no longer a "clean sweep" at the beginning of every administration,
no longer the demoralization that once characterized the government
service when a new party came into power. Thus the whole tone of the
public service has been improved, and the President and heads of the
departments have been partly relieved from the burden of listening to
the appeals of the army of office seekers who used to descend upon
Washington at the beginning of every new administration.

=Management of Foreign Affairs.=--The United States as a leading member
of the family of nations has an extensive intercourse with other
countries. There is no nation with which it has not entered into
relations of some kind or another. With every civilized country and some
that are not civilized, we have one or more treaties regulating certain
of our relations with them.

_How Treaties are Negotiated._--The President, by and with the advice
and consent of the senate, two thirds of the members concurring, is
charged with the negotiation of all treaties. The share of the senate in
the negotiation of all treaties has already been discussed in chapter x.

The President usually does not conduct negotiations himself,[80] but acts
through the secretary of state, who is a sort of minister of foreign
affairs. The secretary is subject to his directions, however, and while
conducting negotiations keeps the President fully informed of their
progress, and secures his approval of all points which in his judgment
should be submitted to him for an opinion. Foreign ministers at
Washington who wish to discuss questions of foreign policy with the
President are referred to the secretary, who is his responsible minister
in such matters. Ambassadors, ministers, and consuls of the United
States are appointed by the President, though the approval of the senate
is essential to the validity of the appointment. Diplomatic
representatives sent abroad bear letters of credence signed by the
President, and from time to time they are given instructions as to the
action they shall take in negotiations with foreign governments. These
instructions are prepared by the secretary of state, though in
important cases he consults the President and ascertains his wishes in
the matter. The President may transfer a minister from one post to
another, may recall him, or dismiss him whenever he likes.

[80] In 1915-1919, however, President Wilson wrote notes to the German
government, and took part in framing the treaty of peace.

_Power to "Receive" Foreign Ministers._--The President is also the
authority designated by the Constitution for receiving ambassadors and
ministers accredited by foreign governments to the government of the
United States. To receive a foreign minister is to recognize him as the
official representative to the United States of the government which has
appointed him. When a new minister arrives at Washington, he is escorted
to the White House by the secretary of state on a day agreed upon, and
is received by the President. The new minister presents his credentials
and delivers a short ceremonial address, to which the President
responds. He is then recognized as the official organ of communication
between the United States government and the government which he
represents. The President, however, may refuse to recognize a minister
from a country whose independence is in doubt, or one who is personally
objectionable to the United States government. He may also request a
foreign government to recall a minister accredited to the United States,
or may dismiss one for conduct highly offensive to the government.

=The Military Powers of the President.=--The Constitution declares that
the President shall be commander in chief of the army and navy and also
of the militia of the several states whenever it is called into the
service of the United States. The power to declare war, however, belongs
to Congress, though the President may through his management of the
foreign affairs of the country bring about a situation which may make a
declaration of war a virtual necessity. Congress also determines the
strength of the army, the method of raising the forces, their terms of
service, pay, subsistence, organization, equipment, location of forts,
and indeed everything relating to its make-up.

_Extent of the President's Power._--The President, as commander in
chief, decides where the troops are to be located, and where the ships
are to be stationed. It is upon his orders that the troops are
mobilized, the fleets assembled, and the militia of the states called
out. He may direct the campaigns and might, if he wished, take personal
command of the army, the navy, or the militia, though in practice he
never does, the army, in fact, being commanded by a military officer and
the navy by a naval officer. He may do whatever, in his judgment, may
conduce to the destruction of the power or the weakening of the strength
of the enemy, so long as he acts within the accepted rules of
international law. His power, in short, is limited only by the
requirements of military necessity and the law of nations. Thus he may
declare that any property used by the enemy for warlike purposes or
which may in other respects be a source of strength to the enemy shall
be subject to confiscation. It was in pursuance of this power that
President Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation freeing the
slaves in certain of the Southern states during the Civil War.

_Power to Govern Occupied Territory._--When an enemy's territory has
once been occupied by the army, the President, as commander in chief,
may assume control and govern it through such agencies and in such
manner as he may see fit. He may displace the existing authorities or
make use of them as he wishes. He may appoint military governors and set
up special tribunals in the place of existing courts. He may suspend the
writ of habeas corpus, institute martial law, and deprive the
inhabitants of other safeguards established by the Constitution for
their protection against the arbitrary encroachments of the government.
By virtue of this authority President Lincoln governed for some time
those parts of the South which came under the jurisdiction of the
military forces of the United States during the Civil War. In the same
way President McKinley governed Porto Rico and the Philippines for many
months during and after the war with Spain.

_Conclusions._--From this summary it will readily be seen that the
powers of the President as commander in chief during war are very great,
in fact almost unlimited. He may become, as President Lincoln did,
practically a dictator, and if he should choose to abuse his powers he
might deprive the people of a large portion of their liberties.

In time of peace, the military powers of the President are far less than
during war, though they are still considerable. His duty to protect the
states against invasion and his power to order out the troops to
suppress domestic violence upon the application of the state executive
or legislature are discussed in chapter iii. Whenever the movement of
interstate commerce or the instrumentalities of the national government
are interfered with by rioters it is his right and duty to employ the
army or the navy if necessary to suppress the disturbances.[81] By an act
of Congress passed in 1795 and still in force, the President is
authorized to call out the militia whenever the laws of the United
States are opposed or their execution obstructed by combinations too
powerful, in his judgment, to be suppressed by the ordinary course of
judicial proceedings, or by the federal marshals. And the President is
the sole judge of the existence of the state of facts thus described,
and no court in the land can review his decision in regard thereto. It
was in pursuance of this act that President Lincoln issued his first
call for the militia in 1861.

[81] See further on this point, pp. 60-62.

=The President's Share in Legislation.=--While the chief duty of the
President is to execute the laws, he is at the same time given a share
in their making. This share is both positive and negative in character.

=Presidential Messages.=--The Constitution makes it his duty to give
Congress from time to time information of the state of the Union and to
recommend for its consideration such measures as he may judge necessary
and proper. This requirement rests upon the obvious fact that he
possesses more extensive sources of knowledge in regard to the state of
public affairs than any one else, and is also familiar with the workings
of the laws, and hence is in a position to recommend legislation for
their improvement.

The information required to be furnished Congress is contained in an
annual message communicated at the beginning of each session, and in
special messages communicated from time to time during the session.

_Early Practice._--It was the custom at the beginning of our national
history for the President to deliver an address at the opening of
Congress, in the presence of both houses assembled in the senate
chamber, and for each house thereafter to draw up a suitable reply, in
accordance with the English custom. This plan was followed by both
Washington and Adams, but Jefferson inaugurated the practice of
communicating what he had to say in the form of a written message. From
that time down till 1913 all the presidential messages to Congress were
in written form only; but in the latter year President Wilson revived
the practice of addressing Congress in person.

_Character of the Annual Messages._--The annual message contains a
review of the operations of the government during the preceding year,
together with such recommendations for additional legislation as the
President thinks the interests of the country require. It also usually
contains a summary of the reports of the several heads of departments,
and is accompanied by the full reports of the departments. Sometimes one
or the other of the houses adopts resolutions calling on the President
for information on particular subjects, and if in his judgment the
communication of the information is not incompatible with the public
interests, the request is complied with.

The message is printed in full in nearly all the daily newspapers of the
country on the day on which it is communicated to Congress, and it is
widely read by the people and commented on by editors. When the message
has been received by the Congress, it is ordered to be printed, and the
various recommendations which it contains are distributed among the
appropriate committees of each house. The consideration which the
recommendations receive at the hands of Congress depends upon the
influence which the President wields with the two houses. If he belongs
to a different political party from that which is in control of
Congress, or if for other reasons Congress is out of sympathy with his
policies, his recommendations count for little.

=Power to Call Extraordinary Sessions.=--The President has power to call
extraordinary sessions of Congress for the consideration of special
matters of an urgent character. Of course the President cannot compel
Congress to adopt his recommendations at a special session any more than
at a regular session, but he can sometimes hasten action and if he is
backed by a strong public opinion he may be able to accomplish even
more. The authority to call extraordinary sessions has been exercised by
Presidents Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Van Buren, Harrison, Pierce,
Lincoln, Hayes, Cleveland, McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson. In all
these cases Congress was called together to deal with extraordinary
situations such as foreign difficulties, financial panics, rebellion,
the enactment of appropriation bills which had failed at the regular
session, the enactment of tariff bills for which there was an urgent
demand, the approval of reciprocity treaties, and the like. The senate
has often been convened in extraordinary session at the beginning of a
new administration for the purpose of approving the nominations of the
President, but the house of representatives has never been called alone.

=Power to Adjourn Congress.=--The President is also authorized to
adjourn the two houses in case of disagreement between them as to the
time for adjourning the session. Only one such case of disagreement has
ever occurred, namely, in the special session of November, 1903, when
the senate proposed to adjourn and the house of representatives refused.
President Roosevelt did not, however, exercise his power in this case,
so the special session continued about two weeks longer, until it was
ended by the beginning of the regular session.

=Power to Issue Ordinances.=--Under the legislative functions of the
President may also be included what is known as the ordinance power,
that is, the power to issue certain orders and regulations having the
force of law. Such are the regulations for the government of the army
and navy, and those relating to the postal service, patents, pensions,
public lands, Indian affairs, the customs service, internal revenue
service, marine hospital service, the consular service, the civil
service, and many other branches of administration. Some of these
regulations are issued by the President under express authority
conferred upon him by acts of Congress; others are issued as a result
of the necessity of prescribing means for carrying into effect the laws
of Congress and sometimes of interpreting them;[82] while still others
are issued in pursuance of the constitutional powers of the President.
Such are the regulations issued for the government of the army and navy,
in pursuance of the authority of the President as commander in chief.

[82] A recent example is found in the regulations issued by President
Taft for putting into effect the new law levying a tax on corporations.
The meaning of the law in various particulars had to be interpreted,
and the method and means of assessing and collecting the tax had to be
prescribed. Another example was the regulations issued by President
Wilson in 1913 for the collection of the income tax.

=The Veto Power.=--Finally, the President is given an important share in
legislation through the constitutional requirement which requires that
all bills and resolutions passed by Congress shall be submitted for his
approval.[83] The power to withhold his approval of the acts passed by
Congress is popularly known as the veto power. It was called by the
framers of the Constitution the President's "qualified negative." This
prerogative constitutes an exception to the principle of the separation
of governmental powers, and was conferred upon the executive as a means
of enabling him to defend his constitutional powers and privileges
against the encroachments of the legislative department, as well as to
provide a check upon hasty and careless legislation by Congress. The
conditions under which the right of veto may be exercised, the forms
which it may take, and the procedure by which it may be overridden by
Congress are discussed in chapter xi. The President may veto a bill
because he believes it to be unconstitutional, or because he believes it
is unwise or inexpedient, though in both cases a wise executive will be
slow to set his judgment against the combined judgment of the members of
Congress.

[83] Ex-President Benjamin Harrison, in his book "This Country of
Ours," p. 138, thus describes the course which a bill takes after it
has passed both houses: "When a bill has passed both houses of Congress
and has been signed by the president of the senate and the speaker of
the house, it is taken, by the clerk of the committee on enrolled
bills, to the Executive Mansion, where the date of its delivery is
stamped upon it. The practice is then to send the bill to the head of
the department to which its subject matter belongs--to the war
department, if to army matters; to the interior, if to pensions, or
public lands, or Indian affairs, etc.--for the examination of the
secretary, and for a report from him as to any objections that may
occur to him. As to the frame of the bill, and as to any constitutional
questions involved, the attorney-general is often consulted, though the
bill does not relate to his department. The President then takes up the
bill, with the report from the department, and examines it, and if he
approves writes thereon "Approved," giving the date, and signs his
name. The bill, now become a law, is then sent to the state department
to be filed and published in the statutes at large."

_No Power to Veto Items in Appropriation Bills._--Unlike the governors
of many of the states, he cannot veto particular items in appropriation
bills, as a result of which he is sometimes confronted with the
embarrassing duty of signing a bill carrying certain appropriations to
which he objects, or of vetoing the entire bill. President Cleveland on
one occasion vetoed the rivers and harbors bill carrying an
appropriation of many millions of dollars rather than approve certain
items in it which he considered wasteful and extravagant. If the
President had the power to veto particular items in appropriation bills
he could prevent useless and extravagant appropriations in many cases
without being under the necessity of defeating at the same time those
which are desirable and necessary.

_Use of the Veto Power._--The early Presidents either did not make use
of the veto power at all, or employed it sparingly. Neither John Adams,
nor Thomas Jefferson, nor John Quincy Adams, while in the presidential
chair, vetoed any bills; and Washington, Madison, and Monroe together
vetoed only eight. Many of the later Presidents used the veto power more
freely.

No bill was passed over the veto of a President until the administration
of Tyler, when one was so passed. Four bills were passed over the vetoes
of Pierce, fourteen over those of Johnson, three over those of Grant,
one over a veto of Hayes, one over a veto of Arthur, two over the vetoes
of Cleveland, one each over the vetoes of Harrison, Taft, and Wilson.

_Joint Resolutions_ as well as bills are usually presented to the
President for his signature, and must be approved before they have any
validity, though it has not been the practice to submit to the
President, for his approval, joint resolutions proposing amendments to
the Constitution. Concurrent resolutions, which do not have the force of
law, but are merely expressions of the sense of the legislative
department on some question of interest to it alone, do not require the
approval of the President.[84]

[84] The distinction between bills, joint resolutions, and concurrent
resolutions is discussed on p. 204.

_Importance of the Veto._--The threat of the President to employ the
veto may be used to great effect. A strong President who has positive
ideas in regard to the kind of legislation which the country needs and
which public opinion demands, may compel the adoption in whole or in
part of those ideas by the threatened use of the veto. The necessity of
obtaining the approval of the President really gives him a powerful
share in legislation. Roosevelt, for example, on a number of occasions
threatened to veto bills about to be passed by Congress unless they
were changed so as to embody the ideas which he advocated, and the
threats were not without effect.

=The Pardoning Power of the President.=--The Constitution authorizes the
President "to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the
United States except in cases of impeachment."[85] The President cannot,
of course, pardon offenses against state law. Offenses against the
postal laws, the revenue laws, the laws against counterfeiting, and the
national banking laws are those for which pardons are most frequently
sought. Crimes committed in the territories are, however, offenses
against the laws of the United States, and are frequently the object of
applications for pardon.

[85] Impeachment offenses were excepted for the purpose of preventing
the President from granting pardons to his own appointees and thereby
shielding them from the consequences of their acts.

For definition of pardon and reprieve, and further discussion of the
nature and purpose of the pardoning power, see p. 102-103.

With the exception of the limitation in regard to impeachment offenses,
the President's power of pardon is absolute. His power is not restricted
by a board of pardons as is that of the governors of some of the states,
nor can Congress in any way abridge his power or restrict the effect of
a pardon granted by him. Moreover, he may grant a pardon before as well
as after conviction, though this is rarely done in the case of
individual offenses. It is sometimes done, however, where large numbers
of persons have become liable to criminal prosecution for participation
in rebellion, resistance to the laws, and similar acts.

_Amnesty._--In such cases the pardon is known as an "amnesty," and is
granted by proclamation. Thus in December, 1863, President Lincoln
issued an amnesty proclamation offering a full pardon to all persons in
arms against the United States provided they would lay down their arms
and return to their allegiance. In April, 1865, President Johnson issued
a proclamation offering amnesty to all those who had borne arms against
the United States, with certain exceptions and subject to certain
conditions. The last instance of the kind was the proclamation issued by
President Harrison, in 1893, granting amnesty to those Mormons who had
violated the anti-polygamy laws of the United States.

_Commutation._--The power to pardon is held also to include the power to
commute a sentence from a heavier to a lighter penalty, and also to
reduce a fine or remit it entirely.

_Parole._--In 1910, Congress passed a law providing for the release on
parole of federal prisoners sentenced to a term of more than one year,
except life prisoners, provided their conduct has been satisfactory. At
each of the three federal prisons there is a board of parole charged
with hearing applications for release.

=Immunity of the President from Judicial Control.=--Being at the head of
a coördinate department of the government, the President, unlike other
public officers, is not subject to the control of the courts. They
cannot issue processes against him, or restrain him or compel him to
perform any act. During the trial of Aaron Burr for treason, Chief
Justice Marshall issued a subpoena directed to President Jefferson
requiring him to produce a certain paper relating to Burr's acts, but
the President refused to obey the writ, declaring that if the chief
executive could be compelled to obey the processes of the courts he
might be prevented from the discharge of his duties. Even if the
President were to commit an act of violence, he could not be arrested or
in any way restrained of his liberty. The only remedy against acts of
violence committed by him is impeachment by the house of representatives
and trial by the Senate. If convicted, he must be deprived of his
office, after which his immunity ends and he is liable to prosecution
and trial in the ordinary courts as any other offender. The principle
upon which the President is exempt from the control of the courts is not
that he can do no wrong, but that if he were subject to judicial
restraint and compelled to obey the processes of the courts, the
administration of the duties of his high office might be interfered
with.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court does not hesitate to exercise control
over the subordinates through whom the President acts in most cases, and
it will refuse to sanction orders or regulations promulgated by him if
they are unconstitutional. To this extent, his acts are subject to
judicial control.

=References.=--ANDREWS, Manual of the Constitution, pp. 180-201.
BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. x. BRYCE, The American
Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. v. FAIRLIE, National
Administration, chs. i-ii. HARRISON, This Country of Ours, ch. vi.
HINSDALE, American Government, ch. xxxii.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. Copy of an inaugural
address of the President. 2. Copy of an annual message of the
President. 3. Copies of executive orders and proclamations. 4.
Copies of veto messages.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is your opinion of Sir Henry Maine's saying that the President
of the United States is but a revised edition of the English King?

2. How do the powers of the President compare in importance and scope
with those of the King of England?

3. Have the President's powers increased or decreased since 1789? Give
your reasons.

4. Name some of the Presidents who were notable for the vigorous
exercise of executive power.

5. What is your opinion of the position taken by President Roosevelt
that the power of the President should be increased by executive
interpretation and judicial construction?

6. Is the President the judge of the extent and limits of his own
powers? If not, what authority is?

7. Do you think the President ought to be prohibited from removing
officers except for good cause? Ought the consent of the senate to be
required in all cases of removal?

8. What is your opinion of the proposition that the members of the
cabinet should be elected by the people?

9. Why are the powers of the President so much more extensive in time of
war than in time of peace?

10. What were the principal recommendations made by the President in his
last annual message?

11. Do you think he should be allowed to grant pardons _before_
conviction? Would it not be well to have a federal board of pardons
whose approval should be necessary to the validity of all pardons issued
by the President?

12. In the exercise of his duty to enforce the laws, may the President
interpret their meaning in case of doubt?

13. To what extent ought the President in making appointments to take
into consideration the politics of the appointee? To what extent should
he be governed by the recommendations of members of Congress?

14. Why should the executive power be vested in the hands of a single
person while the judicial and legislative powers are vested in bodies or
assemblies?

15. Do you think the present salary allowed the President adequate? How
does it compare with the allowance made to the King of England? the
President of France?

CHAPTER XVII

THE CABINET AND THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS

=The Cabinet.=--The heads of the ten executive departments collectively
constitute the President's cabinet. They are, in the order of rank, the
secretary of state (first styled the secretary of foreign affairs), the
secretary of the treasury, the secretary of war, the attorney-general,
the postmaster-general, the secretary of the navy, the secretary of the
interior, the secretary of agriculture, the secretary of commerce, and
the secretary of labor. They are appointed by the President with the
consent of the senate, which in practice is never refused; and they may
be dismissed by him at any time. The salary of cabinet members is
$12,000 a year.

=Origin and Nature of the Cabinet.=--There was no thought in the
beginning that the heads of departments should constitute a cabinet or
advisory council to the President, and during the first administration
they were never, as a matter of fact, convened by him for collective
consultation. When their opinions or advice were desired they were
requested by written communication. During his second term, however,
President Washington adopted the practice of assembling the heads of
departments occasionally for consultation not only on matters pertaining
to their particular departments but in regard to questions of general
executive policy. Thus the cabinet meeting became a regular feature of
executive procedure, and the cabinet a permanent institution. It is
well to remember, however, that the cabinet as such is not mentioned in
the Constitution, and the name "cabinet" never appeared in any law until
the year 1907. No record is kept of its proceedings.

_Cabinet Responsibility._--Unlike a European cabinet, the members of the
President's cabinet are not, and cannot be, members of either house of
Congress; they have no seats in Congress; they are not responsible to
Congress for their policies, and they never think of resigning when
Congress refuses to carry out their recommendations or to approve their
official acts. They are responsible solely to the President for their
official conduct, and are subject to his direction, except in so far as
their duties are prescribed by law. They are, in short, the ministers of
the President, not of Congress; administrative chiefs, not parliamentary
leaders. It may happen, therefore, that members of the cabinet, like the
President, may belong to the party which is in the minority in
Congress.[86]

[86] There is little resemblance between the American cabinet and a
European ministry. In foreign countries where the parliamentary system
prevails, cabinet ministers are chosen from the party having control of
the Parliament; they are usually members of Parliament, but whether
they are or not they are entitled to seats therein; and they prepare
and introduce all important legislative measures, urge their adoption
by the Parliament, and defend their political policies and acts
whenever they are attacked. To one or both of the legislative chambers
they are responsible for their political acts, and whenever they cease
to command the support of the chamber to which they are responsible
they must resign and make way for a new cabinet which does possess its
confidence. It is thus impossible for the legislative and executive
departments of the government to be antagonistic.

=The Department of State.=--At the head of the department of state is
the secretary of state, who is the ranking member of the cabinet and the
first in line for the presidency in case of the death or removal of
both President and Vice President. He sits at the right hand of the
President at cabinet meetings and is given precedence over his
colleagues on occasions of ceremony. There are also three assistant
secretaries in the department, and a counselor, who advises the
President and Secretary of State in regard to questions of international
law.

The duties of the secretary of state fall into three groups: first, he
is the custodian of the great seal and of the archives of the United
States. In this capacity he receives the acts and resolutions of
Congress, publishes them in certain papers, and preserves the originals.
Under this head also fall the duties of countersigning proclamations and
important commissions of the President and of attaching thereto the
great seal. In the second place, the secretary of state is the organ of
communication between the national government and the state governments.
Thus an application from the governor of a state for troops to suppress
domestic violence, or a request for the extradition of a criminal who
has taken refuge in a foreign country, is made through the secretary of
state. In the third place, the secretary of state is the organ of
communication between the United States and foreign powers, that is, he
is the minister of foreign affairs. He carries on all correspondence
with foreign governments, negotiates treaties, countersigns warrants for
the extradition of fugitives from the justice of foreign countries,
issues passports to American citizens wishing to travel abroad, and
grants exequaturs to foreign consuls in the United States.

=The Diplomatic Service.=--For purposes of administration the department
of state is organized into a number of bureaus and divisions. _The
Diplomatic Bureau_ prepares diplomatic correspondence with foreign
governments, and has charge of the engrossing of treaties and other
formal papers, the preparation of the credentials of diplomatic
representatives, and of ceremonious letters. The United States
government is now represented at the governments of nearly fifty
different foreign countries by diplomatic representatives, and most of
these governments maintain diplomatic representatives at Washington. Our
representatives to Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia,
Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, Spain, Argentina,
and Chile bear the rank of ambassador. The government is represented at
most of the other countries by envoys extraordinary and ministers
plenipotentiary; but to one country (Liberia) it sends a minister
resident. The principal difference between the different classes of
ministers is one of rank and precedence. At the more important foreign
posts the ambassador or minister is provided with from one to three
secretaries. There are also interpreters at the legations in Oriental
countries, and at all the important foreign capitals military and naval
attachés are attached to the legation.

_Elimination of the Spoils System._--The efficiency of the diplomatic
service has been much impaired by the existence of the spoils system, as
a result of which diplomatic appointments are determined largely by
political considerations, and changes are made by each new
administration. In the administrations of Presidents Roosevelt and Taft,
however, a beginning was made toward the introduction of the merit
system into the diplomatic service.

_Duties of Diplomatic Representatives._--The principal duties of
diplomatic representatives are to watch over the interests of their
country and its citizens in the country to which they are accredited and
to see that they receive proper protection, to present and cause to be
settled all claims against the foreign country in which they reside, to
negotiate treaties, to settle disputes and adjust difficulties, to
promote friendly relations, and, in general, to represent their
government in its relations with the government to which they are
accredited. It is also the duty of a diplomatic representative to keep
his government fully informed on all matters in which it is likely to be
interested. He is expected to transmit reports relating to political
conditions, finance, commerce, agriculture, arts and science, systems of
taxation, population, judicial statistics, new inventions, and other
matters of possible interest to his government.

The procedure by which treaties are negotiated may take either of two
courses: the secretary of state may conduct the negotiations with a
foreign minister at Washington, or he may direct the American minister
in the foreign country with which it is desired to treat to negotiate
with the minister of foreign affairs of that government.[87]

[87] The following description of the procedure observed in drawing up,
signing, and ratifying treaties is given by Mr. Van Dyne in his book
entitled "Our Foreign Service," pp. 9-10:

"When the terms of a treaty are agreed upon, two exact copies are
engrossed at the Department of State, and signed by the Secretary and
the foreign minister. Where the two countries have not a common language
the texts in the two languages are engrossed in parallel columns. In
drawing up treaties this government adheres to the 'alternat,' by which
in the copy of the treaty to be retained by this government, the United
States is named first, and our plenipotentiary signs first. In the copy
to be retained by the foreign government that government is named first
and its plenipotentiary signs first. The seal of each plenipotentiary is
placed after his signature. Two narrow pieces of red, white and blue
striped silk ribbon are laid across the page, some hot wax is dropped on
the document at the place where the impression of the seal is to be
made, and the seals are placed on this, the ribbon thus fastened to the
seals being used to bind the pages of the instrument. When the treaty is
ratified, a day is fixed and the plenipotentiaries meet and exchange
ratifications. The ratification is attached to the instrument. When the
ratification is completed, proclamation of the fact and publication of
the text are made simultaneously at the capitals of each nation, upon a
day agreed upon."

=The Consular Service.=--_The Consular Bureau_ in the department of
state has charge of the correspondence with our consular officers in
foreign countries. A consul differs from a diplomatic representative in
being a commercial rather than a political representative. Consuls are
stationed at all important commercial centers in foreign countries, to
look after the commercial interests of their country, promote foreign
trade, watch over shipping and navigation, administer the estates of
American citizens dying abroad, assist in the administration of our
customs, health, navigation, immigration, and naturalization laws, and
to collect such information concerning the trade, industries, and
markets of foreign countries as may be of value to the commercial
interests of the United States.[88]

[88] In certain Oriental countries, notably China, Morocco, Persia,
Siam, and Turkey, the United States consuls, by virtue of treaty
arrangements, exercise jurisdiction over American citizens in both
civil and criminal cases. They are empowered to try Americans for
offenses committed within their districts and to determine all civil
controversies between citizens of the United States residing therein.
In more serious criminal cases and in civil cases involving large
amounts, appeals may be taken to the American minister. The reason why
Western powers refuse to permit their citizens to be tried by the
courts of these countries is that their standards of law and procedure
are repugnant to those of Western countries. Formerly consular
jurisdiction existed in Japan also, but it was abolished by treaty in
1899.

=Recent Reforms.=--In obedience to the widespread demands of the
commercial interests of the country, notable improvements have recently
been made in our consular service. Formerly political considerations
largely determined appointments to the service, and at the beginning of
each new administration a wholesale removal was made in order to find
places for party workers. By acts of Congress passed in 1906 and 1909,
however, the service was reorganized and attempts made to place it on a
merit basis. The fee system was abolished, consuls were prohibited from
practicing law or engaging in other businesses, provision was made for
periodic inspection of consulates, and a system of examinations was
inaugurated for determining the qualifications of appointees to the
service. The adoption of these reforms has brought about a marked
increase in the efficiency of the service and has tended to give to it
the character of a permanent professional career such as it enjoys in
Europe.

=Other Bureaus of the State Department.=--_The Bureau of Indexes and
Archives_ is charged with keeping the records and indexing the
correspondence of the department of state. It also prepares the annual
volumes of the foreign relations, containing portions of the diplomatic
correspondence.

_The Division of Passport Control_ is charged with the issue of
passports to persons who desire to travel abroad. A passport is a paper
signed by the secretary of state certifying that the bearer is a citizen
of the United States or has declared his intention of becoming a
citizen, and is entitled to the protection of the government when
traveling abroad. They are granted not only to citizens but, by a recent
law, to loyal residents of the insular possessions and to aliens who
have declared their intention of becoming citizens and have resided in
the United States for three years. A fee of one dollar is charged for
each passport.

_The other bureaus and divisions_ in the department of state are:
accounts, rolls and library, appointments, information, Far Eastern
affairs, Near Eastern affairs, Western European affairs, and
Latin-American affairs.

=The Department of the Treasury.=--For the most part the department of
the treasury is concerned with the management of the national finances,
including (1) the administration of the revenue laws, (2) the custody of
the national funds, (3) the preparation of the budget, (4) the
administration of the currency and national banking laws, (5)
miscellaneous functions such as those relating to the life-saving
service, the public health and marine hospital service, engraving and
printing, construction of public buildings, etc.

The custody of the government funds devolves upon the _Treasurer_, who
is charged with receiving and disbursing upon proper warrant all public
moneys that may be deposited in the treasury at Washington or in the
subtreasuries at New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago,
St. Louis, New Orleans, and San Francisco, as well as in national banks
and federal reserve banks. He is also the custodian of miscellaneous
trust funds, is the agent of the government for paying interest on the
public debt and for issuing and redeeming government paper currency and
national bank notes, and is the custodian of the bonds deposited to
secure national bank circulation.

_The Register of the Treasury_ issues and signs all bonds of the United
States, registers bond transfers and redemption of bonds, and signs
transfers of public funds from the treasury to the subtreasuries or
depositories.

_The Commissioner of Internal Revenue_ supervises the collection of the
federal income tax and of the taxes on the manufacture of tobacco, etc.,
and supervises the enforcement of the prohibition law.

_The Director of the Budget_, provided for by the new budget act of
1921, prepares for the President the annual budget and all other
estimates of revenues and expenditures, and with that end in view, has
power to assemble, correlate, revise, reduce, or increase the estimates
of the several departments or establishments. The President is, however,
directly responsible for the budget, and transmits it to Congress. By
the same act, the office of _Comptroller of the Treasury_ was abolished,
and the auditing and accounting functions were removed from the Treasury
Department to an independent General Accounting Office, with the
_Comptroller-General of the United States_ at its head.

The principal officers who have to do with currency administration are
the director of the mint and the comptroller of the currency. _The
Director of the Mint_ has general supervision of the administration of
the coinage laws and the management of the coinage and assay offices.[89]
_The Comptroller of the Currency_ exercises supervision over the
national banks. It is his duty to see that national banks are properly
organized, that the capital stock is fully subscribed and paid in, that
the necessary amount of United States bonds have been duly deposited
with the government to secure the circulation of their notes, and that
all national banks are properly examined from time to time. He also has
important duties in connection with the management of the federal
reserve banks. He has charge of the issue of national bank notes and
(under the supervision the Federal Reserve Board) of Federal reserve
notes.

[89] For a list of the mints and assay offices, see pp. 228-229.

Among the bureaus of the treasury department which have no direct
relation to the public finances the most important is the _Public Health
Service_, which is under the direction of a surgeon general who is
charged with the supervision of the national quarantine stations and of
hospitals for the relief of sick and disabled seamen, and discharged
soldiers, sailors, and marines. He calls conferences of all state health
boards. He is authorized to adopt regulations to prevent the
introduction and spread of contagious diseases, and it is his duty to
supervise the medical examination of immigrants seeking admission to the
United States.

_The Coast Guard_, as organized in 1915, is charged with the duties of
the former _life-saving service_ and the _revenue cutter service_. It
renders assistance to persons and vessels in distress, patrols the coast
for the purpose of preventing violations of the customs laws, and
enforces the laws relating to quarantine, navigation, protection of the
game, fishery, and seal industries, etc. It constitutes a part of the
military forces and is under the treasury department in time of peace
and under the navy department in time of war.

_The Supervising Architect_ is charged with the selection and purchase
of sites for government buildings, such as federal courthouses,
post-office buildings, customhouses, mints, etc.; with the preparation
of plans and specifications and the awarding of contracts for such
buildings.

_The Bureau of Engraving and Printing_ is charged with the duty of
engraving and printing all government securities, including United
States notes, bonds, certificates, national bank notes, federal reserve
notes, internal revenue, customs, and postage stamps, treasury drafts,
etc.

_The Secret Service Division_ is a body of detective agents employed to
detect frauds and crimes against the government, such as counterfeiting
or espionage. Some of the force are also employed in guarding the
President.

_The Bureau of War Risk Insurance_ (created in 1914) is charged with
carrying out the laws relating to government insurance of American
ships, soldiers, and sailors.

_The Federal Reserve Board_ and the _Federal Farm Loan Board_ (see p.
234) are also under the Treasury Department.

=The War Department.=--The secretary of war has charge of all matters
relating to national defense and seacoast fortifications, river and
harbor improvements, the prevention of obstructions to navigation, and
the establishment of harbor lines; and all plans and locations, of
bridges authorized by Congress to be constructed over navigable rivers
require his approval.

The army is under the direction of the _General Staff_ described on p.
263. Within the war department there are also a number of departments
and bureaus, each under the direction of an army officer.

_The Adjutant General_ has charge of the records and correspondence of
the army and militia; of the recruiting service, including enlistments,
appointments, promotions, resignations, etc. He communicates to
subordinate officers the orders of the President and the secretary of
war, and preserves reports of military movements and operations.

_The Inspector General_, with his assistants, visits and inspects
military posts, depots, fortifications, armories and arsenals, and
public works in charge of army officers, and makes reports on the
conduct, efficiency, and discipline of officers and men, including their
arms and equipment.

_The Quartermaster General_ has supervision over the quartermaster corps
which is the main supply service of the army (except for technical
articles), and furnishes food, clothing, equipment, animals, and forage.
It also has charge of building construction and transportation for the
army.

_The Chief of Finance_ has control over the finances of the army.

_The Surgeon General_ has supervision over the medical service of the
army; looks after the sick and wounded; provides medical and hospital
supplies, and inquires into the sanitary conditions of the army. In
addition to field hospitals permanent depots and hospitals are
maintained at various points.

_The Judge-Advocate General_ is the chief law officer of the army; he
reviews records of the proceedings of courts-martial, courts of inquiry,
and military commissions, and acts as legal adviser to the war
department.

_The Chief Signal Officer_ is charged with the supervision of military
signal duties, the construction, repair, and operation of military
telegraph lines and cables.

_The Chief of the Air Service_ has supervision over aircraft production
and the aviation service.

_The Chief of Ordnance_ supervises the purchase, manufacture, and
distribution of artillery, small arms, and ammunition for the army and
the militia. For the manufacture of arms and ammunition there are
arsenals at Springfield, Mass., Rock Island, Ill., Watervliet, N. Y.,
and elsewhere.

_The Chief of Engineers_ is at the head of the engineering corps, a
branch of the army which is charged with the construction of public
works such as military roads, bridges, fortifications, river and harbor
improvements, geographical explorations, and surveys. The construction
of the Panama Canal is the most notable of the recent undertakings of
the war department in this field.

_The Chief of the Chemical Warfare Service_ has supervision over the
production of chemical warfare materials as well as defensive appliances
for protection against such warfare. He also supervises the training of
the army in the use of both.

_The Militia Bureau_, created in 1916, has charge of all matters
relating to the National Guard.

In addition to the purely military functions and construction of public
works, the war department has certain duties in connection with the
government of the insular possessions and the Panama Canal Zone. So far
as these duties relate to Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands they are
under the direction of the _Bureau of Insular Affairs_, at the head of
which is an army officer with the title of chief of the bureau. This
bureau also has charge of the collection of the revenues of Haiti and
the Dominican Republic in accordance with treaties which practically
establish an American receivership over those republics.

Finally, the war department has charge of the _United States Military
Academy_ at West Point, the various post-graduate schools of instruction
for army officers located at different army posts, the national military
parks at Chickamauga, Gettysburg, Shiloh, and Vicksburg, and the
national cemeteries in various parts of the country. The military
academy at West Point was founded in 1802. A certain number of cadets
(the number--for a long time one only--has varied at different periods)
are appointed from each congressional district and territory, upon the
nomination of the representative in Congress from the district; also
certain numbers from each state at large, from the District of Columbia,
and from the United States at large. All candidates are required to pass
a physical and intellectual examination; the course of instruction lasts
four years; and each cadet receives pay sufficient for his maintenance.
Graduates receive appointments as second lieutenants in the army, those
standing highest usually being appointed to the engineering corps if
they prefer assignment to that branch of the service. The secretary of
war exercises general supervision over the academy, and it is inspected
at regular intervals by a board of visitors of whom seven are appointed
by the President, two by the Vice President, and three by the speaker of
the house of representatives.

[Illustration: WEST POINT CADETS]

[Illustration: LOCK IN THE PANAMA CANAL]

=The Department of the Navy= was created in 1798. At its head is a
secretary, who, like the head of the war department, is usually taken
from civil life. Like the war department, the navy department is
organized into the _Office of Naval Operations_ and a number of bureaus.

_The Bureau of Navigation_ has charge of the recruiting service, the
training of officers and men, the naval academy; schools for the
technical education of enlisted men, apprentice schools, the naval home
at Philadelphia, transportation of enlisted men, records of squadrons,
ships, officers and men; the preparation of the naval register,
preparation of drill regulations, signal codes, and cipher codes. Under
this bureau falls the publication of the Nautical Almanac, charts and
sailing directions, the naval observatory, and the hydrographic office.

_The Bureau of Yards and Docks_ has general control of the navy yards
and docks belonging to the government, including their construction and
repair, and also of the construction of battleships whenever such
construction is authorized by Congress. The navy yards are located at
Washington, Brooklyn, Mare Island (California), Philadelphia (League
Island), Norfolk, Pensacola, Cavite (in the Philippines), and various
other places.

_The Bureau of Ordnance_ has charge of the supply of armament and
ammunition for the ships. It supervises the manufacture of guns and
torpedoes, installs armament on the vessels, and has charge of the naval
proving ground and magazines, the naval gun factory, and the torpedo
station.

_The Bureau of Construction and Repair_ has charge of the planning,
building, and repairing of vessels, and of their equipment, excepting
their armament and engines.

_Other Bureaus_ of the Navy Department, whose general duties are
indicated sufficiently by their titles, are: the bureau of engineering,
the bureau of medicine and surgery, and the bureau of supplies and
accounts.

_The Judge-Advocate General_ is the law officer of the navy department
and performs duties similar to those of the judge-advocate general of
the war department.

_The Major General Commandant of the Marine Corps_ issues orders for the
movement of troops under the direction of the secretary of the navy.

The department of the navy also has general charge of the _United States
Naval Academy_ at Annapolis. The academy was founded in 1846, by George
Bancroft, then secretary of the navy. A specified number of midshipmen
are allowed for each member of Congress and each territorial delegate,
and certain numbers from the District of Columbia, from Porto Rico, and
from the United States at large.[90] Appointments are made by the
President after a physical and intellectual examination by a board, and
an allowance is made for maintaining each midshipman while in residence
at the academy. The course lasts four years and includes instruction in
gunnery, naval construction, steam engineering, navigation, mathematics,
international law, modern languages, etc. After the completion of the
course, midshipmen spend two years at sea, after which they receive
subordinate appointments in the navy or marine corps.

[90] In addition, the secretary of the navy may appoint each year 100
midshipmen from the enlisted men of the navy less than twenty years
old, the selection being based on competitive examinations.

=The Department of Justice.=--The office of attorney-general was created
in 1789, and from the first the attorney-general was a member of the
cabinet; but for a long time the duties of the office were not
extensive, and it was not until 1870 that the office was made an
executive department with its present title and organization.

_The Attorney-General_ is the chief law officer of the national
government and is the legal adviser of the President and the heads of
departments. He represents the United States before the Supreme Court in
cases in which it is a party, exercises a sort of administrative
supervision over the United States district attorneys and marshals and
over the federal penitentiaries, examines applications for pardons, and
advises the President in the exercise of his pardoning power. The
opinions which he renders on constitutional and legal questions referred
to him are published by the government in a series of volumes, and
altogether they constitute an important body of constitutional and
administrative law. Under the direction of the President he institutes
proceedings and prosecutes cases against corporations and persons for
violations of the laws of the United States, or directs the district
attorneys to do so.

=The Post Office Department.=--At the head of the post office department
is the postmaster-general. He establishes and discontinues post offices,
appoints all postmasters whose compensation does not exceed $1,000 a
year, issues postal regulations, makes postal treaties with foreign
governments, with the approval of the President, awards mail contracts,
and has general supervision of the domestic and foreign postal service.
There is an assistant attorney-general for the post office department,
who advises the postmaster-general on questions of law, has charge of
prosecutions arising under the postal laws, hears cases relating to the
misuse of the mails, and drafts postal contracts. There are also four
assistant postmasters-general, each of whom has supervision over a group
of services within the department. The postal service has already been
described in chapter xiv.

=The Department of the Interior.=--The interior department, established
in 1849, is one of the largest and most important of the ten executive
departments. Next to the post office department, the services which it
performs reach more people than those performed by any other department.
Its staff of employees at Washington ranks second in numbers only to
that of the treasury department. It has charge of the public lands,
Indian affairs, pensions, patents, the geological survey, and, to some
extent, the government of the territories.

=The Public Lands.=--Perhaps the most important bureau in the interior
department is the _General Land Office_, which has charge of the public
lands, and the care and control of the forest reserves. Before the
public lands are sold or otherwise disposed of they must be surveyed.
For this purpose there are seventeen surveying districts, in each of
which there is a surveyor general.

_Disposal of the Public Lands._--The public lands have been disposed of
with a somewhat lavish hand. In the early days liberal grants were made
to the soldiers of the Revolutionary War. Immense quantities have also
been sold at low rates--much of it at $1.25 per acre--in order to
encourage settlers to establish homes thereon. Considerable quantities
have also been granted to the states for educational purposes and the
construction of internal improvements. Beginning with Ohio in 1802, each
new state admitted to the Union was given one section in each township
for the support of elementary schools, and those admitted after 1850
were given two sections in each township. Under the Morrill act of 1862,
10,000,000 acres were given to the states for the establishment of
colleges of agriculture and the mechanic arts. Some of the more recently
admitted states were given from one to four townships each for the
establishment of universities.[91]

[91] The six states admitted between 1889 and 1890 were given
23,000,000 acres.

Before the Civil War, large quantities were given to the states for the
construction of canals and railroads. Large tracts of the public lands
have also been granted to private corporations as subsidies for the
building of transcontinental railways. Finally, by an act of 1902, the
proceeds from the sale of all public lands in seventeen Western states
are set aside for constructing irrigation works in those states.

By the _preëmption act_ of 1841, it was provided that 160 acres of land
should be given to any family living thereon for a period of six months
and paying $200 therefor. This act was repealed in 1891, but millions of
acres were disposed of during the fifty years it was in force.

By the _homestead act_ of 1863, still in force, any head of a family may
acquire 160 acres by living on it for three years (it was five years
before 1912), cultivating a certain part of it, and paying a small fee.

_The Public Lands now Remaining_ aggregate about 665,000,000 acres,
including those in Alaska. Of these lands a large part have been set
aside for Indian reservations, national parks, military reservations,
and national forests,[92] and is therefore not open to purchase or entry
under the homestead act. Arid lands are sold in tracts not exceeding 640
acres at $1.25 per acre; mineral lands are sold at from $2.50 to $5 per
acre; timber and stone lands at a minimum of $2.50 per acre; town site
lands at a minimum of $10 per acre; and agricultural lands at $1.25 per
acre.

[92] There are now 153 national forests, embracing 175,940,000 acres.

_Land Offices_ are established in all the states where there is any
considerable amount of public land left. At each office there is a
register and a receiver who examines applications for entries and issues
certificates upon which patents or deeds are finally granted.

=Indian Affairs.=--Another important branch of the government service
falling within the department of the interior is the management of
Indian affairs. For a long time each tribe was treated to some extent as
though it were an independent community, and was dealt with somewhat as
foreign nations are dealt with. In 1871, however, it was enacted that
henceforth no Indian tribe should be acknowledged or treated as an
independent nation or power with which the United States may contract by
treaty--an act which marks the beginning of the end of Indian tribal
authority.

The policy of extending the jurisdiction of the government over the
Indians was begun by an act of 1885 which gave the United States courts
jurisdiction over seven leading crimes when committed by Indians on
their reservations. Previous to that time, crimes committed by Indians
against Indians within a reservation were left to be dealt with by the
tribal authorities themselves.

_The Allotment Act._--By the Dawes act of 1887 the new Indian policy
begun in 1871 was still further extended. This act provided for the
allotment of Indian lands to individual members of the tribe, and
declared that Indians who accepted such allotments or who should leave
their tribe and adopt the habits of civilized life, should be considered
as citizens of the United States and entitled to all the rights and
privileges of citizens. Previous to this time the lands occupied by the
Indians were owned by the tribe as a whole and not by the individuals
who occupied them. Under this act, individual allotments aggregating
more than 30,000,000 acres have been made to 180,000 Indians. There
remain about 120,000 Indians, to whom allotments are still to be made.
The result of this policy will ultimately be to extinguish the Indian
tribes and incorporate them into the American body politic.

_Indian Agents._--The control of the national government over the Indian
reservations is exercised largely through Indian agents appointed by the
President. They are charged with the regulation of trade with the
Indians, and have control of the distribution of rations. At each agency
one or more schools are maintained, and in addition to the reservation
schools there are schools for the higher education of Indians in various
parts of the country, the most important being at Lawrence, Kansas, and
Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The aggregate annual expenditures on account of
the service are now about $15,000,000, more than half of which consists
of payments due the Indians under treaty stipulations or of interest on
trust funds held by the government for them. The total amount of these
trust funds is about $50,000,000.[93]

[93] The Secretary of the Interior says the Osage Indians are probably
the wealthiest people in the world, their average per capita wealth
being over $9,500. Some families have an income of $12,000 a year.

=The Pension Bureau= has charge of the administration of the pension
laws. The payments on account of pensions now constitute the largest
item of expenditure by the national government. Before the outbreak of
the Civil War, pension expenditures rarely exceeded two million dollars
a year, and the total outlay for this purpose during the entire period
of our national history aggregated less than half the amount now
appropriated for a single year. According to the report of the
commissioner of pensions for 1919 there were 624,427 names on the
pension rolls, and the amount expended for pensions that year was over
$220,000,000. More than $5,000,000,000 has been expended for pensions
since the Civil War, a larger amount than the national debt incurred on
account of the war itself.

=The Patent Office= includes a large number of officers, examiners, and
employees, who are under the direction of the commissioner of patents.
Their work is described on p. 260.

=Minor Divisions of the Interior Department.=--_The Bureau of Education_
was established in 1867. At its head is a commissioner whose duty it is
to collect and publish statistics and other information concerning the
methods, conditions, and progress of education in the United States.
Each year he publishes an elaborate report summarizing the educational
progress of the country, together with monographs by experts on special
topics of educational interest. The commissioner is also charged with
the administration of the funds appropriated for the support of the
colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts and with the supervision of
education in Alaska and the reindeer industry in that country.

_The Geological Survey_ was established as a bureau in the department of
the interior in 1879. It is under the control of a director who is
charged with the classification of the public lands and the examination
of the geological structure, mineral resources, and mineral products of
the public lands and the survey of the forest reserves. The bureau has
undertaken the preparation of topographical and geological maps of the
United States, a considerable portion of which has been completed, the
collection of statistics of the mineral products, the investigation of
mine accidents, the testing of mineral fuels and structural materials,
and the investigation of surface and underground waters.

_The Bureau of Mines_, created in 1911, is charged with conducting
investigations looking toward the prevention of mine accidents, the
introduction of improvements in the general health and safety
conditions, the conservation of mineral resources, etc. The bureau
reported in 1913 that it had brought about a reduction in the number of
fatalities due to explosions, from 30 to 13 per cent.

=The Department of Agriculture.=--A so-called "department" of
agriculture was established in 1862, though its rank was only that of a
bureau and its head bore the title of commissioner. From time to time,
the scope and functions of the "department" were extended until 1889,
when it was raised to the rank of a cabinet department with a secretary
at its head. Like the other departments, it is organized into bureaus,
offices, and divisions.

_The Weather Bureau_ has charge of the preparation of weather forecasts
and the display of storm, cold wave, frost, and flood warnings for the
benefit of agriculture, commerce, and navigation.

_The Bureau of Animal Industry_ conducts the inspection of animals,
meats, and meat food products under the act of Congress of June 30,
1906, and has charge of the inspection of import and export animals, the
inspection of vessels for the transportation of export animals, and the
quarantine stations for imported live stock; supervises the interstate
transportation of animals, and reports on the condition and means of
improving the animal industries of the country.

_The Bureau of Plant Industry_ studies plant life in its relations to
agriculture. It investigates the diseases of plants and carries on field
tests in the prevention of diseases. It studies the improvement of crops
by breeding and selection, maintains demonstration farms, and carries on
investigations with a view to introducing better methods of farm
practice. It conducts agricultural explorations in foreign countries for
the purpose of securing new plants and seeds for introduction into the
United States. It studies fruits, their adaptability to various
climates, and the methods of harvesting, handling, storing, and
marketing them.

_The Forest Service_ is charged with the administration of the National
Forests. It also gives practical advice in the conservation and handling
of national, state, and private forest lands, and in methods of
utilizing forest products; investigates methods of forest planting, and
gives practical advice to tree planters; studies commercially valuable
trees to determine their best management and use; gathers statistics on
forest products, in coöperation with the bureau of the census, and
investigates the control and prevention of forest fires, and other
forest problems.

_The Bureau of Chemistry_ conducts investigations into the chemical
composition of fertilizers, agricultural products, and food stuffs. In
pursuance of the pure food law of 1906, it examines foods and drugs
intended to be sent from one state to another, with a view to
determining whether they are adulterated or misbranded. It also conducts
investigations of food stuffs imported from abroad and denies entry to
such as are found unwholesome, adulterated, or falsely labeled. It also
inspects food products intended to be exported to foreign countries
where standards of purity are required.

_Other Bureaus_, whose duties are indicated by their titles, are: the
bureau of soils, the bureau of crop estimates, the bureau of entomology,
the bureau of biological survey, the bureau of markets, and the bureau
of public roads.

=The Department of Commerce= embraces what remains of the department of
commerce and labor created in 1903, and divided in 1913 by the creation
of the department of labor. It is charged with the promotion of the
commerce of the United States and its mining, manufacturing, shipping,
fishing, and transportation interests.

_The Bureau of the Census_ is charged with the duty of taking the
decennial census of the United States, including the collection of such
special statistics as Congress may authorize. The first census, that of
1790, was taken under the direction of the United States marshals in
their respective districts; the statistics collected related only to
population, and the schedule embraced only six questions. In 1880 the
use of the marshals was done away with and a corps of census supervisors
provided. Until 1902 the machinery for taking the census was organized
anew for each census, but in the latter year provision was made for a
permanent census bureau. The schedule of inquiries has increased from
decade to decade until it now embraces a wide range of questions
relating not only to population, but also to vital statistics,
agriculture, manufactures, defective and criminal classes, cotton
production, statistics of cities, state and local finances,
transportation, mining, and various other matters, the results of which
are published in a series of large volumes and in special bulletins. At
the head of the bureau is a director, who is aided by an assistant
director, a number of statisticians and experts, and a corps of local
supervisors and enumerators. The census work was in the charge of the
department of state until 1850, when it was transferred to the
department of the interior.

_The Bureau of Navigation_[94] is charged with the general
superintendence of the merchant marine of the United States and of the
enforcement of the navigation laws. It has charge of the registration of
American vessels engaged in the foreign trade, and of the enrollment and
licensing of vessels in the coasting trade. It supervises the execution
of the tonnage laws and the collection of tonnage duties; prepares an
annual list of vessels registered under the American flag; and
supervises the work of the United States shipping commissioners, who
administer the laws for the protection of seamen.

[94] This bureau in the department of commerce must not be confused
with the bureau of navigation in the navy department, already
described.

_The Steamboat Inspection Service_ is charged with the administration of
the laws providing for the inspection of steam and sailing vessels
registered under the American flag; with the examination and licensing
of officers of such vessels, and with the protection of life and
property on water. At the head of the service is an inspector general,
who is aided by ten supervising inspectors, each of the latter having
under his supervision a number of local inspectors stationed at the
important commercial ports. All vessels must be inspected once a year as
to their safety, construction, and facilities for protection against
fire.

_The Bureau of Fisheries_ has control of fish hatcheries in many parts
of the country, for the propagation of useful food fishes; studies fish
culture and the causes of the decrease of food fishes; collects
statistics in regard to the fishery industry; and in general promotes
the fishery interests. It supervises the salmon fisheries of Alaska and
the fur seal industry on the Pribilof Islands of the Bering Sea.

_The Bureau of Lighthouses_ is charged with the construction and
maintenance of lighthouses, light vessels, beacons, fog signals, buoys,
and other aids to navigation. The seaboard is divided up into lighthouse
districts, in each of which is a naval officer who serves as inspector
and has immediate charge of the supply, maintenance, and administration
of the lighthouses in his district. At each lighthouse there is a keeper
and one or more assistant keepers. The establishment now consists of
more than 1,500 lighthouses and beacons, a fleet of light-ships, and
more than 6,000 buoys. Since 1910 the service has been under the
supervision of a commissioner.

_The Bureau of Standards_, established in 1901, is charged with the
custody of the national standards, the testing of measuring apparatus,
and the investigation of problems relating to standards of weighing and
measuring.

_The Coast and Geodetic Survey_ is charged with the survey of the coasts
and of rivers to the head of tide water, and the publication of charts
of the same; the investigation of questions relating to temperature,
tides, currents, and the depths of navigable waters; the making of
magnetic observations; the determination of geographic positions, and
the like. The results are published in annual reports and special
publications. It prepares tables, sailing directions, charts of the
coasts, harbor charts, notices to mariners, and other publications for
the use of mariners.

_The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce_ is charged with fostering
and developing the various manufacturing interests of the United States
and extending the markets for manufactured articles abroad, by
collecting and publishing all available and useful information
concerning such markets and industries. It publishes statistics of
commerce, finance, etc., consular and trade reports, and an annual
volume known as the "Commercial Relations of the United States."

_The Bureau of Corporations_, created in 1903, was intended mainly
to furnish an agency for the investigation of corporations
suspected of violating the anti-"trust" laws of the United States.
It was authorized to investigate the organization and methods of
any corporation or joint-stock company engaged in foreign or
interstate commerce (except common carriers subject to the
interstate commerce act) and to report to the President such
information as might be of value in enabling him to enforce the
anti-"trust" laws. It was abolished in 1914 and its duties were
devolved upon the newly created Federal Trade Commission, which has
already been described (see p. 245).

=The Department of Labor= was created in 1913, and is charged with
fostering, promoting, and developing the welfare of the wage earners of
the United States, especially the improvement of the conditions under
which they work and the advancement of their opportunities for
profitable employment.

_The Bureaus of Immigration and Naturalization_, formerly consolidated
in the department of commerce and labor, were divided in 1913 and
transferred to the new department of labor. They are charged
respectively with the administration of the immigration laws and the
administration of the naturalization laws of the United States.[95]

[95] See also pp. 238-239. The increase in the number of immigrants by
decades is shown by the following table:

-------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------
DECADE | POPULATION AT BEGINNING | TOTAL NUMBER OF | OF DECADE |
IMMIGRANTS | |
-------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------
1821-1830................| 9,633,822 | 143,439
1831-1840................| 12,866,020 | 599,125
1841-1850................| 17,069,453 | 1,713,251
1851-1860................| 23,191,876 | 2,598,224
1861-1870................| 31,443,321 | 2,314,824
1871-1880................| 38,558,371 | 2,812,191
1881-1890................| 50,155,783 | 5,246,613
1891-1900................| 62,622,250 | 3,687,564
1901-1910................| 75,994,575 | 8,793,386
-------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------

In 1916 naturalization certificates were issued to 93,911 persons and
declarations of intention to become citizens were made by 207,935.

_The Bureau of Labor Statistics_, formerly known as the bureau of labor,
was transferred from the former department of commerce and labor in
1913. It is charged with collecting and diffusing among the people of
the United States useful information on subjects connected with labor
in the most general and comprehensive sense of that word, and especially
upon its relations to capital, the hours of labor, the earnings of
laboring men and women, and the means of promoting their material,
social, intellectual, and moral prosperity.

It is especially charged with investigating the causes of and facts
relating to all controversies and disputes between employers and
employees. It publishes from time to time the results of elaborate
investigations on various subjects relating to labor and industry, and
also issues a bimonthly bulletin on special topics within the same
field.

_The Children's Bureau_, established in 1912, is charged with the
investigation of problems relating to the welfare of children, such as
the conditions of the employment of children, the causes of infant
mortality, etc.

In 1920 the _Women's Bureau_ was established to promote the welfare of
wage-earning women.

=References.=--ANDREWS, Manual of the Constitution, pp. 327-352.
BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. xi. BRYCE, The
American Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. viii. FAIRLIE,
National Administration of the U. S., ch. iv. HARRISON, This
Country of Ours, chs. xi-xviii.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. The Congressional
Directory. 2. Annual reports of the heads of department and other
officials, such as the commissioner of pensions, the commissioner
of the general land office, the commissioner general of
immigration, the civil service commission, the interstate commerce
commission, etc.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the origin of the term "cabinet"? On what days are cabinet
meetings now held?

2. What are the principal differences between the American cabinet and
the British cabinet?

3. Do you think the members of the cabinet should be members of
Congress? If not, ought they to be allowed seats in Congress without the
right to vote?

4. Do you think the President ought ever to disregard the advice of his
cabinet?

5. Give the names of five distinguished secretaries of state since 1789.

6. Washington's first cabinet was composed of an equal number of members
from both political parties. Would it be wise to follow that practice?

7. Why is the secretary of the treasury required to make his annual
reports to Congress while the other heads of departments make theirs to
the President?

8. Would it be wise to elect the heads of departments of the federal
government by popular vote as those of the state governments usually
are?

9. Do you think the secretary of war ought to be an army officer as is
the usual practice in Europe?

10. Why is the postmaster-generalship usually given to an active party
manager?

11. Why is an importer ineligible under the law to appointment as
secretary of the treasury?

12. Why is the department of state really misnamed? Would the title
"department of foreign affairs" indicate more precisely the duties of
the department?

13. What is your opinion of the movement to establish a department of
public health?

14. Do you think the bureau of education should be raised to the rank of
a department?

[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT]

[Illustration: THE SUPREME COURT ROOM]

CHAPTER XVIII

THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY

=Establishment of the federal Judiciary.=--The Articles of
Confederation, as we have seen, made no provision for a national
judiciary. Hamilton declared this to be the crowning defect of the old
government, for laws, he very properly added, are a dead letter without
courts to expound their true meaning and define their operations. During
the period of the Confederation, the national government was dependent
for the most part, as has been said, on the states for the enforcement
of its will. Thus if some one counterfeited the national currency,
robbed the mails, or assaulted a foreign ambassador, there was no
national court to take jurisdiction of the case and punish the offender.
The only way by which he could be brought to justice and the authority
of the national government upheld was through the kindly assistance of
some state court, and this assistance was not always cheerfully lent nor
was it always effective when tendered. Congress to be sure acted as a
court for the settlement of disputes between the states themselves, but
a legislative assembly is never well fitted for exercising judicial
functions. In the absence of a national judiciary it proved impossible
to enforce solemn treaty stipulations to which the United States was a
party, a fact which led Great Britain to refuse to carry out certain of
her treaty engagements with the United States.

=The Judicial Power of the United States.=--The framers of the
Constitution decided that the jurisdiction of the national courts should
be restricted to questions of national interest and to those involving
the peace and tranquillity of the Union, such as disputes between the
states themselves and between citizens of different states, and that the
jurisdiction of all other controversies should be left to the
determination of the courts of the several states. The jurisdiction of
the federal courts, therefore, was made to include all cases whether of
law or equity arising under the national Constitution, the laws of the
United States, and all treaties made under their authority; all cases
affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; all cases of
admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; all controversies to which the
United States is a party; all controversies between two or more states;
and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states or
citizens or subjects thereof.[96]

[96] In two classes of these cases, namely, those in which ambassadors,
other public ministers, and consuls are parties and those in which a
state is a party, the Supreme Court has _original_ jurisdiction, that
is, the right to hear and determine the case in the first instance. But
that does not mean that the Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction in
such cases. Other federal courts may try such cases, and as a matter of
fact few original suits have ever been brought in the Supreme Court. In
the other classes of cases mentioned, the Supreme Court has _appellate_
jurisdiction (with such exceptions as Congress may make), that is, such
cases must be commenced in the lower courts, from which they may be
taken on appeal to the Supreme Court.

The wisdom and propriety of giving the federal courts jurisdiction over
all such cases are obvious, since they involve either national,
interstate, or international questions. Manifestly, the state courts
could not properly be left to determine finally controversies involving
the meaning or the application of provisions of the federal
Constitution, laws, or treaties, since in that case they would not be
what they are declared to be, namely, the supreme law of the land.
Conflicting decisions would be rendered by the courts of different
states, and in case of inconsistency between state constitutions and
laws on the one hand and the federal Constitution, laws, and treaties on
the other, the state courts would be under the temptation to uphold the
validity of the former.

_The Eleventh Amendment._--As originally adopted, the Constitution
permitted suits to be brought in the federal courts against a state by
citizens of another state or by citizens of foreign countries, and when
a suit brought against the state of Georgia in 1793 by a citizen of
South Carolina named Chisholm for the recovery of a debt was actually
entertained by the Supreme Court, widespread popular indignation
followed the decision. The authorities of Georgia felt that it was
derogatory to the dignity of a sovereign state that it should be made
the defendant in a suit brought by a private individual, and a demand
was made that the Constitution be amended so as to prevent such "suits"
in the future. As a result of this demand, the Eleventh Amendment was
adopted in 1798 which declared that the judicial power of the United
States should not be construed to extend to suits brought against a
state by citizens of another state or of a foreign country. Nevertheless
while a state cannot be made a defendant in a federal court at the
instance of a private individual of another state, the federal courts
may entertain jurisdiction of suits between a state and a citizen of
another state provided the state is the plaintiff.

_How Cases "Arise."_--A case "arises" under the Constitution, laws, or
treaties whenever a suit is filed involving a right or privilege
thereunder. Until a case "arises," that is, until it comes before the
courts in due form, they will take no notice of it. When President
Washington in 1793 sought the opinion of the Supreme Court on certain
points involving our obligations to France under the treaty of alliance
of 1778 it declined to answer his question, holding that it could give
opinions only in cases properly brought before it.

=The Regular Federal Courts.=--The Constitution declares that the
judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court
and in such inferior courts as Congress may from time to time ordain and
establish. The Supreme Court, therefore, is the only federal tribunal
which owes its existence to the Constitution, the others being created
by statute. Even as to the Supreme Court Congress has considerable power
of control, since it determines the number of judges of which it shall
be composed, and the amount of their compensation. But it cannot remove
any judge except upon impeachment, or reduce his compensation after he
has once been appointed.

_The Supreme Court_ is at present composed of one Chief Justice and
eight associate justices. It holds its sessions in the city of
Washington from October to May of each year. Practically all the cases
which it hears are those appealed from the lower courts. When a case has
been argued, the court holds a consultation at which the points involved
are considered and a decision is reached. The Chief Justice then
requests one of his associates to prepare the opinion of the court, or
he may prepare it himself, after which it is scrutinized by the court at
a second conference and approved. Any member of the court who disagrees
with the majority may file a dissenting opinion, a right frequently
taken advantage of. The concurrence of at least five of the nine judges
is necessary to the validity of a decision, and as a matter of fact,
many important decisions have been rendered in recent years by a bare
majority of the court. The opinions rendered are published as the
_United States Reports_, of which there are now more than 200 volumes.
They constitute the great authoritative source of the constitutional law
of the United States, are studied by lawyers and judges, and are relied
upon by the courts as precedents for the decisions of future cases
involving similar points of law.[97] There is a reporter who arranges and
publishes the opinions, a clerk who keeps the records, and a marshal who
attends the court, preserves decorum, and enforces its orders.

[97] The justices of the Supreme Court wear black silk gowns when
holding court. The Chief Justice sits in the middle of a row of chairs,
his associates being arranged on his right and left in the order of
seniority of service.

_The Circuit Courts of Appeals._--Next below the Supreme Court are the
circuit courts of appeals, nine in all--one for each of the judicial
circuits into which the country is divided.[98] These courts were created
by act of Congress in 1891 to relieve the Supreme Court from an
accumulation of business that rendered the prompt decisions of cases
impossible, the docket of the court having become so overcrowded that it
was about three years behind with its business. The act creating the
circuit courts of appeals, however, did not provide an additional class
of judges to hold these courts, but enacted that each of them should be
held by three judges assigned for the purpose from among the judges of
the circuit. The judges of each circuit include one justice of the
Supreme Court assigned to the circuit, two or more circuit judges
appointed for the circuit, and a considerable number of district judges,
each appointed for a district in the circuit. Most circuit courts of
appeals are held by three circuit judges; but occasionally by two
circuit judges together with a district judge or the Supreme Court
justice. The circuit courts of appeals have only appellate jurisdiction,
that is, they hear and determine only cases appealed from the lower
courts, and their decisions are final in most cases. This relieves the
Supreme Court of all but the most important cases, and enables it to
give more attention to the cases before it and to dispatch its business
more promptly.

[98] The first circuit embraces Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
and Rhode Island; the second, Connecticut, New York, and Vermont; the
third, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; the fourth, Maryland,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia; the fifth,
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas; the sixth
Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee; the seventh, Illinois,
Indiana, and Wisconsin; the eighth, Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Iowa,
Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South
Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming; the ninth, Alaska, Arizona, California,
Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii.

_Former Circuit Courts._--Prior to 1911 next below the circuit courts of
appeals were the circuit courts, which were held in the different
districts within the circuit, either by a circuit judge or by the
justice of the Supreme Court assigned to the circuit, or by a district
judge, or by the three, or any two of them, sitting together. In 1911
the circuit courts were abolished and their jurisdiction conferred on
the district courts. The circuit judges, however, were retained and will
henceforth sit in the circuit courts of appeal.

_The District Courts._--The lowest grade of federal court is the district
court, held in each of the districts (about eighty) into which the
country is divided. In some cases a state constitutes one district; in
other cases a state is divided into two, three, four, or five
districts. Usually there is one judge for each district, though in a few
cases there are several judges for a single district, each holding court
separately.

The jurisdiction of the district court embraces civil and criminal cases
under the laws of the United States--such as suits for the infringement
of patents and copyrights, admiralty cases, bankruptcy proceedings,
revenue cases; and offenses against the United States revenue laws, laws
against counterfeiting, the public land laws, the pure food laws, the
postal laws, and the interstate commerce laws. Controversies between
citizens of different states may also be brought to this court.[99]

[99] Such suits may also be brought in the state courts but may at the
option of the defendant be transferred to a federal court for trial.
Many lawyers prefer to bring their suits in the state courts even when
they have the privilege of suing in the federal courts, because of
their greater familiarity with the procedure of these courts.

In most cases appeals may be taken from the decisions of the district
courts to the circuit courts of appeals or to the Supreme Court.

=Federal Attorneys, Marshals, and Clerks.=--In each of the federal
judicial districts, there is a United States attorney who prosecutes
violations of the federal laws in his district. There is also in each
district a United States marshal who bears somewhat the same relation to
the federal court that a sheriff does to a state court. He executes the
processes of the court, arrests offenders, and performs other
ministerial functions for the court. In each district there is a clerk
who has custody of the seal of the court and keeps a record of its
proceedings, orders, judgments, etc. The marshal and attorney are
appointed by the President, but the clerk is chosen by the court
itself.

In each district, also, the court appoints a number of United States
commissioners who are empowered to issue warrants for arrest, take bail,
determine whether accused persons shall be held for trial, and perform
other duties somewhat similar to those discharged by justices of the
peace under the judicial system of the state.

=The Regular Federal Judges.=--_Appointment._--All federal judges are
appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate. The judges of most of the states, as we have seen, are now
chosen by popular election, but that method did not commend itself to
the framers of the federal Constitution. The existing method of
appointing federal judges has given general satisfaction, and with
remarkably few exceptions, the persons appointed to the federal bench
have been men of integrity and fitness.[100]

[100] For a description of the comparative merits of the various
methods of selecting judges, see pp. 113-114.

The _term_ for which all the regular federal judges are appointed is
good behavior. This is virtually for life, since they cannot be removed
except by impeachment.[101] All other officers of the United States are
appointed for definite terms, usually for four years. Except in a few
states, the state judges are elected for definite terms ranging from two
years to twenty-one years (p. 113). The framers of the federal
Constitution, however, were deeply impressed with the advantages of a
judiciary possessing the qualities of permanency and independence, and
they wisely provided that the judges should hold their offices so long
as their official conduct was above reproach.

[101] For a list of federal judges who have been impeached see p. 194.

_Compensation._--The Constitution declares that the judges shall receive
at stated times a compensation for their services which shall not be
diminished during their continuance in office. As we have seen, the
compensation of the President can neither be increased nor diminished
during the time for which he is elected, but the prohibition in the case
of the judges applies only to a reduction of their salaries. Increases
are permitted to be made at any time. The compensation now allowed the
chief justice of the Supreme Court is $15,000 a year, and the associate
justices $14,500, amounts which are low in comparison with the salaries
of the highest English judges, who receive $25,000 a year. The circuit
judges receive $8,500 a year, and the district judges $7,500.

Any judge of a United States court having held his commission ten years
and having attained the age of seventy years, may retire from the bench
and receive the same salary during the rest of his life that was payable
to him at the time of his resignation. Few judges do retire, however.

=Power of the Supreme Court to Declare Laws Unconstitutional.=--An
important power of the Supreme Court for which there is no direct
authority in the Constitution, is that of declaring acts of Congress
which are in conflict with the Constitution, null and void and of no
effect. This power was first exercised by the Supreme Court in 1801 in
the famous case of Marbury v. Madison. Congress had passed an act giving
the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in certain cases where the
Constitution says it should have appellate jurisdiction, and when the
act came before the court for enforcement it declined to be bound by it.
The great chief justice, John Marshall, wrote the opinion of the court
which held the act of Congress null and void. His argument, in brief,
was that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and the judges
are bound to give effect to it. When, therefore, the court is called
upon to give effect to a law of Congress which is clearly in conflict
with the higher law of the Constitution, it must give the preference to
the latter, otherwise the declaration in favor of the supremacy of the
Constitution would have no meaning. Down to 1913 the Supreme Court had
declared thirty-three acts of Congress, or parts of such acts,
unconstitutional.

_Power to Declare State Laws Unconstitutional._--Laws passed by the
state legislatures, ordinances of municipal councils, and even the
provisions of state constitutions themselves may be declared null and
void by the Supreme Court in case they are in conflict with the national
Constitution or the laws and treaties made in pursuance thereof. It has
already been pointed out that appeals may be taken to the federal
Supreme Court from the highest courts of a state whenever a right,
title, or privilege under the federal Constitution is involved and the
state court has decided against the right or privilege claimed. Thus
where one is prosecuted and convicted under a state law or provision of
a state Constitution which he claims is contrary to some provision in
the federal Constitution or laws, he has a right to appeal to the United
States Supreme Court and have the question of the constitutionality of
the state law finally determined there. This is a necessary consequence
of the supremacy of the federal Constitution and laws over those of the
states. More than 200 acts of state legislatures have been pronounced
null and void by the United States Supreme Court.[102]

[102] Baldwin, "The American Judiciary," p. 106.

Sometimes inferior federal courts declare acts of Congress and of the
state legislatures to be unconstitutional, but in all such cases an
appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court for final review.

=Special Courts of the United States.=--In addition to the three classes
of United States courts, already described, several tribunals of a
special or temporary character have been created to hear and determine
particular classes of controversies. Some of these courts are held by
judges who are appointed for definite terms.

_The Court of Claims_ was created in 1855 to pass upon claims against
the government. It consists of a chief justice and four associate
justices who serve during good behavior. It is a well-established
principle of public law that a sovereign state cannot be sued against
its will. Before the creation of this court claims against the
government had to be considered by Congress, a body which aside from
being ill fitted for the hearing of such cases, was overburdened by the
necessity of considering the large number of claims annually laid before
it. The government now allows itself to be sued in this court on most
claims of a contractual nature, but the judgments of the court cannot be
paid until Congress appropriates the money for their payment, and hence
the court cannot issue an execution to enforce its findings. At each
session of Congress, an appropriation is made to satisfy any judgments
made or which may be made by the court. Appeals are allowed to be taken
from the court of claims to the Supreme Court on questions of law. Among
the more important classes of claims that have been adjudicated by this
court were the French Spoliation claims, and Indian depredation claims,
both involving numerous claims and very large amounts in the aggregate.

In 1906 a United States court was established in China to exercise
jurisdiction in certain cases previously exercised by the consuls. It is
held by a single judge appointed by the President for a term of four
years.

The tariff law of 1909 created a _United States Court of Customs
Appeals_, consisting of a presiding judge and four associates, to hear
appeals from the board of general appraisers in cases involving the
construction of the law and facts respecting the classification of
imported articles and the rate of duty imposed thereon.

In 1910 a _Commerce Court_ was created, to decide appeals from the
orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission; but in 1913 this court was
abolished.

In the _District of Columbia_ Congress has created two courts, with
judges appointed to hold office during good behavior: the supreme court
of the district, consisting of a chief justice and five associate
justices; and the court of appeals, consisting of a chief justice and
two associate justices. Appeals may be taken from the former to the
latter, whose decisions in some cases are reversible by the Supreme
Court of the United States. Appeals may also be taken from the decisions
of the commissioner of patents to the court of appeals of the District
of Columbia.

In each of the _territories_ there are supreme and district courts
established by Congress in pursuance of its power to provide for the
government of the territories, but they are not considered as a part of
the judicial system of the United States, although the judges are
appointed by the President.[103]

[103] In most of the countries of continental Europe there is a special
class of tribunals called "administrative courts" to decide
controversies between private individuals and the public authorities.
There are no such courts in the United States, although the customs
court, the court of claims, and the interstate commerce commission bear
some resemblance to an administrative court. Many "administrative"
questions are decided by such officials as the secretary of the
treasury, the commissioner of immigration, and the commissioner of
patents.

=Constitutional Protections in the Federal Courts.=--The Constitution
contains a number of provisions intended to protect accused persons
against unauthorized prosecutions in the federal courts, as well as
against arbitrary procedure in the course of the trial. As the
Constitution originally stood, it contained few provisions of this kind;
and this fact constituted one of the most serious objections urged
against the ratification of that instrument. In consequence of this the
first ten Amendments were adopted in 1790, and of these no less than
five relate to the rights of accused persons on trial in the federal
courts.

Most important of all, perhaps, the _Sixth Amendment_ declares that in
criminal prosecutions (in the federal courts) the accused shall enjoy
the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the
state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed; that he
shall be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; that he
shall have the right to be confronted by the witnesses against him; that
he shall have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor;
and that he shall have the assistance of counsel for his defense.[104]

[104] The purpose and meaning of these guarantees are discussed in
chapter vi, pp. 118-119.

The _Fifth Amendment_ protects the accused from prosecution in capital
cases or cases involving infamous crime except upon indictment by a
grand jury. Some of the states, as we have seen, have abolished the
grand jury, and provided for prosecutions in their courts without the
intervention of such an agency, but no person may be prosecuted in a
federal court for a serious crime until he has been held for trial by a
grand jury. The same amendment also forbids the trial of a person a
second time for the same offense, if he was acquitted on the first
trial; declares that he shall not be compelled to testify against
himself; that he shall not be deprived of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law; and that private property shall not be taken
for public use without just compensation.

_The Fourth Amendment_ declares among other things that no warrant for
arrest (by the federal authorities) shall be issued except upon probable
cause, supported by oath or affirmation and particularly describing the
person to be seized. This provision is designed to prevent arbitrary
arrests of persons on mere suspicion. It prohibits general search
warrants such as were commonly used by the British authorities in the
colonies prior to the outbreak of the Revolution and which were
popularly known as "writs of assistance." Such warrants did not mention
the name of the person to be arrested but permitted the officer to
insert any name in the warrant and arrest whomsoever he might choose.

_The Eighth Amendment_ declares that excessive bail shall not be
required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment
inflicted. The purpose of the first provision is discussed on p. 119.
The purpose of the other two prohibitions is to prevent the old
severities of the penal code that were common two hundred years ago.

_Treason._--Among the crimes in the prosecution of which judges were
frequently arbitrary and which were punished with undue severity, was
that of treason. Treason has always been regarded as the highest crime
known to society, because it seeks the overthrow or destruction of the
government itself. In earlier times, judges frequently construed
offenses to be treasonable which were not declared so by the laws. This
was known as _constructive_ treason. To prevent them from construing the
existence of treason where it really did not exist, parliament therefore
passed a statute during the reign of Edward III defining the offense
with more or less precision, and this definition in substance was
incorporated in the Constitution of the United States, This provision
declares that treason against the United States shall consist only in
levying war against them or in adhering to their enemies, giving them
aid and comfort. The Supreme Court in interpreting this provision has
ruled that in order to constitute treason there must be an actual
levying of war or an assembling of persons for the purpose of making
war; that a mere conspiracy to subvert the government by force is not
treason, but after the war has once begun, all those who perform any
part, however minute or remote, or who give aid and comfort to the
enemy, are traitors and as such are liable to the penalties of treason.
To protect persons accused of treason against conviction upon the
testimony of a single witness, the Constitution requires the testimony
of two witnesses to the act, or confession in open court, to convict.
Congress is authorized to prescribe the punishment of treason, but the
Constitution declares that no attainder of treason shall work corruption
of blood or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.
Under the old law, a person convicted of treason was not only put to
death in a barbarous manner, but his blood, was considered as
"corrupted" or "attainted," so that as a matter of course, without any
decree of the court to that effect, his children could not inherit
property or titles through him. Thus the innocent offspring of the
traitor were punished for the offense of the parent. The provision of
our Constitution places the punishment on the offender alone.

=References.=--ANDREWS, Manual of the Constitution, pp. 201-223.
BALDWIN, The American Judiciary, ch. ix. BEARD, American Government
and Politics, ch. xv. BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged
edition), chs. xxi-xxii. HARRISON, This Country of Ours, chs.
xx-xxi. HART, Actual Government, ch. xvii.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. The Congressional
Directory, which contains a list of the higher judges and the
judicial districts. 2. Specimen copies of decisions of the Supreme
Court. These may be obtained from the clerk of the Supreme Court at
Washington.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Name the Chief Justices of the United States Supreme Court from 1789
to the present time.

2. Name the present members of the Supreme Court and give the date of
the appointment of each. (See Congressional Directory).

3. In which one of the nine judicial circuits of the United States do
you live? Who is the Supreme Court justice assigned to the circuit? Who
are the circuit judges of the circuit?

4. Who is the United States district judge for your district? At what
places in your state are United States district courts held?

5. Who is the United States attorney for your district? The United
States marshal?

6. What is meant by the terms "constitutional" and "unconstitutional" as
applied to an act of Congress? Do you think the courts should be allowed
to declare a law unconstitutional?

7. Do you think it is a wise provision which allows federal judges to
serve during good behavior?

8. It has been proposed by a well-known public man that federal judges
should be elected by the people. What is your opinion of the
proposition?

9. Do you think the present salary allowed justices of the Supreme Court
large enough to attract the best judicial talent?

10. Do you think the Supreme Court is ever justified in reversing its
own decisions, or should it stand by the precedents?

11. What is the meaning of the term obiter dicta as applied to a
judicial opinion?

12. Do you think it is a wise practice for judges who disagree with the
majority of the court to file dissenting opinions?

13. A recent President took occasion to criticize publicly a federal
judge for a decision which he rendered in a "trust" case. Do you think
judges should be criticized for their decisions?

14. Are juries ever made use of in federal courts? If so, when?

15. Why have federal judges been criticized for issuing injunctions?

16. When may an appeal be taken from a state court to a federal court?

17. The Supreme Court has always refused to decide "political"
controversies. What is a "political" as opposed to a "legal"
controversy? Give examples.

CHAPTER XIX

GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES

=Power of Congress over the Territories.=--The Constitution expressly
confers upon Congress the power to dispose of and make all needful rules
and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to
the United States. In dealing with the territories the powers of
Congress are general or residuary in character, whereas when it
legislates for that part of the country which has been erected into
states, its powers are specifically enumerated. Congress, therefore, may
establish practically any form of government in the territories that it
chooses. It may, if it wishes, set up therein a military government or
it may establish civil government with such limitations and exceptions
as it may wish. In the latter case it may allow the inhabitants a
legislative assembly for purposes of local legislation, or Congress may
legislate directly for them itself. And in case it permits the
inhabitants to have a legislative assembly of their own and to enact
their own laws, Congress may veto or modify any law passed by such
legislature. Indeed, says the Supreme Court, Congress may make valid an
invalid act passed by a territorial legislature as well as declare
invalid a valid act passed by it.

_Does the Constitution Extend to the Territories?_--A subject much
discussed, especially at the time of the acquisition of Porto Rico and
the Philippines, was whether such provisions of the Constitution as
were applicable extended of their own force to new territories
immediately upon the establishment of American sovereignty over them;
that is, whether the Constitution "follows the flag" or whether its
provisions apply only when extended by act of Congress. One party
asserted that such provisions go wherever the sovereignty of the United
States goes, that the government cannot be carried to any new territory
unless accompanied by the Constitution from which it derives its
authority, and that Congress has no power to withhold such provisions as
are applicable. The other party maintained that the Constitution was
established only for the people of the United States; that whenever new
territories have been acquired, Congress has extended such provisions as
it saw fit; and that Congress is unlimited as to its power in dealing
with the inhabitants of such territories. The Supreme Court in the
famous Insular Cases, decided in 1900 and 1901, upheld the latter view
and ruled that for all practical purposes the territories of the United
States are completely subject to the legislative authority of Congress,
and that it is not even restricted by those provisions of the
Constitution which were adopted for the protection of individual
liberty. In practice Congress has always extended to the domestic
territories such provisions of the Constitution as were applicable, thus
putting the inhabitants upon the same footing as those of the states so
far as the enjoyment of _civil_ rights are concerned, but not as to
_political_ rights. So far as the insular territories are concerned, it
has also extended most of the provisions relating to civil rights,
though in the case of the Philippines a few safeguards such as the right
of indictment by grand jury, trial by jury, and the right to bear arms
have been withheld.

=The Origin of the Territorial System.=--Before the Constitution was
adopted, Congress had acquired by cession from certain of the original
states a vast domain of territory north of the Ohio River, and later it
acquired a considerable domain lying south of the Ohio (p. 159). One of
the conditions upon which the territory north of the Ohio was ceded, was
that Congress should form the territory into distinct republican states
which should be admitted to the Union on an equal footing with the old
states. It was felt, however, that the territory in question should be
put through a sort of preparatory stage before being erected into
states; that is, it should be held in a state of dependency until the
population was sufficiently numerous to maintain a state government and
the inhabitants had acquired sufficient political capacity to manage
their own public affairs.

_The Northwest Territory._--By the famous Ordinance of 1787, as
reënacted and slightly modified two years later (after the adoption of
the Federal Constitution), Congress provided a scheme of government for
the northwest territory which was in force for many years. The Ordinance
provided for two grades of government: one for the territory before its
population should amount to 5,000 inhabitants; the other for the
territory thereafter. The principal difference was that in the former
case the territory was to have no local legislature of its own, while in
the latter it was to have a legislative assembly. The scheme of
government provided in the beginning consisted of a governor, a
secretary, and three judges, appointed by the President. Although no
legislature was provided, the governor, secretary, and judges were
empowered, not to make new laws, but to select such laws from the
statutes of the old states as were suitable.

When the population had reached 5,000 inhabitants, the territory was
given the second grade form of government, that is, it was allowed a
local legislature, the lower house of which was elected by the
inhabitants on the basis of a restricted suffrage, the upper house or
council to be appointed by the President from a list nominated by the
lower house. The territory was now allowed to send a delegate to
Congress with a right to a seat in that body, but no right to vote.

The scheme of government thus provided for the northwest territory
became the model for the later territorial governments. It was
introduced into the southwest territory and later to the territory
acquired west of the Mississippi River.

=The Organized Territories: Hawaii and Alaska.=--The territories and
dependencies of the United States may be grouped into two classes: the
organized and the unorganized. A territory of the first class is said to
be "organized" because it has its own local legislature, both houses of
which are elected. At present the only territories of this class fully
included as parts of the United States are Hawaii[105] and Alaska,[106] but
since most of the states were organized territories before being
admitted to the Union, this kind of government is of more than ordinary
interest to the student of civics.

[105] The Hawaiian Islands were annexed to the United States in July,
1898, by a joint resolution of Congress after a treaty of annexation
had been rejected by the senate. The senate of Hawaii is composed of
fifteen members, the house of thirty; ability to speak, read, and write
the English or Hawaiian language is required of voters; the governor
may veto special items in appropriation bills; and in case the
legislature fails to pass appropriation bills to pay the necessary
expenses for carrying on the government and meeting its obligations,
the treasurer may, with the approval of the governor, make such
payments, for which purpose the sums appropriated in the last
appropriation bills shall be deemed to have been reappropriated;
the purpose being to prevent the legislature from causing deadlocks.

[106] For Porto Rico and the Philippines, see pages 374-379.

_Executive._--In a fully organized territory there is a governor who is
appointed by the President with the consent of the senate for a term of
four years, and who enjoys the usual powers of a state executive. The
appointment is usually made from the residents of the territory, though
in a few cases outsiders have been appointed. There is also a secretary
who keeps the records of the territory, compiles and publishes the acts
of the legislature, and serves as governor during the absence or
disability of the latter official. Other administrative officers of the
territory are the attorney-general, treasurer, commissioner of public
lands, superintendent of public education, surveyor, and auditor.

_The Legislature_ is composed of two houses, both of which are popularly
elected. Regular sessions of the legislature are held every two years
and are limited to sixty days, though the governor may call
extraordinary sessions with the approval of the President of the United
States.

The territorial legislature is empowered to enact laws in respect to all
rightful subjects of legislation not inconsistent with the laws and
Constitution of the United States. Congress, however, has from time to
time imposed various limitations upon the power of the territorial
legislatures, and has shown a tendency to increase the restrictions,
especially in regard to financial matters. Congress may veto any act of
a territorial legislature.

_Judiciary._--For the administration of justice, a fully organized
territory has a supreme court, a number of district courts, and such
inferior courts as the legislature may create. The judges of the higher
court are all appointed by the President of the United States for a term
of four years. The territory also has a United States district court, a
district attorney, and a marshal.

Finally, a fully organized territory is given a limited representation,
in the Congress of the United States through a delegate, elected by the
people of the territory every two years, who is allowed a seat in the
house of representatives with a right to serve on committees and take
part in debate, but not to vote.

_Alaska_, acquired by purchase from Russia in 1867, was for seventeen
years after its acquisition administered directly by the President
without any express authority from Congress. In 1884, however, an act
was passed providing a system of civil government for the territory, to
be administered by a governor appointed by the President for a term of
four years. The general laws of the state of Oregon, so far as
applicable, were extended to the territory. In 1898 a criminal code was
provided for the territory, and in 1900 a complete civil code and a code
of civil procedure were enacted. Finally, in 1912 Alaska was made a
fully organized territory, with a legislative assembly consisting of a
senate of eight members and a house of representatives of sixteen
members. Acts can be passed over the governor's veto by vote of
two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislative assembly.

=The Organized Dependencies.=--Porto Rico and the Philippines, acquired
from Spain in 1898, were formerly, and are now to a certain extent,
regarded more as colonies than as territories, although they are
governed much like a territory. For many years they were classed as
"partly organized" because in their legislatures only one house was
elective. They now have legislatures in which both houses are elective;
but unlike the territories they are inhabited by a foreign race, and had
been at the time of their cession to the United States for centuries
governed by an entirely different system of laws and administration from
that to which the people of the United States were accustomed.

=Porto Rico.=--By an act of Congress in 1917, the supreme executive
power of the island is vested in a governor appointed by the President,
for an indefinite term. He has the usual powers of a territorial
governor. There are six executive departments, namely, justice, finance,
interior, education, agriculture, and health. The attorney-general and
the commissioner of education are appointed by the President for a term
of four years; the heads of the other four departments are appointed by
the governor for the same term. The department heads collectively form
an executive council charged with the performance of such duties as the
governor may prescribe.

_The Legislature._--Formerly the legislature was composed of an upper
house, known as the council, the members of which were appointed by the
President, and a house of delegates, popularly elected. The act of 1917,
however, provided for a legislature, both houses of which are elected by
the voters. The upper house is called the senate and is composed of
nineteen members, elected for a term of four years. The lower chamber,
called the House of Representatives, consists of thirty-nine members,
elected for a term of four years. The legislature is required to meet
biennially and the governor may call extraordinary sessions. Laws vetoed
by the governor and passed over his veto by the legislature must be
transmitted to the President for his approval or disapproval. All acts
of the legislature are required to be laid before Congress which may
annul the same. To prevent deadlocks in the administration of the
government, as several times happened in former years, the law provides
that whenever the appropriation bills for the support of the government
fail of passage the amount appropriated for the past year shall be
considered to have been appropriated for the ensuing fiscal year.

_Suffrage and Citizenship._--Practically all citizens over twenty-one
years of age who can read and write are qualified voters. Formerly a
source of complaint among the inhabitants was that they were denied the
status of United States citizenship. They were designated as citizens of
Porto Rico and were entitled to be protected by the United States and
were eligible to receive passports for travel abroad, but they were not
citizens of the United States. The law of 1917, however, removed this
grievance by providing that all citizens of Porto Rico should be deemed
to be citizens of the United States. The act also contains an elaborate
bill of rights similar to those in the state constitutions.

_Judiciary._--The elaborate system of Spanish courts and the Spanish
legal system generally have been done away with, and in their place a
system of law and procedure and a judicial system modeled upon those of
the American states have been substituted. There is a supreme court
consisting of five judges appointed for life by the President, and of
these, three are Porto Ricans and two Americans. Below this court are a
number of district courts each of which is presided over by one judge
appointed by the governor with the consent of the council for a term of
four years. There are also twenty-four municipal courts, and in the
several towns there are courts held by the justices of the peace. The
act of 1917 provided for the establishment of a District Court of the
United States for the island.

_Resident Commissioner at Washington._--The interests of the island are
looked after at Washington by a resident commissioner who is elected by
the qualified voters for a term of four years. Unlike the delegate from
an organized territory he has no right to a seat in the house of
representatives, but the house has granted him the courtesy of this
privilege. He is, however, entitled to official recognition by all the
executive departments whenever he wishes to discuss with them matters of
business affecting Porto Rico.

The island has its own internal revenue system for raising taxes, and
the receipts from all customs duties on goods imported into the island
are turned into the insular treasury. Unlike the Philippines, however,
the island does not have its own monetary system, but uses that of the
United States.

=The Philippines.=--The problem of governing the Philippines has proved
much more difficult than that of governing Porto Rico. Instead of a
single island inhabited by a fairly homogeneous population, the
Philippine archipelago consists of several hundred islands inhabited by
various races and peoples representing almost every stage of development
from savagery to fairly complete civilization. It has been a difficult
problem to develop a system of government adapted to the needs and
capacities of so many different elements. In addition to the
difficulties presented by these conditions, the Filipinos in various
parts of the archipelago have resisted American rule, and no small
amount of effort and expenditure of money has been directed toward the
suppression of outbreaks and the maintenance of order.

_Organic Act of 1902._--In 1902 Congress passed an organic act for the
government of the islands, and shortly thereafter William H. Taft was
inaugurated civil governor. This act continued for the most part the
form of government that had been created by the Philippine Commission.
The organic act provided, however, that as soon as the insurrection then
existing was suppressed, a census of the inhabitants should be taken and
if the islands were in a state of peace, steps should be taken toward
the establishment of a legislative assembly, the lower house of which
should be popularly elected. This provision was duly carried out, and in
1907 the assembly was chosen. The upper house was a commission of nine
members, including the governor, appointed by the President; and members
of the commission also served as heads of executive departments.

In 1916 the government was altered by abolishing the commission and
creating a legislature in which both houses are elective. The governor
general, at the head of the executive department, is appointed by the
President, as are also the vice governor and the auditor. Acts of the
Philippine legislature may be vetoed by the governor general (or finally
by the President if passed over the governor general's veto), or may be
annulled by Congress. The act of 1916 declared it to be the purpose of
the United States to grant the Philippines independence as soon as a
stable government can be established therein.

_Resident Commissioners._--The legislature is allowed to choose two
resident commissioners to represent the islands at Washington. Like
territorial delegates, they have seats, but no vote, in the house of
representatives.

_The Judicial System_ of the islands consists of a supreme court of
seven judges who are appointed by the President, a court of first
instance in each province, the judges of which are appointed by the
governor general, and various municipal courts. Unlike Porto Rico and
Hawaii, no United States district court has been established in the
islands. Appeals lie from the supreme court of the islands directly to
the United States Supreme Court in all cases in which the Constitution
or any statute or treaty is involved or in which the amount in
controversy exceeds $25,000.

_Local Government._--Each province is governed in local matters by a
board consisting of a governor and other officers elected by the voters.
The organized municipalities are governed by elective councils. Special
provision has been made for the government of districts inhabited by
certain non-Christian peoples by the creation of a Bureau of
Non-Christian Tribes.

=The Unorganized Territories and Dependencies.=--The third group of
territories or dependencies embrace those which have no legislative
assembly whatever. These include Samoan Islands, Virgin Islands, Guam,
the Panama Canal Zone, and the District of Columbia.

The American _Samoan Islands_, the chief of which is Tutuila with its
valuable harbor of Pagopago, are governed by a naval officer--the
commandant of the naval station at Tutuila. He makes the laws and
regulations, and sees that they are enforced, but so far as possible the
inhabitants are allowed to govern themselves.

By treaty of 1916, three of the _Virgin Islands_ were purchased from
Denmark for $25,000,000. They were placed under the jurisdiction of a
governor appointed by the President, but the local laws were kept in
force.

_Guam_ was seized by the United States during the war with Spain, and
was retained by the treaty of peace. It is governed by the commandant of
the naval station.[107]

[107] Other insular possessions of the United States are Wake Island,
Midway or Brooks Island, Howland and Baker Islands, all in the Pacific
Ocean. They are practically uninhabited and no provision for their
government has been found necessary.

_The Panama Canal Zone_ is a strip of land ten miles wide extending from
the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean across the Isthmus of Panama, and was
acquired by treaty from the Republic of Panama in 1904, upon the payment
of $10,000,000. Soon after the conclusion of the treaty, Congress
passed an act placing the entire government of the Canal Zone in the
hands of the President. The powers of the President prior to 1914 were
exercised through the Isthmian Canal Commission consisting of seven
members, with authority to make and enforce all needful rules and
regulations for the government of the Zone and to enact such local
legislation as might be needed, subject to the condition that it must
not be inconsistent with the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the
United States. In January, 1914, President Wilson, in pursuance of an
act of Congress passed in 1912, issued an order abolishing the
commission and organizing a system of civil government for the Canal
Zone. Colonel George W. Goethals was appointed the first civil governor.

_The District of Columbia_ is a territory with an area of seventy square
miles, and was ceded to the United States in 1790 for the site of the
national capital. The district was administered from 1801 to 1871 under
the forms of municipal government, that is, by a mayor and council, but
in the latter year Congress vested the government in a governor, a
secretary, a board of public works, a board of health, and a legislative
assembly. At the same time the district was allowed to send a delegate
to Congress. Largely on account of the extravagance of this government
in under-taking expensive public improvements, Congress in 1874
abolished the whole scheme and established the present system, which
vests practically all governmental powers in the hands of a commission
of three persons appointed by the President. Two of these must be
appointed from civil life and the other must be an officer belonging to
the engineering corps of the army. This commission has the general
direction of administrative affairs and the appointment of employees,
and exercises wide powers of a quasi legislative character, such as the
issuing of health and police regulations. The legislature of the
district, however, is the Congress of the United States. In each house
there is a committee on the District of Columbia to which all bills
relating to the district are referred, and on one day of each week an
hour is set apart in the house of representatives for the consideration
of such bills. No provision is made for the representation of the
district in Congress, and the inhabitants take no part in presidential
elections.[108] One half the expense of conducting the government of the
district is defrayed out of the national treasury, and the other half is
raised from taxation on private property in the district.

[108] This is also true of the other territories and dependencies. The
organized territories, however, have been allowed to send delegates to
the national conventions for the nomination of the President and Vice
President.

The judicial establishment of the district consists of a court of
appeals of three judges, a supreme court of six judges, and the usual
police courts and courts of justices of the peace. (See page 364.)

=American Protection over Spanish American States.=--In addition to the
ownership of the various insular dependencies mentioned above, the
United States, in pursuance of a long established policy known as the
"Monroe Doctrine," exercises a certain degree of protection over Latin
American states. As this policy is now interpreted it forbids the
further acquisition by European powers of territorial possessions in the
western hemisphere, or the extension by such powers of political
influence on this continent. By virtue of special treaty arrangements
the United States exercises a virtual protectorate over certain of the
smaller Latin American republics. Thus under the "Platt Amendment," to
the constitution of Cuba (also embodied in a treaty between the United
States and Cuba) the United States has the right to intervene in Cuba
for the maintenance of a stable government and for the protection of
public order and security; and this power was exercised in 1906.
Naturally it exercises the power of protection over the republic of
Panama through whose territory the Panama Canal runs, and recently
(1915) it has established a sort of financial protectorate over Haiti
and the Dominican Republic. In pursuance of treaty arrangements it
collects the customs revenues in those republics, applies them to the
payment of their foreign debts, and has the right to intervene for the
maintenance of order.

=References.=--BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. xxi.
BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. xlvi.
HART, Actual Government, ch. xx. WILLOUGHBY, Territories and
Dependencies of the United States, chs. iii, iv, vi.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. From what clause or clauses in the Constitution is the power to
acquire foreign territory derived?

2. By what different methods has foreign territory been added to the
United States?

3. Are there any limitations on the powers of Congress in legislating
for the territories?

CHAPTER XX

CITIZENSHIP

=Who are Citizens.=--The population of every country is composed of two
classes of persons: citizens and aliens. The larger portion of the
inhabitants are citizens, but the alien class is considerable in some
states of the Union, much more so than formerly, owing to the large
influx of immigrants from Europe in recent years.[109] A citizen is one
who has been admitted to full membership in the state, though he may not
have been given full political privileges, such as the privileges of
voting and holding public office. There is a large class of citizens in
every state who can neither vote nor hold public office, such, for
example, as minors, sometimes illiterate persons, those who have not
paid their taxes, those who have been convicted of serious crimes, and
others. On the other hand, aliens in some states are allowed to vote and
hold office, especially if they have formally declared their intention
of becoming citizens. The terms "citizen" and "voter," therefore, are
not identical, since there are some citizens who cannot vote and some
voters who are not citizens. (See page 125.)

[109] The census of New York of 1910 showed that of a total population
of 9,000,000 inhabitants there were more than 2,000,000 aliens.

=How Citizenship is Acquired.=--Under the Fourteenth Amendment to the
federal Constitution, all persons born in the United States[110] are
citizens of the United States, and also of the states in which they
reside. Persons who come here from abroad may become citizens only by
being naturalized.

[110] For some purposes, the residences of foreign diplomatic
representatives are considered as if belonging to the foreign country
represented. Thus a child of the French ambassador, if born in the
ambassador's residence at Washington, is born a citizen of France;
likewise a child of the United States ambassador at Paris, if born at
his residence in France, is nevertheless a natural-born citizen of the
United States.

_Naturalization Law._--To acquire citizenship in this way, they must
reside here for a period of five years, they must also be persons of
good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution and
well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same. Under the law
of 1906 they must also be able to write their own language and be able
to read and speak English. Two steps are necessary in the procedure of
naturalization: first the applicant must go before a federal court or a
court of record in some state and make oath that he is at least eighteen
years of age, and that it is his intention to become a citizen of the
United States. At the same time he must renounce all allegiance to the
foreign state of which he is a citizen or subject and must furnish the
court with a variety of information concerning his past life, including
the date of his arrival in the United States and the name of the ship on
which he arrived. He is then furnished with a certificate which is
popularly known as his "first papers." When he has resided in the United
States at least five years and possesses all the necessary
qualifications the court will issue him a certificate of naturalization
which makes him a citizen. Fees amounting to five dollars are now
charged for filing the petition and issuing the final certificate. In
order to prevent the wholesale naturalization of aliens in the large
cities for election purposes, the law provides that no certificate of
naturalization shall be granted within thirty days prior to any general
election. Any honorably discharged alien from the United States army may
be admitted to citizenship after a residence of one year, and the
preliminary declaration of intention is not required of aliens who have
served five years in the navy.

_Disqualifications._--In addition to the qualifications mentioned above,
there are certain disqualifications which serve to debar many foreigners
from acquiring American citizenship. Thus only white persons and persons
of African nativity are capable of being naturalized under our laws, so
that those belonging to the Mongolian or other races, such as Chinese,
Japanese, Burmese, and East Indians, cannot become citizens of the
United States unless born here. Other persons excluded for different
reasons are polygamists, anarchists, and certain other classes of
criminals who are not considered worthy to enjoy the high privileges of
citizenship.

The naturalization of a husband makes the wife and minor children
citizens, so that they do not have to go through the process of taking
out their "papers."

_Other Methods of Acquiring Citizenship._--Citizenship may be acquired
sometimes in other ways than the method described above. Thus a foreign
woman becomes a citizen by marriage to an American citizen, and the
inhabitants of foreign territory annexed to the United States become
citizens by virtue of their incorporation into the body politic. In this
way the inhabitants of the Louisiana territory, acquired from France,
became citizens. In the same way those of Florida, Texas, California,
Alaska, and Hawaii became citizens, but not those of Porto Rico and the
Philippines. Residents of Porto Rico, however, were made citizens of the
United States by act of Congress in 1917.

=How Citizenship may be Lost.=--As citizenship may be acquired in
various ways so it may be lost by different acts. An American woman
loses her citizenship by marriage to an alien. Acceptance of a
commission in the service of a foreign country; if it involves the
taking of an oath of allegiance to a foreign government, operates to
divest one of his American citizenship. The most common mode by which
citizenship is lost, however, is through voluntary removal from the
country and naturalization in a foreign state. The right of the citizen
to withdraw from the United States, renounce his allegiance, and acquire
the citizenship of a foreign state, is declared by our law to be an
inalienable right. Mere removal from the United States and the
establishment of a residence in a foreign country, however, does not of
itself operate to divest one of his citizenship. An American citizen may
reside abroad many years for the purposes of business, education, or
pleasure, and so long as he preserves an intention of returning to the
United States he is not held to have abandoned his American nationality.

In order to prevent foreigners from coming to the United States,
acquiring our citizenship, and returning to their native country for the
purpose of living there without being subject to the burdens and
obligations of military service, the law declares that a naturalized
American who returns to his native country and resides there for a
period of two years will be presumed to have abandoned his American
citizenship, and unless he can show an intention of returning to America
he will be considered as no longer being a citizen.

=Federal versus State Citizenship.=--In a country having the federal
form of government, the inhabitants have a dual citizenship, that is,
they are citizens of the country as a whole and of the particular state
in which they are residents. Thus our federal Constitution declares that
all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the state
in which they reside. A person, however, may be a citizen of the United
States without at the same time being a citizen of any state, as is the
case with those inhabiting the territories, the District of Columbia,
and other places not forming a part of any state. On the contrary, it
seems to be generally admitted that one may be a citizen of a state
without necessarily being a citizen of the United States. Thus a state
may give an alien full political and civil rights and declare him to be
a citizen of the state before he has become a citizen of the United
States. Some states have in effect done this. It follows, therefore,
that federal and state citizenship are not necessarily identical and
coexistent, since there may be a class of state citizens upon whom the
United States has not conferred its own citizenship, and a class of
United States citizens who are not citizens of any state. The
citizenship of a particular state may be relinquished for that of
another by removal from the former state and the establishment of a
residence in the latter. No legal formality whatever is required to put
off the one and take on the other.

_Interstate Rights of Citizens._--There is a provision in the
Constitution of the United States which declares that the citizens of
each state shall enjoy all the privileges and immunities of the citizens
of the several states. The purpose of this provision is to prevent one
state from discriminating against the citizens of other states in favor
of its own citizens. Whatever rights and privileges it accords to its
own citizens must be accorded equally to citizens of other states who
may be within its borders or who may wish to carry on business therein.
The states are also forbidden by the federal Constitution to abridge the
privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States, though the
Constitution does not specify or indicate what these privileges and
immunities are. They include, however, such privileges as the making and
enforcing of contracts, of suing in the courts, of inheriting, holding,
and conveying property, of receiving equal protection of the laws, and,
in general, of enjoying every right or privilege to which the citizen is
entitled under the Constitution and laws of the United States.

=Rights and Duties of Aliens.=--Aliens, though in a political sense
members of foreign states, are, nevertheless, fully subject to the
jurisdiction of the state in which they are domiciled, and owe it a
temporary allegiance. They are bound to obey the laws equally with
citizens, and may be punished for violations of them equally with
citizens. They must also share, to a certain extent, the public burdens,
and may be required to serve in the militia or police (though not in the
regular army) if the common defense and domestic safety require their
services.

_Right of Protection._--It is now universally admitted that they are
entitled to the protection of the government under which they are living
so long as they are within its jurisdiction, but not when they go
abroad. So far as the enjoyment of civil rights is concerned, the
tendency is to treat them on a footing of equality with citizens. Both
the federal and the state courts are open to them on the same terms as
to citizens, and if they suffer injuries in the course of riots and
other disturbances, because of their foreign nationality, especially if
the public authorities fail to use due diligence to prevent or punish
attacks upon them, the United States government will indemnify them or
their heirs for the injuries sustained.[111]

[111] The United States government has uniformly refused to admit its
liability in such cases, but it has in practice generally allowed an
indemnity. This was done, for example, in the case of the Anti-Spanish
riots in New Orleans and Key West in 1851; in the case of the
Anti-Chinese riots at Rock Springs, Wyoming, in 1885; and in the case
of the Italian lynchings at New Orleans in 1891.

_Disabilities of Aliens._--Formerly aliens were subject to disabilities
much more commonly than now. Under the common law, for example, they
could not inherit land, but this disability has been abolished in most
of the states, though some still make a distinction between resident and
nonresident aliens in this respect, allowing the former class to take
land by inheritance as well as by purchase but excluding the latter
class. Some states do not allow them to be employed on the public works,
and a few subject them to other disabilities, but they are not important
or numerous.[112] With regard to political privileges, however, the
disabilities of aliens are still generally maintained.

[112] In 1915 the Federal Courts held unconstitutional a law of Arizona
which forbade the employment of more than 20 per cent of aliens in any
work.

=Rights and Obligations of Citizens.=--The chief privilege of
citizenship is that of protection by the government in all personal and
property rights. If the citizen goes abroad for the purpose of business
or pleasure, the government will protect him from wrongful treatment so
long as he obeys the law of the country to which he is, for the time
being, subject, and demeans himself peaceably. If he is injured or
discriminated against because of his foreign nationality, the government
which fails to protect him will be required to make a suitable indemnity
for the injury.

_Equality of Native and Naturalized Citizens._--When it comes to
protecting its citizens abroad, the United States government makes no
distinction between naturalized and native-born citizens. In the case of
a Russian, for example, who comes to America and is naturalized and goes
back to Russia for business or pleasure, our government will insist that
he be treated by the Russian authorities as if he were a native-born
American citizen. At home a naturalized citizen enjoys the same
privileges as a native-born except that he is not eligible to the office
of President or Vice President of the United States.

_Duties and Obligations of Citizens._--Rights and privileges seldom
exist without corresponding duties and obligations, and so citizenship
has its duties. One of these is to contribute to the bearing of the
burdens of the state. This includes the payment of taxes, service in the
militia or army for purposes of defense, and the discharge of such
public trusts as may be imposed. It is, of course, the duty of the
citizen, as it is of every one who lives in the state, to obey the laws
and do what he can to secure their enforcement. Finally, if the citizen
possesses political privileges, it is his duty to take an active part in
securing the election of competent and honest officials to the end that
the government which protects him may be efficient and well
administered.

=Obligations and Duties of Nations: International Law.=--Nations, like
individuals, are bound by rules of conduct in their relations with one
another. The rules governing nations constitute what is known as
international law, a subject of which we have heard much since the
outbreak of the great world war in 1914. The rules of international law,
unlike those of national or municipal law, are not enacted by a
legislative body, for as yet, unfortunately, there is no world
legislature. They consist partly of customary rules and usages, and
partly of international treaties. The most important of these treaties
are those negotiated to end the World War, and also the so-called
conventions, sixteen in number, recommended by the Peace Conferences at
the Hague in 1899 and 1907, and adopted, for the most part, by nearly
all the civilized nations of the world. These conventions contain a
large number of important rules prescribing the conduct to be observed
by nations both in time of war and in time of peace.

Unfortunately, however, international law has one great weakness which
national law does not have. National law has what the lawyers call a
sanction; that is to say, a penalty is prescribed for its violation, and
courts are established for punishing those who violate its rules. But in
the case of international law there is as yet no machinery for bringing
to the bar of justice and inflicting punishment upon a nation which
violates its international duties and obligations, except as the League
of Nations may succeed in performing this function. The only punishment
which has often followed such an act is the reprobation of public
opinion, which unhappily, as the World War has demonstrated, is not a
sufficient deterrent in the case of nations which regard lightly their
obligations of honor and good faith. Thinking men the world over realize
how important it is to make international law more effective, to compel
nations by force or otherwise to observe their international
obligations, and to prevent war, the world's greatest curse.

=References.=--ASHLEY, The American Federal State, ch. xxix; also pp.
212-217. BEARD, American Government and Politics, pp. 160-163.
FULLER, Government by the People, ch. ii. GARNER, Introduction to
Political Science, ch. xi. HART, Actual Government, chs. ii-iv.
HINSDALE, The American Government, ch. liv.

=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. Copy of the federal
citizenship law of 1907. 2. Copy of the naturalization act of 1906.
3. Copies of naturalization blanks and of naturalization
regulations (these may be secured from the bureau of immigration
and naturalization). 4. Copy of an application for a passport (this
may be secured from the department of state). 5. Copy of a
passport.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is a citizen? Distinguish between native-born and naturalized
citizens; between citizens and electors.

2. Is the citizenship of a child determined by the law of the place
where it is born or by the law of the place of which the parents are
citizens? Distinguish between the English and American practice in this
respect, on the one hand, and the continental European practice on the
other.

3. What would be the citizenship of a child born in the United States if
the father were the ambassador of a foreign country, temporarily
residing here? What would be the citizenship of a child born of American
parents on the high seas? of a child born abroad of American parents? of
a child born in the United States if the father were a foreign consul
here?

4. A child born in the United States of French parents would be a
citizen of the United States under our law; it would also be a citizen
of France, according to French law. Which citizenship would prevail?

5. Do you think our law should admit persons of African descent to
become citizens and yet deny the right to Japanese, Chinese, and natives
of India?

6. May one be a citizen of two different countries at the same time?

7. What would be the status of an American woman who lost her American
citizenship by marrying a foreigner, in case of the death of her
husband? How could she reacquire her original citizenship?

8. How long may an American reside abroad without losing his
citizenship?

9. Many Europeans, in order to escape military service in their country,
have emigrated to America, acquired our citizenship and returned to
their native country. Will the United States government protect such
persons against impressment into the military service?

10. Suppose a citizen of New York moves to Pennsylvania and establishes
a residence there. Does that act without any legal formality make him a
citizen of Pennsylvania?

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND PERPETUAL UNION BETWEEN THE STATES OF
NEW HAMPSHIRE, MASSACHUSETTS BAY, RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE
PLANTATIONS, CONNECTICUT, NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA,
DELAWARE, MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, AND
GEORGIA

ARTICLE I.--The style of this confederacy shall be, "The United States
of America."

ART. II.--Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence,
and every power, jurisdiction, and right which is not by this
confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress
assembled.

ART. III.--The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of
friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of
their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding
themselves to assist each other against all force offered to, or attacks
made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty,
trade, or any other pretense whatever.

ART. IV.--The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and
intercourse among the people of the different States in this Union, the
free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, vagabonds, and
fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and
immunities of free citizens in the several States; and the people of
each State shall have free ingress and regress to and from any other
State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and commerce,
subject to the same duties, impositions, and restrictions, as the
inhabitants thereof respectively; provided that such restrictions shall
not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported into
any State, to any other State of which the owner is an inhabitant;
provided, also, that no imposition, duties, or restriction, shall be
laid by any State on the property of the United States or either of
them.

If any person guilty of, or charged with, treason, felony, or other high
misdemeanor in any State, shall flee from justice, and be found in any
of the United States, he shall, upon demand of the governor or executive
power of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, and removed to
the State having jurisdiction of his offense.

Full faith and credit shall be given, in each of these States, to the
records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of
every other State.

ART. V.--For the more convenient management of the general interests of
the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such manner
as the legislature of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on
the first Monday in November, in every year, with a power reserved to
each State to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any time within
the year, and to send others in their stead for the remainder of the
year.

No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor by more
than seven members; and no person shall be capable of being a delegate
for more than three years, in any term of six years; nor shall any
person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under the
United States, for which he, or another for his benefit, receives any
salary, fees, or emolument of any kind.

Each State shall maintain its own delegates in any meeting of the States
and while they act as members of the committee of the States.

In determining questions in the United States in Congress assembled,
each State shall have one vote.

Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or
questioned in any court or place out of Congress; and the members of
Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests and
imprisonments during the time of their going to and from, and attendance
on Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace.

ART. VI.--No State, without the consent of the United States, in
Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy
from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance, or treaty, with
any king, prince, or state; nor shall any person holding any office of
profit or trust under the United States, or any of them, accept of any
present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any
king, prince, or foreign state; nor shall the United States, in Congress
assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility.

No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation, or
alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the United
States, in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purposes for
which the same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue.

No States shall lay any imposts or duties which may interfere with any
stipulations in treaties entered into by the United States, in Congress
assembled, with any king, prince, or state, in pursuance of any treaties
already proposed by Congress to the courts of France and Spain.

No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace, by any State,
except such number only as shall be deemed necessary, by the United
States in Congress assembled, for the defense of such State or its
trade; nor shall any body of forces be kept up, by any State, in time of
peace, except such number only as, in the judgment of the United States,
in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts
necessary for the defense of such State; but every State shall always
keep up a well regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and
accoutred, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use, in
public stores, a due number of field-pieces and tents, and a proper
quantity of arms, ammunition, and camp equipage.

No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the United
States, in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually invaded by
enemies, or shall have received certain advice of a resolution being
formed by some nation of Indians to invade such State, and the danger is
so imminent as not to admit of a delay till the United States, in
Congress assembled, can be consulted; nor shall any State grant
commissions to any ships or vessels of war, nor letters of marque or
reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war by the United States,
in Congress assembled, and then only against the kingdom or state, and
the subjects thereof against which war has been so declared, and under
such regulations as shall be established by the United States, in
Congress assembled, unless such State be infested by pirates, in which
case vessels of war may be fitted out for that occasion, and kept so
long as the danger shall continue, or until the United States, in
Congress assembled, shall determine otherwise.

ART. VII.--When land forces are raised by any State for the common
defense, all officers of or under the rank of colonel, shall be
appointed by the legislature of each State respectively by whom such
forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such State shall direct,
and all vacancies shall be filled up by the State which first made the
appointment.

ART. VIII.--All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be
incurred for the common defense or general welfare, and allowed by the
United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common
treasury, which shall be supplied by the several States, in proportion
to the value of all land within each State, granted to, or surveyed for,
any person, as such land and the buildings and improvements thereon
shall be estimated according to such mode as the United States, in
Congress assembled, shall, from time to time, direct and appoint. The
taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the
authority and direction of the legislatures of the several States,
within the time agreed upon by the United States, in Congress assembled.

ART. IX.--The United States, in Congress assembled, shall have the sole
and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war, except in
the cases mentioned in the sixth Article; of sending and receiving
ambassadors; entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no
treaty of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative power of the
respective States shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and
duties on foreigners, as their own people are subjected to, or from
prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods or
commodities whatsoever; of establishing rules for deciding, in all
cases, what captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner
prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United
States, shall be divided or appropriated; of granting letters of marque
and reprisal in times of peace; appointing courts for the trial of
piracies and felonies committed on the high seas; and establishing
courts for receiving and determining finally appeals in all cases of
captures; provided that no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge
of any of the said courts.

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall also be the last resort
on appeal, in all disputes and differences now subsisting, or that
hereafter may arise between two or more States concerning boundary,
jurisdiction, or any other cause whatever; which authority shall always
be exercised in the manner following: Whenever the legislative or
executive authority, or lawful agent of any State in controversy with
another, shall present a petition to Congress, stating the matter in
question, and praying for a hearing, notice thereof shall be given by
order of Congress, to the legislative or executive authority of the
other State in controversy, and a day assigned for the appearance of the
parties by their lawful agents, who shall then be directed to appoint,
by joint consent, commissioners or judges to constitute a court for
hearing and determining the matter in question; but if they can not
agree, Congress shall name three persons out of each of the United
States, and from the list of such persons each party shall alternately
strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the number shall be
reduced to thirteen; and from that number not less than seven nor more
than nine names, as Congress shall direct, shall, in the presence of
Congress, be drawn out by lot; and the persons whose names shall be so
drawn, or any five of them, shall be commissioners or judges, to hear
and finally determine the controversy, so always as a major part of the
judges, who shall hear the cause, shall agree in the determination; and
if either party shall neglect to attend at the day appointed, without
showing reasons which Congress shall judge sufficient, or being present,
shall refuse to strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate three
persons out of each State, and the secretary of Congress shall strike in
behalf of such party absent or refusing; and the judgment and sentence
of the court, to be appointed in the manner before prescribed, shall be
final and conclusive; and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit
to the authority of such court, or to appear or defend their claim or
cause, the court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence or
judgment, which shall in like manner be final and decisive; the judgment
or sentence and other proceedings being in either case transmitted to
Congress, and lodged among the acts of Congress for the security of the
parties concerned; provided, that every commissioner, before he sits in
judgment, shall take an oath, to be administered by one of the judges of
the supreme or superior court of the State where the cause shall be
tried, "well and truly to hear and determine the matter in question,
according to the best of his judgment, without favor, affection, or hope
of reward." Provided, also, that no State shall be deprived of territory
for the benefit of the United States.

All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed under
different grants of two or more States, whose jurisdictions, as they may
respect such lands, and the States which passed such grants are
adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at the same time
claimed to have originated antecedent to such settlement of
jurisdiction, shall, on the petition of either party to the Congress of
the United States, be finally determined, as near as may be, in the same
manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes respecting
territorial jurisdiction between different States.

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall also have the sole and
exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin
struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective States;
fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the United
States; regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians
not members of any of the States; provided that the legislative right of
any State, within its own limits, be not infringed or violated;
establishing and regulating post offices from one State to another
throughout all the United States, and exacting such postage on the
papers passing through the same, as may be requisite to defray the
expenses of the said office; appointing all officers of the land forces
in the service of the United States, excepting regimental officers;
appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and commissioning all
officers whatever in the service of the United States; making rules for
the government and regulation of the said land and naval forces, and
directing their operations.

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall have authority to
appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated
"A Committee of the States," and to consist of one delegate from each
State; and to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be
necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States under
their direction; to appoint one of their number to preside, provided
that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than
one year in any term of three years; to ascertain the necessary sums of
money to be raised for the service of the United States, and to
appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public expenses; to
borrow money or emit bills on the credit of the United States,
transmitting every half year to the respective States an account of the
sums of money so borrowed or emitted; to build and equip a navy; to
agree upon the number of land forces, and to make requisitions from each
State for its quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in
such State, which requisition shall be binding; and thereupon the
Legislature of each State shall appoint the regimental officers, raise
the men, and clothe, arm, and equip them in a soldier-like manner at the
expense of the United States; and the officers and men so clothed,
armed, and equipped shall march to the place appointed, and within the
time agreed on by the United States, in Congress assembled; but if the
United States, in Congress assembled, shall, on consideration of
circumstances, judge proper that any State should not raise men, or
should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that any other State
should raise a greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra
number shall be raised, officered, clothed, armed, and equipped in the
same manner as the quota of such State, unless the Legislature of such
State shall judge that such extra number can not be safely spared out of
the same, in which case they shall raise, officer, clothe, arm, and
equip as many of such extra number as they judge can be safely spared,
and the officers and men so clothed, armed, and equipped shall march to
the place appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States,
in Congress assembled.

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall never engage in a war,
nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, nor enter
into any treatise or alliances; nor coin money, nor regulate the value
thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses necessary for the defense
and welfare of the United States, or any of them, nor emit bills, nor
borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate money,
nor agree upon the number of vessels of war to be built or purchased, or
the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a
commander-in-chief of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the
same, nor shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning
from day to-day, be determined, unless by the votes of a majority of the
United States, in Congress assembled.

The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to any
time within the year, and to any place within the United States, so that
no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of six
months, and shall publish the journal of their proceedings monthly,
except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances, or military
operations as in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays
of the delegates of each State, on any question, shall be entered on the
journal when it is desired by any delegate; and the delegates of a
State, or any of them, at his or their request, shall be furnished with
a transcript of the said journal, except such parts as are above
excepted, to lay before the legislatures of the several States.

ART. X.--The committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be
authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of
Congress as the United States, in Congress assembled, by the consent of
nine States, shall, from time to time, think expedient to vest them
with; provided that no power be delegated to the said committee, for the
exercise of which, by the articles of confederation, the voice of nine
States, in the Congress of the United States assembled, is requisite.

ART. XI.--Canada, acceding to this confederation, and joining in the
measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to
all the advantages of this Union; but no other colony shall be admitted
into the same unless such admission be agreed to by nine States.

ART. XII.--All bills of credit emitted, moneys borrowed, and debts
contracted by or under the authority of Congress, before the assembling
of the United States, in pursuance of the present confederation, shall
be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States, for
payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States and the public
faith are hereby solemnly pledged.

ART. XIII.--Every State shall abide by the determinations of the United
States, in Congress assembled, on all questions which by this
Confederation are submitted to them. And the Articles of this
Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union
shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be
made in any of them, unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress
of the United States; and be afterward confirmed by the legislatures of
every State.

_And whereas_ it hath pleased the great Governor of the world to incline
the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to
approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of
Confederation and perpetual Union, Know ye, that we, the undersigned
delegates, by virtue of the power and authority to us given for that
purpose, do, by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our
respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and
every of the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union, and all
and singular the matters and things therein contained. And we do further
solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents,
that they shall abide by the determinations of the United States, in
Congress assembled, on all questions which by the said Confederation are
submitted to them; and that the Articles thereof shall be inviolably
observed by the States we respectively represent, and that the Union
shall be perpetual. In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands
in Congress. Done at Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, the
ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord 1778,[113] and in the third
year of the Independence of America.

[113] Only ten States took action upon the Articles at this time. New
Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland did not ratify them until later.

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES--1787[114]

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for
the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

[114] This reprint of the Constitution exactly follows the text of that
in the Department of State at Washington, save in the spelling of a few
words.

ARTICLE I

SECTION 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a
Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House
of Representatives.

SECTION 2. 1 The House of Representatives shall be composed of members
chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the
electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for
electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature.

2 No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the
age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State
in which he shall be chosen.

3 Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the
several States which may be included within this Union, according to
their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the
whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a
term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all
other persons.[115] The actual enumeration shall be made within three
years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and
within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall
by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for
every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one
representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of
New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight,
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York
six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six,
Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia
three.

[115] The last half of this sentence was superseded by the 13th and
14th Amendments.

4 When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies.

5 The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other
officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

SECTION 3. 1 The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof for six
years; and each senator shall have one vote.[116]

[116] This paragraph was superseded by the 17th Amendment.

2 Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes.
The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the
expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of
the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth
year, so that one third may be chosen every second year; and if
vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the
legislature of any State, the executive thereof, may make temporary
appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then
fill such vacancies.[117]

[117] The last half of this sentence was superseded by the 17th
Amendment.

3 No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of
thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which be
shall be chosen.

4 The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

5 The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president
_pro tempore_, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall
exercise the office of President of the United States.

6 The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the
President of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall
preside: and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two
thirds of the members present.

7 Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office
of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party
convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial,
judgment and punishment, according to law.

SECTION 4. 1 The times, places, and manner of holding elections for
senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the
legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or
alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators.

2 The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by
law appoint a different day.

SECTION 5. 1 Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall
constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn
from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of
absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House
may provide.

2 Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two
thirds, expel a member.

3 Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment
require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on
any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be
entered on the journal.

4 Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other
place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

SECTION 6. 1 The senators and representatives shall receive a
compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out
of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except
treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest
during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and
in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in
either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

2 No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the
United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof
shall have been increased during such time; and no person holding any
office under the United States shall be a member of either House during
his continuance in office.

SECTION 7. 1 All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House
of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments
as on other bills.

2 Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President
of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he
shall return it, with his objections to that House in which it shall
have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their
journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two
thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent,
together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall
likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House,
it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses
shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons
voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each
House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President
within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to
him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it,
unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which
case it shall not be a law.

3 Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a
question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the
United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved
by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of
the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and
limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

SECTION 8. 1 The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes,
duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common
defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties,
imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

2 To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

3 To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several
States, and with the Indian tribes;

4 To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;

5 To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and
fix the standard of weights and measures;

6 To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and
current coin of the United States;

7 To establish post offices and post roads; 8 To promote the progress
of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and
inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and
discoveries;

9 To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

10 To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high
seas, and offenses against the law of nations;

11 To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules
concerning captures on land and water;

12 To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that
use shall be for a longer term than two years;

13 To provide and maintain a navy;

14 To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval
forces;

15 To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the
Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

16 To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and
for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the
United States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of
the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the
discipline prescribed by Congress;

17 To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such
district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of
particular States and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the
government of the United States,[118] and to exercise like authority over
all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the State in
which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals,
dockyards, and other needful buildings; and

18 To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this
Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any
department or officer thereof.

[118] The District of Columbia, which comes under these regulations,
had not then been erected.

SECTION 9. 1 The migration or importation of such persons as any of the
States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight,
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten
dollars for each person.[119]

[119] A temporary clause, no longer in force. See also Article V.

2 The privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may
require it.

3 No bill of attainder or _ex post facto_ law shall be passed.

4 No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in
proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be
taken.

5 No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State.

6 No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue
to the ports of one State over those of another: nor shall vessels bound
to, or from, one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in
another.

7 No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of
appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the
receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from
time to time.

8 No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no
person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without
the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office,
or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State.

SECTION 10.[120] 1 No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or
confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit
bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in
payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, _ex post facto_ law, or
law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of
nobility.

[120] See also the 10th, 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

2 No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts
or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary
for executing its inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and
imposts laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of
the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to
the revision and control of the Congress.

3 No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of
tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any
agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as
will not admit of delay.

ARTICLE II

SECTION 1. 1 The executive power shall be vested in a President of the
United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of
four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same
term, be elected, as follows

2 Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof
may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators
and representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress:
but no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust
or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot
for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the
same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the
persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they
shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the
government of the United States, directed to the president of the
Senate. The president of the Senate, shall, in the presence of the
Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the
votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of
votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole
number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have
such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of
Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for
President; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest
on the list the said house shall in like manner choose the President.
But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the
representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the
States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a
choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person
having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice
President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes,
the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice President.[121]

[121] This paragraph superseded by the 12th Amendment

3 The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the
day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same
throughout the United States.

4 No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United
States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be
eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be
eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of
thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United
States.

5 In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death,
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said
office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress
may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or
inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what
officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act
accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be
elected.

6 The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a
compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the
period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive
within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of
them.

7 Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the
following oath or affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I
will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States,
and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States."

SECTION 2. 1 The President shall be commander in chief of the army and
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States,
when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require
the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the
executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their
respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and
pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of
impeachment.

2 He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
to make treaties, provided two thirds of the senators present concur;
and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls,
judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United
States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and
which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the
appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the
President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

3 The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which
shall expire at the end of their next session.

SECTION 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information
of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such
measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on
extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in
case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of
adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper;
he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take
care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the
officers of the United States.

SECTION 4. The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and
conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

ARTICLE III

SECTION 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in
one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from
time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and
inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and
shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation which
shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

SECTION 2. 1 The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and
equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States,
and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority;--to
all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls;--to
all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction;--to controversies to
which the United States shall be a party;--to controversies between two
or more States;--between a State and citizens of another
State;[122]--between citizens of different States,--between citizens of
the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and
between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens
or subjects.

[122] See the 11th Amendment.

2 In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court
shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before
mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as
to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the
Congress shall make.

3 The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by
jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes
shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the
trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have
directed.

SECTION 3. 1 Treason against the United States, shall consist only in
levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them
aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in
open court.

2 The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason,
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or
forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.

ARTICLE IV

SECTION 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State.
And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such
acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

SECTION 2. 1 The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.

2 A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime,
who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall on
demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be
delivered up to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the
crime.

3 No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall
be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may
be due.[123]

[123] See the 13th Amendment.

SECTION 3. 1 New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union;
but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of
any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more
States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of
the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

2 The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules
and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to
the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so
construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any
particular State.

SECTION 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this
Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them
against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the
executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic
violence.

ARTICLE V

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the
application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several States,
shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case,
shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this
Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the
several States, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one
or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress;
Provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first
and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that
no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage
in the Senate.

ARTICLE VI

1 All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption
of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under
this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

2 This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law
of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby,
anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary
notwithstanding.

3 The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of
the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers,
both of the United States, and of the several States, shall be bound by
oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust
under the United States.

ARTICLE VII

The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient
for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so
ratifying the same.

Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present
the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one
thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of
the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we
have hereunto subscribed our names,

Go: WASHINGTON--

Presidt. and Deputy from Virginia.

(Signed also by thirty-eight other delegates, from twelve states.)

Articles in addition to, and amendment of, the Constitution of the
United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the
legislatures of the several States pursuant to the fifth article of
the original Constitution.

ARTICLES I-X[124]

[124] The first ten Amendments were adopted in 1791.

ARTICLE I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

ARTICLE II. A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of
a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not
be infringed.

ARTICLE III. No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any
house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a
manner to be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the
place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

ARTICLE V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury,
except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia,
when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any
person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of
life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a
witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for
public use without just compensation.

ARTICLE VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district
shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the
nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses
against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his
favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

ARTICLE VII. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be
preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reëxamined in
any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the
common law.

ARTICLE VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

ARTICLE IX. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

ARTICLE X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the
States respectively, or to the people.

ARTICLE XI[125]

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend
to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the
United States, by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects
of any foreign State.

[125] Adopted in 1798.

ARTICLE XII[126]

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot
for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an
inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their
ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the
person voted for as Vice President, and they shall make distinct lists
of all persons voted for as President and of all persons voted for as
Vice President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they
shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the
government of the United States, directed to the president of the
Senate;--The president of the Senate shall, in the presence of the
Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the
votes shall then be counted;--The person having the greatest number of
votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority
of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such
majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding
three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of
Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But
in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the
representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the
States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice.
And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President
whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth
day of March next following, then the Vice President shall act as
President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional
disability of the President. The person having the greatest number of
votes as Vice President shall be the Vice President, if such number be a
majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person
have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the
Senate shall choose the Vice President; a quorum for the purpose shall
consist of two thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of
the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person
constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible
to that of Vice President of the United States.

[126] Adopted in 1804.

ARTICLE XIII[127]

[127] Adopted in 1865.

SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction.

SECTION 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.

ARTICLE XIV[128]

[128] Adopted in 1868.

SECTION 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States
and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any
law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the
United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty,
or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

SECTION 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of
persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right
to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and
Vice President of the United States, representatives in Congress, the
executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the
legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such
State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States,
or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other
crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the
proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the
whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

SECTION 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress,
or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or
military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having
previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of
the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an
executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution
of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion
against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But
Congress may by a vote of two thirds of each House, remove such
disability.

SECTION 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States,
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and
bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall
not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall
assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or
rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or
emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims
shall be held illegal and void.

SECTION 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this article.

ARTICLE XV[129]

[129] Adopted in 1870.

SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.

ARTICLE XVI[130]

[130] Adopted in 1913.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from
whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States,
and without regard to any census or enumeration.

ARTICLE XVII[131]

[131] Adopted in 1913.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from
each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each
senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the
State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate,
the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to
fill such vacancies: _Provided_, That the legislature of any State may
empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the
people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or
term of any senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the
Constitution.

ARTICLE XVIII[132]

[132] Adopted in 1919.

SECTION 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the
manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the
importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United
States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for
beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

SECTION 2. The Congress and the several states shall have concurrent
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

SECTION 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been
ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the Legislatures of the
several States, as provided by the Constitution, within seven years from
the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

ARTICLE XIX[133]

[133] Adopted in 1920.

SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of
sex.

SECTION 2. Congress shall have power, by appropriate legislation, to
enforce the provisions of this article.

INDEX

Adams, John, as President, 314.

Administrative courts in Europe, 364, _n._

Ad valorem duties, 218.

Agriculture, Department of, 345-346.

Alaska, acquisition, 374.
government, 372-374.

Aliens, disabilities of, 389.
rights and duties of, 388.
See also Citizenship.

Ambassadors of American government, 327.

Amendments of national constitution, fourth, 366.
fifth, sixth, and eighth, 365, 366.
eleventh, 355.
twelfth, 280.
fourteenth, 383-384, 176.
fifteenth, 127, 176.
sixteenth, 224.
seventeenth, 184.
eighteenth, 241.
nineteenth, 129.

Amnesty, 320.

Animal Husbandry, Bureau of, 345.

Annapolis, Convention, 164.
naval academy at, 268.

Annexation, citizenship through, 385.

Anti-Federalists, 170, 171.

Appointment, president's power of, 301.

Apportionment, in state legislatures, 76, 77.
of federal representatives, 175.

Appraisal of customs duties, 221.

Appropriations, federal, 225.
preparation of bills, 225.

Army, distribution of, 263, _n_.
expenditures for, 264.
general staff, 262.
militia, 265-266.
power of Congress over, 262.
present strength, 263.
ranks of officers, 268.
salaries of officers, 264.
volunteers, 264.
war department, 333-336.

Arsenals, United States, location of, 335.

Articles of Confederation, 393.
adoption of, 159-160.
defects of, 161-164.
government under, 160-161.

Attainder, 367;
bill of attainder, 69, 59.

Attorney-General, of United States, 338.

Australian ballot, 135.

Bail, 119.

Ballot, Australian, 135.
evolution of, 134.
forms of, 135-137.
reform of, 137-139.

Bankruptcy, hearing of petitions, 270.
legislation by Congress, 269-270.
state legislation, 269.

Banks, federal reserve, 233.
national, 232, 332.
postal savings, 254.

Bill of Rights, in state constitutions, 68-69.

Bills, in state legislatures, 82-84.
in Congress, 204-205.

Bonds, United States, 226-227.

Bribery, 84-85, 140-142.
in senatorial elections, 183.

Bryan, William J., candidate for President, 291.

Cabinet, appointment of members, 325.
composition of, 324.
origin and nature of, 324.
responsibility of, 325.

Census, Bureau of, 347.

Centralized government, 5.

Charters, city, 31-33.
method of granting, 31-32.

Chemistry, Bureau of, 346.

Chicago, budget of, in 1909, 41.
police force, 44.

China, U.S. court in, 363.

Chinese, exclusion of, 239.
ineligibility to citizenship, 385.

Cities, charters, 31-33.
city manager plan of government, 53.
commission plan of government, 51-53.
finances, 41-44.
growth of, 26-29.
legislative interference in cities, 33-34.
officers of, 35-41.
position in state, 30.
state control of, 30-31.

Citizens, treatment of by states, 63-64.

Citizenship, acquisition of, 383, 385.
bureau of, 330.
definition of, 383.
disqualifications, 385.
double citizenship, 386-387.
duties and obligations, 390.
interstate rights of citizens, 387.
loss of, 386.
rights of citizens, 389.

City council, 35-38;
see Cities.

Civil cases, trial of in state courts, 115-118.

Civil service reform, in national government, 306.
effect of competitive system, 309.
examinations, 308.
exempt positions, 308.
extent of classified service, 307.
in diplomatic and consular service, 327-329.
law of 1883, 306.
law of 1907, 309, _n._

Civil service reform, state, 105-106.

Claims, Court of, 363.

Cleveland, Grover, as President, 227, 275.
extension of civil service by, 307.

Coast and Geodetic Survey, 349.

Coast Guard, 333.

Commerce, anti-trust legislation, 244-245.
federal regulation, 168-169.
interstate, 240.
Interstate Commerce Commission, 242.
power to regulate, 236.
pure food legislation, 246.
regulation of foreign commerce by Congress, 236-240.
regulation of railway traffic, 242-244.

Commerce, Department of, 346-349.

Commerce, Foreign and Domestic, Bureau of, 349.

Commerce Court, 364.

Commission, Interstate Commerce, 242.

Commission plan of city government, 51-53.

Committees, in Congress, 201-204, 206.
conference, 212.
committee on rules, 208, 210.
committee of the whole, 207.
forms of action in, 205.
hearings, 205.
reference of bills to, 204.

Committees, in state legislatures, 81.

Committees, party, 148-150, 289-290.

Commutation, 321.

Comptroller of the Currency, 332.

Concurrent resolutions, 319.

Congress, action on bills, 204-213.
adjournment by President, 316.
committees, 201-212.
compensation of members, 188-189.
control over election of members, 187.
extra sessions, 315.
open sessions, 200.
organization, 197-199.
powers, 248-272.
implied powers, 270-272.
powers under Articles, 160, 162-164.
private bills, 204, _n._, 208.
public bills, 204, _n._
quorum, 199.
representation in, 166-167.
rights and privileges of members, 189-190.
rules of procedure, 206-215.
seating of members, 200.
sessions of, 175.
suspension of rules, 208.

Constitution, federal compromises, 166-169.
construction of, 270-271.
making of, 165-169.
opposition to, 169-170.
prohibition on governments, 59.
ratification of, 169-172.

Constitution, state, amendment of, 70.
bill of rights, 68-69.
contents of, 67-68.
framing of, 64-65.
length, 67.
ratification, 65-66.

Constitutional Convention, 1787, compromises of, 166-169.
personnel, 165.
work of, 166.

Consular Service, Bureau of, 329.
consular courts, 329, _n._
duties of consuls, 329.
recent reforms, 329.

Continental Congress, 159.

Convention, national political, committees in, 287.
nomination of candidates, 288.
organization of, 287.
platform, 288.

Conventions, state, 153-157.

Copyrights, 258-259.

Corporations, Bureau of, 349.

Corrupt practices, acts regulating, 140-142.

Council, city, 35-38.
mode of election, 36-37.
powers, 37.
See also Cities.

County, government of, 14-20.
officers, 16-20.
population and area, 14.

County-township system of local government, 21-23

Courts, federal, 353-367.

Courts, state, 109-123.
function of, 109.
grades of state, 109-111.
municipal courts, 50-51.
qualifications of judges 112-113.
trials, 115-123.

Criminal cases, trial of in state courts, 118-123.

Customs Appeals, U. S. Court of, 363.

Customs duties, collection of, 220.

Debt, national, 225.
growth of, 227.

Dependencies, 379-381.

Diplomatic service, Bureau of, 326-327.

Direct legislation, 85-89.

Direct primary, 157.

District of Columbia, courts in, 364.
government of, 380-381.

Division of powers, 58-59.

Education, Bureau of, 344-345.

Elections, ballots, 135-139.
fraudulent voting, 140-142.
manner of holding, 133, 139.
registration for, 131.
suffrage, 125-129.
time of holding, 132.

Electoral college, 276, 277.
method of voting in, 279-281.

Electoral Count Law, 283.

Embargo Act, 237.

Eminent domain, 69, 74.

Enabling Act, 65.

Engraving and Printing, Bureau of, 333.

Executive. See President and Governor.

Executive department, state, 91-106.

Expenditures, national, growth of, 225.

Ex post facto law, 69, 59.

Federalists, 170.

Federal land banks, 234.

Federal republic, 172.

Federal reserve banks, 233.

Federal trade commission, 245.

Fee system, in consular service, 330.

Fifteenth Amendment, 127, 176.

Filibustering, 207, 214.

Fire protection in cities, 47-48.

Fisheries, Bureau of, 348.

Foreign Relations. See State Department.

Forest Service, 346.

Fourteenth Amendment, 176, 383-384.

Franchises, of public utilities, 48-50.
power of city council to grant, 37-38.

Franking, privilege of, 189.

Fugitives from justice, surrender of by states, 63.

Galveston, municipal government in, 51-52.

Garfield, James A., assassination, 294, 306.

General Staff, of War Department, 334.

Geological Survey, the, 334.

Gerrymander, 77, 177.

Governor, election and qualification, 91.
powers, 96-99.
salary, 92.
term, 91.

Grand jury, 119.

Grant, U. S., candidate for third term, 276, _n._

Greenbacks, 228, 231.

Guam, 379.

Habeas Corpus, 119.
power of governor to suspend, 101.
power of President to suspend, 312.

Hamilton, Alexander, 275, _n._
construction of constitution, 271.

Hawaiian Islands, 372.

Hayes, R. B., disputed election of, 282.

Health protection in cities, 46-47.

Henry, Patrick, opposition to Constitution, 171.

Home rule charters for cities, 32.

House of Representatives, national, 174-178.
election of president, 283.
procedure, 207-213.
rules of, 207.
See also Congress.

House of Representatives, state, 76.
See also Legislature.

Illinois, minority representation in, 78.

Immigration, 238, _n._, 349.

Immigration and Naturalization, Bureaus of, 350.

Impeachment, federal, 192.
state, 100.

Income taxes, 223.

Indexes and Archives, Bureau of, 330.

Indian affairs, allotment act, 342.
Indian agents, 342.
policy of government toward Indians, 342.
schools for Indians, 342.

Indictment, by grand jury, 120.

Initiative and Referendum, 85-89.

Insular Affairs, Bureau of, 335-336.

Insular cases, 370.

Insurgents, in Republican party, 210.

Insurrection, power to suppress, 313.

Interior, Department of, 339-345.

International law, 390.

International Postal Union, 257.

Interstate commerce, 240.

Interstate Commerce Commission, 242.

Invasion, protection of states against, 313.

Jackson, Andrew, as President, 304.

Jefferson, Thomas, as President, 314.
as president of senate, 282, _n._
construction of Constitution, 271.
election to presidency, 284.
vote for President, 280.

Johnson, Andrew, impeachment of, 293, 305.
removal of officers, 304.

Joint resolutions, 204, _n._, 319.

Judges, of federal courts, 356 ff.
of state courts, 112-115.

Judicial control over President, 321-322.
over subordinate executive officers, 322.

Judiciary, federal, 353-367.
in organized territories, 373.
state, 109-123.

Jurisdiction. See Courts.

Justice, Department of, 338-339.

Labor, Department of, 350.

Land offices, 341.

Legislation, direct, 85-89.

Legislature, in organized territories, 373.

Legislature, state, compensation of members, 79.
minority representation in, 77-78.
organization, 80-82.
passage of bill in, 82-84.
powers of, 73, 74.
sessions of, 78-79.
structure, 75-77.

Life-Saving Service, 333.

Lighthouses, Bureau of, 348.

Lincoln, Abraham, as President, 275.
popular vote for President, 279.
powers exercised as President, 300.

Lobbying, 84-85.

Local government, conflict of systems in West, 21-22.
importance of, 6-7.
kinds, 5.
merits, 6.
types of, 7.

Local option liquor laws, 87.

Manufactures, promotion of, 349.

Marshall, Chief Justice, decision in Marbury v. Madison, 361.
interpretation of Constitution, 271.

Massachusetts, constitution of, 66.

Mayor, the, 38-39.

McKinley, Wm., as President, 275, _n._, 294.

Merit system. See Civil Service Reform.

Military Academy, the, 336.

Military Secretary, the, 334.

Militia, the, 265-266.

Mines, Bureau of, 344.

Minority representation in state legislature, 77-78.

Mint, Director of, 332.

Mints, U.S., 228, _n._

Mississippi, ratification of constitution of, 66.

Monetary system, 228-232.

Morrill Act, 340.

Municipal government, 25-50.

Naturalization, 350, 383-385.

Nautical Almanac, publication of, 337.

Naval Academy, U. S., 338.

Navigation, Bureaus of, 337, 347.

Navigation laws, 237.

Navy, the, 264-269.

Navy Department, 336-338.

Navy yards, location of, 337.

New England town, the, 8.

Newport, naval war college at, 268.

New York type of local government, 21-22.

New York city, budget of, 41.
collections from customs duties in, 222.
police force, 44.

Nonintercourse Act of 1809, 237.

Northern Securities case, 245.

Ordinance of 1787, 371.

Ordinances, power of the President to issue, 316.

Ordnance, Bureau of, 337.

Oregon, initiative and referendum in, 87, 88.

Original package doctrine, 241.

Pagopago, harbor of, 379.

Panama Canal, construction of, 271, 335.

Panama Canal Zone, 379-380.

Parcels post, 255.

Pardons, amnesty, 320.
commutation, 321.
extent of President's power over, 320.
parole, 321.
power of governor to grant, 102, 103.

Parole, 321.

Parties. See Political Parties.

Passports, 326.

Patent Office, 344.

Patents, 259-261.
number granted, 261.

Pennsylvania type of local government, 22.

Pension Bureau, 343-344.

Philippine Islands, 374-378.

Plant Industry, Bureau of, 345.

Platform of political parties, 155, 288.

Police power, 241.

Police protection in cities, 44-46.

Political parties, conventions, 153-157, 287-288.
local, 145.
national, 145-148.
nature and functions, 144.
nomination of candidates, 153-157.
organization, 148-150.
platform, 155, 288.
primaries of, 150-152.

Porto Rico, 374-376.

Ports of delivery, 220, _n._

Postmaster-General, the, 339.

Post Office, the, classes, 257.
classification of mail matter, 247.
development of postal service, 248.
"fraud orders," 249.
free delivery, 252.
international postal union, 257.
mail matter, 249.
money order service, 254.
parcels post, 255.
postal deficit, 249.
postal savings banks, 254.
postal subsidies, 256.
rates of postage, 249.
registry service, 253.
second-class matter, 251.

Post Office Department, 339.

Powers, division of between state and national government, 58.
of municipal corporations, 32.

President, campaigns for election of, 291.
choice of President by electors, 279-281.
choosing of electors, 277-279.
compensation, 299.
contributions by corporations forbidden, 292.
counting of electoral vote, 281-283.
creation of office, 274.
election by House, 283-285.
electoral and popular vote, 279.
failure of electoral plan, 277.
immunity from judicial control, 321.
impeachment of, 322.
inauguration, 298.
mode of election, 276.
powers and duties, 300-320.
publicity of campaign contributions, 292-293.
qualifications, 275.
raising funds for campaign, 291.
succession to presidency, 293-295.
term of office, 275.

Previous question, the, 211.

Primaries, 150-153;
direct primary, 156.

Privateer, 262.

Probation, 123.

Public defender, 121.

Public Health Service, in Department of the Treasury, 332.

Public lands, disposal of, 340.
Homestead Act, 341.
land offices, 341.
Morrill Act, 340.
Preëmption Act, 340.
present extent of, 341.

Public Opinion Law, in Illinois, 87.

Public utilities, in municipalities, 48.
government ownership of, 50.

Pure food, legislation concerning, 240, 246.

Quarantine, laws by Congress, 239.

Quartermaster Corps, 334.

Recall, 101.

Reciprocity treaties, 220.

Reed, Thomas B., rule on quorum, 200.

Referendum, 85-89.

Registration for elections, 131.

Removal, President's power of, 303-309.

Representatives, House of. See House, Congress, Legislature.

Resolutions, 204, _n._

Revenue, sources of federal, 218.

Revenue Cutter Service, 333.

Roosevelt, Theodore, as President, 224, 275, _n._
extension of civil service by, 307.

Samoan Islands, 379.

Secret Service, the, 333.

Senate, national, as executive council to President, 274.
classification of senators, 181.
debate in, 214.
mode of election, 181-184.
power to amend revenue measures, 219, _n._
president of, 213.
procedure in, 213-215.
right of legislature to instruct, 185.
special functions of, 190-194.
See Congress.

Senate, state, 75.
See Legislature.

Sherman Anti-Trust Law, 245.

Sherman treasury notes, 231.

Shipping board, 257.

Slavery compromise in Constitution, 167-168.

South Carolina, ratifies constitution, 66.

Speaker, English, 209.
of House of Representatives, powers, 203, 209.

Special legislation, constitutional protection against, 34.

Specific duties, 218.

Spoils system, 106, 304.
elimination of in diplomatic service, 327.

Standards, Bureau of, 349.

State, obligations and duties, 62-64.
place of in federal system, 57.
powers of, 59, 60.
prohibitions on in federal Constitution, 59.
rights and privileges, 60-62.

State boards and commissions, 104-105.

State, Department of, organization and functions, 325-330.

Steamboat Inspection Service, 348.

"Strike" bills, 85.

Succession Law of 1792, 294.
of 1886, 295.

Suffrage, nature of elective franchise, 125.
qualifications for voting, 125-129.
woman suffrage, 128.

Supervising Architect, 333.

Surgeon General, 334.

Taft, Wm. H., governor of Philippines, 377.

Tariff, maximum and minimum principle, 219.
preparation of bill, 219.
protective, 218.

Taxation, federal, collection of taxes, 222.
collection of customs duties, 220.
corporation tax, 224.
customs duties, 218.
forms of federal taxes, 217.
income taxes, 223.
inheritance taxes, 224.
internal revenue taxes, 221.
national power of, 217.
protective tariff, 218.
reciprocity treaties, 220.
tariff bills, 219.

Taxation, Municipal, 42.

Territories, courts in, 364.
extension of Constitution to, 369.
government of organized, 372-374.
Northwest Territory, 371.
origin of territorial system, 370.
partly organized, 374-378.
powers of Congress over, 369.
representation of in Congress, 175, _n._
unorganized, 379-381.

Territory, government of occupied, 312.

Tobacco, tax on, 222.

Tonnage laws, 237.

Town meeting, the, 9-10.
conditions unfavorable to, 10-11.

Town system of local government, 7, 13.
officers of, 11-14.
powers of, 8-9.

Treason, punishment of, 366-367.

Treasury, Department of, 331-332.

Treaties, negotiation of, 310, 328.
senate's share in making, 310.

Treaty, reciprocity, 220.

Trials, in courts, 115-123.

Tutuila, 379.

United States funds, deposit of, 224.

Veto, exercise of power by President, 212, 213, 317.
importance of, 319.
power of governor, 97-99.
use of in practice, 318.

Vice President, election by senate, 285.
electoral vote for, 280.
nomination of, 289.
presiding officer of, 197.

Village government, 53.

Voting machines, 139.

War, Department of, organization and functions, 333-336.

Warrants, issued by secretary of state, 326.

Washington, George, as President, 275, 314, 356.

Weather Bureau, the, 345.

West Point Military Academy, 336.

Wilson, James, 275, _n._

Yards and Docks, Bureau of, 337.

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Government in the United States - National, State and Local" ***

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